jimmytavino

Adjust ( upward) the dollar amounts which are withheld from your gross pay, as witholding taxes.... NOT doing so, might give ya' a bigger net paycheck,,,each week,,, But that CAN become a problem. ..because you wind up having more money each week,,,or each pay period,,, to use to INCREASE your debt.... and then, come up short, at the end of the year to cover your tax obligations... better to skimp and live more cheaply throughout the year, ( cause of a SMALLER net paycheck) and then GET a tax refund.... House or no house... I favor the tax 'bonus' for first time home buyers, since My Daughter was able to qualify this past summer...... But DO be careful about the "Mtg. Interest deduction, incentive"... Ya' still have to PAY all that interest,,,and sometimes,,,, ( like if you take the standard deduction, instead of itemizing...) the tax benefit is NOT as great, as some real estate agents might have us believe.... good luck jt

wow... what a first time post...welcome. ( is this a gag ) ?? anyway... You're asking Jumpers?? to talk about themselves !!??? hahaha be ready for about fifty thousand responses!!!! you have opened a pandoras' box let the feedback Begin...!!!! i'll get a kick out of reading the replies.. ... p.s. Where were ya' 30 years ago???, when i couldda been the Man for the job!!!! jmy A 3914 D 12122

I resent that! I am NOT a turd! ... i've been reading this thread since it started,,, and was WAITING for someone to post Exactly what i felt!!!...Thanks popsjumper some of us might BE assholes,,,, but we are warm hearted assholes.. some of what others have mentioned is accurate,, and there can often be differences among age groups, ANYwhere.. not sure how jumpers in Jmarkos' country act, but i've seen and try to follow by example,,, a genuine welcoming approach, to anyone entering our sport... I was granted that, when i started, and have always happily, given back, helped out, steered to the right instructors,,, anyone who asked anything of me... The O P may be pointing out a disparity , in general society at large,,,,between one 'generation' and the next... The Profile of the O P says "college student"... and that speaks volumes... For many of us,, OUR college days were 30 and 40 years AGO... and OUR upbringing, our "indoctrination into life", and our techniques for being "disciplined" were vastly different , than they've been the last 10 or 20 years.. We "old turds, and assholes" had much expected of us.. especially if we were raised in the 50's and 60's and 70's We were TOLD what to do, not Asked... Decisions were made FOR us,, by parents AND ... Yikes,, other Authority Figures....!!! Teachers, bosses, cops, etc.. Free will??? Choice?? Decision making responsibility??? all THAT came, only once we demonstrated that we were capable of those things...not as a birthright.... Lately Kids are 'given the Pat on the back", whether they earn it or not.. They are told that THEY can decide on things, when they aren't even out of "short pants" yet. They have little experience, but lots of 'authority',, hell in some families, pre teen KIDS,, are calling the shots,, mostly through juvenile misbehavior, when they don't "get what they want".. so the parents cave,,, cause " we can't have little Susie,, or little Johnny getting upset.." hahah it's getting ridiculous.... What you might interpret J Marko, as a skydiver thing,,, is possibly your growing awareness that there are ( And Should be ) differences in general between "old people " and " young people"... luckily for our sport. there ARE experienced people, with deep history and reverence for the sport and a desire to share that..who are NOT jerks....but mentors.. Your inabilty to see that might be a downfall.. I see a trend the last 10 or 15 years that teens and pre-teens tend Not to "blindly offer respect and cordiality" to someone, simply cause that someone , is Older.. Those "know it all teens" feel... "THEY sould respect ME!!!! first...otherwise, i won't give 'em the time of day".. and " if they don;t treat me well,,, i won't treat them well".. WTF??? A newbie/intermediate level jumper would do well to figure out who the "giving" jumpers are... express at least a small amount of Graditude.. and learn to follow their example. Asking questions is fine,, but we can also LEARN,, simply be being on a dropzone, and LISTENING to any wide variety of instructional conversations... If you're always about asking the question... that can sometimes make you too busy, to hear an answer,,, BEFORE the question even needs to be asked... skydive safely jmy

roger that... i believe there IS an otter boogie set, for July 7th through the 11th......of this year... but check in with other club members just to be sure.. dave,,,, hello and i hope all is well for you..

"Once the BUNNY went berserk, overpowered the pilot , took control of the Yoke, and became the P I C ,,, we all just KNEW,, we'd better "Bail Out", jelly beans or No jelly beans..." jmy

War has now become "depersonalized" people sitting in front of monitors,, either waaay distant from the 'battle field' or on board a fighter jet, helo, tank etc.... can be misled by what the see and HOW they interpret it.... therefore. firing away, at a non specific target can become a bad BAD pattern of procedure.... War sucks.... and generally doesn't accomplish what "our leaders" think it will accomplish... The world will NEVER move to it's full potential, socially, religiously, environmentally, or spiritually,,,,, until the so-called "leaders" ALL accept that WAR is NOT the answer...... I'm certainly NOt sure what IS....... but i do think i know what ISN'T...... jmy

