Newbie

What Max said. Reference point is very important - inexperienced back flyers by themselves can track hard and fast all over the place without realising it. You can easily be backtracking while on your back without adequate reference points. I learnt to back fly in the tunnel - it's a very useful skill to have but not a prerequisite to learning to sit if skydiving. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

The game is now available for worldwide purchase via a direct download through the internet. See here: http://d3company.com/base_purchase.html "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

San Francisco is a great city, if you don't mind the occasional earthquake and expensive housing. I fell in love with it when i first visited in 89. Something about the madness of the hills, the interesting architecture and the history of the 60s (not that its alive much anymore). Very compact city, easy to get around and great entertainment/food etc too. Worthy of a visit even if not as a place to settle. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Channel your awareness to make you a safer, more aware skydiver. Better to be extremely aware than someone new with rose tinted glasses who doesn't see anything dangerous with jumping out of a plane. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Holy shit i don't know what to say. I never met him, but i chatted to him through here and loved what he had to say. Here is a PM he sent me when we had an initial exchange way back in July 2002 when i was just starting out jumping but looking into buying a video camera, and was curious about what to get and helmets etc in prep for being able to jump one. I was thinking of making a trip out to SF in 2003 that never happened but this is what he had to say.... Just giving me his email and inviting me out to jump with him when i was green with no jumps whatsoever and after just a couple of PM's said a certain something about him. I'm gutted i'll never get the chance to meet him now, RIP man, you'll be missed. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

WTF - what happened to Deuce?? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I haven't seen a post from that dude in months. Banned? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Worst Reply To A Genuine Question Ever™ "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I have heard of Management accountancy but not "technical accounting" as a term before. Can someone - preferably in the trade - give me a run down of what it is, and some examples etc? Thanks "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

In the UK it seemed worse (at least the last time I was there). In the US cellphone use is prevalent but casual. In the UK I noticed way more people walking around making a big show of being on the phone, projecting their voice having an 'important' very public conversation. I don't know exactly what the cues were, it was more than just volume but it just ratcheted up the annoyance factor. This happens occasionally in the USA but it was off the charts in Britain. A buddy of mine caught someone having yet another 'power' conversation on the London Tube for everyone to hear. Instead of just tollerating it, he decided to repeat everything he heard really loudly. Naturally it made the dozey twat on the phone seem like an idiot for saying such things in public. In the end he got a round of applause from other passengers. It's funny what factors annoy us about other speaker's calls on the phone, context, volume, topic, or a perception that they're only doing something irritating (or exaggerating it) because they think it impresses people around them. Mobile phones don't work on the tube. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

See what you fail to understand since you are self absorbed is that DRIVING IS NOT A RIGHT. It's a priviledge. And "Yank" is just as derogitory racist a term as "Limey". Neither of which is acceptable to me as they both apply to me. Neither are racist. The first tactic of an American when they want to take something away from you is to call it a priviledge. Other nations don't bother with this construct, they just say "we're taking away your driving license". The word "priviledge" is an interesting cultural tick that arises when trampling over a constitution. Fortunately others disagree sufficiently that I manage to scrape by. When i passed my driving test in the UK my instructor turned to me and said "Well done - but never forget - driving is a privilege, not a right". "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Hi there my wife and i have $10k in a CD account with a 90 day notice period for withdrawls. It's earning a pitiful interest rate and want to put it into a higher interest bearing account. Being unfamiliar with the US banking system in general (although i have a WAMU account) i'm not sure where it would be best placed. We don't need immediate access, it's just a general savings account, so any ideas based on this would be much appreciated. Cheers. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

If on exit you do a half back loop and backslide and don't know if you are falling down the tube, you might well be sliding up or down jump run (unless of course you are turning 90 degrees off it first, and even then you might be moving up or down it). I was told not to use an inexperienced jumper as a ref point when learning hd as you can end up fixating and moving towards them fast, and they might not have the experience to get out of the way. Personally i think what some of the others said is a great idea - travel and do a short camp thing, maybe a long weekend if you can, with a good coach. You need to know you have found your neutral point and aren't zooming about the place. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I work in educatiojn with that year group too. Engagement is key, so lots of pics/vids can be good, but often the power of your voice and how you say what you say, rather than what you are actually saying (especially at pre 5th grade) can make a huge difference. It will be very tiring for you - you need to be very enthusiastic (without coming across like a dememnted madman) so bring lots of juice drinks/water/high energy snacks etc. Remember - lots of participation is key - get them trying stuff on, pass things around and constantly throw questions out to them if you can. Try not to spend too long an amount of time talking to them, rather, try and get as much interactivity as possible built in as you can. I spent an hour today speaking to 34 ten year olds - you can tell when you have lost them - they glaze over, they start to yawn, their attention isn;t on you. If this happens, have a few little back up plans - for instance, you can tell them you want to wake them up a little with a fun game called the "Brain Gym" where you pretend to unzip your head (with them following suit) and then massaging your brain, starting at the front, going along the sides and working towards theback). It helps if you make all the sound effects (unzipping your head for instance and making squishy noises as you massage your brain to get all the energy a flowin'!) Find out form the teachers if you can bring a party bag of mini chocoloates and throw have a competition to see who has been paying attention - they love the rewards and it perks them right up if they think they are going to win chocoloates. Take more so that even the shy kids get sweets at the end. Just a few ideas off the top of my head. Importantly, have fun with it - if you don't, the kids won't. The more relaxed you can be, the easier it is and the more you - and they - will get out of it. Well done too on volunteering to go into schools - we rely alot on people and businesses to do just that, it gives the kids a great sense of real world know-how and experience "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Doing drugs and having sex did not and do not make you a hippie. Do you know anything about hippies? only that apparently they now all own 3 piece suits and manage hedge funds (it's mentioned soimewhere in this thread). Oh yeah and they used to do lots of drugs and have free sex on tap 24/7. Or something? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Ain't no denying brother, i'm a youngun who only dreams of being back in a fog filled love fest of tie dye and bad acid aka The Decade of Mysticism aka The Free Love aka communes and stuff aka the 60's. However, i also have a yearning to talk about the great returns the Dow has made while cruising about in a Hummer, so i'm naturally somewhat confused as to where this fits in with my skydiving subset. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

a subset within a subset within a subset!? Man, you just blew my mind, heavy! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I've been in the sport 20 years, and those assholes were/are usually avoided (other than the tie-dye) as unsafe in the sky, and pains in the ass any other time. (go back another 10 years, maybe you'll find something else, I wouldn't know) Skydiving is a cross section of society. Always will be. Those looking for it to 'define' themselves have weak character. edit: Sure, this is a gag thread, but the idealization of that lifestyle is only done by people that haven't experienced it firsthand or secondhand to realize how sad it is. You don't own a 3 piece suit and work for a hedge fund by any chance? PS "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Really? My hedge fund manager is only 28 and doesn't even know what decade the 60's were in. What am i even talking about! I don't have a hedge fund, and the only 28 year olds i know are into the Grateful Dead and all want to live in San Francisco, circa 1961-3 (before the "commercialisation" of the mid/late 60's happened). I'm so confused! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Thanks mate, yeah i try and do my bit, you know, wander the dz in between jumps, talking about buddhist/eastern philosophy while passing out copies (on recycled paper) of my recipe of the month (it's mung bean and cottage cheese for April!). However, sometimes i just get the urge to toss all that paper on the campfire and chat loudly about the latest trades i made in the market, and how my portfolio is up 45% year on year through my investment in the tobacco industry, while sipping champagne in my $500 hand stitched jumpsuit made from chinchilla fur. It's a problem that others surely must be able to relate to? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Dude i totally know what you mean. Often i get chills just thinking about making that 1 jump in the cold heart of winter, feeling the cold vacuum absorb me and the sensation of truly being free, then getting back on the ground, blazing up a tree and opening a can of "Doctors Tonic" (cider) while sitting around a fire, talking about how government imposed cctv on every street corner is just "The Man" keeping us down. However, at times i feel the sudden urge to make 15 jumps/day with a worldclass freeflyer and pay a days "consultancy rate" to the top videographer on the dz who only uses a 16mm camera - somtimes IMAX - depends on his mood and who he is shooting for, and have him follow me and my new "team mate" (see: paid for jumping buddy) out so he can shoot video which i can project onto the side of my house at night to show people passing by what a "badass" i really am, while doing lines of the white off my front lawn in my new jumpsuit made from the same material that NASA uses in the new astronaut suits because it helps you get "more lift during atmonauti", do you know what i mean? I can't be the only one juxtaposed with these feelings?! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I thought this sport was all about making 1 jump from 8500ft out of a 182, free love parties, tie dyed shirts, people smoking bongs after a day of making 1 jump, flailing around on the air like the brown acid will make you do and doing whatever you can to stop "the man" coming down on you. Nowadays it seems that unless you have a matching rig/jumpsuit/sunglasses/helmet colour coordination going on, 100 hours in the tunnel and a personal trainer (see: world class coach) on tap, making a minimum of 500 jumps/year at multiple locations around the world, travelling on your own private lear jet and snorting coke with 15000 jump skygods, you are a nobody. Discuss? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Learn to control your breathing, it will help you relax if you can take slow, deep breaths, especially on the way up and as you get ready to jump. Don't tense up, try and be relaxed. It might help to do some meditative stuff on the ground, which can help to focus your breathing and keep a clear mind. Read books on Zen meditation. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

For all of the good America brings (freedom of speech, ability to start with nothing and make it big through sheer hard work and determination, contributions to industry etc), there is a flip side. No other nation is as obsessed with the have-it-now, materialistic, money focused way of life. Don't have good teeth, hair and a job? You are a nobody. Don't have a nice house and 2 cars minimum? You haven't made it. Don't play sports at school? You're a geek who is going to get beat on etc etc Sure i drum to the beat of a fairly broad sterotype here, but there is no denying - America is for the most part a throw away, consumerist based society (for the most part, i stress again). Problems that "these people" go through, who go on shooting spree are dismissed as "those peoples problems" - not anyone elses. "Why should the govt help them out? I didnt need any help" etc. "They are just crazy, and the sooner they go on a shooting spree and have a cop put a bullet in them, the quicker they are removed from the genepool and are less of a harm to me and my loved ones!". Right? Well, i dont believe in that school of though, but its a view that many many people do. It reinforces what i said above - "as long as me and my lot are cool, i don't care" etc. When that view propogates, you get this sort of easy detachment from society, from whats right and wrong and from wanting to harm random people - because at the end of the day, these people feel they cant meet what society has deemed as the "acceptable norm" and the pressure grows on them and manifests itself in wanting to harm those around them who they might perceive as more successful or happy with their lot. It is mental illness, but we have to ask WHY is this mental illness manifesting so often and HOW is it able to be acted on? Access to guns is the tool that allows this sort of random and quick violent outburst - banning guns won't outlaw the actual root cause. We had a guy attack random people with a samurai sword here in the UK some years ago, after the handgun ban. WHen swords are banned, they will go to a store and buy and axe or hammer. Guns just expedite the harm afflicted, but banning them (or attempting to) won't rub out the root cause of these peoples issues. Don't get me wrong - i do love America, and the UK can be just as bad - 3 murders, 2 with guns, near where i live in London last week etc. I am married to an American and visit family there frequently. But just like ALL societies, there is are things that aren't right with it and i can't see that changing anytime soon, and hence we won't see a respite on random mass shootings like this. It's been happening ever since the breakdown of the nuclear family model and will continue on until which time you readjust societal attitudes and bring it back to being open, caring and inclusive. Unforuntately i only see things going the other way. All you have to do is look at the young people who aspire to bea the next Paris Hilton or Britney Spears and see we are in a heap of trouble with regard to what and who our society holds in high regard "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Congrats - got any video? Wouldn't mind checking that out. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts