NWFlyer

I donate blood regularly (which reminds me, I'm eligible to donate again ... time to schedule an appointment). I have a group of friends I've been volunteering with for about 8 years now. We've slowed down in recent years, but every 3 months or so we do a morning at the local food bank's distribution warehouse sorting donated food. Most of my other participation is much more ad hoc. Most of my donations come in the form of supporting friends who are participating in fund raising efforts - if its a worthy cause to them I'll support the work they're putting into it. I also volunteer from time to time at special events and would like to do more of that because it fits in well with my lifestyle. Last year I volunteered for the Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day walk and will probably do that again this year. "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

Dude... just think how easy it would be for you to come play in Seattle with me. What more do you need to decide? "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

Amazon Antigua Bolas It's practically in my backyard... Smile Chaoskitty -disorganizing CSpenceFLY organizing Delfina Rodriguez Freefalle and others from Team Dirty Sanchez I'm sure gonzalesna -DD: Designated Drinker Katiebear21 Lauraliscious mnealtx (in spirit) mouth namgrunt nannerbanner NWFlyer Pepe Rodriguez Popsjumper PsychoBob (whoremonger Tongue) Rkymtnhigh(if I'm still in the SE in June) Sunshine - keeping upndownshop in line Thanatos340 - Organizing Poker Tournament, Bringing Jello Shots, Chasing Women and ACTUALLY Jumping.ShockedTongueLaugh upndownshop "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

OK, I'll be making my visit this weekend, probably. I'll bring a big stick. "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 hear he's closely related to "Ambien & Wine" Dave. "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 has two kitteh. "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

She's a freakin' heartbreaker! My neighbor who cat sits for me doesn't just come over, check the food, clean the cat box and go back home. He brings his laptop and settles in, in hopes that she'll do what she's doing with me right now and curl up in the crook of his arm. When I left the vet's office today I said "so I don't need to bring her in till she's due for her shots unless there's any other problems?" and they said "oh you can just bring her by to say hi!" They love her there, too. Here's the most recent pic I have of the two of them together ... you can kind of see the size difference, though it's even more apparent live. "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

Apparently. I'm going to go recycle this lovely ballot that my tax dollars funded in the recycle bin that my tax dollars also fund. "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 you were getting another kitteh. So that would make four kitteh. "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

Are you a rigger? Is the guy who sold it to you a rigger? Lines may "look fine" but need to be replaced if they are out of trim. If you don't trust the rigger who's looking at it for you, by all means get a second opinion from another rigger, but if it were me I wouldn't just go out and jump it after a recommendation like that unless I also had the skill set to make the evaluation of the condition of the rig. But if I also had the skill set to make the evaluation of the rig, I wouldn't have sent it off to someone else for a repack. So I'm guessing you don't. "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

Or, if you live in Washington State, apparently it's even more confusing. I just found out today (okay, call me ignorant of my own state's process...) that we have both caucuses and primaries for some reason. And that the parties can decide which of the two they want to use for deciding which candidates get supported at the national convention. So I have in my hand a presidential primary (absentee) ballot that will allow me to vote for a Democratic candidate. Huzzah, says I, because I would like to participate in that process, but unfortunately, I will be out of town on the day the caucuses are scheduled. But then I go and read this document and find out that oh, the Democrats have decided that they don't want to bother with the primaries... so I can vote in the primaries, but it won't really matter. This is weird. http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/pdf/2008PP/PP%20MFQ%20Updated%20August%202007%20Final.pdf "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

