NWFlyer

#6 now, and 5 is within striking distance. Go internets! Keep voting all day folks! "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

One more day people - let's get him back into the top 10. Vote from all your devices/networks! Passion: Beer + Life is here: http://www.sierrabeercamp.com/vote#70 "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 a good reminder to always have a backup if you want to keep jumping. A guy I was jumping with this weekend lost a contact on one of our first jumps, and just had to run out to his car to get his glasses to be able to keep jumping for the day (full face helmet in his case, btw). "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. In my 1200+ jumps, I've only ridden the plane down once, and that's because I don't typically gamble on sucker holes. There have many times when I've exited at less than full altitude because of weather (sometimes I knew when I manifested that "we're only getting 10K" other times I was hoping for full altitude and settled for less). Pretty much every time I've been on a DZ on a weather day, manifest is up front about the conditions when people are manifesting (if they're not readily observable - the difference between 10K and 13K clouds isn't always obvious from the ground). The one and only time I rode down, it really was a case of clouds appearing "out of nowhere" and I was pleasantly surprised when the DZ (SDAZ) let the load go back up again without asking for another ticket an hour or so later when things had cleared up. I think part of the reason they did that is that they were as surprised by the clouds on that day as the jumpers were, and as such hadn't given any warning that things might change. But as others have said, I'd have no problem paying for the ride back down if conditions had become unsafe to jump in the time between takeoff and exit (clouds, winds went to crazy town, whatever). "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

Wine or beer tonight? Fine red blend or dark brown ale? Can't go wrong methinks. "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

We are here again Last day of the long work week 5 o'clock somewhere! "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

Patience. Seriously, you have to drip the oil suuuuuuper slow, and be able to accept that sometimes it just won't emulsify. I've used this one http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/12459/mayonnaise.html, using the food processor method. I think I had more success with a second egg yolk, but sometimes homemade mayo will just fail; has to do with the amount of lethicin (which is the emulsifier) in the egg. My favorite oil to use is avocado oil - neutral and not industrially processed like canola oil (which I try really hard not to use). I've also tried with olive oil, but it does have a stronger flavor. If I use it at all I'll blend with something more neutral like the avocado oil. "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 made a table... once, but I wouldn't say that I could make tables, since it was part of a woodworking class and I had quite a bit of guidance in making it. However, I did make that one and I'm pretty proud of it. Mostly I can make cool stuff in the kitchen. Since I eat very little processed food, it's nearly all "from scratch." In terms of making stuff that people typically buy pre-made - I have made my own yogurt, raw sauerkraut, and mayonnaise. I'd like to other fermented foods, including cheese. I like beer and wine but I'm not interested enough in making them for myself to go through the process. "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

Anyone who'd laugh at another team for their performance is full of themselves, taking things way to seriously and forgotten they too were rookies to competition at one point. All the more experienced teams I know are more than willing to help out and give pointers to the less experienced teams at Nationals. This. I'm not a VFS person, but I was really excited to see the 2-way VFS category tested this year because I really enjoy supporting my freefly friends in competing, and the 2-way category will (hopefully) open up competition to a whole new set of folks. As a "weekend warrior" 4-way and 8-way person, I have seen exactly what you describe at every Nationals I've been to (3 so far). Everyone's there to have fun, and there's teams of all stripes there in every competitive class, from those who've trained seriously and intensely to those that threw together a pickup team an hour before registration closed, and everything in between. As long as you've got the baseline skills to compete safely in your chosen discipline, Nationals is very open and inclusive to all levels. I know it took me a long time to realize that, but now that I've gone a couple of times, I want to preach that gospel because it's a totally fun event that can often be inspiring to a "fun" team to take it to the next level.

Unless it doesn't fit. To LJay - if you can try helmets on (even if you can't get to a gear store, ask around to see if you can borrow peoples' helmets), please do - full face helmet fit is very dependent on not just the size of your head but also the shape of your head/face. Cookie (and others) all make great helmets, but sometimes the size/shape of one brand doesn't work for your head, while another fits beautifully. Or, if you are going to order online without trying it on, be prepared for it not to work for your head. "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

Six years ago, the owners of this site decided to split off BASE jumping into its own separate forum. You'll see that when you look at the old "BASE Jumping" forum that is read-only, with all new content on basejumper.com. BASE and skydiving are different sports, and I do not know of one single BASE jumper who would claim otherwise. The lessons to be learned are different ones and the risks to be assessed are different ones. Your average skydiving student, or your average non-BASE jumping skydiver (which, YouTube generation aside, is still the overwhelming majority of skydivers) does not need to learn the specific lessons of BASE jumping, until and unless they decide they want to take up BASE jumping. And there's a place to go for that. "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

