NWFlyer

Even more details from the Meadow Peak site ... looks to be a fantastic amount of organizing this year. So excited! "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 LP you may want to look into a Chicago (Midway Airport) to Spokane flight on Southwest - chances are you'll save a boatload over going into Kalispell. You'll need to time it with other folks flying into Spokane and renting cars, or the locals from Seattle & Spokane coming over, but there's usually tons of folks going that route so it shouldn't be too much trouble. That alone could save you a couple hundred. "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

Well done. I'm just not a very good liar. I'm especially not good when I have to keep a story straight through lots of different conversations. Having been in an accident (non-skydive related) that involved three different insurance companies, it's confusing enough to keep it all straight when you're telling the truth. Adding deception on top of that just seems overly complicated. I've had to seek medical care a couple times for skydiving related injuries. None more than few thousand dollars worth of care, but still something I'd much rather have insurance pay for than have to pay for myself. It was nice to not have to lie, and instead be able to have a candid conversation with my doctor and physical therapist about the way I got injured, and what I was trying to rehab my way back to.

My office is typically business casual. Jeans are okay depending on what I have to do that day - if I'm meeting with the higher-ups I'll wear something nicer but if I'm just chilling at my cube I'll wear jeans. But we're not allowed to go as casual as shorts/t-shirts; pants/skirts and collared shirts or sweaters are expected. I've just switched back to a job where I spend a decent amount of time in the office from a job where I worked from home a lot more. If the office weren't 1) a 20 minute walk from home and 2) somewhere where I can be relatively casual, I'd be less excited about being back into an office environment. That said, I'm enjoying working from home today. All that said, to the original poster, there's not a damn thing wrong with wearing a sari to an office. One of the brightest, funniest, and most competent women I've had the pleasure to work with at my current company often wears traditional Indian garb to the office. She always looks well put-together and office-appropriate; seems kind of ridiculous for me to require that her clothes adhere to "western" style when there's nothing inappropriate about what she's wearing. It'd be like me going to our Hawaii regional office and insisting they wear a shirt & tie when Hawaiian shirts are considered appropriate business attire there. "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 sure what general liability insurance would do to help you in a skydiving accident. A USPA membership comes with $50,000 of third-party liability insurance, so if (for example) you land badly on someone's parked car and cause damage to it, that policy will pay out for the damage that you did to the car. It won't help pay for the damage to you at all. That's where health insurance comes in. As peregrinerose has said, health insurance through an employer is (in the U.S., anyway) the most likely option to not have exclusions. Some individual plans are probably okay, too - you just need to read the fine print. My SO had skydiving-related surgery when he was covered by an individual plan and it was covered for the most part (the only things that weren't covered wouldn't have been covered anyway as part of the terms of the policy, regardless of how he hurt himself). Insurers are always going to be looking for other insurance companies who may be on the hook for the cost of care - that's just something they do, and in many cases, it's appropriate. If someone comes in with an injury and they don't ask about it how the injury occurred, they may miss a worker's compensation claim (as one example). Or if they don't know that the injury happened as part of an auto accident, they may miss the fact that he auto insurer should be on the hook, not the health insurer. So they're always keeping an eye out. But those questions, in and of themselves, won't exclude skydiving injuries - what's in the policy will tell you whether they can exclude skydiving injuries. "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. What he said. You really want to read the fine print on an insurance policy before you buy it, because it's more likely that you won't even be asked about things like skydiving. Depending on where you live, any pre-screening questions are more likely to focus on your medical status so they can predict how much you're likely to cost them. So they're trying to uncover if you have a chronic condition, or are at risk for things like heart disease, etc. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they don't care if you skydive - it's quite possible that skydiving will be in that long list of exclusions in the fine print. Read it and know for sure before you decide whether you want to buy that insurance. And let's say you do decide to buy insurance that excludes skydiving. You're then either 1) on the hook for all your medical costs associated with skydiving, or 2) committing insurance fraud by saying you broke your ankle falling off a ladder. And good luck trying to figure out how to commit insurance fraud when the chopper picks you up off of the landing area and takes you to the nearest trauma center. At that point, you're not only beyond having lying as an option, you're also on the hook for some monstrously expensive bills. Read the fine print. And read it 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

The links are on the pages of my friends, meaning they're likely non-public. So it wouldn't do me much good to send you there. "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. Those that lay the blame solely on their partner if their partner is making a genuine effort deserve what they get. It's all about communication, open communication. And that includes having enough confidence and trust to say "that's not working for me" or, even "that's just not working for me today," because it really can vary - what's awesome one day can be uncomfortable or even painful another day. But if you've got a good relationship and good communication, you don't get wrapped up in hurt feelings, you just say that and shift gears to find something that does work. "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

