NWFlyer

I've been drinking Chateau MadJohn for years and I can tell ya it's good wine (just in case any of you are worried that your work will wind up on a crappy product ... it still might, but it won't be this one!). "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 noticed that Macy's often has this little lounge area with a comfy bench and TVs outside the women's dressing rooms. "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 remember the first time I bought dye for the boyfriend he asked me to pick up the lightest blonde possible (otherwise there's no way the color would take). I looked at the boxes and every single one had a photo of a woman on it except the ultra-light blonde one, which had a metrosexual dude with blonde tips. It's like "men may only use this color." "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

The only time I hand my purse to someone else is if I need both hands and arms free for a moment. For example, when I'm putting a coat on. Otherwise, yes, I'm quite happy to hold it myself. "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'm guessing the point was that people who are size 14+ should not make their fashion decisions using a funhouse mirror. I'd posit that perhaps no one should make their fashion decisions using a funhouse mirror ... But she looks like she got dressed in a normal mirror and left the house looking just fine. Unless of course this post was meant to imply that she shouldn't leave the house at all because of her clothing size. "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 occurs to me that this is what camera phones were made for! Take a photo of the box when you're at home and consult it when you're in the store. Hell, when Lubriderm changed the packaging on their moisturizers I had to call my boyfriend from the store to say "go to the bathroom to tell me what formula of lotion I use" because I only remembered the color of the bottle of the one that I liked, not the name of the formula, and they changed the color scheme on me. You'd think marketers would be more sensitive to those of us who don't actually bother to learn the detailed names of their products. "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

As you can probably tell from the thread there are a lot of different opinions. Sounds like you're doing preliminary research, which is good. Next step is probably to get yourself to a Verizon store and try out a few different models that have the features you want and see which one "feels" right for you. I have both a Blackberry for work (an older model) and a Motorola Droid for personal use. The Blackberry does what I need it to do for work - handle email and phone calls reliably. I don't use it for much of anything else. The Droid interface takes some getting used to if you've never used a touch-screen interface, but in general I found it pretty intuitive and easy. My biggest problem is switching back and forth between the keyboards on the Blackberry and the Droid because they're just different enough that I make mistakes. "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 sounds like the typical price that would be charged for a longer scenic balloon flight, not for a relatively short jump flight. However, a lot of the costs will be the same regardless of the length of the flight - cost to transport the balloon to the takeoff site, fuel to inflate, grounds crew, cost to recover at the landing site, etc. If the balloon operator only expects one load of four jumpers, I can understand not really changing the cost from what he/she would charge for tourists on a longer flight. Perhaps if you can guarantee multiple loads the operator would be willing to lower the per-load cost. "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

Merry Christmas from the Family FTW. (Robert Earl Keen original) Jill Sobule's cover "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 got asked for my "orders" once by a supervisor at OAK. I had to explain that I did this for fun and I was under no orders. You don't even *need* that but it can be a helpful explanatory tool if you do get questions about the AAD. "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

This. "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

At least we don't have to deal with them all day every day like the folks that work in retail. Though when the clerk at the local CVS complained to me on December 7 that she "couldn't believe they were playing Christmas music this early" I thought she should consider herself lucky since many retailers have had their holiday stuff (and the matching music) out since Labor Day. "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's a couple reasons I like my rig in a bag (but I still carry it on). 1) I look like any other random traveler with a roller case. I have no interest in advertising the fact that I"m a skydiver or getting into unsolicited conversations about it. 2) You've got two options of where to put said rig on the plane. In the overhead bin, it isn't 100% in your control. Someone comes on after you and wants to move "the backpack" to throw their bag in and grabs that shiny silver handle to do so (yes you could tie it down, but still, I don't want random non-skydivers handling my gear, period, and who knows what could be put on top of it). Or you put it under the seat in front of you. And the guy in front of you spills his coke down the side of his seat. Or there's gum on the floor. I've had that happen to me before - took my shoes off for a long flight and ended up with gum all over my sock. Not a big deal on a pair of socks that I could just discard and only be out a few bucks ... a much bigger deal trying to get that off my rig. A duffel bag is cheap. Get one. "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

Y'know, I hear the panties don't drop if you can only afford to wear the new gear around the house. In that case, carry on. "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

Well, buying all brand-new is a bit more of a hit in the wallet. Shame there's not a great used gear market in this sport ... oh.... wait. "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 respectfully disagree (and with that, it is ineligible for Speakers' Corner, since they don't allow anything but hateful namecalling over there ). The Belgian style frite is the bestest ever. Though at breakfast time I would also argue for the hash brown. "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

Still rehabbing a torn MCL. And according to AWOS the weather hasn't cleared at the DZ anyway. "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

Depending on the brand if you buy new you will still need to perform scheduled maintenance at regular intervals. For used AADs, it also depends on the brand that you buy, and where it is in its maintenance cycle whether/when you'll have to pay for scheduled maintenance. Decide what brand or brands you're willing to buy. If you have the cash to buy a new one, cool, it'll be transferable to every rig you own, or you can resell it. If cash is tighter and you can find a used one, buy a used one. "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

Not really I didn't even watch the whole trailer because it was that bad, sure as hell would pay to see that shit. I'd probably wait till it was out on Netflix (so that there's no marginal cost to me for the movie), invite a bunch of friends over, drink a lot of beer, and mock the hell out of it, especially the "actors" I know. "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

People seem to be searching for things to be offended by these days. In San Francisco, Macy's fired their Santa of 20 years because he told a very mild off-color joke to some adults ... who complained. Santa got the last laugh though, he's now making twice as much working at a local bar.

I recommend sobriety for the closing process itself. And drunkenness to follow immediately, of course. "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

The whuffos will love the cheesy "drama" ... and the skydivers will tolerate the cheese for the amazing footage. "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

This is a really cool site that allows you to juxtapose all kinds of dimensions on top of a known area (like your neighborhood, or your dropzone, etc.) You can take the Apollo 11 lunar exploration area and realize the whole area they covered is the size of a soccer field. Or put the area of the gulf oil spill over your neighborhood and see how much of where you live would be affected. Totally cool! http://www.howbigreally.com/ Here's the Space Shuttle runway on my dropzone... I think they need a little more than a PAC does. "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

Check out the DVD Willing to Fly for some cool footage with a peregrine falcon. Then there are bird strikes .... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2227575 "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

Supreme Court, fuck yeah! "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