FrogNog

The only comment I have left is: keep drawing. I assume you are critical of your own work, so practice will make perfect. It already looks very good, though. (Much better drawing than a number of currently syndicated cartoons. And don't even get me started about what Dilbert or Garfield looked like when they started!) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

There's nothing inherently wrong with this. In free-market economies, money (well, technically price, but same difference) is a signal that prospective buyers and prospective sellers use to get together and conduct trade for the benefit of one or both parties. It is important to people who want to learn from qualified coaches that these coaches do not waste their time with people who aren't going to appreciate the lessons. I know I pay more attention when I am personally invested, and it's nice to have classmates who are roughly the same. (To shake myself of the money-is-all cloak, I note that in some cases I am personally invested because the instructor is someone durn cool from my dropzone, like Ben.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Now that I think about it, I think Bloom County had a handful of grandma types drawn like this - melon-on-a-tube heads with neck wrinkles and peach cheeks. That must be what I was thinking of. If I may (mis)quote some Bloom County: Senator: "Nice crop of corn you got there." Farmer: "T'ain't corn. It's dope." -=-=-=-=- Pull.

1. You need someone who makes sure your punctuation is right. In the strip you clickied, "BOY'S" should be "BOYS'". 2. In the last panel of that same strip, the fat guy rears up and I assume his left leg is curled kind of in front of him. Either that or it's the sofa cushion. Looks like it could be a big sausage, though. WTH is that? I know it doesn't matter, but I am distracted. 3. I HATE interstitial ads that have in-body links that read "Close Window" which, upon clicking, actually open up 4 new popup/popunder windows. I know this isn't part of your comic, but it doesn't have to be, it still hurts. (At least there is a "skip" button on that page.) 4. Same issue as 1, except for spelling. I believe the word is "DOILIES". http://www.comicssherpa.com/site/feature?uc_comic=csxsd&uc_full_date=20040308 5. Punctuation again. Unless the missing comma is in her hair, "WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU DUSTED BOBBY?" is missing something. http://www.comicssherpa.com/site/feature?uc_comic=csxsd&uc_full_date=20040304 6. I like some of the action shots (e.g. http://www.comicssherpa.com/site/feature?uc_comic=csxsd&uc_full_date=20040303), but others don't seem to flow right. Now, you draw like ten thousand times better than I do, so I can't tell you how to do it. But if you want to know what I see, sometimes I see things that just don't seem to "flow". (hat flying off, shrugless) 7. Sometimes the fact that it's a narrative strip definitely forces the reader to read back. I offer this example, which is completely meaningless without backstory. (Totally kidding - I thought this was funny as crap. ) 8. I like the look. The subject matter seems like a slightly less cerebral, more mass-market Doonesbury. The mom character and some of the shapes throughout bear a resemblance to another comic I can't place - I want to say Arlo&Something, with thicker lines, but I'm not an expert on comics (I read like 3 normal comics with any regularity). I liked the inclusion of a photo-style background item (is that Bob Marley?), which at least one of the other comic greats has done periodically with some success. OK, that's all the gas I have. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

When I was in school, we could have had water bottles, but they hadn't invented pockets yet for us to put them in, and our books were so heavy they required both hands to hold! So no water bottles where I grew up. (Also, it could have been that for the 10 months of the year school was in session, if you got thirsty you could just open your mouth and look at the sky.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Oh, I prefer to tell the truth and watch the fallout from that. Shoulda seen how well it went over when I told one casual interest I had another, contemporaneous, casual interest. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Why does it have unique in the title and say there are 33 available? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Safeties are devices and devices can fail. This is why in skydiving, aviation, and firearms anything that is a backup device should only actually be used as a backup. (i.e. Flipping the gear switch while saying "I know there is a safety on this plane to prevent this" is contraindicated.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Could you explain what was refreshing? (I am another no-audible-yet jumper.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

As near as I can tell, yes. The big thing we're looking for is avoidance of petroleum distillates, which I believe eat nylon. This URL strongly suggests Ace Pure Silicone Lubricant fits the bill. [URL http://www.microcare.com/html-docs/article=1057844623.htm]Clicky[/URL] Of course, I can't guarantee what's actually in the can...

