gjhdiver

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Everything posted by gjhdiver

  1. Every year on the 6th June, I seem to remember her out of the blue. I still miss her.
  2. Wait. What ? I never said that. I merely opined that Ray Charles could have bulked your last attempt better. Sheeesh. You try being constructive and that's the thanks you get.
  3. As someone who organized professionally all over the world for 25 years, I haven't heard of any other organizer that has been sued for negligence. This is probably more due to the fact that none of us are affluent enough to ensure any degree of meaningful recovery, and anyone who jumps with us has usually signed a waiver to the operation supplying the aircraft. Having said that though, I have for many years carried personal legal insurance,j ust in case anyone was tempted to try their luck. The mere fact that you have it can be enough to deter a frivolous suit. However, if you're going to organize at any level, take the proper precautions. The best advice I ever got when I was starting out was this. Design a skydive and pick the jumpers to do it. or Look at the jumpers you have and design a skydive that suits their abilities. Never mix the two. That's where the problems start.
  4. Ahhh. Nothing quite like the sound of a stable door being clicked shut, long after the horse has wandered off.
  5. Do you believe that this decision will withstand a challenge at the SC? The Federal standards are defined and have been restated as to what is a "miniority" or a "class". Everyone seems to think that it's a given that the Supreme Court will take an appeal. The decision today is very narrowly tailored to CA, and as such they may decide that it has no reach on a federal level, much as the other states that have allowed gay marriage.
  6. Whilst I hate to cast all of them in the same light, the ones I've come into regular contact with over the years sure fit the bill.
  7. Utterly Hilarious. As the commentator says, "how did you get elected ?" http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/congressman-thought-parody-article-planned-parenthood-real-113439270.html
  8. How dare they build a country on slavery! Who would ever live in a country that used slavery to grow? Just ask the Native Americans, the Asians, and African Americans. I couldn't effect that practice on the not unreasonable assumption that I had to wait at least a century to be born. I do however have the choice now to refuse to support a regime that uses those practices now. You are free to do whatever you want. I have more big way world records than I can count. I don't need another one so badly that I'll regret my participation in it for the rest of my life.
  9. They could be giving away hookers and blow there for all I care. I'll never give a penny to a place like this. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-a-morally-bankrupt-dictatorship-built-by-slave-labour-1828754.html
  10. Fuck that party trick. This is way better
  11. Ted Strong was a fucking titan. When I was the manager of Skydive City, I met him and Bill Morrisey a lot. He was the definition of a true gentleman, and this sport is what it is today precisely because of him. Without Ted Strong, there would be no tandem. I can't express how sorry I am to hear of his death. However, the best tribute we can pay to this man is to be the best tandem instructors we can be, on whatever system we are qualified in, for one thing is certain. Without Ted, there wouldn't be any of them. He broke the ground that others followed. Thanks Ted.
  12. It's worth something. There are still places and people that jump the older gear, especially with few jumps on it. The Pegasus used to be a highly sought after canopy for BASE jumps before the advent of specialized BASE canopies, and you still see them being jumped and used for ridge soaring. The Firefly became the Firelite once Django morphed into Glide Path. It's a good main canopy. I did my first CRW on those canopies too. If you wanted a nice little pair of fun canopies to do CRW on, they'd do. Just because they aren't state of the art doesn't mean they are unsafe or unusable. The whole modern sport was built in part on the use of these canopies and others like it in the 80's. Id' say you got a $6-700 set of gear there.....
  13. A lot of it can depend on the state you live in Some will allow a parent or guardian to sign for a minor, and in others, they cannot. That doesn't mean you can't jump in those states. It just means that the DZO will have to assume any liability that their waiver was covering them for.
  14. I think he's saying that it's none of our business, and in that I agree. She's a free woman and can pop them out like her vagina is a clown car for all I care. With the payoff she's likely to get from all this media attention, at least she'll be able to afford real nannies for them when she goes out partying, not imaginary ones. The jury did the right thing with the shitty case they were presented with. I don't care if she's guilty or not. I'd rather see 1000 guilty people walk free than one innocent person locked up.
  15. There's nothing wrong with Argus unit at all. I have two, and Wings isn't the only system that allows them. Infinity is another, and there are more. I'm more than happy with mine, and don't intend to replace them.
  16. USPA doesn't have a a weight limit, but the FAA does. Most sport and student reserves have a maximum TSO weight limit of 254 pounds under TSO c23b. There are other factors such as deployment speeds etc, but essentially, it is not only unwise to exceed the posted limit on your reserve, it is also illegal. Wherever you jump, ask to see the packing data card of the reserve you are expected to jump and check it's maximum weight rating. Don't be so excited to jump again that you exceed that weight. If you have to use it in a hight speed situation, you may be unlucky enough to find out why they have a posted weight limit.
  17. So, thanks to an action started under George W aegis, and continued under this administration, I can no longer play poker online This includes the dropzone.com games we used to have on Poker Stars. Money laundering charges have been brought against the owners of several high profile poker sites, including Poker Stars. Why money laundering ? Because the owners are not US residents, and it's a charge that a case for extradition can be made for. So, here's the idiocy of this. I'm a grown man with my own money, who can get in my car and drive ten minutes to the local card room and play poker for money legally all day, but I can't do it in my home any longer. Don't we have better things to care about ?
  18. Yep. We hit that area with every drop.
  19. We had Kari in a student rig to do close to door shots when we were releasing the ice blocks from altitude. When we had done those, we moved her back in the plane, removed the rig and hooked her to me, the lucky girl. She did two tandems with me that day, and the one you see is a composite edit between the footage from Clay, the footage from the helicopter, and the footage from the GoPro strapped to her left hand....
  20. Just some extra info. Kari actually did two jump with me. The first was following the ice, and the second was for setup shots and exit shots. For the second jump, we flew in formation with a helicopter mounted camera. That's the one that you see the in air canopy shots and exit from. The two dives were then put together with Kari's GoPro footage to make the final edit. All the time that Kari was near the door, she was either attached to me or had her own rig on. The camera crew also had tandem harnesses on and safety tandem instructors with them in case of a bailout situation. We did several passes with the ice. We did some from 1000 feet for concept testing, and then went higher. The last ones we dropped from full altitude. All of the in air filming was by Clay Bonavito, and Niklas did all the logistics. I did all the swearing, which is why they edited out all my good bits. Here's a picture of me and Kari....Like I said, it's a tough job.
  21. Yes it is. It's one of our student Wings containers over a Sigma harness.
  22. Theory: They wanted footage of her sitting near the open door by herself, before she was hooked up to the tandem master. So she needed her own rig for safety in case she fell out. And then once that task was done and the door closed, they removed the student rig and hooked her up to the tandem master for her jump. I was going to answer this, but John did it for me. Well done sir !
  23. We did. It was only fair. We did eat all their food when they were out in the landing area filming.....
  24. It's about the myth of blue ice from airplane toilets escaping, freezing, and making it to the ground to cause damage... I won't spoil the ending for you