SivaGanesha

The proposed regulations make frequent reference to organizations that have been "recognized by the Minister". Does the explicit mention of CSPA and CPSA mean that those organizations are definitely "recognized by the Minister"? That's what I'd want to know--and also how easy/difficult it might be for "the Minister" to withdraw such recognition in future. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Another thing that strikes me as curious--not listed on that site--is that in 1967 the Supreme Court declared a de facto moratorium on capital punishment--and in 2007 the Supreme Court declared a de facto moratorium on capital punishment. It is almost as though when we have an external war to fight, we don't feel the same need to put prisoners to death domestically. I mean, who would have thought--with George W. Bush, of all people, president--appointed in part by the "good graces" of the Supreme Court--we'd end up with a moratorium on capital punishment? And yet that is just what has happened. It is exactly the same scenario as played itself out in Vietnam. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

If he owns a substantial business I think there is a real chance he will eventually come to his senses and get his act together. Is it possible/viable for you to get a small claims judgment against him (with you acting personally without waiting for the insurance co) for the deductible, any increase in your rates, and the cost of filing the claim? If you can get a judgment you may eventually be able to find a way to get him to pay. I wouldn't wait for the insurance company to act. $250 is probably a lot more money to you than $4000 is to them, and unless they see a clear path to recouping the claim, they (and the collection agency) will probably just write it off. He may have all his assets tied up in the business which might be difficult to seize. I don't see them pursuing this aggressively unless he clearly has assets in his own name--rather than that of the business. But you could pursue it yourself. Still there has to be some piece of the puzzle missing. If I understand the story correctly, this guy is now looking at the original sentence for violating parole, plus the first arrest warrant (which must have happened during the brief period after his release but before the accident), plus driving without insurance (twice), plus drunk driving. He's gotten in a lot of trouble in a very short period of time. For a guy who is sufficiently competent to build a business with significant assets, this is surprisingly stupid behavior. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

It is surprising to me that someone who owns a business and has valuable assets to protect--that could potentially be seized--would be behaving in the way he is. Usually the kind of behavior you describe is how people with nothing to lose act. Is this a viable business with revenue, employees, etc--or is this just something he incorporated years ago that now exists on paper only? Good luck getting your deductible back

Will the above timing be affected if a general election is called during the time window referred to above? I contacted an old friend of mine who is running for Parliament--he appears to have a reasonable chance of unseating the current incumbent although of course we don't know when the election will be. (This is a serious candidate from a serious party, not the Rhinoceros person I referred to earlier.) He has been skydiving within the last year and appears somewhat sympathetic to our position. But of course his ability to help would be largely contingent on his getting into Parliament--so anyone know if the Transport Canada deadline would be pushed back in the event of a spring general election, which seems quite likely? "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Actually being a skydiver makes me far more risk-averse than many employers I have worked for. I am accustomed to multiple layers of sometimes redundant security--ie having both a main and reserve even though you know you packed the main properly, having both a RSL and a reserve ripcord, etc--when I skydive. I expect my employers to exercise a similar degree of prudence in their business processes but many have fallen far short of that expectation IMHO. Skydiving is a matter of life and death. The stakes in business can be nearly as high sometimes. In my experience skydivers generally exercise a degree of caution that businesspeople do not. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

True. So they should go back to jail. But at that point, no matter how angry you get and how unfair it is, they aren't going to be in a position to pay any claim themselves. That's just common sense. It is highly unlikely that some who is (a) just out of jail (b) uninsured (c) on their way back to jail is going to be able to pay a claim, no matter how much they might be at fault. I like to look at things from a pragmatic perspective. The original poster wanted the uninsured driver (a) to go back to jail and (b) to pay. Looking at it pragmatically, common sense would dictate that it is unlikely that both (a) and (b) will happen, even if that would be the "fair" outcome. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I have mixed feelings about this. When it comes to criminal offenses, like driving drunk or without the minimum coverage required by law, I think the responsible party should go to jail. But it only makes sense for people to purchase insurance to the extent that they have assets to protect and to the extent that the law requires. Wealthier drivers with more expensive cars may need to purchase underinsured motorist coverage if they want to protect the money they've spent on their car. And I don't really have a big problem with that. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

