NWFlyer

Is the German Parachute Association the governing body of parachute riggers over there? Or is there any authority by the government's aviation authority as well? (Here in the U.S. riggers are certified by the Federal Aviation Administration. I don't know whether that would have resulted in a different outcome/punishment - perhaps those who are riggers and/or have worked with the FAA here would have a better idea of that than I would). "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 they're doing a student-level recurrency jump (going back to Cat D or somesuch) wouldn't the wind limits for a student-in-training come into play, though? Everything in the SIM about recurrency is all recommendations, not requirements, so it's really up to the DZ how they interpret the SIM. But, the fact also remains that DZ management can and does set wind limits for licensed jumpers all the time. DZs shut their planes down. DZs hold tandems. I've even been at one DZ that said "C license and above only" on a particular day. So even though we may technically have the right to make our own calls, we jump at the discretion of the management of the DZ every single day, and if they want to tell me one day that there's a wind limit for blondes, I'll happily sit down (if I hadn't decided to already, since I'm usually one of the first people on the ground when winds get wonky). "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 also bought 7 years ago and I know I'll make quite a bit of money (even the low end of the Zestimate is a large profit for me) but no way am going to make what they think my house is worth. "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 screen shot you provided also says it has no matching results. I'm not sure why the interface is choosing to highlight something when it has no results at all - that's bad interface design on Zillow's part, for sure. As for your home address - that might have more to do with the mapping software Zillow uses than Zillow itself. My street address often ends up mapped wrong simply because of the way my street is. My street address is in the 2200 block, but there's no 23rd Avenue, only 22nd and 24th. So my house (which is only one house off of 24th Avenue) will often get mapped mid-block even though it's at the end of the block. "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 my photo, but it's my current computer wallpaper. This shot definitely makes an impression. The photographer's contact info is on the linked site - perhaps you can get a print-quality version from him. (Although the airplanes are a little shiny... ) http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3149983 "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 a lot more experienced than you are, so I'd say the first thing to do is keep an eye out before you even get on the plane. My definition of "borderline" is sometimes more conservative than other people's, and it sometimes has me on the ground safely watching others who come down and say "wow, the winds changed a lot from when we took off." That's because I looked at the winds and said they're already borderline for me and didn't want to take the chance that they were going to get worse. Look at what the people who have a lot of jumps are doing - if they're sitting down, chances are it's a good time to sit down and watch, too. Last weekend, I watched a load land, and saw some sketchy air, and talked to a jumper who had a couple thousand jumps. She told me the air was pretty bumpy, so I decided to scratch myself off the next load and watch for a little while to see if the air settled down. I was doing a jump with three people who each had around 100 jumps and none of them pulled off the load. Turned out the winds settled back down, but I still stand by my decision and the example I (tried to) set. If you're on the plane and information comes your way that allows you to make a decision to stay on the plane (such as the DZO deciding to hold the tandems and other students), use that information wisely. I was at ZHills a few weeks ago and watched that very scenario play out (from the ground). The DZO saw how much the winds/gusts were increasing and radioed the plane and held the tandems ... most fun jumpers stayed on the plane with those tandems ... and a few still got out. But if you don't get that kind of info and find yourself under canopy under very high winds, then yes, some of the things you talked about make sense. Be prepared not to make much penetration into the wind, including coming straight down or going backwards, so look at your entire pattern for clear space, and don't turn onto final with a building or bank of trees right behind you. Be prepared to shut down your canopy very quickly when you land, including possibly cutting it away (so if you have an RSL, you might wish to disconnect it after you know you're under a good canopy). "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

Damn, Valinda, you're doing a better job keeping up with him than I am. Of course, I have to keep up with him in real life, which is something else entirely. Sometimes he's as much trouble as a real teenager. Link for easy voting (edit: page changed again): http://icanhascheezburger.com/the-cheezburger-factory/page/53/ "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

None of these are going to be as good as a professional appraisal. But of course you get what you pay for. Skymama's suggestion of looking for the local taxing authority's assessments/appraisals would work well in some markets, not so well in others. In King County (where I live) the county's assessed values lagged way behind the market for years, though now they're a lot closer than they used to be. Great for keeping my tax bill more reasonable, but useless for figuring out how much the house is worth on the open market. "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 already told ya this morning, sucks sucks sucks. A little more info for everyone - this was stolen in the Seattle area. Kev's going to contact the local DZs, of course, so they can be on the lookout. "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, Zillow (IMO) way overvalues my house. It's nice to fantasize, but I knock the "Zestimate" down quite a bit when realistically estimating what I could get if I sold today. Actually, towards the lower end of their range is probably where I'd list my house if I listed it right now. But I do like it for ready access to data and trends. "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 time of day/traffic, Skydive Snohomish is about 30 minutes from Bellevue. Kapowsin Air Sports is about 1 1/2 hours from Bellevue. Here is a recent post with a little more info. If you're going to be here for a while, definitely check out both DZs ... they each have different benefits. There's also several other DZs within a 3-4 hour drive east into Washington, south into Oregon, and north into British Columbia. Your post didn't say how long you'll be around, though. "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 like Zillow.com - no need to sign up, and it has tax info, value trends, sale info, etc. "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

Up to page 24 now. http://icanhascheezburger.com/the-cheezburger-factory/page/24/ "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

Hope you have a big, red birthday where you get to deliver all the spankings! "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

Shameless bump... moved to 17 now (thanks for the edit, Valinda) http://icanhascheezburger.com/the-cheezburger-factory/page/17/ "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

Didn't you think you had strep throat yesterday? "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

Positive spin: you could be in one of two places. You could have eaten crap and not exercised all week and eaten two pizza for dinner. Or you could have worked hard all week and eaten two pizza for dinner. The good work didn't go to waste. It still matters. "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 now he's on page 15 of the voting pages, though he's probably going to move (to a higher page number) as more are uploaded. I'm not sure how to do a direct link (and I think that they don't let you do direct links, to discourage exactly what I'm doing!). http://icanhascheezburger.com/the-cheezburger-factory/page/15/ Anyway, look for the attached photo and please vote 5 cheezburger so I can get my dear, sweet, awkward kitteh to the home page on ICHC! So far he's doing really well in the voting without any help, but I want to give him all the help he can get. "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 has been a good week. Back in a regular gym routine, eating well, no binges, no crap food in the house, no late night 7-11 runs, good focus on my goals ... I just wish I had more energy. I'm having to force myself to do everything. I'm back to my doc's office for more tests next week and follow-up the following week, so I can talk to her about the lethargy/fatigue... see if she has any thoughts. "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

Here's a few threads with others who have gone through the same issues. You might get in touch with some of the posters on those threads: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3069173 http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2406388 "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 is so wrong on so many levels. "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

Have you contacted the local Hooters? Actually, that's not entirely facetious. Hooters is usually very willing to support breast cancer fundraising efforts and can probably help you with publicity as well. Of course, contacting all the local newspapers and radio/TV stations would be a good start in terms of getting this the kind of attention it deserves. "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

J's jello shots suck!

And as the Crack Choir learned in LP one year, you reallllllly do need access to a fridge. Trying to use a cooler and ice as your source of refrigeration is not a good thing. Get the jello to set at the proper temperature before using your cooler only to transport. Ever try to eat frozen jello? It's not pretty. We did have to chill the shots in coolers with ice one year. It worked fine. Not sure if that's the year you're thinking of. This was about 8 years ago. We had Petey guard them up at Groarke's.

Hey, we're all still scarred from the last time you talked about wax and manscaping and posted a photo. "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