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"When a coup attempt goes unpunished, it has officially become a training exercise." - Author Unknown

I've been a Blue Skies subscriber for years and the issues just stopped late 2019. Emails not returned. Then in March 2020 I got this email explaining. Now there has been one digital issue put out last year, but that is it. I followed back up via email and nothing again. The Sky is Not Falling A note from the owners of Blue Skies Mag. The sky is NOT falling. We’re repeating this to ourselves pretty regularly these days. Hopefully none of you are dealing personally with the coronavirus right now. If you are, know that your skydiving community has your back and is a resource. Reach out if you haven’t - to us, to your DZ buddies, coaches, instructors, teammates, vendors, USPA reps. We’re all here for you. Like I (Lara) detailed in my post, we’ve dropped a bunch of balls at BSM HQ, and this quarantine just adds to the confusion. We’ve decided to make the magazine available for everyone for the rest of the year on our website. In addition to hopefully making up for our absence the last few months, we just want to spread some sky joy to our community. As a current BSM subscriber, going forward you have 2 options: Get your money back. If you choose this, we will refund your prorated subscription as soon as we are financially able to. Email us or fill out the form in the tab “Refund Request” in your Account page to start the process. https://blueskiesmag.com/my-account/ Stick it out with us. If you choose this, we will add 1 year to your current subscription to make up for any missed issues. Until print resumes, you’ll be reading your magazine online (for free), and earn our undying gratitude for hanging tight. Moving forward, please story ideas to our new editor Shauna (editor@blueskiesmag.com). Features, columns, polls in the spirt of DZ Awards - or anything else you might think of. This is a good time to dig out all those old photos, logbook entries, dusty memories from the vault, and stories you haven’t had the chance to share before! Because we’re going digital for a bit, photo quality does not need to be as high as we used to require - screen grabs, Facebook downloads, photos of print photos will all be usable now. Above all, we want you to know that we’re back in the light and apologize to anyone who’s reached out the past few months and heard crickets. Moving forward, we hope to re-earn your trust and rebuild the community around Blue Skies Mag. Now hopefully wiser, more resilient, and with a refreshed outlook ready to face this new world. Blue skies, Kolla & Lara

Three components will help with this 1. Yes, the other jumper has to help. And it helps if you include fall rate in your jumping buddy selection criteria, especially if they're also a newbie. 2. Dress for success -- they need to wear a slicker jumpsuit and maybe weights if they're experienced enough, you need to wear a bigger jumpsuit than they have. 3. Practice. You will improve a whole lot with practice; the tunnel is a help here just for exposure time. But if your reaction is always to get big so that you can evaluate the situation, that's better than evaluating and then getting big. Wendy P.

Bill, getting in on the Quaction... Wendy P.

Thanks for the info

I used to write software requirements; the onus was entirely on the writer in those cases. However, there was a more limited audience for software requirements as well (although the testers did try to misinterpret them realistically as often as possible). In a less circumscribed community, it might be that due diligence is met by a statement up front of the intended audience, and it might be that intentional or bad faith misunderstanding is really the fault of the receiver. And to me it depends on the purpose of the communication — fiction is often enhanced by a variety of interpretations (and think of all the language teachers who wouldn’t be able to analyze Dickens, Tolstoy, or Ionesco). Me, I see the grays all the time; makes for less debate, but I’m ok with that, too. Wendy P.

When I was 16 I wanted a motorcycle really bad. Mom said no. Her dad broke his leg on one so they were dangerous, no motorcycles for me. I tried to get one when I was 18 and she said no again. WTF? I was 18!?! I earned the money for it!?! I was going to get it whether she liked it or not! I didn't get that bike, for you see, I still lived with them. They still paid most of my bills. I was pissed, but that's just how it was. I respected my parents so I didn't go against her wishes and buy it. I did get one four months after I moved into my own place though. At that point, it didn't matter whether she liked it or not. I was supporting myself and I could make my own decisions. If you'll be out supporting yourself by next summer, that's awesome. Get back in the air, get your license, buy gear, become a world champion swooper. At that point, she has no say regarding what you do or don't do. If your parents are still paying any of your bills then, you might consider waiting until you have assumed full responsibility for your life prior to jumping again. It's just the respectful thing to do.

Hi Robert, Re: Wife just told me this: "We can't just drive around, Robert. Something tells me that you two can find SOMETHING to do with that time. Jerry Baumchen

Had so much fun going to multiple ghoulidge boogies. DC4 - landing out and having to cross 2X drainage channels co-ed showers fun jumps good friends thanks for the memories

The United States filed its intent to withdraw at the earliest possible date, on November 4, 2019. After the one-year period, on November 4, 2020, the U.S. formally withdrew from the Agreement, coincidentally on the day following the 2020 U.S. presidential election. So, yeah...your post is bunk.

Most people don't like ambiguity. Lawyers require ambiguity for their profession to thrive

I like the supposedly tough glass and aluminum case, as the original version of the sonoalti felt cheaply designed and made. I like the font shape, which is similar to the Neptune/Atlas, much better than the awful font of the Viso/Ares. Expect low resale value. My advice is to not increase your altitude awareness with lights on your visual altimeter. If you really like the idea of lights, wouldn't one of the systems to have lights visible in the helmet be better? Don't be the guy wasting precious freefall time looking at your fancy lightshow of a visual alti before breakoff. Consider what audible altimeter(s) would work to obtain the altitude awareness you seek. There are lots of interesting audible products.

A ) That has no relation to the claim you made, or the claim Bill made that you said was wrong. B ) You think the pressing issues facing families that can afford neither gas nor milk are how to get their kids to football practice and jiujitsu? Ok Marie Brentoinette.

Not topless, it was just alternate clothing.

What Brent and the rest of the herd immunity heroes miss is that people without covid will be denied a hospital bed because no one will choose to stay home and choke to death for the greater good.

have you ever read a government document? they could make it in english, but they choose legalese.

But are you a Quack?

The pure numbers are irrelevant. A President could pardon or commute the sentences of everyone currently in prison solely because of draconian marijuana sentencing rules and he'd both be the most widespread user of the pardon power and be fully morally justified. Trump could have remained the most infrequent user of the pardon power and still been the worst abuser of it, for the sheer number of personal and political allies he has pardoned, not to mention unrepetant murderers and violent criminals who were guilty of horrific crimes and whose clemency requests circumvented any normal vetting by the office designed for that purpose.