PalmettoTiger

d00d, last time I had tequila was... uh... well the actual last time was when we were tailgating at the Jimmy Buffett concert back in Feb. But the last time I had tequila and it turned into a funny story was my senior year in high school. I hadn't eaten dinner before doing 2 hours of intense taekwondo, so my stomach was completely empty. I got to the party a little late, and decided to immediately pick a fight with 2 double shots of Jose Cuervo (hey, I needed to catch up). Those little bastards ganged up on me and kicked my a$$. they jumped me when I followed my friends outside for a smoke break. I ended up lying prostrate and helpless on the lawn, with that "I'm really nauseous but as long as I don't try to stand up I won't boot" feeling. Then my friends finished their cigarettes and went back inside, but unfortunately I wasn't quite ready to try to re-learn walking. The worst thing was that the fusking automatic sprinklers came on, two of them right beside me. Note: at this point I am still too blitzed to figure out where everyone is and too nauseous to attempt crawling. I ended up rolling to a mostly dry part of the lawn and laying there for about 45 minutes until I felt better. Ahh, the memories. High school... the "good ol' days." Blues, squares, PTiger

Yeah, first time I was playing the boss walked by so I had to Alt+Tab to my e-mail program. Only got to try three after the boss left, and biffed two of 'em. (Come on, admit it: all of you let him bounce at least once just to see what would happen.) The next time I got six of ten. The trick is to delay the jump until his forward speed will carry him right onto the target, and deploy the chute at the very last second. H4w h4w h4w!! Low-Pull Contest! Blues, squares, PTiger

Does he know how much pollution is generated by the power plants that make electricity for the VWT?!?!?! Blues, squares, PTiger

But most of the civilians' cars there are similarly small. (Or not? Could a few of the funny-talkers, er, Europeans check my facts here?) I think it all comes down to the Tragedy of the Commons - when there's an abundance of one resource or opportunity, and no single entity or person owns it, everyone uses more than their fair share thinking "there's so much of it... what's the hurt if I take a little extra?" In this situation, the common resource is space. Many Europeans drive smaller cars and have smaller houses/apartments because population densities are so much higher there. (Also the gas taxes make smaller cars more financially attractive.) Here, we drive big cars, build huge highway systems, and live in proportionally larger homes because it's not particularly crowded in the US. For example, I think Germany has an area the size of Montana but several times as many people. Japan is about the same size as California but also has a much higher population. The "Tragedy of the Commons" problem is pretty interesting - it crops up everywhere from rivers, where people litter and pour all kinds of pollutants into it, to Gnutella (a file-sharing program similar to Napster), where 15% of the users are sharing 85% of the files - everyone else is basically leeching without offering anything of their own. Okie doke, off the soapbox and back to work. Blues, squares, PTiger

Yes, b/c they have to have room for the camera crew and director for COPS.

On the subject of birthdays... I was "born" May 6th 2000 at Cross Keys. So for all of you who think I'm a sucker, I wasn't born yesterday... just a year ago yesterday. So to celebrate, I... uh... scrubbed the kitchen floor and helped my sisters out at their new house. Damn. Not very exciting, eh? But I did have a skydiving dream last night... dreamt that I had 234 jumps. Then I woke up and saw that 10 was as high as my logbook goes. Doh! Not much to show for a year in the sport... Blues, squares, PTiger

http://www.pia.com/SSK/cypres/saves05b.pdf Blues, squares, PTiger

Hee hee hee... 1% off for every second of freefall they're not in frame. Hey, the most the DZ could lose would be 60%... Blues, squares, PTiger

No... a Porsche SUV (Suddenly Upside-down Vehicle). I remember hearing a story on NPR about a month ago about it; a longtime Porsche owner was lamenting how the company had gone mainstream. Then they quoted an auto analyst joking 8 years ago that the SUV craze would be over when Porsche made one. Hope he's right... Blues, squares, PTiger

HAHAHAHAhohohoheeeheeheeheeehichahahohoho... flashbacks to last semester when I watched Full Metal Jacket 4 or 5 times. The parts set on Parris Island always crack me up. That drill instructor was so f@cking funny!! Even more so because my dad was in the USMC, and I know 3 guys who are at VMI or the Citadel and it always reminds me of them. The second half of the movie, though... that's just incredibly scary. I couldn't imagine myself in that setting, and at 21 I'm older than lots of those guys were... Blues, squares, PTiger

http://www.skydiveseb.com works in Netscape and Internet Explorer. http://www.skydiveseb.com/welcome.htm only works with Internet Explorer. Blues, squares, PTiger

What's so special about the first week of August? I know a girl who was born on November 14th... quite a coincidence.

My problem with the mainstream reporting of skydiving is that non-skydivers take it as gospel truth, and that leads to a lot of the misunderstandings that cause us trouble. I think the lesson here is to always look for the story behind the story in whatever you read, realize that at least 10% of what you read is wrong and another 20% is misleading, and try to be a positive ambassador for skydiving. Blues, squares, PTiger

I'm surprised no one has mentioned alcohol poisoning kits. Blues, squares, PTiger

Wow. All of the suggestions about protecting it in the plane gave me a flashback to my last student jump when we were really crammed in there. I fished up a mental picture of the aircraft from inside -- and instantly my pulse doubled and my skin was covered with goosebumps. What other activity (that you can discuss in polite company) gives you reactions like that!?! SKYDIVING RULES! Blues, squares, PTiger

^^^^ Bump I second that! Blues, squares, PTiger

Different humidity and temperature aloft may affect it. Or they might not, I'm just speculating wildly here.

Not exactly sure why, but as aspect ratio increases, it's more and more difficult to keep the end cells pressurized. That's why the high aspect ratio canopies are elliptical - the shorter chord at the edges of the canopy makes it easier to keep the end cells filled. Blues, squares, PTiger

But.. but.. I thought DZ.com was your family!! C'mon everybody, group hug for Froggie! {{{Froggie}}} Blues, squares, PTiger

Yo mama so fat she got stuck in the Skyvan door. Yo mama so fat, as soon as she jumps out the rest of the load gets an extra 1000 feet. Yo mama so fat, when she swoops everyone hits the ground and yells "INCOMING!" Yo mama so fat, when she does static line jumps people on the ground think the plane is dropping relief supplies. Yo mama so fat her canopies are afraid to open. Blues, squares, PTiger

Works fine from over here... either it's just you or it's just been fixed. Blues, squares, PTiger

Mine had better f@cking come off!!!

It wasn't the Underoos so much as the butt they enclosed. Blues, squares, PTiger

That's on a sticker on our jump door at Blue Sky Adventures... there's also a sign next to the door saying "If you must smoke, please step outside" and another sticker on the door that says "This door must remain unlocked during business hours." Blues, squares, PTiger

Brandon!! You are such a boob!! Don't ever comment on anything else until you've done it 30 times in a row, perfectly, and taught it to six people who are now world champions!! Just figured I'd get the flaming out of the way so no one else feels tempted.