GrumpySmurf

I did the opposite, picked up aikido about 4 years before the first jump - used to be the joke at the dojo about the requirement to become shihan was being able to jump out of a plane, breakfall and still be able to kick the collective butts of an American football defensive line. Aikido - the art of being beaten up by people half your size and twice your age - all in the pursuit of transforming from the ever airborne uke to the energizier nage. :)

Aikidoka - masters of the PLF :)

Us Canucks come with an anti-freeze additive in our blood :) But seriously, if you have the cash, and REALLY hate the cold - the MET5 Jacket from North Face might be of interest: http://www.thenorthface.com/code/products/product_pages/14078_standard.html It'd be great for Green Bay home games come Decembre. :)

I thought ozone was a molecule of 3 oxygen atoms - O(subscript)3 - thus O3 here? It been many years since I, Grasshopper, has flunked University chem :)

(I'm cheap) ... but the question is, are you easy as well? ;)

Not being a smear on the ground - anything beyond that is just gravy :)

I was pouring through the neglected bills last night and came upon this letter: "Re: Danger of Fire in Engine Compartment. It has to Porsche's attention that there has been a small number of incidents of avoidable engine fire caused by Boxster drivers dropping lit cigarettes out of the car while driving. There cigarettes has, on some ocassions, been sucked into the drivers side engine air intake and, under certain conditions, can start an engine fire." (yadda yadda yadda) "For those of you who smoke, it is worth reminding yourself that dropping a cigarette out of your car is an unsafe practice." (yadda yadda yadda) Sincerly, (some smoe Service Manager) I wonder who was the first candidate to discover this - looking in the rear view to see what was the engine compartment now a 93 octane fed camp fire. Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire! ;) So if you wanna have some fun with Boxster owners, get in front of them on the freeway and start tossing lit cigarettes out your drivers side window - watch 'em swerve all over the place ;)

I think it was best put to me by a shooting coach when I was looking at rifles for Match .22 - Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten. Try to demo rigs from friends, ask thier opinions, talk to your instructors - like one chap here mentioned - research the heck out of you potential purchase. I made my decision based on an instructors recommendation, what I was 'raised' on for student gear, and a tonne of reading of reviews by others. Look at used rigs for sale - not only to buy, but how much they can fetch in case you find yourself looking to sell it later when you downsize to a canopy that won't fit the rig safely. If you are looking to buy new, look for larger DZ's nearby that are having large boogies with vendors showing up - often times they will offer specials on the gear (SDC at SummerFest offered CYPRES' for $850, and Jav Odsy's for near 30% off retail - that's when I snagged mine, with it completely tricked out for freefly - even though I suck at it right now :), the final price was the retail price of the vanilla container - I'm 6'1, not all that big - about 185/190 - and the Jav Odsy is amazingly comfortable compared to a student Jav). Ed Cummings had an article/ad in the back of Parachutist about buying your container, AAD and Reseve new, and your main used (since the main is probably what you will grow out of first) - might be worth a thought. Hit square1.com at the beginning of each month - they list thier sales there - hunt around on the web - alot of retailers will match a competitors advertised price, including, possibly, the retailer at your home DZ. Aside from making the decision to make your first jump - this could be the most sigificant decision of your early skydiving career, take your time, research the possibilities - and have fun - there's nothing like that tingley feeling you get when you order your first rig. :) Sorry to ramble on and on - I just went through the journey you are about to embark on and figured I'd offer what I could. Have fun!

My thoughts exactly, you could have been in the car when they mangled it - at which point, you may not have been here to vent your frustation. But I feel your pain, seeing one's 'baby' violated by some irresponsible s.o.b. is something every sports car owner would have nightmares about - and venting is a good thing, an even better form of venting is a pickup load of your buddies with baseball bats and, if and when the guy(s) is/are found, one could entertain the thought to return the favour :)

I was jumping with a bud at SDC last weekend, and we passed over the old airport to which I pointed out the defunct runways with the 'XX' on them. He mentioned a story about how new pilots would confuse the spot to the point of putting out the jumpers over the old (and now defunct) airfield (which is a good 15 to 20 minute drive away) - thinking Ottawa only has one airfield and that would be the one SDC owns :) I took it as urban legend, but rather funny none-the-less.

