Lindsey

Linz, I honestly think that all skydivers can't be morally right in the abuse of gas in this world.... In living by a strict moral code, ya' cheat yourself out of too much life.... linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

21 million people died worldwide in the flu pandemic of 1918-1919. 549,000 of those were in the US. The CDC estimates that 20,000 people die each year of influenza....just your regular ol' flu that most of us have at least some level of immunity against. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

I think it is only a matter of time until we have another flu pandemic. I think it's better for people to have information than not, and I don't see how being proactive could be perceived as a bad thing. Timing may be a fortunate coincidence, but I sure don't see providing information to people as a diversionary tactic of any sort. If providing information were to improve the outcome, then they can claim success legitimately. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

One thing that I find interesting is how we decide who is innocent and who is guilty. If one of our own, or someone we see as "on our side" is found not guilty of a crime, then we stand behind that verdict with vehemence, and in our minds they aren't guilty....nobody says it's because of the high-priced defense team or anything of that nature. If someone who we don't associate ourselves with is found not guilty of a similar crime, then years and years later we're still arguing about whether the verdict was just and mulling over all the reasons that he may have been acquitted. Maybe he's really not guilty too... linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

I don't think "scare tactics" should be used, because when they are people just shrug them off as "scare tactics" and nothing more. I do think that sometimes instructors may want their students to feel optimistic about skydiving, and maybe sometimes the dangers of the sport aren't emphasized enough. When people have asked me if skydiving was safe, I've always told them that it is NOT safe, that jumping out of an airplane is inherently life-threatening. I don't think that students should be made to look at fatality pictures. I don't personally want to see the pictures myself, either. But I don't think it's a bad idea for students to be given the opportunity to see such photos if that's what they need to convince themselves to take the dangers inherent to the sport seriously.... linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

WOO HOOO!!! Now I can justify driving that big ol' pick-up truck I've been wanting to buy linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Off work today....cleaning house, bicycling, hanging around....then I'm working overnight tonight, and jumping tomorrow!!!! The last time I jumped was the middle of September. Can't wait. :) linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

yes -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

YES! With fried catfish.....dipped it ketchup! And coleslaw. Jalapeno cornbread.....

Yeah, in the Cracker Barrel. you eat there too, huh? lol.... linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

grits are good with cheese. YUUUUMMMMY! It's ground hominy, and great with breakfast in the winter. But then there's the acronym.... Girls Raised In The South. Isn't that what I've seen on the t-shirt? linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

I agree with you. I was still speaking to the original question of whether a person who makes such a mistake should be grounded. Blaming the instructor and letting her off the hook is perpetuating the problem. But I do agree that altering teaching methods to head these problems off before they occur is worthwhile. -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

I think about how many times I've heard students say things like, "I tried to tell my mother how safe skydiving is now...," or "It is safe, right?" I think it's really difficult sometimes for people new in the sport to accept that they really CAN die. That when we and our waivers that they sign mention the possibility of death, that it's not just legal mumbo jumbo. I think that people don't realize how FAST they have to act....that they don't have time to mentally wrestle with the problem at hand....that they need to know what to do and take action. I don't know how to accomplish that in a FJC, except to lay it out completely and honestly.... linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

The bottom line is, though, that it doesn't matter whose fault it is that she didn't learn adequately. SHE's the one who will die if she takes inappropriate action or no action at all. She is the only one who will suffer the consequences of her poor training or lack of insight into the harsh reality that she really can die skydiving. She is the only person who can fix her problem. Nobody else is gonna be there to help her out in those last few critical seconds. It's not something to shrug off, imho. Blaming instructors is useless, even if it is to some extent true. Where the problem originated is a moot point. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Really....."congregating" like that. I never consider it congregating when I meet with friends to chat (we aren't really the praying types). If you're standing around talking, that's pretty benign. But if you're congregating, you must be up to no good.... Are you only allowed to pray in a church? Why must a Muslim go to a mosque every time he wants to pray? linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

We've known for a long time that Ibuprofen can cause GI bleeding. It's not much of a surprise. A lot of people who take NSAIDs also take PPIs and/or Carafate to help with these sometimes-unfortunate side effects. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

You can always guaic your stool to see if there's any occult bleeding . Just take a gloved finger....oh nevermind.... linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

...and do you think that people who are *truly* grieving a person's death could care less what a bunch of jumpers are doing with their Saturday night? I doubt that we're THAT important to them. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Always? What if you have a "reason" to pull that low or not at all? For instance, I've had someone tell about they're almost double total for instance (rigging error, 2nd reserve pin couldn't release without damaging the reserve housing, which she did!), or people that are otherwise busy the entire time to fix the problem trying to get the reserve (or any canopy) to open. Personally I don't see any reason to ground people like that, they didn't "wait" for the cypres fire, kept fixing a problem they should've cutaway from for too long or simply pulled too low. It doesn't matter if there was a "reason." Grounding is not punishment for misbehavior (or shouldn't be in this situation), but an opportunity for that jumper to seriously brush up on some needed skills and gain some awareness. If there's a reason that you pulled low enough for a cypres to fire, then you need to figure out what to do for that not to happen again. Remediation. We all need it sometimes.... linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

I paid $800 for a used Samurai with new lines.... :) linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

My BEST out landing story.... In freefall, because none of us checked the spot before we left, we realized that the DZ was nowhere near us. We landed in a neighborhood about 3 miles from the airport. A guy let us pack in his yard. The next door neighbor came out to give us shit. Turns out she was one of my best friends from high school whom I hadn't seen in nearly 20 years.... -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Whatever was the "right" or "wrong" thing to do just isn't black or white. What's disgusting is how people who weren't there are so ready to pick apart the way those who were there responded. Usually when people are in a crisis of any sort, their thoughts are not on how their response appears to the general public. They respond in a way that seems right at the moment. People who weren't there have no business picking apart their actions. I remember when my grandfather died a while back. My mother and I were sitting there during his funeral, and something made us both laugh. Then we couldn't stop laughing....shaking we were both laughing so hard. I still can't explain why. And I'm glad that people around us thought we were crying....but we weren't. Had they known we were laughing, then they probably would've been as judgmental as you are in examining our actions. It didn't mean that I didn't care that he was dead or that I was heartless. It was just a response at the time. I don't know why the party went on, but I see no reason not to accept at face value what those who did have to deal with this incident have to say. Why should they NOT do what they did. I've seen no explanation from those who believe it was in poor taste, except that it was somehow "wrong." linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

drinking water upside down works for me -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Grounding until she gets some remediation and demonstrates a good learning curve. Regardless of whether there's something that we all don't know (I'm sure you're right), she has demonstrated in a pretty dramatic way a dangerous lack of understanding. She should do what she can to correct that before she skydives again. It's not about punishing a person, but rather improving her chances of survival when she needs to understand the workings of her gear again.... linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

I was trying to think of how this might play out. Having never (knock on wood) been at a dz when a person died, I can only imagine how I'd feel. I jump at really small dz's, so it'd probably be a friend. I can't imagine just packing up at the end of the day and going home. I imagine we'd hang around together and have a beer....and a toast.... No telling what it'd turn into after we had a few. While it may appear outwardly to be in bad taste, I bet that in reality it wasn't as thoughtless as it seems. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail