tbrown

I'm glad to hear that at least one human being is working for the IRS. My own experience with them has permanently molded my view in a different direction. There was nothing mistaken about it. They were dead wrong, they were malicious, they ignored their own procedures. Fortunately for me, I know how to research public records. I beat them at their own game and explained what I could do in the way of legal action. At that point, Satan's emissary tried to be buddy buddy with me on the phone, because he knew his ass was grass. I told him he was just lucky I didn't know what he looked like and I hung up on him. Next time, I'll be ready. They're bastards. We all make moral choices in this life and people who work for the IRS have made theirs. End of sermon. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Wish I'd known about the sex option for my D-6533. Didn't get much DZ sex, but I sure got f*cked up often enough ! Maybe that helped, I dunno. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Excellent points Bill, on both interracial marriage and the Bill of Rights. I'd like to add that I DO believe the family is the pillar of American society. And I think the definition of family can be broadened to include families based around same sex parents. Same sex parents want the best for their kids, they want them to get an education, they worry about drugs and violence in their kids' schools, everything else that any hetero couple of parents want and worry about. But they have the added burden of being told their family isn't legitmate, it doesn't exist. You ever tell a kid his or her family isn't real ? Well our asshole President just did... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Thanks Mike. I was gonna say, if the tabs were a problem the rig would've never been TSO'd, which it obviously has been, or there would be a lot of craters with Javelins in the bottom of them, which there aren't. Did you ever hear the one about the couple that found a bloody hook dangling off their car door handle after an evening on lovers' lane ?? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Bonehead Mindwarp. It's light, tough, and really quiet. Somebody creamed me in freefall last weekend and I think his head bumped mine because I took a HARD whack on the noggin. It sounded hard too, like maybe his helmet. It shook me up a little but I was fine. (Glad I have a Cypres too...) Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Yeah, but was there an appeal, was it reversed or thrown out ? Any legal minds out there with the facts ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

And don't take too long asking her either. Sometimes these things can fall apart if they don't gel. She might get the wrong idea, that you don't like her, or must be gay, or something (actually not, since most of the gays I know get along with women just fine). But the opportunity can pass. Somebody else might take the bold step first and win her heart. The worst that can happen is if she says no, and then you'll be out of your misery. You can come out to the dropzone, make a bunch of jumps and cry about her later in the bar... Oh - be careful about telling her you jump, let that wait just a bit, or else be REALLY low key about it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Maybe you should go hang out at a library for awhile. Or take a class or two at the local Community College. Or, and I'm quite serious here, consider a church group for adult singles. I'm not going to get religious on you, as I'm not particularly religious myself, but just keep an open mind about it. You'd be AMAZED at how many beautiful, fun, interesting women there are in church singles groups. They're wondering whatever happened to all the good men. Bars are a losing proposition, unless you're just looking for a warm body for the night. If you want quality, go where you can find it. Quality doesn't hang out in bars. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Pulling the slider down allows a canopy to sread out to its full natural size and shape. Swoopers do it to get the most out of their heavily loaded high performance (and sometimes cross braced) ellipticals. But at 62 jumps, with a wing load of 1.06, you shouldn't be trying to pull your slider down. Right now you need to learn all you can about canopy control, so ask your instructors every question you can think of. Learn how to use your front and back risers, learn FLAT TURNS - they'll save your life sooner than you think. Your main concern with your slider right now should be that it DOESN'T come down your risers at all. If you have the new "Slink" type wraparound connectors, you need to install stops on your risers (skinny risers anyway...). A slider partway down a riser can jam a steering line and was the probable cause of a death in the U.S. last year. Anyway, your wing loading is too light to get much benefit from pulling your slider down. If, after a few hundred jumps you move on to a smaller, more heavily loaded elliptical and if you get into swooping, then you'll want to ask an instructor how to sfely get your slider down. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I want to be VERY CAREFUL about how I ask this question, as he's loved by one and all and went in last summer. But what exactly happened with Roger Nelson's smuggling conviction ? I'm only asking because I remember Skydiving Magazine carried a story about his conviction at the time on a cocaine trafficking charge and it looked as though he was facing a life term for it. Roger had claimed at his trial that he'd been operating with the CIA's full knowledge and consent (and it is widely believed, though not proved, that the Contras were funded through CIA endorsed cocaine sales). I sort of lost track of the story after the original verdict, but obviously Roger was freed and resumed his place as a leading figure in our community. And I'm glad he did. I'm not trying to drag his memory down either. It's just that I'm something of a history nut and I've really been curious about whatever happened for some time. So if somebody out there can explain how that ugly story turned out, I'd really like to hear it. Was the conviction reversed, or what ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

