NWFlyer

Take a look at ihi. I bought coverage for the Belize Boogie through them; fortunately, didn't have to use it, but everything I read indicated that they were top-notch (good reviews) and the site indicates they'll coordinate things for you if you need evac. They also have no exclusions for skydiving or scuba injuries, which was very important for Belize, those being the two most likely ways I would have injured myself. I recall asking a couple questions before I bought the policy and they were responsive via email query, so you should be able to get your questions addressed before you make a decision. http://global.ihi.com/ (Also if you travel quite a bit, I recall that the cost difference between single-trip and annual travel coverage was fairly low). "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

Another option, if you have the time, is to coordinate it yourself and reach out to your friends, family, and coworkers directly to sponsor the families you 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

I fully expect there to be both open and concealed hostility throughout the ranks, regardless of the socio-economic status; we see that outside the military; I'd expect it to be no different within the military. That said, there also seems to be a lot of support within the military for allowing gays to serve openly (based on recently-released survey results), so I suspect that the problems will be worked through and some time from now this will just be another change the military has absorbed. "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

Asking at every DZ is the right thing to do as there is no standard. If the answer makes you uncomfortable, watch a load or two and figure out the part of the landing area where no one else lands ... go land there (assuming of course, it's a nice, flat, open area that just happens to be a longer walk ... that's usually the case). "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

Right before I wrecked my MCL, I checked out this place with McBeth. We did the "Monkey Conditioning" class but there was also an aerial conditioning class going on at the same time. Everyone in there looked like current or former dancers - they all had that very lean very fit physique. It looked damn near impossible for mere mortals like me. The monkey conditioning was really fun and one of those that's adaptable based on your level - I started out on the easier levels but could see increasing intensity as I went to the class more. Alas, it'll be a while longer before my knee's ready for that kind of working out. "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

One of my FB friends pointed out it's a bad year for Airplane! actors; in addition to those two we also lost one of the last fluent Jive speakers (Barbara Billingsley). "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

Thanks for the laughs, sir. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/28/AR2010112804165.html?hpid=topnews He died in a big building with patients, but that's not important right now. "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 hope that's a typo, otherwise you (or your employer) is really bad at math and you're not making as much as you should for overtime. "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 read quite a few, through RSS. A very small percentage of them are corporate blogs that could be considered a form of advertising; the rest are written by friends or other people/organizations whose writing I find interesting. I skim a lot - there's very few where I'll read all entries every day. As for RSS, I usually just copy the blog's main address over to the "Add a Subscription" box in my blog reader (Google reader). "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 not sure how to answer. When I chatted with my manager on Tuesday he said "You're taking Friday off, right?" (it's not a company holiday but I'd guess maybe 80% of the company, at least those of us who are not in jobs that need 24/7 coverage, will take it off). I said "I'm still debating whether to take a vacation day or not." His response "I'm perfectly happy if you log on and respond to a couple emails and call it a working day." So I guess I'll pick "boobies" in your poll since it's the closest answer. "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, I've witnessed one for an experienced jumper. "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

Most reserve canopies are one solid color. Most main canopies are not. Given the nature of the commercial they probably used a reserve to show the guy was totally unaware of altitude, due to his phone, and saved by an AAD. Just my guess. I think you're giving whuffo understanding of skydiving too much credit. My guess would be that a solid, bright color canopy provided better visuals for the ad. Looks like a main to 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

Wife's out of town? "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

Yogurt Scrambled eggs Cornbread (left over from last night's dinner) Sipping coffee now. "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

Went to Vegas this past weekend. I currently have a torn MCL so I wear a knee brace much of the time, but since it's a guaranteed pat-down when wearing it, and I can walk okay without it, I folded it up in my carry-on to go through security. No questions asked leaving Oakland. Coming back from Vegas the screener stops on my bag, and says "what do you have in there?" I said "I've got a knee brace in there - it probably looks weird." He stares at the image a little more. "Do you have two in there?" I said "No, just the one, folded up on itself." And the bag goes through without further ado. I'm thinking that seeing an object you can't identify is probably reasonable cause for a look-see in the bag; instead, the guy just trusts that what I'm telling him is true. Sigh. "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

