Some my more elucidating board posts

Like many who relax in the evening on the web, I hang around and post on a few message boards. While one of them is rather sensitive, and I will not copy and past my thoughts from that board, (I am not ashamed, it's just that my adversary there has declared his intention to sue me for slander if he can ever figure out who I am.) I am a regular on three message boards that mirror my interests and avocations. Two have to do with BYU sports, and one has to do with hiking and backpacking.
So I thought I would copy and paste a few of my recent posts from those boards, not so much because it demonstrates any great wisdom or insights, but because copying and pasting is a good way to put up a lot of stuff fast without duplicating the effort. To whit:

-On why Univeristy of Utah Fans hate BYU so much:
Author: buzzard Date: Sep 21, 2007 - 02:06pmCategory: Football (college)
Almost without exception, every Y-hatin', U-lovin' Utahn that I have encountered views hating BYU as a harmless, consequence-free way of sticking it to "Mormon Culture". Some are not LDS and hate BYU simply as an extension of the institution that restricts them to buying 3.2% beer. These are the ones that perpetrate the "drunken lout" stereotype, which does have some legitimacy. Some are good LDS but just like you and your stubble, want to demonstrate their individualist streak, and take great sport poking fun at us supposedly mindless sheep. And some simply graduated from the U. I find that many of these are a great deal less rabid than the other categories. They cheer for their Alma Mater, but hold no real animus towards their bretheren to the south. What resentment they do hold stems from being an also ran for over two decades, they just want to gloat in the run their team had for the last few years, kind of like we Cougars are feeling it after last year. When I lived in SoCal, a lot of the members were USC or UCLA fans, and could not understand the whole Utah/BYU war thing.

On why the PAC-10 will never invite BYU to join their conference:

Author: buzzard Date: Sep 6, 2007 - 06:04pmCategory: Football (college)
I do not think that the PAC-10 is "Anti-Mormon", but there is no doubt that the powers that be at Stanford, Cal, and yes, UCLA (stands for University of Caucasians Lost among Asians) at the very least-there may be others, but no doubt on that trio at the very least would not let BYU join the PAC10 under any circumstances for reasons that have nothing to do with athletics. Call it liberal politics, intellectual snobbery, aversion to religous institutions, call it whatever you want, but at least those schools if not others as well look down their noses at the Y.

On older, sedate fans who don't want others to stand and block their view:


Author: buzzard Date: Sep 3, 2007 - 11:54amCategory: Football (college)
Remember, those "bluehairs" are someones grandparents. And in 1980, they were not so old or feeble, and they were contributing bucks to expand the stadium. Many of them were loyal season ticket holders back before Giff or even Gary Shiede put us on the map. And in their day, they probably jumped and stood just like you. And someday you will be the "bluehair" (in my case, no hair) with the bad knees. So speak kindly to them.On the other hand, we are not at a Tabernacle Choir concert. When Harvey Unga broke loose for that first TD, I was standing and screaming with the kids-and I am not a kid anymore. Don't apologize for getting excited. I don't stand the whole game, that is what benches are made for, but it is time to retire your season passes if fans jumping up and yelling and pumping their fists irritates you.And if someone grabs you, kicks you, or pokes you with an umbrella (they aren't supposed to have them in the stadium in the first place), give them one warning, and then *you* wave the security guard over. Striking another person is the bright line that no one gets to cross in our society without consequences. But don't hit them back. Just like on the field, it is the second hit that the referee sees.

On the definition of a "Zoobie":

Re:What IS a zoobie? 2 Weeks, 1 Day ago

Gather round kiddies, it is time for a history lesson.There have always been a few students who referred to our esteemed insitiution as "BYZOO" or "The Zoo". However, the term did not come into wide usage until 1977, when a BYUSA (I think) produced a get out the student vote advertisment in the Daily Universe parodying the movie "King Kong". It showed the ape climbing the Carillion Bell tower underneath the headline "Who will be the new King of the Zoo?". That seems to have brought the term into much wider usage. BTW, "Zoobie" a humorous term, is not to be confused with "Zoob", a pejorative slur used by seething with jealousy Yewts who couldn't seem to get their ACT score over 20 no matter how many times they took it.

