mdrejhon

Completing AFF in just 5 hours? It can be done?

If you have a frame skip-forward button, try it. Try the frame skip forward button. Usually every press of the skip-forward button is 1/30th second. Add them all up, and presto! (Make sure that 30 presses of skip forward equals 1 second though. Most playback systems do. Some systems only need 15 pressses, others 24, and others 60.)

Fuzzy is one of my instructors

I saw a Discovery TV show channel special that covered this, and it said something about this penalty being compesated in less than 12 months by the relative cleanliness (compared to other energy sources) versus the manufacture pollution for manufacturing the windmills. So, that's not too bad, if the numbers were true... (I'm going by memory here, bear with me. But I do remember a timeline being estimated before the manufacture pollution "debt" is paid off. I might be wrong with the 12 months figure, but a figure was quoted)

So far, I think I might be too borderline to need a weight belt -- I think I could solve it with practice, some simple arch exercises, and a custom made jumpsuit. We'll see over the next few weeks. I may be ordering my jumpsuit this week and I'll be tending towards nylon based on what I've learned from several sources so far (including here)

>>But that's the problem...you see it wasn't in the last 5 seconds. According to the bid history, it was 35 seconds prior to close, and I was watching and refreshing the screen every few seconds down to the 1 second mark... Now that gets a bit weird... Theories: (1) Did the seconds counter decrement? "20 seconds left" "15 seconds left" "10 seconds left" as you kept refreshing? If not, try holding SHIFT while refreshing. (2) Maybe it's because of multiple servers on eBay and they were lagging behind each other, i.e. the price of the auction lagged a bit behind the bidders. It has happened before, but I have never seen it lag by more than 5 seconds... I've seen one server say 25 seconds left while another server simultaneously said 20 seconds left, i.e. a time difference between servers. So when I hit refresh, sometimes it alternated between the two, saying 25...20...23...18...21...16...19...14 seconds left. Kind of weird. One server may be at 0 seconds and the other may be at 5 seconds. eBay is a massive system of many computers that sometimes slightly go out of sync by a few seconds against each other... Leaving negative feedback is not a good idea because you will get "revenge feedback" ... Instead, just pay for it as it's within your max bid anyway.... But if you must cancel out, negotiate with the seller instead and offer to pay relisting fees if you must back out of the auction, but I wouldn't even recommend that -- they can still leave negative feedback, since they had nothing to do with the bid sniping.... Nontheless, the real price should be correctly real immediately when you see the words "Bidding has ended for this item" ... The price should never change once you see these words though. Are you sure it changed AFTER you saw the words? Not "0 seconds Left" but the actual words "Bidding Has Ended"? It would be very STRANGE if that happened. I have seen last minute bidders bump up the bidding multiple times... But if you saw "Bidding has ended for this item" and saw the final price, then you revisited the same page and saw the price change. OUCH! (If that's true)

222 jumps in 1 year? You still increased your jump numbers much faster than I did. Still, over 40 jumps in less than 2 months isn't too bad... considering I did 21 jumps in only 2 weekends (I go every 2 weeks now). My current goal is to go two times a month (one overnight stay) and jump an average of 10 times each visit.