Man, if I had known such a small comment would start some much interest - I would have filled in the blanks. TN-1's are the result of NAFTA between Canada and the US, to fill short fall of (mostly) technical folk. It's sort of a reciprocity agreement - if you got a Bachelors Degree (or an Associates Degree with some years experience), are a US or Canuck citizen (such as me) and can fill a job from a prescribed list - you can enter the US (or Canada for one year) to work for a particualr company that sponsors you - oh yeah, and it costs $50 US. The visa is technically renewable indefinitely - but at the descretion of Immigration personal at the border crossing (if you're a Canuck and thinking of this, try entering from Vancouver Intr Airport rather than Ottawa airport - I've been through both, and I swear some the folk at Ottawa Airport got some serious issues that they could use therapy for - and that was before 09/11), so after 1 or 2 renewals for any given company - you better have a H-1B, cuz they may not let you back in - mine is supposed to show up this month (I'm not holding my breath). Here's the catch - it's temporary, so you cannot take any action that would signify that you intend to stay longer than a year - such as apply directly for a 'Green Card'/Immigrant visa or purchase a home (again this is at the discretion of Immigration) or marry a US citizen (without having applied for a fiancee visa) - otherwise when it comes time for them to review your renewal application - boot, out you go - at least this is my understanding. So if you are a Canuck with a Comp Sci degree and want to go to the US (or a Yank and want to go to Canada) to work, it's pretty easy, you need $50 US, a copy of your transcripts and diploma, a letter of sponsorship from your soon to be employer and you are off to the races with a TN-1 (there is a TN-2 for Mexican nationals, but that is a whole other story) - and no need for a lawyer. Oh, I gotta agree, the job market sucks. :(

If I buy a house, INS would kick my arse out of the country - the joys of being a TN-1 :(

Safires have a bottom end? I though the idea of flaring a safire was to give you something to do other than looking at the ground, thinking, "Oh crap, this is gonna hurt!" ;)

I guess I'm of the opinion that comparing UK to US gun control is like the proverbial apples to oranges comparision - very different cultures with very different histories. The US was founded on armed rebellion and is seen as a fundamental right to allow the masses to rebel (in a armed manner) against a oppressive gov't. The UK went through a much more gradual transition from strict monarchy to consitutional monarchy and never went through a successful rebellion to topple the established regime. I think the gun laws back home (in Canada) are perfect for the country there (you need to go through a somewhat rigorous (by US standards) screening process to get a FAC to buy a basic firearm such as a hunting rifle or shotgun - and if you want to own a pistol - well, you are in for a quite a bit of work, and alot more waiting) but would be useless in the US. This country is obsessed with violence because it was born in it and there has yet to be generation living in it that hasn't had a war to fight - how can one expect the citizens to not want to own firearms - I'm surprised they haven't legalized personal anti-tank weapons yet, "Me an' Billy-Bob, we got this here great deal for a AT-4 down there at the Wal-Martart for $49.95, I bought myself 5 of 'em, yes siree.' ;) Just an opinion, one of the 6 billion+ floating through the world today. :)

This is exactly what happened to me. Jumped with a friend last weekend who was letting me use him as a docking dummy while he used me as a fall rate practice dummy. He watched me as I tracked then pulled (was my first weekend with my Odyssey with the freefly pud throwout for the pilot chute) - and he said I dipped my left shoulder as I reach with my right arm (since the pud is closer to my back than a hackey is, I have to reach a bit more around to get a good grip) - and bam, openned up in line twists - I was wondering why I kept openning up with 90 and 180 degree off heading opennings. Get someone to jump with you and watch you track and pull, they might see something you are not conciously (sp?) aware of?

Amen to that - two good reasons to visit the Isles - Stout and Porter. 3 good reasons why not to vist the US: Miller, Bud and anything involving the word 'Lite' ;)

Yeah but that only outlines where ya live, not where yer from. Living in 'Wescansin', jumpin' at SDC, but knows all the words to 'I'se Da B'ye' from where I dare to call home. :)

I'd be curious to see what each of the teams that went to Nationals via the airlines had happen. TFX posted a report on it, but they flew via ORD, and considering the knife/mace/stungun incident that occured there afterwards - the security folk were probably asleep when the rigs went throught the X-Ray.

Actually not bad. Kind of Clancy-esque in that there are several story threads that appear to be heading towards convergance. Looks like there will be an encore showing on Friday eve, at 2100 hrs. Here is the schedule listing: http://www.fox.com/schedule/index.htm and Fox's page about the show: http://www.fox.com/24/home.html I don't think the chick who bailed out of the 747 was using a bail-out bottle though?? I'm just waiting to hear about airport security not allowing rigs in the cabin for fear someone might try this :/

Strangest one I had was 'hearing' my dytter go off and waking up suddenly thinking, 'Pull, pull now!' - then realizing it was the neighbours clock alarm going off that caused it (you could just faintly hear it).

"We thought about maybe having some pads that extend from the existing leg straps down the back of the thigh." Why do I have images of the marketing campaign involving, "Introducing the Javelin II/Mirage G4/etc ..... with wings!" :)

I dunno - being tossed on her 'naughty' list might have its perks. ;)

'1 -way RW' rulez - when you're doing it with yourself, no one ever complains about 'premature deployment'. :)

The only thing worse than a life lived in failure is a life lived in regret, for it is a life not lived. Take a chance...

Heh, funny you should ask - had the left lens pop in freefall (am -6.5/-7.0) during AFP - still managed to read the alti, pull at the right altitude and landed fine - kind of funny to see the lens glued to the inside of the goggles and knowing there is nothing you can do about it until after you land. Bring spares if you got disposables and invest in a good pair of goggles (ones that will fit snug, but are not uncomfortable) - I use a pair of mirrored Soarz - seem to work fine for me *shrug*.