Nightingale

what I don't get is when people point out how different God is from the Old Testament to the New. This is one thing about the Bible that doesn't make sense to me. Isn't it the same God?? Why the huge differences in teaching and behavior?

DOCTOR. NOW. nuff said.

they gave me a discount on the tandem that I did that same day, and a discount on the repeat of level 2, which pretty much covered what I'd paid for the first go-round.

normally at Perris, the instructor who does your dirt dive is the main JM on the jump. they switched this up on me with someone new as we were getting on the plane. To a newbie, that can really mess with your head, and that's what happened to me. It got to the point where I was scared out of my mind. When I said no at 6,000 feet, the JMs were cool with it, because they saw how freaked I was, accepted it, said I made a good call, and let it go. The people surrounding me continued to pressure me for the next 6,000 feet or so til we got to altitude. Encouragement becomes pressure when it doesn't stop at an appropriate point. As a fun jumper, you do not have to jump with a freaked out student. The JMs do, if the student chooses to jump, so let them handle it.

CONGRATS!!!!!

I was a student. This was my second jump ever, and I was having some anxiety issues to begin with, and there were some last minute changes that made it worse, and no time on the ground to think about it, because I got rushed onto the plane. what caused me to change my mind was that five minutes before we got on the plane, the DZ changed the plane from otter to skyvan, and the school changed my jumpmasters, who didn't give me much think time. It was just "oh here's the skyvan exit, lets go!" and then on the ride to altitude, when I had a chance to take a moment to think about what was going on, I realized that I didn't even know the JM's name, and that I wasn't comfortable with the exit, and I kept getting more and more scared, and then around 6,000 feet, I said I wasn't jumping. The JMs could see that I was really shaken up, and just said "okay. your call." but the other people in the plane wouldn't let it go, and the more they told me to jump, the more I said no, and the more freaked out I got.

LOL! I'm jumping on Friday... I PROMISE!!!!! Its been too damn long! I'm going crazy. even my roommate is giving me dirty looks and telling me "go throw yourself out of a plane, already!"

if someone has never heard of Christianity, that doesn't make them evil either, and it doesn't mean they will always choose the wrong thing.

exactly. the text says they can choose evil. not that they WILL, deity or not. therein lies the difference. it says "there is no UNrighteousness in God." not that righteousness cannot exist elsewhere. You're turning a negative into a positive. take the following sentence: Kerry cannot exist in a no-cat household This sentence does not mean that cats cannot live outside Kerry's presence, simply that Kerry cannot live independent of the cats. The cats existance is not dependent on Kerry's existance, but Kerry cannot be without her cats. Although God is always surrounded by righteousness, righteousness is not always dependent on following the Christian God. Righteous deeds are often done by people who have never even heard of the concept of Christianity.

why would a deity that is supposed to be pure goodness make a creation that will "always choose the way of sin"? I'm sorry, but that argument doesn't make sense, because one needs to examine all the good works done by non-Christians. Obviously, not all non-Christians choose to do evil deeds, therefore, your argument is flawed.

I would say that downloading the original sheet music of Beethoven's 9th Symphony is legal, since any copyrights have long since lapsed... however, downloading a recording of someone's performance of that music (that has been released on CD and has not been released to 'common domain') would not be legal, since you are not stealing the music, you are stealing the artist's interpretation of the music.

whooo boy.... worms everywhere.... if God is omniscient and knows what we're going to choose before we choose it, are we truly free to choose differently? bit of a paradox, methinks.

WalMart. Target. Pool Supply Stores.

hmm... I would still say that God created satan according to the Bible, simply because in creating him, he created a being capable of choosing evil. Although he didn't tell satan which way to choose, he created a being capable of choosing. Therefore, he created satan. According to the text, free will was a gift that God chose to give.

he didn't say he'd never done anything wrong... however, many non-christians, instead of believing that mistakes are something to be repented for and to do penance for, view mistakes simply as learning opportunities... they take the lesson and move on, without the 'guilt' aspect. Apologies are in order to any individuals who were wronged, but apologies to a deity are usually not seen as necessary, nor is asking for forgiveness from anyone other than the human beings involved. Its two ways of looking at the same issue. many non-christian religions don't have the concept of sin. Basically, you two are arguing semantics. What you call a sin, he'd call a mistake to learn from.

