AtrusBatleth

I was responding to the original poster, who I presumed was a Christian based on opening the post with a biblical focus. I understand plenty why others choose not to believe. I was once there myself. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

"By their fruits" indeed. We've already known for some time most Democrats were spiritually dead. Now we are seeing many Republicans are not much better. We live in a fallen world where most people do not honor or obey God (regardless what party they affiliate with), so we should not be surprised to see the fruit of that spiritual darkness. It's going to get much worse before it gets better, as Jesus warned us. Wide is the road... Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

I wondered about that; something to do with decompression? I can't imagine I would ever be doing both on the same day, plus doing SCUBA with my kid we would be limited to a depth of 60ft so I'm not going super deep. I do have a long term goal of doing some HALO jumps though so I'll be sure not to combine them on the same trip. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

I tried SCUBA recently, just one of those intro deals in a pool. I was surprised how much anxiety it gave me. I should back up and say I am a fairly calm, logical person, and I never really had any fear while skydiving even the first time. I'd get butterflies in my stomach when the door opened the first few times, but just that healthy sense of uncomfortable, nothing major. I assumed SCUBA diving would be a similar experience. But as I was kneeling in the shallow end, heart pounding, breathing rapidly, I started to wonder if this was what an anxiety attack felt like (I don't generally suffer from them). I knew I just needed to relax and breath normal, but it surprised me just how difficult that would be. I came very close to coming above the surface and just saying, "Nope, not gonna happen." I made myself push through, and it did get easier. They started taking participants to the deep end and once again, I decided I would just stay in the shallow end but eventually made myself go down. I'm glad I did, it was a cool experience. But every few minutes or so my breathing would start speeding up and I had to focus to calm myself down again. I went into it with an attitude of "I do skydiving no problem, this will be a piece of cake" but I definitely ate a slice of humble pie that night. It gave me an appreciation for the nerves that most normal people have when new to skydiving. I would have been happy letting this be a one-time experience, but my kid got really into it and wants to get certified. So I feel like I have to get certified too, because I'm not about to drop off my underage kid with some strangers for a day of diving without me. Already sank the money into our gear (pun intended) and working through the book work. Wish me luck. I hear the mask-off part of the cert freaks out a lot of people. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

For what it's worth, if all other things were equal, I would rather go to a DZ that has a GSO or something equivalent and pay more per jump. Maybe not at a small single 182 DZ, but at a reasonable size/traffic DZ the extra cost per jump would be small. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

That's because I didn't even know about Trumps statement. I don't really care what Trump flippantly says for media attention, as that is a daily event. Btw just because I wholeheartedly disagree with Warren does not mean I support Trump. That is hard to believe considering Republicans made an issue out of this to get media attention. It was a Republican who brought this up and a Republican who then called her Pocahontas and tying that to her supposedly not being productive. To clarify, I was aware of Trump being one of many who have criticized Warren's claims (the Cherokee nation being among them). It was the bet I had not heard of. And just because someone criticizes Warren does not mean they are a Republican, which seems to be what you are implying (I could be wrong though). Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

I imagine if you ignore everything Trump says, he would sound a lot better. True, but I try to at least follow what he's doing in terms of his office, because for better or for worse (and there are examples of both), he is my president. But the public speeches, yeah I pretty much ignore those. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

I haven't heard you say that Trump should take responsibility for his statement and pay up. That's because I didn't even know about Trumps statement. I don't really care what Trump flippantly says for media attention, as that is a daily event. Btw just because I wholeheartedly disagree with Warren does not mean I support Trump. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

More like in the "dont give a damn how Native" camp. I dont get the reference to personal responsibility, sorry. She provided the classification of being Native American, that wasn't her employer exaggerating on her behalf. To who ever asked about data sources, there was a 2014 23andme study that found African and Native American DNA in the majority of self-identified European-Americans (not just Americans on average). Of course the percentages were small, but still double what Warren has. Actually it's pretty surprising it's as small as it is given how many hundred years we have been living together. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

