lurch

What is it with purple? Why is everything in skydiving PURPLE? I have no problem with purple, I LIKE purple, but its everywhere! Clothing! Food! Wind blades! Banners! Rigs! Altis! Where is the purple otter! oh hell i surrender Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Go crimp a stinky pickle? Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

I have it on my box. Its got to be one of the most beautiful games I ever played, incredibly well done. Bummer it never took off...my few complaints with it involve the weapons effects and power consumption, (most of the weapons are mostly useless...I stick with the knife the jack in the box bombs and the jacks) character's reaction time, (slow as hell) and somewhat clumsy movement scheme (fall off shit a lot). You'll go crazy as alice trying to win, and the game is looong. A major virtual journey, and none of it is boring. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Look. What the hell is the big deal? So the french didn't back us up on mugging Iraq or even cut their business with iraq on our say-so. Looks to me like an exercise in the active use of freedom. Who gives a fuck? We could have kicked iraq's ass 50 times over with a military force half the size of what we have now, with or without any help from the rest of the world... Look at N.Korea shitting their britches suddenly waving nukes around (" Leave me alone I've got a gun!") They just had it demonstrated to them how easily america could rule the world if it chose to. That wasn't a war...That was a lesson. The french disagreed with the necessity. I think they were wrong. Refusing to join the gangbang does not merit any punishment, let alone the abuse being sprayed everywhere. Get over it! Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Hey... If I'd been more heads-up while climbing out myself I'd have noticed I ought to turn and track...but then again I wouldn't have tracked anyway...my first and only previous hop and pop last year I dumped immediately. This time was from 1000' lower but with a wait till 3 grand...I had NO idea I was going to hang there that long, I was thinking like last time, drop off, count to 5 and pull, but this time wait on the pull till 3 grand....so at 5 I stopped counting and started watching ground and alti. didn't realize that meant a 14-second delay till I read the pro-track...I was amazed how long I hung there at 4000' till the speed built up and the needle started moving. Anyway I DID make it back to the dz at least, and it was worth it seeing that exit...that was COOL. I was out there today, a tandem and an aff wanted up so I figured I'd hitchhike. Didn't work, thick clouds closed it out. Hit up Don's place and inquired...turns out the last 170 in-house is currently in Allison's ride. He offered me a 175 triathlon 7-cell...I almost took him up on it for the experience but my few rides on rental 218 7-cells kinda turned me off on 7's cause of the to me unusually steep descent rate. Felt kinda slushy handlingwise and had a lot less glide than I expected and wanted. Decided to skip it for now...real small baby step and in what feels like the wrong direction. He offered me a 150. This I considered...hell, the jump before that cessna hop was the first time I ever got a clear shot at the peas with no traffic or nearby canopies and I hit em first try standing up....and I'll STILL be barely over 1-1. Tempting....so tempting....Decided to wait and consult more on that. Turned out while looking over the 7-cell he didn't have any 150's left in house anyway....and if it shows up tomorrow, I'm not taking it. Fuck being ballsy. I'll keep my ankles. I'm still packing the 190 till something comes up. Side note: I tried out kenny's dirtbike today out back. (thanks kenny!) I've never ridden a bike before, any bike, and wasn't even sure how the controls are laid out and no clue how to shift it. 15 minutes later I was hauling ass all over the gravel pit eating 8-inch rocks for breakfast and had a hell of a time till it ran out of gas right when I was getting the hang of shifting it fast and keeping it romping...lovely powerband, haulass toy, more than a handful for my first time, didn't even wipeout, (couldn't get really daring...riding no armor no helmet, no bike jumping allowed.)...Hell of a workout, I think I just found a novel way to force myself to quit smoking.... edit: my reserve is a raven II 218. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Hmm. just from those replies so far I get the impression its not the loading then thats biting me on the ass...more like my own inexperience. Ain't even close to ready to go hi-performance yet, we'll see what happens when I hit up the rigger for the 170. Like I said, I'll probably be happy under it for months if the sabre 190 is any indication. That bottomless flare makes landings fun and tasty and I hope the 170 is more of the same. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Ok process of elimination here....forget icarus then, right off the bat I want reliable and trouble-free so scratch icarus, scratch spinetto. As for too conservative.... I'm told by older jumper the sabre plays games with me with the end cells because I'm underloading it. Riding in deep brakes recently it collapsed in a stall and did NOT want to reopen...left front folded under itself, end cells stayed closed, it started trying to hang a corner...didn't spin up but acted like it was trying to. I got somewhat alarmed and had to get aggressive with the risers and brakes pumping it and hanging short hard turns trying to get it to reinflate...it did, but cost me altitude, time, and concentration better spent watching where I'm flying... That "reluctant-to-open" behavior again. Spooky. My old raggedy 210 never gave me this shit and I do NOT like it. Its one thing to have a canopy you always have to waste time fucking with on deploy....its another to have one that might pull that shit on you a bit lower down. I'm imagining the results of hitting turbulence/medium bumpy ride below 1000 feet while cornering or braking hard. not good. I'm basically just shooting for a 1-to-1 load give or take a bit since the downside of underloading seems to bite me on the ass so frequently i.e. stopped cold/blown backwards by wind everyone else can fly into, and this end cell issue... No matter what, next canopy I fly will be another baby step....a 170. Probably keep me happy for months. I'll STILL be less than 1 wingload under that but hopefully I won't blow away quite so easy and hopefully it won't want to play games like the sabre 190. At first I thought I'd be happy with and settle on a 170 for a year or so but after the 190 I'm not so sure...which is why I'm starting to look into the 150 range. I have NO intention of going off and trying to fly say a 125 or something....I want bigger, but not too big. My priority is keeping that delicious bottomless flare action...THAT part feels LOADS safer to fly than the old 210...(I've stood up every single landing under this thing (190) under all conditions I've landed it without so much as jarring an ankle including downwind, crosswind)....but in something a little less tricky than this sabre. LOVE the landings...hate the deployments. Suggestions? Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Hmmm. I was looking for info on canopies and specifically cobalts because I'm starting to see them mentioned a bit around here, and because I see YOU flying one...although I was thinking used in the 140-150-160 range. why am I not surprised to find you here. Looking for more info on various canopy flight/spin/flare characteristics. This 190 is ok but landing long off the cessna sunday annoyed me. I had to work it hard to hit the dz at all....and the double sabre lines and inconsistent openings annoy the hell out of me. Thing I love about the 190 is the apparently almost unlimited flare capacity...seems no matter how deep I dig it always has a little more lift to give. Will I find anything else higher loaded zero-p to be the same or is that just a characteristic of an underloaded zero-p? I want the next canopy to have that same awesome flare...it has already repeatedly come in handy downwind gustwind and crosswind where under my olde f-111 pd210 I would have tumbled. I'm totally sick of being way underloaded and having to discipline the sabre to open its end cells. Compared to the 210 the sabre is downright reluctant to open fully. I get the impression a .84 loading at 110 jumps is maybe a bit TOO conservative. I think I want to avoid a stiletto under basic principles...anything so known for getting chopped for diving twists it rates the nick "spinetto" tells me all I need to know. I don't need the worry. I had enough of line twists on that nasty trimless rascal 232 last year, thanks. ok ok....whats a new cobalt go for anyway? I should know better than to solicit a known biased opinion.... ...And why was I told recently by another dz resident that icarus canopies are black death? Shay seemed rather happy with HIS as I recall.... Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

