nightjumps

Neighbor did. Nightmare.

Your dilemma is indigent in telecommunications (I have background in the industry). Typically, upper management asks the sales management to forecast the next year's sales. Sales management uses a complementary blend of quantative and qualitative methods, formalizes the forecast and submits it upstream. Upper management reviews the forecast, has higher ambitions for capital equipment, network expansion inflation, stockholders, etc. So they ship the new and revised forecast (usually 30-50 percent higher) back down to the the Sales Management. Sales Management reviews the new forecast and knows that it is a recipe for failure. They wind up objecting upstream, which then "brands" them as not being a "team player" which places them under the microscope for monthly reviews rather than quarterly reviews by upper management. Once a bad month hits, they begin applying pressure to the Sales Management. Sales management usually winds up leaving or getting placed on a "improvement plan" which usually winds up in resignation or termination. Joe Snuffy (the potential new sales manager) sees opportunity, goes to upper management and declares his ability to not only meet those numbers, but exceed them and be the new company hero. Upper management's overly aggressive numbers are now validated by the "new team player" who gets the job. With sights on upper management, s/he must beat the numbers and begins to use every tactic on customers to make the sale, leads the sales team by fear, modifies the comp plan to increase bottom line numbers and justifies less than honorable persuasive sales strategies. This is not consultative sales; this is hustle sales nothing less of the car sales mentality. These people are usually a flash in the pan, can make your life miserable during the interim and usually wind up increasing sales for a little bit, then move on to find another job on the next higher rung leaving a path of destruction behind them by losing good sales people and destroying customer relationships. In the interest of professionalism; school or not, no matter what you do, resign by giving two weeks notice.

Dodge - "Ram Tough"

Man, you think of everything. Thank you.

According to this month's "Skydiving Magazine," The Vigils manufactured prior to March 26th 2004 have been recalled. May 2004, Page 18

I've been the organizer for several charity jumps; one of which was a State and World Record for most jumps out of a c-182 in 12 hours. 1. Pick a date 3-6 months in the future. 2. Talk with the drop zone of your intentions 3. Get folks to help you with the fund-raising and have a target goal - i.e., we're going to raise "X" number of dollars. 4. Formalize a press release. 5. Ensure the funds are free from scrutiny by having a non-related person account for all monies. 6. You and the others aggressively solicit money (flyers, radio, etc.) for that 3-6 months. 7. Ask the organization that you will be donating the money to for assistance in awareness and the solicitation of money. 8. Make the jump.

Kenneth C. Jones of St. Louis has pulled together a slim volume of statistics he has titled Index of Leading Catholic Indicators: The Church Since Vatican II. Priests. While the number of priests in the United States more than doubled to 58,000, between 1930 and 1965, since then that number has fallen to 45,000. By 2020, there will be only 31,000 priests left, and more than half of these priests will be over 70. Ordinations. In 1965, 1,575 new priests were ordained in the United States. In 2002, the number was 450. In 1965, only 1 percent of U.S. parishes were without a priest. Today, there are 3,000 priestless parishes, 15 percent of all U.S. parishes. Seminarians. Between 1965 and 2002, the number of seminarians dropped from 49,000 to 4,700, a decline of over 90 percent. Two-thirds of the 600 seminaries that were operating in 1965 have now closed. Sisters. In 1965, there were 180,000 Catholic nuns. By 2002, that had fallen to 75,000 and the average age of a Catholic nun is today 68. In 1965, there were 104,000 teaching nuns. Today, there are 8,200, a decline of 94 percent since the end of Vatican II. Religious Orders. For religious orders in America, the end is in sight. In 1965, 3,559 young men were studying to become Jesuit priests. In 2000, the figure was 389. With the Christian Brothers, the situation is even more dire. Their number has shrunk by two-thirds, with the number of seminarians falling 99 percent. In 1965, there were 912 seminarians in the Christian Brothers. In 2000, there were only seven. The number of young men studying to become Franciscan and Redemptorist priests fell from 3,379 in 1965 to 84 in 2000. Catholic schools. Almost half of all Catholic high schools in the United States have closed since 1965. The student population has fallen from 700,000 to 386,000. Parochial schools suffered an even greater decline. Some 4,000 have disappeared, and the number of pupils attending has fallen below 2 million – from 4.5 million. Though the number of U.S. Catholics has risen by 20 million since 1965, Jones' statistics show that the power of Catholic belief and devotion to the Faith are not nearly what they were. Catholic Marriage. Catholic marriages have fallen in number by one-third since 1965, while the annual number of annulments has soared from 338 in 1968 to 50,000 in 2002. Attendance at Mass. A 1958 Gallup Poll reported that three in four Catholics attended church on Sundays. A recent study by the University of Notre Dame found that only one in four now attend. Only 10 percent of lay religious teachers now accept church teaching on contraception. Fifty-three percent believe a Catholic can have an abortion and remain a good Catholic. Sixty-five percent believe that Catholics may divorce and remarry. Seventy-seven percent believe one can be a good Catholic without going to mass on Sundays. By one New York Times poll, 70 percent of all Catholics in the age group 18 to 44 believe the Eucharist is merely a "symbolic reminder" of Jesus. Source: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29948

