jimmytavino

Of course this planet is NOT 6,000 years old.. it is waaay waaay Older than that.. as a geological ROCK, it's billions of years old... and much has come and gone,, during it's long history... The emergence of "man",,, can be looked at, either as "a monumental event" or as " a plague"... depending on ones interpretation of mankinds impact on the planet... seems like things got along pretty well,, ( balance of nature, equilibrium of ecosytems, life and death of species , evolution and changes of plants, animals and geological topography....) just fine,, before WE intruded.... we are Damn Lucky to be enjoying the existance which we so easily "take for granted".... this planet is certainly unique, within the context of our "local" celestial neighborhood.. beyond that,, in other galaxies???? who knows??? There Must be intelligent life elsewhere and i wonder if they skydive ?? Evidence?? of intelligent Life????? simple... they have refused to make verifiable contact with US.... and likely have been monitoring us for eons, from afar.. waiting, wondering, hoping, that SOMEDAY we will finally show, some common sense, some true brotherhood, and some RESPECT for the fragile planet, on which we reside.. then and only then... might they reveal themselves to us.... and i bettcha THEY know how old the planet is....... jimmy

properly finishing a tough or complicated job.... coffee in the morning... climbing INTO an Otter.... watching for that green light, taking a GOOD look out the door and around the sky, and then Flying out of that otter... A phone call from my college son The dancing eyes of my Wife,,, after a rough day of work, when the veggies in my garden are ripe enough to pick and EAT,, right off the vine... when our daughter tells me that the 8th grade girls volleyball team, which she coaches, performed well , and that she was proud of them... watching jumping videos of my friends, from Now AND from the past,, which i videotaped. Looking up in the air whenever i hear an airplane flying by.... Just One ... ice cold beer. jmy

Re: The Calistoga Kid.!!! I Know that poem....since one of my brothers has memorized !!! it.. and can recite it, on request !!. he does a real good job of it too!!!...We were in college when it was printed, and he took it upon himself to commit it to memory... I enjoy poetry as well.. everything from Longfellow to Poe, Doctor Suess, to Rudyard Kipling... I memorized Casey At The Bat, when i was a kid and was awarded First place in a grade school Oratorical Contest.... my current favorite????? A Flea & A Fly ... A Flea and a Fly In a Flue,.. Were imprisoned so what could they do?.. Said the Fly, "let's flee

i'm undecided, as well... we went there in the first place, looking for O B L , who apparently has become the invisible man... we got distracted by the previous administration, who drove the entire world to Saddam Hussein's doorstep, under FALSE pretence,, in an effort to 'spread democracy' well , so then, we trained all the new security and police and defense forces for that country,,,, ( on the American taxpayers tab)... So, why not recommend that IRAQ... now send some of THOSE forces into this Afghan Quagmire,,,, and make global restitution for all the resources which THEY have received....???? It would be good "practice for them" and would spare any more casualties of OUR fine and brave young men and women... Frankly I believe in isolationism.... close our borders, the Hell with everybody, bring alllll of our manufacturing BACK into the USA, CUt CEO payroll by 90 % to finance it,, and RE-Invigorate Our own work force...with decent reasonable paying JOBS!!!! Quit poking our nose into everybody else's business, ( and making ENEMIES, in the process...) and finally recognize that our 21st century arrogance has put us well 'behind the 8 -ball' in terms of our clout, our stature in the world, our reputation, and our Confidence...... More troops????? " we're ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep, chest deep, neck deep, in the Big Muddy,,,,, the Big Fool,, ( the Pentagon.. NOT Obama),,, says to push on." jmy to paraphrase, " those who ignore history, are doomed to repeat it"..

