jfields

And you're probably right....

I disagree with that one. I don't think Bush gives a crap about Israel. Sadly, I think it is all about the oil.

What? You don't drive to Hawaii? Wuss!

Huh? What? I haven't been paying attention. >

Hell yes, it counts. The first contact sport.

LIVING ARRANGEMENT? Justin: 4-bedroom house. Master bedroom, guest room, nursery & an office. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Justin: Microsoft Windows 2000 Server (studying for exam). WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Justin: Crumbs from lunch. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BOARD GAME? Justin: Monopoly, Risk. FAVORITE MAGAZINE? Justin: Parachutist, Cook’s Illustrated. FAVORITE SMELLS Justin: Garlic sautéing in olive oil, the clean smell of my baby (either one). LEAST FAVORITE SMELLS? Justin: Rotten meat, vomit, cigarette smoke. FAVORITE SOUND? Justin: My daughter’s laugh and gurgle. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? Justin: When my daughter is crying and I can’t help her. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? Justin: Usually some random dream I had during the night. Often very bizarre and abstract. FAVORITE COLOR? Justin: Azure. HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE? Justin: N/A I let my wife answer the phone, as most calls are for her. If she isn’t around, I screen calls through the answering machine. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? Justin: My daughter’s name is Lucy Rebecca Fields. We are keeping the future boy’s name secret, and don’t have another girl’s name picket out. WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE? Justin: Family & fun. FAVORITE FOODS Justin: Damn near all of them. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Justin: Chocolate. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? Justin: Yeah, but I’ve gradually mellowed out over the last few years. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? Justin: No. STORMS - COOL OR SCARY? Justin: Either, depending on the situation. I nearly got hit by lightning once. Usually, I like watching storms. WHAT TYPE WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? Justin: 1968 Plymouth Valiant 100 Sport IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON DEAD OR ALIVE? Justin: Leonardo da Vinci. FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK? Justin: Good Belgian beers or ice cold vodka. WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN? Justin: Sagittarius, but I think the zodiac is silly. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI? Justin: Usually not, unless they are inconspicuous in something like broccoli soup. YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB YOU WANTED WHAT WOULD IT BE? Justin: I don’t think there is a perfect job. You get bored with anything, so the best thing would be switching from job to job as your interests change. The hard part about that is that it isn’t financially reasonable in most cases. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR? Justin: I don’t know. I’d have to think about that one. EVER BEEN IN LOVE? Justin: Yes. IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL? Justin: The glass is simply “half”. FAVORITE MOVIES Justin: Bladerunner, A Clockwork Orange, Cool Hand Luke. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? Justin: No, but I still type pretty damned fast. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Justin: Nothing, but I may use the storage room later. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? Justin: 12, or other easily factorable numbers. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Justin: Skydiving.

Kallend, Yeah, that would be an instance where I think the families would be justified. We (skydivers) all accept the dangers that are inherent in the sport. Your example is good, in that it shows something so far beyond what is acceptible that the "Gentlemen's Agreement" not to sue would clearly not extend to the family. My family knows my wishes are not to litigate should I die due to an accident. But in a specific circumstance like the one you gave, I wouldn't blame them if they disregarded my general wishes out of sheer anger.

Don't know which was first, but it was in a Velvet Underground song.

I used to work in restaurants. At one place, I had a code for when anyone in my family showed up. They would use the code word, then I'd go out and BS with them for a few minutes. Ours was pretty damned unlikely to be used by anyone else. They would get an order of calamari, "Extra Tentacles".

