A big snow has blanketed most of the mid-West and Northeast and some of
you are probably dragging out that old Flexible Flyer and taking the
kids (or grandkids) to the nearest sledding hill.  Well, I hate to be the
one to break it to you, but you have absolutely no business climbing
on that thing to "show these young upstarts how it's done".  Although
they didn't bother to print it on the sled, Flexible Flyers were built
with a weight limit in mind and, sit down for this, YOU EXCEED THAT
LIMIT BY A FACTOR OF TWO.  That cheesy repair you made with angle iron
fifteen years ago just isn't going to hold up.  Especially if, in your
zeal, you go down the steepest run (the one with three jumps) laying on
your stomach with two kids on your back (speaking hypothetically, of course).

However, if you were slink home and replace all the wooden bits with white
oak, now that's a whole different story.

> A big snow has blanketed most of the mid-West and Northeast and some of
> you are probably dragging out that old Flexible Flyer and taking the
> kids (or grandkids) to the nearest sledding hill.  Well, I hate to be the
> one to break it to you, but you have absolutely no business climbing
> on that thing to "show these young upstarts how it's done".

I'd like to add for the uninitiated that, the cheap plastic toboggans that
are sold at Ames, WalMart, KMart, etc. for about seven to nine dollars are
absolutely UNSTEERABLE. They are inappropriate for use if you have a steep,
winding driveway with large trees and rocks along the edges, with a sharp
dropoff into dense, rocky woods just beyond.

- Bill Taggart
- At home in Califon, NJ, USA

Just say "I meant to do that, and yes, I always walk like this..."