skybytch

I used to know that. Nowadays, I'm not so sure. Isn't that what getting edumacated is all about?

Do I know you?

T.S. Eliot wrote the following in "The Cocktail Party." So, with this in mind, can we really know anybody? Discuss...

A Toyota Tacoma. Why? It'll run forever, get reasonable gas mileage and is still big enough that you can sleep off a legendary drunk in the bed.

I can't play craps legally where I live, on or offline. Craps is legal in many parts of the US. This is oppression since craps is the only game I want to play in a casino. It was already said that the ban on online gambling is about controlling the revenues. My argument is with bigway's assertion that the meaning of the word "free" to most Americans is that we should able to do whatever we want with our money. Because if that is indeed what the majority of Americans feel that it means, libertarian political ideology would be much more popular in the US than it is.

I'm not addicted to crack and yet I can't buy it. I'm not addicted to online poker and yet I can't play it. OMFG! I just realized that I'm OPPRESSED!!!!

It is? Then why do we see so many "public service" ads about gambling addiction? Some of our legislators (and thus by extension, voters) don't feel that losing money online is reasonable. If enough of us feel and express to our legislators that losing money online is reasonable and that they won't get our vote next time in return for voting for the law, the law would eventually change. Again, "free" does not mean that we get to do whatever we want, even with our money. It only means that we get to elect the idiots who make the laws for us, and no matter how many times you try to make it apply to other areas you'll still be wrong.

We claim it's a free country and yet we also have laws that say we can't spend our money on crack, heroin, sex (except for parts of Nevada)... There was even a week in my adult life when I wasn't allowed by law to buy alcohol or a gun. "Free" does not equal "do whatever we want." "Free" means that we get to elect the idiots who make the laws for us.

The really stupid ones show up at a local dropzone and try to sell it. More than one has found themselves in jail after doing that, because of course they don't realize how small this sport is (btw, John, don't forget to email Lodi and Byron so they can keep an eye out too). The less stupid realize they have no use for it, that they would be stupid to try to sell it and then they go toss it into a dumpster. Hopefully this one is really fucking stupid.

Hiking, backpacking and slacklining. Skiing maybe once a season. Gonna buy some ice skates next.

That completely sucks. Did you hit all the dumpsters in all the apartment complexes nearby? If you haven't I'd suggest doing that before the trash trucks run this week. May not find your rig but you might find the jumpsuit or instruments. "Lost" signs with a reward posted on campus might be a good idea too... Will be watching craigslist...

Cockatillios. Guaranteed you'll make lotsa friends on the dz real quick if you bring a bottle of (insert your favorite hard liquor brand name), mixers, ice and a bunch of red cups for after the sunset load.

Didn't even manage 20 miles for the week ending today. Three midterms in one week (actually, two days) is my excuse. If only I could walk and read textbooks at the same time. Yeah, I know, you can on a treadmill, but that would require joining a gym and I'm too cheap to do that.

I think it depends on who you work for and where you work. I spent a few years in the skydiving industry and did have one job where I was not allowed on the internet computer at all. I have no idea why they wouldn't let me use it anymore.

Recipe for what? I have two favorite baking recipes. One is for the best peanut butter cookies ever, the other is for the best oatmeal cookies ever. My favorite candy recipe is my grandmother's "See's Fudge." Dunno if it's really from See's candy but its gooooooood. This may change in the future when I try to make her divinity. I don't cook (as opposed to baking) well enough to have a favorite recipe.

I can make room in my closet, y'know.

Since skydiving is an aviation related sport, perhaps a comparison to learning to fly airplanes would help you see the point. Let's say you have a private pilots license but only have 50 hours total time. You may have the skill to safely fly and land an Otter because you're god's gift to piloting, but there are good reasons why you wouldn't be able to get into the left seat of an Otter with only 50 hours of experience flying any airplane. The majority of those good reasons involve the safety of other people. Why is it good that there are limits on what inexperienced airplane pilots can fly but not good that some people want limits on what inexperienced skydivers can fly? If increased speed and complexity of an airplane require a lot of "seat time" to be able to safely handle, doesn't it follow that increased speed and complexity of a canopy would require a lot of "harness time" to be able to safely handle?

You could probably finish the student jumps in two full weekends at the local dz. Ask them if it's possible. By learning where you will likely be doing the majority of your jumping later, you'll already kind of know some people when you get that A license and are looking for people to jump with. Is there some part of the student jumps that you think you won't enjoy?

Talk to us about that again after the first person you know becomes one. You haven't met many jumpers yet. "Dude, don't be such a wuss, the winds are only 20 gusting to 25, c'mon, if you don't go the load won't fly." "Dude, don't be such a wuss, a skydive is the best cure for a hangover, c'mon, it's Bob's special skydive." "Dude, wtf is up with that huge rig, are you a fucking student? You should get something smaller."

Sorry, I guess I was unclear. In the US, there is no requirement that an instructor have any knowledge about skydiving equipment beyond that which is used in that particular discipline, nor is there any, for lack of a better term, "maturity" requirement. Therefore, having a tandem or AFF rating does not automatically mean that a person has any knowledge about what wingloading might be suitable for someone with 30 jumps, nor is it an indication that the person has the best interests of the novice in mind when giving advice. I'd define "best interests of the novice" as what will allow the novice to participate in the sport without hurting themselves or others while they are continuing to learn and make mistakes and (hopefully) getting good at it. Kinda funny. I'd define "best interests of the sport" the same way.

Percentages mean a lot less when it's you or somebody you know. Because the risk of collision is smaller speeding around the sky than it is speeding on the roads does not give you the right to put other jumpers at increased risk. Here's a question that never seems to get answered by those who post here about their higher wingloadings and low experience. What are you going to do when somebody suddenly "appears" in "your" airspace, especially on final? The depth of a person's answer to that question can reveal a lot about just how ready they are for a higher wingloading.

Me too. Great idea!

Actually, speeding in a car is an excellent analogy. Smaller parachutes fly through the air faster than bigger parachutes. The faster your parachute flies, the more ahead of it you have to be mentally to fly it safely. Just like speeding in a car. At 100 mph or under a higher wingloading, one second of inattention can be fatal. And not just to you. You can go rack yourself up all you'd like. But your right to take risks stops at my right to not take certain risks. That additional dimension that you mentioned? Instead of making it safer for those with limited amounts of "harness time" (especially harness time in traffic), as you seem to suggest, this additional dimension adds much more complexity to the situation. The "Big Sky" theory does not work; take a look at last year's fatalities if you need proof. Don't get me wrong. I'm fine with jumping with people who have a higher risk tolerance than I do and therefore fly much smaller, faster canopies than I ever will. But I like to know that they also have real experience flying skydiving canopies - in traffic - if I'm going to be sharing the air and landing area with them. And 50, 100, 200 jumps? Not the kind of real experience I'm talking about... Which is why when I see novice jumpers flying higher wingloadings I'm likely to choose not to be on the airplane with them.

I'd submit that the same goes for getting good footage/photos. Every really good freefall photographer is also a really good photographer on the ground. Would it not also be a good idea to learn to be awesome with a camera on the ground before strapping it onto your head? That is, if you want to get good footage...

craigslist? Dunno about where you are but I see them all the time on the SF Bay and Sacramento lists. Cheap too - usually around $75.