Chilean Miners

[herr]

http://images.zeit.de/gesellschaft/2010-10/fs-chile-bilder/18.jpg?ref=nf


You all been following this amazing story? All those miners are going to be pulled up to the surface in that contraption. 15 minutes or so at a shot. Gulp.

[MoMoNoMo]

Yeah, jeesh. In a capsule that is a mere 21 inches wide. Gulp.
Well, as someone pointed out, claustrophobia shouldn't be a problem. If these guys were claustrophobic, they wouldn't be miners.
I could never be a miner. They'd have to knock me out before putting me in the capsule (just imagine it getting stuck...).
Anyway, bravo to the brave, creative, hard-working folks who are getting them out (including some NASA experts, a super-driller from Denver who has emerged as a hero of the operation (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101009/ap_on_bi_ge/lt_chile_mine_collapse_americans) and some other Americans), and of course to the miners for holding on so long and so courageously.

[herr]

Its a hole that is two times as deep as the empire state building is high. Kudos to everyone working on the rescue effort. But scheesch. I guess there will be two medics down there and they will be the last ones to come up. It would be terrible to have to be the last miner.....

[Zat0pek]

Love that story, and my daughters have followed it closely, too.

Heard this morning that the guys were asking for toothpaste and shoe polish to be sent down so they could get gussied up to meet their loved ones again. I love that. Trapped underground for months and they still want to look good for their wives and kids.

One guy, though, probably wants to stay down there. I guess his wife was there holding vigil one day early on in the saga when, you guessed it, his girlfriend showed up as well and they got to meet each other for the first time. I'm betting that mine looks mighty good as a permanent home to that guy.

[herr]

One guy, though, probably wants to stay down there. I guess his wife was there holding vigil one day early on in the saga when, you guessed it, his girlfriend showed up as well and they got to meet each other for the first time. I'm betting that mine looks mighty good as a permanent home to that guy.


maybe he can duck out the back door of the capsule....

[MoMoNoMo]

Ha! Apparently several of these guys were actually volunteering to be last -- because they realized that the last one up will automatically have a place in the Guinness Book as the miner who had spent the longest time underground (alive), ever. And that might well pump up the value of book contracts, movie deals, etc., etc. ...

[MoMoNoMo]

I can only imagine, Zat, what kind of shape these guys were in -- personal hygiene-wise -- after all those weeks in a hot, dusty mine with 32 other guys, no shower, and no (or few) changes of socks and underwear. ...

Old Spice, anyone? ;)

[herr]

The idea that the medics will be there made it a little easier to stomach for me. The idea that it would only be miners and that the last one would have to be there all alone, waiting fo the capsule to go up and then come back down again.

it would be a lonely time! :eek:

[wineturtle]

No climbing towers or working in mines for me, came to my senses 30 years ago and stopped jumping out of perfectly sound airplanes too.

I have been following it and am in awe of the mental toughness of these guys.

I missed the wife and girlfriend story ... the ladies have had plenty of time to cook up a punishment that might just drive him to ask to go back down.

[MoMoNoMo]

What's the first thing you would want to eat (or drink, WiT), after more than two months of entombment on the following diet:
Tea and herbal infusions; energy shakes; yogurt and cereal shake; ham sandwiches; more yogurt, plus kiwi fruit; jam sandwiches.
The men were NOT, incidentally, allowed one of the staples of the Chilean diet.... beans. Given the confined spaces and all, it was thought that might have been, er, unwise.

[herr]

The men were NOT, incidentally, allowed one of the staples of the Chilean diet.... beans. Given the confined spaces and all, it was thought that might have been, er, unwise.

could have created a quite combustible situation, particularly if there were any smokers down there..

[wineturtle]

Not sure what I`d eat or drink but pretty sure I`d ask Willie Nelson to roll me a really fat one from his private stash for the trip up.

edit: on second though I`d ask for two and give one to the guy with the wife and girlfriend waiting- then he would not give a damn about what awaits him:D

[MoMoNoMo]

My Metro train was stuck in a tunnel for a half-hour this morning and I started to get a tinge of claustrophobia. ... No, mining is definitely not in my future.

[herr]

Its pretty marvelous tv. The New York Times has a live feed and seeing those miners come out of that improbably small tube in the ground is very moving. It is such a slow methodical process, but there is incredible release when they come out.

I don't personally believe that I would do well shut up in a small cage in a black tunnel for eleven minutes. I would much rather be trapped with MoMo in the Washington DC subway system

[Zat0pek]

Its pretty marvelous tv. The New York Times has a live feed and seeing those miners come out of that improbably small tube in the ground is very moving. It is such a slow methodical process, but there is incredible release when they come out.

