NWFlyer

One? For an engineer, you don't count 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

Sniffing glue. Thread over. Next? "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

Exactly! Coworker: "So, Krisanne, where are you going on vacation?" Me: "Up to Montana, we go every year - we'll be camping not far from Glacier National Park." Accurate, though not complete, description of Lost Prairie. or Coworker: "Boy, it was hot this weekend, wasn't it?" Me: "Yeah, it sure was, and I was up in Davis where it was 30 degrees warmer!" Coworker: "Oh, what brought you to Davis?" Me: "I was hanging out with some friends." "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

And since the OP jumps at Lodi, he has access to a whole ton of top wingsuit talent that he can talk to in person about his goals. "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

PLFs work almost as well in snowboarding as they do in skydiving. I'd advocate strongly for a helmet even though some people have classified them as optional above. "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

Spencer Gifts is still around and they have some of that kind of stuff. http://www.spencersonline.com/StoreLocation.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

No one actually at the USPA is ever going to look at your logbook unless you happen to be jumping with them. But, if you're trying to prove your credentials as a skydiver, your BASE number doesn't do that. That said, I have jumps signed with Muff numbers, BASE numbers, license numbers, membership numbers, random gibberish, and unsigned and I've still managed to manifest at a bunch of DZs that looked at my logbook and get licenses and a rating. YMMV if you're trying to get someone who doesn't already know/trust you to approve your application forms. "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 RA in the dorms my first year of college was one of those. Dated a med student and even did the "fake a pregnancy to get a proposal" move. This was at a competitive southern school so she had to have a reasonable amount of brainpower/drive to get in, but there were many who worked hard so they could have access to a high-potential pool of potential husbands. Of course by the time I was there (late 80s/early 90s) they were fortunately far outnumbered by those who were there because they wanted to be high achievers themselves, but still.. 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

Mmm... where's my popcorn? "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 a staunch believer in over, till I got cats, now it's under. Or, more likely, hidden away in the extra roll storage container that sits next to the toilet because if it's over he'll unroll it all over the bathroom, and if it's under, he'll scratch at it trying to get it to move and he'll leave toilet paper shreds all over the bathroom. Yes, I love my cat. "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

Just email or call and ask for a new one. I've always received mine, but did get a damaged issue once (IIRC the binding was offset by about an inch so the page layouts were all wonky and cut off). USPA sent a new one right away. No need to sit around and be sad about it when they'll make it right. "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

Whole buncha good nonfiction: The Omnivore's Dilemma In Defense of Food The Botany of Desire (above all by Michael Pollan) Deep Survival (Laurence Gonzales) The Lost City of Z (David Grann) Shop Class as Soulcraft (Matthew Crawford) The Tipping Point Blink Outliers (above all by Malcolm Gladwell) and one of my all-time favorite works of fiction: Lamb (Christopher Moore) "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 thought of this post when I read this article today on where Kim Phuc is today. Amazing to see how far she's come since that photo. http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20090910/hl_hsn/girliniconicvietnamwarphotobringsmessageofhope "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

schadenfreude "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

Based on the opinions of skydivers and the skydiving community that you've expressed here, it sounds like you've made the best decision for you.

You'll find drama in any group of >2 people if you look for it. Hell, you can find it with one person who can create lots of their own drama. It's all a matter of what you choose to do with it and how you choose to react to it. Personally, I find that maintaining balance in my life between what goes on at the dropzone and what goes on away from it helps me to put any drama that does exist into easy perspective. Skydiving and skydivers are a big part of my life; they are not my entire life. Get over the idea that skydivers are any different from any other group of people; we're not. Get over the idea that the dropzone culture is fundamentally different from any other culture created by a group of people with like interests; it's not. "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 Benny Hillifier! http://james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier/ (And for the construction geeks/Bay Area residents, time lapse of last weekend's Bay Bridge construction project, Benny Hillified, which is how I found out about this cool tool to begin with): http://james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier/?id=HTM6Ux8Viak "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 may embarrass you because, well, it's about you, but I really thought it was a great statement about how relationships and love *should* work. It was in the context of a series of PMs about the challenges of long-distance relationships - mine at the time was about 1/10th as "long" distance as yours was, but some of the basics are the same regardless of distance. At any rate, here's the quote: "It's more important to me that she be who she wants to be than that she be with me. When I look at things that way, I can't lose. " "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's exactly what was factored in. I think it's 30 people max, not 34. Either way, the decision to run the loads at Pepperell so light was due to the runway configuration. "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

Doesn't "Obama Youth" count? As a clear reference to "Hilter Youth"? Perhaps it was a bit too subtle a comparison for our Godwin's Law expert. "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

but they did significantly change the loading restrictions from what Fayard allowed. At the Pepperell Boogie (where were you Howard?) they only allowed 13-15 slots in the aircraft. That was disappointing. I believe the number was 17-19; still well below capacity and below what the organizers had planned for. Wasn't it also a day late, too? "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

Yeah, for a buck, I'll write your name too, Lisa. What does it cost to let her hold the pen? "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 sold two of them in the last two months; you haven't been looking hard enough or you have a different definition of "good" than I do. The two that I sold were both Pilot 210s, one with about 25 jumps, the other with 500 jumps and a new lineset, both in great condition. Both were fairly priced given their age/condition. Maybe you want a different canopy than a Pilot, or maybe your definition of "good" = cheap; there's nothing wrong with that - sometimes you can get great deals, sometimes you get what you pay for. "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

Since this thread seems to have gotten a bit confused ... maybe I can simplify. If you have a container, it should come with a deployment bag that is appropriately sized for that container. That deployment bag will fit a range of canopy sizes; how big that range is will depend on the canopy's shape, style, and pack volume. As an example, I'll use my own gear. My container has held a Spectre (7-cell) 230 and a Pilot 210 (9-cell). Those canopies have almost identical pack volume, even though they are different sizes. Those were a tight fit, but they fit safely. I would not be able to put a canopy with a larger pack volume in this container. I currently have a Pulse 210 in there (9-cell, but with low-bulk fabric on the bottom skin, so it packs smaller than the Pilot). The Pulse is "looser" in the bag than the Pilot was, but it is not even close to dangerously loose, and I was able to make sure that it safely fit by shortening my closing loop. I could safely put a 190 in there, and most likely a 170. Smaller than that and I'm probably going to need a smaller container/d-bag. Risers come with demo canopies purely for convenience, as it is a lot easier/quicker to swap out risers than it is to unhook a canopy completely and reattach it to another set of risers. "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

Trainspotting springs to mind as being another one like that. I was reading the book and knew that a movie was in the works (but hadn't yet been released) and I recall thinking "How the hell are they going to turn this into a movie?" Each has its own great qualities, but they're also very different animals. I was able to appreciate both equally. "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