Retire that pair of underwear as soon as I got to the ground. "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 always said about my AAD "It can take me from guaranteed death to possible survival." I expect nothing more from it. But I like my odds with it a lot better under my big reserve than I would under something fun-sized. "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

Also check out Skydance in Davis. Depending on when you're here in the "upcoming months," Northern California weather can range from sublime to abysmal. We can have some fabulous weekends, or we can have rain and clouds. Starting around November is typically when the weather gets less reliable. If you want to hop a plane to more reliable climates, getting to Arizona (Eloy) or Southern California (multiple great DZs) is a quick flight. "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

Very cool person for Captain Mom to meet!! Most well-known person I've sat next to on a plane was then-Congressman (now Governor) Jay Inslee on a DC to Seattle flight. He was pretty much heads down working the entire flight, so I let him do his thing, and we talked for about 2 minutes at the end of the flight about his job. But speaking of "Airplane" I was on a flight (LA to PHX, I think) with Kareem a few years back, but he was in first and I was back in cattle class. "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 could head down the coast and see how the 1%ers live in Newport, RI, then head into southeastern Connecticut (Mystic, Stonington). Lots of tourist stuff to do and pretty little beach towns & fishing villages along there. (I spent a decent amount of time in that area as a kid since my grandparents were up thattaway in a tiny little town nearby called Noank). I know Mystic's on the Amtrak line, not sure about whether you can get to Newport on the train. "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 of them aren't expecting that (except perhaps the ones who are light enough to load a sub-150 reserve at or about 1:1). Or if they are expecting to be able to land in one piece unconscious on a small reserve at a high wingloading, they're deluding themselves. "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

For anyone who's going to stay in the sport for a reasonable length of time and do a decent number of jumps per year, buying is always going to trump renting unless you've got some crazy-cheap rental deal. And if you want to buy new, more power to you. Of course your analysis makes buying new look better than renting, because it is. But don't try to pretend it's a complete analysis, because you left out the option that pencils out better than new, which is (as many others have pointed out) buying some or all of your components used. "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 is if you source carefully. Am I perfect? No, but I do make an effort to ensure that substantially all of the meat products I purchase for home consumption are raised in an ethical, sustainable manner. I buy grass-fed beef and pastured pork/lamb in bulk from a rancher who sells at my local farmer's market. I've talked to him directly, I know how he raises his animals, and I'm confident that he's about as far from "agri business" methods as you can get. I'm getting what I believe (with eyes open to the alternatives) is a healthful and beneficial product. None of this to argue against your choice of veganism; sounds like it works really well for you and is the right choice for your health. As with any "out of the mainstream" way of eating, I'm sure you've found the key is being prepared; relying on the (generally) limited options available at or near most dropzones will leave you frustrated. Whenever possible I bring my own food to the DZ. Easier at my home DZ when I have my RV kitchen to store/prepare food, but I've muddled through even while traveling, I just end up being more limited in my options. "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

Look for events (skills camps, scrambles, organizing) at other DZs; those can be great ways to make connections and find people to jump with on "non-event" weekends. "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

We don't have a lot on exits, but I did just recently put together a 4-way basics guide for the Northern California Skydiving League, as well as a list of resources. https://www.facebook.com/notes/northern-california-skydiving-league/4-way-basics-or-what-the-heck-is-a-yuan-anyway/402916153146885 https://www.facebook.com/notes/northern-california-skydiving-league/4-way-resources/397791286992705 As for exits, you might take a look at Omniskore and look at some videos from Nationals. Of course, you'll have to figure out which point they're exiting, but that could be a fun challenge. "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 much more likely that your (self-described) "steep toggle turn" induced the line twists than did a gust of wind. Different lesson learned: avoid aggressive toggle turns below an altitude at which you're willing to execute your EPs. "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

Own up to it, apologize if you've wronged someone else, do what you need to do to make the situation right, and figure out how to prevent it from happening again if you can. "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

Bumping this to add a definite "Don't." I've pulled out the identifying details because my point is not to shame an individual seller (because this is hardly the only example I've seen), but to point out how a poorly written ad might make it a bit more difficult to sell your gear. [inline hownottowriteanad.jpg] When I sell stuff, the last thing I want to do is to deal with a bunch of questions about information that could easily have been included in the ad (of course you always do get questions from the folks that can't be bothered to read, but that's another pet peeve). But it would seem important to share what kind of container it is, what type/size canopies are in there, whether there's an AAD, you know, little things that tell me a little more than "it's great and a rigger owned it!" Especially since the ad does indicate some level of urgency for the seller. I guess I don't get it... the classified system on here makes it really easy to include all the relevant information by prompting the user for all the details. If you can't even be bothered to select a couple drop-downs, I'm not sure I'd want to get into a multi-thousand dollar transaction with you... "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

What's the point? Did this person act offended because you didn't know who he was? Did he pull a "Do you know who I am?" on you (without irony)? "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