Per some FB posts, this happened around a year ago and the manufacturers have pulled the TI's rating (it was also indicated that he never had a USPA TI rating). Note that I cannot verify the veracity of these statements, but they came from reputable sources, so I'm inclined to trust them. "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

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TG7TNP2 The link came in yesterday's USPA Update e-mail. "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 am willing to bet that the guys doing those jumps had more than two hours of tunnel time. This. I honestly don't recall if that specific detail was brought up in the meeting itself, but I know we chatted about it after the meeting. Taking a full-time tunnel instructor and putting them through an AFFI course does not in any way indicate that a jumper with 4 hours of freefall and 2 hours of tunnel time is likely to have the in-air skills to pass the course. And then there's the rest of what you don't get by substituting tunnel for actual skydives and time on the dropzone... Not a fan of this proposal. I'm surprised it even got more than a "thank you for your presentation but no" response from the committee. "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 hard, sometimes even with more experience, to ask people to jump with you. Like anything, sometimes shyness and/or fear of rejection kicks in. Keep the jumps small and focused, and just keep at it. If I see a group I'd like to join, I like to say "Hey, what are you guys working on today? Can I join in?" If the answer is "We're doing team training" or "We want to do 4-way with the same group all day" or any number of variations, I'll move on. Or if they've already planned their next dive I won't ask to have them rearrange it, I'll just say "Can I join you on the next round, then?" You've gotten some good advice in this thread - just ask, and be honest about where you are in skills and experience. Not everyone will be willing to jump with you, and it's generally not personal, they may just be looking for something different out of that particular jump. And that's okay. I love to jump with newer jumpers - if the jump is at a level where I feel like we can all be safely in the air together. So if you asked to join a 10 way with me at your current experience, I'd most likely say no, but if you wanted to do a 2- or 3- or 4-way, I'd likely say yes, because that would be a safe, fun environment for everyone. If one person's out or high or low or a little zoomy on a small jump, it's a lot easier to stay safe than if they're zooming around in a big group. Coaching is good - there's nothing wrong with paying for it if you've got some very specific stuff you want to focus on. I got some coaching on tracking when I had about 90 jumps from one of the best in the world - and that jump was worth every penny I paid because I got back home to my home DZ and people were blown away by how much better my tracking was. Free coaching is even better - and you're at Elsinore, home of lots of the best free coaching there is with the Excel camps. Sounds like you're taking advantage of them - keep at it and you'll see yourself improving by leaps and bounds just by going to those and listening and learning. If you want to do tunnel time - keep in mind that most of the folks who do a lot of tunnel coaching get bulk rates, so their cost with coaching is often about the same as you'd pay for the time only if you were buying it at regular rates. So, that's another thing to think about in terms of working on your skills - you'll get a lot more out of 15 minutes of coached time than you will with 15 minutes by yourself and the cost will be about the same. "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 it's like beer fines. If you have to ask, yes. "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 could be very meaningful, especially if you say you've got a Sabre, or Stilleto, or Nitro, or Vengeance... Hah, good point. And in this case the word "Katana" may have caused some concern. "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

Sounds like it was a hellacious experience end-to-end (from all the comments I read on Facebook). I'm really hopeful this was just an isolated incident and really doesn't represent a new "policy" on the part of O'Hare - as one of the nation's busiest airports, changes there might represent a precedent for other airports as well. One thing that did strike me as an area where the jumper might facilitate communication is in talking about "what's in there" (which is apparently one of the questions asked by the explosives expert). She said she referred to the brand name/model of the canopies, which wasn't meaningful to him at all (and I wouldn't expect those to mean anything to anyone outside the industry). My recommendation would be to keep it generic as in "This is a skydiving rig. That's my main parachute, that's my backup parachute," which are terms that those who don't skydive can understand. This is not meant to be a "blame the victim" type of statement, more of an opportunity for all of us to make sure that we talk about the gear in a way that someone other than a person involved in the sport can understand. "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

Visit them all and see which you like best. Or, keep rotating. They're all very fun jumper friendly kinds of places, each with a slightly different vibe. You'll be spoiled rotten that you can rotate through each depending on what kinds of fun activities/organizing/comps/boogies are going on where. There's also soon to be Tsunami Skydivers in Oceanside (latest is that it's opening in July). The DZO (grimmie) has thrown some legendary exotic boogies in the past, so I've got no doubt it'll also be a great place for fun jumpers. "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 description. "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