"She shows that she is." But she really didn't. The DNA results show that she could be 1/64 to 1/1024 "American Indian" (nothing specific to tribe), but she could also have none whatsoever. The average white American has double the "American Indian" DNA as Warren does; her result was basically within statistical uncertainty of zero. And this is based on DNA analysis making some educated guesses derived from South American samples, because many Native Americans have been reluctant to give DNA samples (I don't blame them). She has some family lore, that's about it. But lore can be hazy. In my own family there was a story about a boy woken up in the middle of the night and the mother whisking him away. Somewhere along the way someone must have speculated that she was escaping an abusive husband who had wealthy connections and was sending PIs out to search for her, possibly a high up politician in the south, and she changed their family name, or that's how the story was once told to me. I started digging into it and from what I could find this mother had followed a job somewhere temporarily and a wealthy benefactor surprised her by funding the travel costs for her to go back and bring her son ahead of schedule so they could enjoy a holiday together. The records of the father are sketchy but he appears to have merely died young in a war or even just been a deadbeat who abandoned them. Was there really an abusive coverup scenario? Maybe, maybe not. This was just 5-6 generations ago. Is family lore from 10 generations ago or more really that reliable? Probably not, but there's always that chance. Do I really care if Warren has some distant Cherokee ancestry or not? No. I don't think we should be discriminating based on race in the first place, and that includes getting academic favoritism for being minority status. But since our society has decided it is worthwhile to favor minority races in academia and elsewhere, I think it odd that Warren would claim to be Native American when she's more European white than the average white American. Is 1/1024 really adequate threshold to claim minority status and let your employer brag about? What should the threshold be? You can see why I think this whole genetic favoritism is asinine and unsustainable. It shouldn't matter, but Warren is just as responsible as Trump for continuing to make this an issue. Me thinks the lady doth protest too much. PS, regardless of her ancestry, I have listened to her enough on actual issues to know there is no chance in hell I would ever vote for her. Go ahead and think she is reasonable all you want, but being better than HRC is really not saying much. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Intentionally? Inexperienced? Unless it was an experienced jumper willfully disregarding the light I think banning for any length seems pretty harsh. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Ok, I didn't realize the BSRs specifically allowed the exception to go straight to single instructor AFF after demonstrating proper tandem objectives. That's how I did AFF. So that was still in compliance with the AFF BSRs. Thanks for clarifying. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Perhaps a dumb question, but how can the details of AFF be a BSR when member DZs dont even need to follow AFF in the first place? As others have pointed out, plenty of DZs have already been using modified student programs, whether that includes tunnel time, tandems, etc. Have these DZs already been violating BSRs? Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

According to USPA demographics, 44% of US members have over 500 jumps. It's not perfect, but that's a reasonable estimate of how many "active" jumpers there are. It also coincides with the minimum number to be a TI. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Of course we won't know for sure until we file 2018 taxes, but in general I think less federal withholding is a good thing. Federal always withholds way too much, ending up with a huge refund. I would rather have my own money available to me instead of sticking it in an IRS savings account that earns no interest and I can only access once a year. Years ago through trial and error each paycheck, I increased the number of exemptions until the withholding was around where I wanted it (so my return would only be a few hundred). I had to claim like 20 kids before the math worked out right (I only have 2). As far as Trumps tax plan, I guess it depends on your situation. My withholding didn't really change at all in January. But then, maybe that's because my W-4 claims 20 exemptions. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Well everyone can still get the 30% federal subsidy, then Massachusetts has additional subsidies of $0.50-1.50 per Watt depending on location, which is almost half the cost. So I'd say subsidies are high there. They have to make up for the early shutdown of the Pilgrim nuclear plant and all that carbon free generation somehow. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Just discovered Netflix is coming out with Travelers season 3 later this year. So now is a good time to start re-watching the first 2 seasons for a refresher.

It's not as simple as "day price" vs "night price", even though that is how some utilities have started implementing time-of-day pricing to its customers. The market price that utilities pay and bid for power changes every 5 minutes. Yes the customer demand is generally higher during the day, but when there is a lot of solar on the supply side, there is a glut of supply during the middle of the day, hence prices are actually low. The peak times when prices are higher than average are in the morning and close to sunset, especially close to sunset. If there is sufficient solar supplying the grid, the mid-day prices will actually be much cheaper than the middle of the night. Pretty crazy eh? Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

