JDBoston

I'm very sorry for your loss. Joe

The vast majority of successful small businesses don't involve anyone doing anything brilliant or unique, they just involve people working harder and smarter than their competitors to provide pretty common goods and services. If you look at the Inc 500, for instance, there are VERY few companies that are really doing anything patentable or without numerous competitors. Joe

Of course! That's why I can only talk about it with people I don't already know, especially people with boobs. Joe

It would still be fun, but I wouldn't talk about it at bars and parties as much. Joe

Wouldn't that be nice. Joe

Sounds good. One more point on the advantages of a local DZ - let's say, God forbid, something comes up during your training and you need to postpone the rest of it or something. Would you rather have already sunk $1000 into training in some other state, and have to take more vacation time or whatever to go back there at a later point and *HOPE* the weather cooperates, or would you rather do it somewhere closer to home where the cost of repeatedly going back to the DZ is nowhere near as high? Food for thought... Joe

I would say make sure you spend at least a day at whatever drop zone you choose PRIOR to plunking down big money. Check out the vibe, see how smoothly things run there on a busy weekend day, see if everyone's having fun, etc. Recommendations from people on this site are great, especially if you also know them personally and can put some context around it, but in the end, you're going to have your own learning style and your own preferences, as far as the DZ scene and how people deal with each other there, and it's your money being spent (a LOT of your money). Personally, I would recommend a local DZ for convenience, learning in the same climate you'll be jumping in initially, meeting local jumpers, and so on. If you go through a student program someplace far away, you may not know many low-timers (besides a few DZ.commers, which should be enough, I know!) when you get back home and start jumping for real. Not a huge deal, but definitely a nice-to-have. I'll suggest Jumptown in Orange MA, since I jump there and have a very high opinion of the place and its instructors (though I got my license at Cross Keys when I lived in NYC). Feel free to PM me for more specific feedback on the place. But good luck whatever you do. Joe

Yes, North Korea. Don't hear much about us planning to invade them, though... ah, the sweet smell of hypocrisy. Course, I don't think that as a civilized country we could really justify subjecting our soldiers to something like kimchi. That aside, Saddam is clearly a very bad man, and I would fully support a covert campaign to assassinate him and his sons, combined with an effort to try and develop support in Iraq for some other known Iraqi leader(s) as a viable alternative. I don't think a standard 21st-century war (read: lots of new bombs, dead civilians, complete refusal to risk significant casualties doing the real work on the ground, lots of money spent, few enemy leaders killed or captured) is the answer. Joe

Seriously. I have nothing against religious inspiration, but I think it's just plain stupid when it's invoked any way other than "help me to do my best" in sports. Yes, Evander, I'm sure you kicked Tyson's ass because your God was stronger than his God. I'm sure God has nothing better to do than watch boxing. Whatever. Joe

I've tried 'em all and scissors are the ONLY way to go. You can use clippers on some parts if it makes you happy but you really need scissors to do it right. I tried Nare once too. Think I'll have bald kids? Joe

The more cops who skydive, the more tickets I can potentially talk my way out of. Keep 'em coming, I say! Joe

Darwin claims another victim... Joe

Come on now, only we MEN are allowed to "make mistakes." Let's not piss in the pool for everyone else by suggesting that women can also have meaningless drunk indiscretions. We all know it's not true. When they do that stuff, it ALWAYS means something. Tara, since you "know" he'd break up with you, any chance that's exactly why you did it in the first place? Not saying you had any kind of evil motive - maybe just fear of commitment, or maybe you knew he's not the one, and you wanted HIM to be the one to end the relationship, because you thought you'd have a hard time & feel bad doing it yourself? Just food for thought - I've seen it happen before... anyway, best of luck whatever you decide to do about it. Joe

Me too - I stow them to keep them from tangling up in shit but I don't actually set them until I pack. I like to get the twists out then too. Joe

I know they say in the ad that the pants are good for a few different kinds of flying, but does anyone have an (informed) opinion on whether these pants introduce additional complexities that would be best left to very experienced jumpers, or whether they're OK for just about everyone to play with? I have 76 jumps right now. Thanks, Joe

A friend of mine did that once. Of course, he was actually dating his wife beforehand, and she was also from Serbia or something, so it was somewhat urgent (at the time) that she not have to go back there. It was funny. They dated on and off while they were married. I guess they still are. Don't know. Fittingly, my buddy is now in law school. Joe

Tell by the taste? You sure that came out right? I'd be happy to spot-check any girls you're curious about. Joe

Asshole and What. Joe

I wouldn't worry about this becoming a reality. I bet these people, if they aren't just practical jokers, are just a couple of whack jobs. I would like to believe that people who actually hold view like this, if not mentally ill themselves in some way, are part of a very tiny minority. Joe

Hahahahahahahahahaha. That's funny, but it's fucking ridiculous. It's like segregating fat or ugly people, or people who sweat a lot. Sure, in a perfect world... but no one with an ounce of intelligence would ever try to justify something like that. Now, a more thorny question concerns mildly mentally ill people and housing situations - like in my building, we have only 5 units but one of them is occupied by a paranoid schizophrenic. She's nice and generally harmless, except for moving her furniture around every night around midnight. This causes the guy who lives below her no end of grief. And she absolutely will not admit to doing it. But there's no way her landlord can evict her, especially in Cambridge MA where they have insanely (no pun intended) pro-tenant laws. And it's more than just an annoyance - this guy paid a lot of money for his condo, and it reduces both the value of the unit (if prospective buyers are aware of her) as well as his overall quality of life. Tough situation.... Joe

I'm actually gonna be in New Orleans this weekend for a surprise b-day party for a friend of mine. 15 of us from all over the country are going to meet him and his girlfriend (the organizer) in a restaurant. Should be fun. The problem is I get in Thursday night, and no one else gets in til Friday. Any New Orleans residents here wanna grab a beer Thursday night and show me some cool bars? If so PM me. Joe

Oh, and also, the 5 ounces wasn't even uranium. I know - details, details, details... Joe

That's apples and oranges, Bill. You're comparing solo acts by disturbed individuals to (typically) non-solo acts that mostly involve extensive planning, possession of fairly unique materials, knowledge, and even specific training, as well as GROUP MEMBERSHIP. Had right-wing hate groups been on the right watch-lists, perhaps McVeigh would have been caught as well. Intelligent profiling can lead to a stop that turns up another identifiable data points - like one-way cash tickets, flight training, boxcutters, and so on. Can you suggest any analogous data points for someone planning a simple murder? No one's saying that racism is good or that profiling works for all kinds of crimes, and mistakes certainly will be made and feelings hurt if we take ethnicity into account, but when's the last time an El Al flight got hijacked? They profile the fuck out of people. I know our personnel don't have the time to apply the level of scrutiny El Al does, but the bottom line is that, hurt feelings or no, I believe the shit works if it's done right. Joe

I'm in the exact same position as you. As long as my cash flow stays positive, I have a hard time rocking the boat, especially in this environment. But I know I probably should before too much more time goes by (I've been there almost 1.5 years). The most serious consequence is it's more difficult to pick up girls if you don't like your job. You won't be able to avoid sounding like a bit of a pessimist when you talk about it, and let's face it, that just isn't sexy. Joe

I'm assuming that either 1) the # of jumps on your profile is out of date and should read 5-10x what it does, or else 2) this is a troll. Joe