I'm not the outdoor type, so could somebody tell me what a bear box is, and why I'd want to rent one?

I'm guessing they're boxes you can put food in that the bears can't open without a key!

http://climber.org/data/BearBoxes/AllBoxes.html

Okay, but what if a bear steals a key, and runs off to Wal-Mart to have it copied? What then?

Yeah, I know. Shut up RPM.

...Slinks back to his cubicle...

If I had a bear, I'd keep him in a box.

P.S. Should have called her Ehren-wretch. She's always complaining about something -- some handout somebody isn't getting. I love where she says "letting the rich hog all the good scenery." What, we're going to have the government subsidize living in the Hamptons and in Malibu? Throw the uber-rich out of their mansions and have the taxpayers fund it so I can live there?

> there may even be serious
> mental health consequences
> to letting the rich hog all
> the good scenery.

The Schlesinger memoir talks of the time some country-lovin' friend took Woody Allen on a brisk stroll through hill and dale. Afterward he said "Nature and I are two."

Truth be told, that's how I feel. I get itchy if I'm not within spitting distance of concrete.

I don't know Sun Valley, but I know lots of people with middle class incomes who live and own property in Park City. Not in Deer Valley, but still minutes from spectacular skiing in one of the most beautiful places in the country. Until recently my wife owned 1/3 share in a place there that she bought with friends, none of whom were earning above 50k a year. I'm unimpressed by Ehrenreich's boo-hooing; all it shows is that she is either too lazy or insufficiently clever to find a good deal and make things work.

If you allow private property and the freedom to dispose of it then some people will end up with more and some with less; some will spend wisely and some foolishly, until "rich people have sucked up all the good vacation real estate."

The only solution to this state of affairs is communism.

Absolutely right about Park City. My rather frugal midwestern parents took us skiing there a few times when I was growing up. I recall they had some all-inclusive plan for meals, lodging and skiing like they did at another parental favorite, University of Michigan family camp, also known as Camp Michigania.

or, I dunno, she could figure out the thing where ambition to be rich is one of the reasons that rich people are so rich... and that ambition like that is open to anyone.
There are vast stretches of land in the west where you can find scenery that will stun and amaze... if you are willing to pay the personal price to get there.

She's also wrong about Driggs. I have friends who left Tahoe for Driggs three years ago. They got tired of the impossiblity of owning land here and bought a parcel in Driggs. They're living in a trailer on their land while they construct their house. No exceptional income either, she works some office job in Jackson.

I do like how she romanticizes Driggs as that shithole she used to be able to afford to visit.

you're right Smurfy - I live in Jackson & have many friends that commute from Victor & Driggs, Idaho. Yes, she may think it's a little shithole that used to be affordable, but it's still gorgeous, more affordable than Jackson & there are many of us that aren't rich here - we just bust our butts to be here!

So the point of this article was that thr ich live in nicer places than the rest of us? Who'd a thunk it!!!

As for bear boxes ... "I'm guessing they're boxes you can put food in that the bears can't open without a key!" You mean bears can use keys? I just thought they smashed the shit out of things until they got what they wanted ... kinda like Bush only hairier.

ROFL .. WOW hit submit too quick on that last post. I would never intentionally put Bush and hairier into the same sentence. It just evokes ... well... nevermind. Lets just leave it that it was unintentional.

Why is it so bad for a middle class person to want more? Are they not allowed to want, just be glad to get what little scraps are thrown to them. I would bet that most of the people commenting here are middle class or less. Look how well you've been trained to love the rich and despise yourselves.

Last week coming down off the mountain here in Coeur D Alene, Idaho, I encountered a wild turkey orgy. Four males and about a dozen female in the road, jumping all over each other, not caring a tinker's cuss that a 2 ton metal monster was about 5 feet from squishing them...

For those of you who haven't been, the Tetons are one of the world's most incredible sites. Also Banff. And BC. And the Oregon Coast. And the Washington Pennisula. and...

"Why is it so bad for a middle class person to want more?"

Nothing, as long as they're willing to work to get it. Otherwise, piss off.