SMiles I'm afraid I've only received one response thus far to my contacting political candidates about this issue--from the Rhinoceros (!) party. Here is the response I got: --------------------- i'm the director of the laboratory for the science of democracy in the neorhino.ca party. I can confirm you that the party neorhino.ca had no intention to regulate the skydiving. But now that we have been made aware of the situation, we will include this in our programme, of course ! Those measures of Transport Canada to control everything are shocking and we do not intend to let this happen without saying our word ! Until next time, like we say in the party: stay horny ! -- Jean-Patrick Berthiaume _____________________ Directeur Laboratoire des Sciences de la Démocratie parti Neorhino.ca --------------------- Not sure if this is beneficial or detrimental to our goal. On the one hand, everything the Rhinoceros party does--needless to say--is completely tongue in cheek. On the other hand, "opposing government regulation of skydiving" almost sounds like a Rhinoceros party platform--it might actually serve to underscore how farcical the whole idea of NPA 99-148 is--and might actually help our position. What do you think? "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Thanks for the info, NWFlyer!!! "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Wow. That's WAY not okay. That must have been hard for you to work through. I'm sorry to hear that some people can treat their children in such a deplorable fashion. Disowning kids seems to be a great family tradition in my family. One of my aunts disowned all three of her daughters for reasons that remain rather hard to understand. Another of my aunts disowned one of her sons when said son started dressing up in women's clothes and announced he preferred to be thought of as a daughter rather than a son. My mother hasn't exactly disowned me but she, my brother, and my sister-in-law all think I'm on a one-way ticket to hell because I haven't accepted their version of who Jesus was. It's kind of sad because my family used to support me absolutely in everything I did--even skydiving--but when they went off in a different direction than I was comfortable with where the Jesus dude was concerned, all hell (pun intended) broke loose. No one would even sit beside me at my mother's wedding (remarriage) or my (paternal) grandmother's funeral. Again, it's rather sad because my family used to be so close--but somehow they got into this whole disowning thing awhile back. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

The DNC punished these states in the wrong way. Moving the primaries to earlier than the mandated date was a ploy by these states to get attention. The way to deal with people who are inappropriately trying to get attention is to ignore them. The proper way to punish these states would have been to count their delegates but forbid the candidates to campaign there. As it is, these states are now getting the very attention they sought inappropriately to get. This, unfortunately, is going to reinforce their anti-social behavior. Psychology 101. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Thanks! What I was getting at is that the application I started asks a lot about leadership roles held as an undergraduate, in graduate school, in the workplace, and outside the workplace. I'm wondering how important it is to have had such background. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I agree with this. I think the contest also underscores the gap between immigrants and native-born Americans. Obama is as close to being an immigrant as it is possible to be and still be eligible for the presidency. Most presidential candidates come from families that have been here for generations. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Just as a data point--I took the GMAT about two weeks ago and scored 770 on combined verbal/quantitative and 6.0 on the analytical writing essays--and that was without any preparation at all. I'm not sure it is worth it to spend $1200 on a GMAT review course. Maybe you can take the test once very soon--it is offered pretty much daily and I think you can find a slot especially if you can go on a weekday--without sending the scores to any schools. That is a $250 investment rather than $1200 and should quickly establish what, if anything, needs to be improved on. Good luck with your application SarahC07!!! Thanks to NWFlyer for the info re the classes mostly being filled up now. I had been hoping to apply this year but I will only make the final round of applications now and it sounds like that is not a good bet. Plus it would be something of a rush job re getting references, etc. Well at least the GMAT is done so I can focus on other parts of the application for next year. I think the scores are good for five years or so. What other things do they look at in the admissions process besides GMAT scores? Looking over the application they seem to focus on a lot of things that weren't looked at when I applied for a PhD, for jobs, or for a green card. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

There's another definition of when someone truly becomes a skydiver which has always been at the back of my mind. I must apologize because I have 87 jumps, and yet there are probably people with thousands of jumps who don't meet the requirement for being a "real skydiver" I am about to give. But I'll mention it anyways just to get people's reaction: You aren't truly a skydiver until you make your first jump without an AAD. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I'm not sure if I'd call myself a skydiver right now. To tell it like it is, I'm more of a former skydiver who has made a few jumps recently and is trying to get back into the sport. There was a time when I definitely called myself a skydiver, though. I went through the static line progression originally. One of my jumpmasters had an opinion as to when I truly became a skydiver. On my first freefall, when we were on jump run, he said: "This is it. Now you are really going to be a skydiver. Welcome!...DOOR!!!" Despite his assurances, though, and despite the successful completion of my first freefall, I really didn't consider myself a skydiver then. The jump where I myself first thought of myself as a skydiver--remember, again, I went through the static line progression--was when I successfully completed my turns (Figure 8) for my A-license. To me, that was very significant, because I was no longer just focusing on surviving the jump. If I could successfully complete something in freefall--eg the turns--which wasn't focused solely on saving my own ass and surviving the jump--to me that made me a skydiver. It meant I could begin to have a little fun in freefall and the whole jump didn't have to be preoccupied with merely surviving. To me, skydiving isn't about saving your life but about having fun. I'm not sure where the equivalent place would be for someone going through the AFF progression. I think it probably varies for everyone as to when they see themselves as a skydiver. But doing those turns was what did it for me. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Women rock!!!! "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Speaking of secession, why did the western counties of Virginia who stayed loyal get relegated to the name 'West Virginia'? Surely there is more honor in being allowed to keep the original name. The western counties should have kept the name Virginia. When the eastern counties--which included the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond--begged to be let back in, it should have been under the name 'East Virginia'. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Actually this isn't too bad compared to some other countries/etc. A 40 year old Cuban had the same president for about 39 years and 364 days. A 70 year old Tibetan has known but one Dalai Lama. A 28 year old Roman Catholic will have only known two Popes--especially unusual given that the papacy seems to be an old man's job. I lived in Canada to young adulthood and only knew two effective prime ministers--Trudeau and the Right Honourable Lyin Brian--with a few brief soujourns by others. Just three British sovereigns--George III, Victoria, and Elizabeth II--have accounted for more than two-thirds of the time since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

The original poster is not a student, though--northcave is just off student status. While no one should jump if they do not know the proper aircraft emergency procedures, surely northcave is at a point where he needs to reach out to a larger community of skydivers if there is something he is unsure about. Surely part of being off student status means that you can listen to advice given by many other skydivers and make a personal judgment about what is good advice and what is BS. If someone can't make such judgments for themselves shouldn't they still be on student status? "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

According to the Facebook group, the proposed regulation will be published in Gazette 1 by the end of February. I believe the purpose in the meantime is to let MPs and government officials know there is general and widespread opposition to government regulation in skydiving. Presumably by educating them now it will be easier to elicit their formal support once there is something to formally oppose--which is expected to be soon. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

According to the Skydiver Information Manual, 2007 edition (sorry I don't have the 2008 edition yet), page 33, the instructor is supposed to instruct the student as to procedures for when to land with the plane, when to exit and deploy the reserve, when to exit and deploy the main, and when to proceed with the jump normally. SIM doesn't cite precise altitudes so presumably there is some room for discretion based on the instructor, the DZO, and the gear. I was told below 1000, we land with the aircraft; at or above 1000 but below 2500, exit and deploy the reserve; at or above 2500, exit and deploy the main. But since it seems to vary somewhat based on gear, and the original poster has his own gear, the hard deck numbers may have changed since his FJC. The original poster needs to make inquiries on this if he isn't sure. And, of course, SIM doesn't directly apply since he is based in Britain. However, it also says, in SIM, several times elsewhere--on page 31--that you must deploy your reserve by 1000 in the event of a malfunction. Given that a malfunction would be a possiblity in case of an aircraft emergency, it seems, therefore, that if you are as low as 1000 when you exit--and you nevertheless exit rather than landing with the aircraft--you are going to go for the reserve immediately. As far as I can tell, there doesn't seem to be much room for discretion as regards the original poster's specific question. It is clear in that case you go straight for the reserve ripcord. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

If it takes 1500 feet to open shouldn't the threshold for using the reserve be a bit higher than 2000? That doesn't allow a lot of room for error. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I just faxed or emailed copies of this letter to all candidates, including Bob Rae, running in the March 17 byelection in my last Canadian riding, as well as to Lawrence Cannon. Now I just need to work out in my own mind whether as an expat Canadian intending to become a US citizen, I can ethically vote in a Canadian election. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014