ChasingBlueSky

It doesn't matter which form of mail you use, you will find horror stories for anyone. UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.... This is why I over insure everything I send thru them. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

What impact would the CO2 liquid have on the environment if it was to escape? You mention that this is a very expensive procedure - which means corners will be cut somewhere ..... With comments like the following one, I tend to believe that we will not make significant changes in time to prevent long term damage. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Now that is damn cool...thanks for finding that. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I can agree with that. I wish I could still do that. I had to quit packing due to a lower back injury (non-jump related). However, even without being current as a packer I was able to pack a 135 and 170 after each load last Xmas vacation during the same time everyone else in our group packed one. If you really pay attention to packing and openings it becomes very easy to understand the quick, safe and right way to pack without trash packing. With enough practice anyone can do this. I know a few packers that I used to work with that have broken 100 packs in a day. (And I feel they are much better packers than I ever was). _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I take a bit of offense for this one! I charged 6$ for 170 and over this year (I think there might be an increase this year.) I definetly charge more for larger canopies. I can do 4 smaller canopies in a 20 minute call. I can not do 4 larger canopies in that time. I turn big canopies away a lot, but then they decide thay want to pay more. I make time for people who pay me. I packed for half of one of the ten way teams at SDC the weekend they were doing quick turnarounds (only going to 6-7k) in prep for Nationals. The smallest canopy was a 135 and I had a few 150, 170 and 190s to pack. Even with these large canopies and quick loads I was ready for them each time. When they finished practice before lunch I had close to 55 pack jobs. I kept pace with the other packer who was doing all of the smaller canopies (including the sub-100s). I finished that day with 89 pack jobs. That was $445 in one day without the tips, free drinks and eventually the beer at the bonfire. I came close to nearly 200 packs over the course of the entire weekend. To put that into perspective, I made more than a TI doing 20 paid jumps that weekend. A good packer will not have issues with time, speed or good openings with large canopies. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I spent the entire morning and better part of the afternoon at one of the Illinois Unemployment Offices giving a presentation to a variety of unemployed people and representatives from social work organizations. The biggest complaint in the room was "I can't find a job." I delved into job searching methods and it was obvious that most people were just searching on the internet and sending out emails. It was at that point that someone from the Illinois Department of Employment Security stood up and handed out this statistic: Only 4% of displaced workers are directly getting a job from responding to an internet job posting. What does this mean for those living off Top Ramen at home? Expand your network!! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

If you are a good packer that will only cost you one or two full pack jobs in a day. Personally, I recommend to anyone that has to pay more than $5/pack to find another packer. FYI - on those large student rigs I was only making about $4.50/pack. If I wanted more I could have packed tandems for closer to $9/pack. Agreed. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

You have yet to reply to my question: Is it ok for Skyride to steal and continue its illegal practices? Yes or no? If no, why do you defend them. If yes then please give a reason why. Would you be ok with someone stealing your rig if it "helped" another jumper get better gear? Do you feel the theft of the pictures is ok? Do you feel deceptive bait and switch practices are ok? Do you feel telling lies about fatalities at other DZs is a good practice? Yes or no to all of these please. Real answers, not some smart ass play on words. I doubt that anyone connected to Skyride or it's supporters will ever answer these questions. Instead they will continue to dance on the fringe and play the "it's better for us, so it must be ok....and everyone will have to deal with it because we won't change no matter how illegal it is" card. If I were you I would be upset that the owners of Skyride are putting your DZ in the middle of a legal bullseye due to their unethical behavior. Like it or not there will be legal action and anything connected to the Skyride owners will be pursued for repayment of loss if a guilty verdict comes down. Therefore Skyride will negatively effect your DZ. This is a real warning - there are some significant things happening that will not bode well for Skyride. Maybe you should re-think your position on how helpful this will be for you and the dropzone you jump at. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

If you are the only packer on the mat with a ticket? If you work for the dz and oversee a packing staff the short answer is: yes. Read the FAR _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

My sister hooked me on her years ago. Since then I have picked up a few of her CDs and seen her in concert and dated a fumbler that was obsessed with her (the girl had the tree as a large tat on her back). She is a very impressive artist. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I used to pack a brand new 230 and 260 Sabre 2 all the time. At 5'9" they are still big canopies. I never had a problem packing them while using the reverse S-Fold method....and could pack them in the same time others packed their 135. I never saw why that would cost them an extra dollar. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Agreed! A good packer will not have any issues packing a bigger canopy. I never charged extra for the larger ones (when I was a packer) which would lead to my customers giving me a tip at the end of the day. Since I was packing in the RW area, most of the canopies I saw were 150s or 170s and I would still pack more than the packer in the freefly area who's average size was 107. Packing is a great way to make money and to destroy your body. (Your lunch break is usually only during weather holds!) Over the course of one season I went from paying a packer to packing 80+ in one day. If I was lucky and there were not many pack jobs during the week, I would have healed enough to work again the following weekend. I agree with others - if they demand you pay for the reserve repack then you don't want to work for them or pack for that person. Packers are luxury items. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

FREEBIRD!!!! Didn't they say "Led Zepplin III"? I need to go back and watch that movie! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Yes, without a doubt. It depends on the industry - not all of them are internet reliant. There isn't one right way to get a job anymore - it is more about following a method and spending the time to get it done. The biggest item? NETWORK! "Who" you know is the best way to get the job, not the internet. There are a few people on this board that get multiple job leads and advice from me on a daily basis - most of those leads are coming from groups I belong to or relationships I have built. A good portion of those jobs are not on the interenet job boards. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

