NWFlyer

I'm sorry your wife is having trouble handling this separation. That's got to suck when you're adjusting to a new situation and being away from home. However, painting "all women" with the same brush doesn't really make you look like the winner here. "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

Oh, you master baiter. It's not as if you can't do search and find a whole bunch of opinions on Lodi. "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 Davis was doing $18 jumps for the past 3 or 4 weeks. Not sure if they are running the special still though. Anybody know? Currently extended to 9/30, with tickets good beyond that. Not sure if the $18 price will extend beyond 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

What's the cruising speed of a sparrow? What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? "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 kids get off my lawn! "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

Many DZs have "block prices" where if you buy more tickets at once, your cost / ticket is lower. But it would help if you tell us where in California you are, because if you're living in San Diego, cheap tickets in Northern California probably won't help you that much (on average, Northern CA DZs tend to be cheaper than Southern CA 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

http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/Large_Pulse_Upgrade_Notice%202012.pdf Quite a bit more detail at the above link. "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

Second that. The stuff they were able to do with the available technology is truly impressive. There is a making of clip on You Tube somewhere that is also worthwhile. "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

Hah. I still remember my first jump on my Spectre (first canopy of my own). I was first out of the plane (did a hop & pop on it for the first jump to air it out) and one of the much more experienced jumpers (who also jumped a Spectre) smiled at me just before exit and said "It will open." "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

Since "regular skydiving" bores you so much, find something else to spend your money and time on rather than coming up with ill-conceived schemes to make it "more fun." "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

Nothing in Tahoe - the only DZ there closed a couple years ago. I think your closest gear store would be Action Air at SkyDance in Davis, CA. Skydive Sacramento is closer to Tahoe, but I'm not sure how much gear they keep in stock there. Either DZ is a few hours drive from Tahoe, 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

First step I'd take is to "do the math" on what the actual value of the discount is relative to the dealer price of new. You can compare at your local DZ, or go onto a dealer's site like Chuting Star that has prices listed on the site. Include the base price and all the options and compare it to what you'd pay using the discount coupon. That will let you know if you're talking about a big chunk of savings, or just a minor savings. Discount coupons are often off of "list" price, which isn't typically what you'll pay in buying through a dealer. Even with a discount, I'd still say go for used gear anyway. It'll cost you less overall, it'll be less heartbreaking when you have a less-than-graceful landing, and it'll allow you to downsize when/if you decide you want to without having to take the initial hit on depreciation. (The above advice is assuming you're not an outlier in terms of size - people who are unusually tall or short sometimes have to get a new container because they're not going to find a used container in their proportions). "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

Unlike riding a roller coaster, you're not doing the same thing every skydive. If every skydive was exactly the same, yes, it might get boring. But they're not, and there's always something new to learn and improve. "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 didn't say they came up with any of them, just that they do exceptional versions of all three items. "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 beer. And frites. Actually, if that's all I had to eat for two years, I could probably live happily. Maybe not healthily, but life sure would taste good. The Belgians don't get nearly enough credit for those three contributions to our culinary life. "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, keep it in your back pocket for later. It's not an easy dive, and if you're new to groups of that size, you'd probably find it more frustrating than fun. "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 of them should sell without any trouble.

I think you've got the right attitude; if you stop feeling good, stop jumping. I think at your experience level, that's a reasonable standard. For an absolute newbie who's still on student status, the enthusiasm for jumping may outweigh the person's ability to absorb all the new information that's coming their way, so it may be reasonable to set a limit even if the student doesn't think they want to stop. But hey, as long as you're keeping an eye on your physical and mental acuity and still feel sharp, enjoy it and jump as much (or as little) as you feel like. "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 left out the part where someone forgets where to go 2 or 3 rotations in, and then everyone just stares at each other or laughs until break off. I also left out the part where no one ever gets on level and the initial spider never builds. "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

Five way jump. One person in the middle, one person on each of the center person's grip points (so if you're in the center, you're doing an open accordion with the two jumpers in front of you, and one person has your right leg with their left hand and another person has your left leg with their right hand). You end up with a center guy, and a front left, front right, rear right, rear left (positions described are relative to the center person). That's the starting position, then you rotate. So you could have the center person go to the front left, front left slides over to front right, front right slides to rear right, rear right goes to rear left, and rear left goes into center. Repeat till everyone's been the middle guy. It's a skydive with a lot of movement. It's actually not that easy for a bunch of brand new jumpers. But it's fun! "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

Raised him.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/ Maybe you can find something here that would fit your office culture. "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

Wait til you have a license and are no longer are a student. Gender doesn't matter a whit here, it's a learning thing. You'll listen better to someone you are not going out with, that's just the way it is. It sets up an awkward vibe when a student (as in pre A license) is dating one of the staff. Consider it incentive to get your A quickly

Does your rigger charge for this service? He (or she) should. Removing a Vigil or Cypres is something you can do for yourself, and you are asking someone else to do it for you. Mark Yeah, but what about packing the reserver after? That's not what the person asked about. It's quite possible they don't want to repack the rig until the AAD comes back from its service. I've taken my own AAD out to wash my rig. It's really not that difficult, just be careful about it and pull carefully on wires - they'll come out easily so long as you pull in the right direction. "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

Sweet! "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