Froggy

Hey, getting scared at the beginning is very common, really. I can sure relate to that -- on my third jump, just a thought of getting out that door was scaring shit out of me. There was NO WAY IN HELL I was going to jump out! Guess what? I did... And so did you! From what I understand, the fear you have now is kinda different from what you had before -- you got scared because you heard something, and you have been thinking about it. You haven't jumped since, so it's not the jump that scares you (as opposed to how it was before, on your first three jumps!), but some thoughts in the back of your mind... So, yeah -- SHUT UP AND JUMP! See how you feel. If you really want it badly, you'll get over your fears! Good luck, and blue skies! --- Edited to add --- LuvToFly Didn't see your reply before I posted... Very well said about the crippling and "respectful" fear! That's it! I heard this from several people: in skydiving, if you have NO fear at all, it may be time to consider quitting, as you are loosing a grip on reality and endangering yourself and others... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

There were some other threads in the past discussing air travel with your rig, and pretty much everything that was said here was already mentioned before... It sure sucks big time to have your reserve opened, but the bottom line is that TSA does have a right to do it, and there's nothing we can do about it. I am totally with you on the fact that it was a misinformed decision of the TSA super to do it, but, technically speaking, they did nothing wrong... However, I wouldn't 100% agree with you that having a printout of a TSA policy from their web site would not help. Now, I am not saying it sure would, but it definitely could have. I am really amazed sometimes how impressed some people are by "officially looking" paperwork. So, it's a smart thing to always have it with you. I have been traveling with my rig (always carry-on) withing the USA and Canada, as well as overseas. Never had a major problem with security. Quite often they ask me to open flaps to do a swipe. Couple of times I ended up opening my main container (didn't even think about arguing about it), but never the reserve. Most of the times they don't ask a single question, and don't even bother looking inside the bag. But I do realize that it may not always be like that... I remember one time TSA gave me a hard time in a small airport in the middle of nowhere in Texas. Those guys clearly have NEVER seen a parachute before. They called pretty much every TSA official they had in the airport. It took them some time to look up their SOPs, an they finally let me go. The supervisor was most impressed with the Cypres X-ray card -- he asked me where I got it from, because he was sure image like that would be a classified information... There are some papers I always have in my bag with the rig: 1. TSA policy 2. USPA letter 3. Cypres X-ray card 4. Home-made warning notice (see attached) This warning notice is the first thing they see when they open the bag. The rest of the paperwork is behind it in a plastic sleeve. I also normally use a couple of zip-ties (with bright orange tags attached to them) to secure the reserve handle to an MLW, just in case... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Gee... I am sooo used to work in the office where you can wear jeans and t-shirts every single day (or sandals and shorts, as many people do in summer)... But, I guess, as long as this is true: it's all that matters, really! -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Absolutely agree! I don't see anything wrong with answers and comments posted on that page. If you are either dumb enough to not read the info that's already there for you, or disrespectful enough to other people to assume they'll drop everything to answer your stupid question (instead of putting just a little bit of effort in your own research), you deserve to be told that. It has nothing to do with a bad customer service... As a side note, most people would agree that the customer service in Europe is not nearly as good as in the USA or Canada. I can certainly attest to that, judging from my own experience. However, when I think about it, it's the problem with a customer, not a customer service. We expect a company we are dealing with to bend over backwards to get our business and to keep us pleased, assuming that "the customer is always right", and oftentimes we are unreasonable to a point of actually being f*cking asssholes. When we get a different reaction, we are rather shocked, and take it as a "bad customer service". It's not a bad service -- a company just HAD IT with us (their customers). Those who always complain about a bad customer service, need to get a life, and lose the attitude! -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

WTF?!? I hope they pay you well for your job... As for freebies in our office, we have about half a dozen varieties of coffee (the choice doesn't affect the fact that all of them are pretty crappy), about the same number of flavours of tea (I can really drink some of them!), hot chocolate and the "instant tea" mix... Oh, and a fitered tap water, and ice (no water coolers). Every once in a while I put a hot chocolate mix in a strong coffee -- makes a "mocha" drink that is not as bad as individual ingredients... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

QuoteIsn't there something in the legal world that says you can't prevent someone from getting a position elsewhere?!? Is there anything I can do about this woman to prevent her from spreading lies about me?!?!Quote Well, I don't know anything about "legal", but one question comes to mind right away. Why, for crying out loud, was her name on your reference list? Being in my right mind, I wouldn't list someone, unless I am positive that they'll give me a good reference. Did you ask her about putting her name on your list? Did you feel that she ws the right person to have as a reference, and she wouldn't let you down? If both answers are "Yes", then she's a f*cking asshole, and you can simply redo your reference sheet, removing her name. I doubt very much you can do anything else about it, but, if you don't have her listed, nobody will call her. Problem solved. Sounds simple enough to me... Good luck with your new job!

In my army days I have seen those things up close and personal. You wake up in a tent, laying in a bunk bed (the top one), and the first thing you see is this THING sitting on the ceiling of a tent about a feet above your face... Tell you, it freaked me out! We used to put them in a jar with scorpions (comparably sized) -- guess who would win the fight? I actually thought they were poisonous, but apparently they are not... I like spiders, but these... Nasty!.. -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Yes. Long time ago, as a child. But I still remember that nothing in the world tastes like a mug of fresh warm milk, straight from the maker, if you will. I actually used to milk a cow right into the mug, to drink it right then and there.

