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In all fairness, until you've stood in line at a Seattle Starbucks at 6am waiting to order a triple Americano while some purple haired asshole at the front struggles with whether or not he wants a maraschino cherry on top of his double decaf, nonfat mocha with extra foam and a lemon spritzer you'll never see the comparison.

Just a little hello while the ex-president is golfing again.

"I am not a crook!"

The Supreme Court just let him off the hook for his egregious emoluments violations. I did not read the decision but I think the idea was now that he's no longer president it's all moot. What a gong show. If Trump get's away with both theft and fomenting insurrection in a coup attempt nothing will stop a smarter person from actually pulling it off next time around. Make no mistake about it: there is someone far cleverer than Trump eyeing his chances.

I sold my DZ 5 years ago and the cost of my jumps went down to $25 a jump.

my photoshop skills are lacking, but my paint skills are meh...

One of them (not sure about the other) went over to Intrudair.

If I recall right, the ZPX canopy is a different brand of ZP that just packs slightly smaller. It still packs similar to ZP, just a tad smaller. The ULPV is a ZPX top skin with what I 'think' is probably the Smart LPV material (0-3 CFM low prosperity fabric line PN-9) on the bottom skin and on the ribs. Aerodyne could probably provide further details. Both options will likely hold up for a long time. There are a few canopies on the market that are 100% 0-3 CFM material like the Epicene and Horizon and those canopies are still fine after 1000 jumps. The ULPV canopy will be easier to pack due to less slippery ZP.

And from what I hear, DZO's are just rolling in it to begin with.

Trump didn't cause it. He just capitalized on it. If you want to blame someone, blame Obama (not really). Once one of 'them' took up residence in the White House, all the racists lost their shit. They claimed he was a 'secret Muslim'. They claimed he was really Kenyan. They called him nigger in every way except actually using the word, and many of them did use the word. Just not where 'regular people' could see it. Trump capitalized on that big time. Remember when he claimed that a private detective had provided him with earth shattering proof about Obama? Of course, it was going to be made public in 'two weeks' and again of course, never was. Lots and lots of older white Christian males were completely marginalized when their hate, something they had held for decades, something they had needed to keep secret for a while, was brought out to the degree that Obama fueled it. As I noted above, Trump capitalized on it. He fed into the bigotry, xenophobia and hatred. He made it acceptable to hate again. His supporters lapped it up. He let those slimeballs think it was ok to crawl out from under their rocks. Why do you think Trump praised the Nazis? Or told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by"? Or attacked the BLM protests with anonymous federal agents? All of it was because he knew his base and what they wanted.

Hi Ken, Those two people; really, just that two-faced Mitch McConnell, is why I am in Joe Weber's camp. 'Play hardball,' absolutely. Jerry Baumchen

I don't have any intention of wearing that tinfoil hat either. However, I'd rather not get while the getting is good, and assume that we're going to lose the House and Senate in two years. If we have a "fuck you we won" attitude for the next two years, then any bipartisanship goes out the window again. It's tenuous, but I'd rather build on a tenuous foundation that doesn't ignore such a large number of citizens. Actions can be illegal (like refusing to serve people based on color or religion, like invading the capitol, like burning businesses). Feelings can't be illegal. Over the last 60 or so years, it's become unacceptable to openly discriminate and use some language, even though the language is still legal. It's no longer second-glance-worthy to see an interracial couple. Yeah, some families still discourage it, but that's not the same as every person looking twice. Personally, the more the actions that express some feelings become either illegal or unacceptable, the smaller the percentage of people that are likely to feel them. Stephen Miller is a pretty good example that there are always the throwbacks, but the more people are engaged in general-society building, the smaller the margin who feel threatened enough to turn to him. I hope. It's how I'm built. And we've seen a pretty good example of the results of "fuck you we won" on the country. Wendy P.

Aren't family dynamics a wonderful thing? When I made my first jump (SL out of DC3 and my first airplane ride) I came home all hyped up, like most first jumpers, and wanting to tell them how wonderful it was, they just told me to pipe down. They were watching TV. Don't ever discount the care and love your family has for you. Not all have that.

My mom came out to watch me jump one time when my parents traveled on vacation to visit. She was a bit of a worry wart and didn't support us doing anything more dangerous than reading in bed, but after so many years of my flying and jumping out of planes, she was used to the idea. My father was a career military aviator but vehemently opposed to skydiving. Mom is 17 years gone now, and Dad is 88. I'd still like to get him up on a tandem.

When I first started skydiving, my mother sent me an article regarding two people who died bungee jumping, as proof that skydiving was dangerous. It seems like your mother is just doing or saying whatever she can to stop you from skydiving again. You can understand her feelings, even if you don't agree with them -- her beloved son was almost killed from doing something she sees as a complete waste of time and money. And he has decided to go back and do it again after he heals from his injuries! If she can only think of the right thing to say or do, she can save her son from certain death or serious injury. In my case, I was 31 when I began skydiving, and financially independent from my mother, and so I simply told her that I was going to do it, and I'm sorry if she disagreed, but it was my life. Thirteen years later, she still hates that I do it, and will periodically try to talk me out of it. I just mostly ignore her when she does.

Maybe you have.

You're right, and it's what all the BASE jumpers seem to like to emphasize. BASE is BASE. Skydiving is skydiving. They are not the same sport. So, don't fuck with MY chance to skydive by bringing BASE "rules" into a regulated sport. Not a BASE jumper here, but I have to say that the BASE community is sounding like a bunch of whiny pussies right now. I know enough BASE jumpers to know that's not generally the case, but you sound like a bunch of petty children right now. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke