MikeJD

I voted yes, because I remember him from his skysurfing exploits in the mid nineties - I think I first came across him in one of Patrick Passe's Travelling videos. However he's been off my radar for a good ten or fifteen years, so it doesn't surprise me that you wouldn't have heard of him.

It could have been so much worse, too, if they'd let Dave Prowse voice his character with his Bristol accent.

We actually used to operate a scheme at work like that - lots of people are working away from home, so there are lots of toiletries to be had. Maybe management decided to stop it because somebody asked this very question - whether or not we were encouraging 'theft'

I'm fairly skinny too (5'11", 154lbs). I resisted wearing weight for many years - just because of the extra effort involved and because, like you, I have a bendy back - but now I routinely wear 8lbs in freefall and 16lbs in the wind tunnel, and I feel much better for it (although it's always a pleasure to take it off again!) The trouble is that although you might be able to stay down without lead, chances are you'll be at the upper limit of your speed range and in an uncomfortable position that won't let you fly well. If you have everything pulled in to keep your speed up, you're going to have a real challenge every time you have to change your position - even reaching for grips without popping up can become difficult. In the past I have seen both suits that were made entirely of spandex and those made of the slick material that Rob mentions - but I don't see many slick, or even really tight, suits any more - most people just seem to pile on the lead if they want to go faster. Maybe you need a combination of both. You mention a 'leadvest', which seems kind of old fashioned. Typically these days lead is worn in a belt around the midriff, and you might find that works better for you. You may even find you can get away with less of it. One downside of wearing extra weight (as opposed to a close-fitting suit) is that of course it increases the wing loading on your canopy - in your case by a big factor, given your normal weight. So keep an eye on that when choosing canopies.

Scammers are a plague, and unfortunately always will be as long as there are gullible people in the world. Thanks for not being one of the gullible people. Every little helps.

Presumably Bluetooth range is too small. No problem for a bike rider and pillion passenger, but not much use over longer distances.

Different DZs I've come across have mandated a left-hand pattern, mandated a right-hand pattern, stated no preference at all or set a particular pattern depending on the conditions on the day such as the jump run or landing direction. In the last case, there was a big sign at the loading area with a movable arrow and a space where the word 'RIGHT' or 'LEFT' could be inserted to show which pattern applied. Because this was subject to change through the day, if I was jumpmastering the load I would simply announce to everyone on it what the designated landing direction and pattern were. The JM has to communicate stuff like the exit order in any case, so it should be easy to add this information. I really don't know why we tend to make such a meal of this stuff.

The shame of it is, that writeup was actually pretty good. And then, BAM! Mr/ Ms Gardner fell at the final hurdle...

I've never really smoked, but I must have inhaled plenty of the stuff in my youth when everyone puffed away in pubs and restaurants, on the top decks of buses and even - which seems astonishing to me now - in underground stations (there was already a smoking ban on the tube trains themselves by the time I first lived in London). Although I'm not a crusader againt smoking, it is wonderful these days to wake up after the occasional heavy night just hung over, rather than hung over and also smelling like an ashtray.

I've worked with people like this, and I agree with you that it's a confidence thing. She's smart enough to produce the reports, but as soon as she's faced with one her brain just shuts down - and the more time she gets it wrong, the less confidence she has that she can get it right. So it's all about breaking the cycle. One thing's for sure - you've told her all you can. Now she has to produce the reports herself, two or three times, to prove to herself that she can do it. After that, she should be fine. I don't think it's enough for her to reiterate the theory to you - it's like, I dunno, learning to pack parachutes. You only really learn by doing it. Maybe you've done this already (your list of strategies looks pretty exhaustive!), but - assuming you're at the same location - have you tried sitting down with her while she's creating the report, and getting her to explain to you what she's doing at each step while she does it? Have your Powerpoint pack to hand so she can refer to it as she goes. You should provide as little input as you possibly can, and only really help her if she genuinely gets stuck. It's yet more time invested on your part, but since you're saying that there's no way to take the work off her (or her off the work) then it might be worth it.

You wouldn't be the first person to end up tugging on the end of your leg strap instead of your pilot chute

How about something like this for a cutaway pad?

Thats because you don't live in a nanny state. You didn't like living in the UK - this much has become clear. But you know, you don't need to bash it at every opportunity .

I'm not sure I agree, although I think it does depend on the type of helmet. Open-face helmets can prevent the air from rushing directly past the ears, and that's always going to help - but I'd say my full-face helmet provides significant noise attentuation over and above that. The shell and the padding, and the fact that it's (kind of) a sealed enclosure, do block some of the sound. Personally I wouldn't want to wear earplugs in freefall, because I'd be worried about them impeding pressure equalisation - but then I am prone to sinus troubles.

I think one of the outcomes may be that people will stare at you .

Sounds like a lot of skydivers I know.

...that in turn generated a need for more emergency procedures. Funny old world, ain't it?

If true... not quite so cool. I noticed the writer used both 'base-jumping' and 'base jumping'. I see a lot of that in news articles - they hedge their bets a little, but they still never get it right!

I did once see someone tailgating a dark saloon car in the fast lane of the motorway. He was getting pretty impatient, manoeuvering aggressively and flashing his headlights. The driver in front gave him just the briefest burst of the blue and red flashing lights concealed on the rear dash, and he backed off in a hurry! Now I'd assumed that was an umarked police car, but I've also seen adverts for kits that you can apply (illegally, no doubt!) to your private vehicle.

He was also in "The Firm": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106918/ Heheh. I see IMDB gives him the credit for The Firm ('Seaplane Pilot') but not for Cutaway. Mind you, it wouldn't be difficult for his part in The Firm to be the bigger one.

Driving just seems to bring out the worst in people - not least our disproportionate reaction to the way we see other people doing it. I think we get so angry because of the physical disconnection from the other person - it's impotent rage. You can't understand the other guy's motives, and you can't have a quiet word in his ear. You just see a stranger pootling along in his little capsule, seemingly oblivious to the terrible wrong he has done you. Of course you have to let him know what a lowlife he is, but you only have recourse to the horn or the finger - both of which are guaranteed to provoke a negative reaction. And it all escalates from there. I think these little confrontations on the road are akin to arguing with strangers on the internet, and about as worthwhile.

Wow, just 51. I think Terminal Velocity and True Romance are all I've seen of his work - never watched a single episode of The Sopranos, despite the plaudits. It's actually nice to see the words 'complicated' and 'vulnerable' among the epitaphs - there's always a tendency to eulogise the newly dead, and it makes people seem kind of bland. At funerals I've been to, it's the references to people's little foibles that usually raise a smile of recognition.

Your feelings are pretty similar to mine. I love hard copy books but damn, do they take up a lot of space. Every now and again I'll take a load down to the charity shop and it feels kind of liberating! I've got a Kindle Paperwhite too, and I like it a lot - especially the illumination. And I find the battery life between charges (i.e. several weeks) astonishing. As for being breakable, I'd say they're pretty robust - so long as you put some kind of cover on it, you'd find it pretty hard to damage. The DRM policy is irritating in principle, but in practice it doesn't really bother me. I feel more willing to take a chance and download a book that I wouldn't have bought in hard copy, because it feels like less of a commitment - but most of them do still feel too expensive. Of course all of this only really applies to 'reading' books - and I haven't bought a hard copy one of those since I got my Kindle - but sometimes I'll still buy a 'real' book for the photos or artwork.