NWFlyer

She just wants my bottle of Captain. Or my vote. Not really sure which. Does it really matter? "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, I'm with ya on that one. I was going to say "not thinking about work the entire weekend" and if I could make some skydives to clear my head, that would help with that part. Mother Nature needs to keep that wind down, though. Either way, I'll come hang with da Bytch. With or without disco gear. And that's a near-perfect 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

Maybe Tony Suits? They've got Hawaiian fabrics as an option. http://www.tonysuits.com/specialty.php4 "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

Possibly they don't know them. A bunch of stolen gear posts earlier this year prompted me to write down all of mine and take photos of all my gear (and my data card), and make this post urging others to do the same. I hope my stuff is never stolen or lost, but if it is, it'll be good to have the numbers and good photos readily accessible. Edited to add - I just moved and in setting up my new renters insurance I specifically discussed my gear and asked whether I needed to declare it separately as a high-value item. They don't have a separate category for it but said it would be included under my personal property protection. "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 thinking of you all a year later.

Mail Goggles What will they think of 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

Dates are when I made my first jump at the DZ, though in some cases I did visit the DZ before actually jumping there. 22 DZs and 2 non-DZs in 9 states and 1 foreign country (though it's Canada, so it probably shouldn't really count ). I thought I was doing pretty well, but I've obviously got some catching up to do to get to ChileRelleno's impressive numbers! Skydive Snohomish, Snohomish, WA (August 2004) Adventure Center Skydiving, Hollister, CA (April 2005) Skydive Carolina, Chester, SC (May 2005) The Parachute Center, Lodi, CA (May 2005) Bay Area Skydiving, Byron, CA (May 2005) Skydive Arizona, Eloy, AZ (May 2005) Perris Valley Skydiving, Perris, CA (May 2005) Skydive Moab, Moab, UT (May 2005) Skydive Lost Prairie, Marion, MT (July 2005) Blue Skies Skydiving, Bremerton, WA (August 2005) - has since closed Pacific Skydivers, Pitt Meadows, BC (October 2005) Richland Skysports, Richland, WA (October 2005) - has since closed Skydive DeLand, DeLand, FL (February 2006) Skydive Elsinore, Lake Elsinore, CA (March 2006) Skydive The Farm, Rockmart, GA (April 2006) Northwest Skydivers, Mount Vernon, WA (May 2006) Emerald Coast Skydiving Center, Elberta, AL (May 2006) Lang Creek Brewery, Marion, MT (non-DZ) (July 2006) Skydive Oregon, Molalla, OR (August 2006) Star Farms, Paso Robles, CA (non-DZ) (September 2006) Skydive Atlanta, Thomaston, GA (November 2006) Skydive Kapowsin, Shelton, WA (May 2007) Skydance Skydiving, Davis, CA (June 2007) Skydive City, Zephyrhills, FL (February, 2008) "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

You were there?! How did we miss each other?! I met SmoothAl. I just didn't know he was SmoothAl at the time. Great to see everyone again and meet some new faces at Chicks Rock. Always a fun time at (M)Elsinore. "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 some funny shit. And was useful to me because the video included the link to maps.google.com/vote, which got me to my local registrar's web site and I was able to confirm online that I'm a registered voter. I haven't received my confirmation in the mail yet and my local deadline is 10/20. I just moved and turned the form in at the DMV on 9/8, so I figured I was fine... but didn't entirely trust DMV, 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

That must be such a relief to you and the rest of Lee's family. "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 tired of hearing "nucular." "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, he's pretty cool for a Hokie. Have fun with AFF. "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 ARM was a good move for me at the time (when I, quite honestly, couldn't see living in the place longer than 5 years), and I re-financed to a fixed at the right time (when rates were still low). What I saved in the 4 1/2 years of having the ARM at a very low rate more than offset the cost of the re-fi. Of course, I didn't use the ARM to buy more house than I could afford. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be happy with Chase as a bank ... but it'll be at least a few months till they have time to start making changes in WaMu's existing policies. That'll buy me time to pick the least objectionable of the remaining players. I suppose I could go back to having all my money in a credit union (which are really the last consumer-friendly institutions out there) but I do like the ATM access convenience of a national bank. "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 accounts and mortgage are there. I kept the accounts there because I figured that exactly what would happen, happened. Yes, I gambled on some (temporary) lack of liquidity with my checking/savings/HELOC accounts, but it all turned out fine. I figured the fire sale buyer would be Wells Fargo, but it's Chase, and so I'll end up with new letterhead and new cards blah blah blah and at some point policies will change and I may decide it's worth it to move things over. But in the midst of a lot of busy-ness in my life, the hassle factor of closing my accounts, and moving my direct deposit, and automatic withdrawals over to another account just wasn't worth it. My money was (and is) safe. As for the mortgage - mine's one of the good ones (you know, where the homeowner is still PAYING!) but if Chase doesn't want to hang onto it, it'll probably get sold to someone else (that is, if I don't sell the house before they get around to deciding what to do with it). No skin off my back. I'm disappointed to see WAMU go down - they really were a user-friendly bank, and I can't imagine things will stay the same with Chase (though I have very little experience with them other than a couple of credit cards). But having re-financed my mortgage with them in April 2007, I can see how they got themselves into this kind of situation - they were giving away money like candy. Mortgage guy: "How much do you want to take out?" Me: "Um, nothing." Mortgage guy: "You've got a huge amount of equity in this market. Are you sure? Me: "Yes, I'm here to refinance because I had a 5/1 ARM and I'd like to lock in a fixed rate. I want a new mortgage that will pay off that old mortgage." Mortgage guy: "Positive?" Me: "Yes, I'm positive!"

