flyclearjohn

Not having urinals in the women's restroom! ABSOLUTELY!!!! lol But I don't expect to be treated "like a lady" at work. I like to be treated like a lady socially. Work is work. The role of doctor is genderless in my opinion. However, when I'm out with friends, I'm a woman, a lady, a girl. Is that too difficult? linz Not for me.

Not having urinals in the women's restroom! A great opportunity for the revival of sport accuracy. Most even have a disc.

Could you provide examples of what you consider being treated like a lady would be in your work situation? John

That's the way I see it. There seem to be a number of people here who, for reasons I can only guess, seem to have identified with this place so intensly, it seems a large part of their personal self-worth. Hey, to each, his or her own I guess. Jen Well, Jen, maybe you need to come out of your shell. This is a small community type sport, and this "place", as you call it, has given me the opportunity to meet, seek out, jump with, party with, ect. many, MANY more skydivers then I EVER would have been able to by just stopping at a few local DZ's. It's not the place embedded into our self worth, it's what the place has done. Maybe after you are around for a few years instead of a few days (actively posting) you will come to know the difference. Then again, maybe you won't be posting. Also, maybe you won't be jumping either. Let us know when you hit either 300 jumps or 3 years in the sport, if you do, ok? Wow, 7000 posts to finally get to say something wise.... I gotta go get a beer.... Wise? Dude, that was harsh. Pretty much the equivalent of STFU you stupid noob and how dare you say my baby is ugly? It was nice of you, however unintentionally, to prove her point. It's an internat chat borad. A damn good one, but just a a chat board. The community is skydiving and skydivers. I use my car to get to the DZ, but don't go ape shit when says it's just a car. I use my phone to talk to other skydivers, but it's just a phone. It's a mediocre car and a damn good phone, but they are just a means to the end of sharing with other skydivers. So go easy on beginners (in all things). They are our future, you know. YMMV, John

That's only 2 tandems a year if you're jumping a duffel bag from south of the boarder... I wonder what the TIs at the really HUGE DZs make a year busting their as 7 days a week? DZs like Eloy and such. I've often thought about chunking it all and moving to a DZ like that, but then reality sets in and I wonder about raising kids in that sort of evironment and lifestyle. Overheard a conversation last summer at a large FL DZ. Guy says he averages 12/day (as many as 32, as few as 7), year round. Owns his own rig (actually, he owns three and rents the others out), pays $10 for a packer. Take off 30 days for weather ...well, do the math.

I suspect he knows. There are what? 30,000ish people signed up. If only one in twenty (5%) buys the premier package, that's around $150,000/year. If one out of thirty-three (3%) then his annual income would drop to a measley $100,000/yr ...with an all volunteer staff. What the sale value would be, I have no idea. More power to him. He started with little and has done a good job. I hope he continues to run a great skydiving site and make a lot of money doing it. John

It's not his job to be a cop. If you see something suspicious are you going to go in like some hero ready to save the day. Only to find out a) it's not what you think it is or b) get in over your head and possibly endanger your life or someone elses. Call the cops, let them do their job. Ask any cop and I'll bet you 9.9 out of 10 if you see something supicious going on they would rather have a civilian call it in than go rushing in and take the law into your own hands. Agreed. Despite the attempts to spin it into something admirable, by those who apparently feel a certain kinship, this was a case of an out of control cop wannabe with a gun. John

The story is true and the dog's name was 'Lopo'. John

oops.

OMG!!! Whatever you do, do NOT watch 'The Notebook'. Death from dehydration is a real possibility. John

I'm ancient ...and I need to move to San Francisco for health coverage apparently. Don't know how I screwed up the search. Cheapest for me would be $200/mo for these minimal coverage policies. I actually pay $1452/mo (over $17,000/yr) for my medical coverage ...and that's without disability coverage as I don't need that financial umbrella. Would I recommend the insurance for young skydivers with no home ownership or other real assest? Maybe. For a young adult, addicted to skydiving, $50-100 dollars a month is a big bite and they still have about $25,000 to pay based on $100,000 bill (assuming the hospital was within the PPO or network provider plan { you'd be amazed what they don't cover in a hospital stay}). If not, you would be stuck for over $50,000 (might as well be a million), so I can see where a young kid would pass. Would I be morally outraged at the hospital writing off the 'self-pay' ...not a bit. Nobody here talked about paying medical bills, however. They were talking about food and other necessities following an injury. They could have medical insurance up the yazoo, covering 100% of medical expenses for a serious injury and would still be unable to work, pay rent, buy food or keep the utilities connected ...if the morally uptight skydiver attitudes about lack of responsibility were common. Again, thanks for that greak link. Perhaps it will aid people in some reasonably affordable health care.

Strange, it's just the opposite here. A typical hospital bill sent to an insurance company for $30,000 will typically be charged three times that amount if you are self-pay. John

Great resource for insurance, thanks. The prices are substantially higher than you mention, however and I could'n find ANY for $40/mo. For me (Florida, non-smoker) , the cheapest was $300/mo. For an 18 y/o, the range was $60 - 140, with HUGE deductibles, 20% co-pay and frequently no coverage for office visits. Despite that, perhaps some who considered insurance a budget breaker could find a relatively inexpensive plan here. I did find one for $37/mo ...if you are an 18 y/o non-smoker living in Paduca, Kentucky. :) John

Most of the money to any of those organizations NEVER gets anywhere near the Children. Most Charities will not even accept money anymore for that. They ended up with way more than they needed and most of that will get eaten up by corrupt Government officials and Charity Overhead. I kinda prefer the good old Hand the cash to someone you know truly needs it. If they Blow it something silly like medical Bills or Prescription Drugs or something stupid like that.. Well Never do it again. But I would think that someone who absolutely NOTHING and cannot walk, muchless work, Might.. Just Might spend the money on Food before they handed it over to the Doctors. Seriously.. If you have a friend that needs help, Help them if you can, However you can. We all do Stupid Shit. We learn and we move on. Fortunately when things are at their worst, most of us have friends who just might give the boost needed to get going again. Thankyou (and Jan) for your comments. People give money to organizations and not directly to those in our family (not quotes around family with me. Skydivers are my family) in need. The only guess I have is that "those people" are driven by what society dictates and not intrinisically motivated. Over the years, I've contributed money (no big deal, I've got far more than I need), time and effort to help my family members in need and will continue doing so without the harsh mainstream type judgments I read here. John

Point us in the direction of the $50/mo plans please.

Wow! That's some insurance ...and for only $95/mo. What policy and who with. I want some!

I read this thread and it breaks my heart to see the high-horsed, judgmental responses. Skydivers are my family and I will not turn my back on them. I can handle (not like, but accept) the tandem factory, everybody trying to figure out more ways to make money off of skydivers, but this I just don't understand at all. John

SC participants (not counting the half dozen or so more ...uh, prolific contributors) offer more entertainment than here. While many are narrow in their view of life, at least there is depth.

People who are scared tend to vote conservatively and look to demonstrably strong leadership. The people pruning the shrub are very much aware of this.

I loved one woman with all my heart and soul for 37 years. John

I stayed there on my last two trips. Didn't have any objections to it. True, it doesn't have a jacuzzi, but they do give skydiver discounts (Days Inn doesn't) plus a refrig and microwave are included in the already cheaper price whereas Days Inn charges an extra $10 for each. It was a nice, clean place for a good price. What problems did you have there? John Did you read my post, John? Our room apparently shared a hot water heater with other rooms. The shower barely worked, and the faucet in the shower actually fell apart at one point and had to be put back together. The maids kept unplugging our fridge each day when they came in to clean and leaving it unplugged. The towels were like old dish rags--You could see through them. I know there were other issues because the constant stream of issues became kind of a running joke throughout the trip. Maybe Brains can remember some of the other problems. I don't require a jacuzzi to be satisfied; I just prefer not to stay in a dump if there are other options. No, I hadn't read it when I posted. Hard to believe we are talking about the same place. The rooms were clean, the towels were fine, nobody unplugged the refrig and the shower was fine. All in all, it met every requirement for a place to shower and grab a few hours sleep when during a skydiving trip ...but I'm pretty easy to please.

Why? There is an amazing amount of research data over the past few decades on both substances with both occasional and heavy use. Alcohol is simply far more harmful (physically, socially, interpersonally and monetarily) in so many than pot, it's really ludicrous to compare the two. But then, you had to know this, right?

I stayed there on my last two trips. Didn't have any objections to it. True, it doesn't have a jacuzzi, but they do give skydiver discounts (Days Inn doesn't) plus a refrig and microwave are included in the already cheaper price whereas Days Inn charges an extra $10 for each. It was a nice, clean place for a good price. What problems did you have there? John

If you're going to compare getting "black-out drunk on a regular basis" to "smoking a little marijuana" then things will always come out in favor of the 'alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana' argument. If, however, you're after a fair comparison, you should be comparing getting black-out drunk on a regular basis to getting black-out stoned on a regular basis. - Jim Alcohol would still lose ...big time!

Just some guesses and suggestions as I couldn't possibly diagnose over the internet. It's might be a problem with blood circulation or sciatic nerve pain ...or both. In a problem with circulation, is the affected leg cooler (or warmer) than the other? Is there any swelling, redness or any other discoloration? If the answers are no, then circulatory origins are less suspicious, but still possible. Clot formation would be my most serious concern (particularly if you take oral contraceptives). Do not massage the muscles in your leg as you may dislodge clots and send them to other places for far more serious consequences (brain, heart, lungs) If clots are the problem, then you may eventually see radical changes in your leg. The pain may drastically increase, the leg may start to swell and may become noticably cooler than the other leg. In this case you sould seek immediate (not the next day, but now) medical help in the ER. My money goes with you have some problem with your sciatic nerve: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/19503.htm This can come from the nerve being 'pinched' due to some injury in the lower back or hip. It's also caused by frequent bike riding and the result of bad ergonomics with office workers who spend their day sitting in poorly designed chairs. The 'pulled muscle' may have caused a little additional pressure on the nerve in your lower back or hip and would be quite likely to produce your symptoms. A week is a long time to ignore these symptoms. If you absolutely refuse to seek medical care (I understand your problem of no insurance and limited resources), then anti-inflammatory meds might help. Advil (Ibuprofen) is a good one. Gentle stretching and yoga may be of benefit (again, do not massage the leg muscles). Keep in mind, I've never stayed in a Holiday Inn Express. Best of luck to you and I hope you feel better soon. John