Kell.nl

A friend wants to do a tandem jump, but she just had a root canal done and now has a temporary crown. The trip for jumping is planned before she has her follow up appointment for a permanent crown. I know for scuba diving it is recommended not to dive with a temporary crown, as with temporaries it's possible there is a little air pocket and the pressure change might pop it off or cause a lot of pain. Of course scuba diving deals with a much bigger change in pressure. So how about skydiving? Not a problem? Or advisable not to? Or at most some discomfort? Of course the best way is always to postpone, but since this will be a weekend road trip with 8+ people, postponing isn't really an option. So only options for her are to jump or not jump on this trip.

Moved to Colombia a few years ago, but I haven't jumped here yet. Time to change that! Unfortunately the info about Colombian dropzones on here is very old, so I would love some more current information. Especially since it seems like the dropzone that was closest to me went out of business during the pandemic. So what would be the best dropzone in the country? Planning to do a weekend roadtrip with a few friends. Looking for the following things: - Tandem for my friends. Would be great of 3 or 4 tandems can go at the same time, but not a requirement - Gear rental for me (sold my gear due to not jumping enough to stay at that wingloading) - A coach for a refresher jump. Got my D license, close to a thousand jumps but haven't jumped in a year - If the tandem instructor(s) speak english, that's a pro, but not a requirement. Most peeps that are coming can speak decent Spanish (or perfect for the Colombian friends ^^) And of course all the "regular" stuff as good safety record, maintained airplane(s), nice people etc. From looking around, it seems Xielo ( https://xielo.co/ )might be the best place to go, but would love some feedback. We live in Medellin, but anywhere in the country is fine.

I jump at Skydance also and I can do coach jumps with you for sufficiently awesome high-fives and my slot if I like you. And luckily it's easy for me to like people, so if you're not a total asshole, we should be fine. One thing though, I fall fast, so it does depend on your body/arch whether or not I can do coach jumps with you. If you're long and skinny or a floater, then unfortunately it wouldn't work out. In that case I can do your hop and pops :P I am usually there Saturdays or Sundays. I'm easy to spot. Just follow the purple.

And to save you a call (if you haven't made it yet): SkyDance doesn't offer static line either.

I got the FlySight yesterday. I am looking forward to jumping it. I played around with it today in my car (I set the mode to automotive/horizontal speed). Very fun :) I attached some pictures showing how I mounted it. I mounted it on the back of my camera box on my camera helmet. I used 3M Dual Lock (bought it at Radio Shack; it is call super lock there) on three quarters of the FlySight. That way I can still open the camera box without any problems. And it feels very sturdy. Definitely not coming off unless something really goes wrong (in which case the FlySight is probably the least of my worries). I did read that 3M Dual Lock can't be mated/unmated as often as velcro before it goes "bad". But hey, that's what long USB cables are for, right I used the suggestion on here and bought in-helmet speakers. 25 dollar was the cheapest at the local motor cycle store, so not too bad. I opened one of the speakers, ripped out the cable and soldered a new cable on it with a bend stereo jack on it. I kept the cable very short, so I won't have much excess in the helmet. The speaker itself uses regular velcro (came with the speakers) to keep itself in place inside the helmet. The volume sounds very loud inside the helmet, so I don't have a doubt I will hear it during jumping. I probably will turn it to a lower volume ^^ Now let's just hope the stupid wind here stops blowing so hard so that I can test jump the FlySight!

If you want the altitrack (don't know about the protrack) to record hop and pops, put it in student mode. I always have it in student mode (hop and pops and normal jumps) and it records all jumps. Only drawback is that if for any reason you have to ride the airplane down and the plane does this fast, it can log a jump.

Not sure if it is the same for the Pro-Track, but I have an L&B Alti-Track, and the original usb-serial cable that came with it did not have support for 64 bits Windows 7. After emailing L&B, they send me a newer cable for free that is supported. Even if it is different for the Pro-Track, send (or call) L&B an email. Their support is stellar!

A different approach that I used, and not only for skydiving, is using night lenses. These are lenses that you wear while you sleep but take out when you wake up. They shape your cornea and then you have good vision during the day. I can even go two days without wearing them and still have 20/20 vision (actually 20/15 on one eye, so even better ^^). These lenses are called ortho-k. I decided on this because my normal eye sight isn't too bad so I didn't want to risk surgery. With ortho-k (provided you follow hygiene guidelines), there is almost no risk. If you stop wearing the lenses, the cornea eventually assume their original shape. But of course always check with your eye doc instead of believing a random stranger on the internet :P So now I wear regular goggles for skydiving. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthokeratology

There is no such thing as being too much color coordinated! All my gear is purple and black including, but not limited to, my jumpsuits, rig, main, shoes, helmet, gearbag, dragmat and logbook cover ^^ And that's just the skydiving part

In that case check which server you are using for outgoing mail. Chances are you are trying to use your old provider's one. I don't have Thunderbird running here, but look for something called SMTP server, outgoing mail server or something similar. Your old provider might see any mail as spam if it is not sent from one of its own IP addresses (on that server, that is).

rblsmtpd is a deamon responsible for blocking spam mail from known spam IP addresses, which is running on the server you are trying to use for sending email. So it might be that from your IP address (your PC, or any other behind your router), someone has been spamming and made it to a blacklist. I would strongly urge you to run virus/malware scanners on your pc('s) and make sure noone is using your wireless connection if you have one. Getting of blacklists (you're usually on multiple ones...) is not always an easy task. I would try to get your ISP to do it for you, or have them just assign you another IP address (you can try to refresh your current one, but most providers will give you the same one). But both options only after making sure you are really not spamming! Of course, maybe someone just screwed up with rblsmtpd and misconfigured it. It may just work again after a while, but I wouldn't count on it.

Odd, I never thought you were a bully...

Quade is right that probably the best way is to have a spare laptop stationed at the house for a while. A laptop shouldn't be too hard to hide, including a cheap small webcam (I picked up a few for 6.99 at Fry's a while ago). There is software available that turns the webcam(s) into a motion sensor. The software can be configured to start recording as soon as motion is detected, and then send pictures to your email address, store the video on an external server, etc. I don't know if there is any good free software for Windows, but if you (or any of your friends) is a bit decent with Linux, a good and free tool would be Zoneminder. Biggest "problem" here is whether or not you have a laptop you can station in the house for a while.

I only met Wes once; He was a cool guy. I told him I would visit Skydive Tahoe as soon as I would have more skydives and would be more confident jumping at a dropzone with a high elevation. I regret I haven't gone earlier BSBD

Yeah, that makes for a nice story to tell whuffos. "I was violently spinning, so I had to release my risers"

Since you have it already kind of working, this may be for future reference. When you have an ISO, you can use it to burn a DVD. You don't have to emulate it. Most CD/DVD recording programs are capable of doing this. You should look for something that says "Burn image to disk", "Create disk from image", "Burn ISO" or something similar to this. The actual wording differs per program. You should not just drag and drop the ISO onto a CD/DVD, because that wouldn't be playable in your regular DVD player.

I don't have the slightest clue about snowboard pricing (or snowboards for that matter ), but if I search on ebay for Burton Snowboard (http://search.ebay.com/burton-snowboard) I get a lot of results. Not all are actual snowboards, but many are. So you could compare yours to similar ones on ebay to get at least a ball park for an asking price.

I moved from the Netherlands to the US almost 2 years ago. Although it wasn't getting up one day and moving the next day, since there was visa stuff involved and such, I did not have to think for long when I got the job offer. I gave almost all my stuff away in the Netherlands (made quite some people happy, since I was/am a nerd, and I had way too many computers ). The stuff I couldn't give away, I threw away and I ended up with moving here with only two suitcases full of stuff. And one of them was almost only filled with DVD's That was also when I was the most scared I ever been. Imagine having all your stuff in 2 suitcases, checked in at the airport, having an eight hour delay on the first flight, which means staying in a hotel, with all your belongings staying on the airport overnight, only to find out the next day that the transport band at the final destination was completely unprotected (people can just walk into the airport and pick something from the transport band). But luckily they arrived safely. I've never been so happy to see two plain, grey suitcases

Thanks for all the great replies! I did read about possible infections (and something about oxygen deprivation, but that was long ago and shouldn't be a risk anymore). But as long as the infection is taken care of, it shouldn't cause any permanent damage. But as I see everyone here is positive about the results (and I am sorry they didn't work out for you, Rudderow ), I will go ahead and visit some eye docs and "take it to the next level". Anyone have some tips how to "judge" if an eye doc is any good with ortho-k? I don't have a regular eye-doc, since I haven't been in the US long. So I can't ask for referrals there.

Thanks for your answers Peregrinerose :) I am 30, so I am hoping I won't need reader for a while yet The reason I am looking at ortho-k, and not any surgery is because I realize the gain in both cases won't be big. And I rather not take a risk for a small gain, hence the ortho-k. And from what I read, there is almost no risk involved, because it is always possible to let the eyes get their original shape back. If there are any risks you know of that aren't in the "marketing material" on the internet, I would be interested to know. The expense is not really a factor for me. The only prices I read gave a range from $800 to $1500. So I am counting on $1500. That's realistic, I assume? Or was the website wrong? And I will check with my insurance. I have pretty good insurance, so they might cover something. For the hassle part; if (after practice) the contact lenses "ritual" at night and in the morning is in the seconds range, than that would offset the hassle of putting on the glasses. But it has the added benefit of having better vision during the moments that I wouldn't wear glasses. So is it correct to have the following expectation?: After initial investment in time (doc visits, learning how to take care of the lenses) and money ($1500) , a few minutes at night and in the morning will yield me the same vision as wearing my glasses, without actually wearing glasses. All throughout the day. And all without running any substantial risks of permanent damage. And one more question, which is probably the most important one. How do I find a good eye doc for ortho-k? The only site I could find that lists docs really looks crappy and doesn't provide much information. (http://www.orthokeratology.com/ I live in Sacramento, CA if that helps. Thanks!

You may I turned 30 last October. I assume you mean ortho-k lenses with "cheaters", correct? My eye sight has been stable for a long time. I actually still use my first pair of glasses I ever got, 14 years ago. I only bought one extra pair, which are subscription sunglasses, about 12 years ago. Are ortho-k lenses bad if eye sight is changing? I would think they can easily use another lens.

For the people that don't know what ortho-k is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortho-k http://www.allaboutvision.com/contacts/orthok.htm So does anyone have experience with it? I am looking into (aha!) it, and I have difficulties finding actual experiences with it on the internet. Almost everything I come across reeks too much of marketing material. I am not interested in Lasik, Lasek, PRK or any other surgical procedure. My vision isn't very bad (-0.75 and -0.50), and I only use my glasses when I am driving my car. For skydiving I got prescription goggles. Some specific questions I have: - I never wore lenses before. How much time does it take to get them in before sleep, and out after sleep (assuming after getting proficient. I can imagine it takes forever in the beginning) - Is it difficult to get used to, or is it even hardly noticeable when first using them - Most sites say if you wear them during the night, the vision should be good all day long. Is that true? And what if I don't put them in a night? (for example when I am drunk, and I don't want to risk poking an eye out. Will I know the next morning that my blurry vision is alcohol related only?) Also any experiences (good and bad) are very welcome. Also if you considered it, but decided not to get them, what were the reasons? Thanks!

Probably about 1 in 10ish jumps I do is a H&P from full altitude (13k here). I get the same as you: weird looks and questions about why. I like playing with my canopy. One of the things I really like to do up high is doing turns (90, 180, 360 degrees) with different inputs with my eyes closed. I like to feel instead of to see what I do. And of course, I only do that after thoroughly checking my airspace, before closing my eyes. Even though I am the only one opening at 13k, I still want to make sure :P

Don't you have any friends/acquaintances with kids that need a babysitter also sometime (Like Nightingale said: people in your EMT class for example)? That way you can "trade" being a babysitter. And even if they don't really need a babysitter, most parents I know don't mind having a day without the kids to do stuff for themselves. That way you can ask someone, and not feel guilty (which I think you shouldn't feel anyway when asking friends ) And sorry for my ignorance, but how much does a babysitter cost anyway? I don't have kids, so I don't know...

The 40 gig model doesn't play any PS2 games. The other models in the US do play (some/most) PS2 games with hardware (actual PS2 chip emotion engine built-in). Euro models have a more limited support for PS2 games, since there is no hardware for it and it needs to be done in software. Sony did lots of weird things with their backwards compatibility, so the above may be wrong. But you can check here what does or does not play: http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/CompatibleStatus