I need a trophy to give to you, this is the most #$%*& poll ever Agreed. Completely. And if you're relying on pulling out as a contraceptive method you are begging to be an unexpected parent. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Brave New world (Aldous Huxley) Farenheight 451 (RayBradbury) Animal Farm (George Orwell) Atlas Shrugged (&) The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand) All have helped form my ideas on the subject of free will and how one should treat his (or her) fellow man. I'm not "religious" but I do feel I'm "spiritual Ah another Ayn Rand fan eh? So few read it, so fewer understand. I learned damn near everything I know about pride, work ethic, and brutal self-honesty from that lady's writings and Atlas Shrugged is practically my bible....I'm a selfish bastard and I like it that way...if I do a friend a favor it isn't due to fake altruism its because I'LL feel better having done it. Also check out her shorter story "anthem". Maybe I ought to start a thread dedicated to discussing objectivism. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Wow I must admit I hadn't expected the thread to take off like this. The purpose of the poll was to get an idea of prevailing attitudes. Ever notice how every year there's this even bigger list of things you're NOT allowed to do/own anymore? By now that list is so long you need years of schooling to be sure you're behaving according to the law. When will YOU be criminalized? I wondered how many would take personal responsibility for their own rights and safety in defiance of the law if and when the law makes gun owner synonymous with criminal. We don't yet have a police state...right now there's a healthy amount of fighting and squabbling over every loss of liberty caused by a new outlawing...but nevertheless every year that list of losses gets bigger and this is not healthy for a supposedly free country. Another one that's most definitely on the menu for outlawing is tobacco. It won't happen for a good long time yet but judging by the way its going now, it WILL happen when enough people quit to force a tobacco ban on the rest. Again, when will YOU be criminalized? Judging by the response so far I'd say despite the prep groundwork being done by antigun people, a total gun ban can't be done here (usa) without radically altering the culture itself-too many will refuse to be disarmed without a fight. This is good...I don't care about automatic weapons, don't own one, don't particularly want to and don't really understand the attraction...but I'm utterly against banning them, mostly because the arguments used to ban them make no sense and bear no resemblance to the reality they propose to enforce. Just because he has to pull the trigger once for each round doesn't make me any less shot! Its the user, not the tool you dolt! If there's a sudden rash of clawhammer murders are you going to outlaw claw hammers? They'll just start using ballpeen hammers! Seeing that kind of freakily disconnected flawed logic signed into law and enforced on me (if i fall under its concern) or others by people who supposedly are wise enough to make decisions affecting my life and safety scares me. I don't like the idea that the most powerful nation in all history is being run by people with thought processes that are THAT flawed. Gives the impression of the lights are on on the bridge but there's nobody behind the wheel. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Uh, between 15 and 10 years ago I sometimes did lawn work. the electrics at the time were small and badly underpowered. The only thing they could cut reliably was their own extension cord you had to drag around everywhere and try to keep out of your way. Aren't there battery powered electrics by now? Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