Of course, BYU sports is by no means my only interest. These are some posts from the backpacker.com board:

On my opinion of a certain outdoor brand:

Relax, your not missing much. TNF makes decent gear, but is the ultimate poseurs brand. When you see a yuppie striding solemnly down the trail clad head to toe in TNF, you can rest assured, here comes a wannabe. Me? Vasque boots, Mtn. HW pants, generic polyester tee, Sierra designs rain jacket, Marmot down sweater. I think I do have an old TNF daypack somewhere, but it was 50% off at an REI clearance and would never be used for a serious trip. My reputation would be at stake.

And when I was pilloried for that brave stand:
Chill out everybody! Some of you take everything posted on this board waaaaaay too seriously. BTW, if I was really worried about reputation, I wouldn't be caught dead in a generic poly tee. I think the latest de rigeur look is a zip-T from (fill in the blank). And judging from my 2005 tax return, I'm a middle-aged downwardly mobile un-professional.

This topic was not about backpacking, but about Government-run healthcare-don't know how that found it's way onto an outdoor forum:

I have an interesting take on this. I had health insurance thru an employer for 22+ years. Six weeks after being laid off and losing said insurance, I got sicker than a dog, thought it was flu. Turns out it was cancer collapsing part of my lungs. I did go to the doc on my own dime, but they could not determine the source of the problem, and I could not afford a scope to take a look at my lungs. Lived with a nagging cough for several months until I ended up in the hospital nearly dead. Five weeks in the hospital, two surgeries, four months on disability, and 250K worth of insurance later, I was fine. But if I would have had insurance a year earlier, I could have addressed the problem with about a week in the hospital, a few weeks to recuperate, and probably about a fifth of the cost. I'm not an advocate of government health care, but it does make you think.

On the cost of backpacking vs. other types of vacations:

Now hold on. I am a certified gearhead. I own three packs, three bags, seven tents, four pairs of boots, and enough assorted gear to outfit a whole scout troop. But when my wife wanted to go to Hawaii last year, we spent more in a week than I have managed to plop down in the last ten years on gear, gas, and food for all my backcountry adventures. So while backpacking as outfitted and practiced by many of us here is not free, it is only expensive when compared to sitting around doing nothing. Compared to most other forms of recreating, backpacking is dirt cheap.
(Side note: I have since donated some of the above gear to our Wards scout troop, so that stuff I would not be using could be put to good abuse by gear-short scouts.)

My trail mix recipe:
Raisins or Craisins Mixed Dried Fruit Cashews Peanuts Pine Nuts Cool Weather: Butterscotch Chips Warm Weather:M&M's

Finally, a note about the first time I solo backpacked, and how it was not that different from what I did all those times with B.J.:

Last November, snowshoe trip in southern Uinta's. But in taking my son for several years, it was as risky as a solo in that he was mentally handicapped and if I would have been incapacitated he would have been in big trouble. That's why we stayed on established trails unless another person or two was along.

Finally, two comments on the Salt Lake Tribune board that shows my feelings about Utah's scourge, the hyper-irritating, omnipresint, tool-of-satan ATV's and their ignoramus riders who feel they have a right to take them anywhere they please:

When us "hoofers" walk somewhere, we disturb only ourselves. When you ride in on an ATV, everyone for hundreds of yards in every direction knows you are coming, and the erosive evidence of your passing remains for months, years, decades. Who is being selfish? Someday the natural effects of aging will make it impossible for me to go all the places I can presently make it to, I understand and accept that. If we followed your logic, we would need a paved road to every lakeshore and mountaintop. There are plenty of places you can ride to, but you do not have the right to take your noisy smoke-belching machines to every corner of this state.

Part 2 of this tirade in response to being called a communist for my passionate loathing of All-Terrain Vehicles:

Hey! I will put up my conservative credentials against anyone around, I'm happily LDS, all the things a lot of you like to stereotype. And I hate ATV's. Loathe them. They are tools of the devil, as far as I am concerned. So save your vituperation for brainless dolts of any political or religious stripe who delight in trashing our beautiful state.


Of course, this is just a small sampling of what I have posted. But I hope it gives you a sense of my sensibilities, quirks, interests, and pet peeves.