We laid the base for a hybrid last weekend and my friend was wearing an older rig. I realized that his chest strap is not folded over and stitched the way it would be on a more recent rig. Instead, it has a patch of velcro (this is a rig from the eighties, it was on the cutting edge in it's day). If the adapeter failed to stop the chest strap, there would be no folded & stitched end to hang up in the adapter. Probably not a good idea for him (he IS looking for new gear). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Email the president please, and tell him that GA businesses rely on airspace to make a living. If the president himself is going to be the cause of businesses losing money, then maybe he should stay home and watch Daytona on TV. Do you honestly think George II even gives a shit ? This is old news to So. Cal. skydivers. Elsinore gets shut down every time that asshole visits LA. (And no, Bill Clinton wasn't any better, he tied up the works getting a fucking haircut on the runway at LAX). That's what POWER is all about, it's about not giving a shit about the lives of ordinary people, it's about fucking as many people over as you can, BECAUSE you can. Regardless of which party you affiliate with. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I've never read the damn things. If you don't sign one, you don't jump. As far as I'm concerned, they can send guys with tattoos to break my kneecaps if I ever sue. I respectfully disagree with jumpers who ask a lawyer to review a skydiving waiver. Lawyers know nothing about the sacrament of freefall, they just want to open up a new field of litigation. I think a 3 X 5 index card giving the DZ permission to kill you if you sue is sufficient. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

He hasn't imploded yet. I'm waiting...... I think George II is likelier to implode over the 2.6 million jobs that haven't happened. W's gonna get his sussy ass kicked, just you wait. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Is this another one of these metrosuxual (sic) threads ? Honest to gawd, I scrub it and keep it clean, but I will not clip or trim it like some kind of a French fucking poodle! Nor do I expect the ladies to either. Needless to say there's only been one lady in my life the last 24 years, but we like to leave topiary to the gardeners, okay ?? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I wouldn't worry about it at this point. It sounds like you have the kind of marriage where the two of you can detect signs of something becoming a problem. Don't be bothered by what a lot of other people, especially skydivers have to say about marriage. In case you haven't noticed, some of us are very immature people who wouldn't know a relationship if it bit them on their behind. Then again, there are others who are very perceptive in their relationships. Of course there is always life away from the dropzone. It's always there and you're free to pass back & forth between both worlds as you like. Maintaining the balance will be up to you. And as far as marriage goes, there will be times you and your husband will just have to work at the hard stuff whether or not you skydive. I've been married 23 years. I was jumping when I met my wife (she was a first jump student). I quit jumping during our engagement and didn't jump again for 22 years. She never asked me to stop and there were times she insisted I would someday jump again, when I wasn't even interested in talking about it. Since I started back a year ago, she's been very supportive. She hasn't come out to the dropzone yet and insists she will not make a tandem. But she's thrilled that I'm having so much fun. The secret is that she's REAL. And that's all you gotta be, is real. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Especially not if their first jump is a solo freefall from 5 grand..... I wouldn't recommend that for an adult either, come to think of it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Until recently I was thinking of buying new gear and had pretty much narrowed it down to a Wings, Infinity, or maybe a Vector III. But then I got a wonderful deal on a complete second hand rig and ended up with a 3 year old Javelin. And it's a great rig! I think we could all agree that ALL of the current rigs in the U.S. market are safe and reliable, at least the more recent ones that are built for high speed freefall, like free flying. There are a lot of bee-yootiful rigs on the used market and you'll save a lot AND get more jump money for your trouble if you CAREFULLY shop the used market. You probably should wait a few years before buying used, so you'll have a more specific idea of what you want from a rig. Other than that, some of the lower priced rigs are beautifully built and some of the more expensive rigs are...well, over-priced. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

In a vacuum, they'd be correct. In a vacuum, your canopy wouldn't even open, much less save you. I think Galileo started this whole argument when he dropped a big ball and a little ball off the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the balls both went in at the same time. People draw incorrect conclusions from his experiment. It sounds like you're arguing with a bunch of nincompoops anyway. You're not going to change their minds, so why not find something better to do with your time ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I've never known anyone who went to jail who complained about how NICE it was... First of all, there are way too many non-violent first offenders (i.e. drug offences) who should be in treatment and a supervised probation. Treatment is cheaper and it's proven to be more effective. Most states with severe budget crunches are beginning to figure this out and are taking a second look at their sentencing laws. Too many people are being locked up because the POLITICIANS have imposed mandatory minimum sentencing laws that take away a judge's discretion. Believe it or not, most judges have a hell of a better idea of what's needed than some asshole used car dealer in the legislature. Third, and this should be of more concern, is the "prison-industrial complex". Prison labor, and prisons themselves are being used for profit by companies who are lobbying for tougher sentencing laws so they can beef up their slave labor force. Prison labor competes with and robs honest Americans of jobs and holds people in prison for the very purpose of corporate gain. As an American, I think that only the government should be permitted to hold people in captivity, as fucked up as it is, the govt is at least theoretically accountable to the people. I have no sympathy for violent criminals, none. But I can't support a system that trains non-violent offenders to become violent offenders for life, while they're being exploited in a slave labor force that deprives other Americans of their jobs. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'd rather bounce... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

