riddler

And it's been an interesting one so far. Two CDs of a software program, different versions, one copied, one original - neither one wants to install. Weird. Work-wise, major shakeups happening - like the biggest I've seen in five years. Anyone else having an interesting day? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Used to like Metallica. Then they became the RIAA's ass-ponies. Now they make me sick when they play on the radio. As soon as I hear a song, I switch stations. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Next on the list - while standing up in a hammock Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7263668346151253701 I used a frequency multiplier to boost my 486 processor years ago. But I never was THIS bad Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

0:1:0 at the dz all day Saturday - winds too high to jump. at the dz Sunday morning - one jump before winds picked up. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I was checking my Yahoo mail, when I noticed that the banner ad at the top was for SkydivePhiladelphia.NET - of course it was a link to skyride, and not the same as skydivephiladelphia.com. But it made me realize that they are definitely tracking my surfing habits and/or my email and targeting ads directly for me. How long until they know my underwear size? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

$20 to inspect the main. $10 to untwist the main lines. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Up where? hmm - maybe I do need to spend a little time over there. Nah! I used to have no interest in it. Now I'm downright frightened Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Howdy Jason! Did you notice a difference when you went to the stitched risers? Would that be reducing the width of a one-inch riser to a half-inch? Seems too small to make a noticeable difference ... But maybe at the ultra-competition level it may give you an extra couple of feet? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

FYI - I untwist my lines about once a week. OK, maybe it's not every day, but it's a lot more often than most jumpers I know. The problem is that I don't immediately stow the brakes. So they get twisted up when I let go of them on the ground. A rigger might take a look at it and assume I never do it. But I do. I feel that a rigger that charges $30 to look at and untwist the main, and has seen that the steering lines are also twisted, should go ahead and take them out. Not just tell me about it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I paid him $10 to untangle the main, so no. If someone paid you $20 to inspect the main + $10 to untwist the lines, and you only knew it would take four minutes to also untwist the steering lines, would you do it? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Heard over the loudspeaker: "Anyone who knows how to do a ... floor ... jump. anyone that knows how to do a floor-jump, please come to manifest ... wait, it's a carpet-dive ... anyone that knows how to do a carpet-dive, please check in with manifest" Or something to that effect Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

You may survive the skydiving at Eloy, but the cholesterol will kill you Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I got them out OK. Took 4 minutes. Edit to add - in this hypothetical scenario, the cards were not sewed, stitched, or stapled together. They were not attached at all. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What is this "pixie-ing" you speak of? And more importantly, how come I didn't get any? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Yeah, I've really noticed that too. Seems like things have got to get better this year. But it's been really tough for a lot of people I care about lately. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Funny you should mention that - I just dropped $150 on rigger's tools at Paragear today Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Correct as far as I know, and I don't believe I ever said different. At least one rigger I know advocates cards for the container, AAD and main as well. Well, in this "theoretical scenario" let's just say that in addition to the normal repack fee, I paid an additional $20 to inspect the main, plus $10 more to untangle the "lines" (which I guess doesn't mean steering lines). For $30, would you expect to have the steering lines untangled? So the question remains open - if this much attention to detail is lacking, do you trust this person with your life? Or do you get a repack with someone you trust? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Justs for clarification - this rigger did NOT pack the deployed reserve - that was done by my normal rigger prior to the cutaway. And it did open very nicely. Well, it is just a guess. But as a rigger yourself, do you think you would miss both the SB on the packing card and the writing on the handle, all while stating emphatically that neither exists? Or is it more likely that neither was checked? Required? Maybe not. And maybe if a rigger charges $10 to "untangle the lines on your main" (exact quote), it doesn't mean untwist the brake lines too. But you can see how it would be easy for a customer to imply that - after all, brake lines are lines too. And honestly, why wouldn't you? I'm not questioning FARs as much as I'm questioning attention to detail. I can't say that the FARs are written in such a detailed fashion that they guarantee a good opening reserve. The difference in whether you save a live comes down to the extra effort you put in. Just my two cents. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What I am intending to ask is the second question - is he a competant rigger? The part about getting ripped off is just a minor emotional outburst - please ignore Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Suppose that you are jumping in a land far, far away from your normal rigger that you trust. You have a cutaway, and you use a rigger you don't know to repack it for you. 1. The old reserve packing card is completely full, so the rigger makes a new one for you. But they neglect to sew the old card to it. 2. They try to charge you an extra $10 for the CW03-01 (Capewell bent pin) mandatory service bulletin. Problem is that you know for a fact that the old SB has been done. You watched your rigger do it. It's written on the card. The rigger states emphatically that the SB is not on the card. So you show them. Then they state that the handle isn't stamped. So you take a look and see, clear as day in large black letters, right there on the handle CW03-01, written with a black felt-tip pen. You already know it's there, because you watched your rigger write it on the soft handle. You get your $10 back. 3. They charge you $10 to straighten out the lines on your main. When they hand it back to you, they tell you your steering lines are radically twisted, but they didn't bother to untwist them. I understand that mistakes get made. Am I wrong to think this rigger makes too many? Should I trust the repack to save my life? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Oh yeah, those things. What was up with those, anyway? They were cool, but I don't remember seeing them at other bonfires. We approached when the fire was raging. There was no wind. And all the smoke was headed straight for the tunnel. I swear the tunnel was sucking in smoke from the fire. Makes me wonder if the people in the tunnel smelled hot dogs? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Many people, even a week or two after the cold, will have a higher than normal degree of congestion. The congestion is what can blow out your eardrums. Give yourself some time. I don't jump when I'm sick. It caused me to miss AFFI evaluation jumps. It also caused me to miss the last two days of the holiday boogie. It's tough to miss great things like that, but I try to take care of my ears, since I both jump and scuba. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Kirk Verner suggested something that holds your RW jumpsuit up when you've got the top half tied around your waist. Mine always falls down, and I've seen nearly every other RW jumper have the same problem. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I used to work for a government contractor where polygraphs were common, and they had different question lists, depending on the clearance level and project (customer requests). In defense, they're looking for anything you might be hiding that could cause you to either sell secrets (financial problems or heavy drug use, etc) or something that can get you blackmailed into giving away secrets (cheating on spouse, et al). None of those would apply to the fire dept though. My guess is they are looking for any tendency toward becoming an arsonist. Unfortunately, a higher-than-normal percentage of arsonists are actually firefighters. Dont' talk about your Zippo collection Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD