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We've removed several posts from this thread. And while we can respect why the discussion took the route it did, please keep this forum tied to preserving the memory of the individual, instead of berating their choices - no matter how bad they may be to your eyes. You're welcome to take Covid/Anti-Vax related topics to the Speakers Corner - but this isn't the place for us to try use someone's life choices as a lesson, or to berate them.

Along that line:

Carl “Smitty” Smith born August 24, 1948 in Miami Florida to Thelma and Eugene Smith of Belle Glade, died September 25, 2021. He was a longtime resident of Palm Beach County and most recently a resident of Landrum, South Carolina. He was retired from a long career in the construction industry, but his lifelong passion was skydiving. He was an instructor in Indiantown and Clewiston, FL, and a well-respected member of the skydiving community, where he impacted many individuals with his patience, quiet demeanor, and professionalism. He always took time to nurture people new to the sport, and was working with new jumpers up until the day he died. His newest skydive family was in Chester, SC. Another passion of his was photography, which he incorporated into both skydiving and his love of nature. Hours were spent in nature preserves, on land and kayaking on Florida rivers, getting the perfect shot. While on vacation, he would take breath-taking landscape photos, but had to be reminded sometimes to include people. He was always a craftsman, but most recently became a wood-turning artisan. Smitty is survived by his wife of 45 years, Jennifer Smith; his two daughters Stephanie Rudy (Tim), and Christy Herrmann (Michael); and his sister Linda Miles. I knew Smitty from jumping with him in Clewiston. He was a really nice person, avid photographer and a hell of a good jumper. I will definitely miss him. RIP Smitty, BSBD

judging by his other post, I would say your replying to a future spam account.

There should be no religious exceptions for anything under any circumstance. Everyone has an equal right to practice their religion so while you have every right to believe in a specific religious belief, others have an exactly equivalent right to refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of that belief.

"Some Catholics around the country are claiming religious exemption to the vaccine, because there's nothing more Catholic than letting someone else die for your sins." -- Colin Jost, doing "Weekend Update", on SNL last night

I don’t have time for a point-by-point rebuttal (and some of the points are valid exactly as they stand). However, one filter to use about many of what I saw early, about the “changing” rules around behavior and language seems to me to be a fairly natural long-term offshoot of living in an equal-protection democracy, itself an offshoot of the uprising of the barons etc in medieval England. What you describe as changes are sometimes just the need for more-powerful segments of society to actually have to pay attention to what the traditionally less-powerful and marginalized segments have been thinking all along. Most women don’t like to be assaulted, either verbally or physically. Most minorities don’t like to be automatically disparaged or marginalized. And forcing them to self-isolate causes things like the emergence of a subculture. So then punishing them for having developed a subculture is a pretty blatant exercise of “heads I win, tails you lose.” Each person deserves, as much as possible, the right to determine how they are addressed. Wendy P.

I’m just wondering how many people who say the vaccine was developed too quickly will be all over the new almost-approved just-developed medication that supposedly reduces the likelihood of serious illness. Wendy P.

Listen to local jumpers and a local canopy coach. The internet is full of well-meaning and often stuck in their ways people that offer bad advice for the situation you are in. I unfortunately know multiple people who have broken themselves by flying underloaded canopies and getting unlucky with winds. And my wife tore up her ankle ligaments by flying a canopy that was too small for her and getting unlucky with winds. All at the same DZ. So there are truly two sides of the coin, the one that you lose on is the one you neglect, and you absolutely should seek the advice of someone that is familiar with your surroundings, can watch your landings and mentor you to a safe progression.

Hi Robert, I think he was really probably fired because he did not bow five times a day toward Mar-A-Lago. Jerry Baumchen

The debt ceiling addresses the debt that has already been accrued since the last increase, the great majority (I've read ~97%) of it under Trump. What the Republicans are doing is much like someone who runs up a huge tab, then bails and sticks their companions with the bill. All in all a dick move, but unfortunately a large segment of the US population are so clueless that they have no idea about what is really happening.

Crash all the federally funded recovery programs and then point to the democrats saying 'look what they've done' when the economy tanks. Shitty politics 101.

I actually had heard that before, too. Two factors: one is that a 20 sq ft reduction in size is a smaller percentage at the higher wingloading, and the other because canopies below about 150 sq ft have shorter lines, and therefore are more sensitive to inputs. But people can easily read what they want in there, and forget the “don’t hang your cap on this.” To the OP, this is a discussion between you and more than one instructor at your dropzone. More than one simply because that reduces the chance of relying on the judgment of a single point. Wendy P.

Kevin Gibson - Rahlmo Rigging http://www.rahlmo.com Bryan Cavage, D-19100 AFF I, Tandem I, Vidiot http://www.dropzonesolutions.com -Social Media Consultant and Skydiving Gear Guru