A funnel is when a skydiver gets jumping confused with bowling and thinks of him/herself as the ball and a formation of jumpers as the pins... Skydiving and bowling do not mix, nor should they. Ever. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The fact that you're asking and making these points just demonstrates that you're not even in the right mindset, let alone have the technical competency to fly something like that. I can understand why somebody in Russia might want to buy something right away if you've got the money to do it now. Your country has had so many political and economic ups and downs over the last dozen years that you may feel motivated to make a purchase like this in a way that westerners can't quite understand. But that said, and human nature being what it is, I doubt you will withstand the temptation to jump it. I've just returned to the sport after a very long layoff and I'm loading a Spectre canopy at 1.29, which for my size and current experience (forty some jumps since my return) is making me fly this so called "conservative" canopy very carefully. It's a lot of fun, but it flies fast enough that it could really hurt me if I screw up. I can't imagine jumping an elliptical of any kind at a 1.9 loading, and I have over 600 jumps total. I can only hope that your instructors and drop zone won't LET you jump this canopy. Maybe it would be a good idea to lend your Katana to your instructor and tell HIM to be very careful with it, so he can figure it out and pass his knowledge on to you, WHEN he believes you're ready. Something to think about is the actual cause of death in most canopy crashes. It's the same kind of fatal injury you'd get from impacting your steering wheel in a car crash. The aorta rips loose from your heart and you helplessly bleed to death in a few short minutes, beyond anyone's ability to help you. Don't do it Igor; not to yourself, not to your girlfriend, your family, your friends, or the image of your sport. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Exit Arch-1000 reach-1000 pull-1000 look-1000 Thats the same thing they taught me on my first C&P in 1976, only then it was "look-1000" instead of reach. Sparky Me too Mike, but in those days we had a ripcord handle on the main lft web that we could actually look for and see. BOC's have done away with the look requirement, as you can't see them if you try. That was ONE major adjustment for me when I came back last year, that and moving my altimeter from my chest to the back of my hand. I'm well adjusted to both now and think BOC's one of the safest advances in gear to ever come along. What Mike and I and others like Amazon, Wendy, and Jimmy Tavino (who was one of my Jumpmasters in my student days) have in common is that we started out on static line at about 2800 ft, give or take a little depending on the dropzone. Most of us did our first freefalls on jump #6, or thereabouts and for most of us it was also our first packjob (talk about NEEDING that beer when we got down...). First freefall/hop & pop/pack job was usually no higher than 3500 ft, mine was from 3200. But the thing was, this was HIGHER than we'd been before, we could see we were higher and felt OK with it. I was even doing 10 second delays from 3500 as a student. And this was all considered safe & normal student skydiving just thirty years ago. 4500 ft was the first time we reached full terminal on a 15 second delay. Many of us never got higher than 7500 ft at the old Cessna clubs until we finally went to a boogie at some storied place like Z-Hills, and then 12,500 in a DC-3 was like taking a cruise on the Queen Mary. AFF in general is so much better than the akward and painful learning process we went through back then. But I do feel sorry for the way that today's crop of beginners are so scared of anything below 5 or 6 grand. Anyway, a hop & pop by definition is less than 5 seconds, though I often see it interpreted as 10-15 seconds from 6 grand these days. One of these days, a bunch of you should go to the DZ when the weather's looking marginal and see if you can't just take a Cessna to 3 grand and make a real hop & pop. They're a surprising amount of fun, and you'll find they can be relaxing and not at all scary. Try it, you'll like it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

If it's all or nothin', then sex wins hands down. One of the reasons I got through 22 years of not jumping as well as I did was all the great sex (with the same woman, who I'm still married to). I love skydiving, but can't count how many times I used to be horny & frustrated at the DZ. I've got the most wonderful jumping friends, but most of them are guys, and while I'm not homophobic, guys just don't interest me. Besides, you don't need a $3000 rig for fucking, and it's free, unless you're visiting Nevada... I could live without skydiving, but I'd DIE without sex ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !