Baksteen

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Posts posted by Baksteen

  1.  

    5 hours ago, oldwomanc6 said:

    Wendy, you aren't the only one who has jumped whilst pregnant.  

    Pretty sure there has never been a study that indicated one way or another, let alone that it was detrimental to healthy pregnant women or their babies.   There is a point (individual) where it may be uncomfortable or cumbersome for said pregnant woman,  but to put a blanket statement (not backed up by any science) is just opinion.

    If the blanket statement is made by doctors/scientists I'd call it ass-covering, but other than that I agree.

     

  3. On 1/27/2021 at 12:10 AM, RobertMBlevins said:

    The wife and I managed to get an appointment for the Moderna vaccine for Feb 3 through a hospital pharmacy about twenty miles from home. (Next Wednesday) Slots were assigned online and filled up so fast that by the time I did the second appt. for myself, everything was filled for five hours in between. (In other words, about 30 slots were filled in the two minutes it took me to make HER appointment first.) This means our appt's are six hours apart on the same day. A couple of minutes later, ALL slots were gone right into March. I'm surprised the server didn't crash. 

    Still, no one here is complaining. We will do her appointment at 10:20 AM and then go watch a movie until mine comes up at 4:20 PM. 

    Wait...movie houses are closed. Oh, well. We will just have a long dinner at a local restaurant. Uh...wait. Hold on that too. :/

     I don't know what the weather is like where you're at of course, but have a nice picnic perhaps? Knowing the size of your average American car you might even be able to picnic inside your vehicle...

  4. 2 hours ago, David Wang said:

    However things I can do for my parents (for me as well) are: heal completely before jumping again, being hyper aware of safety and staying safe in the sky. 

    Discuss openly about risks and the steps you take to manage them. I find it helps sometimes with people who do not know about skydiving and have the "you're insane / have a deahwish" knee-jerk reaction. When you counter with well-thought arguments, people eventually tend to get interested despite themselves and ask more questions. Downside is, you have to do this again with every new person, which takes a lot of time.

    I'm blessed with very supportive parents. Talking about risk management, precautions etc. helps them stay supportive. Well, except that my mom does not want to hear about CReW. :p

    When I told them I was going to take the FJC they just smiled, looked at each other and told me that that was exactly something they'd expect me to do. I'd get the idea, and I'd go do it. Funny thing is, approximately half the people I knew at the time agreed with my parents point of view, the other half reacted exactly opposite.

    • Like 1

  6. 21 hours ago, brenthutch said:

    https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55620848

     

    Researchers found that around 2,500 power plants are planned, enough to double electricity production by 2030.”

    ”Until now, there has been a widely shared view that African countries would "leapfrog" directly to renewable energy sources, and away from old world coal, oil and gas. This has already happened with communications, where countries have invested in cellular technology and over 90% of people across the continent have access to a mobile service.

    But the new research indicates that this same sort of leap isn't likely to happen with green electricity over the next decade. 

    By 2030, the study suggests that coal, oil and gas will continue to dominate the generation of electricity across 54 African countries, with just 9.6% coming from renewable sources”

    Looks like somebody forgot to tell Africa about global warming ¬¬

    Without bothering to do any actual research or fact-checking, I can imagine that the leap-frogging is cost driven, just like anything else.

    It should be way cheaper and easier to install a few cell towers here and there than put in thousands of kilometers of phone cabling.
    On the other hand, "green" energy is relatively expensive and needs specialised workers.

    Also, green energy is not always as green as it seems.

    A while back there were news reports of Dutch energy companies buying "green energy" certificates from their Norwegian counterparts, which had a surplus of them.

    Second example: when burning Biomass pellets in your environment-friendly Dutch CV-installation, it is good to know that the biomass pellets are actually mass produced by cutting down trees overseas, after which the pellets are transported by container ship to the country of destination.

    As to solar panels, there are stories about how a solar panel does not ëarn" its own carbon footprint back during its lifetime. Fortunately the technology is improving. Also, it is possible to "recycle" rare components from the old panels which are needing replacement.
     

