feelopen

He hee... I like that phrase! So, I wonder if they'd let you pack in the cooler? lol

>>>what follows is a story about climbing cliffs, not A's... so don't read unless you've got nothing better to do with your next 5 minutes! One time my climbing partner and I were "inadvertantly" climbing on a tall crag that was in a closed area of the wilderness. (We never saw any signs or anything - so we just went along climbing) Anyhow, after we're about 450' up we could here someone yelling up at us.. I looked down from a hanging belay to see a park ranger screaming up at me - trying hard to throw his voice. He told us to come down imediately! I just kept sayin, "WHAT?!"... as if we couldn't hear him. We went along our business and he kept yelling, "come down imedemummumble"! One time I yelled back, "NOT ENOUGH GEAR!" He yelled back, "Looks like your doing pretty good to me!"... we laughed and kept on climbing. It took us another hour to top out, an hour to walk down, then two hours to walk back to our car. There were now two park ranger cars parked by our car so we sneeked up to see what they were doing... One is sitting in the hatchback of his cherokee, shooting at chipmunks with a sling-shot , the other is missing - he later came back from relieving himself of his jumbo pepsi sitting on his dash. We thought about waiting it out to see if they'd leave, but we were tired and thirsty... so we just snuk up as quiet as possible from the right angle, then hurriedly jumped in the car and by that time the guy with the slingshot ran out in front and started yelling as loud as he could... he had one hand on his gun! What a dick. the other guy shows up and opens my friend's door. bustet! try as we may to explain why we didn't know the area was closed - it didn't work and the guys produced a sign saying it was closed and said they knew we'd torn it out of the ground and wrote us both tickets for that too. $370 bucks or a day in court far far away so we paid and complained at the bar for the next four years. I think no matter what you do the heat will give you the ticket they were there to give you. I think if we'd repelled down we'd have got a ticket and an uncomfortable escort back to our car. I say that if the conditions are right, your mind can stay focused on the task, and you don't think they'll shoot at you - JUMP! If you think you can out run them - RUN! when they catch you do this: and know that they'll never have as much fun catching you as you will running. just my 1cent CP

nothing like a poll to poll the polls.

I'm in veterinary school as well as MBA, we're doing a project for an economics class where we're analysing the pet health insurance industry. VPI, the company that made that game, is the industry leader. It seems good in many ways, but mostly for the veterinarian. When it comes down to the actual benefits, we think you'd benefit more by paying into a savings account the same as VPI would be charging you - then if you get a big hit by the Vet - if you happen to runover your dog and you want to save him/her - then pay the bill with a credit card, and then pay the min balance out of the savings fund. VPI is in it to MAKE MONEY, pet owners rarely benefit from the plans, there's lots of hidden things and restraints on the policies - just like with human insurance - the stuff kinda sucks. If you have the discipline to save for your pet - say 25$ per month - the same as their lowest rate plan (which mostly just covers vaccinations) then I think you'll actually come out on top. If however, you can afford the premium plan, go for it - if your dog gets creamed you'll save money too, or at least it disperses the blow. cheers, cp

so do you think people will buy that pet insurance because of it?

I like the yellow handles hanging off the back

the rig he's wearing attracted my eye... http://www.petinsurance.com/skeeter/idm3_episode.cfm?episode=SkeeterIDM2a&?session_id=070B0202000F02080C010401040505

There IS vigirn birth on this planet! It mostly happens in the insect kingdom and in several "lower" vertebrates like amphibians. However, parthenogenesis (that's what it's called) has recently been shown in Burmese Pythons (article: http://www.albinoburmese.com/research.html) as well - which is a major jump up in taxonomy! Now, if Jesus was a product of parthenogenesis there's a slight problem with him being a male, every parthenogenic offspring is a genetic female. However, this doesn't rule out the possibility of him be a parthenogenic baby - he could have been a hermi! Yes, it's technically possible to be a male with female genetics (IE... no Y chromosome) - it's called XX Male Syndrome (article: http://www.priory.com/med/xx.htm), does anyone know for sure if Jesus had soft and small atrophic testicles? Maybe that was the case and those old guys are telling the truth about the virgin birth. We'll have to ask Mary of Magdeline? he he...

did you sign a model release form? just joking... hey when are we going to find out the guilty party?!

I'm not going to give any advice because I'm a total newbie, but I will tell you my experience of landing with one toggle and one riser, vs just rear risers. I've been flying my dagger from planes to practice all the possible scenarios... this is what I've found from these two: With both of my toggles released, rear riser flight/landing was symmetrically simple but pitch sensitive and sort of hard to find the sweet spot of the ~"flare"~... I landed uneventfully using just rear risers and did get a pretty nice stall. However, the thing I found most diffucult here was sinking it in steeply for accuracy. Granted I flew it on rear risers from 2000', but I found my arms getting really tired as I sunk it in the last 50' - making the "flare" a little tougher. Flying with one toggle stowed and one rear riser took lots of energy too - but it was easier for me than both RR's and as long as I paid attn. to my heading at all times, the flare wasn't too bad either, it seemed I got more of a glide effect. I liked flying/landing with one toggle and one RR best - if you can, pick your stronger arm for the riser if you'll be doing it for more than 1000' (ha!) - This config seemed the best bet because I got a much nicer scooping flare, I felt like the canopy retained more of its accuracy characteristics and the range of the sweet spot on the flare was more forgiving. It was a little asymmetrically strange at first, but if I just focused on my heading and how my landing "pictures" should look, my arms just figured it out on their own. I know some manufacturers reccommend tossing the second toggle, but I think I'll be keeping mine. It all depends on what you feel most comfortable doing - do it and do it fast so you can avoid the metal implants. It doesn't seem like it takes too long to unstow a toggle if that's what you want to do. And I'm sure I wouldn't get tired from 300' with the help of sum adrenal gland secretions. I practice at the DZ so that I'm comfortable with doing it later in BASE - also it helped my confidence to do it over the peas where I'm used to landing instead of some crazy talus slope or rocky shoreline. I'm not sure there is a "best thing to do" - it changes for every jump and jumper... like you said - just land the bitch. What type of toggles do you have, pin, tab, snap? Just curious. CP

I thought about him being dragged across the ground long enough to have to get med attn... didn't know if the cordura/webbing etc was taking as much punishment as the skin? Don't really even know if it was the skin? Just thought it wouldn't be something I'd like to do with my $1800 toys. I'd be impressed if the equipment is unscathed. Maybe even have more confidence in it. cp

he, he... funny, I heard that too. Anyone hear if the rig/canopy was damaged?

here here, major network sports stations suck. it all seems the same to me - sensationalize the football, screw the olympic atheletes etc... i'm sorta drunk - i shouldn't be posting. oh, well - just wanted you to know you're not alone Casch cp

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that everyone who likes all cats is a lady... I just know it's a common thing that happens - an older lady dies and there's a myriad of cats found in her tiny apartment, so she must've really loved cats! I used "cat lady" as a substitute for someone who loves cats so much that they are at least somewhat like those ladies. It just doesn't sound as euphonious to say cat gentleman. Apologies to all you male cat lovers! CP

Okay, so what's the real story here? Where do cats really stand in the DZ public? Will square 1's add campaign work if we all believed they'd kill real kittens?

Just wondering what most people are doing and why they choose what they do. I think the argument I'd make for leaving it on is that I don't have to worry about making a rigging mistake. However: there's still sum rigging (the toggles) regardless of the choice, that extra stuff in the tray seems messy, and the rigging isn't too difficult to double and triple check if you do take off. Maybe also taking into consideration if I'm making lots of no slider jumps in a row or switching between objects frequently. What are all the experienced people's thoughts here?

http://www.despair.com/idiocy.html http://www.despair.com/demotivators/insanity.html Ever seen these? They're quite funny - I've always hated looking at those posters in the dentist's office.

How many Geronimo posters are on here? That's pretty crazy volume of time! Do you all have jobs or what? Does anyone know why people yell Geronimo before jumping? I'm guessing it has military origins...?

Calico Jack Rackham It seems there's a lot of us rackums... what does that suggest? I know it seems I'm somewhat prone to groine injuries... cp

how do you play that? I've never heard of that before...

pretty sure he cuts away... you're not the only one thinking that. cp

my opinion is: don't get in the habit of waiting four seconds. chop bag locks fast! In this case, (you were really high?), it ended up opening - they usually don't. what kind of lines, pilot chute, canopy, stows/bands, how many wraps etc.. all enter into the equation. what's a papper pull? did you pack the main? cheers, cp

it depends on your fall rate of course... in my experience it takes a bit of fine tuning and practice. i recommend finding someone who has one that works, jump with it a bunch to dial everything in, and then weigh it and copy the weight. if you're just starting and can't find anyone with one that works, PM me and I'll tell you what worked for mine. Good luck, cp

Actually, he has just that! I was around while he was recently skydiving. He found himself a very cool BASE jumping AFF jump master and it seems there's some BASE intentions deep in his heart. Cool dude, very very laid back and relaxed easy attitude. You'd never know he was a famous climber. Most are so cocky and self righteous. CP