happythoughts

After three years on the moon, your body would be so used to the lesser gravity that your heart and muscles would be atrophied. You probably wouldn't survive a return to Earth. That said, keep asking these imaginative questions. What would the world be like without hypothetical questions?

I've seen your hat, so it must be the whip.

For mainframe systems, you get 4 chances to guess the password, per day. If you are actually the user and mistype 4 times in one day, you have to call the "help" desk to get it reset in some places. For the old unix systems, it used to be as easy as a quick download of the etc/passwd file. Then, just run the passwords against an encrypted "best choice" dictionary - pets names, kids names, major/minor deities, sexy personal nicknames. Now, everything is so difficult. It is stupid how movies say, "Get into the FBI database? Give me 15 seconds... Bing!" Of course, it is all make-believe... so I just enjoy the flagrant display of boobies in geek movies. The biggest fiction in all geek movies - that chicks secretly dig smart guys if they "just get to know me". (The "Stalker" theme). Hence all the "nerd/cheerleader" movies.

Theory vs fact. There were other hijackers who (1) lived and (2) hid the money. The analysis of the mindset of other captured hijackers is probably more relevant.

Dave Attell is appearing in Tampa next week. That guy has a partial mental illness, I am sure.

Task Force? "Yes sir, I was in charge of TFU. We evaluated our strategic uniform plan." How embarrassing would that be? To be in charge of the fashion task force?

Go for it. In Florida, the probability of winning the lottery is 1-in-14million. The odds of getting hit by lightning are 1-in-3million. So, after that 4th lighting strike, the odds have moved into your favor.

Depending on remaining altitude, I have dropped one shoulder and allowed the airstream to run across my back. That air pulled the PC off my back and opened. The downside? Bad body position. Opened with line twists. Another variable to mention here is kill lines. After 700 or so jumps, kill lines will shrink. The first time, your rigger can lengthen it. The second time, it needs to be replaced. You can have a good throw, but a short kill line, and the PC will be bouncing around on your back.

Nope haven't you ever seen Carbone's dog, Herc's a good dog. You just can't eat a dog like that all at once.

In Zhills, we have a tense understanding. He isn't fond of jumpers, but was approached by an old-school local and chatted with. If someone has to come onto his property to get a chopped main, we will call first. If someone lands there, we will use the gate. Other than that, he still hates us, but it is a workable solution. I jumped there years back right after graduating AFF. After the waiver and rental ritual, the first thing I was warned about was not landing there. They said something about alligators too, but I think they were just giving the new guy the business. Nope, they weren't kidding. On his property, there is a pond that has some healthy alligators. A couple of years ago, someone chopped a main that went in the pond. One look and it stayed there.

The first person wants the second person to unlock the door.

In Zhills, we have a tense understanding. He isn't fond of jumpers, but was approached by an old-school local and chatted with. If someone has to come onto his property to get a chopped main, we will call first. If someone lands there, we will use the gate. Other than that, he still hates us, but it is a workable solution.

I heard that the water reservoir for Atlanta was drying up and there was some watershed problems with the Okee- swamp. It's all second-hand info for me.

That's Andreas area isn't it? Yep. Deland is 15 miles west of Daytona. The storm center sat still over Daytona for about 4 hours today and cut loose. A tight "eye" of a storm is around 10 miles across and is clear. Outside of that for 100 miles in all directions is a lot of rain.

What I couldn't get over on those endeavors is how precise Brian Burke had those spots to the ground crew! Some of them didn't have to zoom in all that far to get the crash shot. ltdiver That would be a little nerve wracking to watch a car head for you at that speed. If it was going to hit you, you couldn't move fast enough to get away. I heard that there was some endangered toads that they had to miss, so it was promised that the spot would be very exact. (Really. )

The Tampa area is ok. We got some rain, but the winds have been fine. Even driving to work has been good. Right now, my trees aren't even moving. (Hurricanes are odd creatures.) It is Deland and the other coast that got pelted. Two feet of rain is unheard of. Hopefully, this storm will move a little northward and drop a bunch of rain on Atlanta, where it is needed. They are very short of water there.

The SE satellite pic shows a very angry looking thing larger than the whole state. It started out at the bottom left of the state. Went up and to the right, at an angle across the state. Then, it turned left and came back across. Essentially, it went around me.

it is just a matter of time before we see a reporter decapitated or impaled by flying debris About 4 years ago, I saw a palm frond drop a reporter. More of a nudge, but the darned things are deceptively heavy and hard to manage. Two years ago, listening to a radio, the reporter says, "The rain is now blowing almost vertically..." (Muffled, in the background) "Horizontally" "Oh, yes."

At first, someone recognized the health risks of smoking. Next, smokers got higher insurance premiums. Then, there were smoking/non-smoking areas of restaurants. (One restaurant had a romantic fireplace in the non-smoking area. Imagine the irony.) Then, no more smoking in restaurants. Soon, no more smoking on California beaches... ...public office, government buildings... Then, smoking bans. You will not be hired if you smoke. (A thread two weeks ago) All this has progressively, incrementally occurred. The future? Huge penalties of some kind for smoking. Maybe REQUIRED additional health insurance. A smoking permit. $500 a year. (It sounds like an exaggeration, but so did all the other stuff 10 years ago.) Smoking will become illegal without the smoking permit. Smokers will do it secretly. Without the permit, possession will become against the law. "...but I was just holding it for a friend." No new permits will be issued soon. The cost of illegal, and addicting, tobacco at $50 a pack drives smokers to rob liquor stores to support their habit.

Oh, everyone knows it is raining like crazy. The wind is howling. Stuff is blowing past. Why do the news people go outside with a microphone?

I surfed several hurricanes. My last one, at Boca Raton on the other coast, was a little more than we bargained for. One wave almost got me. I got out. The current, water impact, underwater churn, and about 10 other factors will hurt you in a hurry. Also, all Floridians know that there are alligators that live in the nearby canals, drainage ditches, and golf course water hazards. We know that. (Only tourists try to retrieve balls.) When hurricanes flood the areas, alligators travel. Water is their highway. They appear everywhere.

looks cool! clicking thru stuff, saw a video of a guy going out on a jetski, with two guys holding on to it for stability...one guy standing on it...When they landed, the guy proudly bragged about the "first jetski skydive" ...and I couldn't help but think "WTF?" so, from the outside, sometimes there is that aspect of someone smashing a beer can on his forehead, and then yelling "of course the damn raincoat flapped" :) Out in Arizona, they used to have "junk day". Jump what ya bring. Cars, motorcycles, shopping carts. Get a copy of Joe Jennings "Good Stuff". They launched a "living room set". You have to see it to believe it. Also, one of the coolest car launches ever. As far as a raincoat goes, better have it tucked in tight under the leg straps or it will cup air wildly. It would bring your butt up over your head. Instant violent instability. I used to jump with a guy who was 6'5" or so, and 350 lbs. He had a full wing (like a camera suit) and a half-panel sewn between his legs below his groin to add lift. He said it was like having a mini-parachute. The raincoat is a non-issue. It is probably the least of his worries. In fact, probably his only contributing survival factor if he landed safely that night.

raft Same raft company. Sevylor makes a good raft. Used many of them. They even paid me for some video. THIS is what a 727 exit looks like (at only 150mph). side view

I try to mouse-over links. If they contain "animated-boobs"... yes. People should give a little warning though.

Find your photo albums. Look through them and look at pics of the stuff that you did when you were happy. Life tends to pound you with stuff. Work, responsibilities, no free time, no exercise, no play. Everything becomes more important. Look at the pics and figure out what used to make you happy. Start doing that again. (That said, I'm divorced, so how good can my advice be?)