tbrown

No, they're not a novelty. One of the things that "gets" me is how many people simply don't get what marriage is about. Not just "kids today", but my own generation, and even some of our parents. I know more people who are simply terrified of getting married. They'll live together for years and go through all kinds of legal gymnastics just to buy a house together. And forget kids, they interfere with playtime. Marriage is part of growing up, so is having kids. If you don't do either, you're missing out on a huge chunk of what life's about. It's not always easy, some years are just plain hard, even bad. But if you can keep your eye on the long term, it's really worth it. The wife and I will be married 25 years this April. I've made a lot of bad mistakes in my life, but marrying her was not one of them. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Obviously two idiots ike that should be blackballed from every dropzone that can be warned. We used to say we'd "put their names on the teletype (archaic device once used for transmitting the news)" when real idiots were grounded. NEVERTHELESS, it still beats the expense of having to plow over two craters on the property, as well as having to replace two rigs that would've been hopelessly torn to bits by shattered bones and had a blood & guts smell that would never come out. "AAD's: They're not just for morons anymore" ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

My wife and daughters gave me a Pro Dytter for my last birthday. I'd been meaning to get one for a long time, but hadn't got around to it, so they did that for me (especially after having had an unintentional low pull last year). I'm "old School" and had never used an audible before, but now I'm wondering how I ever got along without one. I stick the thing inside one of the ear pads in my Mindwarp helmet, which has a pocket for audibles. I wear earplugs anyway when I jump and I find that I can hear the beep tones just fine, without being too loud or shrill. Haven't busted my hard deck yet, so I've only heard that alarm on the ground when I want to check the unit. Being able to change the breakoff setting in the plane is really convenient and easy to do. Now I can concentrate on the dive, instead of repeatedly looking at my dial alti (which I still use) near the end of the freefall.

Disclaimer: I am not a rigger. Your Cypres didn't up & die on you in the middle of the night. The reason L&B say they put a 12 yr lifetime on it is that none of the component manufacturers will warranty the parts beyond 12 years. So their decision is that if the parts can't be warrantied, they don't want the assembly used. You have a +/- 3 month tolerance on your service dates, your battery replacement dates, and exp date. Your rigger has to maintain your AAD within the manufacturer's instructions. When your reserve comes due next month, your rigger will tell you that he or she cannot repack your reserve with THIS Cypres unit. He'll probably offer to install a new one (maybe even offer to sell you one), OR offer to repack your reserve without the Cypres. Replacing your Cypres or going without an AAD will be your decision. (Hint: Start thinking about a replacement, whether it's new or used, Cypres or Vigil, just get one and get it over with.) But for now, go ahead and use the thing. If it powers up and the numbers count down correctly all the way to "0", it's still working. Leaving it turned off is just ridiculous. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Would be the easiest way to reduce weight on a jump plane. The difference looks like 375 lbs, so I'm thinking less two "average" size jumpers might do it ? 'Til they get a new bag of screws to hold the wings on anyway.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Between now and your first canopy course, buy a copy of Brian Germain's "The Parachute and Its Pilot". This is a most excellent book that begins with pretty much the assumption that the reader knows nothing about canopies or flying them and builds on the basics. Eventually someday you might be interested in the second half of the book, if & when you think you'd like to try swooping. But the first half has a really good chapter on how to set up apporaches in different wind conditions; crosswind, downind, against the wind, long and difficult spots, etc. There's also great stuff about avoiding canopy collapse, how to NOT spin up an open canopy, and long standard straight in approaches. It's packed with information you need to know and when you get to a canopy course, bring the book with you. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Congratulations Eric and Thomas ! Eric, I am so proud of you ! What a fantastic way to start a new year ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Well at least you're not the ignorant one. I sure hope your chiropractor's kids never get tetanus, or polio, or even measles, not to mention hepatitis. All I will say about flu shots is that I've been getting them for the past ten years and not once have I been home with a pounding headache, hurling my guts up, wish I would just die and get it over with flu. If you're tired of being that sick, get the shots. They work. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

When I was 16, I took off on "independent summer vacation" and spent the summer hitchiking around the New England states. Stayed at a lot of hippie communes, which was interestin'. Also learned what real hunger feels like - best lesson of my entire life. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

That's the 16 year old kid who went solo to Iraq, with the idea of writing about it in his school's newspaper. The kid's got that delightful mixture of adventure and stupidity common for his age. All I can say is good for you kid. And....YOU'RE GROUNDED !!!! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

1. 100 jumps (on my budget) 2. Actually get into a wind tunnel (on my budget). 3. Take a canopy course ( " " " ). 4. Don't die (oh wait - that's No. 1). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

There's no struggle unless the parent introduces it that way. Viz: "Little Billy, some men love men and some women love women." vs. "Little Billy, some dirty men do nasty things with other men that they good boys like you will only do with women." You're absolutely right. Problem with the real world is they're going to hear both views anyway. I just don't think little kids need to grapple with sexual issues in general, beyond the curious grappling they do with themselves and their playmates. Kids don't need to be "protected" from talk about sexuality, as much as they need to be protected from what too many adults have to say about it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

No, that's "Bareback Mountin'", or something like that. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Hmm... it's about time for my annual viewing of that movie. I'll have to pay attention for cues about them. Do we ever see a female significant other for either Bert or Ernie? Things that make you go hmmm... Can't remember if we see a SO for either one, but there are references to Bert's wife. He's the taxi driver and when Clarence is showing Harry Bailey what Potterville is like because Harry was never born, Bert gets all pissed off and says his wife took the kids and left him. Ernie's the cop of course, so he's probably married AND banging every hooker in town whether it's Potterville OR Bedford Falls. Your idea that Bert & Ernie are deliberately unnamed gays is most interesting. Without even going into the gay issues, which kids that young really don't need to struggle with, it does put forward the idea that there might be two guy neighbors who live together and they're alright too. Never thought of it that way before, I just thought the "gay agenda" folks were trying to hijack kids' puppets. But this is something to think about.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

You mean rights like those once believed held by Mr. Korematsu? Americans seldom bother to examine the true extent to which their fundamental rights can be circumscribed given relatively minor pretexts. This Administration has been pushing the envelope but the smart money is betting they prevail. Not that I’m claiming W isn’t an “asshole” in your parlance, but I do have reason to believe W is advised by competent counsel. Every time Bush's "competent counsel" gets called in front of a Senate committee, they spend entire days backpedaling and "explaining" their outrageous reasoning. Not sure who Mr. Korematsu is/was, but I'm guessing he might have been interned in a camp like Manzanar during WWII ? Not the proudest thing this country's ever done. Nor was the legal right of white people to own, buy & sell black human beings. Nor was the systematic extermination with lead, whiskey, starvation, and smallpox of Native Americans. The bad shit that's happened is done, but it's no reason we have to go on repeating ourselves, when we can at least take it as a warning of how easy it can be to do the wrong thing. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

From reading both news articles, I don't care if the military tries him or a civilian court tries him. He needs to be tried for terrorism against the United States. The guy was in cahoots with terrorist factions and conspired to set-off a 'dirty bomb'. He's a terrorist and should be treated like one. How much of that kind of crap do we have to put up with. This guy isn't being treated badly. What if, it was the other way around and he conspired against the terrorists and they caught him? He would've been dead by now. More than likely, no hearing, no trial... nothing. So what happens to you, if your neighbor, who is pissed off at you for who knows what, rats you out to the Feds for talking about a dirty bomb - even though you've done nothing of the sort ? Would it make any difference if you were being "treated humanely" (big laugh) after you disappeared ? To say Padilla would disappear into an unmarked grave anywhere else in the world, even admitting it's probably true, misses the point. The point is this is America, we don't do this to our own people. Because if we do it to anyone, we can do it to YOU, or even worse, to ME. And then we're not America anymore, so what's left to defend ? We've got through Civil War and two World Wars, plus a Cold War that came within hours of a nuclear exchange. Our system works. Timothy McVeigh is a perfect example of the system working. I'm NOT saying Padilla is innocent. I really don't know and the truth is the way the government has treated him makes me wonder, because I do NOT trust the government - and nobody should ever trust the government in a free society. Because free societies are ONLY free because they place LIMITS on what the government can do. Otherwise we're like all the rest and there won't be any difference between us and them. That's the way it was in Orwell's 1984 - three powers that were all the same, none of them cared, so long as they could keep the war going without end, nobody winning or losing, just the whole world under iron fisted control. Fuck that, put Padilla on trial or let him go. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Else it could have been the case that in order to prevent possible future attacks by Padilla’s organization the investigators felt compelled to share with Padilla some of our national means we employed to collect intelligence about he and his colleagues and there was legitimate concern on the part of the Administration that Padilla might communicate this information to others in a way which could comprise ongoing collection efforts. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners! Oh bullshit, that's just their excuse. It's paranoid double talk - a specialty this administration has elevated to an artform. And it doesn't change the fact that he's still an American citizen with rights that even assholes like W can't take away. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