Hate to burst your bubble, Grant, but I learned at the same DZ the OP learned and never heard the term stick (used in this context) till today. Could be that he's hearing it from instructors who weren't around when I was, 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

Not a drink, but some day I will make these ... I just need to have the patience since they look like more work than "open box, add egg and oil" ... which is the way I usually make cupcakes. http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/car-bomb-cupcakes/ "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 no Palin fan, but "thing"? Dehumanizing her is the best you can do for Palin criticism? Wait, yeah, I've seen your rhetorical style in other forums. It is the best you can do. 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

I'm a wuss and mostly don't jump anymore when it's super-cold (back when I did I was still wearing an open-face with goggles). But I've been using a full-face for about the last 300 jumps. I've done some fairly cold jumps with my full-face and at most I'll have light fogging just in front of the mouth, not enough to restrict my visibility in freefall. I always pop my visor after I'm under a good canopy. Do a search on "cold weather jumping" or "winter jumping" - there are a LOT of threads about cold weather jumping, in particular how best to adapt your clothing (short answer, layers!) and gloves (short answer - thin and warm, nothing that restricts your ability to use all of your handles; glove liners are your friend). "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

If it's happened before he may want to look at prevention - if it's a full-face with a flip up visor, keeping the visor up till the last possible moment - preferably after the door is opened - can help to minimize the humidity/temperature differential that warm breath on a visor will create (that will then be hit with cold, dry outside air). As for the situation, keeping an eye on others in the group (assuming the visor hasn't *completely* fogged up) can help - they break off, you break off. If it's not completely fogged up, you might be able to bring the altimeter in towards your face so that it can come into the clear field of vision. "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, my biz travel is just before going to bed the night before ... my biz travel packing is pretty routine and easy at this point; I rarely need to bring anything radically different from one trip to another - the only variable is how many days the trip is going to be. I've planned my business wardrobe to support easy (meaning NO checked luggage) travel. Anything I wear has to work with black shoes, as one pair of dress shoes and one pair of running shoes are all I ever take. For vacations, for a quick weekend trip, I'll typically pack the day of (if I'm leaving in the evening) or night before (if I'm leaving early morning). Most of my personal trips are 4 days or less. For a longer trip, I might start making lists of what I want to bring a few days before so if there's any shopping / digging out of closets / laundry that needs to be done I have time to do it. But the actual packing will still typically take place right before the trip. The ONE exception to that rule is Lost Prairie, and that's because we send a bunch of camping gear up with people who are driving and it all has to be ready before they leave, not when I leave. "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 was on the DZ the day Joe did his Level 1 AFF. He had pizza and was offering it to experienced jumpers. This was how I met him, and I remember thinking what a smart idea that was to meet people and engage them during the jumping day. Sure enough, it's what got me to talking to him the first time, and I even gave him his first piece of skydiving swag that day - a bottle opener for all the beer he was also bringing. After that his was a face I always enjoyed seeing at the dropzone. I was there the day he was injured, and was so sad to hear it was he who'd gotten hurt - I was afraid it would dampen his enthusiasm for the sport. Not even close - he was ready to get back into skydiving as soon as his body would let him; unfortunately, it wasn't the injury, but cancer that stopped him from getting back up there. He still came by the DZ from time to time as he recovered, and still had that "I'm gonna be back in the air someday" light in his eyes. The jump where he got hurt was to be his final AFF jump - I'd promised him a coach jump once he was able to successfully complete AFF; unfortunately, his injury meant we'd have to put that jump on hold. I'm just sorry I won't have the chance to jump with him now. We'll miss him at the DZ. "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 are lots of companies that cover from the start, and lots that don't. I have no idea what the numbers are, but both sides are significant. Wendy P. My jobs have probably been 50/50 if I looked back at them. All private sector, some for-profit, two not-for-profit, ranging in size from 50 employees to 100,000+. I don't think I've had to wait any longer than "first of the month following date of hire" but I have had to 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

So happy I was at a boogie when he died and a few days after. Nice to go into a media-free bubble just at the point when you want to smack the media. "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 I said in another thread, it may not make much difference: http://www.npr.org/2010/11/18/131427580/airports-weigh-congressman-s-call-to-ditch-tsa Apparently SFO's been using private contractors all along ... I fly out of Oakland much more than SFO but I can't recall a noticeable difference in process at SFO. "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