skybytch

Come to Davis and jump with me. We owe you a couch for a night anyway so you wouldn't have to do that drive twice in one day.

Okay, since you're going there anyway, may I recommend some stuff? 1) Go see the Santa Rosa Chapel and the old cemetary - located off Main Street just south of Bridge Street. 2) Go see the "castle" - no, not Hearst Castle (although that's worth a visit as well), but the one that this old guy built out of junk. IIRC it's up on Happy Hill. Stop by the Chamber of Commerce and get directions. 3) Have lunch at the Creekside Cafe. It's off Main Street just north of the Chevron station. Look for the picture of the Cheers cast on the wall; the people with the cast in that pic are my parents. Be sure to tell the waitress that you know their daughter. 4) Have a drink or three at Camozzi's Saloon (on Main Street in downtown - or as I think they call it now "East Village"). It's one of the coolest bars you'll ever drink in. 5) Take a drive out Santa Rosa Creek Road.

I guess this is because I grew up there and remember a time when it was an awesome and relatively undiscovered place instead of the Carmel South that they've turned it into, but that's the LAST place I'd go. My romantic weekend for two would be miles from any road and would require packing everything we needed in with us.

Yup. That's the only reason I'm still hanging around here - the slim hope that someday he'll deliver on that one.

LMAO!! I know what it is, but technology had advanced enough by the time I needed one that I got to use a "scientific calculator" instead.

The statute of limitations hasn't run out so I can't tell that story just yet.

I've just completed composing, revising and editing two research papers for school - 14 pages on illegal immigration for English and 9 pages on the People's Crusade for History. The last time I completed a research paper was in the early 1980's and it was produced with a (manual) typewriter and lots of Liquid Paper. Man, the students of today got it good! The internet makes doing research SO much easier than it used to be. Pick a topic, google it and with a little work find extensive bibliographies. Plug that info into your local libraries website and a big chunk of the work is basically done for you. And writing, revising and editing a long paper on a typewriter compared to writing, revising and editing a paper using a word processor is like the difference between a horse and carriage and a car! Honestly, how did we do it back then? If I'd had to do these papers on a typewriter, I'd be typing until it was time to go to class tommorow and turn them in. In a way, after doing these papers I'm happy I waited all those years to go back to college.

Kill Bill Volume 1 (I like Volume 2 but not as much as I like Volume 1). The Princess Bride is a close second.

I can't decide if I love or hate WalMart. I know they are evil incarnate for all the reasons others have mentioned, but Super WalMart's have the best prices on groceries I've ever seen. As broke as I always am, it's hard to spend the extra $10 for the same stuff at a stand alone grocery store. The one nearest me is a Super WalMart that hasn't been discovered by many of the locals yet. Went there for groceries yesterday at 2 pm; was in and out in 20 minutes flat, didn't even have to wait in line to pay. The only time it seems busy (ie like every other Wally World I've been to) is between 5 and 7 pm weekdays and on the weekends.

You've just described me at his age. If you do make him read this - the following is for him (not that I'd expect him to listen; at his age I wasn't going to listen to anyone): Your GPA matters far more than you think it will. High SAT scores alone might get you into a non-competitive program at a good college but they won't get you competitive financial aid, they won't get you into a competitive program at a good college and they definitely won't get you into a great college. If you think that financial aid isn't important, it is. Because my GPA sucked and I'm not willing to take out student loans yet, I'm going to be working to support myself while carrying 15-18 units per semester. That's going to suck far worse than getting good grades in high school would have sucked. Like every other tough time in my life, this is my own fault. I console myself by remembering that getting through college is going to be worth all of the effort I have to put into it. BTW, I would like to thank every person who pays taxes in the US for the opportunity to go to school that government provided financial aid is giving me and millions of others.

Don't tell my parents I said this, but I shoulda listened to them. When I was in high school they said "Get good grades so you can get into a good college!" I didn't listen, and hey, I got accepted into a good college anyway based on my SAT scores (I didn't go, but I did get accepted). Since I chose the school of hard knocks instead of higher education after high school, I've been pretty sure over the past 23 years that my crappy high school GPA stopped mattering the day they handed me that diploma. I applied for financial aid for the next school year a couple of months ago. I don't want to take on any student loans while I'm attending a community college but there are a variety of grants available - through the school (tuition waiver), through the US government (Pell Grants) and through the state I live in (Cal Grants). Having already received a tuition waiver and a Pell Grant for the current school year and having already been notified that I'm eligible for a tuition waiver for next school year, I've been pretty confident that I'll be eligible for Pell Grants and Cal Grants for next year. Guess what? That high school GPA still matters. Got a letter from the Cal Grant people the other day - I'm not qualified for one because my high school GPA was too low. There is another batch of grants available in early fall but those will also be based on my high school GPA since I won't have completed the 16 units required to "reestablish" my GPA based on courses taken at a community college. Yup. I shoulda listened.

True. Spending time with you is always a gift. As long as you bring my... err I mean YOUR JetBoil with you.

Hey, you didn't get me a birthday present yet.

I have one of those. Be glad to send it to you as soon as I get my JetBoil.

Fuck you. Yes. Many, ranging from day hikes to four or five day treks. And I'm not taking any classes this summer so I'm free from May 22nd until September 5th. So, when will you be here?

My dividend for this year is still unused. It's not enough to buy anything online after adding shipping so I'm going to have to go to the store. And they're having a sale? Oh damn.

Because it's fun to jump with other women. Do we really need a reason other than that?

I'm looking forward to skydiving with Leah soon too! Happy sky b-day, girlfriend!

Here's a novel idea. Instead of doing the same things we've done in the past (increasing border security, "guest worker" programs, amnesty programs), which have worked so very well to reduce the number of Mexicans illegally entering the US, why not work with Mexico to eliminate the economic disparity between the US and Mexico that is a prime reason Mexicans cross the border? No, it's not a quick fix. It would take years of work, billions of dollars in aid to build up Mexico's infrastructure, a committment to reform in the Mexican government and unprecedented cooperation between the two countries. But it's already been proven that there is no quick fix to this problem. If the Mexican worker could find work at home that would allow him/her to support themselves and their families, there would be no reason for them to come to the US other than as tourists. imho, those of us in the United States need to stop thinking of Mexicans as a cheap labor force or as criminals and start thinking of them as human beings who have the same wants, needs and dreams as we do. Throwing up bigger walls won't stop anyone who is determined to find a better life for themselves and their families. As long as people in Mexico see the US as a place where they can find that better life, they will come here - legally or illegally - whereas if they could see that better life as being possible in Mexico, why would they bother to leave?

Lost Prairie for the mountains, Sebastian for the ocean and Star Farms. Where is Star Farms, you ask? Good question. It's on the Central Coast of California, and it's going to be the location of the Second Ever Paso Robles Reunion Boogie coming up this September. You should make plans to be there.

I just love it when my point is proven for me.

Because we still haven't found a man who knows how to do it right.

They may realize your exit weight but they know that wingloading doesn't "scale" across sizes. Smaller canopies have shorter lines and less drag; a 1.0 wingloading on a 135 is going to be a LOT different (faster, more responsive) than a 1.0 wingloading on a 210. Based solely on your exit weight, I'd suggest no smaller than a 150 for your first main. Do a search here for Brian Germain's canopy sizing chart; IIRC he'd recommend a 170. A Pilot is a great first main, as is a Spectre, a Safire2, a Sabre2, a Triathlon... Why not? If you buy your first main used you can put 100-200 jumps on it and sell it for close to what you paid for it. You can easily downsize one main canopy size in whatever container you get (assuming that it was built for the size main you are downsizing from). And, y'never know, you may find that you DON'T want to go faster (so you won't want to downsize) when you have 100-200 jumps...

Happy birthday!!! Hope yours is as fun as mines gonna be.

Nothin' like turning on the 'puter in the morning and finding pictures on a website of yourself drunk off your ass. Oh well, at least this isn't "old women gone wild dot com" Thanks everyone!