From what I read in the article, it's not even PC or liberal. It's just plain dumbfuck corporate marketing. You know, the same assholes who tried fucking with Coca Cola twenty years ago, decided it was time for a "new Coke". They got their asses wiped and had to bring back the real thing in just a few months, only rather than admit they'd had their asses kicked, they called the real stuff "Classic Coke". Disney has gone down the shitter ever since Walt died. It's being run by evil bean counters, who think nothing of vandalizing a piece of great children's literature if they can boost shareholder return by 2.13 cents. I hope it blows up in their faces and the whole company goes down the tubes because Disney SUCKS. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The price of replacing a lost main, though painful to think of, should not be any sort of consideration in an emergency. If you're using a hooked up RSL, the decision's been made for you, unless you have the presence of mind to reach over and pull the disconnect tab. If you're over flat farm country as far as the eye can see, pulling high might blow you into the next county, but you should be alright. And if your dropzone has any kind of a diligent chase and rescue truck/van (I jump at Perris, so we're spoiled rotten by the Tim Farnham brigade), they should be out chasing you and may get there before you do. On the other hand, if you're tucked away in mountain ranges, or the uppers may blow you miles out to sea (does this ever happen in Hawaii ?), it might be a better plan to take it down at least to 5 grand, if you figure the students are opening that high anyway. Like a lot of things in this sport, it calls for JUDGEMENT. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I think something like "Wingload, Schmingload" would look good on his tombstone. Hell, he could even save some dough and go ahead and have them carve "2006" on it for date of death. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I have to check "other" for the manufacturing sector (I'm in Quality Assurance) ? There is still some of this hanging on by the fingernails in America. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Quade and Gravity Girl are really telling it like it is, but you still need to get with an instructor. I might add though, that your Spectre is going to snivel a LOT more than a Navigator. This is normal and it will give you an opening that's like falling slowly into bed (ahhhhh). So don't be alarmed, just remind yourself, "they told me this would happen" and about then the thing should open. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Shades of cold fusion ! Maybe the guy could go on Oprah and talk about his mother. Or maybe on Jerry Springer and have a big Tae Kwon Do fight with other scientists. Bet you anything hhe takes the "short sword" option soon... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I was just reading that Mohammed Daoud, the mastermind of the Munich massacre, is complaining from his rathole in Syria that Spieberg should have consulted HIM about HIS side of the issues. Sure, maybe then we'll understand why it's perfectly understandable to kidnap and slaughter an entire Olympic team ? Never mind that the ancient Greeks suspended whatever wars were going on at the time and guaranteed safe passage to athletes coming and going to the games. The only "consulting" this alledgedly human piece of shit needs is to ask him why the fuck he's still alive, and would he think a 9mm or a .45 would do a better job on his head. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I think that a post that ridicules and makes fun of someone who says they're suicidal should be deleted and I wish you would do it. I am referring to one of our favorite pests at these forums. If he wants to criticize skydiving in So. Cal, or the Conatser family, then fine. They can stand up for themselves. But allowing a post that taunts a person of declared suicidal intetions is unconscionable. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !