riddler

Yeah, officially, they all it "syrup". If you have ever worked in a fast food place (Wendy's alma matter, 87-88), they get the soft drinks in large cardboard boxes that are loaded with stuff - The soda machines that you put your cup under mix the sludge with water to make your drink. Try eating the stuff straight sometime. It'll either turn you off to soda entirely, or start a whole new addiction Ahh, the things we did on dares when we were younger Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

TV - never watch it. Besides, the Best Female Skydiving Boobies thread has gotta be far better than anything they can show on TV Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Been there - Coke World sure is in a nice part of town, too If you really want to learn about Coke or Pepsi, just get the sludge mix and eat a spoonful of it. You'll learn about what the rest of your body is trying to tell you when you drink it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

For the last few years, almost all of my skydiving and practice (tunnel time, coaching, etc) has been geared toward getting my AFF rating. So I really only do RW. Maybe in 20 years, they'll have an introductory instructional rating that uses freeflying, and we'll do sit-fly exits with new students. But for now, it seems to be about bellyflying for AFFIs, so for the freefall part, I focus on that. For the canopy part, I just try to get down safely. Usually on the way down, I'll play with most or all of my control inputs - risers, toggles, harness, and think about traffic, what it would be like to cutaway at 1,000 feet, and if I should think about doing an intentional downwind for practice on the next jump. Freefall - RW Canopy - survival I think you can dabble in multiple things and still be somewhat proficient, but if your goals are high (instructor, competition, world-record), most people probably only have the time to focus on one thing. The nice thing about this sport is that if you're totally bored and frustrated, you can just start over with a new discipline. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Ok, thanks for the correction. I met the Greg and Patty a few months ago at a wedding at thought they seemed like nice folks. Welll, I have jumped at SMB once or twice Nice view from 15K. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

So I'm on the Federal Do-not-call list. It's great, but the loophole is that any non-profit is able to call you. For the last two years, I get about one call a week from the Disabled American Veterans, with a recording asking for clothes donations. I donate clothes to them by dropping them off at the store here in Denver - I hate the fact that they keep calling me. I'm all for the DAV - hell, my father is 100% disabled vet. We buy about half our clothes from them. I give them my old ones. But they have no way for me to get off their stupid calling list. The recording doesn't tell you anything, and you can't call the number back - it's not valid for receiving calls. I've tried blocking the number. That stops them for about two weeks - then they change numbers - at one point I had six of their numbers blocked, but they kept calling with new numbers. I've tried sending emails to the DAV online. I've written them letters. I've called local chapters and have people told me that they would try to help me. I can't get off the stupid calling list. Every week for two years. Sometimes two or three times a week. They leave recorded messages. How do I get them to stop? Any ideas? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I understand that the Nardys owned Hollister at one point and sold it. They then started Titusville in Florida (and I believe they still own it). Now they own SMB, and I wish for the best for them and Jess and his family (Jess R, the former owner and USPA regional director). I've only heard this as an outsider, and I could be wrong. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

baseball, cold showers, senseless acts of violence ... Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The only reason I'm going can be summed up in two words: Peter Jackson. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Well, I'm already getting a wind tunnel for Christmas (or thereabouts), so I would have to say: Discovery of intelligent extra-terrestrial life. It would be intriguing, revitalize our space program, and be good for the economy. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Only other skydivers would have that perception. Most people would probably think risk taker, irresponsible. It's up to you to try to change that. If they asked about what I like to do outside work, I would tell them. I've only had one interview where I was asked that. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

There have been enough versions of King Kong that I'm not sure what the "original" whould really be. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Both M$ and Sony have announced that they lose money on their respective game consoles. Probably it's to make people feel better about the cost of the systems. The other theory is that they are trying to win market share. By no means should you believe their lies. Making money is the bottom line for any corporation or division - if they don't make money, they don't do it. Period. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I totally agree. But the DZs see the bottom line of every load, not the supporting economics. And for the record, I think it's wrong for DZs to bump anyone for anyone else - I don't care if The President (or, in our case, The Mayor of Denver) wants to jump ahead of me. First come, first serve. Too bad I don't run the DZ Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Ya know it's funny. When I did my tandem jump over four years ago, I got to the DZ at 7:30 AM (it opens at 8). And I waited ALL DAY and over 20 loads to finally do my tandem at 6:30 PM (yes, we wore a strobe). I watched lots of people show up after me and jump before me. At the time, I thought "this DZ doesn't care about me, just the experienced jumpers." Now, years later, and getting bumped off a few loads for tandems, students, et all, at that same dropzone (where I now coach), I think "this DZ doesn't care about me, only tandems." I have the same bad luck waiting in lines - no matter what line I choose, it's always the slowest. Maybe some of us just have bad line karma Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I was going to upgrade the XBOX to a 360, but after seeing how M$ is handling the whole mess, I'll wait for the PS3, and sell the few XBOX 1 games I have. Availability - M$ likes the money it makes from XBOX, but by no means requires it to succeed. They anticipated demand, and intentionally (IMO) created an artificial shortage to get people excited about it. Not a new marketing trick, but a slimy one. Compatibility - Only some of the older games will work (none of the ones I have, except Halo2), and M$ has "promised" to add more to the list (yeah, right). Also, you need an external hard drive to make the old games work. The PS3 will be 100% backward compatible all the way to PS1. Technology - no bluray (not that it's a big deal yet), no HDTV (at least it has component video). Marketing - stupid packaging into basic and premium editions. Have to buy add-ons with basic system. Get shit you don't need with the premium edition. All that aside, the future XBOX games will probably look really good, since the current ones aren't using even half it's capability. The only complaint I have about Sony lately is their fiasco with the DRM media. I'm willing to wait for a PS3 and purge M$ from my life. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

So many dropzones are doing this, it's become routine. We as fun jumpers don't make a lot of money for the dropzone, so if they fill the plane with tandems or students or video, you bet they'll bump you to make more money on the load. You can leave and go to another DZ. If all the fun jumpers do, the dropzone might start to care - otherwise they could not care less, probably. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The only thing you're innocent of is innocence. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'm not average, since my ring finger is shorter. But as far as the other ... I haven't heard any complaints Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Wouldn't the props be bent as well? Probably engine work required too? But nice landing - from a distance you might not even know the wheels are up. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I like the fact that there are 12 pictures. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Visually, very stimulating and even colorful. The script could've been written by a 14-year-old. OK, maybe after it got corrected by his freshman english teacher. What's with all the cloning movies lately? Star Wars, The Island, A.F. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

It REALLY doesn't make sense when you consider that the 360 doesn't even support HD-TV. Other consoles are promising 1080 resolution for their upcoming systems. I've pretty much decided to return the XBOX 1 and get a PS3 when they come out next year. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

"I could care less" is not the correct expression. If you could care less, you would, right? The correct expression is "I could NOT care less", or as it's popularly abbreviated, "I couldn't care less." Oh wait - sorry, this is the misspelling thread. I mistook it for the improper use of idioms thread. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

For Cora a birthday rhyme, You need some more tunnel time, So pack your bags and go To Colorado And taste of sweet SkyVenture sublime. Seriously, come out and visit. The rest of us are ready for another camp. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD