PalmettoTiger

I dunno... I'm kinda fond of "dirty girls" myself. Blues, squares, PTiger

Or anything from McDonald's. Blues, squares, PTiger

I landed over the beer line twice during my AFF progression. BUT, since I was on radio both times, it wasn't me who bought beer... Actually the DZO was talking me down both times so no beer came from the event. He who owns the place sets the rules, and all that. Blues, squares, PTiger

Nah, just have the DZO remove the emergency exit window (4th from aft) and you can climb out and stand on the wheel well. Might be a bit of a squeeze for tandems though. Good test for your pin and handle protection systems. Blues, squares, PTiger

d00d, 3y3 4m |33t h4X0r!!!!! 4|| 0f j00 p#33r m3!!!!! 3y3 wi|| wr|t3 j00 s0m3 |33t c0d3 |f j00 p4y m3 |n skyd|v3s!!!! b|00s, squ4r3s, pAlmEttOtIgEr

Funny story vaguely related to ProTracks - I went down to the DZ late yesterday to do a hop'n'pop. I took one look at the C-186 substituting for the King Air that was sold out from under us (don't worry, new one's on the way) and decided to skip the hop'n'pop. After all, I'd have to pay for the jump, pay for the rental gear, and buy beer for my first C-186 ride. Anyway, I stuck around to talk about gear that I'm thinking of buying and ended up listening to everyone tell their "no shit, there I was" stories. One of the guys who I hadn't met before, but who's apparently an instructor, lamented the loss of his pro-track. It was mounted on the outside of his helmet (OxygnA3, I think) while he was trying out the DZO's Stiletto. Wally (DZO) had told him to use front risers only and make a carving turn onto final. Robin (guy who's about to screw up) gets a great swoop going, and after he puts his feet down he lets go of the right toggle, expecting the left toggle pressure he's still maintaining to collapse the canopy. Oops. The Stiletto makes a left turn, yanks him off his feet into the air, and he said he was just sort of confused as he looked up and saw the canopy spin into line twists as the trees and sky alternated position a few times. Then he smacked into the ground, right on his Pro-Track. The funniest thing is that it's not really broken - the display is trashed, but if he plays around with the buttons it beeps just like it used to. He's thinking of borrowing someone else's unit so that he can learn the sequence of button pushes and beeps that will set his altitudes where he wants them to go. He's also thinking of putting an airhorn on his slider "because after flying that turf rocket, my canopy feels like a sky truck." Blues, squares, PTiger

Actually a "Ball Master" is someone who has a lot of experience jumping with skyballs (tennis balls, etc. weighted and/or tailed to match a skydiver's fall rate). I don't know that there are any regulations on skyball jumping, but finding a ball master before trying it yourself is a good idea considering that if you can't catch the ball at pull time, it is very likely to irritate the DZ's neighbors. There was a pretty serious discussion (i.e. flame war) on rec.skydiving last year about ball jumping - some thought it should be controlled by the community before someone dropped one on a schoolyard. The figured that event would probably result in ball jumping being banned or heavily regulated by USPA or FAA. Blues, squares, PTiger

A ball master is a guy who spends most of his time wanking. Or a female known for her oral fixation. j/k Blues, squares, PTiger

I didn't mean to sound so negative but I guess it came out that way. You should definitely experiment and see if you can get it to work. And if it doesn't, you won't have to actually do any work for McDonalds - get them to sponsor you so that you'll just earn your living doing McDemo's with a big McLogo on your McRig and your McCanopy. Maybe take a McFlag along once in a while, too. Heeeeeey... any CReWdogs out there want to try and land a GoldenArch McStack? Blues, squares, PTiger

Inflatable's a good idea - it would be really tough to walk on them so you really can't have it "deployed" before you get in the door. You'd have to put all the extra drag surface on the sides of the shoe, because putting it on the toe would make it easier for them to get ripped off by the wind. (Visualize - you're wearing a shoe that drags enough to keep you head down, and at the same time it's keeping your foot pointed.) Balancing the extra surface front and back would make it even more difficult to walk on. The other thing to consider is that the extra drag makes foot position much more important - if you don't keep both feet even you'll induce a turn, and if your feet aren't parallel to the ground you'll start moving sideways or forwards/backwards. Blues, squares, PTiger

Besides, there's already a bunch of funny-talkers on staff, so you wouldn't feel too out of place. Blues, squares, PTiger

Not to rub it in or anything, but I have seen blue skies, or at least lots of holes, and low winds for about 22 of the last 25 days. Maybe a visit to SC is in your future? Say, come to think of it, the DZO was talking about hiring some packers... Blues, squares, PTiger

I really like Froggie's idea of linking the initial story to the sorted out forum discussion of the incident. And while I agree completely that it's important to hear about the fatalities, both for the reality check and for the info on possible causes that can be put to personal use, I know lots of people who would enjoy skydiving but would probably be put off if their first research turned up 3 fatalities before any of the more fun articles came up. I just don't buy the idea that if they're put off by that, they shouldn't be in the sport anyway. Here's my suggestion: Divide the center section of the front page into two parts. The top part will be for any news other than fatalities, and after some sort of divider, like thumbnails from the photo galleries, the second section would have all of the fatality and injury reports. That way, the bad news isn't hidden, but it's not the very first thing newbies see when they come here for a taste of the sport that drives us wild. Blues, squares, PTiger

C-S is Evil Incarnate! Save yourself while you still can! Blues, squares, PTiger

3 links relevant to this discussion: How Light Beer is really made Parodying Foster's Commmercials The No Cheap Beer Foundation Enjoy NCB#393 Blues, squares, PTiger

PatKat, that's a Yooper song! Actually I don't know if they did it originally, but it's on the same album as "Second Week of Deer Camp" and "Two Bagger". Anyone else know those songs? Anyone? Chad, you have to know this stuff. Propblast, I've never worked up the courage to try it, but I think I have a thing for Irish booze because my two favorite liquors are Bushmill's and Bailey's. Last semester I kept my fridge stocked with the 3 B's of Booze: Bushmill's, Bass, and Bailey's. ROFL You da MAN, Speed! That's the best characterization of lite "beer" I've ever heard. Alright, time to do my laundry, scrub the kitchen down, harvest the weeds, and grab some donuts on the way to the DZ b/c it's an irresistible day here in SC!! Blues, squares, PTiger

Yeah, I'm sitting out a beautiful day here in SC. It's my sister's birthday, she's had a terrible week, and it would be pretty lame to bolt to the DZ on her birthday. So we're taking here canoeing, cooking her a beeeeeg dinner, and taking her to an improv comedy festival tonight. Rhuurrr, looks like you and I are doing "Relative Work" today (as my rigger refers to it). Here's hoping you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine! Blues, squares, PTiger

I'm a Bass junkie myself, although I'll try a Guinness if I'm in it for a meal. Blues, squares, PTiger

OK, most people know that "Coyote Ugly" is someone so heinous you'd chew your arm off to get away in the morning. But does anyone know what "Double Coyote Ugly" is? First to post the right answer (judged by Almighty Me, of course) gets a cookie next time we meet. Blues, squares, PTiger

They never admit to it in real life, why would that change here? Blues, squares, PTiger

Mike, I think the best characterization of my home state was "My dear South Carolina - too small to be a nation and too large to be an asylum." (From James Petigru, one of the few opponents of the secession IIRC.) Always good for a laugh. Blues, squares, PTiger

Froggie, I prolly already PM'ed you about this but my last time at X-Keys was the middle of November. That was the first trip for our Sport Parachute Club and I had to do the little tandem video safety waiver golly doesn't Bill Booth have a shaggy chin thingy. I wasn't half as good a salesman as Skeff, who did the presentation before my first jump, but everybody enjoyed themselves anyway. I digress. It'll be good to see the tandem facilities expanded to include video purchasing, but I'm much happier to see MORE BATHROOMS!! Twice @ POPS nationals I had to go really bad, and the women's bathroom was the only one open. Dawn caught me the second time, and she tried to scold me for it but I cut her off and said "It's either there, or in a cathole in the landing area. My choice, and I bet you're glad I picked the girls' room." Blues, squares, PTiger

Nah, more like "Rubbing my cub." Aside from tigers, here's another euphemism: Tweaking your tackle Blues, squares, PTiger

The deal with "seeing through clothes" was that if you turned on the infrared mode, the contrast between the warm body underneath and the slightly cooler clothes would let you "see" through clothes. As soon as that became common knowledge, the company added a routine to the camera's internal software that disabled IR mode if there was a certain amount of visible light. I don't really understand why night would make it more difficult to achieve the see-through effect, but maybe it has something to do with IR rays cast by the sun. Anyhoo, I never saw it demonstrated but it certainly wouldn't give you full-color nudes of clothed people. (Don't know whether that's good or not. ) Blues, squares, PTiger

beating off cleaning the pipes an un-dressed rehearsal "practicing" safe sex mixing up a batch of baby batter taming your lizard rocking the cock Blues, squares, PTiger