NickDG

Hank Asciutto! NickD

>>One thing totally neglected is the base canopy doesnt have a TSO while the skydiving canopy does.

>>I wonder where Jamie is these days?

I can't find the photo, but when the late Bobby Smith was married, as they both knelled at the alter, the church broke into laughter. Bobby had skulls & crossbones painted on the soles of his shoes . . . NickD

I guess you'll have to take it back to the Stealer! But you'll get reamed on the repairs. Hope you shelled out for the extended warranty! LOL! NickD

Just in time for Christmas! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHpa0kE86MA&feature=player_embedded NickD

Watch the trouble this group goes through for a minimal return . . . "What do you want from us!" LOL!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9eUzwJsFmmU NickD

Wow, the Press Enterprise is in such dire financial straits they are resorting to, "Buy photos of yourself being rescued" http://gallery.pictopia.com/pressenterprise/e/?photo_name=36WEATHER23sld.jpg&t_url=%2Fmultimedia%2Fslideshow%2F2010%2F20101223_storm%2Fimages%2F36WEATHER23sld.jpg And they've got the chutzpah to say, "Just in time for the holidays . . ." NickD

>>Jamie (never knew his last name , but one of the best TI I ever flew with )

It's interesting how the word "poser" has changed over the years (at least in my world.) In the 1970s it was directed at real bikers who had the habit of looking at their own reflections in storefront windows as they rode by them. (I still do that today, LOL.) And the term we used for "pretend" bikers (those who wore biker garb but didn't ride or own bikes) was sidewalk commando. I could go on about the interesting way word usage changes, but I won't risk Coreece accusing me of caring, LOL! NickD

Firefox (the Browser) is out for Android phones, including Droid-X! Yippee! It syncs up with desk or laptop so you get all your bookmarks and stuff too! http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/mobile/ NickD

Nobody has to go too far! The whole world is jumpable, LOL! NickD

Being a photo-journalist back in my military days I try and keep up with the field by following some of the award winning stuff coming out. Right now I'm looking at the Nikon-Walkley Awards and there's some terrific art here. But two photos especially struck me. The first is of a great sailor named Jessica Watson (not to be confused with the ill prepared Abby Sunderland) slamming her way towards the Aussie coast during her successful solo trip around the world. But the second photograph really tore me up. It depicts a mentally ill man in Indonesia and the caption partially reads; >>In Indonesia, there are none who suffer the agony of the mentally ill who are chained and shackled in their homes by their families, or in state-run hospitals and shelters. It is a peculiar kind of torture where people in the most fragile states are kept locked up in the most deplorable fashion, often for many years, even decades.

The difference (that matters to you for B.A.S.E. purposes) between seven cell and nine cell canopies is, not so much the number of cells, but aspect ratio. Aspect ratio is a mathematical reference denoting a canopy's chord (its width - leading edge to trailing edge) in relation to span (its length - end cell to end cell.) To put it simpler low aspect ratio canopies are more boxy looking than high aspect ratio canopies. And boxy is better for B.A.S.E. jumping. It's better because when you only have one canopy a low aspect ratio canopy (properly sized for you) will allow you to survive the malfunctions you'd cutaway from while skydiving. Things like broken lines, blown seams, and lines twists get tougher to handle as the aspect ratio goes up. Some very experienced B.A.S.E. jumpers (or they should be very experienced) are now beginning to use smaller slightly higher higher AR canopies as inevitably swoop landings are trickling into B.A.S.E. jumping. And I'm not sure if that's old time B.A.S.E. jumpers going to the next level or newer B.A.S.E. jumpers bringing their skydiving ways to the wrong sport, LOL! The bottom line is when you cream in (and you will during your B.A.S.E. career) you want a big low aspect ratio wing over your head. NickD

Elsinore used to flood out pretty regularly before the canals were put in. I remember more than once floating around the DZ in rowboat. The DZ was called "Skyworld" in those days but we called it "Carpworld!" LOL! NickD

The just started evacuating here in La Crescenta. Also in La Canada/Flintridge. But so far not our block. We are all right below the burn areas from the Station Fire and you probably recall me going on about this last year. They said then it would be at least five years before the vegetation root systems became deep and hearty enough to hold the soil during these week long storms. NickD

When I die I'd like to be stuffed and placed into that museum. Maybe in a nice diorama. You know, beer in one hand a joint in the other and a crappy old trailer in the background . . . NickD

Back in 1978 I was serioulsy thinking of giving up skydiving. I'd been jumping for three years already but I was moving around a lot. And was getting sick and tired of how "cliquish" the sport was back then. I recall finally being asked onto a decent load at Lake Elsinore, after a year of pretty much getting the silent treatment. This was when people took RW soooo seriously and of course I badly screwed up the dive. I still remember the stink eye I was getting on the walk in. And when Larry Fatino walked up to me I was hoping for some help, a bit of advice, maybe a tip or two. But what I got was a snarl and this, "Go over the hill to Perris and practice for about a year. Then maybe you can come back here and get on the hot loads!" Not long after I picked up a copy of your "UWF" and after reading it (maybe 4 times straight through) decided I wasn't going to let the bastards keep me down. And I carried that book in my kit bag until the pages fell out. And to say that you, Pat, made a difference in the course of my life would be an understatement. And I dare say it wasn't just me, there are wholesale generations of us! NickD

So Nina is a pre-unit too! Cool, thanks! NickD

I hear guys saying "pre-unit" a lot when talking about tumpets, and I just nod my head because I always pretend I know it all, LOL! But just what the hell does "pre-unit" mean? Does it refer to certain years or motor changes? NickD

Plus woman are genetically inclined to talk more than men as men hunted food and needed to stay quiet. Back at camp woman talked constantly to keep the wild animals away. God, I hate rainy days . . . NickD

I'll see it. I know where all the really really tall buildings are . . . NickD

Ha Ha, I always enjoy watching people from the right coast stuck in the snow. NickD

I guess we see these every year now, so here's this years version . . . http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/12/19/wa.ice.sliding.cars.khq?hpt=C2 NickD

A full Lunar eclipse will occur on Tuesday, December 21st beginning at 1:33 AM Eastern time. Totality is at 2:41 AM. It will be visible in North America, Greenland, and Iceland. Western Europe and Asia will see parts of the beginning and the end respectively. NickD