She's up to 3.8 lbs!!! No, this is actually amazing news for Miss Daisy (aka Itty Bit, or Diablita, the slightly less demonic of my two kittens). When I adopted her at 4 months old at the end of October, she weighed a little over 3 lbs. She maintained that weight for a couple of months, and based on this plus examination of her stomach, the vet was concerned about parasites. We tried a few different treatments, to no avail, and at her last visit on January 4, she'd actually lost weight and was down to 3 lbs. The vet gave her another anti-worm medication then. I thought she looked and felt like she was filling out a bit, and when I picked up the carrier to take her in it felt heavier, but she's so small and the differences are pretty subtle. That's my girl! 0.8 lbs in a month. She's a fuckin' bruiser! The best part is that despite the fact that Franklin (aka Gato Diablo) is twice her size she's never let him push her around. "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 I think that's exactly the "problem" that good "organizers" can help to combat - a bunch of newer jumpers running around not asking anyone to jump with them because they're worried that they'll offend others. If you're worried that you'll offend people, I hope you're just selling yourself short, and it's not that you've picked up that attitude from others around your DZ who have given you a "go away, noob" vibe. I think that the best DZs have a welcoming attitude to people of all skill levels and will figure out a way to match people up for jumps, whether they have formal "LOs" or not. Not every DZ can support someone who's paid to plan skydives on every load every weekend. But every DZ can create an atmosphere where it's easy to say "hey, who's around who's doing smallish RW today?" or "I have about 200 jumps, most them freefly and want to do some 2 or 3 way freefly jumps" and people will point you in the right direction and you'll find like-minded people for a jump or two or five and no one will be offended that you asked or offended that you jumped with them and everyone stays safe and has fun. When I was a newbie jumper I jumped regularly with a woman who has several thousand jumps. She loves "raising" new jumpers, and every time, the first thing she does when everyone's down from the jump is come over, tell you how much fun she had on the jump, and thank YOU for jumping with HER. That's the exact opposite of feeling like you're offending an experienced jumper by asking, eh?! "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

February 2 will never be the same again "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 been a good week. Cardio workouts Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday morning. Getting things ready last night I said to myself... "I want to workout again tomorrow morning." I think this morning workout thing is starting to become something I prefer to "regular" mornings. So I did a cardio and strength workout this morning. This has been an amazingly topsy-turvy drama-filled week at work and the fact that I've kept up with my workouts has really helped channel a lot of the crazy energy in a positive direction. I think I'm down around 20 lbs total since mid-December (not the official doctor's office tally but my own rough tally). I feel amazing. And I'm in danger of getting back into my old jumpsuit by the summer boogie season. "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, it's definitely a buyer's market now. Even the Northwest (where we live) is finally catching up with the rest of the country) and slowing down. Seattle and Portland values are still actually up over this time last year, but values are down relative to recent months. "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 think I actively looked for about 4-5 weeks, then it was about another four weeks from offer acceptance to closing. I think my closing was on the 25th of the month and I timed my lease to end at month-end so I had a little bit of time to move out after taking possession of my new home without having to do it all in one day. Exciting stuff - I think you'll find with the soft market that it's a good time to be looking; you can really be a lot pickier than you could have been a couple years ago - sellers are not going to get the inflated prices they could get back then. "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, what he said. --Bonfire's Self-Righteous Bitch. "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 think I have this countdown in my sig line just for the rest of you yahoos? Of course I'm going to be at Prairie! "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 - After I had my laptop HD repaired and replaced - I did. Then yes, it IS something you did. "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

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?username=pacncathyjr; This young lady's mom owns the place, but I haven't seen her post on here in a while. "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

Different species. "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 getting the weirdest sense of deja vu. Including the bonfire reaction. Glad everyone's okay, 'Shell. "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 time consuming, but I've made friends with the mechanics. Yes, but that's only because you lack boobies. "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

OK, what about me, the average jumper, who's just curious about how safe the plane is that I'm about to get on. I just want to know how well the owner and operator(s) of the plane I'm about to get on are complying with the FAA regulations that govern the operation of said aircraft. I'm asking these questions because I seriously do not know the answer to the question. I don't know how I find these things out ... this thread is making me wonder. You're saying that aircraft maintenance logs should be these highly protected documents; I also suspect that I probably wouldn't have a clue what I was looking at anyway. So what can I do to check up to make sure I'm flying with someone who's operating on the up-and-up? "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