FallingMarc

Just think of it this way... when we're perfectly healthy and jump, our ears take hell... when there's a problem in our ears already from congestion, draining, whatever... that's just asking for it! Ruptured eardrums are not our friends... M

Hey... what's WRONG with killing bambi-types? Them's good eatin'... M

So it rained all day... so I spent the day at the DZ hanging out with the staff and bitching about he weather.... o hwell I'll jump next weekend right? right. What will make it better? 5 or 6 shots and 5 or 6 beers, that's right! I feel better already... Hope all the rest of you actually get to jump this weekend though... M

That'd be my guess. I don't really know the situation though... but, if you're still coughing, that means there's still crap draining from your head down your throat, which could be blocking off the parts of your ears that relieve pressure. Marc

Hmm have you happened to read the Celestine Prophecy...? That's awesome!

Hehe... sorry, my family's coming to visit on Sunday, plus I've got a paper to write, and it's not like I'm going to get that done in advance--I'm not crazy or anything! But yeah, I'll be jumping saturday as long as the weather doesn't suck... What will suck is that I have 14 people wanting to go, and nobody with a car but me... so this is why Tomas doesn't want to be in charge of the club anymore... I feel bad for Archway because odds are I'll only be able to get 3 of them down with me this weekend. But they'll all come back next week, so it's not too bad...

I'd like to make an germane rejoinder, using profuse concinnity; this bacchanalia is conducive to fecund oblations to the hoi polloi. I suppose however that my perorations could be seen as nothing but a bloviating tirade... but in all this histrionic hullaballoo, I am of course furtively approaching an appelation to further separate myself from the neophytes! Yes, I'm a post whore... but it's just because I'm BORED OFF MY ASS! Can you tell?

Feliz cumpleaños a Joe! Hope you get some clear skies this weekend...! I won't be able to make it out on Sunday, too bad... Marc

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if your canopy is turning at a constant rate, there should be a toggle position that will counteract it. If you have to hold one toggle down by your head to keep the canopy flying in a straight line, but it does fly in a straight line with the toggle held there, it's better to land like that than to fly a curved final approach. This could be caused by you shifting in your harness, leg straps being tightened unevenly, etc... If this is the case, then even if you're holding one toggle lower than the other, if your canopy is flying straight, it's flying straight, and that's what you want. Your goal is to fly a straight-line final approach. Ideally this means you get on your line, then fly with toggles all the way up, and no more control input until you flare. But, if it takes some constant input to keep from turning, that's better than landing while in a turn. If you do have to hold your toggles slightly unevenly to keep from turning, just remember to flare with them similarly uneven--if a canopy turns with both toggles all the way up, it will turn with both toggles all the way down as well. Marc

That's hilarious..! Well, at least the first one... the second one has a bit of a problem in the link. try it like this... http://skyy.resnet.tamu.edu/stuff/diplomacy.swf

I look with approbation on your utilization of the word "usurped". I would like to make an authoritative dictum, with hubris, but I fear it would be seen as quixotic, and I as one full of grandiloquent effrontery... Actually I just wanted to say "dictum"... heheheh..

That's not true... saying that all Americans should be able to communicate in English is simply a matter of practicality. Just because he wants to be able to conduct business in English doesn't mean he has a problem with other languages--but if you come here and DON'T speak English, why should the rest of us have to accomodate you? America has been a "melting pot" since before it was even a nation... but as a nation decided that English was the language it should conduct its business in, and that's the way it was, so that's what everybody learned. By the way... it's spelled Uzi... but now I'm just being anal.

So what you're saying is that those crimes are worse than any other acts of senseless murder? If those two people had been heterosexual white males, and the same thing had happened to them, it would have been less of a crime? It's somehow less evil to kill a white man than a black man? For ANY reason? How is that not, using your words, ignorant? If you take a human life for any reason other than defense of yourself or your loved ones, you have committed a terrible crime. A hate crime. I'd say Nugent's position isn't ignorant at all, if you actually put some thought into it. Marc

In defense of myself... I wasn't completely disagreeing with the cop's decision to pull me over, of course I realize I broke a law, he was simply doing his job. On one level I'm disagreeing with that specific law... I don't run lights or stop signs when there's traffic... I slowed down enough to see that there was no traffic... but I digress. And I was absolutely respectful to the officer, answering all of his questions honestly. No, I did not know why he pulled me over. I wasn't speeding, and I slowed down quite a bit for the sign, just not a complete stop. Yes, I did see the stop sign. No, I did not come to a full and complete stop. Yes, I did brake. He didn't believe me. "I at least like to see the brake lights come on..." Guess you had your eyes shut then, huh. But I just thought that part. But now I'm just bitching... sorry.

I respectfully disagree... yes, I fully support everybody's right to have an opinion and to say what that opinion is. I think it's great that we have a country in which we can debate things, and publicly criticize rules and officials. But that doesn't mean that every opinion is right. If someone tells me that it's their opinion that we should violently take over Canada, they have every right to believe that... but I'm sure as hell going to tell them it's a stupid opinion, and tell them why I think so. Just like when people say it's their opinion that George W. is a moron, I'm going to say they're wrong. That's my opinion. I'm not going to force my opinion on them, but I'm not going to sit by when what I believe to be flawed logic is spouted as "the way things should be"... Marc

Hurray for rational thinking! I'd vote for Nugent... Marc

That's damn cool...! If I had a tux, I'd be James Bond... I want to skydive in a tux... But I don't have a tux... M

I agree... however much fun anarchy sounds, it really would suck. But at the same time, is it really necessary to fine me 75 bucks for a rolling stop out in the middle of the boonies at 1:30 a.m. with no traffic for miles? The system could use some tweaking... I still have to say, though, I have a lot of respect for anyone who puts on a badge and puts themselves in that position, and really takes their job seriously. It's a high risk lifestyle sometimes... Marc

That's interesting... and I know there are deaths from cutaway/no reserve pull too. But the way I see it, if I have the presence of mind to cutaway, I still don't see how I would not pull the reserve. I also do reserve drills every time I gear up, I want it to be ingrained in my head in case I am in a state of shock or whatever. Granted I don't really know how I will react, my only cutaway has been on an SOS rig--but I know that at least in that case, I was fully conscious of what I was doing. Blue skies and unending debates, Marc

Thanks... I guess I've got some research and experimenting to do. I haven't looked at the Aerodyne site yet, that's a good idea. So much to learn! What an awesome sport... Marc

Mike, you get my ultra-cool coveted "Funny Shit of the Day" award! That's hilarious...

Now, don't you start... There's two country songs I like. One is the one that goes "there's a tear in my beer 'cause I'm cryin for ya dear..." because that's just hilarious. The other is The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Beyond that, when I want music to depress me, I'll stick to classic rock and at least hear a guitar solo or two...

Now THAT's funny...! And I thought it was bad news when a girl told me she listened to country music... Marc

This is why I don't jump with an RSL... I can't think of ANY situation where I would pull right and not follow with pulling left. And I don't want to have to worry, in a malfunction situation, about "do I have to disconnect first or not". Too much complexity in emergency procedures. Marc

Would have sucked even more at about ground level I'd think... Oh and I thought it was... 1. Where's my rig 2. Can I make the next load Only THEN is it... 3. Where are my clothes Skydiving first. Modesty later. Marc