stoneycase

i'd say, depending on their ages, magazines like FHM, Maxim, Stuff, etc are generally well received. they aren't quite playboy, but you don't get into the whole mess of sending porn. find one with a 2006 calendar, and i think you will have made some definite new friends. no one can resist lingerie/sexy calendars take a look at this: http://www.anysoldier.com/WhatToSend.cfm they've got some lists of equipment, including tactical gear that you can get with discount to send. just as a disclaimer, there is always the question of "are these people (website owners, etc etc) just trying to make money selling worthless carepackages to unsuspecting folks that just want to help the troops" or is the stuff actually useful. i can't vouch for anysoldier.com so i thought i would throw that out there. kind of like the whole "support our troops" magnets, that really mean you just support the guy in china making them and the co. in the US selling 'em. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

HAHA! i've been waiting patiently to see what would happen, LOL, absolutely worth the wait. i don't know about anyone else but this is f***ing hilarious. thanks lisamarie you just brought a little sunshine to my day. i have no idea what you should at this point, but if you've still got that aerosol can you could always put it in another shoebox, fill it full of paper, and light it. the can should blow if(its get hot enough) and add a fun twist to the whole situation. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

haha, i bet not. now THAT is something i can buy into. 100% doesn't surprise me. standing in the grocery store checkout line i watched a mom buy her daughter about a dozen different pieces of candy just because the kid was whining and crying. seriously, rather than do anything she put each piece of candy the kid picked up into her cart. easier to just give 'er what she wants than discipline her. that, i am sure, will NOT make for a good future g/f or wife, lol...good luck to that poor soul. see here is where i was expecting you to say, "the trick is to tie em up nice and tight in a closet, gag 'em real good too. that'll teach 'em to behave" i like it. although i think you're being a bit idealistic with the "she'll have no one to blame but herself". looking back at lots of folks responses, i think some people might say that the affects, although reduced, will still be the same - she'll feel like her privacy was violated. bear in mind here, i don't consider any of the scenarios an unreasonable invasion of privacy. but we are dealing with a 16yr old girl, i can think of about a million different things on this planet that think more rationally than a 16yr old girl. one of them is my pet rock. pops was in the army for 29+ yrs as an officer. when i didn't toe the line (which was basically all the time) there was no beating around the bush. i think his idea of mature conversation was forced manual labor. the conversation came in when he told me what to do, where to do it, and for how long. haha, i remember coming home drunk one evening in HS, he was pissed and i mouthed off. i spent about 3hours outside that evening, weeding the garden by flashlight before i could finally go in and sleep it off. he sat there and watched me the whole time, even pointed out the weeds i missed. now that is some quality parenting. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

probably true, but i think i was talking about something that isn't as concrete as the exchange of $. there's a difference between accepting $ for services/products, as the DZO would do, and inviting, or accepting someone into a group. sure shayna, if you want to jump, i'm sure you'll find a DZ to take your Visa/MC, but don't be surprised if some people at the DZ would rather not be around you. (not that this couldnt happen anyway, dz politics and drama being what they are) because she's going to continue skydiving, and eventually, i'm assuming, she'll want to be part of some group, whether it be large or small i don't care. finally, i think you missed the TFA that indicates she's now engaged and planning marriage, as soon as the b/f finalizes his divorce. seems like love, is still convenient enough for her, she's not that "primal". for what it's worth, i get what you're saying. i'm just pointing out that her actions don't seem to put her in the category of "so scared she doesn't have time for anything else" Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

but isn't that the point...he doesn't trust her at the moment. how could he possibly gamble that she'll make the right decisions if they are barely communicating? the fact that you're able to talk to your daughter about this situation, and get such an honest reply (i wouldn't have expected your daughter, regardless of age, to say any different) seems to suggest you have a good open line of communication with her. i don't think tumbler has that same advantage. it's an awful lot to ask for a parent to gamble and trust that his daughter will make the right decisions when he can't have an honest & open conversation with her to confirm that she's got a good head on her shoulders and is indeed capable of making the right decisions, isn't it? one last thought, "trust that he's raised her well enough". well she's 16, i doubt he's done "raising her" yet. change her age to say 19 or something and perhaps the ballgame changes a bit. but i don't know many parents that are done raising their children at 16. so asking him to trust that he's raised her well enough seems like a lot to ask, especially when he isn't finished with his "raising"....out of the mouth of a 25yr old, can ya believe it?! Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

