Jumpah

Man, I thought the same damn thing... Really good writeup

From their website:

Greatest fear is being old and poor.

On that note, I come across stuff about a space elevator from time to time. Here's one article: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast07sep_1.htm The jump ticket would be hellishly expensive, tho...

32/21*/45 * = 18 with a fake ID

I've yet to do a BASE jump where I forget to pull. It's hard not to forget. I agree that it's hard to forget, if your brain is online. Hit your head on the aircraft or object on exit, or have a heart attack or seizure just as you leap off, and remebering isn't really under your control anymore. once - maybe they're right. Above and beyond that...we're talking about first time jumpers. They sometimes can't think about pulling due to a lot of factors. I'm thinking the test subject is someone randomly selected from the general population. Since most people don't do what we do, and the vast majority of those people think we're insane and would never do it voluntarily, I think Fear, "HOLY S***", and adrenaline factor will be a major problem for both test subjects. Anything over 20 feet is gonna hurt bad, in their minds. With that in mind, the AAD on a skydiver rig would be significant advantage to surviving the jump incase the subject gets too overloaded. Since the discussion is only concerned with whether they'd survive the jump, having something over their head and them doing nothing else may mean they just get injured. I've also seen AAF vids of students on their backs with no idea how to get belly-down again. A canopy deploying in that situation is sketchy at best, so the AAD thing may not really be good, and the short FF of a BASE with the ONE objective being to pull could be simple enough to train into someone in the short time allocated for training. Regarding the AF students and their training...if they are recruits and volunteers I would think they are more likely than the general population to handle that stress. In the end...I dunno...but I think it'll depend on the person and how well they handle fear.

And over billions of pieces of mail, a penny adds up...

A relative of mine works for the USPS, and they loathe the weeks after a rate increase. Angry, angry, angry people hollering about a couple pennies. Interesting to note that the USPS is not a government agency like Homeland Security or the Department of Agriculture is. While I don't know the exact details, they do have to make money to operate, as they are run like a business.

At my home DZ they told me to not be afraid to ask experienced jumpers to go with me. When someone's got a few thousand jumps, they may find going with a noob and teaching them something new to be fun. I'm heading to Z-hills in Feb to finish my A

Black and Tan. You get to drink four beers but make it look like only two.

Welcome to the sport! When you graduate AFF, in addition to the case of beer for manifest, consider buying the snack-shack operator his/her own six-pack. A happy snack-shack operator can help you be a happy skydiver. Keep us posted with your progress!

Thanks for the story, Scott. Welcome to the sport! I've almost worn out my jump videos, and have worn out my gf's patience with them (though she did get me a subscription to Skydiver magazine for Christmas

1) Finish my A, get my B, possibly my C 2) Get 200 jumps in 3) Buy a rig

I was born in Dovah, New Hampshah. Its hard to correct the way you were taught to speak later in life, so its best to go with it

So sorry, Lisa. Ugh. Coming up on 5 years that I lost my younger bro to a car accident, few weeks after Christmas. Prayers for justice and peace coming your way.

Expect lots of jokes about people wanting to sit next to you on the plane. They just haven't thought through the difficulties of a 30,000 foot "Mr. Bill" out of a pressurized cabin at 350+ mph. On a practical note: if you are renting from a home DZ and bringing it with you, give yourself some extra time. I got the full search done on me, my belongings, and my rig because the machines detected "something" on a strap. Since you have the rig now, it becomes your problem to explain. In the end, all my personal info got entered into a TSA alert log. Perhaps this will add a strip search the next time I'm in customs coming back home into the states.

Gad...my exit weight is 215. I can't comprehend why a 119 is so important to fly. Other than status, is it really that much more fun than others? As has been said throughout this forum, maybe most of the time you'll land something agressive OK, but its that one bad jump that'll hose your year badly. I've seen the old-timers at Z-hills having a good time in their retirement years, sitting on the benches by the plane doing their dirt dive together. Thats my idea of a good retirement. Fuck golf . Good luck to ya.

IMHO, your father is probably scared that you'll die or get hurt. Parents (good ones) worry about that stuff constantly. I have no kids yet, so I don't know how that feels, but I've seen it consume my friends who do. I do know how I feel when my girlfriend has a seizure (epilepsy, fortunately they are infrequent). But I imagine that horror about one's child is much sharper. So...I say go easy on him, but do what makes you happy, and be careful. You are beholden to no one but yourself, and someday you'll be an old lady who's life will be the product of your decisions. Your father is right that skydiving is dangerous, but the risk is dependent on how you do the sport...gear, weather, training, and more all have an effect on the outcome. There is also that luck thing, too, which can't be quantified very well. My folks are quite supportive, fortunately. I was telling my Mom once about a guy who broke his ankle on a bad landing, and she interrupted me with "Well, you can break your ankle getting out of a car, too."

100,000+ threads on this board with almost 2 million individual posts, and I can't seem to find even one post about someone using a helmet cam in bed. I am suprised for some reason. I'd think it would put a little more live action into home movies (short of bringing in a third to act as videographer). Hands free and all. No static, boring shots from across the room with bad angles and a long view of the dust on the dresser. Just trying to come up with a list of ways of justifying the eventual cost of that kind of gear so that my girlfriend doesn't scoff *too* much. While I'm certain she wouldn't let me use it in any manner outside of the manufacturer's indended use, it could be an item that puts a bit of humor into the discussion.

Great point...that stuff burns me up. A Nissan finance manager once offered me a "special 1%-off coupon" to lower the rate they originally offered me. What??? http://www.njcitizenaction.org/craautofinancreport.html

There are lots of ways that dealerships make money off you. The following are two really good reads on buying a car. In short, take your time and keep saying "Thanks for the info, we'll think about it and call you back" Confessions of a Car Salesman (Long, but an interesting look into the lifestyle of a high-pressure car salesperson lifestyle) http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html Top Ten Dealer Scams (Short and fun) http://www.carbuyingtips.com/scams.htm Check up on what the manufacturers are offering the dealerships for incentives, and find out what most people are paying for the car you want. http://www.edmunds.com

In my extremely short career... 1) Dealing with my first line twist with spins on jump 8. Lost much of my fear of after working through that. 2) My 7-year-old nephew's bugeyed expression while watching one of my skydives on video. (He wanted to know why his Dad didn't do it too . His mom has done a tandem and has agreed to do another one summer '06. Negotiations with Dad are still ongoing...) 3) My tandem. That started all this!

Fair enough...but they got the body + 18-55 lens (not an IS one) for $1,349 after rebate: http://www.ritzcamera.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=13177251 Miami, I agree thats a good deal

Version 2 of this program should let you cut away for another try at the target with the reserve 2.52 best I could do