REI: Tourons are Us?

“LOL! OK, Grem. I just wish he wasn't so skeered of your Parliment. ;)”

“Nobody wants rudeness up here - it would be impolite.”

“You're out of luck with MEC,BM, they sell maps in-store only.

I Googled: maps "Banff/Jasper" and the first four entries should sive you everything you need. If you have any problems, e-mail me (profile).”

“The President didn't visit the British Parliament either. One of the problems, apparently, is that Parliament is also a court and no-one wants a Spain/Pinochet situation popping up.”

“i always assume that every single employee at any chain store knows jack squat about anything.

no offense to anyone on here that works in such a place.

i just find it to be a safer (and more accurate) assumption than to believe they might actually know what they're talking about.

this is true for any type of chain store, from REI/EMS to home depot/lowes.
last edited: 11/29/04 2:49:41 PM”

“LMAO! I thought it was because Parliment is where y'all vent your anger?

Although there is an article in the Sunday Post from an expat in Toronto that says all the politeness, especially in regards to US citizens, is a myth.

Thanks for the map tips!”

“Aha! Gemtrek maps (http://www.gemtrek.com) is the outfit I was thinking of. I bought several maps from them - all were superb. Prices were reasonable, too, I thought.”

“Unca Gremlin has another theory, in fact Unca Gremlin is chock full of them.

I live in a pretty mych 50/50 percent English/French part of the world stuck on the Canada/US border.

My ex was born in Pennsylvania and my defunct ex-father-in-law lived in Chapel Hill, NC.

I have lived in the Canadian Mid-West (Manitoba) where they called me Frenchie (not rudely).

I now spend almost all my leisure time in the Adirondacks of New York State and have travelled pretty much all over your and my countries. Here's the theory:

Every country/race/culture/group has pretty much the same percentage of A**holes and criminals and that percentage is very, very small. The thing is, this small percentage does a whole lot of damage - in fact all of it.

Obviously, it can be argued, larger societies have more, but the percentage is the same.

The difference between Canadians and Americans is mostly self-image, positive on our part and not so positive on yours - but, like our politicians, we're not that different, except for the fact that you guys can kill us all several times over. We think about that a lot - we call it, 'sleeping beside the elephant'.”

“Why don't you contact National Geographic or TopoZone or some place like that and order direct? If your so darned dissillusioned with the places that you spend your money, stop spending your money there. As a consumer, you vote everyday with your dollars. All I see is a bunch of whinny people that do nothing but complain. Personally, I think your all way too negative on way too many subjects. There has been so much negativity tossed around here lately, I feel the need to #&%!$ more frequently, just to purge the crap that I read.

Maybe you should try backpacking more and shopping less. you might just feel better. Just my $.02 kickin you in the arse.

Have a lovely day and may the force be with you and not biting you.”

“seems that this problem has been solved...all in a days work for Stikmon and his trusty loyal side kick, Khatru...

Haffy firbday!”

“SooOOooo, you're saying all REI's should carry every physical-version topo map of every region in the world at all times? They'll need warehouses at each location just to store the maps. FREAKO! And they may not be carrying thermal undies in your favorite shade of blue this year either. FLIPPER SKAG! You skank nard. You want it all and you want it now.”

“Grrrr. Argh. I'm leaving this place.”

“I'm back. Thanks, girls, for all the juicy e-mails begging me to stay. The pics were great.”

“LOL @ Buck. Now, what am I doing wrong with my pack fit? Do I need a smaller hipbelt? Do I need to shorten or lengthen the torso length? Should I bend the stays? E-mail me with the answer NOW dambit!”

“If your pack is too long and you really really like it, just have a couple vertebrae surgically removed from your spine and you should be up and walking like a champ in a couple years. I hope this response didn't take too long. REI has a new surgery department behind footwear. Thanks for shopping at REI.”

“I've actually already had that done, I guess I'll have to try something else. Thanks anyway.”

“It's not really a topo but they do carry a map.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=3022308&parent_category_rn=10574158&vcat=REI_SEARCH

Sorry don't know html Cool it doesn;t it on its own now

Oh yea and you know i might like an everest map on my wall. I figured out that not every sales person knows every thing, some are in it for the sale. Others are hardcore backpackers and enjoy working there. That still doesn't mean they are going to be able to tell you the best pack for you. You can get lucky and find good sales people and you might get unlucky. I try to know what i want and find out lots about it, see it in the store and see what the sales people have to say. At least rei carries most of what i want to see. So untill that stops they will still get my money, oh yea and i get %10 back i can;t complain.
last edited: 11/29/04 7:39:58 PM”

“BTW Buck your reply was way too slow, you'll have to work on that.”

“No Buck. maybe I need to clarify? The lack of a Banff map wouldn't have bothered me so much except for their fully stocked section of Everest maps.”

“Yah, but nobody ever felt like a stud standing in front of a map of Banff pointing out to the cute receptionist the places where people died last year either.

Disclaimer: I don't consider this to be proper behavior, however, I'm sure it takes place in front of maps of Everest.”

“Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I might use that.

side note - anyone know the story of the oldest American to climb Everest and his death on the way down?”

“If only I had a map of Everest, I could tell you the story....”

“Apparently REI is sick with them, Bowlderman...”

“I'm on my way!”

“The map I saw was in the Washington Post. Apparently this mans "guide" was extremely lacking in guidness, or good guidness.”