MakeItHappen

Omniskore is not even on site. Yet we are able to rank scores after a complete round and not do the weird shuffle of standings that SDC shows. try this link 4-way Open and compare to SDC listings Anything Omniskore provides for this year's Nationals is gravy. You wanna bitch about free stuff go ahead. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Yeah OmniSkore! (me) is in California. Please send team name and number, plus scores as you get them to me at aerosoftware @ MakeItHappen.com Or post to Facebook. Let me know your handle. Friend either Jan Meyer or Omniskore JustPostIt on facebook. Lori, can you post vids to Youtube and send me a link? Thanks. Hope the skies clear. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Yeah I'd like to learn what the story on that is. I didn't see anything wrong with it. In the meantime, I'll be gathering scores from various places and putting them up on OmniSkore.com If you know team members out there, please ask them to send scores to me directly or post to FB or twitter. I will need to know their handles and team name and number. One thing that USPA does not realize, is that they could sell an XML feed of the scores to various third parties. (You know make money.) I asked Kurt Gaebel a few years ago if he would use an XML feed. He's not a programmer type and said he wouldn't use it. A video feed is supposed to be on skydive-tv.com. Put since the weather is bad out there right now, nothing is up. But I do wonder if they have a cease and desist letter??? Can't help but think "What the heck is USPA thinking?" . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

It was the source of the quoted paragraph by the OP. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I was in Kolomna this summer. My last day there was P3's first day there. I spoke to Kate Cooper and Larry Henderson. I sold one of the fans we used in the judges room during the Russian Nationals to Larry and his wife, Pam. Delivery was at 5 am the next morning. Larry was pretty coherent at 5am, but looked sleepy. (It took 5 hours to get to Moscow that morning.) BJ and Bobbie were there too and I chatted with them too. I went over the menu with Bobbie to point out the good stuff. She noticed this grilled ham & cheese sandwich with fries I ordered. It's off the breakfast menu, but I told her Dimitry helped me get it ordered at dinner time earlier in the week. There were several other English speaking jumpers that showed up that day too, but they are not listed on the P3 page. We talked more about their rustic accommodations. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/07/16/28888.htm . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

It is created out of thin air, but by the banks and the Federal reserve. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC8I3J-1GSM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1STWYCn-hc Read more on fractional banking and the federal reserve. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Even tho BJ & I do not see eye-to-eye on every issue, specifically the 10.6M dollars involved with the Skyride issue, I have to give credit to BJ, in that he has the ability to say 'Fuck you' in the most polite way possible. Not saying that is necessarily the best way to handle it, just saying he has that ability. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

One of my dogs, Katie, died of lymphosarcoma. One day I noticed swelling under her neck and a few weeks later she died. The meds you have are the same that Katie had. She was comfortable for the most part, but was very tired. She died in my arms. I was lying in bed, watching Top Gun. It was a Sunday night. She had death heaves, every 1/2 hour for about 3 hours. Then after one of them she died. I can't help much as to when to put the dog down. When RePete died from hemangiosarcoma, I tried once to put her down, but could never get the words out at the vet. The next day RePete was in bad shape and the only humane thing to do was to put her down. Max and I were at her side. RePete It is always hard to lose a dog. But I think it is nature's way of opening up a slot for another dog for you to take care of afterwards. I have 3 dogs now, Max, Spock and Mr. NoName, who showed up a few weeks ago. I love them just as much as all the ones that came before them: Pete, Katie, Phoenix & RePete. There are several groups on Yahoo that can help you deal with this. I wish you the best and hope Fezzik has a quality life. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

