WatchYourStep

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  • Main Canopy Size
    135
  • Reserve Canopy Size
    160
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    Cypres 2

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  • License
    D
  • Licensing Organization
    USPA
  • Number of Jumps
    2950
  • Years in Sport
    10
  • First Choice Discipline
    Freefall Photography
  • First Choice Discipline Jump Total
    1000

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    Instructor
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  1. When I run the garbage disposal it goes down and comes up in the opposite sink. When I turn the water off it goes back down and comes back up the other side. I purchased a sink plunger and followed the directions, with no luck. Any ideas on what to do next before calling a plumber? Here is a picture of the plumbing on the underside.... https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6ZkLEWrwdH6MDBJSnV3akV5UkVzVW84c1oxdmJfM0xNekhN/view?usp=sharing "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  2. Gary Peek wins the Central Region. Thanks for those who voted for me and best of luck to Gary in another term. xoxo "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  3. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4422213;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  4. The last election had 4905 voters for the regional candidates. "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  5. Bill, There have been some interesting threads on this topic over the past couple of years. I will weigh in with what I know and my thoughts on it. First Mike Mullins gives a pretty good overview of the history of the Class 3 in tandem skydiving... So if a change were to take place it would need to be agreed on by the manufacturers and USPA. I spoke briefly with representatives from Strong and UPT, neither of them said that replacing the Class 3 with a DOT medical was impossible, but it seems like there would need to be a good reason to do so. Sammy got a DUI and doesn't want to jump through the hoops with the FAA doesn't seem like it will be a good enough reason for them to make that change. From a brief conversation with USPA as well as my own research one of the big differences between the Class 3 and the DOT medical is that on the DOT medical you do not have to disclose past DUIs or drug incidents. With that being said if the USPA and manufacturers agreed to allowing a DOT medical to stand, there would have to be some way for them to know what's on your record. If you could not get a Class 3 medical would you be willing to pay for the DOT medical and submit arrest records if applicable? Some could/will say that the USPA doesn't need to know if a person has/had a DUI or past drug offenses, I can get that from a privacy issue, however being a TI isn't a right, you don't have to do it, it's an honor. If you want to be using equipment produced by the major manufacturers and through USPA you have to play by those rules or show cause on why they should be changed, and again because you made multiple bad decisions or don't want to jump through the FAA hoops probably won't get you much traction. I can also see some saying, the USPA should allow the DZO to vet potential instructors and their competence and again to an extent I can see that. However if the USPA is issuing the license, then they must do their homework on who they are handing them out to. There has to be some form of accountability. If TI Sam had 12 DUIs and USPA still gives him a license, and a few weeks later Sam goes in with a student and it's discovered that he may have been impaired do you think USPA will get sued? I do, and for that reason I'm ok with them wanting to know if their TIs have a problem. Now some could say the same could be true for AFFIs, but those rules don't exist.... While doing some more interneting I found this: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/app_process/app_history/item18/v/ It seems that a DUI isn't an automatic unsat on your Class 3, but it may be deferred. The above link covers in more detail what they could potentially ask for. One of my flying friends said a few guys received DUIs during his flight school, they didn't try to hide it, followed the regs for reporting it and were both first time offenders. They had no problem continuing on, maybe this is a case by case basis. We all make mistakes, some of us get caught, some of us don't. Either way we hope that when those mistakes happen nobody is injured and that we can learn from them. For those that get caught they have nobody to blame but themselves. So in long I'm ok with the current Class 3 medical as is (which is as much about tracking decision making ability as it is general health), but I would happily listen to suggestions on why, but more importantly HOW to change it where all parties vested are still protected from the student to the manufacturer. We're all skydivers.... and in today's litigious society we need to watch out for each other. Hope that gives you some insight to my thoughts on the subject.... "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  6. Bill- Working on a response to your question, but am in contact with the FAA trying to learn more about how DUIs impact your Med 3. I'll also be contacting USPA to get some more background. Ray- Thank you for the kind words. nolhtairt- I sent a message inquiring the same thing a few weeks back and I think they are working on it. "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  7. That's a load of bullshit... When 'your guy' alludes that a FATALITY was somehow caused by "safety practices" at a dropzone only open for one day - he showed his true colors. The actual facts surrounding the incident have shown the entire thing was absolutely no fault of the DZ staff and was handled with professionalism not often seen by the first responders and investigators. To pull the tragic death of a fellow skydiver out of the hat, make up a lie and throw it like I spear - is the ultimate in low class unprofessionalism and clearly speaks volumes in regard to the lack of fitness & actual qualifications for office to represent members that this airbozo truly has. Being a great skydiver has nothing to do with being a fair and intelligent representative...with an outright lie - publicly throwing