I don't personally believe that I would do well shut up in a small cage in a black tunnel for eleven minutes. I would much rather be trapped with MoMo in the Washington DC subway system

Best thing to do in that situation is just shut your eyes, then pray.

[MedialMeniscus]

Oakley is getting some nice exposure today since they supplied all the trapped miners with sunglasses.

[patti]

Ok, ZAT!! Here you goooo!! Number 21! The capsule is getting ready...to be lowered.

He will be met by his girlfriend.
If I was the wife...I'd leave too.

We've been following.

[MoMoNoMo]

So... was that the wife or the girlfriend?? He seemed to look at her kind of like, "Uh, you happy to see me?"

[herr]

This is from the NYTimes live feed:

All along, in the weeks since the miners (http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/latest-updates-on-the-rescue-of-the-chilean-miners/?hp) were discovered alive and well in the refuge about half a mile below the earth's surface, and video messages appeared, comparisons have been made to reality television. The miner who has just stepped into the rescue capsule,
Johnny Barrios, however, is about to return to what seems like a soap opera. Mr. Barrios, 50, is now being winched to the surface, where, as ABC News reports (http://abcnews.go.com/International/chilean-miner-yonni-barrios-mistress-wife/story?id=11869775), a complex family situation awaits:
Chilean miner Johnny Barrios won't be greeted by his wife of 28 years when he's finally rescued today from the underground tomb where he's been trapped for months. Marta Salinas, the 56-year-old wife of Barrios, won't be glued to her television during his rescue, either. Salinas says she is not interested in the rescue of her husband after learning about his mistress, Susana Valenzuela, whom he had been seeing on the sly for years.
"I'm happy because he was saved. It's a miracle from God. But I won't attend the rescue," Salinas told South American newspaper Clarin.

[wayne b]

"The 12th miner — Edison Peña, 34, known for running miles in the mine tunnels every day — stepped from the escape capsule to rapturous cheers and the embrace of his girlfriend, and then another from Mr. Piñera."

from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/world/americas/14chile.html?_r=1&hp

I found this interesting...obviously caloric conservation was not an issue once the small tunnels were bored. And much more upbeat the the wife/mistress soap opera.

[patti]

Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny..how you can love...Johnny Barrios Rojas....

Oh Johnny didn't seem to return his girls embrace. It seemed awkward.

Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!
Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!
How you can love!
Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!
Heavens above!
You make my sad heart jump with joy,
And when you're near I just
Can't sit still a minute.
I'm so, Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!
Please tell me dear.
What makes me love you so?
You're not handsome, it's true,
But when I look at you,
I just, Oh, Johnny!
Oh, Johnny! Oh!

Ok, I just had to do it!!! :D

[wineturtle]

A wine exporter from Chile I know says it has been reported that at least 5 of the miners had mistresses or that they are not living with the legal wife. One reportedly has 4 women in his life- undivorced wife, baby momma, live-in girl friend and mistress he sees outside the live-in gf relationship.
The big issue is the compensation awards to family of the trapped miners.
In Chile the divorce laws are complex and it is not unusual for families to split but not divorce-religious issues also play a role.

Relationships are complex everywhere not just for these miners.

The technical issues of the rescue hold my attention not the social relationship ones.

The idea of assigning tasks to all the men and promoting the team concept to keep the trapped from forming cliques and fighting for power is intriguing to me. From all reports there has been no clashes between miners during these long and stressful times.
Hell I`ve taken a 3 floor elevator ride and before we reached the second floor have wanted to smack one pompus cellphone yeller upside his head..

The Chilean govt. shoud be proud of the way they handled this and how they have lead the multinational team working on the rescue.

Let`s hope this world wide news event will spur a renewed effort to reform and improve workplace safety issues not only down in the mines but across the board in all businesses.

I hope all those involved will be able to deal positively with the mental and emotional aftermath of this event.

One CNN reporter said it is wonderful to work on a "Breaking News Event" that is so positive because so many others are of a tragic nature.

[herr]

Relationships are complex everywhere not just for these miners.

I'm bettin that you are not going to get much push back on this statement

[herr]

The technical issues of the rescue hold my attention not the social relationship ones.

The idea of assigning tasks to all the men and promoting the team concept to keep the trapped from forming cliques and fighting for power is intriguing to me. From all reports there has been no clashes between miners during this long and stressful times.
.

I agree that that is the really fascinating thing. My hunch is that they were very lucky to have so many strong religious figures there who were able to find strength in their faith and allow that to be shared.

[MedialMeniscus]

One CNN reporter said it is wonderful to work on a "Breaking News Event" that is so positive because so many others are of a tragic nature.

Amen to that.

[herr]

More from the New York Times Live feed: (http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/latest-updates-on-the-rescue-of-the-chilean-miners/?hp)

Our colleagues Simon Romero and Alexei Barrionuevo report from the San José mine:
Some of the miners rescued here said they were touched by God. Others said they were pondering new careers, like Victor Segovia, who is writing a book about the ordeal. Yonni Barrios, 50, the electrician who was tasked with keeping health updates on the 33 men during their time underground, emerged with a bit more sizzle.
Susana Valenzuela, 52, the woman he embraced upon exiting the capsule, turned out to be his mistress. His wife of 28 years, Marta Salinas, 56, told reporters that she might wait for him at their home. "He has another companion," said Ms. Salinas. "I'm happy for him, and if he remakes his life, good for him."
At one point, workers at Camp Hope said they had to separate the two women at the canteen in the weeks after the collapse at San José Mine, when both showed up seeking benefits. The news about the two women in the Atacama desert competing for Mr. Barrios's heart even led to songs composed about the love triangle, including with these lyrics:
"When I was trapped a half a mile deep,
They both called my name as they mourned and weeped (sic)."
In a recent interview at the camp, Ms. Valenzuela, who met Mr. Barrios when they received first-aid training, explained that her relationship with the electrician was as valid as anything witnessed in Chile's civil registries or churches. "My son," she said, "treats him like a father."

[herr]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuLvr1L6nuM&feature=player_embedded

[wineturtle]

Now comes the hard part for these families. It truely has been a life changing event for them.
I hope they can handle the after as well as the seemed to have done for the during.
They really picked up the pace for the last 10 or so of the miners it seemed like every 20 minutes they hauled another one out. Not at all like the 50 minutes between the first dozen or so.

A big round of applause for all involved !!

[OrvilleAtkins]

I have found this story amazing and very interesting!
I have found the whole incident awesome.
I grew up in the Town of Timmins which is the largest town in the Porcupine Gold Mining Camp. The area produced Gold, Timber, NHL hocky players and Shania Twain. My father sold explosives and had a bright red car as soon as he could get one. He was the technical expert on dynamite and blasting for the mine, prospectors, farmers, the Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Liquid gold is a beautiful rich colour, especially when being poured. In the summer of 1956, I worked underground in the Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mine, one of the largest producers of gold in the world at the time. I imagine gold mining has changed some since those days but I found the conditions worse than miserable.
I was usually not as far down as 880 yards down but pitch black is pitch black. Where I was it was cold, damp, wet, dusty and of course pitch black. When underground, you have no sense of the world as it is on the earth's surface. As in other jobs, it was very hard work but, in addition, we had those miserable conditions to contend with. Also, I had problems with my body's system being exposed to so much dust for eight hours a day. I would wake up at night and my body would shudder, I would feel like I had the flu and my nose would run. I did not run or jog much that summer but I did earn my University tuition.
My thoughts were with those miners the whole time they were down there. My thoughts continue to be with the miners, the rescuers and their families. It is amazing that every single thing seemed to go right from the time they sent that note to the surface. The rescuers did it perfectly. They and the miners must be commended. As wineturtle has stated, "now comes the hard part for these families".

[Zat0pek]

So... was that the wife or the girlfriend?? He seemed to look at her kind of like, "Uh, you happy to see me?"

That was the mistress. Wife has apparently washed her hands of him.

I see many book and movie deals in the coming months. Just hope they don't focus on the sordid stuff like the mistress.

I absolutely love the guy who brought up a bag of rocks as souvenirs and was jumping around and yelling like he just scored the winning goal in the Chile/Bolivia soccer match. I wanna have a beer with that guy.

[MedialMeniscus]

That was the mistress. Wife has apparently washed her hands of him.

I see many book and movie deals in the coming months. Just hope they don't focus on the sordid stuff like the mistress.

I absolutely love the guy who brought up a bag of rocks as souvenirs and was jumping around and yelling like he just scored the winning goal in the Chile/Bolivia soccer match. I wanna have a beer with that guy.

That would be Super Mario.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01364/superMario_1364194c.jpg

[wineturtle]

Orville you must tell us more about your underground experiences and a miners life.

[MoMoNoMo]

That was the mistress. Wife has apparently washed her hands of him.

I see many book and movie deals in the coming months. Just hope they don't focus on the sordid stuff like the mistress.

I absolutely love the guy who brought up a bag of rocks as souvenirs and was jumping around and yelling like he just scored the winning goal in the Chile/Bolivia soccer match. I wanna have a beer with that guy.

Yeah! That was great stuff.

[OrvilleAtkins]

Wineturtle, I was not a very good miner. I weigh less than 134 pounds and therefore was not very strong. I spent some time replacing miner's partners who were sick. When my partner was drilling a hole in the roof, it was my job to hold the bit steady so a hole could be started when the hole was to be in the ceiling. I had trouble keeping the bit from roaming all over the place We would then put blasting caps and dynamite in the hole and find a safe place. BOOM and the rocks and dust flew. I spent a few days working on the surface in an open pit. Workers were partially paid bonuses based on their production. I was not much help with their incomes.
When I was a kid I remember that there was a BOOM and the windows in our house would rattle at noon each day for a few months.
Much of the time, I was paired with an older chap who was the plumber/handy man. We roamed all over the upper levels of the mine. When I was in Timmins in 2000 which was 54 years later, I saw a mine entrance that we had built that opened onto the golf course. The golf course was provided by Hollinger. The community swimming pool was provided by the MacIntyre Mine and was situated between Timmins and Schumacher which was a mile from Timmins. MacIntyre also provide the area with the Macintyre Arena. It contained Hockey ahd curling rinkes plus a basketball floor and restaurant. Many NHL stars came from the area.
There were ladders that went to the surface of the mines from the 100 foot level. When we were working on the upper levels (100/200 foot levels) . Sometimes I would climb to the surface for some sun and lunch.
Many of my friends lived in Company houses. They were green and small with a pot belly stove for heating.. The formen/supervisors and above lived in increasingly better homes as they attained more responsible jobs.
Some of the sidewalks in Timmins were wood, but the main streets were paved. Occassionally we would see a prospector who looked just like Gabby Hayes with his pack, pick and tin pan on his back, hanging out on a corner. I specifically remeber one named Tommy-Jack.
Enough of this rambling for now.

[OrvilleAtkins]

A day in the mine started with a very early bike ride of a little more than an 880 up the slight rise to the mine building that was called the dry. I do not remember working the night shift. Also, I can not remember exactly when we clocked in. We would head to the locker room with our lunch pails and take off our clothes. We would then head towards the stairs to the upper room where our mine clothes were hanging to dry. I think the order of the activities is not clear to me 56 years later. The drying room was below. We each had a box like position where we sat to take our clothes which were hanging into the room below. I think warm breezes during the time one was off their shift readied them for the next underground shift.
The return journey after ones shift was the more secure one in those days. (I would imagine that security is much different now.) Our lunch buckets were searched for high-grade gold. Miners have been known to place gold in every crevice in their body in addition to false teeth, inside the body and so forth.
I can remember the shock of leaving a bright beautifukl day and then emerging from the elevator to a poor miserably rainy day. Underground the weather was pitch black without change. At the end of each shift we received a surprise.
I mentioned that prospectors occasionally hung out on the street corners. Also one would see a fancy dressed dude with a cadillac or other expensive car standing on his own corner. They looked like what I imagine a pimp on the corner in one of the big cities looked like in those days. A highgrader bought whatever the few who got away with it were able to smuggle out of the mine. I have no knowledge of anyone attempting or succeeding in smuggling gold.
A lot of my memories are vague. I do remember that I was not a good miner nor did I like the profession. It was too tough and claustrophobic for me.
It is hard to fathom being underground for 17 days without much food or drink and not knowing if anyone would ever find you. After that they still did not know if their shift would end by Christmas or ever. Each of those miners deserves a perfect life from here on in.

[MoMoNoMo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_9097000/9097701.stm

[wineturtle]

Thanks for the link- I guess you have to have an Ipod to see the BBC link and I doubt WiT will be ipoding anytime soon.