'track until pull altitude' just bear in mind that pull altitude could be waaaay higher than normal...IF you are late in the lineup... the uppers are low, and the spot is long.... seperation IS important... but a camera person does NOt wanna be soooo seperated, that they come up short of the dz... Gotta be there,, for when the tandem lands... For sure... be away from the column of air ,,, which belongs to the tandem, and which can extend vertically for thousands of feet... The TM needs that column, in the event of a cutaway or other issue at the time of 'drogue release'... get to the side. and if you're moving.. move perpendicualr to the line of flight... adjust pull altitude according to what your eyes see, relative to the perceived "spot for that given load." jt

we used to brainstorm alot , when the kids were doing "school projects"... A 3 d model of an atom??? ok well vanadium is new to me... It's been a while since i really studied a periodic table of the elements.... but i'd bet it has lots of electrons. a round styrofome (sp ) center can be the nucleus. mark it out like a soccer ball, and then use two different colored marking pens to fill in the spaces as needed, for protons, and neutrons..keep the numbers correct . For the electron rings, lightweight but rigid aluminum wires can be shaped into the orbits, as needed, slide small styrofome balls onto the wire before you loop the ends together, and build each of the valence rings,,,, i think they're called.. Now the only trick will be to support the rings, around the nucleus... Tougher if there are lots of rings.. but simply poke a couple of straight pieces of wire, clean through the center and use them to carry the orbit rings... maybe a 4 or 6 inch diameter center... use extra lengths of wire and cut off the excess, when done. work from the center , out, keep things to scale... prop the whole thing up on a dowel, attached to a 12" x 12" base,,, plywood, painted,, or a bigger base, on which you can add some text, and descriptive info. about the project. use the sort of wires which are used for suspended ceiling grids... stiiff.. but still workable... have fun. jt ps....i probably just described either a "Bohr or Chadwick model!!! since i am Old school... and not certain of just WHAT a 'cloud model' should look like,, but if the styrofome, wire technique Can be used, then goood.

i always thought that it would make sense and be more fair......IF cable TV was Metered...just like electricity and/or natural gas service.... Use it sparingly, pay less.... Use it constantly,,, pay MORE.... around here, we have time warner cable... and it's a flat rate fee whether the TV is On for 2 hours a day or 20 hours.... I'd much rather have my bill kept LOW,,,, if I prove to be a sensible viewer... basically, NOTHING on TV , is worth ANYthing....anyway.... Why don't we pay??? according to amount used???. pretty much like most other consumable items... jmy

Jumped a Delta II, a number of times back in the 70's....including a cross country H & P , where i out drove every one of the ram-airs, on the load... as for a packing manual...... I don't mean to sound like a smart-ass,,, but the packing manual should read.... "pack canopy into a clean plastic bag, place into a sturdy cardboard Box,,,,and then... pack the whole thing AWAY... safely into a closet, at the very least,,, or if you feel generous, pack it off to a nearby museum" ! there are faaar better AND safer canopies, out there, with which to go on a skydive....! my $.02 jt

nice smile.....

sure.... great to hear that you are ok, and happy... WHAT??? the hell happened?? to the new york METS???? ps... good to see that sunshine is still around, as well

i have the HC 3,, ( 3 years old) and the HC5, new this july... very nice cameras both... My 3 is having repair work done to the tape carriage....hope to have it back, soon... They are medium sized camcorders but a bit tooo large to use as a side mount.. you could however side mount the CX 100.. it is really small..... the HC series still has lanc and firewire ports, as well as hdmi output, and composite output etc. ...if that's important... Is the pc 120 still working?? can you use it as an editing deck? by firewiring between it??? and the HC 5 ? not sure , but i don't think the CX model can feed footage to another camcorder, in the way we have shared video from one cameraperson to another, in the past... technology marches on..... good luck jmy

I have a J 5 , and it IS a wide container.... could stick out, on your sides, more than you'd like... once in a while,, i'll get nasty looks, from the people behind me,,,,, between whose legs i am sitting.... ( IN the airplane..... of course) the cost seems like a lot for a rig without an aad... could be the owner is trying to make back some of the $$$$ it musta cost, for the color change to the container... keep lookin' and if possible... try the gear ON.... and if it fits well enough, then test jump it... if the fit is not good,,,, better not to bother with a jump... jmy

could be... the 'proofreader' was on the next load..... regardless of the spelling..... id sdill getz da poynt , a- kraussss... jt

