Andie787

You would think that some of that $166 BILLION spent so far would have been used to buy jello and canned stew... There's a lot more going wrong than this if you open your eyes.

And even that car just bumps him up to "tolerable"...

Nice!!! What are your plans? Is she all ready to go? My boyfriend has a '66 bug. It's all original looking except for the blue paint and the huge porsche rims... It's so fun driving around watching adults and kids punching each other on the arm! It's so fun driving a car that makes people SMILE when they see it! Go spread some joy! Andrea

I know! I haven't been able to jump since July 1st and I'm going this weekend... Hopefully I'll be too busy to notice the temperature! A.

This article (text also below) is from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazatte. Simplistic? Sure! But I thought the other canucks on the board would get a kick out of it. (I'll be typically Canadian and apologize for the long read...) Andrea It's not just the weather that's cooler in Canada Wednesday, July 30, 2003 You live next door to a clean-cut, quiet guy. He never plays loud music or throws raucous parties. He doesn't gossip over the fence, just smiles politely and offers you some tomatoes. His lawn is cared-for, his house is neat as a pin and you get the feeling he doesn't always lock his front door. He wears Dockers. You hardly know he's there. And then one day you discover that he has pot in his basement, spends his weekends at peace marches and that guy you've seen mowing the yard is his spouse. Allow me to introduce Canada. The Canadians are so quiet that you may have forgotten they're up there, but they've been busy doing some surprising things. It's like discovering that the mice you are dimly aware of in your attic have been building an espresso machine. Did you realize, for example, that our reliable little tag-along brother never joined the Coalition of the Willing? Canada wasn't willing, as it turns out, to join the fun in Iraq. I can only assume American diner menus weren't angrily changed to include "freedom bacon," because nobody here eats the stuff anyway. And then there's the wild drug situation: Canadian doctors are authorized to dispense medical marijuana. Parliament is considering legislation that would not exactly legalize marijuana possession, as you may have heard, but would reduce the penalty for possession of under 15 grams to a fine, like a speeding ticket. This is to allow law enforcement to concentrate resources on traffickers; if your garden is full of wasps, it's smarter to go for the nest rather than trying to swat every individual bug. Or, in the United States, bong. Now, here's the part that I, as an American, can't understand. These poor benighted pinkos are doing everything wrong. They have a drug problem: Marijuana offenses have doubled since 1991. And Canada has strict gun control laws, which means that the criminals must all be heavily armed, the law-abiding civilians helpless and the government on the verge of a massive confiscation campaign. (The laws have been in place since the '70s, but I'm sure the government will get around to the confiscation eventually.) They don't even have a death penalty! And yet ... nationally, overall crime in Canada has been declining since 1991. Violent crimes fell 13 percent in 2002. Of course, there are still crimes committed with guns -- brought in from the United States, which has become the major illegal weapons supplier for all of North America -- but my theory is that the surge in pot-smoking has rendered most criminals too relaxed to commit violent crimes. They're probably more focused on shoplifting boxes of Ho-Hos from convenience stores. And then there's the most reckless move of all: Just last month, Canada decided to allow and recognize same-sex marriages. Merciful moose, what can they be thinking? Will there be married Mounties (they always get their man!)? Dudley Do-Right was sweet on Nell, not Mel! We must be the only ones who really care about families. Not enough to make sure they all have health insurance, of course, but more than those libertines up north. This sort of behavior is a clear and present danger to all our stereotypes about Canada. It's supposed to be a cold, wholesome country of polite, beer-drinking hockey players, not founded by freedom-fighters in a bloody revolution but quietly assembled by loyalists and royalists more interested in order and good government than liberty and independence. But if we are the rugged individualists, why do we spend so much of our time trying to get everyone to march in lockstep? And if Canadians are so reserved and moderate, why are they so progressive about letting people do what they want to? Canadians are, as a nation, less religious than we are, according to polls. As a result, Canada's government isn't influenced by large, well-organized religious groups and thus has more in common with those of Scandinavia than those of the United States, or, say, Iran. Canada signed the Kyoto global warming treaty, lets 19-year-olds drink, has more of its population living in urban areas and accepts more immigrants per capita than the United States. These are all things we've been told will wreck our society. But I guess Canadians are different, because theirs seems oddly sound. Like teenagers, we fiercely idolize individual freedom but really demand that everyone be the same. But the Canadians seem more adult -- more secure. They aren't afraid of foreigners. They aren't afraid of homosexuality. Most of all, they're not afraid of each other. I wonder if America will ever be that cool. Copyright ©1997-2003 PG Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved. Samantha Bennett can be reached at [email protected] or 412-263-3572.

It sounds like your problem was not jumping at night but jumping with "D". What can make a person do that? Lack of oxygen?!

If you really want to protect dogs it might be a better idea to support the local humane society, animal shelter, or rescue group with time or money. This would be FAR more effective and something you can feel good about! I have a friend from Korea and although she herself doesn't like dog meat, it is common there. She told me dogs are more often pests than pets, so they don't have the same emotional attachments. Andrea

Of course you're not alone! I'm still new, but I found that by my 3rd and 4th jumps I was thinking more than just being on "automatic pilot" like I was on my first couple after such intensive training. It's just your common sense kicking in! Best to start ignoring it now! Andie

for your poor kitty! Try not too make fun of him too much when he's released though. Cat's are very sensitive! Andie

I HATE this expression. What a load of crap. Anyway, memory loss can be caused by grief and is only temporary. As long as you aren't forgetting important things that could endanger you or others, like going out with something burning on the stove, you'll be ok in time. It's really frustrating though so try to relax and make lists of important things you don't want to forget. Andrea

Just for a moment try to imagine yourself a US soldier in Iraq. Every day, a soldier dies. The attacks are sneaky and sometimes primitive, but apparently somewhat oragnized. It is your job to patrol. Everyone is a stranger in a strange land. Any face could be that of your killer... I never supported any of this action but I FEEL for the troops in Iraq right now. They are certainly tense, but they are not trigger-happy as a whole. Andie

This song is on the radio here all the time... ARGH!!! I hate everything about you Why do I love you You hate everything about me Why do you love me I hate You hate I hate You love me I hate everything about you Why do I love you

Hi, This www.canada.com/montreal/story.asp?id=8C496317-D348-496D-9328-5DA3B8CAD7EA happened near Montreal. Full text posted below. The article makes it sound like there are no rules in the air for gliders, other than looking around. Do many glider pilots wear emergency parachutes? How did the other pilot manage to save himself, with debris raining down around him? How safe is gliding? Andie Montreal pilot dies as gliders collide in flight Second man parachutes safely. Both aircraft crash near facilities of soaring club in Hawkesbury KIRSTIN ENDEMANN and JOANNE LAUCIUS; With files from KAREN SNIDER CanWest News Service Monday, August 18, 2003 CREDIT: SIMON HAYTER, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE A 37-year-old Montreal man was killed in a mid-air crash yesterday afternoon, when two gliders collided just west of Hawkesbury. Both gliders were from the Montreal Soaring Council. The pilot of one parachuted to safety, while the second pilot fell to the ground. He died on impact. The incident happened about 1:50 p.m. as onlookers watched in horror. Dennis Thomasson and his wife, Terry, were considering taking gliding lessons. They watched as planes towed the gliders into the air. In all, the Thomassons saw about nine or 10 launches. They heard, rather than saw, the two gliders collide and watched as one broke into three fragments. One of the fragments was "spinning like a maple key" said Thomasson, and they feared the parachutist, who was beneath one of them, would be struck. The other glider crashed to the ground beside a hangar where the club houses its gliders. Ontario Provincial Police identifed the dead man last night as Mircea Chesoi. They did not release the name of the other pilot. The dead man's wife and young daughter arrived at the accident site about 6 p.m., and a police officer escorted them across yellow police tape to the crash site. Only a chunk of the glider's side and a wing remained. The rest had disintegrated in the crash, police said. The Transportation Safety Board and Nav Canada, which controls air traffic in Canada, have been notified. This is the third fatal accident involving the Montreal Soaring Council in about four years. In June 1999, Daniel Chevrefils, 51, died when his glider plunged from the air as it was making its final approach to the club's grass airfield. Three months later, Robert Gairns, who was in his 80s, died after his glider nosedived and crashed. The club, which consists of gliding enthusiasts mostly from the Montreal area, set up the airfield in 1957. Last night, members of the club were tight-lipped about the crash. However, Greg Bennett, a flying instructor with the club, said it is possible to obtain a glider pilot's licence in about 45 days. Gliders are light aircraft with long slender wings and no engines, usually flown by one or two people. They are usually towed into the air by a plane and released at a safe altitude, often about 1,000 metres above ground. The gliders then seek out thermals - rising sources of heat - which can keep the plane aloft for as long as eight hours. The Montreal Soaring Council requires radios to be installed in each of its gliders, though this is not necessarily required by law, said Bennett. "We can have from one to 25 planes up in the air at a time," he said. "We do have different zones, but pilots will go where there is lift - thermals formed by the sun and the specific geography of the ground." But radios are used primarily in landing, Bennett said, not to inform other pilots of coordinates because there is a lot of chatter coming from New York state pilots and others in Ottawa. Unlike with other planes, gliders are not guided by traffic controllers or mechanical equipment. Pilots must rely solely on the 300-degree view from the cockpit and radios. "A glider is not a very big ship so you have to be much more observant and watch and watch and watch. If they are coming directly at you, the visibility of seeing them is at its smallest - you won't have as much time to react as quickly." There are procedures for turning left and right and checking the area before making any sudden changes in direction, like landing, he said. "There only about 100 pilots in the club,"said Mr. Bennett, who insisted that gliding is a very safe sport. "I, we all, have lost a very good friend," he said. "I really do not know what happened - it's a really safe sport. I'm so surprised and shocked this happened." Ottawa Citizen © Copyright 2003 Montreal Gazette

Unbelievable levels of paranoia... Big Borther may be watching? Understandable I guess in light of the long prison sentence you could get for holding a joint in your hand. How sad is it that you are so repressed in the land of the free. No sense discussing it but if you think of all the damage alchohol does to families and individuals every year, you wonder why they don't bring back prohibition. It would be for our own good, wouldn't it? Hemp is one of the most useful plants on the planet, but it gets a bad rap. And it should be people's choice whether they want to walk around in a marijuana stupor or not, don't you think? I don't think ANYONE would come out and say you should smoke before you jump. I don't think that's what he was trying to say at all. And a bad "B" movie is EXACTLY what the DZ is like... A.

Dear Jess, I've never met you but I have shed some tears and sent you good thoughts, for what they're worth (which is a lot I think). I'm glad you're angry! You should be angry. It's important that you get that anger out. You can be angry at whomever you want. You can't hurt the one you're really pissed at, and your friends are so amazing, they will understand. Let a friend be your virtual punching bag, your sounding board, your rock. Because on the other side of anger is more sadness and wishing, and on the other side of that is a kind of peace. I wish you peace.