pyrotech

Welp, there goes me. /30 and can't grow a beard //always getting told I am too young to possibly be able to do my job ///oh well! I don't think you'll be that disappointed. I'm a dude. (I doubt I'm the only gay in the village, but if I am... SCORE!!!)

If the choices are "talk" or "breakfast," get yer ass in the kitchen...

I asked the waiter for testicles instead of coffee last month... Apparently the two words are quite similar in Arabic What did he bring you? I'm assuming he brought tea-bags. 2 birds, 1 stone.

This is a pet peeve for me as well. Being a computer systems / software engineer, I don't expect everyone to understand what I'm talking about when it comes to computers, math, etc. However, I don't want to have to explain everything either. Some things are fine from time to time, but if I say "don't worry about it, it's some dumb computer thing," let it be. On the other hand, I dated another engineer that designed these artificial ecosystems to find ways to make an ecosystem more self-sustainable while allowing people and other organisms to live in it without completely destroying it. He was the type that likes to teach. If we went on a hike, I'd get a history, botany, and biology lesson every few steps when he stopped to inspect a plant. It's hard to pretend to be interested when all you want to do is yell at him to STFU and enjoy the hike. I've learned to appreciate dumbing down my speech, as long as they dumb down theirs in return. My list is pretty simple: - Be able to put up with my bullsh*t - Have bullsh*t that I'm able to put up with - Have facial hair Other than that, I'm pretty open.

It has to be me then. I don't think my profile isn't that bad, I've had friends look and they think it looks OK. I do start off with what I have read in their profile but yeah I would say 2% is my hit rate. But yeah...it could just be me....oh well... You also have to take into account how long they've been on the site, and how long you've been on the site... If they've been on the site for 6 months, getting tons of creepy responses to their profile (I've had plenty of guys send responses that make me ask them "Has that ever worked for you?"), they're probably reluctant to answer any emails at all. If they've been there only a couple of weeks, they're also probably getting the "fresh meat" emails and are making mistakes with all the guys trolling for new tail on the site. You have to catch them when they've been on for only a month or two, when they're just starting to get their filters together. Then they will probably be more responsive to a date. It also depends on how long you've had your profile up. If you've been on a dating site for 2 years and are still single, they're going to think something is wrong with you. If they have friends on the site and you email both friends, you're out of luck. How long is the text on your profile? Are you sure the other person doesn't see your profile page and think "tl;dr"? If you were a guy looking to date guys, I'd offer to help out with your profile. I only know about other guys though; I have no idea what women look for in a guy. I do know that I've had many female friends in the "I don't want kids ever, and would never date a guy that wanted them" group though. They're out there, and eventually you'll find one. And if not, like someone else mentioned, there are always hookers.

When I left my last job, I had very little savings and no other work lined up. My friends and family were freaking out, but to be honest, I was mostly excited to get a lot of free time. I went hiking, biking, and snowboarding a lot, truly enjoying my time off. Bummer I had to take on a full-time gig to pay bills. So to your unemployed friend, I'm sure they're mostly already enjoying their time off. It's that lack of a paycheck that hurts the most. Then again, I'm still enjoying being single for about 3 years. I'll go on a date once every few months or so, and sometimes I even enjoy going on a date, but overall I enjoy bachelorhood. Maybe I'm just weird.

Careful, another type of Facebooker is the "I know something worse" poster... Today someone was really bummed because something fell through on the house they wanted to buy, and now they are not able to get the house. A few friends were responding with condolences. Out of the blue, someone posts "That's nothing compared to how (group of people) is feeling. RIP Randy." ... I read that and couldn't help but think WTF?! The poster goes from feeling bad to feeling horrible. Mission accomplished?

I build websites for ski resorts. Part of my job includes spending a few powder days on the resorts' mountains snowboarding to get a feel for the vibe of the mountain. I'm fully equipped with all the beer I want to drink at work, live close enough to walk for when I have too many, and have a beautiful desk that looks out onto a local ski resort, beautiful mountains, a river complete with fly-fishermen and whitewater kayakers, a hot tub, and plenty of sunshine / snow. Your job for the day sounds fun, but I'll stay where I'm at for now.

Rather than writing out details about Skyride to Groupon in an attempt to get them to stop offering deals, wouldn't the emails be better served going to the DZ with the offer? Groupon makes money by offering a discounted price on (product). They don't care what (product) is, nor who it would affect negatively (in this case, potential skydivers that have not heard about Skyride). Writing an email to Groupon explaining that drop zones are suffering due to false "deals" like these is urging the wrong crowd to stop these offers. If this same email with details were sent to Skydive Colorado, wouldn't it be more effective, being as Skydive Colorado seems to have more personal knowledge of shady business practices and care more about it? They may not know Skyride is such a scam, and that they could be potentially hurting their business by being associated with them. I had actually narrowed down my drop zones for getting my A license to 1 of 2 places, with Skydive Colorado being one of them. Since I had nothing else to really base it on (both places use the same airport as a DZ, and both charge the same price and have good reviews), I'm going with the other company simply due to the fact that Skydive Colorado is apparently hurting for money enough to let this kind of advertisement draw business into them.

I'm considering it. Already the cost of the class is about $1000 cheaper. I'd have to wait until next year and use all of my vacation time for the year (I only get 2 weeks), and after flights it would probably only save me $500, but that's also $500 extra in my wallet... I've also been looking into a static line course that would end up being about the same cost as AFF at STF. I'd much rather do AFF, and it would be fun to hit up Atlanta for a couple weeks, so it's all being taken into consideration for now. Thanks again for your help!

Pops - I'm about a 25-hr drive from there... a couple weeks off work + flight there + cost of lessons + beer for person letting me crash on couch = more than I could afford. Artard - I'm in Avon in Vail Valley, so only a couple hours west from Mile Hi. It is the second DZ that I'd mentioned in my original post. Is this where you got your A license?

Thank you for your replies! I heard back from the DZ with the package deal. Come to find out, if I pay for everything up front, it costs me $2500. It's if I pay per jump individually that it costs right around 2800. Each training jump is $100. I'll write back and ask if this price reflects what it would cost if I need to repeat an AFF jump. A question though, if I fail an AFF, does that jump still count toward the 25 jumps for class A? Do all jumps have to accomplish a goal to obtain A cert? I haven't visited either DZ yet, so I'll need to go visit them to get comfort level and whatnot of each place before committing to a DZ. Labrys, for some reason, I just don't expect either place to give away great gear to students. It would be great to be pleasantly surprised, but one DZ just plain charges a lot (the second DZ in the above scenario) for any jumps, and the other DZ is in a city that is just plain wicked expensive to even drive through. I'm surprised that city doesn't charge to get to use their oxygen in the air. The DZ with the package deal includes rentals with their jump costs, so at least with that one I know what I'm getting myself into. I'll ask the other if I ever hear back from them. Artard, when you say "basic gear," what do you include in that? Just helmet / alt / goggles / log book? Playing in a tunnel isn't something I'd really considered until today, but would LOVE to play in one since there's one only a couple hours away! Hookierower, that's looking like it's going to be the pricing structure of almost anywhere around here as well.

I'm looking into where to go locally to get AFF course up to Class A license, and there are 2 DZ's within only about a 2- to 3-hour drive. One of these has a full Class A course that will get you 25 jumps, your membership, goggles, log book, altimeter, and equipment rental for $2800. This sounds like an amazing deal to me, but I'm new to this. The other doesn't really say the exact cost, but gives a pricing structure for AFF. The 7 AFF jumps will total to be about $1500. The next jumps are listed at only $25 for a certified jumper. I'm not sure if passing AFF considers one to be a certified jumper in this pricing structure, and haven't heard back from them yet after asking. It also doesn't mention gear rental, which I'd assume the $25 doesn't cover (also asked in an email to them). The AFF course includes goggles. Does the first one sound like a good deal? The scenery of the city it is located in is a bit preferable to the second DZ's location. Both DZs have decent reviews, but all reviews are from tandem first-timers, so of course they're going to get an incredible review. I have a friend in VT who says the rates are pretty overpriced. I'm not sure what other people pay, but if I have to complete 25 jumps at a single DZ before getting licensed and jumping at other DZs, my options are limited to my location. Any suggestions? Does the first package sound like a good deal? Or does it sound like I should continue looking into other options? Thanks for your help!

Thanks! Yes, as much as I really, really LOVE jumping off of things, the mechanics behind working a canopy are brand new to me, and navigating in wind concerns me a bit when it comes to landing where I need to. For now, at least. You will absolutely need those Mad skillz Give me time; I'll most certainly develop the skillz to pay the billz.

Thanks! Yes, as much as I really, really LOVE jumping off of things, the mechanics behind working a canopy are brand new to me, and navigating in wind concerns me a bit when it comes to landing where I need to. For now, at least.

Hello! I'm a total newbie to the sport, and have only done 1 tandem jump so far. That's all it took. I'm starting this year on AFF, and hoping to finish by end of summer. Pretty stoked already! Other than that, my interests are snowboarding, mountain biking, longboarding, cliff diving... Really, anything that involves being in the air part-time or done on a board. Water and deep powder snow are my favorite things to land in / on. EDIT: My main interest in skydiving is to be able to control a canopy well. My goal is to BASE jump around the world, but have to learn to use a canopy during a fall first. Anyone in the Rockies that wants a jumping buddy, or has a group that jumps together, let me know; I'd love to join!