DescensionX

I tell them to imagine a wind starting to blow up from the ground. The wind blows harder and harder, until it is so hard that it picks you up into the air.

A coach is basically just like your experienced skydiving friends, except you give them money.

Bowing is universally recognized as a sign of respect. Nothing more, nothing less. To see it otherwise truly is nitpicking as the original poster said. "Protocol" is old, tired, obsolete, and irrelevant. No, I am not a liberal

I can read between the lines of what you write and "know what you mean". I really do, and I feel the same way. It isn't just a sport, it is a way of life. By the way, if you hang around on the site, you'll see that Brian Germain is an active member, and you can get to know him.

Take them to court. You would easily win a civil suit. You wouldn't even need a lawyer. Chances are, he'll give you the money back before it gets that far.

To identify a coral snake, the saying is actually: Red next to yellow, kill a fellow Red next to black, venom lack. BOTH snakes (Coral snake and king snake) have all 3 colored bands. They are just in a different order. http://www.floridaorienteering.org/nature/coralking.htm

Touche' I was thinking the exact same thing, but you said it well. I would go with the PD-190. The Sabre 1 will break your back, and nobody will ever buy is off of you. The PD-190 is a piece of cake to pack as well, which is crucial for a newish jumper. I had one and it served me very well. With the Sabre, you'll be constantly worried about your pack job.

Tomorrow is Friday the 13th!

I took my altimeter on a commercial flight and it read 6,000 feet. It slowly climbed and then stopped at 6,000.

I probably would not jump it if it was on my RSL side, but would if it was on the other side. But I'd get it fixed as soon as possible. Edit to add: I guess one could just disconnect the RSL and jump it without an RSL for a while.

I've been reading this thread with great interest. Thanks to all that have shared their stories. I can't pretend to understand, since I have never experienced the pain. I do research in the pharmaceutical industry, and also have an interest in depression, since I know so many people - friends and family - that have it. I saw an interesting show the other night on PBS. The doctor was talking about how his clinic does SPECT brain imaging on thousands of people's brains. The SPECT imaging allows them to "see brain function" by imaging metabolic activity, and they can see what parts of the brain are functioning highly, and what parts are not, and so on. Brains from all sorts of problems and also normal brains have been scanned. The thousands of brain images they have taken from people who have depression have revealed to them that there are at least 7 distinct subpopulations of brains with depression. So there are 7 underlying functional reasons for the depression (at least). The take home message is that depression is not a "thinking problem". It is a brain problem. There is something different about the brains of people with depression, and it is functional and biochemical in nature. Another take home message from their research is that with these 7 subtypes of brains, it requires different kinds of treatments to make them better. This is why so many people don't get better when they seek help. Most doctors don't know that much about the latest research. There are many effective treatments out there. Not just drugs, but also diet, exercise and getting off of alcohol and/or drugs is critical. A lot of people think they are self medicating with alcohol, but in fact the alcohol is just a temporary fix that numbs you out, and overall makes you much worse. Please get off the booze. You might want to try several doctors. Do research online and find the top people in the field, because you can get better. Don't just give up. This is your life, and you can make it better. Here is a link to that clinic that I was talking about, from the show I saw on PBS. If you have depression and no treatments are working for you, call these people (no, I am not affiliated with them in any way). Getting a brain imaging done will help them figure out the underlying issues and can tailor your treatment specifically for your problem, rather than guessing and trial and error. http://www.amenclinics.com/clinics/information/ways-we-can-help/anxiety-depression/ If not that clinic, there are many others. I hope the best for all of you.

I ran the fastest 5K of my life to these songs. Plus, they just kick ass. Trivium http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KImH_ioKGdM Lamb of God http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NvntVb0Q_o

Raceway Park in New Jersey is a drag racing strip, but they also have a road course. I think it is like $225 for 8 hours with your own car, or something like that. Click on this, then on the left navigation bar, click on "Road Course".

I must wonder why a chemical company would want to sponsor a bike race. "Better cycling, through chemistry!" BTW here is video of the push. It happens around 2:49: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmfk8E-PafU The irony goes even further. Amgen is the biotech company that makes Epogen. It is recombinant erythropoietin. That's the performance enhancing drug so many cyclists (and other athletes) use when they cheat.

The manual that came with my rig says to replace them after 500 jumps.