freakyrat

Here is the link for you all. I work with this all the time. You just type in the 4 letter (icao) identifier for the closest airport that reports weather and you can get the readouts. There is a graphic with the temp and dewpoint soundings and it is put in a simpler form at the bottom of the graph. This data is usual available every hour. I use it for briefing our balloon pilots and I also use it for our military pilots for their low-level routes. I have also taken it to the DZ and showed the DZ how to access it on the web. Chris http://www-frd.fsl.noaa.gov/mab/soundings/

One of A&F's shirts that I have say's New Hampshire, 40 million squirrels can't be wrong. I also have anothe rone I bought in Cape Cod that says. It's not to late to talk to your cat about catnip. Anther one. Bad Cop, No Donut. Good Cop Extra Donut. Chris

It's kind of salty ginger like. I had to do it last year the doc found two small polyps and one 10mm one with a tail on it. Cancer runs in our family so I know he prevented things by taking these out. I was out at Perris (last January) before I had the colonoscopy done. I was ocassionally doubling over in pain like I had appendicitis or something but it was actially the large polyp that was above the appendix that was causing a blockage. I kind of didn't act right with Dan BC when he came over to talk cause I didn't feel like jumping the way I felt. Well I'm fine now but I need a followup in January and got to drink this same junk again. If it prevents cancer it's worth it. If it is any consolation I had two winning cash five lottery tickets for $500 apeace and I got to collect them two days after I had my procedure. The fleet phosporus soda laxative is a lot better than the junk they used to make you take and it works a lot better. Hope your test comes out OK Chris

Have a safe trip back home. Blue Skies Chris

Saw a short performance arranged by the Cirque du Soleil team of Michael Laprise, Lucien Berneche and Ms Faon Shane who has performed for Cirque Du Soleil since she was seven). The theme was "Louis The XIV, The Sun King". This took place between the first and second DJ sets at "Black in Blue" in Montreal this past October. Even though it was a short set I thought that the acrobatics and the dance theme were very good. I've never managed to get off of work when Cique was in Houston but the next time it comes I really want to go. Chris

"I'm still waiting for the '90s style of huge-baggy jeans-sliding-halfway-down-your-ass-w/-your-undies-showing to go out of style". Actor Denis Leary has some fun with this on his CD "Lock and Load". The cut is "Coffee". Chrsi

I saw Eddie at Mardis Gras in New Orleans long time ago. There is one radio persoanality the radio nazis at Clear Channel haven't silenced yet. He must be "The Last DJ" It's former WLS Chicago DJ from the olden days Dick Biondi. He still does an Oldies show from Navy Pier on Saturday Nights for a Classic Rock station. The guy must be 80 or so. Getting back to KLOL. I remember the "Metal Head" days of Crash and Col St. James. Hasn't Houston got enough Hispanic stations and can't the nazis at Clear Channel give us a variety of stations to choose from? Chris

I remember when I went home (South Bend, Indiana) during Christmas week. It was unusually warm for Indiana in the 40's or about 50 I think. I went down to Frankfort to jump. Dressed warm and joined some folks on a 6-way out of a 206. They had a great heater on it and the usual foldout door. I was to busy concentrating on having fun on the dive to worry about the cold. The dive went great. The wind was howling at exit and deployment altitude. We must have got out about 4 miles from the DZ but we all made it back. I backed up on my old F111 GP Wildfire 176 sq ft nine cell all the way to about 1000 feet but still touched down ok. Chris One good thing I'm just about over this frikin cold, allergies or whatever it was thanks to Claritan D and Flonase.

Hey Levin I remember that time in Beaumont when they had the CASA and the pilot was backing it up and broke the tailgate. They had to remove that section of the tailgate. It was truly cold and everyone was in blankets climbing to altitude. Hey what is Mazzy wearing in that photo?

Another good reason is this Cumulative Security Patch for IE6 running with XP SP2 DOESNT F*C*ING WORK. It's supposed to stop malicious code execution in websites but it wipes out all the websites creates a quick ping timeout so that NO web pages will load. The Hotfix is KB834707 It was supposedly fixed by Microsoft last weekend so it would be more stable but after installing it for a second time t worked for a while but just quit working and IE6 was back to the same routine. I just uninstalled this Hotfix and everything is now back to normal. Service Pack 2 is still installed and is working fine but this Hotfix for IE is just the Pits. When will Microsoft get it right? Chris

Hey Ferret are Jagger and Julie still doing The Morning Edge on the KDGE or have the Clear Channel Nazis screwed up another radio station? I know there are an awful lot of spanish speaking stations on the dial in Dallas to cause every time I visit Dallas I have a hard time finding my favorite stations and one of thos stations was KEGL the Eagle. Boy they screwed that one up to. The last time I was in the Orlando, FL area they had radio stations that played just about any format you could think of including one station that played Techno all day from mix artists like Oakenfold, John Digweed, Paul Van Dyk and others. I suppose the Clear Channel Nazis have screwed up that market to. Oh well, time to get Sirius about firing these greedy radio nazis and get Sirius or XM. Chris

Clear Channel Broadcasting are the Radio Nazis. Enough Said. Chris

My prayers are with you and your family. Chris

I just found out that this is a Nine Inch Nails song (I Want To Fuck You LIke An Animal) after I had this song and listened to it on a mix CD for about three years now. Incidently DJ Roger Sanchez spun this about 4 in the morning in Montreal a couple of weeks ago along with some other sexy stuff like an exclusive mix of his , sung by Lisa Pure called Hot 4 You. I tried to leave the Convention Center several times that morning but he kept spinnin this "Ghetto House" that was down right bitchy and intoxicating.

Yeah Prince's "pussy control". Very naughty song, but cool to dance to.

Hey Blake Yeah it sure looks yucky out. I got to work this weekend briefing pilots about it. I had one Kingair pilot call last night for a briefing to Kerville. I told him how yucky it was going to be and he was happy. Seems his party were goin deer huntin and they love this kind of weather. Well I hope it's better next weekend as I have Sunday off. Chris Skydive Houston

My Pilot 124 flies very similiar to my Stiletto 120 but is easier to stop on the bottom end even in no wind conditions. The nice thing about it being semi-eliptical is that it isn't so sensitive when it comes to line twists. Incidently, I have not had any line twists on my Pilot and the openings have always been soft, smooth and on heading. It turns great, I can pull down on one toggle and make it spiral like my Stiletto. My Pilot has a very smooth glide into final and is a breeze to land. In summary It's a very nice canopy. Chris

My prayers and thoughts are with you during this time Chris Skydive Houston

I have not jumped a Safire2 but I have jumped the Pilot. I was looking for a milder all-around canopy in addition to my Stiletto 120 and I ended up buying the Pilot 124 that I demoed at the WFFC. My Pilot has had consistent on heading openings. It is fun to fly. I don't fly it to radical but I can say it will spiral like my Stiletto and I would agree with Bill Von here it is real easy to land and has a more bottom end flare. My 124 comes in just about as fast as my Stiletto also. Yesterday I was on final and close to the ground and I had to clear one of the runway lights on our grass strip. I kind of picked up my feet and spread them into a sit position and cleared the runway light put them back down and touched down ever so soft. The landing kind of would made a good picture if someone had a camera. What's really nice is the Pilot is a canopy you can travel with and not be worry about flying or landing it at an unfamiliar DZ. It's consistant. Chris

Actually the best and most longlasting battery for the older timeout is the PX28S Silver battery from Kodak. They had these at SkyKat gear shop in Raeford, NC. You also may be able to get these directly from Kodak. Because the availability of these are so scarce most folks just use the PX28L lithium battery which you can find almost anywhere. When mine ran out a Perris last year I found a replacement at the Moreno Valley Wal-Mart. The posts about the Radio Shack replacement is right also. I've used this one in my Timeout and the Duracell and the Kodak cell. All worked just fine Chris

23% of those who identify as part of the GLBT community voted for Bush. Of those who listed "Moral Issues" as important according to exit polls, 25% favored legal marriage for same-sex couples and 35% favored civil unions. That's 60% of the electorate who favored some form of legal protection for same-sex couples. Fully 50% of those who favor civil unions for gays voted for Bush so it's clear that the definition of "Moral Values" is beyond gay and lesbian issues. I think Kerry lost cause he never articulated a clear message and how he would apply it. In other words he Never Closed The Sale. I think Jack Kemp is right, John Kerry lost on the Tax the Rich issues, and the War on Terror issues. Chris

Americans don't favor gay marriage but in exit polls of voters that said that moral issues were important 60 % of the voters supported some form of legal protection for same-sex couples with 25% favoring legal marriage and 35% civil unions with 37% against all protection. fully one half of the voters who favored civil unions for same sex-couples voted for President Bush. In otherwords of the Bush voters carrying about "moral issues" did not mean opposition to gay equality. In every state except Oregon, these measures were on the ballot simply because the right wing sought a polical advantage. Same-sex marriage was already illegal in those states and in those 10 states there was no challenges or attempts by anyone in the gay community to legalize same-sex marriage. In Oregon the voters were more evenly divided than in the other states. The one state where the public actually saw same-sex couples married was the state with the highest number against the ballot measure but the measure passed anyway. In conclusion this issue played a role in the election, but not a decisive one. Also explain this, Bush got 23% of the gay and lesbian vote. That's 23% of the electorate(GLBT) that favors some kind of legal status for their relationships and 37% of the hetero's that favor some kind of legal status for same-sex couples. Personally, I'm all in favor of protecting marriage, but I don't favor a putting discrimination in our Constitution. I still think we can come to a compromise and provide some kind of legal protections etc. for same-sex couples, things that married couples take for granted. Chris

According to sources in the Middle East, Arafat was known for his wild sex escapades when he was young. The medical doctors treating him have ruled out a lot of things, but according to some websites knowledgeable about the subject Arafat possibly has AIDS based on some deductive reasoning but this will never be admitted by the PLO and will be covered up to the utmost if it's true according to the same sources. Chris

John He isn't dead yet. Good post though. Also one Muslim cleric thinks Arafat was poisoned by Israel. The plain fact of the matter of what I've read is that Arafat has AIDS. They medical tests done on him have just about ruled out everything else but the authorities will never admit this even if it was true. Arafat in his younger days was also known for going to wild sex orgies etc. according to some sources in the arab world. Chris

I just read where Lincoln Chaffe is thinking of switching parties and becoming a Democrat. Chris