Well, I have no idea what that's about, nor do I have to know, really, but a person publicly saying this deserves respect! 'Nuff said... Uhh... Pond swoop?

Yep, you are right. Actually, thought of her already after I posted. Here is another link: http://www.failuremag.com/arch_science_cheryl_stearns.html -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

The guy's name is Michel Fournier, the details about his project can be found HERE. He plans to jump from 130,000 ft (40,000m), actually breaking a sound barrier in freefall at around 35,000m. If everything goes as planned, he's going to break four world records in this jump: - Altitude record for freefall - Altitude record for human balloon flight - Time record for longest freefall - Speed record for fastest freefall So far, he haven't had much success with the balloon launch for various reasons (I believe there were three attempts). The latest info is that he had deferred the next attempt to September 2007. We'll see... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

No wonder -- this seems to be a standard Aussie military camo colour scheme, according to some pictures that I saw. It's a very cool plane, indeed, has a lot of character in it's rugged ugliness (in a good way, if you will), and it does feel alive!

Why? I have also heard "Wine and Beer, Never Fear." or by "mix them up" did you mean literally mixing them in the same cup? or what? Many times I have drunk wine and beer in the same evening. I've never had problems with it, unless I drank too much of course. (as a matter of fact, I'm doing that tonight! [wine] Oh God, NO! Of course I wasn't talking about actaully mixing wine and beer in the same glass! There is, however, a mix that is very well known to Russians -- a beer and vodka, approx. half and half. As they say: "Beer without vodka is a wasted money!" Ask any Russian guy about "yorsh" (that's how it's called), they'll know right away what you are talking about. But I digress... Dunno, in my experiense drinking wine and beer in the same evening is not a good idea... A little beer, and then wine is OK, but not the other way around, and not in large quantities. It has really nothing to do with getting more drunk, or hung over -- it's that funny aftertaste, and my stomach doesn't like it either... But it may very well be just personal... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Nope. Not just you.

Absolutely!

Once a year I send that email in our company, something along the lines of "hey, here is an idea, anyone wanna do it?" When (and if) I get some people really interested, I try to organize the "event" (people prefer going in a group, which can be quite difficult to coordinate). Sometimes I get one or two people, sometimes around 10 -- it depends. However, I never try to push or encourage everyone -- it must be their decision. I will give them an idea, and then offer sources of information, contacts, etc., but let them commit rather than trying to make them to. Yes, there are WAY more people that keep saying "I'd LOVE to do it!", but actually never do anything beyond saying that... But I have also seen couple of people who really want to do it, but can't (i.e. health problems -- past injuries, etc.) I feel so sorry for them... The best thing that comes to mind was a tandem jump my mom did in 2003. She came visiting in the summer, and I offered her to come with me to the DZ. She did. She spent couple of hours hanging around, watching people go up and land, and then she came up to me and said: "You know what... I think I want to do it!" My reaction was: "Cool! Let's go then, before you change your mind!"

OK, first, let's say you shared your printer as "MyPrinter". Now, let's say your desktop computer name is "MyDesktop". You will need to substitute your real desktop computer name and the share name you gave to your printer. Then, the UNC pathname (that's how it's called, not URL) for your shared printer will be "\\MyDesktop\MyPrinter". That's it. :) -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

For adware/spyware scan, you might want to download a free AdAware Personal from LavaSoft -- it's one of the best (arguably _the_ best) utility in its class. http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

That was indeed hilarious! The guy's reaction was so freaking funny, it was unreal -- almost theatrical! But he definitely deserves respect for actually doing it, the second time around!

Simply a matter of opinion, IMHO. I see nothing wrong with them. Groom -- yes, but shave? Nah... As for the guys, I wouldn't even think about it. To me, it sounds perverted... Again, it's all a matter of personal opinion... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Thanks, I've set an alarm clock to 18:55. :) It's Pacific time... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Air Canada: Elite (qualifies for Star Alliance Gold) Marriott: Platinum Hertz: #1 Club Gold -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

That's WELL beyond the bullshit![ crazy] -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Not those places specifically, but I took my rig on a trip overseas last year going from Vancouver through London and Frankfurt to Tallinn, Estonia, and then back the same way. 22" carry-on suitcase. Not a single question at security checkpoints anywhere. -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

I am no expert by any means, and I haven't jumped a Spectre. I am, however, jumping Tri-175. Just a couple of remarks. Tri-160 is in fact 168 sq.ft. in size, so it's more comparable to a Specter-170 size-wise than it may sound. My Triathlon is made of a SoarCoat fabric, not Gelvenor, and it was a bitch to pack first dozen jumps or so (bought it brand new), then I got uset to it, and it's not a problem anymore... As of the packing volume, Tri-160 is actually packing smaller (419 cu.in) than a Spectre-170 (455 cu.in), according to a chart from ParaGear. Everyone who sees my rig for the first time gets a surprised look on their face when they find out I have a 175-size canopy packed in it -- it doesn't look that size, and the pack job is not very tight... Openings are really nice (I wish they were a bit faster), and I cannot complain about flying and landing a Tri either... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...