mr2mk1g

Us too!

Jeez. Your grasp of history is appalling. Oh, and Gratis is Latin, nothing to do with Mexico save as for the fact that it has entered modern Spanish (along with many other languages) from the same routs as it entered English. Read up on the Byzantine Empire for a start. From there you can come forward to the British Mandate and beyond or backwards through the Caliphates, the various iterations of the Roman Empire and back even to the Greeks, Persians, Mongols (yes, even the Mongols) and Egyptians, right back well over three thousand years ago to when Israelis were first knocking about the region. The area of modern Israel and much beyond has been the 'home of the Jews' for millennia. Literally millennia – the Kingdom of Israel was founded, in Jerusalem, around 3,000 years ago and was going strong for centuries. After they got run out of dodge around 500 years before a certain self proclaimed 'King of the Jews' got born in a little place (in modern Israel) called Bethlehem, virtually everyone in the classical world has since made it their business to kick the living shit out of them for the past 2,500 years. Throughout the last 3,000 years, Jews have been living in the region and for a good portion of that time existed there as a Jewis state in their own right often with various iterations of the name Israel. Through the majority of the time however, they have been living under the thumb of some external aggressor. When found in the rest of the world, they formed an excluded, brutalized or illegal group against whom various pogroms and massacres have been perpetrated throughout history, not least those in the last century. No bloody wonder they went 'home'. Would you rather the state didn't exist? Once you've unpicked 3,000 years of histroy, where do you want them to go? Are we looking at setting up shower blocks again?

Either's fine. I think many would probably consider the Galaxy's a touch on the nicer side but it's usually a touch on the more expensive side. If the price were about even I'd probably buy the Galaxy. I got the FT50 because I bought it as part of a graduation deal package they had going way back when and it's done me fine.

Wow. Sticking a gun in the face of some guy who just happened to be there because he'd got a camera phone out?! Cops involved with that need the book thrown at them.

If something doesn't change, the place is going to look a lot like Russia in the 90's.

So, long after qualifying as a skydiving instructor and years after I started teaching both internal and external seminars at work for clients and employees alike, I'm now going on an "advanced presentation skills course" for work. Oh well, always up to learn something new. Part of the brief is that I deliver two seminars during the course of the day. One is on a work topic and I can use powerpoint (so I'll just do one of my lectures I've delivered hundreds of times over the past few years) and the other one has to "take no longer than 7 minutes and be on the subject of your hobby or an interest you have. You may use a visual aid if you wish but it must NOT be a PowerPoint presentation". So... any ideas? I can't just teach an element of a first jump course as they're all either physical or on powerpoint (we'll all be in suits in an office meeting room so I'm not getting people jumping round counting 1-1000, 2-1000 etc, funny as that would be). Likewise I'm not rolling round on the ground sweating my arse off showing them how to pack a parachute.

Aw man, does this mean we're going to have to stop saying we jump squares instead of rounds?

Employer say's they have a policy Employee say's they've never seen one. Hmm.... now where have I seen that before? Oh, that's right, in just about every single employer's comp case that's ever crossed my desk. Employee always swears blind there's no health and safety policy right up until their employer produces a copy from their files, signed by the very same employee. Maybe they don't remember. I bet most never read the thing before signing anyway. Some, surely just want to pad out their claim for damages. Oh yeah... this guy is suing his former employer... Maybe there is no policy - if there is, Walgreen's is going to be able to put their hands on a document demonstrating it. I don't find it at all surprising that the former employee now claims not to know about it. On the flip side, I wouldn't be that surprised either if the large chain store is feeding nonsense to the media to cover their arse. I do find it pretty funny (though no less unsurprising) that we're trying to argue here whether the company had a freaking gun policy or not. Face it, you're not going to solve that conundrum.

Just how we like it. I think it's Stephen Fry who describes Brits as the only people who would introduce their best mate to someone as "And this is my mate Dave, he's a complete cunt". You're not really mates with someone in Britain unless they're happy to slag you off and call you names. And you're not really mates with them unless you take that as being the greatest compliment possible. Seems the same's true of Oz.

Disapointed - totally thought this thread was going to be about boobies.

True, but to a nut-job parent they're not throwing out a perfectly good teenager but a demented God-denying atheist to-be-rejected bastard-child destined for no where but the gates of hell.

Unless they're religious nut-jobs, which even the religious must surely accept occasionally exist.

Point of interest (well, maybe to some anyway) – as a member of Lincolns Inn, I have the prerogative to give the loyal toast seated, in commemoration of a time in the 17th Century when King Charles II, (not the one we cut the head off of, the other one), came to dine at the institution and everyone got so drunk that, King included, no one could stand up and he therefore granted members the right to give the toast seated. I think I'm right in saying that 200 years later the Navy got the same right when William IV got sick standing on board ship. (I joined Lincolns over Grays, Inner Temple or Middle Temple on the advice that they had the best wine cellar and that their port was therefore the best to be had). Always important to have your priorities right.

Who the hell eats eel pie these days though Chris - you'll be having them believe we all talk like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins next. And the only place you'll find a deep fried mars bar is in some scabby back-street chip shop in Glasgow, (hyperbole perhaps, but it's not far from the truth). I still don't get the problem with black pudding. Sounds gross, sure, but it's lovelly as part of a Full English Breakfast. I do kinda take the point about British food. We might now, as a nation, cook a great deal of very fine food, but after a few good dishes like roast beef etc... I do kinda struggle a bit to think of dishes actually invented or considered quintessentially British. How often do we go out for "a British"? We might go out for Thai, Chinese, Indian, Italian, French etc... but British? Same could be said about American food of course – no one ever goes out for "an American", unless you're referring to some gopping fast food, and let's face it, that’s never going to win any awards is it. Just goes to show what else our two nations share I guess.

that and the sandwich is pretty much it. It's not Eastern European bad, but history is not going to remember the Brits for their contributions to food. Really, so what has America got that is any better at all? a hell of a lot. That you don't know any better is another sign that you're British. We could say the same. The whole Brit food myth is due to GIs coming over during WWII when there was rationing and everything was boiled. Things have moved on a long way since then. As is the old teeth joke - dentistry has moved on a lot in 70 years. See ->

a) No, not really. It's secured inside its own pouch. Even once extracted, it's a hook knife, not an open blade (see link below). You couldn't really cut yourself with it if you tried... maybe if you stuck the hook up your nose or something you could, (which I've heard of - probably as an urban legend) but the chances of anything going wrong are slim to none. As with any item of additional equipment there are slim entanglement risks but jumpers should seek to minimise those with proper placement and if you find yourself in an orientation which could cause an entanglement with a hook knife, you have bigger issues and could find virtually any part of your gear becoming entangled. b) Carry two - in different locations (have one say, high and right and one low and left) in case entangled or otherwise incapacitated. Design is also important - some have little finger holes which can be difficult to use in a stressful situation. Why not spend $5 more on a knife with a nice big handhold that you're less likely to drop. Those more likely to need the use of a hook knife often go for a larger design altogether with a proper handle. The majority just carry a small one as the likelihood of actually needing one is so small that the arse ache of having to carry a larger one ought weighs the perceived benefits. http://www.square1.com/manufacturers/square1/hookknives/4inchslottedA.jpg

Sure, as long as you are using a Cricket bat or another item far less certain to save your butt from an attacker

To answer the question asked - when is a hook knife required - depends where you are in the world. In the UK, for example, it is mandatory for every qualified skydiver to carry a hook knife on every skydive. In the US, there is no such rule, though many people still cary one for the same reasons that the UK make it mandatory. I see you're in Oz - over there, I'm not sure off the top of my head what the rule is. For reasons why you may be required to carry a knife, see above.

you don't have the right to defend yourself in your own homes from an attacker. Ugh, this again. Yes, we do. Moreover, there's no duty to retreat as some American States require - a lethal pre-emptive strike against an unarmed intruder can be perfectly legal here. But let's not let the thread go off track.

My wife hates them, I quite like them. She has a habit of turning lights on when she goes into a room and off when she leaves so the warm up drives her nuts. Our voltage is quite close to the maximum legal tolerance, this means that incandescent bulbs typically last less than 3 months for us. I replaced the bulbs in the kitchen with the energy savers in Dec 09 and they are still going strong. Don't have a problem with the brightness on mine. Replaced all of my bulbs 18 months ago or so when the shops were all doing deals on them for 5 for £1. Not replaced a single one yet. Used to have them as a kid (80's) as we didn't have national grid for a few years (wind farm and diesel genset). Those bulbs were horrible and I have 'fond' memories of going to the loo in the middle of the night, turning the light on, doing my stuff and going back to bed, turning the light off again... all without the light actually having done more than flash once or twice and make a dull whirring sound. As a result, I watched these new generation of mini-flourescents hard before I bought more than one or two. The ones I have are at about 90% when you first turn them on and them warm up to 100% within, say, 30 seconds (by eye, obviously) but that's perfectly satisfactory by me. If yours don't (skyrad) - try a different make. Electricity dropped significantly as a result. Parent's said theirs went down massively when they switched and they have one of those meter tracker thingies so could actually quantify it easier than just watching the neadle go round. Whole ban pretty much turned out to be a big load of noise over absolutely nothing over here from my point of view.

Relative: "They just really want some answers, and they would just really like to know what exactly happened..." Official: "We shot him in the face. Twice. Next question."

When did we start handing out user names to crack heads?

Editing and deleting on here doesn’t have to be related to any tinfoil hat conspiracy. Libel suits can happen as a result of post on internet message boards. The UK skydiving forums have been caught up with them before. They affect both the poster and the site owners. Editing, aside from just keeping things on track and within the rules, is likely just the site owners being justifiably litigation averse. Start making allegations on here about individual companies and you expose the owners of DZ.com to litigation. Don’t be surprised then if posts start disappearing. I know that sucks from the point of view of getting to the bottom of things and yes it is a safety issue about which we’re talking… but that’s the world we live in.

It's always a good idea to ensure it has a torch (head torch is perhaps best) and something hi-viz in there too. No poing having bandages if you can't see what you're doing or get hit by a passing car.

You basically just described the situation in the UK. It's not a paid position however, though often it's the camera flyer for the last tandem out so effectively 'staff' anyway.