guns? what a hell explain 2 me for what a hell r good? ...If I must..... A gun is a device which fires a projectile at high speed usually by confined combustion pressure. It is good for hunting for food shooting for pleasure/target practice and killing/maiming/disabling other humans. This last use can be very beneficial to you and your family when the other human in question is whacked on crack, not responding to diplomatic overtures and trying ferociously to hurt/kill/maim you and your family because you have a dvd player he needs to take from you and sell to support his crack habit. ...any questions? Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

I love it when some individual tries to dictate reality by stating it like it was a foregone conclusion. Won't she be surprised when you just keep jumping despite her statement that you will of course stop jumping now. My own paternal Grandmother is one of the most awesome people I know and supports me 100%. I bring videos over to family gatherings and my elders think its wonderful. Thank you Memere and Pepere, your support and encouragement are invaluable..... Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Ok lets see where the gun fans REALLY stand. This should be nice and controversial. With all the noise about gun control I figure someday they WILL try it...ban everything and run around collecting all guns. Make it nice and simple. They keep records of every gun sold so they already know what you have and will come for you. If you're not police or military and you refuse to surrender your guns or are caught with one, go to prison. period. Do you cooperate or not? Where do you draw the line and say "this far, no further"? This ought to be good. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

This has got to be the funniest situation I've ever seen anyone stuck in. Pardon me while I derive rich amusement from your suffering. . Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Imagine seeing THIS coming for you on the highway. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