A woman made the first ever freefall. http://www.makeithappen.com/wis/bios/broadwickt.html

I'm with BillVon on the exit scenario. The two comments about not having seatbelts on the A/C at all concern me. Personally, I wear them, If I have a student and they don't have a seatbelt - no go. Regarding the main point, most take off the seatbelt at 1,000' cause its habit since that's usually when the door gets opened in flight to get some air moving around in the summer. I agree about those opening the door without first communicating to the A/C - "Everyone have their seatbelts off so I can open the door?" Finally, unless the Pilot says you must exit the a/c (structural failure, etc.) you can choose to ride the a/c down.

First question; your profile shows 9 jumps, where did you leave it with the AFF Program (Level 4, 5?) - I ask cause as AggieDave points out, with the ISP, you "may" not have to start over from scratch and you "may" get out higher than you think.

How large a gap do you have between your shoulders and the shoulder straps under canopy? edit: Looks like Kevin and I were writing at the same time - what he said.

Most of the rigger's in my neighborhood forgive the anal retentive me for inspecting my reserves prior to them inspecting the reserves. Usually, I launch it in front of them, hang it up, do my own cell checks, check each attachment point, do a full continuity check, then hand it off to them, which they in turn do again. Just did this on my tandem reserve last night. Some let me do it on my own if they have a backlog and some will even do it with me as I talk out loud about what I'm doing. I've yet to have a rigger complain about it and most see it as another set of checks and balances. On more than one occasion, this has turned into an impromptu class by the riggers for folks who've been skydiving for less than a year or two and never seen what goes on with a reserve A.I.R. The riggers seem to enjoy being on the Instructor's platform for awhile, the newbies seem to gain confidence from the education and it builds an additional respect and trust for the riggers. Just sharing.

Cause it fokking hurts when you land.

Congratulations, SJ!!!!!! I'll bet I can guess who gave ya the hell on the hell dive.... Keith

She got an "A." I wish I could have given her a higher grade. She used logos, pathos, ethos like a fencing master and moved a spectrum of folks to action. One of the best speeches I've ever heard.

I have two thoughts on this: 1. The rubber band was so big that three or four rubber band wraps were made on the lines, 2. Perhaps they meant the actual stow was too long to compensate for the large rugger band and as such "may" have looped around another set of line stows during deployment causing a lock around another group of line stows. Those are the first two things that come to mind... others may have suggestions also.

Clarification: A couple of folks have PM'd me condolences regarding Paul. I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking that I was a close friend of Pauls. I "believe" I met Paul once, but am not quite sure. In the case of skydiving, there is one level of separation between those we know and those they know. If one is in the sport long enough, when one feels the pain of loss, we all share the pain. My thoughts regarding the organ donation were the result of Paul's burns and my student's words that by donating skin, we can help a dozen burn victims and a desire to suggest the organ donation program to my fellow skydivers. We are a family of skydivers and the gift we give may help one of our own family members. Keith