This whole issue is horrendous for me. I jumped with both Tim and Gary. Tim really was a great guy. I met his fiancée and she is a wonderful person as well. Despite what you may think based on this one event, so is Gary. It pains me to see their reputations dragged through the dirt and see Gary basically get declared a traitor by people that never even met him. Since I wasn't in Rantoul, I can't intelligently debate what went on there. Gary says something else was involved other than what was printed in the paper. Others among you say that everything was perfectly clear. I personally don't know which is true, but I suspect the real answer is somewhere in the middle. Any time there are differing accounts of any event, the truth is usually closest to a combination of the perspectives. I don't know why Tim did what he did. I want to understand it, but I suspect I never will and will always wonder. I also don't know about the mysterious things Gary is alluding to. However, rec.skydiving is about the last place I would go to discuss anything. I wouldn't read it, much less get drawn into debate with the posters. The people there showed an incredible lack of compassion for the death of a human being and fellow skydiver. Let’s try to set a better example. What I see is a ton of people jumping to conclusions. Has anyone seen a lawsuit with Gary’s name on it? Or was it another part of Tim’s family? All we have is guesswork. People with no legal or emotional attachment to the issue are pointing fingers and calling for rash action against Gary. I myself have issues with skydivers suing fellow jumpers, DZs, pilots, and organizers when accidents happen. But if there was something else to the story, as Gary says, then perhaps it does merit action. I don’t know. Let’s wait and see. Whether to take things to court or not is the family’s choice. I know that none of them other than Gary signed any release of liability or waiver. They still have the right to sue if they feel like it. All of our whining has no ability to remove that right, nor should it. Them suing does not simply mean they are “money-grubbing”. They lost a family member forever. Perhaps they feel some safety measure needs to be enforced and a lawsuit will bring about the change. Maybe, perhaps, could be, possibly, whatever. I don’t know their thoughts or reasons, and neither do any of you. Rather than us acting as the judge and jury, why don’t we just wait until all the facts come out? All our bitching one way or another won’t dissuade other people from suing if they want to, and, more importantly, it won’t bring Tim back. Gary is a reasonable guy. Since nothing we do right now can change things, I’d ask you just to give him the benefit of the doubt before you judge him. If there is more to the story, wait until you hear it. I’m not unequivocally defending his actions. I’m simply asking you to postpone your judgment until things are settled by the proper authority and the facts are established. Sadly, that authority might be a courtroom. I can’t even say now precisely what my thoughts will be when all is said and done, but I’m waiting before making up my mind. Whatever happened, for whatever reason, the only thing I’m positive about is that the whole scenario is tragic and a lot of people are hurting. Please try not to make things worse.

Jraf, Stop. You're scaring me!

Those are instances where a person or their family has willfully relinquished certain rights. The dog never has the rights in the first place. Animals can only be property, albeit loved and cherished property to many. If I were to walk up to someone's dog, pull out a gun, and kill the dog, I would be liable for the financial value of the dog. The person's emotional attachment is not legally relevant. It would be like wrecking someone's car. I'm not advocating animal cruelty, but, for many reasons, I dispute the idea that an animal has equivalent rights to a human, no matter how highly trained or valuable the animal.

Don't be greedy, Clay! Sis, don't PM it to him. Post it!

That would be her doing him the favor!

[laughing] * puts a big greasy thumb print on Quade's camera lense * Neener, neener, neener! [/laughing]

Other than the singing of musicals, that sounds like a damned fine plan. Carry on!

What SBS said. Quade... He... Umm... He uses autofocus! And he talks funny, with big words!

So what the hell are you waiting for? Please provide a detailed written plan with descriptions of the bouncing bosoms.

And what were you doing with a tire?

Okay, okay. I read it. Amusing, but I still say your response needs more stories about strippers.

Honestly, I've exceeded my maximum tolerance level of politics right now and would rather read about Pammi's adventures at the strip club.

Stop it! You are evil! As revenge for your actions, take this:

Bill & Chuck, Thanks! That was exactly the kind of information I wanted. I'm nowhere near even considering swooping, but figured that learning this stuff now on a docile canopy would be a good addition to my "Emergency Bag of Tricks". I'll practice it the next time I jump and let you know how it goes.

Michele, I understand about the explanations being complicated. Sometimes I glaze over trying to get through the aeronautical reason for something or other. But I do see that the greenies (and others) most often get into that when dealing with each other, and in response to complex questions. You can skydive without knowing the details, although they do help some people. Think of it like driving a stick-shift car. You can feel how the clutch works as you start a stop. You learn how to balance the clutch and the gas depending on how you want to shift and what surface you are on. After awhile, it is easy and intuitive. You can do that without knowing how many horsepower your engine gives, how much torque in first gear, the ratio of axle to tire size, or whatever else. You just *feel* it. It just takes practice. My first bunch of landings went like this: biff, biff, biff, biff, standing, biff, biff, biff, biff.... Then things got better as I got the hang of it. Now they are just about reversed, with the rare ungraceful landing amid the nice ones. The really ugly landings are getting more and more infrequent. My landing patterns continue to get better as well. I time the legs of my pattern to put me where I want to go better than I did before. I've learned how to make adjustments for different factors as I go along. If I need to make up ground from my base leg to my final, I just sort of cut them short into a curve. It is all a gut-level intuitive thing you develop after practice. You'll make the same transition. Just stick with it and jump. Try to learn without overanalyzing. I doubt even Paul or Bill do this while they jump: My current descent rate is x feet per second, and the dropzone is y yards away, so with a windspeed of z miles per hour on a heading of q degrees, I need to begin my final approach precisely at the following point... I bet they take note of the wind, and know their canopies, so just get into a zen-like state where they know, "Hmm. To land there, I need to do this." Then they just do it without having to really think about it. At least, that is my assumption. Take your time on the same canopy and work your way to that subconscious familiarity with your canopy before you downsize. I bought used gear at jump 17, and I plan to be on the same stuff for hundreds more jumps, because I still have plenty to learn. Good luck!

It doesn't matter. Our imaginations have filled in what you are (and are not) wearing anyway.