What you look like

[Bill Cravener]

Here are some photos to look at Steve. I put these photos on my site so family could view them. These were taken at various places in the PA mountains. The photo of the Allegheny River is a shot of the small village called Sibertown where I once lived. The photo of the deep gorge is called the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. Other photos are of the family camp with my two sisters. There's a photo of the Emlenton Bridge off I80 with an old shack that my mother and her sisters grew up in. The photo of the Kinzua Railroad Trestle gives you an idea of the damage a tornado can cause. There's also a link at the bottom of the photo page that links to a bunch of picturers I took last year when a group of us road our bikes down to Gettysburg last summer for a weekend stay.

http://www.quickersoft.com/bikeride.html

[hutch--]

Thanks for the link Bill, there is some good looking country in those. The gorge with the stream is world class scenery. One question, what happened to the railway bridge that is broken in the middle, did it fail or was it done to stop people from using it ?

If I ever get to travel, it will be for the scenery, I used to take a lot of photos down the south coast of NSW, about 400k south of where I live but sad to say they were mainly film before I bought a digital camera and I don't think that many survived that long.

Just west of Sydney is the great dividing range that was not crossed until 1813 due to the sheer escapement that faces most of the east side. As a true confession back in the days when I rode bikes I remember riding the Bell Road which is above a pass up the escapement just north of Sydney at about 180k through a set of sweeps about 20 miles long. These days they would put you in jail if they caught you riding that fast.  :bg

Interestingly enough it was not done on a big biike, it was done on a 350 Yamaha I owned that was set up like a TZ350 complee with a full fairing and expansion chambers.

[Bill Cravener]

I once owned a 1974 350 Yamaha Eudora, loved that bike. I use to hill climb near vertical strip-cuts with it. Them old 350's had lots of power.

The old Kinzua Railroad Trestle was ripped apart by a tornado classified as an F-1 on July 21, 2003. It's a great state park to visit if you ever visit PA. I hung out over the edge to get some of those photos of the bridge, gave me the eby geebys. :dazzled:

See if you can pull up the link below Steve. There's a complete story about this historic Pennsylvania Bridge with some before and after pictures.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/info/kinzuabridgereport/body/001.html

[hutch--]

We are fortunate that tornados don't seem to hit populated areas at all in OZ. We do have what are called willie willies which work the same way but they are mainly seen in desert areas along the great Australian bite area which is barely populated and they generally pick up dust, not houses and trees and similar to what I see in the US.

Tressle bridges like you have in the states are uncommon here but its mainly due to very different torrain. The old bridge looked very impressive and it is unfortunate that it was destroyed by a tornado but I guess they must be in very good condition to actually survive wind forces of that magnitude. The older bridges that still survive here are generally a "Bailey Truss" design and while most of them have been replaced with modern steel re-enforced concrete there are a few of the very old ones left but they are not usually elevated bridges like the one in the park and they are rarely ever subject to high wind forces.

When my mum was still alive she did a trip up the panhandle to Alaska and on the way went for a train ride into the Canadian border and on the way up she shot video of this massive old wooden truss bridge that was used back in the early mining days. I doubt it was structurally sound at that age but it was still standing and it was an engineering masterpiece for its time.

[PBrennick]

Hi everyone,

Over the years I have changed a lot and so has my looks. Some say I look nothing like I used to. Another more recent change is the growth on my right arm.

Carol and I plan to get married on the 20th of January.
-- Paul

[Bill Cravener]

Paul, wish I could grow a beard like yours. I'm 57 years old and I still can't grow one like the one you have. :bg

Getting married? Are you nuts!!

[FORTRANS]

Hi,

  Congrats Paul!  Best of luck to both  of you.

Steve N.

[drhowarddrfine]

About time you quit living in sin, Paul.  Congratulations.

[hutch--]

Nice photo Paul, just make sure we get some more code out of you before this lovely lady spirits you away.  :U

[ChrisLeslie]

Its funny how I think that people look like their avatar, eg vortex and tedd look like a teddy bear, Paul like a clown, James Ladd like a bulldog etc etc. I know that hutch looks more like Beethoven rather than a lion figure, and that I don't look like a frog, I hope!

Chris

[sinsi]

I know that hutch looks more like Beethoven rather than a lion figure

:lol
Thanks a lot, not only is my nose stinging from the exodus of beer, but it sprayed all over my monitor. :bdg

[PBrennick]

Hutch,
Coding is my life, has been and always will be, no worries there. Sghe is well aware of where she fits into the scheme of things.

About the beard, it was her idea, she calls it her toy. The ponytail, which you can't see, was her idea, also.

The clown, or jester, was something I picked a long time ago because I always had a reputation as being too serious. I, also, pay a lot of attention to avatars and have always wondered why people pick what they pick. You, Sinsi, with a handle like that remind me of a karate instructor even if the 'e' is missing. Doesn't really go with the dog image. Mine is obviopus as well as Hutch but some of you other guys should come clean and tell us what you were thinking. Cycle Saddles? I'cve heard of cycle saddlebags, but.... drhowarddrfine, from tv as I recall, FORTRANS? Why the 'S' and Vortex, don't know how such a pleasant, calm friend would pick that one. I could go on but it's almost 2:30am and Carol just woke up... sorry, gotta go. :U

-- Paul

[Bill Cravener]

Cycle Saddles?

Paul, I know, kind of silly I guess. I've been a motorcyclist most of my life and the seat of a cycle is referred to as a saddle by us old time bikers. One of the numerous ways I make money is to recover motorcycle seats and to make new seats for a custom chopper builder. Years ago here on Steve's site I used the handle bcraven an abbreviation of my name Bill Cravener and my avatar was a pair of blinking eyes.

Regards to you and your wife to be!

[ChrisLeslie]

Paul

My frog avatar is a rare and endangered species from the highlands of New South Wales and Victoria in Australia, called a corroboree frog. It is a symbol of a bushwalking club which I have been an active member and leader for the past 22 years. Bushwalking is the Australian term for walking, mostly off-track for us, through national parks. It is hugely strenuous but rewarding. Most other people think I must be crazy.

Regards

Chris

[drhowarddrfine]

I don't use the "3 Stooges" avatar on this forum but it was picked purely at random many years ago when I was signing up for some sites years ago and couldn't find a nick that wasn't used.  I watched those shows as a kid and didn't think many younger people would know of them today. 

Originally, I used the full 'drhowarddrfinedrhoward' but this board, I think, changed software and it got truncated by a few letters, so I had hutch change it to what it is now.

Other than all that, it doesn't reflect anything about me.