With all the news about Paul, I feel compelled to share a recent change I've made. I; like some of you was resistant to being an Organ Donor for a long time. That resistance was based on ignorance. In one of my classes at the State University, I assigned a persuasive speech. One of my students chose to give a speech on "Why you should become an organ donor." I was already resistant in my thoughts that if one wasn't already an organ donor, I really doubted she was going to change anyone's mind one way or the other. I was wrong. The student taught the professor that the harvesting of organs is not done until you are declared brain dead. While you may be on life-support, once the decision has been made that you are never coming back, that's when the organs are harvested. In addition, I had no idea how much good came out of this selfless act. Eyes can be used for transplant for cataract victims, your kidneys can save two lives, your liver can be used to save four lives, bone marrow, etc. This is important; your skin can be used help a dozen burn victims. I spent that night researching the issue and the next day got my license changed to signify "Organ Donor" and communicated my wishes to my family (I also did a "Living Will," but that is another issue) I challenge each of you that have been affected by Paul's passing to research the matter thoroughly. In his honor, may each of you who have not already, please consider filling out the organ donor portion of your license and communicate that desire to your loved ones (in some States, family members must verbally communicate or sign your intentions along with the Driver's License) to harvest organs. Please consider giving the gift of life, as an honorarium, in memory of Paul Rafferty. During a sad time for all...Blue skies, Keith

No, you are not. Unfortunately, DZ's purchase student gear in lots and most of the time buy them to fit "most" of the population. It's not unusual for a DZ to have a 250 reserve in their student gear since the majority of folks be less than that. PM me for a point of contact to help you out.

The nuns straightened me out, Bro. I still cringe when I think about Sister Theresa coming at me with the yardstick telling me to open my hand.

I'll address this first. Yes, I do believe a good a$$-whipping brings results. Two examples: First, me. Yes, I was one of those 15 year old kids who did everything wrong. Between the neighbors beating my a$$ or the nuns, then taking me to my parents to explain why they beat my a$$, only for my parents to beat my a$$ because someone else had to made me have to consider the results of my actions. I was forced to choose prior to committing some offense if the offense was worth the punishment if caught. Second example; When I was stationed in Europe, I had a buddy about my size who was married to a petite blonde about five feet tall and a hundred pounds. Now, he was a good guy. Loved his wife dearly. Unfortunately, he had too much to drink one night; went home and knocked her around (at that time, had my fellow soldiers heard about it, he would have got a "bunk adapter" party). However, she let him pass out and while he was passed out, she went into the kitchen, got one of those eighteen inch cast iron skillets, went into the bedroom, raised it over his head and brought it down vigorously on his face. He woke up with a busted nose and two black eyes. She dressed him and took him to the base hospital. After he had been bandaged up, she told him, "I love you very much, but I need you to understand that if you come home drunk and do that again, the same thing will occur." Few months later, he went out drinking with the guys, went home and did the same thing. She went into the kitchen, got the eighteen inch cast iron skillet, went into the bedroom, raised it over his head and brought it down vigorously on his face again. He woke up with a busted nose and two black eyes. He never took another drink. Yeah, you're probably right. I really can't stand bullies, men who beat on women, rapists, thieves, burglars, people who sell drugs to children, or those who take advantage of others. I have a very short fuse when it comes to things like that. Its a fault.

I thought about being a cop once. Several cop buddies encouraged me to reconsider. They explained situations "like" this one and said my short fuse would likely land ME in jail or in lawsuits on a daily basis. Beating the F*&k outta someone for doing stupid shit like this is no longer allowed. I mean, C'mon... what's the point of issuing those cool billy clubs if you can't beat some sense into mindless twits.

If you got both chest and hip articulation, then they would "probably" just put new webbing between the chest and hip articulation. If you did not get the chest articulation, it could be a little more difficult. As many have said, speak with the manufacturer...they are going to be your best source for what needs to be done and how long it will take.

It has been my experience that most rig manufacturers (and I've owned most) will jump thru hoops trying to resolve the problem (as long as it wasn't your fault). It can be frustrating... buy a new toy, get the new toy, can't play with the new toy. It'll get fixed.

What riggerrob said. Know what your canopy's forward speed is... If greater than that = no jump.