peacefuljeffrey

Do tell! You can at least help some of us live vicariously! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Thanks for the guidelines, guys!

Not to mention, aren't they like, shamelessly being marketed directly to "homey"? I mean, it's all over the ads that this is almost a "race-specific" vehicle! They come already set up with those thumping bass speakers that make you feel really uncomfortable to be at a stoplight anywhere near them... If I were black, I'd be freakin' insulted by those cars. AND, yes, they are quite "fugly." Not to mention, that every other car is being given 240+ HP these days, and those things are like getting 110 or something pathetic. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Quick! Someone refresh my memory about what the X:Y:Z are supposed to stand for! I always forget this stuff! It's like sex, skydives, and something, right? -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I'm with Quade on this one. Defnitely a big-screen experience, and the first film to have NO SETS, no minatures at all - everything was Green-Screen and CG. mh . Aww, thanks guys, for being sad for me... No, I totally hear ya -- I know how much different and better movies can be on the big screen. The only problem is, lately the multiplexes have certain theaters that are full size and certain others are puny little dinky shits. You never really know if you'll be watching the movie on, essentially, a large-screen t.v. I'm surprised at the folks who said here that it sucked. I wsonder if the expectations were off-the-mark. I could easily watch this movie and say, "Oh, geez, amphibous submarine-airplanes? Come on!" but instead I'm suspending a bit more disbelief than usual and watching this like an old Buck Rogers kinda thing, and as such it really is enjoyable. The performances, technology, and action are all over-the-top, comic-book style. It's good for what it is.

Perhaps a face to go with the name part?

Well, I'm not on your list (God only knows why, 'cause it's so, so, prettayyy!) but in the spirit of helping, I'll post another or two. Blue skies, -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Where I fly, they dock a small blimp there. It's only recent. Last time I went for a night flight, just before sundown they landed the thing, and it was pretty amazing, but I didn't get to see it all because of ground obstructions blocking my view. I'd like to go there some time when I know it's coming, and watch them disembark. Of course, this is a ground landing, not against a building. The reason I asked is that in the beginning of Sky Captain the World of Tomorrow, they showed a blimp docking atop the Empire State Building... it got me thinking (always a dangerous and risky thing to do). They just said a great line: "Can we just for once die without all this bickering?! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Same here. Actually, I packed my last few jumps on student gear, too. My main premise is that I do not want to kick back and relax while someone else packs for me until I am really good, quick, efficient. I already get good deployments, but only recently have I been having an actual relatively easy time getting my main into its d-bag. The last four weeks have been sort of an awakening for me, things coming together.

My mom kept a scrapbook of school stuff from me and my siblings, going all the way back to elementary school or even before. There's a homework assignment of mine from 1979; I was 8 years old. The assignment was this: "This Saturday, you can go anywhere and do anything you choose. Write about some of your plans." Here is what I wrote: "If I was free on Saturday, I would go to Brooklyn, or Virginia, or Accapulco (sic), or Florida, then to the Statue of Liberty, or Buffalo, or climb trees, or go to Canada, or to my grandma's and grandpa's or to my aunt and uncles, or out in space, or go to the mountains or beach, or maybe boating, or sky diving. Sorry folks I can't think of any more." It warms me up inside to realize that lonnnng before I ever got a chance to do it, I was eager to skydive. (All those other places were ones where I had family or that my family members had been to.) I have to wonder what I had seen, on t.v. or in movies, that kindled in me a desire to skydive. I like knowing that it is, for me, very deep-seated.

Roger that!

As my operating theory, I'm using the premise that I won't be using the second and third alarms, really. I just want that casual reminder that my skydive (the freefall, anyway) is over and it's time to get ready to deploy. That's why I use that 6,000' mark. At that point I'm tracking, barrel-rolling, and deploying all in sequence, really with little regard for the 5,000' foot alarm. Yes, I realize that when I'm hearing those alarms, I'm already cruising down through those altitudes.

Uh oh... I thought it was, "Pull; pull at altitude; pull stable." As in, you'd better pull, period. If possible, pull at a proper altitude. If possible that you have the luxury, pull stable. As in, don't wait for stability if it means you'll cruise on through your altitude. I had an instructor pull me because I cruised on down from our planned deployment altitude of 5,000 because I was trying to stop potato-chipping. I'm pretty sure I was taught in the order I wrote above. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

My strategy is different. I only just recently started jumping a Pro-Track. I love it, and of course I had to decide what my warning altitudes would be. Because I generally break off at 5,000' (being a newbie), I set my first warning at 6,000' so I know 5k is coming up, then second warning 5,000', and third at 2,000' so that I'm warned in case I'm dealing with a fast mal and really need to be reminded to give it up and pull silver. I would welcome comments on my strategy, especially if anyone sees something faulty about it. P.S. I always jump an analog mechanical altimeter and just because I use a Pro-Track, I still use the analog as I normally would. I won't rely on electronics. I use my eyes and mind to stay altitude-aware. And there is no substitute for looking at the ground, after all. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I see good points on both sides of this idea, actually. Individual people honor their lost privately and internally, and that makes sense to me. But around the world, people gather on certain days to do this kind of thing together. We have Memorial Day, that's the big recognized one, but that's for military dead. I think that there would be nothing wrong with having a day for skydivers, living and gone. It need not be morbid at all, really. It would just be a day on which we all could know that we all are thinking about those we've lost. Admittedly, sometimes we get so busy and distracted that they slip from the forefront of our minds because they've been gone a long time, and we can use the refresher to feel our love for them flow over us once again. I'm thinking that people would be doing memorial jumps and speaking fondly of skydivers they miss. Not for nothing, it would speak well publicly of our sport, since whuffos probably think we're all crazy and/or stupid, and pay no mind to danger or death. Imagine if we made news with some safely conducted demos on a specific, newsworthy day of the year, and showed everyone how much we care about each other? They don't currently know that! I play disc golf. Once a year, through the PDGA, disc golfers celebrate the "World's Biggest Disc Golf Weekend!" It's awesome; at every club, they keep track of who signed up to play, and they have little tourneys and stuff, even T-shirts with a new logo each year, and discs that have the logo too. And everyone gets to know that not only are they making a point to play disc golf on that day, so is just about every other disc golfer out there. I think the premise is the same, and it's a worthy one. This is apart and aside from Safety Day. I'm for it. Blue skies, -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Thanks for the help and information, Terry. I think that the cord I'm using will be perfectly fine, since so far I have never seen a closing loop that was not made with material that seemed almost identical. Riggers and packers who have shown me how to make closing loops essentially were using the same thing. The only difference is that I have acquired a bunch of spools of it in some very cool colors, whereas most people just use white, it seems. Attached is a picture of one of my loops. As you can see, it is finger trapped to make a loop at the end, and I use a simple Overhand Knot to keep it through the rivet. They also make pretty cool bracelets, using the knot/loop trap technique.

I'm LOVING the funky, retro, art-deco Fritz Lang style production design of this movie!

If they used to dock blimps on that spike atop the Empire State Building, but the people rode in the little gondola under the middle of the blimp... ...how in the hell did they ever get the people down from there?! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard a man say!!! Why can't I find a man like you!!!! Blahh... I say beautiful things all the time. It's like feedin' the cat or changing the roll of paper towel. Ain't no thing! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Would ya believe I had NEVER heard or seen his comedy until last month when I was at justaflygirl's place! OMG that guy is incredibly funny!! ...I can almost see why she says she'd do 'im. LOL! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Wow, that describes me too! I get to post but don't have to do all the work typing! The only thing is, I am not like other "bohemians" who don't settle down in a single place to live for a while. I've really only lived in two general areas in my life, except for going to college. I am not a "cutaway" person -- yet. I may very well end up being so. I have learned to not think that I know at any given point what I am going to know, think or feel at any point in the future. I consider that to be one of the more valuable lessons I've learned in life. That, and "nothing really matters." -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That's exactly how I feel. I didn't know Gus but this saddens me like if I did. My condolences to everyone. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Awww...

Sometimes they practice medicine on the landing field. Let's avoid that happening this weekend, people. Jump safe to jump long!!!

Um, where? That sure doesn't sound like Sebastian! (I'm looking forward to a good, full day of skydiving tomorrow!) -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"