Nobody makes you read it. And I just look at the dots as an indicator of the pauses while the writer is thinking. Slowly. To stay on the thread topic, I hate pressure to jump now. I'm still trying to figure out this big part of the exit timing thing: if a a Twin Otter is full of solos, how do I take as long in the door as I think I should (my rule of thumb is if I can see the eyes of TWO groups that left before me, it isn't time to go yet), and not be responsible for forcing the jumpers after me to require a go-around. That's the pressure I hate. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

One of my riggers was kind enough to inspect this for me on my new rig before I got in the plane. Now I think I need to have him do a repack because I don't know how well the reserve is put together - new rig and all, and it came ready-to-go. :S -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Yup. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I'd like to add to the tail end of any main container opening incident this step: check the jumper's closing loop back on the ground to see if it should be tightened / replaced. Loose or worn closing loops are everybody's problem. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

In the first checklist and all these posts, I noticed one step missing that I like to do. It would be step 4.5 in the first checklist: "4 line-groups check". After running up the lines, I put half the lines on each shoulder with the canopy and slider hanging in front of me and I pick up each group of lines where it goes through the slider and make sure it goes to 1/4 of the canopy like it should, without wrapping around one of the other quarters. This is to check for step-throughs. Walking the lines up does a good job of checking for step-throughs (or other line weirdage) below the slider. But line weirdage should be checked all to way to the canopy. Occasionally I find I have inverted about 1/3 of the canopy through some lines and while I probably wouldn't have been able to pack it, I am much happier to have an explicit check to catch this sort of thing before I start flaking. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

My rig* is beside my desk. Unfortunately the weather is not cooperating sufficiently. I don't say I have an appointment with a doctor, I just say I'm not feeling well and I need some fresh air. (I just don't tell them how MUCH air...) (* I am still in that "new/first rig" infatuation phase. Please forgive me.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Um, are you making those comments on a jpeg that has been stomped so it will fit on a free public site? Or do you have some sort of high-res original we don't? Edited to add: edge artifacts are a common result of using JPEG, and the lower the JPEG "quality" rating when the file is written, the worse the effect. This happens even in photographs when there is a hard edge in the scene. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

If you approach with any brakes, you are going to have lower airspeed when you flare. That means you will have less lift for the flare, and that means landing harder. And, if you come in at brakes and let up on them, the canopy will dive. If you do this near the ground, you can get hurt or killed. (I have narrowly escaped injury doing this two or three times - it takes longer than you might expect for the canopy to dive, gain speed, then return to regular flight.) Are you PLFing? Are your instructors watching your bad landings, as well as your good ones? What do your instructors have to say? Personally, I found PLFing made/makes my crappy landings a lot easier to take. P.S. I have 79 jumps. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Don't take this the wrong way, but... this is Talk Back after all... Can you pack? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I'm confused. What are you trying to say? I'm trying to say I think people who skydive, fly planes, scuba dive, and volunteer in their early fifties to bear twins are scary-tough. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

http://news.excite.com/odd/article/id/389098|oddlyenough|03-04-2004::08:56|reuters.html Because if she is on DZ.com, I just want to find out who she is and make sure I don't cross her. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I heard a song about rocks and trees and trees and rocks and rocks and trees and... waterrrrrr... So make sure you see that. Also, if you're going to Saskatchewan, you should check out the pirates. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Out of a biplane? Sweet. Are you in WA? Can I go too? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I prefer college because at some point a ways back I came to the conclusion that the pros want to hurt each other, whereas the college players want to play the game. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

My core argument for the superiority of Football is the high number of rules combined with the speed of the game. The ways players accomplish things on their own and as part of the team is also interesting. -=-=-=-=- Pull.