NWFlyer

I believe that it is critically important to have an independent voice in U.S.-based skydiving publications, one that can discuss the controversial issues (including Skyride) openly, even if that independent voice says/does/publishes things that I don't always agree with or believe in. Because I believe in this, I subscribe to and will continue to subscribe to, Blue Skies Magazine. I also write for them occasionally as a form of support (and because it's fun). The thing I believe in may be different than the thing you believe in (or we've prioritized them differently). But please don't accuse me of letting it "pass me by." "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Oh I don't know about that ... they actually HAD cameras during my reckless youth. You should be okay. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I've always had all my photos (including tagged ones) set at "friends only." I'm a little confused as to why this is all of a sudden a huge deal just because the photos are now on the top of the profile. Even before the new profile if you didn't have them as "friends only" you could be "humiliated" because people you don't know could still look at your photos. (not just you, Twardo, a bunch of people have posted articles about this in the last couple days) "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

What an awesome idea. Powers that be, I still think it's an awesome idea. Please please please can we do it? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Were you guys doing night jumps last night? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Definitely the right thing to do. There's also a stolen gear database at USPA: http://www.uspa.org/NewsEvents/StolenGear/tabid/127/Default.aspx "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

What the Obama administration, Congress, and the press have alternately called "health care reform" and "health insurance reform" is, substantially, "health insurance reform." "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Belgian_draft summed it up quite succinctly: "Health insurance helps cover the cost of health care." Both are flavors of health insurance. Just as you can choose to buy auto insurance with only liability coverage (so you're covered for the "big expense" but you'd pay for the fender bender out of your own pocket), you can buy health insurance that covers only the big incidents, or you can buy health insurance that covers a broader range of health care services. Just as my auto insurance company has offered free chip repairs on windshields in hopes of preventing a later (and much more costly) windshield replacement claim, some health insurance plans will cover more of the day-to-day health care expenses in hopes of preventing a larger claim later (for example, paying for inhalers and doctors' visits for an asthmatic in hopes of preventing a costly ER visit / hospital admission). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I do. But I work in the industry, at a company that provides both health care and health insurance. I'm kind of supposed to know the difference. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Which fades horribly. I'll take faded orange/yellow (which are my current canopy colors - still fairly new so no noticeable fading) over the all-black stealth canopy I used to jump. I often had people tell me they couldn't see me (especially in low light conditions (late afternoon/sunset). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Yes, just ask at manifest who's organizing that day and they'll connect you. I had about the same number of jumps as you when I first visited and I had a great time and learned a ton! Be sure you ask for a landing area briefing as well. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Might look into some of the Montana resorts (Big Sky, Whitefish, etc.) I've not been but I've heard great things about them in terms of quality vs. price. Might cost you more to get there but it might end up costing less overall. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Oh, hell no. The animal rights activists will need to change George's story, too. Remember that the Man with the Yellow Hat captured George in the wild in Africa and brought him to the big city to live in a zoo. A zoo! So inhumane. We'll need to change that one. Perhaps the Man With the Yellow Hat will find George as an infant after George's mother is killed by a predator animal and instead of capturing him, takes him to a rehab center so that George can live out his life in a natural environment without cages. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Seriously? You're asking if doing some primary research is the right way to go? I'd certainly hope you weren't going to base your entire project on anecdotes you got from an online forum with other people doing your research for you. Go to the SkyVenture corporate website. Look at the investor center. Right there that will get you a lot of information. Get in contact with them, tell them what you're doing and ask for more information. Call up your closest tunnel and see if you can schedule some time to talk to the general manager and/or one of the investors. You're doing a project for a masters' program, not a 6th grade class project. Act like it. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

My cat believes that laps are for cats, regardless of whether there is already a laptop occupying that space. My cat believes that all closed doors must be hiding the secrets of the universe behind them and must be explored if any chance is offered to get them open. My cat believes that my ass is small enough that both it and a 17-lb cat can simultaneously occupy the same office chair. While I am flattered, this is not strictly true, at least not with any level of comfort for me. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Yep, that's the other half of the equation. They may know people who fit your criteria, but you don't fit theirs. Thus no match. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

No comment on whether you're an asshole, but you answered your own question. You threw out two criteria which are likely to significantly reduce your dating pool (particular requirements for looks, and not wanting to have children). Your friends (or their wives) might know a fantastic size 10 who doesn't want kids, or a size 4 who does want kids, but they may not know any single women who meet both of those criteria. Why on earth would they set you up with someone who they know to be incompatible with what you're looking for? Also, some people just don't set people up for any number of reasons. I can count on one hand the number of setups I've arranged in my life (and still have fingers left over). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

It shouldn't be. What is it about going to your reserve that scares you? Are you afraid that you won't do your EP's correctly? Are you afraid it won't work? Are you afraid of jumping a different canopy? There are a lot of factors that can impact the likelihood of a reserve ride, but the fact is that you can try to do everything perfectly and may still find yourself in a situation where you need to use your reserve. What can you do to alleviate your stress/fear about using your reserve? Maybe it's practicing your EPs more. Maybe it's getting in a hanging harness and seeing what it really feels like to pull a reserve. Maybe it's reviewing malfunction scenarios (photos, videos) and discussing how you'd address them. Maybe it's watching a rigger pack a reserve so that you have a better understanding of how they work. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Similar situation for me. In early 2005 I found a Wings (2003 DOM) with 10 jumps on it that came with a Raven II 218 (one pack job, no jumps). Rig fit me pretty well. I bought an AAD (new) and a Spectre with 450 jumps on it. I'm on my third main, but still have the rest of the gear. (Well, actually I'm on AAD #2 because AAD #1 took a salt water bath, but that's another story altogether). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

That is the kind of information I was looking for. Now to be picky and out of interest how many "good" AAD-induced two-out's have you witnessed? I don't really know - maybe half a dozen? It's hard to keep straight the ones I saw vs. the ones I heard about vs. the ones that weren't AAD-induced (only one or two of those, I think). The one linked above is the only one that went to hell - all others ended up with a safe landing under one or both canopies. edit to add Of course, you know any info you get here is going to be anecdotal and hardly statistically significant. I think about AADs the same way I think about seatbelts even though I don't have the same data to back up my feelings about AADs (where there's great data to back up seatbelt use). There's a very small chance the seatbelt itself will cause an injury or death, but it is far outweighed by the likelihood that the seatbelt will keep me from dying or being seriously injured. So I use my seatbelt, and I choose to use an AAD. I don't change my driving habits because I have a seatbelt (I still drive like a granny to minimize the likelihood that I'll cause an accident, and I drive defensively to minimize the likelihood that I'll be involved in one caused by someone else.). Same goes for skydiving. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Anecdotal impression for sure, but I would think that a two-out because of a low pull would be a more likely scenario than a two-out on a swoop, particularly now that we have AADs with swoop mode and we have the knowledge of how high-performance maneuvers can trip the firing parameters of an AAD. Granted, if a two-out situation occurs at the end of freefall, you have more time to address it than if it occurs during a canopy maneuver close to the ground, but I've been on the DZ for a few AAD-induced two-out scenarios (all occurred at the end of freefall, not during a canopy maneuver), and watched one go really bad. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

What does it say about me that I read that as "break 4 midgets in a wingsuit"? No, wait, don't answer that. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Seriously! At least it'll be warmer than Virginia (where we've been the last few days) but it's not supposed to warm up till Thursday. Tomorrow I'll bundle up. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Only Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are company holidays (since the actual holidays fell on Saturdays) but I'm taking the whole week off. Half with family and half at Zhills (though no jumpy for me). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke