Merrick

Yeah, I'm interested in this thread as well... I'm going to be getting a new canopy sometime soon & was going to go with the hornet, but there's this little voice in my head whispering "sabre2." Are there any benefits of one over the other? I know that they're supposed to be very similar, but I was wondering if the Sabre2 was worth the extra $530 it would cost me. Is there anyone that has jumped both at the same wingloading that can give a good comparison? Thanks all! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

ROFL - I used to be just inside the top 50 (hell, I may still be, don't really care).... It's funny, now that I'm laid-off & jobless I have less time to post. LOL "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

What's that saying, something about a pot & a kettle & both being black... Hmmmm. Sorry to hear about your situation Marissa, it does suck to be responsible sometimes, but you gotta do what you gotta do... if that's the kind of person you are, you can't change it. "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

OK, I finally got the file copied to my harddrive... Ended up doing a dos diskcopy then copying the file from the other disk, so aparently there was a bad sector on that floppy..... However, I'm still gettting one of the same errors I was getting previously when I try to extract the application. (Error: Invalid compressed data to inflate.). Who knows. "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Thanks Wildblue, but I'd already tried all that... It came up with 0 problems with the disk, and when I try to copy it to the harddrive I get an error "Cannot copy: The system cannot read from the specified device." So it won't even let me copy it. Shrug, who knows! Thanks again, anyone else!? "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Just a quick question guys/gals... When trying to unzip an Access Application that I tried saving on floppy disk, before I reformatted my harddrive, I'm getting an "I/O error (Message WZ54) - Unable to read from Zip file." Anybody ever receive an error like this before, and if so, is there a fix for it? Thanks everyone! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

LOL - Turns out that the real problem was the coffee grounds on the CD-R's... but just for future reference, the Maxell CD-R's didn't work either! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Bwahahahahaha!!! Damn man, where the hell have you been, and when are you bringing "Judge" back. I said you could have him for the night, but damn, it's been months, he can only take so much! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Thanks for all the sentiments guys I really appreciate it. I didn't mean for this to turn into a "Pity Merrick" thread, but hey, whatever works! Like I said before, it was complete bullshit, and like Pam said, my old boss was a complete bitch and my new boss had already told of some "meetings" that her & he had about me... so basically their claims of internet use was just an excuse. Oh well.... Yeah, fuck off little Willie... we've got the kids working double-time since the layoff, & Lynn has even offered to help out some.... so the sweat-shop is up and thriving. EXACTLY!!! Other than the initial shock of the news, this is the attitude that we've been trying to have. I was very unhappy with my job & this town in general, so I decided that this was probably best. We had decided to move to NC over the summer, after searching & not coming up with anything substantial, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we were stuck here for a while & decided to make the best of it. We found a house that we both absolutely loved, & then got screwed out of the negotiations. Then found another that took forever it seemed for us to agree on a contract. Well, a day later is when I got the news about my job (thankfully it made the contract void), it just seems that every time we made an effort to stay here, there was something always standing in our way.... this IS an opportunity to go where ever we want & do whatever we want!

Well guys, don't know if you've heard yet or not, but I just got terminated for cause from my job... my $60,000+ per year, skydiving addiction-supporting job. The story I got was "Inappropriate use of the internet," which basically means anything not pertaining to company business. They actually pointed out dz.com, said that I spend waay too much time on here, which is bullshit because I'm on less than I was a year or so ago. I log on in the morning at about 6:00, check the threads & am done 6:30 or so, then usually check again at lunch. lol So, for those of you that think you have the perfect job, that they're paying you to post on this forum, be aware, they can & will terminate your ass!! Of course, those of you that are in government positions are probably safe. LOL No, it's all bullshit, they offered all of us severance about a month ago, and no one took it... so since the merger between Conoco & Phillips they're just basically looking for reasons to get rid of people, I won't be the last... certainly kicking myself for not taking that severance package now! So, if anyone knows of anyone looking for a systems analyst/programmer let me know, we're basically willing to move just about anywhere. lol "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

LOL - Nope! LOTR is only for Cornbread Mutherfuckers!! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Wingy: Be aware of the nipple rings.... I had both of mine done, one was a total hack-job so I took it out about an hour later, the other I had for about 6 years. When I broke my leg this summer I had to take it out for the surgery (something about some shit that might ground out & shock me LOL). When I was finally coherent the first thing I did was put my tongue ring & my nipple ring back in. I HAD an 8 gauge tongue ring & could only fit a 14 back in it, and I couldn't for the life of me get my nipple ring back in! NOW, my nipples are so sensitive I can barely stand for anyone to even touch them (right Pamela), let alone go get them pierced again.... Moral to the story, don't get hurt so that you have to get surgery.... It will make your nipples sensitive! lol "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Think of it this way... how awesome would it be to be on an AFF jump where you have your JM's right there with you & they can actually talk to you to give you directions (true, the hand signals work, but actually being able to hear someone would be a whole lot better). You have that security of someone right there with you critiquing you & able to tell you exactly what you need to do to correct it. This is what a Tandem does for you while under canopy. Let's be honest, your first skydive is all about the thrill of the ride, AFF I is no more than stable freefall, then a canopy ride with someone telling you what to do. Being able to actually talk to your TM and ask questions while flying the canopy is 10X the input you get from one-way radio. Everyone goes on & on about coach dives canopy control courses... essentially, that's what you're getting on your first skydive by going tandem. Just something to think about, I'm all for the AFP programs that have started. Now that that dribble isn't fogging up my head anymore, let me say that I believe if someone knows without a doubt that they want to complete a student course, I would recommend AFF or IAD/SL, if AFP wasn't available. However, if they were just one off, "I just want to see what it's like" students, then do a tandem. Actually, Pam & I both were one of those "one off" students, but decided to do an IAD jump. Point is, all situations are different, you can never know what advice to give because situations change, just give the best you can & hope it's OK for that person. I personally have never done a tandem & I didn't go the AFF route for financial reasons. Just keep in mind that the method you choose doesn't dictate how well you can fly later, cuz after 30 jumps or so, it simply won't matter, all programs have the same end result & that's building a safe competent skydiver with the base skill-set to become a GOD in the sky! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

ROFL - Ahhh... I missed that... for some reason I thought he was talking about Emmie. Now that I read back, it makes perfect sense, guess I should pay more attention. LOL As for financing a rig.... I used credit cards to get all our stuff.. but I also get a pretty healthy bonus at the first of each year that I can use to pay it off too (of course, it takes some dicipline to actually use it for that lol). Also, the best advice I can think of as well is to BUY USED for your first rig. Your skill level will more than likely outgrow the first rig you buy, so spending as little money as possible is the way to go at first. Just make sure whatever you buy is checked out by your rigger before you purchase it. "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

lol - Dude, I think you're thinking of Emma.... this is Emmie.

ROFL - OK, this was a joke, a fairly popular joke (or so I thought), surprised none of you picked up on it.... I have never gotten a tattoo in Jamaica, I got all four of mine in Arkansas (not that that's much better lol). This guy & his new wife go to Jamaica for their honeymoon, The wife decided that she wanted to do something crazy to commemorate their honeymoon and their new life together... so they both decided to go get tattoos. They decided to get each other's names tattooed in a place that nobody else would ever see, so she shaved and got "Steve" tattooed on her pussy, and he got "Wendy" tattooed on his dick. Well, it was a woman tattoo artist, so he couldn't help get erect while getting the tattoo. So now, when he's flaccid, the tattoo just says "Wy" The next day he & his wife are having lunch in a restaurant downtown in Jamaica, and he excuses himself & goes to the restroom. He walks up to the urinal, stands next to this big Jamaican guy, and starts peeing... after a few seconds he glances down (gawd knows why he did this) & notices that the Jamaican has a "Wy" tattooed on his dick as well. He ponders for a few more seconds if he should say anything, and decides he would ask.... "Excuse me sir, I don't mean to sound queer or anything, but I noticed you have a 'Wy' on your Dick as well...." "Yah mon!" "I was just wondering, is your wife's name Wendy too!" The Jamaican laughs hysterically.... "No mon, mine say 'Welcome to Jamaica, have a nice day!'" "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Gawd, where was I on that post, guess it just didn't interest me at the time, but I missed it. Thanks Remi... Well Brandon, as you know I've been thinking about getting some new gear, & I've been scheming ways of saving a little $$$. So, I thought I'd get a new container & reserve, but buy a used canopy. There's a Sabre 170 for sale on the enclave that's pretty cheap for it's # of jumps, and it says that it comes with French Triple Risers.... which would bring up another question: How much of a difference would they make on a Sabre 170.... it's not exactly a super-swooper, & I'd only be loading it at about 1.35:1? Just didn't know if I decided to get something like that if I should just tell him to keep them (hell, I don't even know if the canopy's still available)... they sound like a packing nightmare to me. "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Oh fine, don't humor the lazy people of the forum.... I don't care! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Does anyone know, or have picture of some French Triple Risers? I think I know what they are, but have never actually seen any. Also, what are the advantages, disadvantages of them? Any info would be great! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

I know that Airann's trying to cook up a scheme to get her rat-terrier (FleaFlyer) into the air... other than that, Ron Sirull has a dachshund (Brutus) that he skydives with regularly, and I know that I've seen a few other pictures somewhere, but couldn't find them. One was of a guy in a sit with a German Shepard (he didn't really look like he was in control of the dive, I think that dog was freakin' pretty bad), and the other was of a tandem that had a TM, some guy, and a dog (looked like a yellow lab) in front. I think they were a rescue team of some sort jumping into a mountain. Anyway, here's a few pics of Ron & his owner "Brutus" and another funnier pic. I know of a few people on this site that probably won't think the throwing dog's out of airplanes if very funny, but speaking of the blind skydivers joke. LOL "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Just curious if you'd ever actually tried this. I've heard that on a raft dive if you put too much air in the raft it could blow-up as you increase in altitude. By this logic, carrying your inhaler in a jump-plane could be a small grenade in your pocket. "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Bwahahaha.... I know what you're talking about Ben... Would this be the pic (see attachment)... Sorry Will. lol "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Yeah, sand is abslute hell on canopies from what I've seen. Last summer three jumpers moved to OK from AZ & jumped at our DZ for a while. I was amazed when Packing next to one of them after doing a 4 way with them and he started ragging me about having 50 some odd jumps at the time & a "brand spankin new" canopy... I just laughed, I jump a 96' Sabre that had just over 600 jumps at the time, he couldn't believe, I think he said his had about half that at the time (it was also a Sabre) and it looked absolutely horrible (faded, dingy, & gritty feeling), while mine, aparently, still looks pretty new. LOL "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

I caught up with this thread recently & thought I would give my opinion... Richard, I don't think Remi, or anyone, was trying to point out who's right or wrong. I think the whole terminoligy 'war' was simply as they've said, to point out that there are industry standards that are taught to students so that we all can communicate properly. If you leave the terminology vague, I was taught to cut-away & pull my reserve on a partial mal, but to simply pull my reserve on a total mal. Let's say that some student who has maybe 10 jumps or so is discussing this very thing with you, you start talking about a streamer as a total mal... I can then see him getting confused or, worse yet, idolizing you because you're a 250+ jump skygod (not trying to be antagonistic... think back to when you had 10 jumps, those guys with 200+, hell even 100 jumps seemed like they were just awesome, and you would seriously consider their opinionons as gospel... now we know better!). Anyway, I can see this student thinking "Hmmm... a total mal, I go straight for my reserve!" but NOW he's thinking that a streamer is a total mal, surely you can see the problem. Bottom line is, you call it what you want, but when you're talking to someone with less experience or anyone who's seeking advice, I think, just so there is NO confusion that you should qualify your total/partial with your definition of what you believe they are. Peace Brudda! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Yeah I gotta say, as funny as it was, I've purposely ignored this thread so far... I certainly wasn't very proud of that one, especially since Pam's SCR & that one are the only video I've ever had of me jumping. All three of us did MUCH better on all the previous dives, but we sure had our thumbs up our proverbial asses on that one! LOL "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"