MikeJD

Hey. it's doable. Just don't turn it inside out.

If anybody tries that, you should report them to your DZO.

Nice one! I remember people telling me that reaching 100 jumps was the sign that you were in it for the long haul. My 100th was the traditional centenary jump disaster - my goggle elastic broke on run-in, I did the whole dive with my eyes screwed up and backslid all the way down to break-off height with everybody else chasing me. Hope yours was better.

You could think of the tunnel as saving you time as well as money. You have an appointed slot, you fly regardless of the weather and you don't sit around because manifest is backed up. It's a highly focused and efficient way to work on your skills. BUT - Time spent at the dropzone is also valuable, whether you're getting in the air or not. Even just sitting around talking about 'nothing' with your friends (and hey, there are worse ways to spend the day

I loved this. Suggest you make it your sig line! And this: which neatly paraphrases Leonardo Da Vinci: "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return." Sounds like you've got it bad - hope you find a way to achieve your dream.

Yes, $5K is a big outlay to make in one go. But as others have said, skydiving gear lasts a long time if you look after it. I have at least one friend I can think of who's put probably 1,500 jumps on the same container (I'm sure there are containers around with a lot more use than that, but let's go with this example). Let's say that container cost $1,500 - a dollar a jump. I'm sure he's never changed his reserve canopy either, and he must have well over a thousand jumps on his main. Add it all up and you're looking at... let's see... a pretty small outlay for something that saves your life every time you use it.

She never really did it for me, even in her younger days. She's physically attractive, but there's a hardness about her that puts me off. I bet she'll be gutted to hear that!

1. 55 miles and 77 miles respectively. I can get to the further one almost as fast, since there's more motorway on that route. 2. No. I even like riding next to the open door, no matter how low we are, despite not having a good head for heights - but I used to spot a lot more than I do now. If I'm training with my 8-way FS team then we have one member who always spots for us just cos he's first to climb out. If I'm doing anything big then I usually manage to blag the coveted last diver slot - in which case I'm a long way from the door! 3. Easier to say what I don't like - cliched lyrics, or music where there's obviously been no effort or imagination put in. Most (but not all) dance music turns me off for that reason. 4. Nope. 5. Single and childless. 6. Baseball cap. I no longer have enough hair to go without when the sun's out. 7. Beer and white wine. Not in the same glass. 8. Is this some kind of trick question? 9. Three hundred and something. Been waiting about 15 years for my second one. I know it's coming! 10. PC. Nothing against Macs - I'm just not familiar with them. 11. Is there a difference? I'm going to have to go with both. And neither.

Just remembered this, from a while back : The European Union commissioners have announced that agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short). In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c." Sertainly, sivil servants will resieve this news with joy. Also, the hard "c" will be replaced with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik emthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced by "f". This will make words like fotograf" 20 persent shorter. In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go. By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" by "z" and "w" by " v". During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou", and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters. After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer. Ze drem vil finali kum tru.

The main thing that irritates me about English is spelling. When there are 8 zillions exceptions, then you effective lack rules. Yep. And we've famously got the 'ough' ending, with lots of different pronunciations depending on context: rough, bough, through, dough, cough. I can definitely see some benefit in closing the gap between pronunciation and spelling. And (shh... you didn't hear this from me), US English seems progressive in this respect. I'm thinking 'color' without the 'u', 'thru' (although I'm not sure whether that's standard), 'lieutenant' pronounced 'loo-tenant' instead of 'lef-tenant'. Agree about gender in French and Spanish for inanimate objects as well. I don't know where that originates, and have never seen the point of it except to make fools of foreigners trying to learn the lingo!

That's kind of sad, but I guess it's true. Jimmy, good on you for doing the right thing - but I think in these circumstances any other action would be pretty scummy...

You've been away too long. This is already happening, but in reverse order!

The popularity of threads about spelling and grammar in the forums made me wonder where people think our shared language(s) is/ are going. Clearly language is continuously changing. Since it's an evolutionary process, in theory that's for the better - so 'mistakes' that don't work, in that they reduce understanding, shouldn't survive into common usage. It seems to me that although people (including me

Yep, I reckon that's all completely true.

No doubt ripe for a remake. Which will of course be terrible!

The main problem for Specialty's isn't whether they consider themselves plural or possessive. It's that missing 'i' between the 'l' and the 't'.

Honestly? I suspect that texting while driving has actually increased since people were banned from talking on cellphones behind the wheel. Obviously I'd never condone either - but a phone held down low to text is more discreet (but even more dangerous!) than one held up to the ear.

On the, erm, plus side, at least it's allowed more cheap TV programmes to be made. Our already dumbed-down schedules are now further clogged up with shows based on CCTV footage. So now not only are 'they' watching us - we have to put up with watching ourselves being watched by them.

God, if they're going to do it twice then they really are starting to look careless.

You know, I was thinking Sweden might be a nice place to visit. But now... not so much...

I'm not a pilot (except of parachutes

Shah, some of those are stunning, thanks. Still, I think it's almost impossible to take a 'bad' picture of a plane in flight. They all stir the soul!

Tony, only just seen this. I'm really sorry. People who've never had pets don't 'get' it. You share so much time with them - often some of the happiest times of your life (and certainly theirs). It's a real wrench when you lose them. Be thankful that you had the opportunity to give her a loving home for all that time.

fswr06, not directed at you - well ok, not just at you - but lately there seem to be a lot of threads started by people with pretty low jump numbers who think it'd be cool to take video with an iPhone/ listen to an MP3 player/ make a cellphone call/ chase soda cans/ God knows what else while jumping. When did skydiving become so routine that we now have to distract ourselves while doing it? Maybe I'm easily pleased, but I've never had a skydive that I've felt could be enhanced by toys other than those I need to keep me alive.

I don't tend to use either, although I have a habit of just tilting my full-face helmet up in the plane rather than removing it altogether. Not as effective as earplugs, but it definitely provides some noise attenuation. I'd be far less inclined to worry about freefall noise: I have my helmet on fully, which gives good protection, and exposure is only a minute per jump compared to 10 - 15 minutes of plane noise. Also, don't earplugs cause you any problems with pressure equalisation? I'd have thought plugging your ears carried similar risks to jumping with the congestion of a head cold.