It's name: The Beast. ID: '83 AMC Eagle SX4. Four wheel drive. Miles on odometer: 147,678...6 years ago when it finally broke. Estimated actual mileage: approximately 250,000+. Options: homemade/reese combo trailer hitch: The Blair Hitch Project. 96 amp wagoneer alternator holley 350 2bbl. 4 years since new 258 I-6 engine installed-brand new, not rebuilt....along with racing prepped autotranny and oversize radiator. It will not overheat. Even pulling a 2-ton trailer up a steep hill at 4200 rpm in first gear. In summer. Jacobs ignition, dual modules for backup homebrew suspension lift, rancho shocks, stacked double spring packs, shackle lift, ex-large front springs, ball joint spacers 28 inch bfg mud tires on stock steel rims-indestructible. wagoneer rear brake drums wagoneer/eagle hacked transfer case with visegrips for the second gearshift, ford escort shifter knob for the third 480 watts of lights in the stock holes, another 440 watts worth of cheap driving lights (depending on how many are currently smashed off) it used to have another 450 watts worth of aviation landing lights on the roof rack till the whole shebang got took off the car at 92 mph by a low flying wild turkey on interstate 50 not too far from Sacramento about 3 years ago. Approximately 200 lbs of steel plate/tube armor, front, rear, and underneath. 1400 cca bulldozer battery in back, optima marine up front. plastic rear window no heat almost no real rust I've owned and loved this warrior ride for almost eight years now. Paid 250$ for it as scrap metal.This car will live forever. It still goes. Fast. It was beaten to death and totally factory stock when I bought it-fried engine tranny radiator axle gears bearings oil leaks..... Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Hmmm. Well the spam thing was a careful test. The unsecured test email address I issued to NOBODY and I didn't post it anywhere. I simply created the email address, sent myself a couple to make sure it worked, then sat back to see who got ahold of it, to try to figure out how. It started accumulating spam within days. Then I repeated the test, but this time locking down everything here in between page loads. The secured test email is still spamfree today....to me that's pretty solid proof my personal info has a way of being harvested right out of my own box since the only places that address even existed was in MS's actual servers and my own box. Being superanal about cutting the line when not in use for the second test address stopped all spam cold. If I have to I'll add a hardware killswitch, big red button next to my keyboard to retain manual control of the line...I'm getting sick of having to do it with the mouse through zonealarm's window. another question: is there any way for anything to get past zonealarm without me knowing about it or ZA detecting and stopping it? I know almost nothing about port configurations proxies and IP and netbios and all the more arcane arts of the IT guy and have to take it on faith results and reputation that zonealarm is in fact doing a good job watchdogging ALL possible ways in or out. I'm pretty sure I have ZA configured right but don't know enough about what I'm doing to be sure. Can you recommend a good freeware downloadable program that'll actually show me what's going in or out? ZA just tells me "something" is being accepted or sent, by what program and to what IP, but not what it is. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Ok got a question here... I'm a bit of a software/hardware hack, not the "hacker" style hack that invades databases, (wouldn't know how, don't see the point...) I'm just fairly good at slapping my hardware/software into submission and making it do what -I- want it to instead of letting it have its way with my computer and execute whatever harvest-and-report-to-consumer-habits-database behavior microsoft or kazaa want it to do. I'm looking for somebody that knows a hell of a lot more about browsers and internet than I do. Here's my problem. What is up with IE? I use IE 5.0, unlike a lot of people I think it does everything I want very well...I have no problem with most of MS's stuff, but I have had it with the takes-over-your-computer crap. I use zonealarm and a task manager which have revealed, among other things, that: windows media player is programmed to wait till you leave your box unattended for a few hours, then it fires itself up and tries to get at your internet connection and call home. If you block it, after awhile, the windows media player SETUP.exe wakes up and tries the same damn thing. If you block that too, after awhile RUNDLL.exe suddenly becomes active, grants itself the ability to access the internet and tries to call home too, totally invisibly unless you have a task manager watching....something it never did before. I think IE is also set to do this shit...if I start surfing with IE, and am NOT doing anything in particular, My hard drive starts grinding away doing something unauthorized. If I hit the panic button on zonealarm and cut the line, it mysteriously stops. Resume the surfing and after awhile it starts with the accessing again. I'm aware of all the supersecret hidden files MS keeps on your computer logging everything you ever searched for/visited/typed into your computer or sent as email, including all your sensitive stuff, personal info, name, address, etc, (even DOS won't show them with a DIR command, you have to know where they are...I found out where to look, looked, sure enough, there it all was....) and the only explanation I can think of is IE is set to send all those files home to Bill every time you give it a chance to get at the net. Bill wants to know what you're using your computer for. I have NO idea what MS wants to keep/harvest these files for, but its creepy watching your box wake up when it thinks its unobserved and try to call home on someone else's orders. I'm not a conspiracy theory type, but if this crap WASN'T suspicious, why does MS go to so much trouble to hide it and make sure you can't do anything about it or tell what its doing? I know it isn't some kind of update crap because it does that openly with a request dialog box..."an update exists. do you want to update?" I know it isn't a trojan horse or virus...My computer hygiene is obsessive, my box cleaned regularly of spyware and other junk, old installs and third party self-installing crap that gets in and tries to reset your homepage to the site of THEIR choice and put shortcuts and banners to their products all over your desktop...NO I DON'T WANT A FUCKING X-10 CAMERA AND I WILL NOT INVOLUNTARILY PARTICIPATE IN YOUR CONSUMER HERD BEHAVIOR SURVEY SO YOU CAN SELL MY PREFERENCES TO SOME MARKETING ASSHOLE TO BURY ME IN SPAM!!!! Incidentally I've found a solid connection between the two. Before I got vigilant about keeping my net connection locked down when not actually loading a page, my old hotmail address was slowly getting buried in spam, more every day till leaving it unattended for 24 hours meant 200 spams accumulated and locked out all real email. So. I built a fresh build of '98 on a blank hard drive and made a new hotmail I use now, and I've been slapping the panic button every time I stop surfing for a minute and I keep all programs on a tight leash. The result: after several months on this new address, the email is still 100% spamless. Not a single one. The last test account I tried WITHOUT vigilant lockdown was hopelessly spam contaminated within 3 weeks. If I understand correctly, most spam isn't from leaving your email address lying about in public forums, they're digitally invading and getting your email address out of your own box and selling it to each other. The question is, is there any way to purify/sterilize/castrate/tame IE so it serves ME instead of gates? What do I NOT understand about whats going on here? Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Thanks...I'm writing a book and trying to refine my writing style to something worth actually reading....someday I hope to actually publish the damn thing. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

You missed ME. The semihomicidal psychotic behind the wheel of something so beat up and so fast you can't even tell what color it used to be. Sarcastic exaggerated satirical rant follows: I cannot stand those who are too afraid to even drive the speed limit. If you're 96.5 years old, your reflexes and response time can be measured in minutes, you've forgotten what a turn signal is, you can't see over your own steering wheel and you're too timid to drive over 45 mph on the interstate? Get your folded ass the FUCK off my highway and go play some bingo!!! Same goes for glamour girl chitchatting on a cellphone while painting her face. Put the mascara down, lady you're an oblivious missile and if you keep cutting me off I'll make you a famous fashion victim! The world will not end if you show up for work without makeup! You have mirrors at home! Use em! My favorite situation on the highway: when you have some speed demon with some sense who does a steady 85-95 mph in the fast lane, smoothly, and has a line of cars behind him including me so long the cops are rendered helpless to stop us all...civil disobedience at its finest. The 8 or 10-lane highway was designed with so much overengineering in most places we could all do a steady 120 without pushing the performance or safety envelope of your average hyundai. In my area the cops just started a heavy enforcement effort on the main artery for this state in the most heavily used sections. Every time I drive by they're preying on some poor soul who hasn't yet grasped that suddenly 85 mph will get you nailed to a wall here. Congratulations boys, you just jacked up everyone's commute time by 20 minutes and created the most massive safety hazard by doing this. Now we have high speed demon types slamming on their brakes trying to avoid being the next victim and the highway section in question has gone from high speed smoothness to erratic and slow unpredictability because the regular commuters are afraid they're next. Try the enforcement method I observed in california. When they're all going 99 mph, leave them alone! When they're all going 85 and some yahoo goes by at 115, just bag HIM! And try bagging a few of the 51 mph in the fast lane people. The most dangerous thing I see on the highway by far is the obstinate old guy enjoying the fact that he's blocking the highway and forcing all those young whippersnappers behind him to drive at what "he" thinks is the safe and proper speed. Usually when I'm closing on one of them I nail him with all 480 watts worth of aux lighting on my ride long before I reach him and maintain a scary closing speed. Get the FUCK out of my way or BE RAMMED! You will drive at the same speed as everyone else or you will get off the road. My ancient ugly ride has heavy intimidating looking impact armor up front and enough lighting to peel paint off a wall at 200 yards. Usually when they see the glare closing fast in their rearview they get one look at that scary frontend coming for them and vacate my lane in a hurry. Very pleasing effect I might add. If they do not, I settle right down a safe distance behind them, dim the lights and wait patiently for them to get the idea or an opportunity to get around them. This tactic usually results in a prompt lane change by my victim. End satirical rant -Doing my best to be the most dangerous thing on the highway since 1996. Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