Ohhh. $200. Looked at switching to the lowest-cost plan for 8 months, and that works out to be more than $200. Anyway, if you're switching to Verizon Wireless, and you like your BlackBerry...in November, the new BlackBerry Storm is coming out and it is hot hot hot!!! http://crackberry.com/blackberry-storm-os-screenshots-emerge I'm sure it's great, but the work one is enough for me, and I'm pretty sure they're not going to be rushing to let me upgrade. Ideally I wouldn't have to carry two devices at all, but work is very particular that it's a work-only phone, and the bills go straight to them, I don't have to see the bills, pay the bills, or deal with expenses at all, which is pretty sweet. The downside is that it is for work-related calls only, so I still need a phone that I can use at home. I really just want a phone phone! "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

Ohhh. $200. Looked at switching to the lowest-cost plan for 8 months, and that works out to be more than $200. "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 surprised - he was pretty cool about finding ways to get me out of my contract. Please speak English, not acronym. I got the VZW but what does ETF mean? I'm actually okay with a new number since I'm in a new area/area code (though I wasn't planning to change the hold number till I started having this whole TMobile service issue). "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 boyfriend has a different phone (also TMobile) and gets about the same number of bars as I do in the apartment. "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 ... I would like to get out of my T-Mobile contract. I've been with them for four or five years now and have generally been really happy with the coverage, service, rates, etc.... except that I moved into a new apartment that seems to be a black hole of T-Mobile coverage. I call up T-Mobile and they say "well, you're in a 4-bar coverage area outdoors, so we can't let you out of your contract for lack of coverage." Of course this doesn't help me inside my apartment, where if I step more than a foot away from a window I risk dropping my calls. My work BlackBerry (which is Verizon) consistently has excellent coverage, so I just want to go out and get myself a Verizon phone and be done with it. But unfortunately I'm stuck with this TMobile contract till June 1, 2009. So here's the deal! You transfer my contract into your name and start making the payments. You'll get a very generous rate plan that they don't offer "on the street" anymore. It's $49.95 for 1500 anytime minutes (plus unlimited nights and weekends). I'm looking at paying *more* for 900 minutes with Verizon. You'll pay $15 to get your own phone number. Plus you get my phone and SIM card free, or you can get whatever phone you want. You can add on data, text messaging, etc. if you want, 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

Perfect answer. She sounds mature enough to actually say "no" as opposed to giving you a vague answer that she *thinks* is "nicer" to you, but is actually not really that nice in the long run. "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 Ole had actually *read* the post on the NCS list, he'd know the answer. I quote: Just a reminder that the "Non-Boogie" Byron Boogie (Byron Boogie Lite) is still on for this weekend the 26th, 27th and 28th. Food, Beer, and entertainment both Friday and Saturday nights, for a nominal $10, "non- boogie" fee.

So you didn't discuss how you were to share finances *before* you entered a lease together? Nice. BTW, just a pet peeve - the only man who's ever referred to me as a female without causing me to cringe was the paramedic who was bringing me into the hospital. If my boyfriend ever used that term to describe me ... ick. "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

Hey, I was excited - you guys made my google alerts! "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 know, but it's taken MONTHS of therapy to get that image out of my mind. Thanks a LOT for sending me right back into counseling. "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. One thing I like about my new employer is that they post nutritional information for all the food in the company cafeterias. So that something you *think* would be the healthiest choice (like the chicken Caesar salad) is exposed as the stealth calorie-and-fat-laden mess that it is. Who woulda thunk that it would have 950 calories and the sweet and sour pork would only have 600? "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