So what do you think Judy - does the USPA work more for the DZOs or the members? Or are the two things to closely connected that you can't seperate it? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

What about those DZs that have a better, more robust and well thought out student program? Would it be fair for them to take a step backwards? Isn't that working against the students and future members? That may be true. But do you see no good in keeping the USPA around? I've called the AOPA (my membership has lapsed for the moment) and asked them about Skydiving - they told me they would never dedicate any of their efforts specifically to anything jump related. Looks like we need our own association then. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

No one thing can serve two masters. I'm sorry that you don't understand how the USPA is more about the business of skydiving than protecting the jumpers... You want another example....How about the failure of the USP to make DZ's use the ISP? If it is so good and better for the studetns why did the USPA go from manditory to recomended? I could go on all day with examples of how the USPA ignores the jumper in favor of the DZO. Because you disagree with the route they go you feel they are ignoring all of the members? Please, explain to me how this recommendation is bad for the members? How is the inspection program bad for the members? I hear complaints with no one giving the reasons on WHY they are bad choices. This is what I am curious on...details. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

For one the inspection program. That's it? Anything else? Remind me again how that hurt you as an indivdual member. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Would you PLEASE stop trying to be the spokesperson for every jumper? Funny, I was thinking that you were doing the same thing by calling for removal of BOD members because they talked about Skyride. How is it bad for the individual that the USPA is looking into an issue that many members have complained about? Seems to me that they are doing their job. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

It was a great battle cry from The Tick: SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNN!!!! Right Arthur? Arthur?? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

It's simple. We have a slew of photographers that have not sold their pictures to any party related to Skyride, yet that organization uses their pictures. That is only one of a few things that are EASILY proven. Yes, I have done the research, have jumped at a Skyride DZ (or three), and know the jumpers there. I also am friends with jumpers that have left a certain Skyride DZ. For the thousandth time. This isn't about the DZs or the jumpers. It IS about the standard operating procedures that would be unethical and illegal no matter what biz you are in. There is no excuse, no reason and no way that it can be continued without causing further damage to the industry. Once again - in case you missed it - this isn't about you or those you jump with. Skyride is an issue that is damaging for jumpers. Therefore the USPA must get involved. And as you mentioned, other legal routes are being taken as well. Mind you this could have all been avoided if Ben and Cary cared an ounce about respecting other people's property. The only two options left are 1) ALL DZs stop using them (but that won't stop the theft of images) and 2) a legal judgement. I've asked for anyone that defends Skyride to give a list of reasons on why these illegal actions are ok. Can you do that? No one has done that yet. While you are at it - let us know if you think it is ok for other jumpers to steal gear. In case you missed it - the USPA is the reason we are jumping now after 9/11. They are the reason why you can bring your rig on an airplane after 9/11. Then there are the extra security procedures they wanted in place post 9/11 at non-towered airports. There are a few more items to that list - if you care to know, you should send an email to the USPA asking them. They will send it to you. I don't think most people no anything about the USPA but they hear a person or two on the DZ bitch about them and they jump on the bandwagon. Have you gone to a meeting? I have. This is an organization run by jumpers! They do a good job of helping us, even if they make a mistake or two along the way. No one yet has been able to give a list of "ALL" the things the USPA does to side against the jumper. I would like to see this list and the reasons why people feel it is bad for us. The fact that no one has produced it tends to show to me that most people just want to bitch about the USPA and that's about it. We need the USPA. I used to think otherwise until I did my research and contacted a few RD's and ND's and read the minutes. If you don't like it, then don't pay your membership dues or run for office and make the changes from the inside. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I cannot think of one teacher that I know (and I know quite a few) that has anything positive to say about it. I work in the education field and have the same opinion of it. NOW that is funny. A publicity stunt shows that Bush knows what is happening in a classroom? He wasn't even holding the book the right way! Laura was a teacher when? In what part of town? What was the drop out rate, what was the failure rate, etc? How relevant is her experience to what happens in classrooms right now? They have made a cookie cutter solution that won't work. For example the schools around 14th and Kedzie in Chicago and the schools in the very well off area of Hoffman Estates are a world apart. How do I know that? I've done volunteer work at inner city schools and at suburban schools. Kids in the inner city are often passed to the next grade by default. Why? If they fail a level they tend to drop out of school or get pulled out - then they become a statistic. I've tutored children in 6th grade that didn't even come close to have 1st grade math skills. But school kept them off the streets and gave them other options in life. This is a contest now? Education is something I believe in. It pisses me off to see it get overlooked as a real concern because Bush came up with a phrase that sounds like a real plan. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Ask ANY teacher in a public school what they think about no child behind. You will get a resounding majority that find it to be a joke. It's nothing but paperwork pushing that was created by an administration that didn't spend any time in a classroom anywhere in this country to see what was happening. "No child behind" sounds really good when Bush is pounding his fist about education in front of the media. But the truth is that its just a smokescreen - just like "tons of WMDs" "fixing social security in my first term" "lowering the budget, trade deficit, pollution" "keeping jobs in America" etc. They are all jokes. Nothing but politcal bullshit rhetoric. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

This is what you get for making fun of us last week when we got the snow. Maybe you should go to the desert. I love how a little bit of rain or snow shuts down half a state. We get hit with 15 inches of snow and it's biz as usual the next morning. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Depends on the venue. They have rules about when you can start to wait in line. If you want to be close you will have to wait hours before the gates ever open. In July of '93 I waited 9 hours outside of Soldier Field to get good seats for Pearl Jam. I still had to wait thru two opening acts brining it to a total of 11 hours waiting. The end result? Front Row. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....