riddler

My favorite all-time book. Ed to add - honestly, "lost manuscripts" always smell fishy to me. Could this just be clever marketing and a ghost writer? Dead Sea scrolls, anyone? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Gotta go with Trees, just because I've heard more stories of people being saved by trees than saved by water or rock. Plus, I know if I don't get all tangled up when I die, then all my "friends" will definitely steal my gear before the ambulance arrives. Amubulence Driver: Err, did this guy have a parachute when he jumped out of the plane? Fellow skydivers: Hmm - didn't see one. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This is not true of every state, but Colorado has "good samaritan" laws that limit your liability for trying to help. The catch is you need to be certified in whatever procedure you are doing. You only do CPR if you have a current rating (i.e. you do certifications every year). Same with basic First Aid, except the re-cert is now every three years, IIRC. I stay current in First Aid and CPR for my diving certifications, but in most cases I would defer to someone else, because it seems like every DZ has EMTs or doctors that jump. Hint - I also try make sure I know the distance and direction to the nearest hospital for every DZ I jump at. Gives me an idea how quickly the ambulance can get there. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Personally, I cutaway and pull reserve. I only have one procedure because I don't like having to think when the shit hits the fan. And I never pull lower than 3,000, so I have time. There is no right answer. Everyone has to do what they are comfortable with. Some people's minds race and they can think fast when things go wrong. I know myself well enough to know I'm more of a deer-in-the-headlights person Fewer procedures and more practice for me. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

One more tidbit: St. Patrick did not drive the snakes out of Ireland. Ireland has never really had snakes. This was a metaphor for St. Patrick's driving the "pagan" religion out of Ireland and replacing it with Christianity. The "pagan" religion was devoted to nature and natural things, so snakes (and other animals) were their symbols. I only bring this up because I was surprised to see this common misconception printed in a local newspaper today. Then I remembered that it was the media and it all made sense. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

In the Vegas tunnel, they have a little batman suit for kids that age. Looks pretty cool

I really recommend you go to a large boogie like WFFC and talk to the different manufacturers there. Figure out who you like and who you think will give you the best service, delivery time, etc. You will get a good suit from most of them. The trick at WFFC is to order your suit in the first few days of the convention - you will get it much faster. If you wait until the end, it will probably take a month or two to get it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Your decision is your own and I respect that. As long as you are not a student at a USPA dropzone, you can make whatever RSL choices you wish. Personally, I keep my RSL hooked up 99.9% of the time. I would disconnect it in a very few rare instances, and only if I had the time to do so. I believe that the one person that died at WFFC 2003 would have been saved by an RSL. But that's my own opinion, and no one else's. The best guess we have is that he cut away from a canopy below 1,000 feet and never opened his reserve. An RSL most likely would have opened it for him. Please read billvon's article on RSL myths if you haven't already. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Why should you open up your personal life to somebody based on an unreasonable phobia? You're not going to give someone HIV by doing a tandem jump with them unless you're injecting heroin on the way up and sharing the needle. The same irrational arguments could be made for tandem instructors that are gay. I see a lot of homophobia with men doing tandems with male TIs. I know a lot of homophobic whuffos that would want to know, and refuse a tandem with, a homosexual TI. But sex doesn't have anything to do with tandem jumps, and neither does transmission of HIV. Maybe we should prevent HIV+ people from getting on roller coasters? After all, you could bash your head with someone sitting next to you and share bodily fluids. Maybe we should ban them from driving or riding in cars and busses? Wouldn't want blood splatter from an accident to get on me if I'm a passenger. How about public bathrooms? If they cut themselves shaving, I wouldn't want to use that sink. None of these fears have any basis in reality. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

True, true. Many a whuffo will come down from the first jump of the morning with Jake and wonder if all skydivers smell like beer and vomit Seriously, congratulations, guys. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Good idea. Hmm - maybe tack a large loop of fabric so that it's easier to see and catch. If you're just trying to catch a plain old nerf, I have a feeling you're going to lose a lot of them when you start. Probably a good idea to clear it with your DZO too - Farmer McNasty isn't going to like footballs dropping out of the sky any more than skydivers. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Nice one, oh wing-meister. Has anyone thought of making this into a game? Take a large piece of fabric (not a canopy, too expensive), weight it at one end, throw it from the plane, do a high hop-n-pop and chase it to the ground, seeing how man times you can catch it. Kind of like a space-ball, but for canopy flying, instead of freefall. Problems would be safety (not getting it tangled with you or your main), and not littering the surrounding area with canvases. Outside of that, it would be a lot of fun to play around with and learn a lot about flying your canopy. Maybe you could use really bright fabric and put a strobe on the weight to be able to see it easier. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I should say that I feel that distance covered over the ground is the correct answer, given the limited information that you have. No, I don't think it's just as bad as the 45 degree rule. I think it's much better. There's no perfect answer. Even with a lot of separation, if two groups spend the whole sydive tracking towards each other, they can still hit each other. Distance covered over the ground is the best answer I can think of. If you find a way to use the Excel spreadsheets and on-line calculators on jump run, and get accurate wind indication at the different altitudes on jump run, then let me know. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I have a sorry-problem too. I say it all the time. After a while, it becomes like those checkout people at the store that say "Have a nice day". They don't mean it. You know they don't mean it. They know you know they don't mean it. But they say it anyway, and it's annoying. I think you're right - saying you're sorry should be an apology, not a habit. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Not true. The original reason was and still is the same. Cheap labor. When the economy was good, the corporations whined about "not enough technical people", but the truth was they didn't want to pay the increasing wages brought on by the good economy. Now that the economy is not as good, corporations are STILL whining about I.T. being too expensive, despite domestic rates going way down. Same thing happened to farmers 50 years ago when planes allowed cheap produce to be flown in from other countries. Today, many farmers get by on government subsidies. Same thing happened to the auto industry when corporations found it cheaper to build and run plants in Mexico. Today, unions help keep auto jobs here. I figure in another 50 years, I.T. people will unionize, or start getting government subsidies. Until then, my plan is to become a migrant software developer in Japan. Sure, it'll be hard work in terrible working conditions, but at least I'll make some money to send home to my family Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Sometimes when you're still new to the sport, you may still have trouble finding the handle. I don't think it's a problem - you did the right thing, just try again a second time. Third time, go for silver. Congratulations to you for remembering and to your instructors for giving you the correct procedure. When I had around 60 jumps, I was doing a night jump and couldn't find my handle. I was thinking the same thing you did. If I can't find it a second time, I've got to go for silver And I didn't want to cutaway on a night jump. But I tried again and found it. That's the last time I wasn't able to find my handle. After a few more jumps, you'll always be able to get your handle. But it's still a good idea to practice the drill, just in case Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Safety Day, March 13th. One instructor stood up in front of about 70 people and reiterated about not getting enough separation between groups. I was happy to hear him say that this dropzone was always willing to make a second pass if there wasn't enough time for proper separation. Not many dropzones I've been to want to do that. Then I heard him say "before you get out, make sure you have 45 degrees of separation". Rrrgh! I respect this person - he has more experience and knowledge than I do, but I think we still have work to do to educate people (even instructors!) about this. If instructors and DZOs tell this to students, it will be much harder to correct. I honestly think the 45-degree farce gets repeated because there is no simple answer to this problem. I say there is no simple answer because the correct answer is to check ground distance covered. And that involves spotting. New jumpers don't know how to spot. I can't even say that I'm good at spotting. It isn't taught to students anymore. It isn't encouraged by dropzones anymore. It's hard to take time to practice spotting when you have 15 people behind you in a King Air that either want the door shut because it's too cold, or want you to get out because the green light is on. I fully intend to bug skr about attending his Cessna Playground because I want to practice spotting. But what happens when you have an entire group of new skydivers that don't know how to spot? I can show them how to spot when they ask me for coaching, but can I make a difference when so many instructors still say 45-degrees of separation? Best answer I heard was from one of the CReW dogs. He said every dropzone has a ruler on the ground called the runway. You can use the runway to measure how far you've gone over the ground. If the runway is a mile long, divide it into thirds and that is how much distance you need to cover before you jump. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This part is true of Colorado's original constitution. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

We can call the cause "Really Thin People Against Atkins"

I'm convinced this all balances out somehow in the Universe. Most people don't really think about skydiving. A few people wouldn't do it if someone gave them $10,000. I've spent more than $10,000 for the privilege of skydiving, as have many of my skydiving friends. For every person that's not willing to jump for money, there's one person that's willing to spend the money to jump. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I shall name him "Stampy"

Sorry to hear that Mary 26,000 gallons in five days - yeah, I would think the water company would be wondering if you were filling up a swimming pool. A couple of times. I hope the insurance company doesn't give you fits. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Starship troopers, anyone? I'm sure the nerds at Berkely read Heinlein. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

How to get laid. A two part summary by Riddler: 1. Girls. Be assertive. Don't go to a bar and wait for a guy to talk to you. Go to a bar, spot a guy you like, and go talk to him. And don't be so picky that no guy in town is good enough for you. Your problem will take care of itself. Oh, and that geeky, only-sorta-cute guy in the corner hasn't been laid in 6 months - he will treat you nice and probably has good money from his high-tech job to spend on you. 2. Guys. Be perseverant. Girls expect you to come to them. Do it, then expect to get rejected. Girls are picky. Don't take it to heart - just move on to the next girl. No more than 20 minutes per girl if you're not getting good vibes. After 5 or 6 girls, you will probably get at least one good shot. Oh, and don't waste your time with the one hot girl that has a flock of guys swarming around them - you'll never get anywhere there. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Less said, more head. Beat 839 sucka. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD