dbattman

That's a very interesting question and Diablopilot hit it on the head- getting cocky is dangerous. From your standpoint 300-800 seems to be the danger zone. You get some experience, learn a few things, think you know a lot more than you really do and start pushing things a lot more. 'Young Skygod' status kickes in here. Throw in a few downsizes and that's a bad combination. Strangely enought the same thing happens with pilots- the '300th' hour so to speak. Want to get through it? Surround yourself with good people and listen to them. You'll know if you're heading into the danger zone if you're perceptive. Survival will depend on (a) do you recognize this and yank yourself back and (b) a good bit of luck. Still a great question though and an interesting statistic.

Sheesh. What a bunch of overblown hype with that group. Hated for what? Standing around with a bunch of signs. Kinda reminds me of those annoying coworkers that do nothin but push your buttons to get a reaction and then run to HR. Whaa! I think it's rather sad that they warrant even a fraction of that attention and organizations like this and this only warrant a footnote on the local news (occasionally).

I wonder if he had any prior experience on a military rig or an older one. If I'm not mistaken the military setups and the old rounds had the deployment handle located at the cutaway position on a modern sport rig.

I've stayed out of this whole thing until now letting myself get my head around everything that I saw at Dublin and not flying off the handle. I've tried to keep up with everything that was being said and I'm sure I've missed some stuff but so far since Danny and Bob went in I've seen calls for new BSRs, separate landing areas, more canopy training, finger pointing at swoopers, and some other miscellaneous stuff I can't remember. I'm coming up on six years in the sport and looking back on what I saw when I started and what I see now I hate to say it, but so far everyone is dead wrong. Addressing the above mentioned areas certainly have their merits, but they are not the root of the problem. Everyone stop reading, get up and go to your bathroom, or bedroom, or whereever you have one of those large reflective thingies and get a good look because that is the problem. The problem is US. As is YOU. As in ME. As in the guy sitting next to you in the plane or standing next to you by the beer fridge. We've gotten soft. We've gotten lax. We're more worried about being someones' drinking and skydiving buddy than we are about keeping that buddy alive. I spent ten years working in industrial production and manufacturing in the paper industry. There's machinery that will rip your fingers off if you look at them wrong, caustic chemicals galore, chlorine dioxide generators that puff without warning expeling junk just eager to burn your lungs out. Better know where the wind socks are located because of the safety man is walking around he may just throw an informal quiz at ya to see if you know what to do when the chemical plant has an accidental release (hint- check the wind) . Go ahead and walk around where you're not supposed to, take off your hard hat and your safety glasses, forget your escape respirator, do something in a stupid unsafe manner that puts you or someone else at risk for an accident and see who's worried about being your drinking buddy. No one. You will get called on it and if you don't shape up better work on your resume. It's not unusual to walk into a facility and see banners proclaiming '1,000,000 SAFE MANHOURS' or two million, three million, hell FIVE million. They get that way by being less talk and more action. They get that way by not standing around thinking 'hey- he shouldn't be doing that. Someone should have a talk with him' That get that way by doing something about it. I'm talking from the mill manager to the utility sweeper- they all speak up and tell you you need a hard hat. Where's your glasses? Hey- you need fall protection if you're going up that high. I've seen upper level mill management shit canned in a matter of minutes for this kind of stuff. I want Bill Scott the Quintessential DZO ahole keeping his skydivers away from the hanger and out of trouble. I want Joe Benett chewing me out in the landing area again for landing the wrong way. I want Skydave busting some greybeard for blowing way past the hard deck before pulling. I want people pulling new jumpers off of sit-fly jumps when they just got their A- license. And for pete's sake I want people called to task when they put someone else at risk by hooking when they're not supposed to or doing something colosally stupid. Yes, accidents will happen. Accidents are exits that funnel with a handle getting yanked. Accidents are misjudging your swoop which you executing in a perfectly safe and responsible manner resulting in you skipping off the ground like a flat stone. This wasn't Danny's first big-way that day. Did he hook on the others? I don't know, maybe. Did anyone say anything to him? I don't know, maybe. Probably not because he's Danny Page. We've become a bunch of panzies pussyfooting with each other because we want to be a cool guy at the dropzone. And I'm guilty- oh I'm guilty as hell on this and so are you. It's always someone elses responsibility to have a talk with someone but not ours. Last time I was out at the Farm many months ago I was up in the plane and went to open the door to spot. All the people back there with me were pointing at the light telling me to wait. I went 'ya ya I know' stuck my head out, took a look, ok- right on top perfect pop the door open and wait. Well back on the ground Sporto was organizing that weekend and had the little chat with me about the light. No big deal, just wait for the lite and the pilot to give you the door (which I already knew but ignored for no reason) since you don't really know what's going on. Well, then I did the other thing we're all guilty of- I took an attitude about. He was just some basejumper skygod dickhead. What's his damn problem? The simple fact is that I did something stupid that I knew I shouldn't have and he called me on it. He was right and I was wrong. End of story. If you're not comfortable talking to someone about something because they are older, or more experienced, or a big name in the sport fine- I'm not comfortable a lot of times either. Find someone who is comfortable with the situation. Find the S&TA, find one of their other friends and bring it up. Find the other organizer and ask him to address the issue, but please don't stay silent any longer. Don't make excuses any longer. If you're on the receiving end of this please stop and listen. Hear them out. Take a breath and think about it because there's probably a reason for it. If there was something extenuating or misread about the situation fine- I'm not asking you to roll over or run and hide over it but I am asking you to listen and think about it. If they're right they're right regardless of who you are. If there's a hole in the setup or the system let's work it out. But if you're wrong, you are wrong. Take a breath, think about it, look at them like I did many times over those ten years in industry and say 'You're right. Thank you for watching out for me.' I understand why people get defensive- when you are on the receiving end it stings and it hurts. It's a bit embarrassing, maybe your reputation suffers a little, or you're thinking about being the topic of discussion at the bonfire that night. That stinging sensation you feel? That, my friend, is called the truth and the truth hurts. The truth can hurt so much that it's downright fatal.

You should have engaged the autopilot. Might need the manual inflation tube. It's located just below the belt buckle.

String 'em along, have a little fun.

OK- round and round we go. I know we only get to play 'Musical Chairs' once a year so let's have a good time!

Mac

SUN! SUN! Sun sun sun SUN beautiful SUN!

Weeds.

Who brought the shovel?

Illinois motor vehicle fuel tax law. According to this they are 'blenders' and are required to pay the fuel tax when they put untaxed motor vehicle fuels in their tank. The fuel tax pays for the roads and infrastructure. OK, fine- they said they'd pay it. As far as the special permits and bonds go, that's an awful lot of red tape to collect $5 a month. It would be simpler to have it as an extra fee on the yearly registration with a substantial fine if you are caught without it. That's a bit of a Catch-22. If you buy B-100 your paying tax at the pump, but if you're vegging it you'd need a registration rider and how do you distinguish between the two at a traffic stop? Interesting conumdrum. I'm a bit curious how the revenuers learned about this anyways. My money is on a grease hauler sore about losing the recycling from the restaurants, since they normally get paid to haul off the used oil.

corrected....to read frontier is technically closed, ( for the winter, only ) ..... back at it , in late april, or early may...depending on weather... J T a3914 d12122 That's what I meant, jimmy. Thanks for the correction.

I believe Frontier is technically closed, but they might still be checking email or answering phone messages.

Just in time for the jumping season, FEMA is starting to auction off their FEMA trailers. gsaauctions.gov

Clicky Holy Scnikes! Bet every guy there could have left Carl Lewis in the dust after that.

Let the federal government (and hence the taxpayers) invest in your higher education. They'll make it back many times over when you start earning more and paying more in taxes. Stafford loans- a good place to start.

Not wanting to get involved in financial planning here, but as they say- location, location, location. Wow- student buying a house. Tough call. If it's a longer term degree it could work out well for you. If you find a don't wanter or the 'three d's' (death, divorce, or despair) it could work our well for you. First question- are you willing and able to take on two or possibly three other students or roomies to help pay the bills? Give that alot of though as it could be either a blessing or a curse. Next thoughts: - No one is your friend. - The seller's situation is not your fault or your responsibility. Do not allow their problems to become your problems. - Shop around, shop around, shop around. - Get as much as you possibly can from everyone involved. The brokers, the agents, the sellers. - You will never get anything unless you demand it (note I did not say ask). - You will have 100% of your offers rejected if you don't make them. and the last thought, - They WILL do it to you first if they can. If you want to go ahead with this you should consider getting an attorney to watch your interests. Get an attorney, get an attorney, get an attorney. Or at the very least a good, knowledgeable, short, red haired cast iron real estate paralegal that knows her stuff and can hold your hand. Preferably one with a little green crab tattoo. It can be very easy to overlook something or not completely read the forms that are sent through five fax machines before you even see them. Probably won't cost you much. Want to make that back? One little checkbox or form entry on the contracts can leave you holding a big bag if you miss it.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few weeks. Mochaskychick says heloo, everyone. She may actually make an appearance at Dublin!

I am absolutely GREEN right now. Damn- someone post pics! What were the spectators like?

You'll have to tell me that story sometime. I had another acquaintance tell me how accomodating the Saudi officials are when they deport you- help you pack, take you to the airport, walk you to the gate.

Tell him you won't take a penny less than 25%.

Post your D license number.

I took one too many trips like that and finally broke down and ponied up for the Crown Room. Best 50k Skymiles I ever spent. Paid for itself in free coffee and booze pretty quick. Time to spare, go by air!

Heh-heh. When I went to Guyana the first thing I did on arrival was tape 4000 Guyanese dollars inside my passport. That way I knew I could at least get out cuz if I lost my passport I was pretty well screwed anyways. What fun, what fun.