Jessica

Ackshully.... First Indy sez: "Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?" Then Sallah sez: "Asps. Very dangerous. You go first." I can't help it, it's my favorite movie. Skydiving is for cool people only

Star Wars. "Asps. Very dangerous. You go first." ??? Skydiving is for cool people only

I imagine it was the bar's flexibility. Something bending and twisting inside your tongue is bound to hurt. Skydiving is for cool people only

I put a plastic bar in mine for about a week once, and it hurt like hell the entire time. Skydiving is for cool people only

I had a reserve ride on a ripcord system on my 15th jump because I lacked the strength to get the ripcord out during a hard pull. I vastly prefer to rely on the pilot chute, which can generate a lot more pull force than I can, to pull my pin. Skydiving is for cool people only

Yes, that's true. The temperature of my patootiedom is well-known. It's pudding instead of Jell-O because gelatin is made from horses. I would be distracted by the ghostly neighing as I was trying to take Skymama down. Skydiving is for cool people only

If you want, you can jump mine at WFFC. Skydiving is for cool people only

Eeeeeeeeah!!!! I got third. Skydiving is for cool people only

Guys, please please please visually inspect each other's gear all the time, ESPECIALLY on the ride up. Just eyeball everyone, make sure the obvious stuff is attached, routed, and tucked away. I smugly thought I already did this, but it's an easy thing to forget to do. Yesterday on the ride to altitude, I was sitting diagonally across from a friend at the tail end of the King Air. I was facing him. I was just hanging out, eyes half-closed, feeling the wind from the open door, not really aware of anything going on in the place, occasionally checking my own handles. My friend and I discussed separation and opening altitudes, gossipped a little, gave each other hand slaps. I was looking right at him. We got to about 10 grand, and my friend asked someone else for a pin check. She started to pull up his reserve flap, and my friend said, "Oh, just the main, I don't need the reserve pin checked." She didn't hear and yanked up the reserve flap anyway, and my friend and I rolled our eyes at each other. She slapped him on the back, pins OK, and he turned back around. And she said, "Um, hey, your chest strap." His chest strap was not only not fastened, but was tucked back behind his rig. There was nothing across his chest but white T-shirt. And looking right at him for a 20-minute plane ride, I hadn't noticed. I am a complete asshole. I'll try not to be one in the future. Skydiving is for cool people only

Yes, I have the repacks and the paperwork, I just need to take the tests. I'm too scared. Skydiving is for cool people only

Just saw that flash on a banner ad up there. Is that a first? Does miragesys owe beer? I thought financing a rig was called "a credit card." Depending on the details, it's a really cool idea. It's much more manageable to pay $100 a month or so rather than coming up with $1200 all at once. Skydiving is for cool people only

Hmm. You may be able to chew stainless steel into shape, but I don't think I could manage it. Where do you have them made? Skydiving is for cool people only

I know people who do this, but isn't it kind of hard for your average Jessica to make T-handled bodkins and kneeplates? Skydiving is for cool people only

Just like Boom-boom! "Her? Oh, that's the Bytch. She used to be this big doctor or lawyer or gear sales manager or something, but she cut it all away!" Skydiving is for cool people only

Only if you've got enough to get me completely hammered. Skydiving is for cool people only

Free Miller Lite is to blame for your new sig line, I'll have you know. Skydiving is for cool people only

Was it a free cold pizza delivered four hours late? Skydiving is for cool people only

If I'm not mistaken, Square One doesn't carry rigger tools. Skydiving is for cool people only

LESLIE MILLER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Barely six months after an all-federal airport screening work force was hired, the government is considering establishing standards that could let some airports return to privately employed screeners next year. Congress created the Transportation Security Administration after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and ordered it to replace private screeners, who critics said were poorly trained by companies more interested in making profits than providing security. Congress also gave airports the option of returning to private screeners in November 2004. Some airport managers are frustrated with the TSA and its handling of screeners and are interested in the possibility of hiring private companies to do the work. TSA spokesman Robert Johnson said a working group is studying how airports would propose to hire private companies and how the agency would evaluate the plans. “Though there is some rumbling about airports who may be interested in doing this, we need to be clear that we are still putting the finishing touches on the federal program, and a year and a half is a long way off,” Johnson said. Advocates believe private companies would be more adaptable to individual airport needs, but they say screeners still should have the same training, pay, benefits and oversight as federal employees. Steve van Beek, senior vice president of Airports Council International-North America, the largest airport trade group, said some airports worry that TSA job cuts will make passengers wait longer to board flights. Airport directors say they could better manage the workload if the TSA would give them more freedom to deploy part-time screeners. Now it's up to the TSA to determine the mix of full- and part-time workers. Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee, urged TSA chief James Loy to begin putting in place a system for airports to request private screeners. Like other congressional Republicans, Mica, R-Fla., worries that the Transportation Security Administration has grown too large, too fast, and is unwilling or unable to respond to needs of individual airports. Some members of Congress are alarmed at the prospect that private contractors might return. “We can't go there,” said Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, ranking Democrat on Mica's subcommittee. “The private screeners previously were supposedly under federal supervision, and they comprised the lowest-paid, highest-turnover employees in the airport.” David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, said aviation security is part of homeland defense and the federal government's responsibility. “How quickly we forget,” he said. “We just went through this horrific process of switching from an inadequate private security system.” The TSA began hiring screeners last spring and ended up with 56,000 workers, far more than many Republicans in Congress believed were necessary. They are deployed at 424 commercial airports. To gauge how well federal screeners are doing, Congress ordered five other commercial airports to use private screeners. Those airports are in San Francisco; Rochester, N.Y.; Tupelo, Miss.; Jackson, Wyo., and Kansas City, Mo. Under the program, those screeners are employed by private companies under the supervision of local TSA security directors. They're hired, trained, paid and tested to the same standards as federal screeners. Skydiving is for cool people only

Skydive Chicago's gear shop has a good selection at reasonable prices. I got most of my stuff there. Ask for one of the wire fids if you don't feel like making one yourself; they're great. They're at www.para-concepts.com. Then of course there's www.para-gear.com. Skydiving is for cool people only

We can handle it, because we're not utter pansies like some people this post is addressed to. Skydiving is for cool people only

No. Awesome people who'd do anything for even a stranger, beautiful weather, and endless skies make us better. The fact that I'm getting to cookout and swim in the amazingly clear and cold Guadalupe River (25 miles from my apartment) next week with friends makes us better. Incredible sunsets, better even than the ones I saw from the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast in Italy reflecting on the sea make us better. So HA-ha!!! Enjoy sitting in the rain this weekend. Skydiving is for cool people only

You're like, old or something. Skydiving is for cool people only

Don't make me kick your ass on behalf of all Texans. Skydiving is for cool people only

Lisa is such a Bytch. She never answers my PMs. She thinks she's too good to be among the ranks of the employed. She's a major party-pooper who makes fun of people who try to buy tiny canopies from her at 40 jumps. I know I'LL certainly be going elsewhere for my Xaos. Lisa is such a Bytch that San Antonio isn't even on her golly-gee-I'm-cutting-away itinerary. Geez. Plus she made a huge deal of pointing out that she's getting laid more than me this summer. I know that was directed at me. She's so cruel. The Bytch. Skydiving is for cool people only