[MoMoNoMo]

WiT, maybe you have to be registered with the Beeb. Anyway, here it is:

BBC Panorama, Copiapo, Chile
Edison Pena says he has emerged from the rubble of the San Jose mine "more human" and "more loving" than the man who descended down a shaft in the side of a mountain for what should have been a routine shift.
Speaking to the BBC after his rescue last week, the 34-year-old miner has laid bare the appalling reality of life entombed 700 metres underground for 69 days.
Known as "the Runner", Edison, perhaps the most traumatised of all 33 miners who cheated death at the base of the mine shaft in Copiapo, painted a disturbing portrait of bewilderment and loss.
"Why am I not dead? Because it's unfair to die. Why should I die? Why should I die?" he told the BBC's Panorama in a frantic and at times disturbing interview.
"Do you have any idea of how is it to live in that darkness? Do you really know? I didn't want to remain there. Why do I have to be trapped in here? I don't want to be trapped here. I want to live, I want to get out of here."


“ It's really hard to come back from death, it's very hard. Now I just want to live, I want to live ”

Edison's interview was the continuation of a conversation that began via a series of emotional and at times heart-wrenching letters exchanged with the Panorama team while he was still trapped underground.
The small bore holes used as a supply route became Edison's life line and his way of sharing details of life deep underground as rescuers worked frantically to free the men.
In his notes, Edison spoke of how he hated the mountain and wanted to destroy it, how he ran and tested his body physically in a bid to mentally defeat the wall of rock that entombed him.
In our response to him, we tried to echo his words and feed him any encouragement we could. We wrote: "Destroy that mountain. Hate it. Send it to the ground with your fury."

For his fellow trapped miners, despite their miraculous rescue, he also might offer a warning of the torment yet to come.
Behind the gusto and bravado of liberation lies what was, for a time, the unfathomable reality of freedom.
Throughout his interview, Edison's bitterness at the plight he has suffered is palpable and borders on the frenzied.

It is clear that the intense hunger he felt during those first fateful days - his ribs protrude from his chest - is what haunts him the most.
"I think from now on no food will be wasted in my house. I want to give a big message concerning world hunger. I never thought of giving an interview, but now I think that God was protecting us, he was protecting me, and humbly I wouldn't like to let a single grain of rice go to waste at home, because that's what I felt, that hunger and to go over that again is too strong for me.
"It's really hard to come back from death, it's very hard. Now I just want to live, I want to live. " Edison said the support offered to him by both his partner Angelica and through the exchange of letters with those above ground helped him get through his ordeal.
The written words were, he said, something to cling on to in the darkness.
After his rescue, Edison said receiving the letters made him remember that there was life beyond the mine shaft.
He said that he told himself, "'Come on, stay alive' - but it was very hard to stay alive. The letters showed the world is here, it's good to be back to life."
In a series of photographs taken with a camera sent down to Edison during our written correspondence, he also reveals a glimpse of a life spent in darkness.
Unlike the other trapped men who turned to God, Edison's salvation was exercise. The photographs show the lengths he went to in a bid to overcome his demons.
Edison ran up to eight kilometres a day in the sweltering humidity of the mine. In a bid to improve his stamina, he took to towing a wooden crate behind him.
"I think these photographs are really a life testimony, and I want everybody to understand it. It's not to show off, I'm not looking to get famous by running. I think that running on the surface again…and seeing the beach. I think nothing compares to this."
His reputation for running, along with his love of Elvis Presley, have led to invitations to attend this year's New York City marathon in November and to visit Presley's Graceland mansion in Tennessee.
Despite what he has been through, Edison said he does see a better future for himself and his family.

"Now there is light, then there was none. There I had to go around with a flashlight. But now I'm really happy to be back in my country, and with this light. I thought I would not be coming back. But I did, so I'm very happy."
Of his personal, remarkable journey, he said: "I think that now I'm more human. I think I'm loving everybody more, I believe in touching people. I think I love myself much more."

[MoMoNoMo]

Unfortunately you have to get on the web site to see the picture of him running through a tunnel with a wooden crate tied to him to make it HARDER. (There's a training technique I hadn't really given much thought to.)

[wineturtle]

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/49546000/jpg/_49546321_edisonpenadraggingweight.jpg

MoMoNoMo- the link I was talking about is to the BBC television show that is within the article- the link you posted is to the article itself and can be opened by anyone.

[MoMoNoMo]

D'oh!

[MoMoNoMo]

Now I read in the Times that the miner who ran every day in the mine -- Edison Pena -- has agreed to run the N.Y. Marathon on Sunday, though given his rather unusual preparation he says he might Gallo-walk part of it... Under the circumstances it'll be brilliant just to have him there.

[wineturtle]

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/49546000/jpg/_49546321_edisonpenadraggingweight.jpg

MoMoNoMo- the link I was talking about is to the BBC television show that is within the article- the link you posted is to the article itself and can be opened by anyone.