the blood of one skydiver at another in order to advance a campaign tells me and every other member in the organization what kind of character is truly behind this political ambition. Not a very well thought out move on ANY level...it would appear that at the prospect of losing an argument in an open discussion this person will degrade publicly both the sport and a fellow jumper in a manner that goes beyond despicable. Not how any of us should be represented... I knew the deceased and I know the facts...a public apology needs to be made. What a fucking embarrassment to play that card. UNfreakin believable! Just for clarification I have no idea who Air Blade is? As stated above that was an uncalled for statement. I don't think anybody in this thread disagrees about that. "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  8. Air- We all make mistakes, we learn and move on. Thanks "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  9. Great questions Stearns.... The tunnel is an awesome tool for helping us train for a portion of skydiving, but it does miss out on lots of areas; exiting an airplane and flying a canopy are two big ones that come to mind. While someone with 1000 hours is probably pretty awesome in the air, it doesn't mean they are automatically suited to coach people in it. For example lets say I have 300 skydives and 1000 hours in the tunnel, but 275 of those skydives and 999 of those hours are spent Freeflying, should I be able to test for an AFFI? I'm guessing in the future there will end up being an adjustment allowing tunnel training, but I don't know if that is anytime soon. When/if that happens the candidate will still have to pass a class, which then begs the question....if they can pass the course does it really matter how many jumps or hours in the tunnel they have? So in long I do think there is someplace in the requirements to recognize tunnel flying, however I'm not sure how that would be integrated yet. My opinion on this subject may change over time with more time in the tunnel. I don't see a real problem with the current requirements for ratings. I have heard sometimes people say "So and so shouldn't be a coach" or "That person has no business being a TI" Instead of looking at it like that, I'd be more concerned with who gave them the rating. If I take your class and I'm a hazard or deficient and you pass me, you as an IE have only continued the cycle. I'm not saying that everyone should fail or anything along those lines, but being a Coach, AFFI, TI etc should be something to be proud of. IEs should be extremely confident when they sign someone off and turn them loose to work with real students that they can keep that student safe and do their duties associated with the proper rating. Hope you guys are getting some jumps in KS, only got one here in IL this morning and then some weather moved in :( "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  10. Josh- First let me thank you on recognizing Patrick Swayze. That stuff is internet gold right there. Secondly, lets not sugar coat it. I think I said something along the lines of what I stated above in a previous post. I like his vision just not his path and that I had no ill will towards him. I wouldn't wish that tragic event on anyone.... PS: TWIN TRIP SOON! PPS: Martin, you gave me the worst mental picture imaginable... "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  11. This guy gets it... "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  12. Low blow....and unless you can back that statement up you should remove it. Even if you can back that statement up I'm not sure DZ.com is the best place to air that laundry.... "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  13. Dave- Please read the prior post. If I was there as a spy for Jen I did a terrible job;) As I stated before, I jumped at PE's DZs and I would have jumped at Wes' if it had worked out. And as stated in an earlier post I'm not sure I'm going to be able to maintain my current standing at SDK in a management position with a new career path I'm taking. With that being said I love competition. It causes all parties involved to up their game. If another DZ opens, GREAT! As a jumper it's good for me as I have another option. As a DZ employee it's good for me as it makes me keep my game up or risk losing students. With that being said it seems (maybe it's just to me) that the last 2 posts have mentioned Jen a few times. So to clear up any confusion, Jen Sharp is one of my closest friends. I would not be where I am today (not only in skydiving but my general disposition on life) without her. If someone doesn't vote for me because I'm friends with her, while I feel their logic is flawed, that is their choice. The converse is also true, if someone votes for me only because I'm friends with Jen, it's not right. Jen and I have several things that we don't see eye to eye on (and that is not just because she is shorter than me), however we respect each other's opinion and we can move forward. It's great being able to do that with people, it's a skill not everyone has....have either of you even really spoke with her? That's a question for a different thread I guess, so lets save it for another time. Dave you have Skydive Twin Cities listed in your profile. I'm in Chicago all weekend. Come on down and we can fly in the tunnel or make a jump. Reserve judgement until you've actually met me.... "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  14. I had met Ron out at the DZ (obviously stated above) I wasn't informed of a meeting at that time but took it upon my own desires to call the Airport and ask what was on the upcoming agenda. When I heard this issue was on it I decided to run in. The person who answered the phone didn't even ask who I was. Ok... So I have no idea if that did happen or didn't, however if it did how does that impact Jen? However the real question is if this did happen we now have a 2nd time where Ron did something that wasn't maybe on the up and up. Instance 1: Showing a "confidential" document to someone (if it occurred) and I also think it's strange that he would admit to doing that. Instance 2: Saying that someone said something when they didn't. Maybe this is a trend? Please refer to above comment about calling the Airport....Also if I did receive a personal invite from him why would I tank his misrepresentation of Skydive Kansas' position? Did you miss the part where I said something along the lines of "Skydiving can occur on any airport with proper communication between the groups." Then they went off about me not being a pilot and having no working knowledge of how those things work....I'm pretty sure you were there for that. And to be honest I don't recall what was said about LifeStar. We had them on our DZ for years, heck we even shared a hangar and it was great. So again isn't it possible that we are seeing a reoccurring trend here with how the airport or it's representative(s) conducted themselves? Ok....I'm not sure what I'm suppose to say here. Um....I jumped several times at PE's places. Whenever I had questions about the legality or the "Cease and Desist" order(s) I would simply call the city and ask if that was true or just a rumor. I don't know if the DZOs were the issue there as I don't have first hand information as I was (and still am) early in my jumping history. What I do know is both sides handled the KC issue in question terribly, from what I saw as a young jumper. I think people forget that we are just jumping out of airplanes. Have fun, be safe and just keep rolling. Ok, that is totally your opinion and you are welcome to it. I do hope though for the sake of all that more than 1 person at USPA is heading up the charge on Airport Access. Nowhere in any statement did I say that Gary was doing a bad job. I haven't had to deal with Airport Access so I can't comment on what type of job he is doing. Ok, so let me get this straight. The people at the Airport knew me so I was on their side? I don't think that is what you are saying but I am having trouble following your logic. I had lived in Lawrence since 98, started jumping in 2005. Helped put on a charity event in 2007 and tried to get as much media attention for the cause. Worked at KU as a rowing coach (and still do) and also worked at the University in the Grants department. In that time and in those capacities I crossed paths with a lot of people. I guess I'm honored I made an impression that they remembered. http://www.kcsdv.org/summer07-01.html In my initial response to Dave's post I tried to omit all names because I didn't really see how they impacted the discussion, but I noticed you put all of them on here except yours....? Wes when I first me you...do you remember...when you came to my place of employment uninvited and unannounced, I listened and even agreed to help you do tandems at an event at the Airport. You asked me to keep it on the low until the paperwork was finalized and I did, but something happened and you never got back to me. Other than that we've never really talked. If you want to sling mud and act like you know me and I'm a bad guy, go ahead, but you aren't going to bring me down man. I'm having way too much fun living. Like I said in an earlier post, even though I don't agree with someone's path I can still agree with their vision. And that is what it is in this case, I agree with your vision but not your path (at least the path I've seen). If you encounter roadblocks at several different places maybe you need to look for a different way of getting there? Best of luck to you man. PS: Typically I'm not one that is easily offended and I have pretty thick skin, however when I click on your name and your profile comes up I find your quote next to your picture distasteful and insulting.....I hope you don't have any family members or friends that are special needs people....that's cold man. "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."
  15. Dave- I'm somewhat familiar with it, but not in as much depth as some. I'll tell you what I know from my own experience with the situation.... I went to 1 meeting that was at the airport in regards to opening a DZ. I'm not sure how many, if any, had occurred before that or what type of interaction had occurred. However there already seemed to be some tension between the Board and the hopeful tenant. At the meeting I did not see any other skydivers or DZOs (of course I don't know everybody) except for the gentleman trying to open the DZ. A person on the Airport Board said he had talked to a DZO and that after that conversation a DZ on the Lawrence Airport was an unsafe adventure. I was there for 99% of the conversations between that DZO and the Airport Rep, and at no time were those words or anything in that context ever stated. The bottom line from the DZO was a DZ could work on any airport with proper communication. I sent a text to the DZO and asked if I may speak as a representative for the DZ to which permission was given. I addressed the board as a skydiver and dropzone rep. and told them that what had been said by the Airport Rep. was not correct and no such thing had been stated by said DZO. At that point the Airport Rep. asked me if I was a pilot and I explained to them, I was (canopy pilot) and that I had jumped at an international airport with flights taking off and landing in the same vicinity (Linz, Austria). Like stated before skydiving can occur with proper communication. That went over like a lead balloon and I was pretty well dismissed. That was the end of it and I didn't return for any other meetings, I think the board had made up it's mind before the meeting. Maybe that was due to prior interactions or something else, I can't speak to that. As far as follow-up I didn't really have any. I wasn't asked for any assistance and to be honest at that point in my life I didn't have the time to add "trying to gain airport access for a DZ" to my daily plate. A DZ in Lawrence would have been awesome for me as I lived about 10 minutes from the airport and had been in Lawrence since 98, recently moved to KC. However, it was evident that not many people on the board wanted a DZ there. I'm not sure of the reasoning, however to be honest I'm not sure I want to be someplace where I'm not wanted or where there are a bunch of loopholes to jump through. If it were my DZ I would have tried to get the city involved and shown them why it would be a good option for the city, public opinion can go a long ways, but that's just my opinion. In regards to some KC access issues, I did jump at a DZ that had to move a few times due to an access issue. I can still support a DZ and DZO's vision even if I don't agree with their path. "You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."