"shouldn't this be in speakers corner"??? happy Birthday to "one of the good ones".. jt

no jumps, cypres is in for service. visited at Nancys' sister and our brother-in-laws'.. as has been the plan for about 12 years now... She is one of Nine kids,,who all have kids and grandkids of their own.. so it's a chance to see EVERYone, and catch up on how the little children are NOt so Little,, anymore.. Easter egg hunt for the kids. Chocolate Bunny hunt for the grown ups ( all hidden somewhere in the large and wooded back yard.) the annual 'egg toss' with 12 teams entered and winners get these cool Tee Shirts,,, and as is always the case... Chinese Food for Dinner, prepared by a fine "palace" in town.. Can you say?? "50 Egg Rolls"???... only downside??? many of the 1/2 pound chocolate bunnies Melted !!! after being in the warmth for a few hours, after they were hidden.. No harm done,, they all went into the freezer and were turned from "bunny soup",,,, back into Hardened Milk Chocolate.. Warm and sunny day,,,, great for so early in April... jmy

RE: other than going low..... John Mitchell makes some great points, and if you ARE a 'fast faller' , then depending on where YOUR slot was,,, on the 7 way...... why couldn't the others have " gotten down to you" ? early on??/. Were you in the base and fell out of it?? or did you overdive it??? If the group is small and people are at least a little bit tuned in , Then they might consider either UPPING the speed of the base.. or even dropping the grips of the base,, and booking on DOWN to join you..once they see you're struggling to get back..... It IS a group dive..?? right??? and success levels , as well as safety levels can be enhanced by making sure that EVERYone is IN the formation.... problem is, that often, even in a small dive, some of the jumpers are unaware that "somebody is missing" or that someone is low, and so tend to relax, and grin, and fall slowly relative to the teammate who is trying to get back up....and so that person ( the O P ) spends the dive, trying to recover, becoming a safety concern, and mumbling to himself under canopy... I Know.... i've been there. " We weren't falling too fast.... THEY were falling too slow..."

yes... i see your point.... maybe i should have said, 'do a "mini-Flare" instead of saying " No Flare" which would be the equivilent of keeping the toggles up to the keepers.. but for sure a deep FULL flare, can get a jumper in trouble,,, when the ground winds are UP... i wouldn't go to my fronts,,, til that instant,,, when i am ON the ground,, and just before the canopy " gets away from me..." jt

...fear of running tooo far downwind in an attempt to 'get past' the obstacle,,( runway), and then not being able to "hold" the intended landing area? fear of catching grief for 'crossing a runway' a too low an altitude...? uncertainty that they will even "get to" the runway..thinking that they will land well 'short' of it ?? most skydivers of the ram Air generation are only vaguely familiar with "backing Up" at landing,,,,and so tend to do something 'not right'... usually,, it is Flaring the parachute, in a normal muscle memory sort of way.... at landing... In back up mode... all that tends to do, is put the canopy BEHIND them where it turns into a huge SAIL,,, and then yanks the jumper off his/her feet.. Often,, NO flare is needed,, and in fact front risering the main, just at touchdown,,, might be the answer,,, If not,, at least a good hard toggle turn with ONE side or the other, can hopefully crank the canopy over,, so that it does not drag the jumper... I don't use an RSL,, but i think it is a good anticipatory move,, to disconnect it, if the rig is so equipped,,,, once the main is open and flying on windy days.... Then IF one does have to cut away the main,, in a drag scenerio,, it CAN be done, quickly and without reservation.... there never a good reason to have your gear all messed up and damaged,,, each jumper is responsible to complete the skydive with themselves AND their gear intact... jt

this is how the world will end this is how the world will end this is how the world will end...... Not with a bang, !!! but a whimper. jmy

excellent..... Times 2 !! jmy

Spinning linetwists. Flight Concepts 170. I'd have to say it was loaded below 1:1. She may or may not have pulled a little low. I don't particularly remember the pack job, which is actually a good thing, because if i thought any part of the pack job wasn't decent, i'd remember it. thanks for the details.... it's been posted here in the past, that the length of suspension lines,,,, between the last line stow and the connector links or slinks,,, CAN effect the way the D bag comes outta the main container... and CAN induce a spin into the bag, as the lines are "unstowing"... i think it is recommended that a foot to a foot and a half of lines, be left after stowing is done.... careful placement of the D bag and attention to the location of "excess lines" in the container,, MAY influence the "spinnability" of the bag... jt

Depends on the malfunction.. was it a line continuity issue?? or a brake fire??? or an un cocked pilot chute? or a misrouted bridle??? to me,, THOSE would all be packing errors... and not a body position error how was the landing under the reserve??? if all is well, then you only need be responsible for the reserve repack and any lost components, i.e. cutaway pad freebag reserve handle... can the O P provide any details??? jmy

excellent....... good deal to point out,,,, the apect of "being seen" by the TI AND the cameraperson.....that is sooo important... jt

just going from memory i thought that one needed to have a Tandem Instructor rating, an AFF instructor rating, or else be a proven tandem videographer with an established track record...in order to chase a tandem.. Also , a specialty form needs to be read, reviewed and signed,, by all parties involved... A lurker who approches from behind, or who gets out of the line of sight of the cameraperson, and T I , or who over dives the team,, and gets UNDER the skydive,,, or who NEVER gets TO the team,,,, is unnerving, at best.. and a hazard, at worst... Any such jump should be dirt dived with all parties involved, should include a specific direction of approach , if the jump will include docking, and should adhere to specified break off and tracking away criteria for the lurker... i know that the temptation to 'join a friend' who is making a jump is great...but some are able and some are not... it's a case by case thing. but in the end,, whatever the tandem maufacturer(s) stipulate, is what should be honored... It should never be an ego thing.... for the lurker...since it CAN be a distraction... imho jmy

ok then........ never mind... edited after thinking about it for a minute.... you're correct about the jumper on friday or saturday, with a BIG canopy who flew the flag.... that wasn't popsjumper.. BUT when the Farm Otter arrived on thursday morning... i believe it WAS Andy.... flying a smaller Amer. flag.... of course,, I've been wrong before, and I'll be wrong again,,,,

almost forgot..... absolute THANKS and a big pat on the back to The Farm and to Skydive Spaceland for sending those great and Safe Twin Otters... Most excellent jump aircraft(s) And to the Farm people who skydived in, to kick things off,, despite the cold and damp air temperatures... That is one tough and capable group of jumpers.... ( they even CLOSED the door, before the last 2 way left.!!!! ) also thanks to popsjumper who flew the American Flag as he descended to a perfect landing... Not sure how many locals may have seen it,,, ( they could have been busy feeding the chickens

jumping events and boogies occur all months of the year and in many varied and some exotic locations...

also FOUND @ Fitz..... My true meaning in life, and 5 or 6 DOZEN new Pals.... You KNOW who you are.!!!!! jt POPS 3935 nscr 1817

Emphasize the Custom Homes, as that is the primary work of all Quality Builders and quality Builders will always be busy, regardless of economic ups and downs. Remodelers OTOH can sometimes be viewed as 'fly -by-night' and getting by on the small, less 'glorious' jobs. market yoursleves as being the Elite, and as doing the Larger and more complicated projects....i.e. Building HOMES... as for longevity.. try saying. " This House will still be "Quality" , , Looong after your last mortgage payment has been made!!! " jmy

" As the UFO Mother Ship closed in, from the side.... only ONE of the group was tuned in to the soon-to-be abduction.. as the grin on her face testified"... For SHE was 'not of this world'. yet, She was NOT alien to the DZ culture, having infiltrated many years earlier..

Parenting is a Responsibility Skydiving is a hobby.... two scenarios.. 1. a person starts jumping as a single individual,,, learns all the complex aspects about the sport, the techniques, the equipment, the risks, the rewards.... years later, meets a person who becomes a spouse and then years later has children.... That person who is NOW a parent will make his or her own decisions about continuing and if so about the level of active involvement in the sport. In this case the "learning curve" has been dealt with, becoming comfortable in the air is second nature and the decision to jump or not to jump can be made in consultation with the spouse.. 2. a person who is ALREADY a parent decides to make a tandem jump.... Enjoys it and moves on to AFF... In a sport which is very VERY time consuming and which is very VERY expensive to immerse oneself into,,, it sometimes demands more of us than we should be throwing its way... If $$$ is NO object and if the children are well cared for, and if there is $$$ in the bank for alllll the things the child will need.... then any expendable income MAY be used to persue the hobby.. It IS an individual and personal choice... In my case i had 1,200 jumps when i met my wife, and 1,500 jumps when the kids arrived....( that was '83 ) in the next 12 years,,,, i only logged 150 jumps TOTAL!!!!... so in my case at least,, jumping DID take a back seat to the greater priority of being around the kids.... Not sure of YOUR childs age, but based on the few times that my kids were at the DZ ( they were NEVER "regulars" ) they get bored easily,, they distract the parent who is a jumper, they merit your thoughts, every moment, EVEN when in the plane climbing to altitude... and are basically intruding into "a grownups playground".. Once in a while might be ok, but if every time You are at the Dz, your child is at the DZ,,,, i dunno.... that sounds like it could be a hassle.. and even a distraction bordering on a safety concern....Jamming an ankle, or having an "out landing" at the end of the day,,, or even just wanting to stick around for some socializing around the bonfire, is 3 times more complicated if a youngster is factored in.. Sure lots of Dzs have a " family" aspect to them, but some Don't , and unless you've made previous and solid contingency plans, for your child...if anything should happen, it could be tough...especially if it's a child under the age of 10 and if there is no spouse to step up,,, and be ON site,, when needed. Make smart decisions and base them on what's best for the Child... not for you.... imho jmy

thanks D 2 ..."world reknowned guru for Nikon D SLRs for use in skydiving"...