yes.... firsthand. and OK.. yes. secondhand too... looooong time ago... the water or other liquid, tends to cool the smoke... .... or so i've been TOLD... jmy

go for a rig hanger which can carry gear on BOTH sides... that can be done by running your piping and PVC , clean through the center, and making the hangers long enough to work well on both sides.... doubles your capacity, keeps the unit balanced, and can be made portable, if a wooden frame with decent castors, is used. If you Keep it In the hangar... then it can be a hangar hanger... jmy A 3914 nscr 1817

can anyone help ?? with a link to a subscription page... always like finding a jump magazine in the mailbox, and have really Missed , Truffers' fine newspaper... thanks. jt

It's pretty Serious, in the same way that skydiving is 'serious'... ... which also means that You can have a LOT of FUN, with it !!! And As with skydiving,,,,It's better to be Prepared... for parenthood than to have it "thrust upon you " .. Certain things in one's life should be in place, starting with a loving stable couple, who are endearing to create another person...or two, or three...

Yes i had One, it was jump # 575... shot and a halves, mini-sysytem container, Papillon Main, chest mounted reserve... 26 ' navy Conical , with pilot chute/ kicker plate set up. Center pull reserve... it was state of the art, at the time... .... and as for "fairly new" .... i think the three rings have been around now , for over 30 years,,,, Maybe 35...... if they are New, then so am I ....

Point Break is the reason i almost Stopped Jumping... BUT... the man was a fine actor, and a damn excellent Dancer/Athlete... i enjoyed a lot of his movies... he's at peace... jmy

Based on the fact that this was posted RIGHT after....I'd wager a guess, that you ALSO watched all three movies, in succession on cable,, on sunday... MY question would be,,,,, how is it that Frodo and Sam,,,, Did Not simply MELT!!! themselves,,,, when they entered the area of the Hot Flowing river of Lava??? oh Yeah.... Cause it's "make-believe" still i really liked many many of the "fringe characters"... but i DO NOt like Orcs.... jmy

" lost....In... The ...Mail...!!! or could be ,,, someone In your local post office, OR maybe even your delivery person.... Likes!!! the idea of "parachuting"... ..i've often thought , growing up in the 60's and 70's,,,,that MAIL Men,,, MUST be pinching the occasional Playboy magazine... while delivering His route... That was in the past, when "sex was Safe, and Skydiving was dangerous" now that it's the other way around.... it could be.... that Parachutist is the magazine of choice!!!! ( O M G ,, i just thought about that.... well what do whuffos know??? anyway??....) Next year our USPA dues will go up by 10 bucks, so they can ship them in " a plain paper wrapper"

" whatchamacallit......" only i rarely say it... i usually LISTEN to someone else , who is saying it... 2nd favorite???? " Door " !!!!!!! jmy pops 3935 nscr 1817 scr 6190

no. not offended but rather, shamed,,,by the indirect affiliation to such sadness, since it was borne of the behavior of My governement and the soldiers who are bound to carry out orders...of the military and governemnt officails, whom WE are touted to have "chosen"... The child to the far left, draws my attention, moreso than the girl, and it is the faces to which my eyes are drawn. not the bodies,, clothed or otherwise.... AFTER the horror of burns and maladies caused by the nuclear detonations over Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, would not a truly progressive country... a 'compassionate' country... see the same tragedy , the same damage, and sheer unacceptability , in the use of napalm...??? was it because the napalm was 'delivered by air" that those who spewed it upon humans, were far enough removed from it,, that they could justify it's use???? did the policy makers simply shield their eyes from the ACTUAL pain, which their decisions caused??? when will we EVER learn??? jmy

allright Then.... thanks for that important public service announcement...... i'll stay welll far away from THAT crossswalk !!! carry on.. jmy muff 4370

Correction..... Re : Gregory Peck he earned the Oscar a few years later, for his work in, To Kill a MockingBird..1963 ( a tough film for it's time,, AND another good Book into Film candidate...) but NOT for the Ahab Role..... proving once again... just cause someone said it on the internet...,,,,doesn't always make it true.. JT