Um... in a way, he's right...I think.... didn't God create the Devil? I mean, Lucifer's supposed to be a fallen angel, and God created the Angels, so wouldn't that mean he created the Devil by default?

yes, its theft. however... what about when its played over the radio and you tape it or record it to CD? I would say that's different from the whole MP3 thing because 1: you're not getting the same quality as an MP3, and 2: the artists have given permission for it to be played on the radio, but did not give permission for it to be placed on Kazaa or whatnot.

You can get it at Longs Drugs, and probably other drug stores. www.longs.com if all else fails.

take Arizona Natural cold medicine. Its all herbal, and works GREAT. No sleepiness, no side effects that I've noticed.

personally, if a tandem looks terrified and I'm sitting across from them, I'll tease them and try to get them to laugh, or talk about something irrelevant to the jump to take their mind off it. Ultimately, though, they're the TM's responsibility. Students should be left mostly to their JMs, I think, if they're having anxiety issues. Once I said I wasn't jumping that day, the JMs just said "okay. its your call." the people pressuring me were the sport jumpers who were not my instructors. The JMs both said I'd made a good call.

mods, I hope this is okay... I've seen a lot of threads about people getting laid off, losing jobs, or just being unhappy with where they work. A friend just forwarded me this to send to another friend, and I thought maybe my skyfriends could benefit from the info too, especially if they're looking for a move to California... 21st Century insurance in southern California is hiring several people over the next few weeks. Apparently, someone screwed up and didn't hire enough people for their next training class to start, so HR is under a lot of pressure to fill the slots right now. I know my friend's position required either a college degree or prior insurance experience, but he said there may be other positions available too. Below is his email, with the links and phone numbers (which are public record and listed in the phone book, so I'm not posting anyone's personal info). ------------------------------------------------------------ Kris, If your friend is still interested in looking into a job at 21st Century Insurance, he'll want to act quickly. My first suggestion would be for him to call my office at 888-352-9910 (or 714-255-9910) and ask to speak with Laura Booth (Human Resources Field Supervisor). There is also some information online he can check out. Specifically, he can check out the careers section of the company's website for all current openings: http://www.21st.com/company/careers.do I did manage to find one listing for the position at which I started (Claim Office Adjuster, Trainee) listed for the home office in Woodland Hills. The info for that position can be viewed here: http://www.21st.com/company/careers.do?jobid=2398&deptid=4 If he is interested, I would strongly recommend acting quickly. The training classes are generally no larger than about eight or nine people and they last for ten weeks. Usually there are a couple of training groups going on at the same time (different offices), and they company is expanding, so they're definitely going to continue to hire new people, but if he waits too long right now, he may have to wait for a couple of months unitl the next training class starts up. Let me know if he has any questions. ~Bill ------------------------------------------------------------

a non-christian probably isn't even going to pick up on the stepping-on-snake thing, if they're not familiar with Genesis.

looks like your dad gave you some good advice. an undergrad degree really is just a starting point. just finish it as quickly as possible with whatever major, and work on the computer stuff after. remember... you'll have more money for skydiving if you have a well-paying, full time job. right now, I go to school at night, work during the day, and jump on the weekends. because of my degree, I make $15,000 more than someone in my same position without a degree. just something to think about.

my favorite cheap meal: Kraft DELUXE mac and cheese (only bout 50cents more than the regular stuff, and tastes much better) with chopped up summer sausage in it. Tuna works too, but summer sausage is better. if you haven't tried summer sausage, its not like pizza sausage or breakfast sausage. Its the stuff you put on crackers. More like a dry salami, I guess. Very tasty.

ask your instructors. keep in mind that all 210s or 190s are not the same. some are much more high performance than others, so there's a lot more to look at than just wingloading. check with your instructors and follow their advice.