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Hi folks, Lots of theft of catalytic converters in this area: “Anybody doing these petty thefts, it’s not worth your life.” Catalytic converter thief suspect crushed to death by car | KOIN.com Jerry Baumchen

Well, you could put a dummy converter on the underside of your EV, rigged up with an exploding dye pack (like banks use with cash bundles).

I'm not so much for defunding them as I am for defanging them. Maybe they should need to load first or wear funny hats or something to make it all less serious on initial contact. I also think Police Unions need to be abolished if they cannot be separated from the punishment process. Back when the cops would sometimes take you home if you were plastered or just tell you to sleep it off. Not saying that's good, just saying it was different four decades ago. If your skin color was correct the cops were your friends and you wouldn't think twice about asking one for help. These day's I don't feel that way.

I don't mind needles at all, but spiders - I hate spiders.

I recall a recent online discussion that ended with "I don't know how to explain why you should care about other people."

You're getting some good advice and encouragement here. However... Actually, DO forget that. While it is true, you do not want that anywhere in your mind as something you would even remotely rely on. Skydiving is a blatant act of self reliance. (Sorry, Joe. I always enjoy the advice and encouragement you give newer jumpers, including the rest of that post, but that particular point, yeah, no. Right along with don't rely on the RSL or the AAD.)

Losing Rocky and Carl in the same week really hurts. Shortly after Rocky's hot air balloon accident in which Ken Coleman was killed, some skydivers were taking Rocky back to Florida and spent the night with me and my wife at our apartment in Atlanta. Rocky had been badly burned and his skin was still very red. We all went to some little pancake restaurant, and while we were there the owner, a sweet little old lady, came up and called him "Shiny" (he was because his skin was still growing back and he really was shiny) and said she would pray for him. He was a great guy and I'll miss him. And this wasn't Carl's first time at having a mid-air canopy collision. In the late 70s, I was in ZHills at the Turkey Meet or Easter Boogie, I think, and Carl and another jumper collided under canopy while approaching the packing area from different directions. I forget how high up they were but it wasn't all that high. Both canopies collapsed and both of them landed on the tin roof of the old packing shed that was there before the dz moved to its present location. Both lay there for quite some time. If I remember correctly (and this was 40+ years ago, so who knows?), one of them went to the hospital and one of them managed to get off the roof with minor injuries. Several boards that supported the roof were broken in the collision and as far as I know were still broken when the packing shed was taken down some years later.