Why is it so bad for a middle class person to want more? ... Look how well you've been trained to love the rich and despise yourselves.

Oh. Please. I'm middle class because I choose to have a career I love rather than write sitcoms. I'm guessing I'll eventually do quite well, and probably because it's easier to be a success when you do what you love. I've had a number of TV deals and other deals I've turned down -- including a recent big bucks deal from a chain of newspapers -- because I'm not just about the money.

As for "wanting more," what I am is somebody who is for people earning what they have. If it meant so much to me to live along the ocean, I'd write sitcoms or advertising instead of a newspaper column.

I got a job right out of college with Ogilvy & Mather, and produced commercials, but quit, because, for me, it was only a conduit to learn production while getting paid for it (instead of financing grad film school).

Why do you guess people here are only middle class? Because you're bitter, or because you can read their salaries between the lines of the comments?

And "Jeen," you related to Barbara Ehrenwretch? There's something really strange about your comment, and I can't put my finger on it.

Why is it so bad for a middle class person to want more? Are they not allowed to want, just be glad to get what little scraps are thrown to them.

Jeen, you're confusing the middle class with the poor. Middle class people work for living, they don't have "scraps" thrown to them.

From whence do you think people who start businesses come? From whence the doctors and lawyers and architects and engineers?

You've fallen for that liberal / government fallacy that anyone making over $100K per year is "rich."

P.S. I'm not exactly a slouch, by the way. Syndicated my column to 70 papers myself when the syndicators told me I'd never make any money. Now I'm with Creators.

One thing that pisses me off in the UK is the "landed gentry." These are people who inherited large estates from their parents ... and so on back to someone who took it by force. It is all headed by the monarchy.

I'm not entirely sure why this annoys me so much. Is it just envy? After all, I'm doing what I can for my own offspring, which is just the same but on a smaller scale. Is it something to do with the scale? Our system of private property enables an individual to own far more than they could do if they had to defend their property all on their own.

>>One thing that pisses me off in the UK is the "landed gentry." These are people who inherited large estates from their parents ... and so on back to someone who took it by force. It is all headed by the monarchy.

Norman,
I'm with you in spirit!

But you are kinda saying "I'm pissed off by British history" - which is a valid gripe, but it won't take you very far.

Secondly, what would YOU do with a large, inherited estate in 2008?

(Basically, you'd better hope you get a stately pile in a good tourist location - otherwise the upkeep will kill you!)

What's so hilarious about her rant about Jackson Hole is that the majority of the rich who live there are liberals! And let's not forget John Kerry's mansion in Ketchum, Idaho.

Oh, please, this woman is ridiculous now.

First of all, is anyone else appalled that in that beauty what she latches onto is... (gasp, so utterly deep) shopping!!! If all she wants to do is buy clothes, what's she going to nature for.

Second of all, I give you this link...

http://www.schohariecounty-ny.gov/CountyWebSite/index.jsp

Just click on the link near the bottom for Scoharie County scenery. Some of the prettiest country in New York State. (Okay, I am biased as my mother's family has farmed there since the white man invaded.) But still damn pretty. My point? I don't know if it's still true but a few years ago they had the highest rate of unemployment/welfare recipients in New York State. So much for the poor being deprived of scenic beauty and/or nature. Last night's news did have a bit on how the dairy farmers there (yes, mostly dairy farmers amongst the employed) are struggling to cope with the gas prices increasing their overhead.

And, I too, resent the implication that one's mentally ill if one is not in sync with nature. I'm afraid my dad's city boy roots won out over my mom's country girl. I do not like to be where I can't get a pizza delivered or cable television. And I think camping's utterly insane. I, for the life of me, don't get camping. There's a reason we built houses. Let me retreat into their air conditioned inards and the misquitoes feast on those who don't get how anyone could not love the great outdoors. I'm a real indoor kind of gal myself.

Eric, you won't believe this but I've kinda of been researching possible retirement places and Coeur D Alene, Idaho is one of the places I've bookmarked. Real pretty place if pics on the web are anything to go by and cost of living pretty low and they do seem to encourage retirees. Tell me, how are they on Atheists, though? That's one that tough to tell on the web.