NWFlyer

Yup. "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, there is that new B license requirement, which gets us at least part of the way there (of course, there's no saying anyone has to go beyond an A license regardless of how many jumps they have, but since most skydivers who stay in the sport also work towards higher licenses, it catches most of them on the way up).

It's not uncommon for there to be little "waves" of unrelated but nearly-simultaneous incidents. Often it's at the beginning of the good weather season, or during the holiday event season, but sometimes it's just random clustering. "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 photo has TWO people in it - which one is the duck girl? The one with the big A stamped on her head.

Wow. Sounds like a jackass move. The instructor had two choices there (well, three, the other being to just STFU): 1) be obnoxious and tell you that you don't deserve a license or 2) take the opportunity to debrief your landing choice and turn it into a teaching moment. Sorry that person made a poor choice. "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

Replying to myself since I remembered I had a photo of the actual car! Well, it was a photo of the duplex I was living in one year, but the car was parked out front. It's partially in shadow, but you get a good idea of the bulbous back end, at least. Ah yes, my dear old car... memorialized on film forever! "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 know how she was taught; I'd argue that doing whatever method you've been taught and have practiced is more important than doing one method or the other (and there are plenty of other threads to argue the relative merits of one vs. the other). At only 130 jumps, she's likely using whatever technique she learned as a student. I agree with the rest of your list, but I'd argue this one wasn't a safety concern at all. "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, so true. At my SO's 25th high school reunion last year, one of his old friends came up to him and said "Wow, I still can't believe the history nerd has turned into a skydiver!" We had a good chuckle about that and I said, "First of all, he's still a nerd. Second of all, clearly you have some illusions about skydivers that we must change! Skydiving is exactly like high school - you've got the nerds, the jocks, the cool kinds, the stoners, the class clowns, the go-getters, the suck-ups ..." To the OP: The short answer is: in 10 years. I'm still a tourist. As others have said, check out other DZs. Yours may just be full of assholes. But if every DZ you go to is full of assholes, then it might be time to reassess who the asshole is. "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

From her own comments on YouTube, sounds like she was her own packer: "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

No. Any TI that would let you jump with him/her isn't a TI I'd want a friend of mine to be jumping with anyway. There's a lot involved in jumping with a tandem. It requires significantly more experience than you currently have, and a TI should tell you no. But, it's very possible that you can get on the same load (whether you're still working on an AFF jump, or are on to your solos), and your new friend can watch you exit, then go on to do her own jump, and you can catch up on 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

You have a better chance of zombie Ed McMahon rising from the grave to give you a oversized cardboard check! Of course I do. But I still threw away $5 for the fun of dreaming about what I'd do if I won. (Then again, I already had the practical stuff figured out two years ago), though it's funny that I note that I don't even play in that particular post. Which I normally don't, but today I did. I'll be busting open some wine a couple hours but I do need to wrap up some work stuff between now and 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

We're all too busy buying our MegaMillions tickets and fantasizing about what we're going to do when we win. "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

Me too. Sorry, but I got good grades in English. Can't help it if some of you cut class a little too much. Me three. I was going over a spreadsheet today with one of my new team members. I noticed a typo (one of those cases where someone cut and paste with the intention of editing the pasted portion, but forgot the edit) and said "Oh, we should probably tell the owner of the spreadsheet about that one." My new employee (who's worked for me for all of a week and a half now) said "Oh yeah, I hear you're the typo queen!" I laughed and started to deny it, and then said, "Yeah, I can't lie. I'm totally anal retentive about spelling and grammar!" I did go on to say "That's why I'm such a fan of peer review of documents, because sometimes it's really hard to see your own mistakes." Hopefully I haven't frightened the poor gal into thinking she can't send me anything that's less than perfect! "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

Guess I'll make it 7 in a row. "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

Having a major, international airport where you need to go outside to change terminals and re enter security is retarded. Yeah, I'm not sure what LAX grimmie's been flying out of ... "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

See Post #5. "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 was always pretty "meh" on Ivar's. My favorite hole in the wall kinda near downtown is Two Bells Tavern at 4th Avenue & Bell Street. Great burgers. The Pink Door is a neat little place right at the market. Go up to Kerry Park (Highland Drive @ Queen Anne Avenue - you'll get a fantastic view of the city for free. The Needle's fun, but as Amazon said, skip the food. If you do go, just go to the observation deck. But if the weather's iffy, probably not worth the cost. The Olympic Sculpture Garden (run by Seattle Art Museum) is pretty cool outdoor fun. It's touristy but the Underground Tour down in Pioneer Square is actually really fun and you learn some Seattle history in 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

Eggs. Ounce for ounce they're one of the cheapest protein sources out there. Edited to add: beans. If you buy them dry, and soak them overnight before cooking, they're super-duper-cheap. "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

Imagine you've got someone around the DZ who doesn't have a lot of money, who is known to not have a lot of money ... they probably figured showing up with a Dolphin, Triathlon, and Argus would be much less suspect than showing up with a pimped out rig. "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

In high school, I had access to my family's cars, but the one I drove most frequently was the 1982 Chevy Chevette. I used to joke that I drove a 'Vette. First one I bought for myself was at the beginning of my second year of college, in August 1989. It was a 1980 Toyota Tercel hatchback, 5-speed. I found this link to some photos of one that looks very similar (except for color) to mine. That weird almost Pacer-esque hatchback is what I remember most (my best hippie stoner girlfriend called it "Bulbous"). http://www.oldparkedcars.com/2010/02/1979-toyota-tercel-sr5-hatchback.html So imagine this car, but brown. And lacking the rear windshield wiper. I think it cost me just north of $1,000, maybe $1300. Most was saved from my summer job that first summer after I started college; I think my folks may have chipped in a bit as well. I drove it for the next three years till I finished college. Owning that car taught me valuable lessons about routine maintenance (in that, if you ignore it, bad things happen!). But since I worked as a driver for campus transit, I knew all the mechanics and the purchasing guy, so I eventually had 1) someone who could buy parts for me at cost, and 2) guys who were used to wrenching on buses who appreciated the variety of wrenching on cars in their down time (but using the school's garage, of course ). "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 is some seriously good stuff. Carve (almost) an hour out of your day to watch/listen when you can. http://www.npr.org/2012/03/16/148778665/bruce-springsteens-sxsw-2012-keynote-speech "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

Do we need to include exchange rates as a variable as well? Or are Cypres prices set independent of that? (I don't actually know the answer to this question, but I've heard people mention the exchange rate as a reason for increasing prices). "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 Disney seems to think it's good business since they've got a whole weddings & honeymoons section on their web site. But what do they know about running a good business? I'm sure you could teach 'em a thing or two. http://disneyweddings.disney.go.com/ "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

Aw, hell. You can do that today. In Hawaii. And Burbank. I fly there all the time. It was a big deal last year when one of the gates got a ramp. "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 you like the Pilot and like the glide of the Stiletto, also try the Pulse. I put about 300 jumps on the Pilot and have now put about 350 on a Pulse (and have them in both my rigs now). I like the flare point of the Pulse better than that of the Pilot - of course, others like the Pilot better. I've had great openings from the Pulse - the only bad one I ever had was a pilot chute issue, not a canopy issue. Worth a demo. "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