ChrisL

I'm so sorry. I love my little doggies so freakin much I dread the day when I have to say goodbye. Parker was a cutie. __ My mighty steed

It was bound to happen eventually... Inflation has finally hit the "10' Wind Tunnel" sign market...hard Why, I remember back in the days when you could get a 10' wind Tunnel sign for a mere 6 or 8 grand

I also have a cool picture. You should see it

Best reply ever __ My mighty steed

Fist Phishing

Theres a very good reason for this

Have someone whose opinion you respect proof-read it before you turn in your work. __ My mighty steed

No jumping? __ My mighty steed

If I am called I will dress as nicely as possible. Business casual is as fancy as I can manage if I absolutely must dress according to someone elses notion of what is appropriate. I do not currently even own a coat and tie (and intend to keep it that way if at all possible) and would certainly not go buy one because the summons told me so. Do you think you can draw a fair conclusion about who I am based on this little bit of information? __ My mighty steed

In this particular case, Gary told me in no uncertain terms that he was having problems with his business and had ceased to take new customer orders until he was squared away again. This is a pretty strong indicator that he was well aware that he was insolvent at that point. This message was in March of 2010. According to at least one person that lost at least 7k and has nothing to show for it, he paid Gary for gear in June of 2010. You dont even need to be able to do math to conclude that he continued to take customer monies well after he knew he was in real trouble. Who knows if the law will make a determination that he traded while insolvent, very often the law doesnt align cleanly with reality due to what can actually be proven in court, but the fact remains that he did continue to do business and take money from customers well beyond the point where he knew he should have stopped. I'm not interested in seeing him crucified. I did eventually get my whole order so out of all his unhappy customers I have very little to bitch about. I had a very stressful 6 months but in the end I got my gear. I also believe that his initial intentions were good and that it was not his reasoned plan to defraud customers for personal gain AND that it was he fully intended at one point to try and work things out and fill all the orders that he had taken. Unfortunately now it appears that he has cut and run and abandoned his remaining customers. That may or may not be the case, but the fact that he seems to have completely dropped out of sight and cant be contacted lends credibility to that theory. __ My mighty steed

I usually jump every other weekend. Wish I could jump more often but life and finances dictate this. I usually squeeze in 5 or so jumps on the days I go, so I average 10 jumps a month. You would probably progress faster if you could go every weekend, but theres nothing inherently unsafe in only going twice a month. __ My mighty steed

[reply The key issue would seem to be when this started happening and how soon Gary should have called it a day. The argument that because he did not take the cash deposited for an order and immediately place that order with his supplier makes it intentionally criminal is IMHO bogus. It's not how businesses are obliged to operate, but it does seem likely that Gary played fast and loose with the status of orders at his cash-flow problems worsened. Another poster in this thread has stated that in Australia, trading while insolvent is a considered a crime punishable by fines and imprisonment. If that's a fact, and Gary is found to be guilty of this, then Gary has in fact committed a crime as its defined in Australian law regardless of whether or not it was done with the specific intent to defraud customers for his own benefit. __ My mighty steed

A friend asked me if I know any place in MA, NH, VT area that has a hang gliding school or experience similar to tandem skydiving. She did a tandem at Pepperell, and now wants to test the hang gliding waters... __ My mighty steed

and who doesn't want one of those infamous "swiss bank accounts" You guys rock! __ My mighty steed

Definitely funny

I was always partial to Wild Turkey back in my drinkin days

I was not aware of that. My apologies for making assumptions __ My mighty steed

+1 this is a very personal decision. Absolutely. Just stating that there IS an option once the OP has his A license, which, at 47 jumps may be fairly close. I prefer an AAD, but I was in a similar situation as the OP when I first got my A and made about 100 jumps with no AAD before I could afford to put one in my rig. __ My mighty steed

Once you have your A license you have the option of not using an AAD As a student, and even as a licensed jumper you can still rent gear at your DZ that has an AAD If my choice was jump with no AAD or stay on the ground I'd jump with no AAD __ My mighty steed

One way to prevent a problem of this sort is to follow the container manufacturers guidelines with regard to which mains and reserves are recommended for the size container you are buying, and dont stuff something thats larger than recommended into it. Buy your canopies first, and then get the right size container for those canopies. __ My mighty steed

It's business, but not typical. I've owned several Sabres, several Stilettos and several Velocites, and have been more than pleased with the performance and build quality of them all. I've owned a couple of PDRs as well, but haven't jumped them so I can't say anything about them. If you want a bulletproof canopy that will perform right every time, all the time, and is backed by the best in the business, then buy a PD. It those things aren't important to you, buy something else. Do you have to pay for those things? You sure as hell do, but it's worth it. There's no bullshit about the product, the performance or the service, and in this industry, you pay extra for that stuff because you don't always get it otherwise. I say this based on 16 years of buying and jumping their products, and for them to maintain the track record they have, for that long, with me and 20 other skydivers I know and respect, says something. Go ahead and buy the cheaper alternative. Don't be surprised when it eventually gets banned turns into a worthless piece of junk. Sound like you are claiming that ONLY PD makes reliable gear or provides good service. My take is that you are 100% right about PD's quality and service, but so are several of their direct competitors. __ My mighty steed

I can sorta understand the heroin from a smuggling point of view, although keeping a few in your pocket seems to defeat the purpose of that, but why keep the $51.22 up there? __ My mighty steed

I cant believe you didn't include tits in your poll __ My mighty steed

Thats an awful lot of lines. How many cells is that main??? With only 4 jumps it might not be safe for you to be drawing that type of canopy __ My mighty steed

I gave you fare warning this was going to offend you. Look like it or not, a woman can look at a guy and see about a half dozen ways he's attractive. Be it from how he carries himself to how smart he is. And god bless you women for having such a complicated view of men. But well....we guys....we are different. Well I am very different. Looks matter, how she carriers her self matters, health matters. I have never or will I EVER date a girl and have to say "But she is nice" And no only a sucker pays for what they can get for free and what brings dinner over. Why do you make such a big deal of it? So you like what you like. Who cares? If you dont want what your friend has, dont buy into it. End of story. Its not like you have no control over it. __ My mighty steed