     

     

  7. 13 hours ago, lippy said:

    Unfortunately I think the drop in case counts is directly related to a drop in testing.  The percentage of positive tests seems to be going up, but there overall test count is decreasing.  Don't know if that's due to decreased testing capacity due to the holidays, or fewer people seeking tests for fear that a positive result will mess up their holiday plans.

    COVID Tracking Project on Twitter

    In the Netherlands we're currently in semi-lockdown until at least the 19th of January.

    The total number of positive tests as reported in the media is currently at about 10K per day.
    Unacceptable for a nation of ~17-18M.

    As to reporting I would prefer that the RIVM (Dutch Institute for Public Health and Environment)  did not simply state the "number of positive tests" per day but rather "today out of a total number of X tests, Y tests were positive (Z%)". Present it in a nice, stacked bar graph as a finishing touch.

    I mean, the data is reported somewhere, but it's a pain to retrieve it.

  9. 4 hours ago, Westerly said:

    Yea, but the difference is you guys keep talking about IFs and COULDs and MAYs. I am talking about what actually happened. As in what is real life here. What actually happened was nothing happened. There were no major safety consernes revealed during the test so while something COULD have happened, nothing actually did happen which is what matters. So yea, lots of things COULD have happened. None of it actually did happen. Hypothetical dont matter, results do. Go tell the families of the 250k dead that 'good thing we waited to look for a reaction that never actually happened'. In the end, if the goal is to identify safety concerns and no concerns were identified, then it was ultimately a waste of time. Nothing useful came from it, but a lot of bad sure did.

    Just curious, did you by any chance sign up as healthy volunteerfor the clinical trials?

  10. · Edited by Baksteen
    add at least some on-topic content

    6 hours ago, mistercwood said:

    It has been explained to you at least a dozen times now why your reasoning is circular and flawed. It's *great* that the tests have been successful, but your assertion that this was a done deal was never accurate, and the risks of skipping testing had second-order effects that would have been devastating if there had been problems.

    Don't even try - it's like talking to a broken record.

    Or a wall for that matter.

     

    Me, I'd be comfortable with any vaccine approved by the European authorities, be it live (attenuated), dead, vector-based or mRNA.

    I'll just patiently wait my turn.

    • Like 1

  11. 14 hours ago, billvon said:

    Well except for the Oxford/AZ vaccine.  They didn't have a single Phase 3 trial.  They had a bunch of different, smaller trials that they combined into a "phase 3 meta-trial."  Some got different doses, some even got the wrong doses (which is how they discovered that the lower dosing might work better.)  The FDA is currently looking into whether that's sufficient.

     

    Thanks, I missed that one.

  12. 3 hours ago, billvon said:

     The COVID-19 trials were shortened to two months.  

     

    ....but patient groups were much larger, not to mention that a crapload of money has been pumped into developing these vaccines.

    Time <--> money.

  14. That you already were infected doesn't guarantee life long immunity.
    For a lot of viruses (including a lot of nasty ones) it does, for others it doesn't.

    Influenza is a well known example where you must get an annual revaccination.
    That is because the outside of the virus changes a bit over time, so that your immune system doesn't recognise the virus if you get reinfected.

  15. I had fifty-odd jumps when I had my first reserve ride. To add insult to injury, I landed in a ditch.

    My ankle was swollen and some ligaments were damaged. I did not need crutches but was to walk slowly and try not to limp, since limping is a "habit" you then need to unlearn. I went back to jumping when I could walk normally again and when the ligaments had healed in the opinion of a physical therapist. The physical therapist advised my to use sports tape on my ankle, which I did and which worked fine.

    I was very nervous during the plane ride up, but after exit the anxiety left me as I got stable and  I felt great. This is over a decade ago. The ankle is not troubling me very much any more.

    I also sustained a serious shoulder injury from when I had to land in turbulent conditions on rock hard dirt fiveish years ago.
    The PLF did not go picture perfect, but had I attempted any other kind of landing I am sure I would have needed a noisy taxi with blue lights on.
    I took a short spell off jumping, but not very long. Five years later, shoulder still gets stiff and sore occasionally.

    Then the injury to my knee, which was by far the worst for my skydiving career. I had to leave off jumping for approximately half a year. Again, no crutches, but walking normally was not an option. I had to take short, slow steps and be very aware when walking. Stairs were out of the question. I slowly built back to walking normally and now, two years later, the knee still occasionally likes to give me a reminder that it was injured. When I got back to jumping, I PLF'd the entire training season (~100 jumps) no matter how good the landing. The irony is that this was not a skydiving injury at all, but that I sustained while in our f*rst ballroom dancing competition, when my wife and I had a collision with another couple.

  16. 3 hours ago, Westerly said:

    HA!!! Dr. Fauci just gave a public speech on the new vaccine development. His exact words: Fauci defended the quick vaccine development process. “The process of the speed did not compromise at all safety, nor did it compromise scientific integrity,” he said.

    https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-11-19-20-intl/index.html

    Suck it!!! I freaking told you this could be done quickly. Now go ahead and tell the families of all those who are dead that 'good thing we took our time and did things slowly'. Freaking unbelievable. Dragging our feet more will just result in more deaths. Current projections show as many as 650,000 dead by March. That is more deaths than the single leading cause of death in the USA. If we get that many, COVID will be the #1 cause of death in the USA.

    What Fauci is saying according to what you quoted is not that the devt. process could have been done faster, but that the current development process, which you habitually call "dragging our feet" acutally is a really fast development.

    Vaccine development normally takes years, if not decades. The COVID vaccine reached its final stages in a fraction of this time.

    This was achieved by enourmous money grants to several or even many companies and institutions around the world. This translates in state of the art equipment, enough(?) manpower in all stages of development and testing and also into very large initial clinical trial-groups.

    Another factor which greatly improves the timelines is that the authorities at an FDA-level are doing their review in parallel to the development of the vaccine; they look over the shoulder of the scientists, so to speak. Normally they would wait until all data of one or even all clinical trials is/are available, which is a way more cost-effective method. This last bit is poorly explained, I'm aware, but I get lost in translation once more.

  17. 13 hours ago, billvon said:

    Because there were approximately zero of them.

    I had my appendix out in March.  No problems.
    I've been to see my GP twice since March.  No problems.

    You are looking for reasons to hate.

    Well, not approximately zero.

    At least over here the intensive cares were being overwhelmed early this year with severe COVID-cases, causing delays and postponements in for instance 'regular' surgeries.

    Those COVID-cases did arrive, however.

  19. On 11/11/2020 at 11:39 PM, Westerly said:

    AI bet if everyone wore full, legit PPE including N-99 masks properly fitted, a face shield and a full body chemical suit, deaths would probably drop 100k even lower--just proving that cloth masks are not real PPE. 

    (emphasis mine)

    Well, that's the kicker, isn't it? A fit-test takes about 30 min and costs a lot of money. No way that everyone everywhere is able to get a properly fitted facemask.

  21. 15 hours ago, betzilla said:

    That's not what I said. I said FOR ME, I think static line was the right choice. I do recommend tandems frequently. It's a great way to make a first jump.

    The difference is essentially: tandem = jumping from the 10m platform; static line = wading into the water; knowing in each case that people swim without drowning all the time. When I was kid learning to swim, I literally had to prove to myself that MY body could float, like, one limb at a time in the bathtub, before I dared to try actual swimming in the pool. Static line allowed me to do the same with skydiving. Some people don't need that slow pace. I guess I do...

    I would compare tandem with a person jumping in the water with a life vest on while the attendant keeps the person above water with a long stick. :)

    I do not recommend tandems since most often they are just carnival rides. the good TMs aside (who will protest this rather grim picture I'm painting), there are any folks who will not give you a good introduction in skydiving anyway, since the less time they spend with a passenger, the more chance they have of churning out one extra jump and hence earn extra cash.

    If you (not you personally) are just looking for the experience of skydiving with minimal preparation and commitment on your part, by all means do a tandem and call it quits.

    If you are inclined to think that static line/AFF is your thing, just go for it. Which program you should actually choose depends on you and what is available to you. I was drawn to the more gradual progression of static-line. In hindsight I think I would not have done very well with AFF since there are more tasks to complete on a single jump. Also, I didn't have that much cash to invest upfront - and that is not even taking into account the price of a 'redo' of one or more levels.

    So, only for the small group who likes to have their toe in the water before making the plunge I would say that maybe a tandem is of added value for you; carnival ride or no.

  22. 8 hours ago, billvon said:

    I am not talking about deaths.  Thalidomide didn't kill people, either - but it had some very nasty and life altering side effects.
     

    I was just thinking of that.

    It induced birth defects in fetuses - even at one single dose administered to a pregnant woman. I'm sure I also read somewhere that it remains (temporary) residual in the body and that males are not immune from transmitting the birth defects either.
     

    Before this was found out, thalidomide was prescribed widely to pregnant women to combat morning sickness among other things.

    IIRC correctly, the problem was left- and right-oriented molecules - mirror images of each other (I'm not sure of my translation). At that time these were chemically indistinguishable from each other, but the consequenses were extreme.

    At Westerly:

    Large infusions of cash help shortening the timelines in drug research. But the in vivo studies take time. Nobody wants another thalidomide out there. Sure it didn't kill you - but even though it protects the 'taker' of the drug against the targeted disease I ask: are the consequences worth it?Google "thalidomide" and "baby" for images before you answer.

  24. · Edited by Baksteen
    add quote

    On 10/20/2020 at 12:48 PM, Howeller said:

    hello. i was wondering what everyones first jump was?
    ill add abit of a story to this question, i have always said i wanted to skydive but havent been able to due to being too heavy. i have been working hard for the last 6 months and am starting to get close to my target and can actually see myself being under the weight limit for the first time since i was 16. now i am getting close i am starting to research into the idea actually being able to skydive. I am predicting spring is when i will be at my target weight and so thats when i plan on doing ny first skydive. this also adds another target to achieve
    i was wondering what you would recommend doing as a first skydive now as a more experienced skydiver if you could go back and do it again?
    i was looking at a stagic line as my local center has what i think is a good price on a first jump static line course. i wanted do do a jump to make sure i like it before committing the money to possibly do the aff course? or do i need to do a tandem first?
    sorry of this is a stupid question or had been asked before, i did search for a similar tgread but coukdnt find one, and thanks for any advive in advance
    thanks
    Alex

    I never did a tandem before signing up for the static line course and never regretted it.

    My reasoning back then was simple: Fourteen years ago, a tandem cost €200, while a five jump static-line course cost €335,-. If I did the tandem first and wanted to keep jumping I'd 'lose' more money than when I just went for the static-line course and decided after one jump to call it quits.
    Nowadays both the course and the tandem are much more expensive - that much more money which could go to extra jumps after you finish your course.

    Also, jumping by myself would allow me to do all the fun stuff myself, instead of having someone do that for me.Lastly, though many on here will disagree with me, tandem jumps are most often treated as nothing more than a carnival ride by both the tandem master and the tandem passenger.

    Is a tandem jump awesome?
    Sure.

    Is it comparable to jumping all by yourself?
    I doubt it.

    Can it be a great introduction to skydiving?
    It very much depends on where you make the tandem jump. You at least have to let them know about your intentions.

    Am I old school?
    Definitely.

    BUT... 

    All of this is dependent on what the DZ you go to chooses to offer. 


    And more to the point, how much money you can invest upfront.

  25. A sport rig being left in a plane by a jumper is highly unlikely. The bailout rig being left by the pilot less so.

    I can't get my head around a jumper "forgetting" their rig, especially for a week - even second hand gear is worth easily $2000 in total and that's discounting the sentimental value. As for student gear, I'd expect the people in charge to take equal care of at least accounting for all the dropzone's assets.