HeatherB

Sure seems that way -- especially a big drop-out rate between 100-300 jumps. Of course, this is all just my experience and from seeing people come and go at a large DZ. Very few people seem to make it 100 jumps, much less 500. Maybe USPA or another organization has stats out there somewhere though.

Ditto. Better safe than sorry. Maybe the jumper doesn't know how to shorten a loop or close a rig so he brushed off the issue to save face too.

I agree that the coach and AFF ratings have different purposes and setting the minimum at 500 for the coach rating would be silly. It'd be nice to see higher standards though. The course is often referred to as a joke. It shouldn't be. I'm sure some courses are easier than others -- depending on who runs the course and how badly the dz needs coaches.

All I know is this: There is no way in hell I was "good enough" to be a coach at 100 jumps -- and I would say I was an average skilled skydiver at that point. Does someone with 100 jumps really have the heightened awareness that is helpful, even crucial, when jumping with someone who is just off AFF? I very much doubt it. I'd say the minimum should be 500 but most people don't make it to 500 so the pool of candidates would be greatly diminished. I know several great, talented skydivers who waited a loooong time to get their AFF or coach ratings. I respect them a lot for that.

You'll be okay! This can be funny and helpful for nouns: write the spanish words for items around your house on sticky notes....slap a sticky note on your chair that says "silla" on it, a sticky on your dog that says "perro" etc. Change them out as your vocabulary grows. My mother and her side of the family are all fluent. My grandmother speaks "spanglish" a lot...I love it. Thank you for reminding me that I need to brush up. I'll start reading the spanish forum!

Am I the only one here with around 1000 jumps who has never had a brake fire? I'm feelin' lucky.

Agreed. I think it's outside the scope of a school's responsibility. I would have been offended if they did this while I was there. I was a good kid with nothing to hide, but sheesh. It's insulting. The randomness of the testing....think they'll test kids with 4.0 gpas along with the 2.0'ers? ha! ...Hey, if you can carry straight A's while constantly stoned, more power to ya!

http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBDN1J5OXE.html Good idea? Bad idea? Whatcha think? Parents? Tampa Catholic is my alma mater...that is why I found the article. (Go Crusaders!)

Yeah, I'm not going to page through tons of code, lol either. But alright -- they can accept whatever they want but if they are selling to someone who might be underage they'll want a TX ID to cover their butts. Seems reasonable.

Huh? What about the part I bolded? The TABC is saying it's up to each establishment whether or not they want to accept out-of-state licenses or the other forms of ID mentioned. I doubt they'd condone illegal activities on their own web site.

This FAQ should clear things up: http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/help/General.htm "15. It is illegal to sell alcoholic beverages to someone unless they show a Texas driver’s license? The law does not require that a person over 21 provide any identification to purchase alcohol in Texas. But since store clerks, waitresses, and bartenders can be held criminally liable for selling to a minor, they often require a Texas driver's license or Texas Identification Card issued by the Department of Public Safety, to prove that the person really is 21. The law provides a statutory defense to the charge of selling an alcoholic beverage to a minor when the seller has asked for and examined an apparently valid DPS issued Texas DL or ID card which contains a physical description consistent with the presenter's appearance and shows the presenter to be 21 years of age of older. So a store, bar or restaurant might or might not sell alcohol to a person with an out-of-state driver's license, military ID, or passport. What's acceptable in any establishment is a matter of that establishment's private business policies." It does not sound like State law. My FL license was accepted numerous times for booze after I moved here. I always get carded but nobody ever gave me any problems about not having a Texas ID. Like others, I was also very surprised that it took the state a few weeks to send a license. "A temporary card? huh?" The DMV I was at also didn't accept debit cards or credit cards. Cash or check only.

I like irfanview. http://www.irfanview.com/

Anyone else having trouble logging in? When I login on one of my computers I get the usual "you have successfully logged in" message but if I then try to look at private msgs, update my profile etc, they do not work. The "login" clicky on the upper-right corner is showing in the forums section...as if I hadn't logged in at all. I've rebooted...I've checked my security and privacy settings, tried changing them -- that did not help -- I also tried matching the settings on this computer and it still does not work. I can login to other web sites just fine. Internet Explorer 6.0 on both comps at the moment if that is any help. Any ideas? PS: yes, I tried clearing my cookies as is suggested in the help section for people who encounter this type of problem.

While I was at Sunrise, I had to field the closing sequence question on a regular basis. Part of the confusion was that the owner's manual showed left-right in the picture, but said right-left in the written steps. Right-left was the intention. I don't see how left-right would allow the flaps to be pulled tighter as you mentioned but I suppose I could try it. I'd change it back to right-left before jumping it b/c left-right definitely is more bulky on my rig. Probably something that is more easily shown in person too. Typically when I saw a Wings with the grommets that far apart it was because the owner had a closing loop that was much too long. Sometimes the pin would then be loose (appropriately sized main but too long a loop) or relatively tight (over-sized main but needed a long loop to get it closed). Maybe Henri has changed his recommendations..I was always taught right-left, but left -right won't kill ya. And maybe Ankie will respond to the thread! She's the rep, I'm just a Wings jumper.

Any particular reason you're suggesting left-right? Right-left is better because it allows for less bulge under the main pin flap (the flap can lay flatter). She has it correct in her photo. The bridle should lay flat against the right flap...with the "excess" tucked away better. Putting the pin in facing up in a "smiley face" position helps keep things flat and neat too. A shorter closing loop will solve the issue of the pin not being covered. The grommets should not be on top of each other (that would cause needless wear), but they should be basically side-by side, not so far apart as in the photo). I may have posted something similar to this years ago... I'd post a picture of my rig as an example if it wasn't in a different state at this moment!

Yikes. My flight back to Dallas tonight was cancelled due to the bad weather out there. The radar on accuweather looks downright ugly!

Go Team ADD! I had fun playing tag with you in the sky. (Oh, and tunnel is extremely helpful)

I used http://valorebooks.com several times for my grad school books last year. I'd go to the school bookstore, jot down ISBNs and prices for new and used textbooks and then get online and find the cheap "international" editions with the softcovers. I often found the softcover versions of textbooks for under $30. (as opposed to up to $150). Same exact text but with a softcover and sometimes less expensive/glossy paper! Saved me a bunch of money since my employer didn't reimburse for books.

This is why people should have their names on their handles....so we can find rightful owners more easily. Just fly up and check the name: "Nope, not mine! Where's Paul?"

INTP is the rarest of the 16 types. We're special. Hopefully not short-bus special.

Hola chica, INTP here. I took the full-blown version in college and again later on. edit: here's a link with descriptions of the types: http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/the-16-mbti-types.asp

Good points. And I'm probably one of those people who skews the license numbers. I skipped the A and got the B so I could travel to other dropzones without problems. (I think the A was 20 jumps and B was 50 jumps at that time...with so few jumps b/t licenses, I didn't see the point) And I haven't gone for a C or D license because there's no compelling reason for me to do so. I have zero desire to go for instructor ratings and I only need a B to compete in intermediate or advanced at Nationals. I'm not going to get a D just to say I have a D. I think we can work on new jumper retention and have a positive effect and that would help with the license numbers. But you will still have people like me who don't feel the need to go for higher licenses but continue to jump. (and will skew the numbers, regardless of the popularity of the sport at that point in time) And as someone else said, a good number of jumpers quit around the 100-200 jump mark. Hardly anyone that I started out jumping with still jumps -- the majority of them quit around 200-300 jumps, after getting their C license. Fear and family obligations were typically the reasons. edit: Oh, as far as the steep A license slope, my guess would be that it's just the result of skydiving becoming much more mainstream (features in ads, tv shows, movies, etc). More people are exposed to it and get into the sport for the "wow" factor and to check it off their list. They do a tandem or AFF level and the DZ's are cool and everyone treats you like a star. And then the coolness and excitement of it fades away and fear can set in. (resulting in the same ol' C and D license increases) It might be interesting to track the increase of the number of DZs in the US too. More DZs = more exposure. Of course there's the chicken/egg question with that too. So we're attracting more jumpers but I doubt we'll ever see a huge percentage of A license jumpers stay. At least that's my guess.

There's snow accumulating here already.

How about having zero jumps and saying you have over 100 or even over 1000? Apparently it is easy to fake it on dz.com. Just never go to a dz and you're golden! As far as big names...well, that's pathetic too. Agreed. (To answer the original question, no, I've never lied about my jump numbers. Seems rather pointless and stupid. If anything, I short myself by forgetting to log).

Couldn't agree more. I'll wait a couple of years before even considering buying one. Even after they've been on the market for a few years, I highly doubt I'll feel the need to get one. (Not concerned with having a tiny cool rig. I suppose I could upsize my reserve (currently just over 1:1) but I'd still want to wait it out). I wouldn't use one during the first couple of years even if it was given to me for free. Same goes for a brand new kind of rig or AAD too. No thanks! Doesn't matter to me which manufacturer comes out with it, I don't want to participate in the trial period.