Baksteen

I got spanked only once, when I was about ten-ish. A single smack on the bottom, not even that hard, but all the more shocking for the fact that it happened at all. I clearly remember that even at the time I had to admit to myself that I really, really deserved it.

That's ironic on a sad and very deeply disturbing level.

Issues/things like this embarrass me to be a white person, let alone a straight white male in his forties. Happens rather a lot lately.

So.. basically you went to a Pinball boogie, thinking it was just going to be a few days of fun, maybe play a game or two, drink some cheap beer... and came back home and ordered a complete new rig?

I very much doubt it. I was bullied relentessly as a kid. Anyway, I went on to do some volunteer's work with kids for 28 years. In my experience bullies will always find a new stick to hit with. The accent you speak with, your skin colour, hair colour, gadgets, whether or not you have hit puberty yet, which sports you (don't) play, which team you support, what your mum packed you for lunch, being the teacher's pet, not liking what your bully likes - or liking what your bully likes, not being as good at X as your bully - or being better at X as your bully .....just to name a few.

OK, boomer

Eliminating the obvious: Are the bottles touching the back or side wall of the fridge or is your fridge very cold? Is the beer heavily carbonated?

Yes, I held the flare as I was taught and I made an adequate PLF. What with the adrenalin of a first jump on the one hand and lacking any frame of reference whatsoever on the other, I didn't notice anything untoward. Also this was sixteen years ago (damn - when did I become a dinosaur?). But in hindsight I am glad my (then) 85 kg ass was suspended under a nicely forgiving and easygoing Manta 288 rather than something smaller and snazzier. :-)

I can relate. There happened to be video in the LZ during my first jump, the cameraman having ironically dcided to shoot over the shoulder of the instructor on duty. I never saw the signals this instructor gave me (visual signals at the time) and therefore I flared when I judged it time. Due to circumstances I never got to see the video until I had 30 jumps or so. I actually gasped out loud along with the people in the video when I saw myself flaring at treetop height. :-)

I've been offline for a while, but I still would like to answer (sarcasm or no) :-) There is a lot of chest beating (echoed in this thread) about all the aid going to Ukraine, monetary and otherwise. Last week it became apparant that though the EU donated approximately a billion of aid (monetary and otherwise), they also bought for 35 billion of energy from Russia. Mind you, that is since the war started. Also, buying more weapons (for Ukraine) is pretty useless without Ukranian fingers to pull the trigger. Putin can win by sheer numbers.

I don't know. I still feel that "our side" is emphasizing Russian incompetence a lot in this conflict. Not this article specifically, but more generally speaking (no pun intended). Could be part propaganda.

It's a tough situation and I am glad I do not have to make a decision. Military action may be the exact excuse Putin needs to escalate this conflict. But so may military INaction. Putin could just quietly move on to the next 'nazi militarised' non-NATO country after Ukraine. Finland maybe? And what if it IS a NATO country that is being invaded next time? I mean, it's only one single country, right? Totally preferably to lose a single country to nuclear annihilation? Also, in other news and regarding monetary sanctions: Dutch companies import coal by ship from various countries, including South Africa, Colombia, Australia and the United States. Russia is the largest supplier so far, with an annual share of 25 to 30 percent. That is (including transit) about 10 million tons of coal, with a value of about 3.5billion euros. https://www.nu.nl/klimaat/6188528/russische-steenkool-niet-nodig-maar-nederland-koopt-nog-schepen-vol.html (article in Dutch) And that is just the tiny Netherlands. The article goes on to explain that we could easily do without Russian coal, as the other coal producing countries could scale up production using existing infrastructure. That is because in recent years production had been scaled down due to a decline in global demand.

Responding to a post a couple of pages back, but this got kinda buried. Yes, I got two free government-issued "self tests" in the mail (these tests can also be bought at the local supermarket for reasonable prices). In addition, I got COVID-like symptoms about 4-5 times during the pandemic. I got a free PCR test each time. The government-issued PCR tests cannot be used for access to events/holidays abroad. For those "testing for access"-tests, you foot the bill yourself.