ok...but should she, or you, expect the skydiving community to welcome her with open arms, or donate any money, if she "doesn't give a rats ass" about the community in the first place. i'm barely a member of this community, but i know enough that if i piss on the community, what little "membership" i do have is going to disappear quickly. to me, declining to help her, or criticizing her decisions is not self righteousness, it's simply understanding that what you are saying is correct: she jumped at an opportunity to get financial assistance and said to hell with the consequences or fall out. she's got bills to pay. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

haha, who knew the guy with the capt spalding avatar would be a parent...open mouth, insert foot. i wouldn't consider myself a computer security "pro" it's not my primary job function. but it something i deal with on a day-to-day basis at work, and also something i occassionally get contracted for. i know enough to know that a pro knows far more about the enterprise level than i do. if you come to work everyday charged with keeping the network safe, then you, undoubtedly, have more sec knowledge than i do. i like it, but i still advocate digging deeper to get the "sensitive information" doubt you'll get that on the family computer, you've got to let her feel secure in her own room, on her PC to really let the tracking software do it's job. you want to catch her talking about drugs, sex, and rock n roll - i wouldn't rely on the family pc to turn out that info. if she shows up while he's on her machine, he should fake incompetence and complain that the internet isn't working and he's on her machine "because it's making funny noises". make sure to stick a drink or cup in the exposed CDROM though, that will provided the neccessary effect. clicking wildly with the mouse and screaming might help as well. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

damn straight. what she said. truly love her for years, and let her go when she says she wants space. when she shacks up with her neighbor 2 days later let it go. 2 weeks later when she shacks up with you again let it go. and finally, another week later when she shacks up with her ex before you, begin the hate. and when she shows up at your door last night to give you a christmas card that says, "i know our relationship has changed but i hope we can still make great memories together in the future" ask her to leave, and stop caring at all. /something about the crazy crazy mad pirate felt appropriate Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

nice one dave. some selective quotes for those that might not rtfa This isn’t exactly how Shayna Richardson of Joplin, Mo., expected to get her 15 minutes of fame. Yet there she was, exchanging Christmas pleasantries with Diane Sawyer last week on “Good Morning America.” Richardson hammed it up on Tuesday with Barbara Walters on ABC’s “The View,” and she said she has been contacted by representatives for talk-show hosts David Letterman, Ellen DeGeneres and others. She has been on CNN, NBC’s “Today” show and in newspapers worldwide. ... Reached recently by phone from New York, where she was staying 40 floors up near Times Square in an executive suite paid for by “The View,” Richardson tried to put the whirlwind in perspective. “It’s been unreal,” she said. “I feel like my life has been flipped upside down, and I’m living somebody else’s life.” ... This jump, from 10,000 feet, initially seemed normal enough. Then Richardson tried to open her chute. It failed, which Richardson and West attributed to a toggle that could have been corrected had Richardson realized what went wrong. Instead, according to West, “She freaked out.” So Richardson turned to the reserve chute, which did not deploy fully. Down she went, spinning uncontrollably. West, who also was diving, tried to shout instructions in midair. The voices of spotters crackled in Richardson’s walkie-talkie, but she could not recover. “Seconds before I hit,” Richardson said, “I remember saying, ‘OK, God. I’m coming home. Just please don’t make it hurt.” ... West said that he landed about a minute after Richardson, ripped off his gear and sprinted to her side. He said she was lying face down in a pool of blood and was bleeding from her eyes, nose and mouth. Amazingly, Richardson managed to sit up and spit out a mouthful of teeth. “Am I dreaming?” she asked. “Am I alive? Am I in heaven?” Richardson says she does not remember any of that. She was flown to a hospital in Fayetteville, Ark.. The damage: a pelvis broken in two places, a broken lower right leg — and a face that she said was “eggshelled.” ... In four surgeries, doctors inserted 15 steel plates where bones once provided structure, and Richardson’s jaw was wired shut for more than a month.Richardson had no health insurance, something that she now concedes was “silly.” She said her expenses have climbed past $200,000, and there are thousands of dollars more expected in the future. That was what triggered the media blitz. One of Richardson’s high school teachers from Ash Grove, Mo., thought she could help generate donations for her former student if she alerted the media. The video of Richardson’s fall has since been played on network programs, local TV stations and Internet sites. Richardson said she has not been paid a dime for her media appearances, and a fund set up at a bank in Ash Grove hasn’t exactly been overwhelmed. ... Meanwhile, West says he is worried that all the publicity will hurt his career. “The skydiving community doesn’t want me to talk about it,” he said. Still, Richardson and West are optimistic about the future. They recently got engaged and will set a wedding date once Richardson’s divorce is final. Neither has soured on skydiving and they expect to be in the skies in 2006. Then there is their baby. Tests conducted while Richardson was hospitalized showed that she was pregnant, which shocked her and West. The baby was virtually unscathed in the accident and is due in June. entertaining to say the least...thanks dave. should add to the discussion, err flame war Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

cost analyst. i'd put cost analyst in there, but i doubt anyone would know what that means. so i chose "analyst" instead. the degree is real, the story isn't ;) it's a horrible analogy, i know...i just figured that if folks are ready with their wallets whenever someone is in an accident then i'd try to make the point that perhaps they are TOO ready with their wallets. (maybe that's the cost analyst in me) bottom line, for me, is this is a capitalist society. we value money earned. when we see someone receiving money that they haven't earned, especially through the form of donation or freebie the antennae goes up. watching someone who thinks they are entitled to free money is even worse. add to that simple fact the complexities that we have here (skydiving, girl, pregnancy, media, etc etc) and it's easy to see how some people are going to come down on the side of the fence that says "personal responsibility". crucifying these peple for being "mean" or "hardasses" is dead wrong in my book. if you want to open your wallet for anybody or anything that's your decision, but don't expect the rest of us to sit by and stay quiet while we keep our wallets closed. i've always though we get two opportunities to vote - once with a ballot, and once with our wallet. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

yeah i know, everyone on here telling him not to run any tracking software beat the software when they were a kid yadda yadda yadda, therefore the software's pointless anyway. what's worse, the kid will just beat it and never trust her dad again, right? right?? seems to me there are more than just a few responses that suggest the exact opposite: Merrick As a parent that has faced this very situation let me say that matewatcher is a great keylogger (http://www.matewatcher.com/pages/1/index.htm). We suspected my daughter of mischief online, so we downloaded this little tool, busted her, and now she knows that we can see everything she does on the computer. .... but this didn't effect our relationship at all, she's a good kid, and she knows that what she was doing was wrong. Airtwardo Our daughter has had some problems in the past, we tried it the 'touchie feelie' way, and things became even worse, dangerously so...I finally said, fuck it...the way I was raised worked out pretty good, so it's back to basics...."How far" will I go to see that these children are kept safe and secure...even from themselves and their questionable judgement?...As far as it takes!...I've tapped phones, snooped rooms, shown up where I wasn't expected, read email and tracked IM's... Oh my God you may say, those children have no privacy...Fucking right they don't, we're a FAMILY...we have no secrets...they can read MY mail anytime they want, and listen in on my phone calls 'till bored stiff. LisaM My son is quite young yet, but his computer is in a central location in the house. And my son has been told from very early on that his stuff is mine to go through whenever I want. It's just said matter-of-factly so he's never questioned it. I tell him it's my job as a parent to make sure he is safe and on the right track and sometimes and I have to do that how I see fit. it goes on, but there no need to repost what has already been said. the point being made is this: the parents in here, as one poster said, are looking at tracking software as an additional tool to help them, it's not an end-all-be-all. i know it's hard, but we have to take off the "young person's" cap and put on the "parent" cap. young people/children now, more than ever, spend a large portion of their day on the computer and online. sitting back while a parent is having problems, telling them not to "invade their child's privacy" by tracking their online habits and computer use, to me, is hypocritical. you advocate being involved, you advocate listening, you advocate helping, being "real" with the child and developing trust. if we take the first statement as true(kids spend tons of time online), then the parents MUST be involved and aware of the child's computer/online habits, in order to be a good parent, even by your own standards. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

Hey there, I was driving down the highway the other day without my seatbelt on and somebody crashed into me, totally not even my fault! Their stupid car had problems or something and they couldn't stop fast enough and they rear ended me. Since I'm new to driving, I wasn't wearing my seatbelt, I just forgot. I also don't have insurance, neither does the other driver. Would you mind sending me a PM also? I'd like to see if you're interested in covering the damage to the car or my neck. These hospital bills and mechanic bills are insane! Thanks! Whomever said, "I don't give money to panhandlers on the street, or on the TV." you win the gold star for today. Congrats. Also, all you folks praising her for owning up to her mistakes on tv, or w/e, I still don't see any responses about the articles I linked to where she indicates the gear was at fault....Could it be that she manipulates some aspects of the story for the press in order to sensationalize her accident and ultimately increase the chances she gets more $ handouts? Say it ain't so!!! (i do admire her entrepeneur skills though when it comes to collecting donations, when life presents you with an opportunity - take it! just don't be surprised when you piss some people off) Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