When and where was there a previous PAC tail strike? . You're kidding, right? In my two years in the sport I've know of several. For example: The American Boogie, 2009. Two stalls on successive jumpruns (same group, doing large scale formation exits), tailstrike on the second. I actually talked to the jumper who'd hit the tail (can't remember his name), he was OK but pretty shaken up. Tail strikes after a stall are a different issue than tail strikes on a normal jumprun. Wendy's original post implicitly implied that tail strikes on a normal jump run were commonplace or have at least happened in the past. Maybe, I've been snoozing on this issue, (I think not) but to my knowledge, there has not been a tail strike on a PAC under normal jumprun configurations. BTW, as far as tail strikes out at Skydance go, I was a floater on an otter that stalled out there, way back in 1998 or 97. The last diver out hit the tail and caused $40K of damage to the otter. I have pics of it someplace here. REF had the audacity to ask each jumper on the load to say in writing that the stall was their fault. Only the NGs sent back that request. I was also on the plane Trey flew (can't remember the name of it). It stalled on jumprun. As front floater, I let go. IMHO, if a plane is stalling on jumprun, get off or out of it. Let the pilot deal with the change in cg. You paid your money and took your chances. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

When and where was there a previous PAC tail strike? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Just wanted to bump this up again. I got the earlier email too. Today I also got ANOTHER request that went like this: IP addys in the headers show: 41.138.171.12 Lagos Nigeria 87.248.110.206 routed thru London UK 217.146.182.178 yahoo London 87.248.110.137 yahoo london These reply headers Από: Jan Meyer Θέμα: Re: inquiry Προς: frank.desmond112@yahoo.gr Ημερομηνία: Παρασκευή, 20 Αύγουστος 2010, 14:23 are Greek letters. But this request and reply are so obviously bad, no one would fall for it, would they??? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I can think of a bunch of other things that a business can do to piss-off a potential customer. Selling a bunch of used AADs before a potential customer can arrange payment for AADs in stock is not one of them. Bonnie of Gravity Gear is a stand-up person and jumper that I have known for +15 years. I don't know if you know this, but Western Union in the US, as a method of payment, is not encouraged. There are too many scams associated with it to make it a viable option. If someone from overseas or anywhere for that matter asked me to go down to a Western Union place to collect payment, I'd tell them to use Paypal. Kudos to Bonnie for selling all her used AADs so quickly. If that brings the angst of someone wanting to pay via a method that is not accepted, well then, those are the 'better' type of business problems. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

The current paper ballot only costs about ~$8,000. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Yeah I also heard [sarcasm] WalMart was planning a sale over Labor Day weekend for the same items as K-Mart and Target, but nixed it because K-Mart and Target were planning the same thing. [/sarcasm] . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Someone here actually puts himself forth as an expert and testifies AGAINST drop zones... Wasn't aware of that, John. Who might that be? I know that Mike Turoff testified against The Parachute Center aka Lodi. But from what I know he was ripped apart on cross examination. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I want to add another analogy that hopefully will clarify my points. Suppose USPA or some other NAC created an FS progression chart. For example, an arbitrary progression chart of: Number of Jumps Maximum FS Load Size 100 20 200 50 300 75 400 100 >500 unlimited This has never happen (except for some UK rules for people with less than 100 jumps). The reason this type of progression chart has never been needed is because of the function that FS LOs play. What I am pointing out is that if we create and encourage CP LOs to fill a similar role that FS LOs play, then we can mitigate the CP carnage. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Nope. This is not about S&TAs or the DZO. It is about getting the local super-duper swoopers to act as LOs for the want-to-be swoopers. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

They would do this using the same social network constructs that are used in the FS world. For example, if you are on a bigway in FL and want to get on a bigway in CA, you send a reference to the CA organizer. Those two people talk about what skill level the jumper has and where his weaknesses are. (visa versa) The swooper LO person should be one of the super-duper swoopers at the DZ, not necessarily the S&TA or DZO. This also parallels bigway organizing. If someone is coming from a small DZ, and does not know any of the top level organizers, they need to demonstrate their skills. A downside, as I already mentioned, is that people think of it as "I should be at this WL with this many jumps'. Changing the title won't fix that problem. Another downside is that it makes people think that they don't need guidance from others along the way. IOW, they think "Hey, I have x many jumps, therefore I can jump z WL." Most people know it is more complicated than that, for all disciplines too. In all disciplines, you do need guidance from others. Sometimes it is about skill level, but more often than not, it is the knowledge base of the discipline that is missing from an up-and-coming jumper. A WL chart will not impart the requisite knowledge to a jumper and may mislead them into thinking that the chart is all there is to it. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

The WL chart has an unintended consequence, especially for new jumpers with only a few hundred jumps. That is that a lot of new jumpers think the chart means how they should be progressing, as opposed to a maximum WL. IOW, the NGs look at the chart and say "This says I should be at abc WL now." That was never its intention, yet has become the interpretation that the chart has for many new jumpers with little or no knowledge of the carnage of the past. There is a way to restrict the folks with MadSkillz. Do it the same way it is done in bigway FS, CRW, VFS etc. You have a 'load' organizer that 'approves' canopy + jumper combination. With the separation of HP and conventional landing areas mandated in the GM pledge, it should be relatively easy to put someone of appropriate experience in charge of who gets to do HP landings. This would be very similar to an FS organizer screening people for a bigway. In order to find appropriate and practical solutions to the carnage of HP landings by people in over their heads, you have to look at why that is happening and how to remedy it. If you look at how bigways are organized, there are people who filter out the incompetent or not ready people. Many years later they do get on the load after acquiring a sufficient skill level. This is missing in the MadSkillz group. Add that person or gate-keeper and you will see that people progress in a much more sane manner. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

The wheels start to skid and the treadmill pulls it across. eg the energy is added by the treadmill That's why the steering is needed as the wheels skid momentarily on one side and then the other. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

they do, but my experience with a 5 gallon can of gas and my riding lawn mower has taught me that i'm not coordinated enough to do it without spilling. The hot tip for the nozzle is to twist it a 1/4 to 1/2 turn after you pull it out completely. That seals it at the base and makes it harder to accidentally push the nozzle back in. Then bend the nozzle into a U shape & put into the tank before tipping the gas container up. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

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1 Cost. Current cost of the election using paper ballots will remain the same ~$9000.00 In addition to that, the online voting may cost up to $20,000. One of the reasons the online cost is so high is because the entire membership will be added to the online voting roster. It would be much cheaper to use an opt-in system and only get charged for the members that use the online voting. 2 Security a. The online system under consideration was hacked during USPA's test of it. I was able to login as other members and vote for them. b. The distribution of username and password is not secure. One of these items will be something in the USPA database. That is not secure because every drop zone that you've filled a waiver out at has this information. The other item would be generated and printed on the outside of your magazine. 3 No ability to perform recounts 4 No plan disseminated about how to reconcile duplicate votes from each method. 5 Ill-proposed proxy and misleading information. Text accompanying the proxy states The quoted statement is false and illustrates a fundamental lack of understanding by the board. First off a proxy for a member at the General Membership Meeting (GMM) means that the proxy holder may cast a vote for the absent member at the GMM. Secondly, the by-laws state "A two-thirds majority of the BOD present may approve any amendment to these By-Laws except sections referring to size, composition, and election of the USPA Board of Directors." The statement USPA put out indicates that USPA BOD thinks that the proxy will suspend the rule from the By-laws and give them the authority to change the bylaws. This is completely incorrect. The by-laws cannot be suspended, even by unanimous vote, unless the particular bylaw provides for its own suspension. The specific bylaw change that the BOD desires has not been presented, even when asked about it. Any bylaw change relating to the size, composition and election of the USPA BOD must be done at the GMM, not at the BOD mtg. Most of the BOD simply do not understand this. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

OK. Now, I am really confused. If you want USPA to pay up to $20,000 additional dollars on the election, send your proxy in with a yes vote. (It has been more than two months since the winter mtg and the minutes are still not on the USPA web site. But in the minutes there is a motion that authorizes the Executive Director to spend up to $20,000 (or $25,000 - I don't know the number right now) to establish online voting for the upcoming election once HQ receives a quorum number of proxies, about 3200. This would make the entire election cost around $30,000. compared to the current ~$10,000. If you want USPA to just do the paper ballots at its current cost of ~$10,000 and not worry about additional security issues with the online voting, do NOT send in a proxy at all. Do not send in a proxy with a no vote because that will be used to establish a quorum. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker