FIREFLYR

There's only one "I" in Team Solo! Team Solo 2006 our is on! ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

Im thinking most people who are jumping would be using their "B" gear if they have it. If I had been there I would have been jumping my Mojo not my Blackjack. It's faster to pack the openings are softer, and I wouldn't care as much if it got wet. ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

PS: Do you know what kind of antenna it is? Is it going to shoch the crap out of you when you touch it? ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

If you have to ask, you're not ready. ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

After hving a few drinks and reading this post and it's responces i became curious.... In the laws and rules concerning the state parks and 'un-powered flight' and 'staying on the paths' is there any specific wording to differenciate humans and any other of 'gods creatures' why can the birds fly un molested through and land in state parks but not humans ? do the deer have to walk on the paths too? I feel we have been un fairly targeted, and descriminated against. ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

I hope you two are very happy together ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

>>>Don't get me wrong, a super streamlined rig is the way to go, but all it takes is a dodgy exit or bad body position on dump and you could be in trouble. ~Same applies to jumping a wingsuit. ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

I will be in the Valley June 11 till...? then italy then back to the valley returning home july 1st. ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

Her first jump was a pca, there she is going hand held, still a very nice shot. ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

Here we go again! ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

Ha ha, Tim you are a wealth of information, if nobody claims it you can show me how to use it ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

Yesterday I was watching some old videos of shannon jumping as well as some from this past weekend (which didn't include her last), It looked to me like she is relaxed at pitch time, She reaches back, grips the pc and gently but quickly throws the pilot chute out as she returns to the square stable body position. Her throw seems slightly forward and up. Here is the link to an interview that her fiance did yesterday, there is some video from the past weekend. http://harbinger.sims.berkeley.edu/~glum/shannon.mpg ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

I found something that fell out (off?) of a helmet during the Mem Day gathering, if it is yours, send me a PM and identify it. ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

BANG! See you at the bar tomorrow night. ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

Jeb (almost) jumped an object that no one else is jumping. ~he didn't deface the object. ~from the video it looks like the ET jump would have gone mostly un noticed by the authorities if it hadn't been sent to the news. big difference big difference big difference ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

I'm lacing up a wingsuit and heading out to Lodi in the morning

Looks like an "O" from here... ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

I posted a similar story in the sticky Colorado thread CUTBACKS SQUEEZE NATIONAL PARKS Officials count on volunteers, service reductions as costs rise Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau Monday, May 1, 2006 Washington -- Over the last decade, more people are visiting the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the park has grown by thousands of acres, from the recently restored Crissy Field to the addition last year of one of San Mateo County's largest undeveloped tracts of land. But during the same 10 years, the Bay Area's popular national park has cut its staff by 30 full-time employees. Facing flat budgets from the federal government and rising costs, park managers have been forced to rely on volunteers and outside groups to avoid reducing public access. Park officials say resources are stretched so tightly they are having trouble keeping up with basic services, such as picking up trash at Crissy Field or providing regular patrols of the newly acquired lands near Devil's Slide. "You can only stretch the rubber band so far," said Brian O'Neill, the park's superintendent. "There is no question that we can't continue to endure cutbacks without commensurate cutbacks in services and our ability to be stewards of these places." The story is the same -- and, in some cases, worse -- at the National Park Service's other 389 parks, preserves, seashores and historic sites across the country, where superintendents are making painful choices: cutting seasonal and full-time staff, closing visitor centers and reducing interpretive programs. Though the Bush administration has supported modest spending increases for the national parks in recent years, they have barely kept pace with inflation. Meanwhile, operating costs continue to rise each year, forcing park managers to cut services or find volunteers willing to provide them for free. A General Accountability Office report released last month, which examined 12 of the most heavily visited national parks, found that park officials have made difficult decisions in light of their money woes, including: -- Closing the visitor center at the southern end of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. -- Shutting down winter use of seven restrooms along roads and trailheads in Acadia National Park in Maine. -- Reducing backcountry patrols in Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park. -- Cutting interpretive programs at Grand Canyon National Park from 35 in 2001 to 23 in 2005. -- Shortening a visitor center's operating hours and cutting naturalist programs and Indian art tours at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The Park Service has fared better than many other domestic agencies as the Bush administration, struggling with rising budget deficits and a war in Iraq costing $10 billion a month, has tried to reduce spending unrelated to defense and homeland security programs. But any cuts in services at the national parks -- which have more than 450 million visitors each year -- are more likely to be felt directly by the public. Top administration officials took issue with the GAO report, saying it was overly pessimistic and failed to emphasize that the Park Service's budget had climbed from $1.4 billion in 2001 to $1.7 billion in 2005. "Record high levels of funding are being invested to staff and improve our parks," Matthew Hogan, the Interior Department's acting assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, wrote in an official response to the report. "Over time, the national parks have received significantly more funding increases than most nondefense government programs." But the GAO investigators said the overall funding increase for the Park Service was somewhat misleading. Congress boosted funding to help reduce the backlog of delayed maintenance at the parks -- a priority that President Bush campaigned on in 2000 -- between 2001 and 2005 by 4 percent annually in inflation-adjusted dollars. But the amount the agency was given for daily operations at the parks actually fell slightly in inflation-adjusted dollars, by 0.3 percent. Without sufficient daily operating funds, park officials have been unable to keep pace with steadily rising costs -- especially employee salaries and benefits, but also utilities and fuel for vehicles -- forcing them to make cuts. "Officials at the park units we visited stated that they absorbed these additional costs by reducing spending on personnel and other expenditures," the GAO report said. "Park officials also told us that they reduced services including reducing visitor center hours, educational programs, basic custodial duties and law enforcement operations, such as back-country patrolling." Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, known for their groves of giant sequoia redwood trees, delayed the opening of the Lodgepole visitor center by 5 weeks -- until next Monday -- to save money. The two parks have trimmed staff, cutting one full-time ranger and three seasonal rangers in the interpretative division. Instead they have added volunteers from the Student Conservation Association to keep a presence at spots like the General Sherman Tree, the world's largest tree by volume. "Those are the trade-offs that we have to make," said William Tweed, the chief park naturalist. "We are trying very hard to provide visitors services, but we are providing less than we were providing a decade ago." At Yosemite National Park, which drew more than 3.4 million visitors last year, park officials estimate they have reduced their full-time staff by 5 to 7 percent, and their seasonal staff by 20 to 25 percent over the last five years. As the number of park rangers has fallen, Yosemite's managers have asked volunteers to help out. On a typical summer evening, only one out of five interpretative programs is conducted by a park ranger. The others are run by volunteers, friend-of-the-park groups and Yosemite's private concessionaire, Delaware North. "They see the erosion in the operating budget," said Scott Gediman, a park spokesman. "We sit down at the table with them and we say, 'We don't want to cut these services,' and we say, 'Can you help us do that?' " Parks across the country have found similar savings by enlisting volunteers to perform tasks that rangers used to do. Retirees collect fees at campgrounds, friend-of-the-park groups run historic sites and maintain trails, volunteers and employees at park bookstores hand out maps and answer questions from visitors. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area near Los Angeles has had a hiring freeze for the last four years, forcing the park to rely on retired schoolteachers to lead education programs and to seek state grants to pay for other programs. "People are still having a good experience and a quality experience, but clearly they are going to see fewer rangers as we direct our efforts to coaching volunteers and building partnerships to deliver services," said Woody Smeck, the park's superintendent. But park managers admit there are limits to what volunteers and friend-of-the-park groups can do. Officials with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area -- which includes sites such as Alcatraz, Fort Mason, the Marin Headlands and Muir Woods -- have been asking volunteers and nonprofit partners to perform more basic services, from running interpretative programs to protecting natural resources. "They are asking the really basic question, 'What is government providing?' " O'Neill said. "They are saying, 'I want to create a margin of excellence, but I don't want to be a substitute for what should be a basic function of government.' " Within the agency, park officials are preparing for more cuts. The Bush administration is proposing to cut $100 million from the agency's budget next year, although Congress may seek to restore the money. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., who chairs the House Resources subcommittee that oversees national parks, said the parks should not be asking Congress for more money, but should focus on reforming their business practices to spend their money more wisely. "Of course, every agency says they need more money to do their job ... it's not unusual," Pearce said. "But the management of the parks over the past 10 or 20 years has allocated up to 90 percent of their budgets on salaries -- and that's not a very positive position to put yourself in." Most parks already have crafted business plans to become more efficient. Many parks are now undergoing a process called "core operations analysis" with the goal of bringing fixed costs -- especially personnel -- under 80 percent of their budget. But some fear it could be used to pave the way for even deeper staff cutbacks. "We would hope that core operations analysis would be used to help justify the true needs in the parks," said Blake Selzer, legislative director of the National Parks Conservation Association, which supports increased funding of the parks. "It should not be used as a justification for insufficient budgets or as a justification to cut appropriations." A bipartisan group of 105 House members signed a letter warning that the proposed cuts to the parks budget "will undoubtedly lead to additional reductions in resource protection and visitor services, and further increases in visitor fees." Thirty-two senators signed a similar letter urging Congress to "address the significant operating shortfall plaguing our national parks." E-mail Zachary Coile at zcoile@sfchronicle.com. "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

look Down ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

Malaysia? ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

When you pull the trigger the chamber will rotate to the empty one. ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

No it's ok...it's obviously unloaded. see the empty chambers? ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

Hey, I think Jimmy, Marta and Jay took one for the team. Deffinately. However, I believe Sssss is offering the best advice as far as avoiding Arrest, prosecution,Fines..... I've had a fair amount of run-ins with "the Man" and found that being polite but firm is the best response to interogation. Untill you are in handcuffs you are just having a friendly chat, and you don't have to answer their questions, and as far as lying to them goes.... I would say I've done nothing wrong when asked if I had just made a BASE jump, and I bet that answer would even pass a polygraph because it's damned well the truth. If they continue to Question you simply ask; "am I under arrest?" if they say no..."am I free to go" if yes...."I am invoking my fifth amendment rights." That's that. Becides, if your gear is stashed, would you rather. it be in a bush or an evidence locker? ~J PS: I might get around to writing more about how I feel about this article I read but untill then... I was reading the SF Chronicle and there was a front page article titled "Cutbacks Squeeze National Parks" it was continued on the entire back page,. It got me thinking. "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

Can't sleep clowns will eat me... Can't sleep clowns will eat me... Can't sleep clowns will eat me... Can't sleep clowns will eat me... Can't sleep clowns will eat me... ~Bart Simpson "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

Gates is so Old He did his first skydive from a pteradactyl. Gates is so Old He remembers when Tombstone was a water landing. Gates is so Old He was really pissed when Daedalus sent him his pieces of gold back for the wingsuit he ordered after the infamous "Icarus" incedent. ~J "One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest" "There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"