steve1

Well said. I like that kind of thinking. Steve1

I think Sister Bytch and Mother Bytch has a nice ring to it. When you get to be a Saint we can all call you Saint Bytch. And the penguin outfits are kinda cool looking. It might not be all bad. Actually a little religion might be good. I used to know a guy who was about the wildest person around. The first big change I noticed was that he didn't cuss or drink anymore. And then I noticed he had this little cross on his jump suit. He had gotten reborn or something and for him it was a good thing. It may have saved his life. But before you do anything drastic I'd rethink the situation. It's a lot of more fun being a heathen. At least I think so. If I can give you any more spiritual guidance, don't be afraid to ask. Brother Steve1

This may be a little off topic, but once I was at some type of education workshop and was involved in some activity that I thought was really stupid. We were supposed to think up some animal we'd like to be and then tell the group why. (I told you this was stupid and I can't recall the reason for this). So this one gal started telling how she wished she was a chicken, and then went on and on telling everyone why. Then it was my turn. So being a natural smart ass, I told everyone (with a serious look on my face) that I wished I was a wild stallion out with a herd of mares, and then declined to tell why for personal reasons. At any rate it, it cracked everyone up. "Stupid is as stupid does and sometimes it's fun" Steve1

I usually make up another name in another state. I guess I'm a real scum bag. And again I've only done this on my own rig.

Where I live it's a real pain in the rear to get a rigger to repack your reserve. I don't mind paying for a repack, but traveling a couple hundred miles to drop your rig off and then return a couple weeks later to pick it up is sometimes a real hassle. I'm not real proud of this, but I have put my seal (I still have a chest pack rating) on my back reserve and then put a ficticious name on it. I have only done this in a real pinch when it means the difference between jumping or not. I wouldn't feel right signing another riggers name to it. And I've always popped it a month or too later. I want to be safe, but I also don't want to miss out on any opportunities to jump. A month or two longer shouldn't affect things any. But I may also not get into heaven, for cheating.

When I first started there was RW, style, and accuracy. Most everyone was doing RW at my DZ so that's what I ended up doing mostly. I wouldn't mind trying freeflying someday as another challenge. After about a 25 year lay off I'm back trying to do RW and learning tons of new stuff. Right now most people in Montana are still doing mostly RW. I'm also rigging up a camera helmet but have yet to jump it. Steve1

Does this mean we can all go back to arguing?? Actually I'm almost done with this thread. I hate arguing when it comes right down to it. I know you have strong beliefs in favor of gun control and mine are just as strong in the opposite direction. I really think we've talked this subject to death and about all we're accomplishing is hard feelings. I'd much rather jump with you than throw stones. I need to learn to stay out of threads such as this. Steve1

Andyman, I'm sorry. I just read the post about your friend being killed in this school. Again, I've let my big mouth babble on, when I shouldn't have. Again I'm sorry, and I'm done with this thread. Steve1

That depends on your point of view. If you are ant-gun it might seem like a bunch of drunks sitting around bragging. The comparison that you just made in your post, comparing myself to a drunk is also offensive to me. Steve

..................................................................... I thought that was what these forums were for, was to talk about what's on peoples minds. Sorry if things aren't going as you planned. Maybe if someone was in the Columbine School, with a gun to protect these unfortunate victims, maybe the tragedy could have been averted. In our school we have a couple of police officers who do carry guns. I'm also sorry if gun talk scares you. It's another freedom we have in America.

I think you'll like Benning. It seemed like paradise after being at Ft. Polk for almost six months. Steve1

Is he's still teaching the virtue of a 92 year old pistol design? I enjoy his articles and books but take issue with his comments concerning other designs... ...I still have a ParaCommander, and I bet it still works...but it's a museum piece by todays standards... it is after all the 21st century!!! ...................................................................... I'll bet you mean the 1911 (A-1) 45 that the military used to use. Most of the ones I fired were shot out, really loose, and accuracy was terrible. I've heard they're good if they are reworked, but then again there are probably better pistols on the market. It would be interesting to hear what Col. Cooper thinks of the new Glock pistols. My brother uses one in 10MM for police work. I'm not used to this type of pistol and I hated the feel of it and looks of it, but then again they are supposed to be super reliable and accurate. Not having a safety lever to worry about is another nice feature that would allow you to get the first shot off more quickly. My next pistol may be a Glock. But then again skydiving keeps me broke enough and I have enough guns. Steve1

I'm sure that law enforcement people are very aware of why violent felons are the way they are. Most criminals have a history of a very dysfunctional home. Parenting skills are so important, and many of us are doing a poor job. I've had to relearn many things in raising my own kids. For example I've had a very hard time even telling my kids that I loved them or even giving them compliments. After all there was almost no one telling me these things when I grew up. I mean it just didn't feel right to tell them things like that. So I had to learn how to do this. I now know they need it. It took a while, but I now enjoy telling them that I love them, and that they are great kids. Most of us end up being a carbon copy of what are parents were like (for good or bad) unless we can learn differently. It's too bad that more parents don't have access to this kind of education. I'm sure there would be fewer kids growing up to be violent felons. Steve1

I remember reading Jeff Coopers articles years ago. Sounds like an interesting guy. He must be in his 70's by now. I wonder what the foot would have looked like if it had been a 45 Hollow Point. I'm sure velocity and how hot it's loaded would make a big difference. I've seen a variety of rifle exit wounds on various critters such as deer and elk, but I don't know a whole lot about the damage from a pistol round. All I know is that I'd hate to be on the receiving end of a 45 hollow point. Steve1

Quote>Question Bill: Do you personally feel at all fearful living in Sandy Eggo? Not from local violence. I'm far more likely to kill myself driving or skydiving than get shot by an evildoer in the streets of Mira Mesa. Someone tried to mug me once, and had my car stolen once (well, he tried to steal it, we caught him.) These happened in NYC and Boston; it still didn't make me live in fear. ................................................................ This is way off the subject, but might relate to living in fear.......Where we live in Montana we rarely even lock the door, even when we're gone. A year ago we went to Palm Springs to visit my brother. He usually locks his doors but we didn't one day, after all we were in the back yard soaking in the hot tub (all seven of us) and a break in was last thing we suspected. My daughter finally decided to join us later, and came out into the back yard. About then a team of burglars came in and ripped off all our wallets, purses, cameras, and anything else that was handy. My brother is a cop and he said that burglars are usually armed, and it scared the hell out of me to think what might have happened to my daughter. So after that I didn't really live in fear, but it made me more aware of what can happen in the big city. It's a lot different from Hickville where I usually hang out. I guess we looked like ripe pickings. One of the worst things about all this was getting enough money so I could jump at Perris. Luckily we found one credit card that wasn't stolen. We'll know better next time. Steve1

I didn't get a chance to respond after it was locked. But I thought Michelle had an excellent post. If you didn't read it, you might want to go back and take a look. Steve1

Rigger Rob, I'm sure pushups do hit your abs a lot. Doing pull ups also hits them well. Did you tear your knee out doing tandems? I've heard that can happen. Steve1

I do not accept that if a kid grows up in a disfunctional family, he will definately turn into a columbine kid. ................................................................. (I agree, but the chances of a kid being violent are much greater.) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Clearly, there are other factors at work beside the strength of the family. .............................................................. (Again I agree. There are many other factors, but I think you are minimizing the importance of a proper family. Each day I work as a counselor in an effort to help tough kids. If there is one reason why many kids are in so much trouble it's because they don't have anyone at home who gives a rip about them.) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I'll even go a step farther, and say that while the way a kid relates to his family is important, unless we're talking about extreme case, it's a relatively minor influence on the actions he performs later in life. ................................................................. (I disagree with this statement the most. I think the way a kid turns out has everything to do with the way he was raised. Sure there are some who somehow come out of a dysfunctional family relatively unscathed, but I think this is the exception rather than the rule. Maybe that person who made it, was able to find someone in his life (other than his parents) who cared about him, and this is what made all the difference. In my experience a kid who comes from a good family is rarely in trouble or likely to have violent behavior. There are undoubtedly some exceptions to this, but if you looked more closely at the family unit you would probably find it isn't as functional as it seemed. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It's too easy to place all of the nations ills on the backs of the family. I don't think its nearly that simple. ................................................................... I agree with you. There are many factors, but the family has a very big impact in my opinion. Steve1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Where are you going to basic and A.I.T? I think you'll like jump school. I still miss military jumping. I went through infantry training and basic at Fort Polk. I wouldn't recommend that place. It's got to be the worst. Steve1

"The US is special! You wouldn't understand. We're unique." We put our pants on one leg at a time just like the rest of the world. We have a lot of the same problems, some unique ones (like the gun-related murder rate.) ...................................................................... I never said that we are special or that you don't understand. All I'm saying is that our Culture is different than many others in the world. I think it's important to look at this difference instead of using simplistic statistics which overlook this difference. I mean it's simple to just compare numbers of homicides with another country with a completely different culture and then say that the reason being is that we have the right to own guns in America, and that guns are the problem. It's much more complex than that. But then again we've argued this before and I doubt if rehashing the gun issue is very productive. I wouldn't mind discussing other issues that lead to violence in our country.

And Israel? 40% less murders than even Canada. Hard to claim that a US child is more exposed to outside violence, or feels more threat to his life, than an Israeli child. .................................................................. Yes, but it is a different type of violence. It's not the violence a kid sees in the home. It's not the type of violence where one parent is hurting another parent or where a child is beaten or hurt in other ways by a parent. Sure there is some of this going on in Israel, but I'd be willing to bet it isn't on as large a scale as you would find in America. As far as violent video games go. You could probably have a normal kid from a normal family watch a million of these without too great of an adverse affect. But show the same type of video over and over again to an angry teen whose grown up without even the basics in life. I think the results could be very different and likely violent. I know the Japanese culture is very different from our own. One big difference is that they are very family oriented as a whole. As far as Europe, I would wager that as a whole they are too. Sure things may be tough there (in many countries), but often times tough times tends to bind a family together. Maybe that's part of the problem in America. There's just so many fun things to do, and people have the money to do them, that there just isn't time left to do the not so fun things, like raise kids. The military now uses video simulations and some of their training is very similar to a violent video game. They've done studies on this and proven that soldiers are much more likely to fire their weapon accurately at an enemy soldier. This was not always the case. In many wars soldiers often did not even fire their weapons. If they did they usually missed. It's not an easy thing to take a human life and some couldn't do it. Soldiers trained today are much more likely to hit an enemy soldier. This is mainly due to more realistic training........Steve1

There is white trash, inner city abandonment, and all those other 'family' problems in countries all around the world that are just as bad as the states, but their violence rates don't even come close to the US. I think the breakdown of family is becoming the scapegoat for a lot of Americas ills. .................................................................. If you are saying that the way kids are raised is not important, I whole heartedly disagree. Why are kids so angry that they are willing to take another life. It's almost always a kid who has not received what they really needed gowing up, such as love and acceptance from a primary care giver. This is a primary ingredient that every kid needs to turn out right. Look at our prison system. Who's in it. It's filled with people from broken homes or if they did have parents they did a terrible job of raising their kids. Many American parents who are doing a terrible job of parenting are also knocking down big bucks. On the surface their home looks great because they have a lot of material things. And sure the kids have a lot of toys to play with, but that doesn't mean the kids are happy or are getting what they really need (such as their parents time). After all the parents are too busy working to be bothered with kids. Such a home might be almost as dysfunctional as one you would find in an inner city. Many of the problems you find in the U.S. are unique and I think it's ridiculous to compare this country to others who have different circumstances. It's like comparing apples to oranges and you end up with twisted statistics. Steve1 _

A man walked into a bar and happens to notice this guy sitting there with a tiny little head. I mean it was about the size of a softball. The man calmly says, "I know you're wondering what happened to my head, so I'll tell you what happened." For years and years I save my money and bought this fancy sail boat. I decided to quit my job and just go sailing. Everything was fine until this one night when I was caught in this awful storm and ship wrecked. My ship was destroyed and I was stranded on this Island. One day I was walking on the beach and found this strange looking bottle. I picked it up, rubbed the dust off it, and out appears this beautiful Jeanie. She said that I had three magic wishes. So I thought a while and then asked her for a new sail boat. POOF! One appeared bigger than my other sail boat. Then I asked for a million dollars and POOF! There was a million dollars. Then I got to noticing just how beautiful this Jeanie really was, and I just couldn't help myself, and said, "how about a little head!" I guess you know the rest of the story.........Steve1

Three men from Japan, Germany, and Montana were sitting in the buff in a sauna. Suddenly there is a beeping sound. The man from Germany pushes at a point on his arm, and the beeping stops. The man says that the beeping was his pager and that he has a micro-chip implanted in his arm. A while later there is a ringing sound. The Japanese man raises his hand and starts talking into his palm. A while later he says he has a micro-chip phone buried under the skin of his hand. The Montanan leaves to use the restroom, but returns shortly. Both the others notice this long piece of toilet paper hanging from his rear. The Montanan then catches on to what they are staring at and with an astonished look he replies, "I'll be darned, I must be getting a Fax!"..............Steve1

1. I usually talk it over with the Boss first. 2. I've never had the cash to really save much for my kids education. Now that they are both in College they have been borrowing a bunch and we've been coming up with the rest. I figure I'd help them. No one helped me, even though they could have, and I've always wondered why. It took me about 12 years to get through college, because I was broke most of the time. 3. I keep things pretty private. 4. I've always put my wife first.