More in the last two years in your experience? Relative to what? That third year you have in the sport? Statistical significance of any sort is difficult to come by in this sport. Statistical significance in your even smaller corner of the world and very short timeframe is even harder to come by (IIRC you jump at a small DZ and haven't visited too many other DZs). So maybe your DZ is having a bad run of it. Or maybe they've always had that rate of student injuries but since you're just there you're seeing it really for the first time. But trying to come up with some trend out of that when you've got nothing but anecdotal evidence seems a little specious. "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 had to think about that question a few years back when my cat Daisy was diagnoised with kidney disease, presumably congenital since she was diagnosed at a little over a year old (and ultimately died at about two years old) and she'd always been a tiny cat (probably her failure to grow normally was due to her kidney function). She was her "normal" for a few months after the diagnosis, then hit a patch where she was really declining. I brought her back into the vet and while the techs were running tests I said I didn't think it was anywhere near time to put her down, but with this decline, I knew I wanted to be aware, so I asked my vet "What do I look for? How do I know?" She said that she could see how Daisy was declining, but she agreed it wasn't time. She said to look out for a cat that stops grooming, or when a normally cuddly, friendly cat no longer wants to be touched or held and no longer seeks affection. And of course, other signs like not eating/drinking, or not using the litter box anymore. Interesting thing with Daisy was that she bounced back from that decline and was her normal self for a few more months. Of course she was still sick (the disease wasn't going to reverse itself) but she wasn't getting any worse, not that I could see, anyway. Then I went away for the weekend and came back and she had died sometime over the weekend. I've no idea if I might have seen something specific had I been around those two days, but there were absolutely no signs before I left that she was somehow closer to death. All that is to say, I guess sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes not, and sometimes the animals just decide for themselves that it's time. Sounds like your cat may be okay with some more time with you, even if he's exhausted. "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 pretty creative art. Who cares if it's not a totally accurate representation. They made it with TAPE!!! "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

True story. Last December I was jumping in Eloy with a certain world-champion skydiver/organizer who shall remain nameless. (Mark Kirkby) He looked at my gripper (gray) and the repair (also gray) that I had done on said gripper. He said something along the lines of "That's really great sewing - did you do that yourself?" I just laughed and said "It's gaffer's tape." So apparently it does look really good. "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

Relax.... and then relax some more. So you just finished your C-1 and went through the jump twice. So you've got what now, maybe 4 minutes of freefall time? Can you think of any other new skill you've learned in your life that you mastered in 4 minutes? It's best to rely on your instructors for feedback - all we can really tell you on the internet is to do that, since we're not in the air with you. It will add cost to your jump, but if you can get an outside videographer to go up with you, it can give you an extra tool for debriefing after the jump and making corrections. But really, your instructors are best able to help you point out the things that aren't neutral in your body that are causing you to turn slightly. "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 suspect my cat would love that if he would chill out enough to let me try it. But since that's probably not gonna happen, he'll just have to be content w/the new brush I got yesterday (which he loooooves). "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

Doesn't seem that odd to me, either. From a business perspective it makes sense as it allows the business owner to tap into a new market (and as much as we don't like to think of it that way, it is a business and the owners do need to manage their revenue & expenses like any other business). Especially in a smaller market it might be tough to sustain a business for just pets. janz, sorry to hear about your kitty. That's never an easy decision to have to make. "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

Memorize the phrase "Do you want fries with that?" For the OP: Graduating with a liberal arts degree in a tough economy with no real career plan (which was the situation I was in back in 1992, though the conditions weren't quite as tough as they are now), I'd see if you can get any kind of corporate job, even if it's in an admin position that you feel overqualified for. Do a bang-up job at that and it can be a springboard to something more challenging. At my current employer we just promoted someone from an admin position into a project management role (she spent her time as an admin also earning a project management certification and taking on small projects as part of her job). I did basically the same thing in my first post-college job - started as a temp, was offered a full-time position as an admin, and worked my ass off at that for a year, taking on special projects, etc., till I was offered a chance to interview to join the consulting ranks. That one first opportunity has really helped to positively shape my career path for the 20 years since. I know it's brutal out there. But if you can get yourself into an organization where there's more growth opportunities, even at what you feel like is a menial job, you may be better off long-term. And BTW, congrats! "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