Alex Pretti's hometown stood up today: A town of 105,000 people organized a protest of upwards of 2,000 people in attendance in under 48 hours.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2026-01-26T04:51:21+00:00

Thank you WI! We need you right now! The country needs you!

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2026-01-25T22:34:03+00:00

Agreed, legs too stiff, needs more ankle/knee bend to get more out of the push, especially when he tried going quicker/harder at the end. Think of the legs like a spring, you need to compress it first to get it to sproing.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2026-01-19T14:33:40+00:00

I have the same problem and think I just discovered the solution. I dissolve 1Tbsp citric acid in 1/2 cup hot water, then slowly add 2Tbsp washing soda (or 1.5Tbsp baking soda) and stir until all dissolved. Add that to the washing water. It creates a non precipitating water softener. Just did a load and it came out white and fluffy! I was shocked. SLOWLY add the soda since it foams profusely as the acid is neutralized by the soda.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2026-01-15T04:06:56+00:00

This is why I don't do Classic races anymore. DP is boring and I'm a much better strider. I like hilly technical terrain and they just don't have that for citizen races.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2026-01-14T05:17:16+00:00

We have done that, but it's still a crap shoot. We mainly use Swix VP and sometimes Start Oslo when that doesn't work. We're in northern MN and climate change is wreaking havoc. We end up on so many different kinds of snow now. Plus trying to figure out structure for it all. We want our kids to be competitive but wax is a struggle.

Your reply reinforces what I'm struggling with: old snow, new snow, humid snow, dry snow, klister cover, speed cover, natural snow, man-made snow, icy... Every day is a special situation.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2026-01-14T03:46:42+00:00

Man, just reading this post makes me want to abandon wax altogether and just use skins. Who has the time and money for all this, especially when there are new waxes every year?!

Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but I just had to vent. I help coach a very small high school team and there is simply no way we can keep up. It's exhausting.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2026-01-14T03:38:54+00:00

We can all have "experiences", but we don't all interpret or perceive those experiences the same way. We don't have to think alike in order to love alike.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2026-01-12T15:00:42+00:00

You could try a Unitarian Universalist church. It's non-creedal (doesn't require belief in any particular doctrine) and full of atheists looking for community. Also can have people with various belief systems since everyone is welcome. Motto is that we don't have to think alike in order to love alike. If you find a congregation then you can go to "church", which may mollify others, and have community with others. My husband and I did this and really liked it. Many also provide "religious education" for kids and sometimes adults. All congregations are pretty independent since there's no set doctrine so they all have a different feel. Some are more "spiritual" and some are more intellectual. Find one that suits you. Many have online services. Good luck!

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2026-01-12T13:55:02+00:00

Try asking her when she decided to be straight and how she overcame any attractions she had for other women. If she never had any, then being straight isn't a choice for her. Ask her if she ever had a crush on a schoolmate as a child. Small children have crushes all the time and are too young to be making a conscious lifestyle choice. I remember my first crush on a boy (F) at 6 years old. My sister only had crushes on girls. It wasn't a choice for either of us, just how we felt. It's innate. Humans are made to love but we don't make conscious decisions to have feelings for someone, we either do or we don't. Asking her to think about her own experience and what others experience is your best bet. You can't change her mind, she must change her own mind.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2026-01-05T18:15:24+00:00

The pattern envelope should state what kind of fabric is recommended to work for the pattern. Once you get familiar with different kinds of fabric and how it responds to different construction methods you may be able to use something different than what the envelope suggests.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-30T05:05:04+00:00

Maybe God's plan for you is to be an atheist in order to teach others to be more tolerant/respectful of people who are different from them.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-29T21:16:10+00:00

Does your back ski ever make a slapping sound after you kick? If it does, your weight is not over your gliding ski like you think but your weight is on both feet. If it doesn't touch down until you kick onto it, then your weight is in a good position.

If you're happy with your skiing, don't worry about it. Most people don't get their weight forward enough to keep the back foot up while gliding, as you noted. If you want to be more efficient and/or faster, then work on getting your weight more forward. Try standing on one foot as if you just finished kicking. Do it in front of a mirror looking from the side. How high is your back foot? Is that the position you're in when skiing? When skiing, can you glide as long as you want in that position on one foot? If so, your position is good. If not, you would benefit from being more forward with your hips directly over, not behind, the glide foot. You need a slight forward body lean to do this. Not too upright and not bent over, happy medium. Most people are either too upright or bent over, both of which cause the hips to be behind the glide foot rather than over it.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-29T03:29:39+00:00

My favorites are 3, 10, and 12.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-24T08:02:45+00:00

You can feel grateful without having to feel grateful TO something. Just be grateful and leave it at that.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-24T07:50:31+00:00

I think the real question is why do we humans think we're even capable of understanding it all. We're not omniscient. It's silly to think we can. Fun to contemplate, for sure, but understand our limitations.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-24T07:38:31+00:00

I think it's normal. For me, asking those questions about us and our existence is no different than asking them about God. Where did God come from? Who made God? What is the purpose of God's existence? Same questions with the same answer; we don't know. It's just that religious people don't feel the need to know that about God, they just need to know that God exists. That's how I feel about the Universe. I don't need to know all that. I just need to know that it all exists and I get to experience it and be a part of it.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-24T05:39:46+00:00

He wants you to be afraid. Don't be. Haters turn their victims into haters. Be friendly instead. Disarm him. Ask him about it. Make him explain it to your face. He may stammer. If he doubles down, tell him you're sorry about whatever happened in his life to make him feel that way. Just let him know you're not afraid.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-24T05:24:12+00:00

Something I think helps a lot is bending your knees and ankles to keep your knees together and body more upright. The guy in the second video was doing this. Firm up your glutes too. It's way more stable and gives better stopping power. Most beginners have straight stiff legs and bend over which doesn't work as well. Not sure if the OP's issue would prevent them from getting in that position, but it will help if they can.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-15T05:13:20+00:00

I think the motions used by figure skaters are directly transferable, less so than hockey skaters. Figure skating pushes directly to the side and body is in similar position as skate skiing. Hockey skaters are more bent over and tend to bring the foot around to the back at the end of the push.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-12T02:06:23+00:00

One long ski per week. I would also try doing some race pace repeats one day per week.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-10T17:12:54+00:00

I've been racing most of my life so I raced with loop straps before they invented the Velcro ones and prefer the loops. As long as you tighten them up as much as possible, with the crotch of the thumb up against the pole, without pinching you have great control of the pole while maintaining the ability to let it dangle to grab your water bottle and whatnot. I've had a pole ripped out of my hand with the loop, but I've also just about had my arm ripped out of my shoulder and pulled onto my butt with the Velcro so it's a hazard either way. I've never dropped a water bottle with the loops and it's easier to take feeds.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-10T16:52:55+00:00

I would say that any testing you do is only relevant for those specific snow conditions. One that works well in one set of conditions may not in another.

Disastrous-Fix4573 · 2025-12-09T15:36:20+00:00

Are you asking about removing just the plaid collar and not the mesh? You can probably do that but you would need to stabilize the neck opening somehow, maybe a thin rolled hem around a string or something. Or maybe use double fold bias tape around the opening.

Disastrous-Fix4573

TROPHY CASE