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You cling to old traditions like a child clings to their doll. In a thousand years the ancient traditions that shape todays concepts of gender and gender bending will be history, and the emblems of our racist past will be piles of dust not just toppled. Some of us, when we see a bend in the road ahead slow down for the turn. Others, too narcotized by the ease of a straight road, maintain speed and hope there isn't a cliff. You wore the nations uniform for 20 years, ostensibly, to guarantee everyones freedom to live a free life, not just you. Crying now because societal trends caused by the will of a majority of the free people you served don't suit you is, well, babyish. I am not certain that humanity will bake, boil, simmer, freeze or be washed away to extinction by 1000 days of rains and floods in the next 100 years but I am absolutely certain of one thing: humanity will not advance to game changing levels of technological advancement, and perhaps our salvation, using only the energy derived from fossil fuels. Nor will we achieve any of the loftier goals of peaceful brother and sisterhood by defining for our fellows how they should see themselves. You know, to each their own.

That's right up there with a parent spanking their kid, and telling them "this hurts me more than it hurts you." The speaker is not, in fact, the center of the universe. Also, I didn't name anyone -- if my comment made you feel uncomfortable, maybe it's on you. Wendy P.

I may have missed it, but I'm surprised that more mention isn't being made about the second part of the bill - so long as you are making your minimum repayments, no interest will accrue on the balance any more. By all accounts that's the most crippling part of student loan debt, people starting with a balance of 100k or whatever, diligently paying off 50k over many years, and still having a 100k balance sitting there, forever growing.

Hey thanks so much man! I greatly appreciate the response and the advise. One of my thoughts definitely was, "I don't want this happening any lower than where I'm at" and so I chopped it. You're the man dude.

The man is truly the scum of the earth.

Yes, this was in the news in NJ about a month or so back: https://www.nj.com/cape-may-county/2022/07/mysterious-buried-cash-dated-1934-unearthed-in-jersey-shore-renovation.html https://www.nj.com/cape-may-county/2022/07/jersey-shore-buried-cash-enigma-deepens-with-discovery-of-more-money.html If you keep the money dry, it can survive surprisingly well. Wonder what the state of the rubber bands were in terms of elasticity? There are some close up pictures of the money rolls and rubber bands in the links above.

Guy finds buried money,, bills dated 1934 sealed in a jar in a spot which was in a house crawlspace.. DRY SPOT wrapped in something like burlap and rubber bands intact.. WHAT.. bills look very good. https://www.nj.com/cape-may-county/2022/07/jersey-shore-buried-cash-enigma-deepens-with-discovery-of-more-money.html

And coming in here and calling people sheeple and morons is such an excellent way to get them onboard with what you’re thinking. Wendy P.

I agree with what gowlerk has said. Pilot chute and/or bridle over the nose is addressed in the FJC. The standard response is to do a control check and see if it causes you problems. But you didn't get that far, it was already causing problems. So think it through. If you had managed to wrangle it under control, what would you do, go ahead and land it? Then what if it starts to cause problems again... under a grand? in the pattern? on final?? No, cutting away was the correct response. The only other thing I would add is, if you haven't already done so, then it sounds like two cases of beer should be involved... One for your rigger (who packed your reserve), and the other for the dz because I'm guessing that was your first cutaway. Congrats!

On the left,, is Mount Rainier and Lake Tipsoo in Washington State.. On the right,, is an image from a Dan Cooper comic... The author visited the PNW in the 1960's.. including Seattle, area landmarks and the Boeing factory. Did Cooper cross paths with the author or is it just a coincidence..

This pretty much mirrors my experience. I had almost 1300 jumps when I laid off in 2009. I came back last year after 12 years off. It is NOT like riding a bike. In many ways I feel like a student again, except I don't have a fear of being in freefall below 4k. I went through the first jump course and did a checkout jump and was free to go. My only setback was that my gear was almost 30 yrs old and the head rigger wouldn't declare it air-worthy. Since I was serious about getting my knees in the breeze long term again, I bought all new gear. Getting some coach jumps now trying to get my confidence up to where I'll go on some LO loads. It sure is great to be in the air again!

Guys, gonna drop some realness, all these sponsored people are trying to sell you stuff, or are so far down the hype rabbit hole they can't see the Sun anymore. It is all about packing and body position. There is no magic one technique or size that fits all, you just have to be aware of what you are doing and notice what works and what doesn't. And no matter what equipment you have or how you pack, you are going to have a wonky opening every now and then. Also, some of the stuff that migrates over from BASE is helpful, but they make sacrifices too that aren't suitable for skydiving. If you wanna talk BASE, there is BaseJumper.com for that. Otherwise, why isn't everyone free packing BlackJacks with mesh sliders on skydives? (Done it, it sucks). You can wingsuit EVERY 9-cell on the market, that isn't geared toward swooping, from EVERY manufacturer, reliably. Yes some are more forgiving than others but there is no magic bullet. For instance, double stows, sure they are good and I had good results until I started jumping a big suit, then after my flare slowed me down to hop and pop speeds, I've have better results single stowing; but that is just me, with how I fly and how I pack. Someone else on the same gear could have better results double stowing. Another "for instance," I really like my semi-stowless bag, but I jump with some folks that use a traditional bag who consistently have great openings. There is only one consistently important gear thing that comes up, bridal length. Once you get bigger than a mid range suit (Funk, Havok, etc) a 6ft bridal has a large probability of causing hesitation. Is there a diffrence between 9 and 11ft bridals, probably not, and you can burble both of them with a crap throw (seen and done it). Learn to fly the opening and pitch properly, and also take a extra couple minutes to pack well and consistently, then all this wonky opening stuff goes away. Consistently good openings I've had with 7 and 9 cells on large wingsuits include: Navigator (don't ask, lol) Spectre Saber2 Firebolt Pulse Prime Pilot Storm* was wonky for me, apparently it happens to some folks, but too many people love it to deny it works well. So demo a canopy just like any other and pick one that you like its flying and opening characteristics (not WS related), and if you can't WS it, the problem is you, not the canopy.

More about Houston area jumpers in the 1960s from Cy Stapleton, D605 Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

Another email about early Texas Jumps from Cy Stapleton D-605- -