With the indications becoming clear that Omicron is less likely to send you to the ICU, our freshly appointed minister of health and public safety has said the new policy will be one of "keeping access to healthcare open for everyone, yet driven by socio-economic impulses" or something to that effect. Ironically this minister of health was the president of the association for Dutch ICUs until just before his appointment, and always advocating caution with regards to opening up the country. On the plus side, COVID has never spread faster and further within the Netherlands than that it does at the moment. I'll remain cautious, thank you. I'm fully vaccinated/boostered and therefore taking part in more activities than I used to, but things like skydiving (where I have no control who is breathing down my neck for twenty minutes) is at the bottom of my priority list right now. Just below "vacations abroad" (I do not drive) and "sitting shoulder to shoulder in restaurants".

Please take religion to SC. Thank you.

Actually, in the Netherlands at least, the "prior infection and cured" certificate is issued by the government after they test you positive and after you are considered cured (14 days after the initial positive test). There is a considerable amount of fraud and non-compliance since the certificate is checked via a government-developed and -issued app. But at least you cannot just lie about it; you have to try a little harder.

Wear your mask over your fraphat and tie it at the back using a rubber band. Once you enter freefall the mask will either hold for the entire jump, or blow off alltogether. If you want to play it safe, I'd plan for the second eventuality. I therefore advise doing only backins and compressed accordeons. That way your buddy is breathing away from you, or at least as far away from your face as possible.

Lack of affordable healthcare?

I can't speak for the others, but my own aversion against slidings has nothing to do with your arguments. It's due to all the people who are rock-solid convinced that any stand-up landing is a perfect landing, that PLFs are for N00Bs, that slidings are better than PLFs because they are (name the excuse). You on the other hand are saying that the sliding is an advanced landing technique which may be applicable in some circumstances provided that you first learned how to do them in controlled circumstances with feedback of an expert. You are right. But for a large part of people that's not going to be the take home message. To sum up, the standard approach to any landing in dodgy circumstances - or perhaps to any landing, period - should be "PLF, unless..."

Non-masking (this includes incorrectly worn masks) is a major annoyance. Thankfully the majority of the population at least complies with the rules such as they are. Unfortunately the government does not seem to have learned anything in the past two years. They tend to just wait for people to notice by themselves when the infection rates go up and start adhering to measures by themselves. The government then proceeds to take the measures they should have taken "two weeks ago". They cannot seem to understand that a) infection rates are a prediction of hospitalised / ICU cases b) there are other people besides COVID-patients who need ICU beds. Finally, when they do take measures they undermine their own credibility with statements like "These measures will only last three weeks" - only to come back two weeks later with even more strict measures which last another month. Or, last july, "no more facemasks" and "Lockdowns are a thing of the past", when the infection rates seemed under control and vaccination rates were on the rise. So yes, compliance is partially due to the population lacking common sense, but the goverment has done a stirling job undermining said compliance and common sense by their general bumbling approach to dealing with the virus. Lastly, I suspect that in any country people who are willing to travel for hours/days by plane or boat packed together with lots of other people are not necessarily the people who are most terrified of COVID. Look at it this way, at least the residents of those highly infected countries are not coming your way to infect your countrymen either.

Well, it is not as if the scientific community hasn't been warning about the risk of something like this happening for a long time. It is a direct result of vaccination efforts focusing on the rich countries (and, no doubt, the rich areas in poor countries). We'll see how the vaccines hold up. I am a bit resigned in this matter since the Netherlands have (mis)managed to make a giant mess of the COVID control even with the current variants. Tonight we are probably getting more strict measures again.

It was a grammar/context thing. Thanks to Mrcwood for elaborating.

Yes, I agree that Muad'Dib would have gotten his arse kicked at the Shield Wall if the Harkonnen and Sardaukar would have had access to ivermectin. Otherwise I do not know where that tweet is going.

I can't be bothered to watch the video. Does this Icon also come with unidentified metal bits falling out after the hesititation - like in the last video your crew posted?

You know, that is a perfect description of foreign tourists renting a bike in Amsterdam. Fortunately they are easily recognised by their incessant ringing the bell. I swear to god, most of them act as if the contraption is powered by ringing the bell instead of pedalling.