BigMikeH77

That's too cool

Practice your exit in the mockup. Without your rig or instructors. Then with your instructors. Then with your rig, then with your rig and instructors. Then practice it again. Then do the same thing up in the plane. I hope it's not a King Air. Know your EP's. Take it slow and easy on your practice touches. You'll have two people wiht you so you'll have no problem with stability. Nice and easy. Have a fun and safe landing. Smile and have FUN!

Just a few tandems... You see, that's how they get you hooked. Just a few tandems becomes a "thing" you do "just on the weekends". Then you find yourself thinking about it more and more, and you can't wait that long. Next thing you know you're always looking up when you hear a propeller aircraft, you're doodling landing patterns at work, spending more time on DZ.com... And your money?? HA. It's not YOUR money anymore..

I love the blue ones :-)

I bet the kid already has a B License..

Thanks everyone! I couldn't edit my OP so I had to just put the new link in a new message. I'm working on part II this week.

I updated the subtitles and made it a little less wordy.. :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRaxNnDPEFM&feature=youtu.be

It's supposed to be really good for you, Did you check eBay for a used juicer?

Bastard.

^^^What he said^^^ And yes, of course have fun. And don't do what I did on my AFF-1. Smile and enjoy the fear of the door.

Yeah Billy, in case you couldn't tell I based it on a true story :-) I'm pretty sure the Vance Brand Airport Manager's name is Tim.. hahaha

Not bad for my first shot at a Downfall parody, if I do say so... Thanks for the kudos!

Just making light of the airplane noise people around my DZ.. I made this parody of one of the classic scenes from "Downfall". Hope you enjoy it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPoddtTCM_k&feature=share

This coming from someone who just a little while ago inferred that the government has gone wild and has breached the boundaries set forth in the constitution?!? You sound like one of the right wingnuts who are afraid of their blessed guns being taken away, who scream "down with the government" and "cut everything, as long as I still get my medicare, defense contracts, and nuclear missiles." Don't call me the extreme one here... I'm not trying to make the government so small that I can drown it in a bathtub.

Hey, stratostar has even very recently put me in my place before but I have to agree... That was the first time since I've been on this board that I've seen anyone discredit an opinion and have the audacity to bring up someone's number of jumps as a justification. That's just mean.

I agree... Yes, change is good but it CAN'T be done at the peril of the government itself and it CAN'T be done in a revolutionary manner that is the war cry of the hijacked republican party.. It HAS to be done with forethought, intelligence, and compromise. That can't happen in a matter of three days now can it? Not a chance. We're looking at ANOTHER 11th hour "deal" at best.

I almost said that I wish MY office were x-rated, then I remembered that at 35, I'm one of the youngest here. Not a pretty sight.

Sure, the federal government is a big organization that oversees the most powerful nation on earth and is the home of what... four hundred million something people? Would you like to see the federal government just STOP everything? Also, about the driver job.. It's a position with in the department of state, requiring a CDL, responsible for moving large vans and shuttles with people. It tops out at about 50k a year, that's $26 an hour before taxes, benefits, etc. Its not as wasteful as some might lead it to be. What I'm getting at is that instead of demonizing federal workers, how about being smart about it. Admit and accept that the government is and needs to be big in order to accomplish its mission effectively. It's a big job. We're not in the 19th century anymore.

It would seem you have nothint to worry about And just so you know, I wish no evil on anyone. But the gov has created this mess. The Dems will not do their Constitutionaly demanded budget process and another end of the world government could shut down vote is comeing the end of March As for any justification, the Fed is doing way more thant the Consttitution says it should be doing. A correction has to be coming Fyi, that particular job... that was made to sound like an entry level receptionist, is actually as for a GS-11 level assistant to a deputy director... The equivilant of an admininstrative asistant to an top level executive VP of a multinational corporation. To qualify for the job, you need a security clearance, experience within the organization, and an incredible amount of people skills. this is NOT entry level. Here is the link to the job. if it doesn't work, go to usajobs and search for req number 338114300. The news is only as good as the source it comes from, and biases are always attached. https://my.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/338114300

I do not in any way feel entitled to anything but time with my children and the medals on my uniform. If someones department deems a job no longer needed, than so be it. Senselessly slashing jobs just for the sake of doing so is no justification for putting people on the dole.

How it come across if someone said that they think you ought to not have your job, that half of the people at your company should just be fired because you don't agree with the way it does business, consequences be damned? Not very nice, I'd say.

There are lots of ways to make things more effiicient, and there are lots of different things that can be done. I'm not an economist, nor a politician. I don't create budgets or decide who gets hired or fired. Simply put, im plain english, the sequester is a senseless austerity measure. Austerity doesn't work. If someone had fallen overboard a ship, and was barely keeping afloat, would you throw them a dumbbell and say "you'd better get in shape if you want to be able to climb back aboard"? I ask because that's exactly what the sequester will accomplish. I'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty, I'm simply putting a face, name, and story to something that seems bigger than all of us yet affects every one of us. My department will not DIE, but it's ability to effectively do perform its mission will be severely hampered. That's not a personal consequence, but me not being able to afford rent, child support, food, etc. is.

Hi friends, I wanted to share with you an e-mail that was waiting fo rme this morning. I've received no fewer than three similar notices, and in the past year there have been several times where I left work on Friday not expecting to return the following Monday. It wreaks havoc on my nerves. Sometimes it keeps me up at nights. You see, I am a federal employee. I work for an office within the Department of the Interior that ensures oil and gas companies pay the royalties that they need to pay - usually to the federal government (that goes to you and me, the taxpayers), sometimes to tribes if a particular well is on tribal land. As mundane as my job can sometimes be, it's an important job. My office pulls in billions upon billions of dollars in revenue each year, second only to the IRS. Some people think that most federal employees are lazy, overpaid, etc... I assure you that this really isnt the case. I went to college. I served in the Army and in Iraq. In my career I've built spacecraft for Lockheed Martin, managed IT operations for three different government entities, and now I'm here with the DOI. I'm a divorced dad of two awesome kids who think it's the neatest thing when I do my base leg right over the picnic table at the DZ, and they shout to me and wave. My son likes to jinx my landings and watch me PLF. My daighter pretends that her stuffed animals have parachuhtes. :-) I'm just like every other working guy and gal that is trying to make it today. I rely on my paycheck to put a roof over my head and pay my child support and keep my lights on and my stomach happy. I'm not asking you to take action, make phone calls, etc.. I just want you to read this e-mail and imagine yourself in my situation and ask "why?"... I hope that our elected officials can get it together, and that right quick. Thanks for reading. -Michael ___________________________________________ From: Secretary of the Interior I write this memorandum with a heavy heart as we prepare to implement sequestration reductions on March 1, 2013. I maintain hope that Congress will act and reach agreement on a balanced deficit reduction plan that avoids these senseless cuts. However, with the deadline only days away, we are finalizing our plans and have started taking immediate actions to prepare for the devastating impacts. The President has stated that the sequester is bad policy and I agree. The sequester is an across-the-board reduction that slashes activities without discretion and will reduce the level of direct services we provide to the American public across the country. It will have a wide range of long-term destructive consequences for our mission and programs – negatively impacting our entire workforce. I promised you that we would share what we knew as soon as information was available. Although we are still finalizing our implementation plans, we expect the following: All of our 76,000 employees will face challenges in performing their mission. We are facing incredibly difficult choices in how to implement the sequester. I want to be clear that there are no good choices – all of the choices we make have negative long-term consequences on our ability to perform our mission. All of the tools that we are using to mitigate impacts of this indiscriminate reduction will nonetheless have impacts on your ability to perform your mission and serve the American public. We are implementing hiring freezes, reducing overtime, reducing travel, eliminating conferences, reducing training, reducing contracts, reducing cooperative agreements, and reducing grants – each of these has a negative impact on mission delivery. Thousands of permanent employees will be furloughed. While we are still finalizing our implementation plans, we expect that thousands of permanent employees will be furloughed for periods of time up to 22 work days. The specific numbers of employees and the duration will vary from bureau to bureau and program to program. You can expect to hear more next week from your bureau and office leadership about potential impacts within your organization. Let me assure you that all affected employees will be provided at least 30 days notice prior to executing a furlough or in accordance with the designated representative collective bargaining agreement as appropriate. We will also continue to engage in discussions with employee unions as appropriate, to ensure that any furloughs are applied in an appropriate manner meeting agency mission requirements. If you have questions on this issue, I would encourage you to go to the Office of Personnel Management website, which has helpful information and answers to frequently asked questions regarding furloughs (found at www.opm.gov/furlough, under the “administrative furlough” section). Many seasonal employees will be furloughed, have delayed starts, shortened employment periods, or will not be hired at all. Our seasonal workforce is an essential part of our workforce. Many of our seasonal employees come back year after year to perform our mission. They fight fires, provide visitor services to millions of Americans, and perform vital field and scientific work. Many of our seasonal employees will be furloughed, have delayed starts, or face shortened employment periods. In some cases, we will not have the financial resources to hire seasonal employees at all. All seasonal employees that are furloughed will be provided at least 30 days notice prior to execution of the furlough. We will be unable to hire the number of students that we had planned – halting the progress on youth hiring of the last 4 years. Our students are a vital part of our workforce today and integral to the Interior workforce of tomorrow. We will be unable to meet our youth hiring goals. We also expect significant reductions to our cooperative agreements with our partners that fund youth work crews and are the foundation for our vision of a 21st Century Conservation Corps. Our inability to hire students and enter into cooperative agreements will have lasting impacts as these young people are forced to find work elsewhere and ultimately make different long-term employment choices. I want to be clear that the sequester’s impacts will be felt long beyond the next 7 months. Indeed it threatens the long-term viability and execution of our mission. The sequester will compromise our ability to implement the President’s all-of-the-above energy strategy due to reductions in oil, gas, and coal development programs. Middle-class Americans who expected to spend their summer vacations at our 398 national parks, 561 refuges, and over 258 public land units will encounter reduced hours and services or even closures. Local communities and businesses that rely on these great outdoor places to support their livelihoods will face a loss of income from reduced visitation to national parks, refuges, and public lands. Basic community services supported by the grants and payments we make to states and counties throughout the country will be cut. We also anticipate reductions in the level of support services to Tribes, which again translates into reductions in basic services to millions of tribal members. Given our large footprint on the American landscape and the diverse constituency our programs support, we expect that impacts to the public will be felt in hundreds of communities around the Nation. Over the last 4 years we have made great progress by working together to deliver on a bold agenda that is generating significant results and includes reforms of the oil and gas programs, creation of a renewable energy frontier, renewed commitments to conservation through America’s Great Outdoors, a focus on job creation through greater support of the conservation economy, stronger relationships with Native Americans, and high employment levels of youth. The sequester will roll back many of these advances and reduce the capacity we so diligently constructed. It is my earnest hope that this senseless but avoidable crisis will be averted. Please know that I am working around-the-clock, tirelessly advocating on your behalf and on the behalf of the millions of Americans who rely upon our services. Thank you for your service and perseverance in this most difficult time.

What a funny, lighthearted song... Thanks for sharing