They didn't say. I heard this awhile ago....just some older guy telling me we had a newbie land in a wicked tight area between the houses once totally unharmed. I've landed in the oval horse track across the river twice in the last year and once was greeted from 200 yards away by a shrieking insane individual threatening me with all kinds of shit if I even spoke to her. " you!! get out!!! thats the way out!!! get out!!! no!!! do not even open your mouth or im calling the cops!!! no!!! do NOT open your mouth!!! shut up!!! get out!!!!get out!!! get out!!!! I'm having you arrested!!! get out!!! shut up!!" There was more like that but you get the picture. when met with unreasonable hostility I see only one way to respond: polite defiance. Hiking towards the road canopy over shoulder I stopped and turned to the shrieker, (which amped her volume 2x...spit-flying fury, wonderful...) tipped my helmet to her and called out "thank you! have a nice day!" Turned my back slow and deliberate and sauntered out of sight with style...Soon as I was around the corner I broke into a run and got the hell out of there fast before she produces a shotgun. A car was waiting for me so I quoted Neo: "Mr. Wizard! Get me the hell out of here!" Second time I landed there I managed a stealth airdrop and escaped unnoticed. Anyone ever notice how difficult it is to be stealthy when you've just arrived by parachute? By the way there aren't any horses at the horse track for me to spook with my parachute so I don't understand the reaction. Most people act like paramedics or treat you like a celebrity when you land in their yard: "you ok? wow that was cool. need a ride? want a beer? how do you DO that?" Its gonna be cooking this weekend if the weather comes through. If you come out to pepperell I'm the only one there with a 20 year old car. I'm only 15 minutes out, Nashua area, so I'm there a lot. Come on out, theyre having some kind of 4-way scrambles going on saturday so there'll be lots of funnels to laugh at.

I just went and bought the album. Although I'm not disappointed, what the hell I feel like I've been bait-and-switched. A lot of what I downloaded rocked. The tunes with matching names off the album are different. "everybody's fool" off download rocked, same song off the cd was slicked down and basically ruined by the music execs. WTF? Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

Hey. I'm a regular at pepperell and I gotta tell you. that landing of yours between 2 houses? You're still remembered for pulling that off, dude, I've heard the tale from other jumpers, the elders were amazed you didn't turn into wallpaper. I'm told they found you still in the area, all nonchalant about it not realizing what you'd just done was worthy of a jumper with 200 times your experience....come on back anytime, it's just getting started here. We got new engines in the otter, and plenty of room.... Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.