NWFlyer

I've got a garden going for the time. Everything's on a balcony, so it's all in containers. Two varieties of tomatoes, a sweet pepper, red leaf lettuce, basil, rosemary, and greek oregano. I'm on the second round of basil, and will probably need to replant lettuce soon, too. I've really been enjoying the herbs - it's been so nice to be able to pluck a few basil leaves to throw in my salad every night. Next year I'm hoping to do strawberries in hanging baskets. "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 embarrassing stuff I'm pretty good at laughing/joking my way out of ... usually if you can laugh at yourself stuff falls off the "embarrassment" radar pretty quickly. But the one I will always remember is the first day of a class in college - probably my 3rd year. It was a large lecture hall where the entrance was at the bottom. Walked in and started scanning the room for a familiar face so I could sit with a friend. Not paying a damn bit of attention to where I'm walking, of course, and suddenly a large yelp rings out through the classroom. I've stepped on the foot of the guide dog of the blind guy sitting in the front row of the classroom. Yes, I'm the bitch who's abusing the hard-working seeing-eye dog. Certainly couldn't laugh that one off - all I could do was apologize profusely and hope the entire room would stop staring at me. And it's not like I wasn't used to having the guy and his pooch in classrooms - we were in the same department and had classes together before. I did find a friend in the auditorium and sat next to him and was promptly and appropriately given large rations of shit for my doggie abuse. "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 have a bunch of friends who have been doing tris for years and I know they spend time on these forums: http://www.slowtwitch.com/ "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

They're both great DZs with excellent training programs. Why not check them both out and see which atmosphere you like better? Another deciding factor for you may be talking to each of them to find out how you'd fit into their existing programs given that you do have some jumps completed. Exactly how they slot you into the progression may impact your overall cost and might also be a factor (note that I would fully expect both DZs to put you through full recurrency training, but the variance might be in what they charge for that training and/or which jumps in your progression you'll need to repeat). Be sure to ask about costs for jumps, gear rental, coaching past AFF, packing classes, etc. to make sure you're comparing apples to apples. "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 if it's with the same jhumper you only count that as 1, not the number of times you've humped said jhumper? For this poll, yes. For weekend numbers, no. Then again, I don't usually report a number in the first number of weekend numbers unless I'm reporting some other significant number. "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

LOL that was tunnel time ... besides it doesn't count if it's all with the same 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

Jumps has always been > jumpers. And at this point, I'd have to go through a really um ... busy ... phase for it to end up otherwise. "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 just found something that (at least for me) seems to explain all the suggestions I've received lately where the name sounds sorta-kinda vaguely familiar to me, but we have no mutual friends or network connections. I think I used this feature when I first got on FB, and it seems to have imported not just my contacts list, but also anyone I've ever emailed. It could also explain why you're getting suggestions of clients - if you're in their email system somewhere and they do the "Find Friends" thing ... boom ... lots of data exposed to FB. I like FB for what it is, but the more time I spend on there the more guarded I am about my privacy settings; I don't have the illusion that anything is really private, but at least I can use the safeguards that are available to make it a bit more secure. "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

Do you have any Facebook friends in common? Is your employer listed in your profile? I've found the "people you may know" feature to be really random at times. I often get people with whom I have no discernible connection (no mutual friends, no FB network in common, etc.). The other day I got one where the alleged connection was "You and Mike both worked at Expedia." I've never worked at Expedia, so I have no idea where that one came from. Even if I had, I wouldn't have listed it in my profile - like you, I'm keeping FB for non-work friends only (though I do have a select few former coworkers on there, it's very limited). "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

7.4:0:0 7.4 mile hike at Point Reyes yesterday, and a beautiful weekend of relaxing, getting shit done, spending time with my sweetie, and enjoying the natural beauty of Northern California away from the dropzone. Now I'm all recharged to boogie for four days at the American Boogie next weekend. "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 just got on the registry on Thursday - my employer sponsored the drive so there was no charge for us, either. "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

See, now that is cool stuff, like Loretta Lynn's collaboration with Jack White on Van Lear Rose. Interesting that the more innovative stuff is coming from the older folks in country and the younger artists from different genres. "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

Best thing you can read at this point is the Skydiver's Information Manual. Read online, download/print, or order here (your DZ probably has copies for sale as well): http://www.uspa.org/SIM.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

It's currently broken. I wouldn't count on it being available. But as others have said, it's probably not going to be that necessary - the areas where people spend the majority of their time are pretty compact and close together. The longest walk will be out to the landing area, and you can watch the landings from the patio just as easily. "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 get my fix of (alt)-country on KEXP ... now that I'm not living in Seattle I listen online. Wednesday night - The Roadhouse Thursday night - Swingin' Doors Friday night - Shake The Shack All are some variation of country/blues/roots stuff (Swingin' Doors is the most "pure" country in there). I won't listen to country radio, ever, but I love what KEXP plays. Check it out: http://kexp.org/streamarchive/streamarchive.asp "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 see other people in the landing area in that video; I can only assume that wasn't a solo pass where you had all the airspace to yourself. I'll leave the constructive criticism on technique to the folks who actually swoop. Just wanted to point out (from the point of view of someone who might be under canopy at the same time as you planning a standard pattern and wanting very much to make it down safely without being taken out) that your downwinders are *not* all about you if there are other people landing at the same time. "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

To be fair, unless I missed it, he didn't say where the gear landed and whether it was somewhere that could be safely followed ... if I'd followed my last cutaway down I would have a had a tree landing to add to my "no shit there I was" story (though where I did safely land involved having to be retrieved by the po-po, so it was a pretty good story 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

Wasn't the right canopy for me - I liked the openings, but there wasn't much else about it that would tear me away from my current canopy (Pilot). The particular one I demoed had a trim issue (slight built-in turn that I had to counter to get it to fly straight), so I had that to contend with as well. Other than the trim problem I can't say there was anything in particular I didn't like about it, but there wasn't anything in particular I loved about it either. There are a lot of reviews of the Storm on here that are written by people who have jumped it considerably more than me, though - I didn't put that many jumps on it b/c the trim problem was annoying (and weather was a factor, 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

Yep, as always, opinions are like assholes ... everyone's got one. The only one that matters is your own if you're planning to jump the canopy. I had the opposite impression. Loved the Pulse, was kind of "meh" on the Storm. That's why it's great that PD has such an accessible demo program - there's really no excuse for not trying one! (At least in the U.S. - I don't know if international shipping charges make the costs prohibitive outside the U.S.). "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

Who the fuck cares? As long as he/she does everything necessary to get me to altitude safely (or back on the ground safely if there's any reason I can't jump)... that's pretty much all I care about. "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

Um ... no, though the bottom skin (the Optimum fabric skin) can be any color you like as long as it's white. "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

Perris & Elsinore are about equidistant and both are worth a visit if you have the time to do two DZs. "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

Last chance to subscribe to get the first issue! I know there will be at least *one* great article (since I wrote it ). From the BlueSkiesMag Twitter feed: "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. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3508658 http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3542159 http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3538853 I should add ... I have one on order and am expecting it in the next few weeks. Obviously, I liked 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

All these endorsements aside, the best way to find the right full face for you is to try as many on as you can. Even more so than open-face helmets, full-face helmet fit depends on the size and shape of your head. Personally, I've got a freakishly-large head and only the Bonehead Mamba XXL and the FreeZR II XL full-face helmets even fit. After trying both I decided that I prefer the fit of the FreeZR II for my head/face shape, and recently got one and use it for pretty much all of my jumps and tunnel time now. I also have (and love) a Bonehead Guner (open face) that I've jumped since about jump 20. "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