D'oh!

well by anyone with advanced `puter skills or a 15 year old neighbors kid to ask :D, can do it.

Maybe The NYRRC will let him take a shortcut and run thru the Midtown Tunnel:rolleyes: ;) :o :cool: :p :eek: :D

[MoMoNoMo]

What the heck, let him do the first 20 miles on a Segway... ;)

[wineturtle]

http://www.myconfinedspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/2007-06-01-segway_cops.jpg


When I call "SET" you will come to your final starting position , remain motionless and wait for the gun -I WILL hold you!

[MoMoNoMo]

Ha! WiT, your bag of tricks is bottomless!! :p

[MoMoNoMo]

Edison Pena, AKA The Runner, is now OFFICIALLY my
favorite Chilean miner...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRxIvH7kgr0

[wayne b]

I've gotta say, singing in a language you don't speak in front of an audience of millions (million?) takes guts. It's good to see a sense of fun after a trial like he's been through.

[njrunz]

Edison Pena, AKA The Runner, is now OFFICIALLY my
favorite Chilean miner...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRxIvH7kgr0
Seriously. This guy is awesome.

[MoMoNoMo]

For the miners, coming up through that long narrow tube, headfirst into the sunlight ... it really WAS kind of a rebirth... :D

[MoMoNoMo]

I asked my son (the one who lives in Astoria, WiT) if he saw the NY marathon. Not only did he see it, he filmed it for the NY Road Runners Club, rode on the same bus as Edison Pena, the miner, and got to interview Mayor Bloomberg. (The Rudins, the mega-wealthy NY real-estate family that helped finance the New York marathon when it started in the '70s, were on the bus, too.) Pretty cool, huh?

[wineturtle]

I asked my son (the one who lives in Astoria, WiT) if he saw the NY marathon. Not only did he see it, he filmed it for the NY Road Runners Club, rode on the same bus as Edison Pena, the miner, and got to interview Mayor Bloomberg. (The Rudins, the mega-wealthy NY real-estate family that helped finance the New York marathon when it started in the '70s, were on the bus, too.) Pretty cool, huh?

No more Salmini films? They did the early ones. I`d love to talk with your son sometime.
I did some race promotion radio interviews with Jack Rudin in '78. He got a couple of the daytime talkers to come to his office and do them. I missstated the Clayton WR time in one- I felt so stupid -the interviewer said he would edit it before he played the interview- he did not.

Rudin had a giant diningroom table as his desk and the view was Park Ave from like 40 or 50 stories. I was impressed. The secretary leading me to the secy who lead me to Rudins secy might have help too.

[MoMoNoMo]

Yeah, WiT, I'll give him your e-mail, if that's O.K. He's grinding away on a couple serious deadlines for the next month but I'll suggest he try to reach you after that. Thanks.

[wineturtle]

Just out his door is Manducatis Rustica- pizza and dessert, Manducatis full menu Italian fab wine list - and Domaine a winebar sister to Tournosol French rest- nicely priced wine funky cheese oysters to make it special. Tell him to ask for Chip the sommelier, he has been coming to our winedinners and my friend Stephanie Frederick says he was one of her best students*




*Why should we care what Steph says?
Sommelier Society Instructor Stephanie Frederick

http://www.sommeliersocietyofamerica.org/images/sfrederick1.JPG
Stephanie Frederick has been involved in the international wine industry for over (edit:D ) years, first as a passionate amateur and now as a professional.
In 1984, she was inducted into the Bons Entonneurs de Rabelaisens in Chinon, France, the third woman to be accepted (after Elizabeth Taylor and France's former first lady, Madame Anne Giscard d'Estaing).

[MoMoNoMo]

You're the 'homme,' WiT!

[wineturtle]

All that`s missing from the beauty brains charm money and wit package is the money.:cool:

[wayne b]

Wow, WiT, MoMo called you a homey! (Though he misspelled it.)

[Zat0pek]

Saw an update on the Chilean miner whose wife and mistress met at the scene when he was still trapped. The wife and the mistress are both in jail now, facing the same charge.

They've been charged with having sex with a miner.

Wait for it . . . .wait for it . . .

[MoMoNoMo]

Oh, Zat, you didn't...


GROOOOAAAAANNNNNN!!!!

[Zat0pek]

Oh, Zat, you didn't...


GROOOOAAAAANNNNNN!!!!

Yes. Yes, I did.

[wineturtle]

Lawyer humor...



Is that a oxymoron?;)


Expected from the likes of WiT, but from you Zat?

knock knock jokes next?