crwmike

I don't have a call on the shooting (me? I'd have shot him as soon as I saw his shoulder dip and he appeared to be reaching for a weapon). I have some experience with traumatic injuries and the description "fractured skull, eye socket, nose and hand" doesn't even come close to giving me a good picture of the severity of her injuries. My guess is that the "fractured skull, eye socket and nose" are the media's/attorney's description of one injury ..with the hand fracture as defensive wound. All in all, the injuries could be very light with minimal physical impairment. Michael

Brother, if you tried your best, then you did what I expect of myself and all my teammates. So go ahead and feel shitty about it for a while, get over it, learn from it and never let it happen again. Pics and viedo would have been nice, but the beauty of it remains in our minds. The calm confidence and courage of everyone involved could not have been captured on video but will forever remain in my soul. I sit here in awe and utmost appreciation of all my teammates and, once again, honestly wonder how I keep getting picked to jump with these incredible skydivers. Seriously, I look at what they do and how they fly and am filled with envy. Well, whatever the criteria for selection, it was a most memorable jump and I was proud to be a part of it. I got shelves and boxes full of medals, awards, photos, video and DVD's of records and all kinds of firsts. They gather dust. I don't look at them or show them to people (well, not many people ;) Some jumps stay with you forever. This jump, along with the 1992 record and the first Quadraplane Diamond will always be with me. I don't need more pics gathering dust. CRW Skies, Michael

I guess I just do not see examining the open spots in the security surrounding the GA segment as a "freedom crushing witch hunt". Especially when the original point of my post was to say that we shouldn't just ignore it because it hasn't happened before. If there is a vulnerability, it should be identified and addressed, no matter how trivial it may seem. I am sure passenger screeners didn't think much of box cutters prior to September 11th, either. I guess I just don't see keeping your mind open to possibilities as a parallel for McCarthyism... Yeah, the McCarthyites didn't see it either ...at the time. I wonder how many look back on the era and feel they did a good job protecting our country? Michael

Joe McCarthy would have loved you. Michael How come? Did that sound communist? Please tell me how....(Seriously) Joe made his fame and fortune by taking vague, ill-defined threats that tap into some deep rooted emotions in our society ...and getting a significant portion of our citizens up in arms. His freedom crushing witch hunts were supported by a large number of people who felt we must crush freedoms to be safe. Don't trade what made this country great for a bit of false security. Michael

Excellent post, Bill. A very good technique to get people to realize there is a box and get people to think outside it. Hopefully, you won't get responses like: "Now I know why animals eat their young." "For some reason he's making fun of ...[the original poster]. He used exact quotes. I don't know if that was to make us [body builders] feel stupid, sexist, separatist, or if it was just a joke, but I think it needs to be explained." "I have edited this so as not to be provocative, but I also would rather that someone be more upfront with how he/she begins discussions. This is a little hurtful towards the [original] poster ..." "[Bill], I'm not a greenie, but am a fan of [this forum] and post here quite a bit. You've made a few overt and inferred personal attacks here in this thread that cross the line dude. If I were a greenie I would delete several of them and lock this thread entirely." "I am sure the way you went about trying to prove your point offended some of the [body builder] skydivers out there. I would love to hear some of them chime in and let you know how it made them feel reading this post." "congrats troll; you have replies. you aren't even a skydiver but you're havin' fun, aren't you. when you reach your twenty-first birthday, i'll buy you a drink and you can tell me how fun it was to start a [body building] argument. i used to crank call the local seven-eleven and boy, it was fun, then. when your balls drop, all of us will take you to rantoul for some real fun. i'm drunk...peace." "I think that the women were reacting with confusion and shock to the fact that it seemed that you were "poking fun" at the ...thread. I was a little surprised to see you "quoting" my original post, which was not written in my usual style, with 'skydiver' substituting 'body builder'. It seemed to show a lack of respect for that thread, and its intended [bodybuilder] bonding sentiments." "OMG!!!! **shaking head** ..." "this is the gayest thread ever" "Lighten up, dude." Michael

Joe McCarthy would have loved you. Michael

I worked in a maximum security prison for several years. Every inmate there was either completely innocent, just trying to defend themselves or attacked while trying to do charitable work for Mother Theresa. They are know as 'cons' for more than one reason. Damn near everybody who is new to prison work falls for these stories ...I did. Pull the files, read the transcripts. The facts surrounding their crimes never jive with the con. Part of it is self delusion, most of it is conning the naive do-gooder into writing letters for the parole board. Michael

Actually, I'd like to see more of people being honest in their assessments of boogies, DZ's, gear, etc. Go look at the DZ reviews and gear reviews on this site. According to those, one would have to believe that almost every single DZ in the world is the best DZ in the world, except those rare DZ's that are the worst. Most boogies are pretty cool and an awful lot of DZ's are cool too. Some places/events are great, and others are a bit lacking. I like reading when people get on here after a boogie and say they had a blast, and if someone didn't have so much fun, I want to hear that too. What's better are those all too few posts that detail the positives AND the negatives about any particular DZ, boogie, or piece of equipment. Blues, Dave Absofuckinlutely! I had zero problem with the original post. If true, he had a valid complaint and stated it without malice. If not, skydivers had the opportunity for reasonable explanations why not. Some of you guys seem to have a bit of trouble getting past childish emotions to straight forward communication. Michael

I was thinking the same thing...he's kinda hard to miss, and I know I was on quite a few loads with smaller rw groups....I agree with the sign thing, though...or just a simple sign up sheet like they have at the Convention. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they have to charge a minimum jump price for the Casa? A Skyvan may have been a better choice because it's hard to get on a slow Casa when the Otters there are so darned fast! Not me. I'll take the CASA every time! Love CASA's. Michael

Welcome ...and bring a flashlight :) Michael

Absulutely! I was last out of the chase plane and, after a brief line twist, could see Chris Warnock. Couldn't see who he was following (hopefully, it was ...someone) and couldn't see the formation as it was a dark shape with some small points of light ...just like the surburban background :( At any rate I kept my eyes on Chris while trying to scan for the formation and/or the DZ. After a few thousand feet of feeling that Chris and I were going to land ...somewhere in So Cal, I saw the formation (found out later there was a failure with the back lighting). I saw 22 and 23 moving up to their slots, swooped down and docked 25th. A beautifully flying 25-way diamond and all is good in the world ...until breakoff :) Just like last year ...where the fuck is the DZ and those flashing red lights we were supposed to be able to see from 12,500 feet????? I start practicing holding my canopy just shy of the stall point and hoping whatever piece of So Cal I pick to land in has at least enough clear ground for a PLF. Wait! Is that the hanger door? Yes!!! There are the cars with their headlights on ...and if I look really closely (now at 3000') I can see some really weak flashing red lights around the runway. Some sweet, disciplined flying by a GREAT group of people. Michael

A sincere thankyou to all involved on the planning and logistics for the new Night CRW record set in Perris on Saturday. Dark CRW Skies! Michael

You're on my wavelength lady. What happened to everyone on the DZ getting together at the end of the day and doing a big way. Who cares if it's a little Zooish. What happened to pick up formation loads? What happened to hanging out around the bonfire? What happened to just having fun once and a while, blowing off training, or coaching, or whatever? What happened to smiling in freefall? What happened to kiss passes, big rounds, hokey pokey dives, and a general enjoyment of the moment? You're right, what did happen to them? We need to bring out all the "old farts" to show these new PUPS (parachutes under phorty skydiving) how to do it up right. How bout THEM TOADS? Sharing what we know, smiling and laughing and the only cost ...is a smile (and beer :) CRW Skies, Michael

Were you limited to the Brazilian cut? Michael

I was kidding. Strippers or not, it's never free. However, strippers won't pee on the rug (mostly). I think there's an additional cost associated with that. Michael

Oh geez! Try someone who is sponsored and this person was the company rigger...for heavens sake! Implicit in the original post was work done for a friend for free. Kind of a different flavor with your explanation, don't you think? Michael

Spot on! Michael

Sorry about the boo boos on your fingers and all, but my hands are on my rear risers as I get line stretch ...ready to make emergency evasive maneuvers if the need arises. Do you wear gloves? If not just cowboy the fuck up and be ready to avoid a collision on every opening. BSBD, Michael

One of the problems as I see Mike, is that fewer and fewer jumper know enough about their gear to inspect it. Sure, they can look it over but do they know what to look for? Sparky I'll give you that one, brother. For this very reason, I gonna have to recind my 1 year vote and go with 6 months ...lowest common denominator and all that. Michael

Depends. Why were you doing the free work and providing free gear for him (her?)??? Michael

Way too many people feeling skydiving owes them something. My rig doesn't have any battery gadgets and is kept in a protected, climate controlled environment. I regularly and frequently inspect my gear. I get a reserve repack whenever I feel like it. Michael

Going to THE Boogie this year with the CRWDogs. Never been before and would appreciate info on the physical layout, elevation, general attitude and feel of the place, registration, manifesting ...anything really. What about beer-thirty happenings? Thanks in advance, Michael

OK, I'll accept all that. So, What would you recommend be done? Michael

Back when I used to work Psych, we had a several young women with eating disorders in in-patient treatment. In group therapy, many things were discussed ...among them foods they loved to binge/purge. Ice cream was the favorite. Krispy Creame donuts were high on the list and not a one of them preferred Dunkin Donuts. I guess what I'm saying is, maybe their just trying to offer a product their customers want.??? Michael

That is my point. Nobody did screw up. Someone didn't want a peaceful resolution. Other agencies are in law enforcement. Instead of coming up with hypothetical situation to fit the outcome you want to present, why not discuss reality and the facts of an existing event? Search of the compound and seizure of any evidence would have been of much firmer constitutional grounds. It's a common tactic in law enforcement to wait until the suspect has entered his/her home. Then, claiming search and seizure incident to a lawful arrest, they have more legal justification for searching the compound. Of course, now, this matters little. All the govt has to do is claim 'terrorist' and they can do pretty much whatever they want. Michael