Nataly

Ah ha ha!! SOO funny!! Doubt if it's real, but can one really be fired for saying something like that on a social network? I'm asking because obviously I post stuff about my gay/pervy/wanker/boss all the time on there!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

No offense but I've never even *heard* of a "clut"!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

No offense, but I don't believe you "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yeah, I thought the same thing.. Am now using Firefox, but no change. I've reset a bunch of stuff and rebooted and whatever I did seems to have done the trick.. But I did that last time & it came back - would be good to know what's causing it in the first place. Plus I don't really know precisely what I did to fix it.. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

No offense but God doesn't give a damn. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

My internet access is intermittent.. I currently can only get on DZ.com or YouTube (but can't watch any videos). I have a Mac.. Am connected via ethernet cable.. It started with a few isolated websites, where whenever I tried to connect to those websites my computer would claim I wasn't connected to the internet, but I could access everything else.. Gradually, it has affected more and more sites, until now I only have access to two! Not sure if it's because it's late, because of some software update, because of a virus.. NO IDEA.. Help? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

No offense but I might take you up on that "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yes, but do they come in pink?? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

You think 2,500 feet is not only ridiculous, but f**king ridiculous! I don't think it was the altitude alone that was ridiculous, but the fact that she was still in a three-way formation at that altitude. Yeah, no kidding. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

there is no relation. Go back to your studies. No relation my ass! Both are a high fee paid by the consumer for some perceived value added to a purchased good. Weather the money goes to the state or the waiter, people in both countries are paying something in the area of 25% on top of their bill. Am I missing something? I'm guessing the point was that VAT is a tax - something which also exists in the US, right? VAT is 15% - pretty much in line with what you pay in most states, no? Tipping is an optional extra that is over and above the manditory tax. 15% (VAT) is less than 13% (tax) + 20% (tip). And for OP.. I think beer is normally seen as a reasonable form of "tipping" - plus you can join in and enjoy as well

Not if their wearing nipple rings My nipple ring has never gotten in the way of getting extra altitude "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

No offense, but you weren't invited... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Here are mine - unusually, with makeup. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

No offense, but I probably have a better chance of scoring with her than you do "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

You think 2,500 feet is not only ridiculous, but f**king ridiculous! That's because none of us opened much higher than 1k Very, very stupid. (Probably because I had "fucking" on my mind ) "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

No offense, but if we were the last two people on earth, I would quite happily let our species become extinct. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Lots of factors to consider - not just exit weight/wingloading.. Best ask the instructor(s) who have seen you jump. If no one has been paying attention to your canopy flying, ask someone (preferably an instructor) to watch out for you on a couple of jumps. Become very familiar with handling the canopies you are currently flying - instructors (or indeed your SIM) can give great tips on how to do this. Think about it seriously before buying your first rig. If possible, try a 170 before you decide to get one. Get advice from a lot of people before you make an informed decision. I'm a small jumper and I got some pretty bad advice from some pretty experienced people.. Everyone I talked to said a 135 would be fine for me, especially something relatively docile like a Sabre. Well, given for me a 135 isn't even a 1:1 wing-loading, I thought this made sense, but CAREFUL.. Nobody told me that when you go from a 150 to a 135, the lines are quite a lot shorter, making the canopy *noticeably* more responsive. A lot of people don't realise that there is a bigger jump in performance between a 135 vs 150 than there is between a 150 vs 170. I did get a 135 and had several terrible landings - it was SOO much faster than I thought it would be and I really didn't have the skills for it at the time. I did the responsible thing and really made a point to learn to fly it, bu if I'm 100% honest, I was lucky I didn't injure myself in those days.. I still jump the same canopy now (6 years on) and it's MORE than satisfying for me!! It's a great size/responsiveness for my skill level and still tons of fun. Plus if I stay away from the sport for a while (which I have now and again) I come back to it and it's not too much for me. Ask lots of people and look up the articles on here - lots of great stuff written on there. Just don't get overexcited & get yourself hurt.. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Just think back to when you were a kid on a swing.. In fact, you could always go on a playground (not during daylight or you might get laughed at by 5 year olds!!), sit on a swing, twist it up and stop. Then try and kick your way out of the twists. Bingo!!! Easy! Now just get a MASSIVE fan blowing toward you and someone to shake you violently around when you do it and it's just like under canopy!!! (NOTE: this is not entirely serious.) "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Some DZ's are very clicky.. I spent some time on a DZ that wouldn't let me sit-fly despite me having a USPA B licence (I didn't have any of the UK ratings), and I've also been at DZ's where world-record champions did jumps with me just for fun when I only had about 100 jumps.. And no, it's not just because I have boobs!! Sometimes it's about the way you hold yourself.. You can easily come across as overly cocky when inexperienced, which makes some people weary of you being unsafe in the air. Equally, you might "try too hard", which makes people think you're too much of an eager-beaver so they don't want to take a chance. Some people are snobs, but sometimes showing a bit of restraint and willingness to listen can go a long way. LOADS of people love jumping with a newbie that's really willing to learn and has a positive attitude. Don't despair.. And like everyone said, since you're so close to getting you B licence, this could go a long way toward building people's confidence in your safety/abilities. Maybe when you arrive at a new DZ go straight to an intructor and ask if he can do a coach jump with you to give you some pointers on whatever it is you want to improve (ie: sit-fly, formations, stuff you need for your B-licence). Doing that means he or she can immediately spread the word that you're cool to jump with. And buy your beer!! Thank people for jumping with you and soak up wisdome from everyone else.. Socialising outside of the jump-hours helps you find jump buddies. Hope this helps - lots of good advice on this thread

Was on a jump with my then boyfriend geeking the camera and getting some nice kissing pics. All three of us lost altitude awareness until I thought "man, this has been a long jump.." Looked at my alti and we were at something fucking ridiculous like 2500 ft, still kissing In the last picture you can clearly see an open parachute in the background. We all got a well-deserved bollocking when we landed "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Played 3 times.. Giggled each time - 12m, 5m, 36m (in that order).. This is clearly wrong as it doesn't include a vital part of getting home drunk - crawling! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Admit it - people would be queuing up!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

+1 I think it's your turn to fly wingman, isn't it? Let's get this guy back in the air. Good thought...getting up in the air again would be great. Nataly, I'm up for a roadtrip. Shall I pick you up on the way? See - that's the kind of outgoingness that will get you noticed!!! Let me know if/when you're next in London "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Don't you prefer to see them peel off their leathers and reveal a skimpy skirt? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Shipping seems quite expensive, but worth having a look anyway - thanks!