One bourbon, one scotch, one beeeeaahhh George Thorogood in case you didn’t know

Like everyone here in have stories but instead of adding to the pile may I offer a simple solution. I tell people who fall this stuff to make a list and post it on their fridge. If just one of them turns out to be true they can call me up and rub it in my face. There are two reasons I suggest this. First, the people in the media who push this stuff keep a steady flow of BS incoming. They put out a new one to distract from the last one. Second, back in 2011 I realized it’s like a cult and I did a little looking into what it takes to get people to snap out of it. The expert I found said there is nothing you can do, folks have to reach their own conclusions. Should any of your friends come around just let it go, don’t make a big deal about it.

Got a new snowblower also thinking the same thing would happen to me but I’ve gotten quite a bit of use out of it already.

I live in Cleveland and began backpacking in Pennsylvania thirty years ago during the coldest, snowiest winter since the 70’s. My buddy and I rented cheap snowshoes that were awful, that summer i mail ordered a pair of Atlas snowshoes when they first became available. I think I’ve used them twice since. That’s why every time I hear someone griping about the winter, my suggestion is to buy skis or snowshoes because it’ll never snow enough. Or to put it another way; buy these and you’ll realize how infrequently we have snow on the ground. This winter has been an exception though, same thing with three years ago.

I too wanted to be a mountaineer! My friends and I even took a class on Mount Baker. It’s a lot like being on a chain gang. You are tied into a rope with a few others and if you don’t move in unison it can be frustrating. I settled on doing some pretty heavy duty backpacking, way more chill. Now I fly fish and just like backpacking, Ohio isn’t the best place for it but I’ve learned to get over what I call "the grass is greener syndrome ".

Pick up a winter hobby. I look forward to winter now that I started steelhead fishing (it’s a cold weather thing). Buy cross country skis or snowshoes and it’ll never snow enough.

Thanks for being a good person. It feels good doing something nice for someone, don’t deny her that same good feeling. My suggestion is take the money and spend it on rock salt. I try to help people from time to time, my parents are 80. I can’t be there for them all the time so my hope is that if I help others maybe fate/god/cthulhu will send someone to help them

58 and without kids, no regrets so far