I don't know what different jurisdications do, but where I am (Toronto,Ontario), power bills are divided into a fixed and variable amount. Such a pricing structure makes perfect logical sense and is where I suspect we are heading. But most US utilities are not there yet. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Now that you have clarified your secondary battery system, I agree with you. Bravo for making a good faith effort to be a benefit to the grid. Most rooftop solar homeowners (at least around here) dont have any battery system let alone try to time when they sell power back to help dampen the peak demand. It is to those typical solar owners that my previous comments were directed at. I agree the next step is to implement better control of distributed generation by the system operator, but I'm impressed with your attempts to anticipate their as-yet silenced demands. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

In some places yes, in some places no. In Saudi Arabia, large solar projects are going in without subsidies. The Jinko/Marubeni project, for example, is putting 350 megawatts near Abu Dhabi with no subsidies - and for a cost of 2.42 cents a kwhr. Good point of clarification: I am focused on the US grid. Other countries definitely vary. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Edit to add (but too late for me to actually edit apparently): The annual average cost per kWh that a traditional customer pays is actually higher than just the average cost of generating the electricity; a significant portion of the extra overhead goes towards maintaining the transmission system. That's another way that net metering customers get to unfairly benefit at the expense of traditional customers. With net metering, your net bill may be extremely small or even negative (utility pays you money), but it still costs the utility money to maintain the transmission lines throughout the system including your local neighborhood and up to your house, and you don't pay your fair share of that cost. It's similar to gas taxes that pay for road maintenance which EV drivers don't have to pay, or people who build a tiny house or live on a boat in the middle of a lake in Alaska to avoid paying property taxes. They all represent unfair advantages which make it look more cost effective than it really is. Sooner or later, regulations (and utility price structures) will catch up to the new method to attempt to level the playing field. When it does, the cost benefits won't be as appealing as they are now. So for those who have rooftop solar and net metering; enjoy it while you can. I don't think I would feel right taking advantage of my neighbors like that, but they'll be coming after you eventually. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

You're advocating the customer pay one rate if the power flows in one direction, but receive a different rate if the power flows in the opposite direction. There's nothing fair about that. It's got nothing to do with which direction the power is flowing (although there are some other technical challenges to reverse flow which I won't bother getting into). It has to do with what time of day you're doing the selling. The price of power changes throughout the day. For traditional customers, the utility sells them power at a loss during times of peak demand, and sells power above cost during times of low demand. It averages out over the course of a year. In the case of distributed generation with net metering, the homeowner gets to sell their excess power back to the utility at that same annually averaged rate. But in the case of solar generators, the times of the day when they are selling their excess tend to be times when the market cost is below the annual average, thus the utilities are forced to pay more than what the power is really worth AT THAT TIME. I don't know how it typically works out for wind, since I don't think there has been substantial installation of homeowner excess wind generation like there has been with solar. The time-of-day cost differences is why some utilities actually offer customers the choice (or maybe even require?) to pay a lower rate for power during low demand, but a higher rate for power during high demand. It provides financial incentive for customers to shift their power requirements to low demand times. It works out pretty well if you have an EV charging at night for example, or you are willing to let the house warm up in the summer during the day and then turn the thermostat down at night, or delay running your electric dryer until night-time, etc. As I said earlier, Hawaii was forced to adopt some form of time-of-day pricing to account for all the rooftop distributed solar being added to the grid and compounding the problems of the duck curve. After they did, it discouraged further expansion of rooftop solar installations because there wasn't as much cost benefit from selling power back to the utility when demand is lower. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Not arguing in favor or against, but just pointing out that the current renewable construction projects are still reliant on government subsidies. Xcel Energy does a phenomenal job with clean energy though, making real progress towards the lofty goal of 85% carbon-free by 2030. Of course part of that 85% includes their nuclear units which will reach the end of their current license in 2030 and the few years following. So unless they renew the licenses (which I hope they do, but there are those in the MN-PUC that don't even want them to operate to 2030), they will quickly fall below that goal just after having achieved it. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Good point, I had intended to mention battery and pumped storage but forgot. That is another solution being pursued, but up until now it has been very challenging and cost-prohibitive to implement on a large scale. Plenty of off-grid homes have their own battery banks, and they think "why can't utilities just do that?". They have no idea just how much power the grid is consuming. Most of the demand is not even residential, but commercial. There would be some pretty severe consequences from implementing that much battery production and disposal. But it's a developing technology and I'll be curious to see how well it actually lives up to the hype. Especially in terms of real cost. Max Peck What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?