Abedy

Unwarranted searches or "search without suspicion". The East German Homeland Security (that's what "Staatssicherheit" may be translated to) would have wet their pants if they had had technology like that. It's the "Who watches the watchers" question and/or the evergreen "I do not have anything to hide, so why care? But I bet drones will be shown as a very helpful source of information at the several "CSI" shades-up-and-down series and the like... 1984? Well no, it's just for SECURITY reasons! And anyway, comrade, how come you ask dangerous questions like that? And how come you refer to a book that doesn't exist! The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

You're not the first to announce this in public. Think of Eddie Izzard Citation: "He has also described himself as "a lesbian trapped in a man's body" See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Izzard The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Yeah, take the "law" - more: DAS GESUNDE VOLKSEMPFINDEN (righteous public feeling aka "family values") - into your own hands. Do I smell hot tar? Judge Lynch hovering around? BTW: It's not that long ago that black-white relationships were considered a crime and "brave citizens" took the law into their own hands. Well, it's unfair, I'm not American. In the history of my country, there were laws re "racial defilement", punishable by death eventually. Quite good my dad and my mum got to know each other after the war, would have got them killed in the 3rd Reich... So once again: Who decides what's punishable (and how to punish) and what's not? I'm pretty glad we have no death penalty or "armed neighbours" here. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Who decides what's an offence punishable by death? Simple question but a very essential one, isn't it? Once you go down this slope it might get very slippery. BTW: In Germany, it's neo-fascists who demand "Death Penalty for Paedophiles" ("Todesstrafe für Kinderschänder!") - rallies, bumper car stickers, online petitions etc. I'm not saying anyone who demands kiddie fiddles be shot, electrocuted etc are neo-fascists. Just a matter of fact but one might think about it what ungodly "companions" may be alongside. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Some nice points here; his English is faaaar more better than mine: Marcus Brigstocke on Climate Change P.S.: And regarding the number thing... 1 million flies can't be wrong. Faeces taste good! Was called "ton ideology" once The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Very good the EU want the Czech Republic's officials to end this degrading practice. Sometimes, as a citizen of the EU, I feel really ashamed of neighbours doing things like that. (Hmm, must think of the Dixie Chicks... :) ) What's even more annoying is that Czech officials obviously have no problems when "collector's figurines" of Heydrich are sold in Prague etc They should put more man-power in fighting meth labs and prostitution. Nuff bitched. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

1st question is what you mean to be "without a doubt". Though the term should explain itself there are legal issues as you know. 2nd question: What about them serious-looking suits who go to Thailand (and the like) and hump kiddies there but keep a very low or even "family values" profile in your neighbourhood? 3rd question: Don't answer, just rhetoric: Why do most of you Americans are so keen on hanging, electrocuting, shooting etc? Have a look into the "big state in the north" where they abolished capital punishment and the rates in serious crimes dropped? Or ask Aussies. Please do understand that, as an East-German, I have issues with state-legalized killing. Kiddie fiddlers are disgusting bastards and need to be confined and prevented from harming any more children. No point in that. But killing them is something different. My 2 €c The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

I do not really like the Harry Potter stuff nor do I like the "Moonlight" stuff (Christopher Lee, that's what I call a vampire or maybe "Angel" - now Agent Booth, huhuh...) But what I find disgusting is the Salvation Army asks for toys to give away to needy families and then throws away items that do not go with their "Christian Values" rather than giving it to other charities and, if I understood correctly, without telling donators about the "no witchcraft, no vampires" filter policy. And yeah, giving away model rifles to 10-year-old kids is just perfect. I wonder whether these guys would appreciate "pre-military education" starting with grade 9 (age 15+) including firing "baby Kalashnikows"? See: clicky The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Same with my Teardrop SF now and then. Seems to happen more often when the straps are really tightened up and the air is pretty warm and dry. But it also squeaked on cold days, so... And yeah, comes from the hip rings. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

1. Don't put it on early... This includes wearing it on your head on the ride up. 2. make sure it fits so your mouth is aligned with the exhaust hole. 3. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. This is a biggie. As you breathe in your nose, you can actually see the lens clear. If you breathe out through your nose, you can see it start to fog. You can train yourself to breathe that way, but if you see the lens start to fog, take a big breath in through your nose. 4. Keep the lens clean, but use only water and don't scrub. I change my lens about once a year and clean it about 3-4 times a year. Fogging up has never been an issue with my FreeZR helmet by Paratec. I usually wear it during the ride up, only the visor lifted up. Correct breathing as you mentioned is indeed important but not that much with the FreeZR. I usually shut my visor about half a minute before the door is rolled up (I'm usually front diver and don't want to inconvenience the floaters) and have never has any "fogged up" issues. I have never had to change the visor since 2006 and hardly clean it, just once or twice a year. See me with my FreeZR in the pic attached. The guy left to me wears a FreeZR Mk2. The Mk2 is a little smaller (less "motorcycle helmet-like" ) but it also has no "fogged up" issues. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

I've used this method (slightly different but the basic principle being the same(*)) for quite some time, roughly 100 jumps and it works just fine. Takes a little more time but makes me feel a little more safe :) (*) I applied parts of how I pack my drogue to Brian's technique. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

May I print out this one on a laaarge poster and stick it to the wall next to the tandem student instructional area here? To be more serious: Tips even for tandem instructors are very uncommon here in Germany. Got a CD (of the guy's band) and a small bottle of champagne so far, never coins or even notes. But their sheer joy is reward enough... apart from the money the DZO uses to make me fall out of a perfectly good plane with another person attached to me The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Uh huh... my TIE was 90 kg (as I read in the waiver etc) but when we checked on the scales - which must have been out of order - it read 105 kgs (230+ lbs) Boy I was so relieved when I took an 88 kg guy on jump #6 and #7... On the other hand, you learn about "toggle pressure" - I did some new exercises in the gym immediately after The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

My hometown here in the middle of Germany is suffering the worst winterly weather conditions at the moment. We haven't had this much snow and ice for more than 20 years or so. It MOST DEFINITELY must be blamed on Israel because according to very reliable Islamistic sources the snowflakes falling down here at the moment somehow... well... strikingly resemble the Magen David!!!!!!!!eleven To come back to the shark story: It's not true until you can find it on Wikipedia Have a look at: clicky But maybe The Office (Mossad) - cunning as it is - has already swept all evidence off Nuff bitched... AM JISRAEL CHAI! The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Same with mine (camera helmet) but it's not too bad. Anyway, I don't use the left pocket (don't do any freakfly cometitions or stuff like that), one audible ought to be enough The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Reminds me of Apu saying something like "We Indians are the native people of America" The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Since the link is the one to be found on Wikipedia it must be a good recipe. I also had a look at it - sounds pretty much what Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte is like. Doncha eat too much of it unless you fancy "bellygold" as a permanent workaround to "bellylead" The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Huhu huh, you said spread my knees... (Do younger TIs still know Beavis & Butt-Head?) Anyway, nice trick. Will try it once the no-jumps season (also called winter) is over

The method we use here (not only in Gera) is to ask the student (we actually call them either 'guest' or 'pax') "to please sit on my thighs". (This avoids "He told me to sit on his lap!!!!!!eleven") Fastening the lateral straps is quite easy then and if you have students who are too... well, mass/gravity/circumference, you know... you can ask them to help you. But once you know how to do it, it's not that difficult. And yes, we also always tuck the loose ends... and, BTW, after canopy opening and loosening the lateral straps we have to attach them again and not let them dangle on the sides. Just FYI, no patronising intended The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

I can offer a photo of an "Inconvenience Store" at least (taken in Maryborough in Queensland): http://www.thur.de/~carsten/Urlaub/Australien_2005/ql05-qld2005_039jpg.htm The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Has anyone actually managed to capture a fart in a cup to verify this? Just FYI :-) The cup aforementioned is a unit to measure volume: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/convert/measurements.html The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

How cheap. How untrue. You're just a an anonymously posting coward. BTW: In Germany a pulling altitude of about 1000 metres is recommended. Almost all DZ's require a minimum pulling altitude of about 800 metres. Experienced skydivers usually pull at about 1000 metres. There seems to be a reason for this... The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

(Edited past the 6-hour period, hence the extra post with the correct URL. Sorry about that...) The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

That's pretty close to what a study done by the University of Münster in Germany found in 2006. The findings can be found at: http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/ Though in German, most of it should be easy to figure out. Some facts: The risk of an accident is lower by the end of jump season (page 11) There is sort of an inverted Gaussian curve for the relation of wingload and accidental risk (page 21, lowest at WL 1.3-1.5) Risk sinks significantly beyond 500 jumps (page 23) but also depends on frequency e. g. high risk if only 10 jumps within one year Youngsters and old farts less prone to accidents DFV (sort of Germany's Parrotshooter Association ) less prone to accidents, wow. Nuff said. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

It's "smart" answers like this one that prevent fellow skydivers from posting articles about mistakes they made for the sole but noble purpose to help other to avoid these mistakes. Therefore, thanks but no thanks for this post of yours. But many thanks to Mike. It takes a lot of braveness to stand up and admit to having made a mistake in public. We talked about the problem at our DZ. It might - I dunno - have led others to check their 3-rings even more carefully (or with a new perspective); I also picked up the "also TOUCH the things you check" tip. One is never too old to learn sth useful The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks