thnkfree

Mac decided he needed to teach me how to dive on formations one day, so we planned a fairly structured jump where I was supposed to learn to dive. He got surprisingly detailed on the dirt dive and we went over it and over it (kind of out of charachter really). Once we were at altitude and he was spotting, he asked if I was ready. As the door opened, and I was going over the details of the skydive one last time, I looked up to say 'yes I'm ready' and I noticed that he had already left the plane scrapping the whole plan. With somewhere around one to two thousand feet between us I got out and learned to dive. I've done the same to a few other people learning to skydive, and afterwards I always tell them about the old guy who did that to me. HIM!HIM! FUCK HIM! -------------------------------------------------- If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see

What can you say about Mac? One of my best days was with Mac and Ken. We flew over to Schaefer Meadows where Ken and I jumped in. Mac landed with the plane (he hadn't gotten his new hip yet) and we fished the middle fork of the Flathead. After a day of whipping the river with chicken feathers and catching nothing - except Mac who was the only sucessful fishermen that, and many other days - we got back into the plane to head back. After nearly getting trapped in the mountains due to lots of clouds suddenly moving in, we jumped back into Kalispell and headed back to the Lounge to tell stories of all the big fish we didn't catch. It's kind of an anticlimactic story, but I remember it as one of my best days spent with good friends. I'll miss his loud cackling laughter. I'll miss smoking nasty Dutch Masters cigars with him and Tousey (it was always nicer when Pete showed up with good cigars). I'll even miss sitting in the bar with him listening to the same story he had just told me twenty minutes before. I'll just miss him. Mac was sometimes and asshole, always opinionated, and far from perfect, but he was one of the best people I've known. I wish I could see him again. HIM! HIM!......... FUCK HIM!! -------------------------------------------------- If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see

I didn't actually mean to come off as flippant. I'm actually considered a pretty anal tandem instructor. I believe that good, clean, organized packing is a necessity. I also believe that getting mad at people is the wrong way to educate them. Every time I have had a malfunction I have made it a point to speak to the packer, let them know what kind of malfunction I had, and suggest the appropriate remedy. Yes, you are risking two people on a tandem and it should be taken very very seriously, but everyone makes mistakes occasionaly. Another thing to consider in my case is that all my tandems are spread out over many DZ's. I've had a particilarly bad run of malfunctions, but honestly I believe that nearly all my malfunctions were a result of picking up the wrong rig, on the wrong day, at the wrong place. Basically, a larger degree of bad luck than most people run into. The gear has nearly always been in good repair (only one malfunction may have been a result of poor upkeep), and all the packers have been very competent. Anyway... Your view is valid as well and I respect it. This is just mine. -------------------------------------------------- If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see

As a tandem Instructor for a few years I have had 11 tandem reserve rides out of over 1500. One was a total (drogue in tow) and the rest have been either line-overs or general big messes. As a tandem instructor I like it when the main works, but the one I really care about is the reserve. When you are doing 10 to 13 tandems in a day you don't have time to pack your own. Know your rigger well or make sure you pack the reserve yourself (if you are a rigger of course). Malfunctions do just happen sometimes (including line-overs), but controled packing helps greatly. I'd say I've been pretty unlucky with the whole jumps to malfunctions ratio (never packed one myself), but I'd still say only about half of my malfunctions were due to bad packing. The only thing you know for sure after leaving the plane is that you will arrive at the ground eventually. Getting mad at your packer is a bad idea. They will be your packer tomorrow. Even a perfect pack job (if there is such a thing) can have a line-over. Be kind to packers. I'm happy with the openings as long as they are soft. To be honest, I kind of like them now. (kidding) -------------------------------------------------- If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see

You are correct about the dictionary definition of agnosticism. Unfortunately, many atheists, agnostics and Deists can never really agree on what they think the definitions are. Some atheists are absolutely, wholeheartedly convinced that there is no, never will be, and you are stupid to even consider that there is a god (not the best opinion if you ask me). Some atheists believe completely that there is no god, but are smart enough to realize that belief is nothing more than a strongly held opinion until there is proof. Some would call these people agnostics. I am one of these yet stand by the term atheism since I simply do not believe at all. Maybe weak-atheist is a better term there. Some agnostics think there probably isn't a god but there could be (strong-agnostic maybe? A really-weak-atheist?). Some are just not willing to believe one way or the other (I like to call them fence-sitters). Some think there may be a god, but we will never know what it is (Dictionary definition. Also a very weak Deist?) Some Believe there is definitely a god, but we will never know him/her/it (weak agnostic? Strong Deist?) and so on and so on till you get to George Bush who is a.... Just kidding. Just pushing someone's buttons. Anyway. agnostisim, atheism, and deism are not religions so they don't really need a set definition. I hope everyone is having a great sunday! -------------------------------------------------- If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see