well good for her, maybe she'd like to correct this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051213/ap_on_re_us/skydiver_s_plunge "I heard a snap and I started spinning and I didn't know why. I didn't know what to do to fix it. I didn't know how to make it stop," Richardson told Fort Smith, Ark., television station KFSM. ... "It's called your guaranteed open. That's what everyone refers to it as," Richardson said. But the reserve didn't open all the way. "To have a malfunctioning reserve is one in a million. It just doesn't happen," Richardson said. that, to me, looks like she's blaming the gear. she goes on to say she decided to die, yadda yadda yadda, but i don't see anything that remotely suggests "i was at fault, it's 100% my fault, the gear didn't fail, i did" after that, she can move on to this article: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=21872 "Imagine jumping out of an airplane and having your parachute fail, but you somehow survive the impact. That's what happened to 21-year-old Shayna Richardson of Joplin, Mo., while she was skydiving in Siloam Springs, Ark. in October." I'm glad she went on TV and owned up, but again, my gripe remains: overall, the news media reported it as a gear failure, not "operator error" as it probably should have been reported. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

somebody want to explain what "industrial haze" is? is this another website? she's talking as if it's somewhere she went, but i can't seem to figure out whether it's a real place or something else. saw the tv reports...read the online reports...read some of the dz.com thread... her report seems different for 3 reasons: 1 - she consulted a "PD professional" about the canopy choice 2 - rick was not her primary instructor 3 - she makes a decent attempt at owning up for the mistake and realizing she is ultimately the one that caused the accident. as for the "lets get the world to pay for some new teeth" i guess i can't say that i blame her. with no other options, i'd probably go looking for help to get some teeth. eating food through a straw probably gets old after awhile. although i would hope that this experience leads her to examine health/dental insurance. my only gripe would be this: just about all of the reports i read were very "sensational" and basically had the premise that skydiving is crazy and she (and her baby) are just damn lucky to be alive. it's up to her as "the story" to keep the facts straight and the reporter inline. either she didn't do a very good job at this, or reporters being reporters, listened to her and then turned it into something that would sell papers. either way, the result is the same - the public continues to think that the gear is unreliable, the instruction is substandard, and the people in the sport are careless. all of which, couldn't be further from the actual truth. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

has anyone chastized you yet for being "the nice guy"? normally i would, but i'm hoping your good friends will pick that up and run with it. that is, after all, what friends are for :) since you're asking for the .02, here goes: interpret her actions as just being flat out drunk. she's looking for the comfort factor - she feels like shit, and you were more than happy to oblige. problem with that is you were looking at this as a potential opportunity; you've been wanting more from her. easiest way to verify this, imho, watch her girlfriend's reactions. what they say to you about you taking care of her, or whether or not they make fun of her for puking, etc etc will most likely give you a good indication of where to go. if it's all a big joke, no harm no foul, then you just put yourself through some pain for nothing. watch her friends, i'm telling you, if she went to them afterwards and went on and on about you, you'll hear about it. at that point, i'd say you need to move forward all ahead full steam, even if it's only to crash into a brick wall ;) just an aside, i'm a firm believer in "windows of opportunity", especially when it comes to the opposite sex. whether it be at the bar, in the grocery store, with a good friend, etc etc. you only have a few moments, maybe minutes, if you're extremely lucky hours or days, to close on an opportunity. this is your opportunity, if you decide to look at it that way. gamble man, roll those dice, its only life. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

1 - i think in this instance "keylogger" has become "tracking software". telling him that a keylogger will only snag what she types isn't correct. take a look at some of the options folks have suggested, they do far more than just grab keys (for ex, screenshots of webmail, IM logging, online habits, etc etc) 2 - i would agree, the idea of installing the tracking software is to get some information on what she's doing normally. alerting her to the presence of the software does not help you accomplish your goal: figure out what's going on in her head. 3 - an onscreen keyboard wouldn't circumvent most keyloggers. it certainly won't circumvent any normal tracking software (again, it's doing far more than just logging keystrokes). 4 - yes there's a chance she could find whatever software you install. but, i think everyone is skewing the statistics here. your daughter doesn't sound like the type that is into programming, scripting, networking, security, etc. if she's "getting into trouble" etc etc something tells me that her interests aren't really computers and whatever tracking software you choose to install is going to go unnoticed for at least a few months. sure if you're daughter is a member of the computer club and designs websites in her spare time maybe she's a candidate to find it. but i haven't seen you write anything to suggest that she is that type of girl. (seriously guys, we are talking about a girl here...how much can a *girl* know, j/k!!!!) Question for those of you parents that have employed a keylogger, tracking software, etc - did your children ever find out on their own? Seems like most of you are suggesting quite the opposite, that the software yielded valuable information pretty quickly and the kid was none the wiser.

although this may be true for some of the freeware keyloggers, especially the old ones out there, it isn't true for most of the commercial apps, including that app i provided a link to: (from their site) "Stealth Mode: Stealth technology ensures that Spector Pro is completely protected from everyone except those with authorized access. It will not appear in the Windows System Tray, Desktop, Task Manager or Add/Remove Programs Menu. It will not be detected by anti-virus or anti-spy software." i learned a long time ago, as i suspect you probably did phree, that if i had physical access to a machine, there were very few, if any limitations as to what i could do with it (given the time, inclination, and correct tools). if you want a basic solution, install the keylogger, run the antispy/antivirus and let it get detected. create a rule within the antispy/antivirus software to "always allow" and unless your daughter goes rooting through pre-existing rules she won't notice any difference. you only need the keylogger for maybe a day or two anyway, just long enough to grab what you need. i guess what i'm trying to say here is that as long as you have the will, there is a way. but phree is correct, the opposite holds true as well. if your daughter is smart enough, and puts the time in, there is a chance she could find the keylogger, or anything else for that matter. my .02: she's 16, using a computer in your home to "do things you don't approve of". my guess is you probably paid for that computer. you probably also pay the utility bill that keeps it turned on, and the telephone/cable bill that provides the internet access. it's yours to do with as you please. LBJ once said, "Every man should know that his conversations, his correspondence, and his personal life are private." unfortunately that hasn't been true for a very long time, and we need only look at current events and the actions of our current Commander in Chief as it relates to domestic wiretaps to understand that privacy isn't so "private" anymore. in my opinion, your daughter does NOT have a reasonable expectation of privacy while using the computer in your home. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

rather than get into the discussion of what you should/shouldn't do i'll just try and answer your question. yes, there are plenty of programs that will allow you to track her emails. couple of ways to go about this. first off, do you know what email she is using? -if it's webmail (ie hotmail, yahoo, or something similar, a web based email service) then i would reccomend a keylogger. a simple keylogger will capture the username and password she uses to retrieve her webmail (or anything else, instant message, etc) and you can then use that information to check the email at your leisure while she is away. google "free keylogger" and experiment with the options. -if she's accessing email using something like Outlook or Outlook express the job gets even easier. seeing as how she's 16 i'm betting it's webmail though. technically it's not very difficult, and all that's really required is physical access to her computer for a short period of time. there's any number of different ways to accomplish what you want, you just need to determine which way works best for you. here's something to get you started: http://www.spectorsoft.com/ good luck, and personally, i think you should track her emails. she's your daughter, and you are her parent, not her best girlfriend. besides, she'll learn a good life lesson - your privacy is only as secure as you make it. she'll be years ahead of her peers who think they can send emails/msgs/txt without anyone ever knowing... Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

i can tell women are more superficial by listening to my female roomate and her friends talk about guys. lol. seriously, sit down with a group guys, let em chat about girls/SO's/sex/etc. i bet you'd be surprised how relatively "clean" it might stay or at least "devoid of the details". sit down and listen to a group of a gals, listen to the details pour out...whereas i might comment on her ass for a minute, my female roomate will spend 20 minutes describing the guy's ass, jeans, etc etc. change the topic to sex and the dicsussion among a group of a guys and a group of girls, in my experiences, is strikingly different. there are lots of strip clubs, because our society objectifies women reguarly, and there's good money in it. men, at least not yet, haven't become those objects - though in So Cal that trend is changing pretty damn quick. question for you - which magazine has more "sex/superficial" ads - Cosmo, or Maxim? /just doing my best to keep the thread going...

hahaha ah, yes, the beauties of quitting/resigning. i'd love to do it true skydiver fashion and leave that shirt or sticker that says "Take this job and shuv it, I'm going skydiving" on my empty desk.

ah MY BAD. good point about the size though, im in a 500+ employee company, and my previous job was a 1K+ employee co. i'm hesitant to say that a larger company would frown upon skydiving or perhaps be less likely to "accept" or "see the positives", but i would venture to say if you polled HR at large co's and small co's you'd probably find some of coorelation between size and their "outlook" on skydiving. but hey, if you are that guy I talked about interviewing for the Instructor position at a Fortune 100 with over 10K employees, I still think you have a great in to talk about skydiving as a certified AFF Instructor, etc. And in that case, the fact that your subject material is "skydiving" should make for a damn interesting interview, especially in comparison to the yahoo who's talking about instructing people at seminar's, conferences, etc. Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

so it's not possible that bringing up skydiving during an interview (at any point) would lead to you being billed as "the skydiving guy/gal"? give me a break man... speaking from personal experience - YES. i started jumping while working a professional job. immediately it was watercooler fodder. then came halloween. guess what question i heard 50K times? "are you going to be a skydiver for halloween??" did it affect my performance - naw. did it change people's perception of me - absolutely. personally i would much rather have my employer's and coworker's perception of me influenced primarily by my behavior and accomplishments at work, on the job and nothing else. this is why you won't see me at the holiday party sucking up the free drinks. (ok maybe i'll suck em up, but that's right before i get in the cab to get the hell out of there) seriously though, if it is appropriate, bring it up. i thought one of the best examples in this thread of when TO bring it up was somebody talking about getting hired as an Instructor at their job. The person had been a skydiving instructor for 12 years, obviously mentioning this qualification helps to convey to the employer their skills and abilities. Additionally, the fact they are a skydiving instructor shows that they are able to "teach" concepts and "intangibles" to students. All around, this person had a great in to bring up skydiving. Change that around, say they were applying for a management position, I would say that you need to NOT mention skydiving as it has no direct bearing on your abilities as a manager, even if you are/were an instructor. Want the mgmt job? Find a spot on your resume under "experience, accomplishments, or education" that will relate why you should have your job and you'll go farther than the guy who walks in talking about "how he opened fast because someone tracked under him therefore he would be good manager because he can perform well under pressure" or something similar. (ok it may be a bad ex, but hopefully you get the point) just my .02, again it's all driven by environment and context. however, if you fail to mention skydiving i would say the chances of this failure being labeled a "mistake" or the reason why you didnt get the job as being slim to none and slim left town. look @ the flipside, there is a chance that mentioning skydiving could have a negative effect, you say so in your first post. you have a lot more to risk by throwing it out there than keeping it to yourself. play the odds. be smart. find another way to relate that characteristic or attribute, you'll be better off for it.

in my line of work, i would absolutely NOT mention that i "am a skydiver" or "skydive regularly" during an inteview or something similar to what you are describing. however, it's all about context and environment. personally, i don't need skydiving to explain to an employer/potential employer who i am, or what i can do professionally. skydiving is something i do on my own time, and therefore not really a concern of my employer. i would leave it OUT of any initial conversation because it's not "useful information". sure if your job interview is at Aerodyne, or something similar then go that route - talk up your jump numbers. in general, every single professional i've ever spoken to has told me point blank: interviews are not about your hobbies, part-time activities, etc. they are about communicating your skills and abilities. if you start talking about your hobbies and other activities in order to accomplish this goal(communicate your skills and abilities), then chances are you not qualified for the position. what i mean by this is you should have some other way to communicate, whatever positive characteristic you believe skydiving gives you, to your employer rather than just talking about skydiving. for example, if you thought that being a regular skydiver made you a more analytical person that calculates risk on the fly and can perform in difficult or pressure situations, then i would suggest you relay this information to your potential employer by looking at either your prior work experience, accomplishments (professional, technical, etc), or education and finding an appropriate example. you and i both know that if you bring up skydiving to whuffo during an interview to talk about how you can perform under pressure, or whatever, you're screwed. (worst case you get hired and now you're the "skydiving guy". personally, i'd just rather be the new guy or FNG and make a name for myself through the job/work itself) i never really cared for the folks that went around blabbing "look @ me i skydive" anyway. if i was interested in what you do for fun i would have asked you... good luck.

figures... i've heard the saying, but never at a DZ. when i heard that saying it was being used to console a buddy who lost a g/f. turns out she 'got around' more than what most folks would consider 'normal'. hence the "you didn't lose a g/f, you just lost your turn" blues! Does whisky count as beer? - Homer There's no justice like angry mob justice. - Skinner Be careful. There's a limited future in low pulls - JohnMitchell

question for you about the bold... so the whole thread was started cause the guy brought the gal to the DZ. gal is young and good looking, guy notices she gets attn more than normal... is your response, basically, "tough shit, you never really lost your g/f anyway, you just lost your turn with her"? or am i missing something...