That's not eBay's fault. It has happened to me before. But I know it's not eBay's fault. There are last-minute bidder snipers that bid during the last 5 seconds. You have to make sure you must press REFRESH after the auction has ended. Check the Bidder history and you'll see that there was a last-minute bidder in the final 5 seconds of the auction. Go back to the auction page and click "History: ## Bids" to see who bid, and you'll realize it was a last minute bidder sniper at the auction in the final few seconds. That's why the final price is only correct after you see the words "Bidding has ended for this item" If the auction was at $150 and you bid $400, and the bid increment was $10, the new auction price is $160 and you are the high bidder. You watch the auction. You press refresh. But in the last 5 seconds, somebody bids $275. eBay automatically "instantly" makes both of you outbid each other until one of your highbids is exceeded. That would be $275, and the moment eBay automatically outbids that. The new eBay auction price is now $285, and you are the high bidder. Yes, seeing $160 jump instantaneously to $285 is really annoying. (The ebay automatic out-bidding is an instantaneous process, where two person's maximum bid price fight out each other) If I didn't want to pay $285, I wouldn't have put in a max bid of $400. I guarantee you it is not eBay. It was a bidder sniper. Yes, I have done "last second bidded" (bid-sniping) an auction before. (But only a few times...and the last time was about three or four months ago) That strategy has gotten me some good prices, but has probably annoyed the bidder before me. It's legitimate pratice, you just have to carefully time the click "Submit Bid" in the final few seconds. The pratice is done because there are chances that others have put a low maximum bid. By bid-sniping, you increase your chances of exceeding other people's maximum bids, and they would have no time to increase their maximum bids. If you want your bid to be mostly immune to bid sniping, you simply enter a fairly high maximum bid. So anybody that bid snipes at the last minute, will not go through, just simply increases the price for the previous bidder that entered a relatively high max bid.... I guarantee that eBay has nothing to do with this pratice. It's simply last-minute bidding.

Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for it (or email me). Can't wait to order my new rig this week...Will probably order jumpsuit at the same time too. I just want to see if I can eventually become ready for at least one 0-point 20-way sometime in October (all from one Casa) as part of Deaf World Record 2005. If I am not ready then I'll just pass till 2007. Although I'll still attempt to train for it. I don't mind if I just concentrate on 2-ways for now, I just need to solve my arch problem, without takeout from the drivethru window at the golden arches

Still relative newbie, but I am a regular. Regardless of the main mals (the more frequently used parachute, the one that's packed more often).... It's my understanding that reserves (the rarely used one) are always packed much more carefully. Some people take over an hour packing those, I heard! Keep that in mind!

Congrats! I was "there" two months ago. [Edit: Um, I think it was something like only 6 weeks ago.]

I just did that last weekend. First time I had a friend over at the dropzone and he did a tandem. Was fun to say goodbye to him at as I tumbled backwards out of the plane. I was first out, because everyone else were either tandem instructors or tandem passengers. That was a fun exit!

Also, I was glad that my last 2-way jump was dedicated to fallrate pratice. That went very predictably, and I caught up pretty well. (I still need work, but it was nice to see fallrate act a lot more predictably since I wasn't concentrating on scoring points, etc.) On average, I fly close to level half of the time (plus or minus 1 feet vertically), and I fly high about half the time (high meaning "a few feet high" at least). That's why I say I have a tendancy to fly high -- I rarely see myself flying low. One problem with jumping with so many different people (free coaching) is that it's sometimes hard to determine what areas I need to work on, but I now know enough that my fallrate control is one of my main issues. I will be more aggressive at bribing people next time. It will probably be extremely difficult for me to do anything except solo's during the Otter weekend because everybody will be very busy. I still want to see if I can be the base of a static 4-way or even 8-way during that weekend. (after a few good coaching jumps I hope) One can always hope, eh?

The difficulty wildly fluctuates depending on the person. The favourite guys that I jump with (the ones that I don't tend to fall slower than), completing 7 points from an unlinked exit wasn't a problem - I was able to fly into my slot relatively quickly (for a beginner) in that jump. But on other jump, it took me way too long to fly into my slot, or floating above him was a problem. I have jumped with 5 different people in my last 8 different two-way pratice, so I get a lot of variety of people to jump with. So that's a big fallrate challenge for me...

One time, I remember being about 20 feet too high. I was able to fly about 20' down by going into dive (delta-like body position). I intentionally aimed to the side to avoid collision, then overshot 5 feet sideways had to do another dive to get back, then I was level. I think it was my first non-freefall-training-program-related two-way jump. It's on video (jump #25). It was a learning experience. On another jump, I was 10 feet too high, and I dived level on that try then overshot by a few feet to the side (still much better than my first attempt to "dive to catchup"). I haven't needed to dive on my last few 2-way jumps though, I'm falling only 3-4 feet slow now sometimes, and I can now catch up (slightly erratically) with a hard arch. If I am already level, it's easier to complete my points since I'm not struggling at that point, but once I become floaty, I can ruin the fun by putting too much effort in catching up... (I got warned about needing to enjoy myself ) Falling 20 feet with just an arch sounds a bit painful ... at the moment, I would just do a dive if I had to catchup 20 feet. I can do that now if I had to, but I will be wasting a lot of time trying to get close (I am sure I can get into my 2-way slot faster than I did before but I'm sure I may still waste 20 seconds trying). With some people it was very easy for me to get close, but with others I was never able to dock. If I HAD to fly to my slot to save my life in a small-way, I think I can, but I am more shaky and erratic while trying to speed up and will probably spend about 20 seconds flying into a slot from about 20 feet up and 20 feet horizontally off.

Hi, I wasn't sure if I should post this here or in Relative Work area, but since this is also related to "Safety" and "Training"... My current problem in 2-ways seem to be fallrate -- specifically, "falling faster". I can finally do it now, but it's extremely uncomfortable (I strain to arch hard). I think it's the jumpsuit that is too tight, and the rental rig does not have hip rings (articulated harness). My fully relaxed arch sometimes has a tendancy to cause my knees to dip down ever so slightly. I'm stable as I tilt forward to compensate and still stay relative to surrounding jumpers. It's arching harder that hurts. I can catch up now, but it hurts. My linked exits are good and stable and I go "over the hill" fine (legs in if diving away from plane, legs out if facing plane) My tracking is only "okay". Stable and not oscillating, but body position needs work. (Hard to get critiques of my tracking since I'm rarely watched while I track). Altitude awareness has been good so far. I am currently jumping at an approx 2:1 ratio for solo's versus relative work. I go every 2 weekends and jump an average of 10 times per weekend (12 times a couple weeks ago, and 9 times this weekend) and plan to keep up this pattern. Sometimes I manage to do 7 points in 2-way training (this I did a couple times), but when I have fallrate difficulties, sometimes I can't do any point or only do 4-points. As I struggle my fallrate control, sometimes I slide a few feet sideways as I try to adjust my arch. Fallrate error is about 2-3 feet vertical at the moment, and I can equallize that in a few seconds (more painful if I'm the one that's high). I'm progressing and getting better....a bit painful to arch harder. Linked feel a lot more comfortable and I don't cause the 2-way to tilt as far as I can see. Next time I am going to the dropzone, they will have the Otter. So there'll be a bunch of 4-ways and 8-ways. I hope I can be part of at least one or two. Due to my good linked exits so far and good linked balance, I feel ready to be the "base" for a 4-way and 8-way. I don't see a problem with being a "base". I feel ready for being introduced to that now. However, I'm not ready to "fly into my slot" yet due to straining on fallrate. I can do it, but it strains a bit and I get somewhat jittery. I have been warned by many people that I can learn bad habits while being solo. I now current avoid praticing fallrate control during my solos and just do other fun things. A few weeks ago I learn a lot more about fallrate control Questions: - Will a custom jumpsuit help? (I use a rental suit now) - Will hip rings help? (I use a rental rig now) - Will custom stretch exercises help? If so, which ones? - Any reasons I should avoid linked 4-ways or 8-ways? (being the base) - Other techniques to arch harder more comfortably?

ORDERING NEW CONTAINER IN TWO DAYS! I'm now leaning towards a new Vector3 container. - 190 square feet main (may request it manufactured to also fit 170 and 150 future downsizes) - 176 square feet reserve. (PD176R) - SkyHook RSL - Articulated harness - Custom colors Talked to dropzone/instructors. Container size 190/176 is fine with them. Friends say 190 main is fine. A few say I should jump 170 but I am resisting the peer pressure. I want to jump a 190 for about 200 more jumps... I may be ordering in the next two days. I am choosing between two vendors right now. (If you're a vendor...contact me by PM while you still have time ...)

I have fixed a water-damaged BlackBerry phone, a few TV sets, a VCR, a couple of Nintendo's, a Dell laptop (had to completely disassemble), a folding keyboard, a high-end alarm clock, two remote controls (with a soldering iron)... Although I stay away from refrigerators, dishwashers and dryers... Not my territory.

The correct spelling is "quadriplegic" and do a Search... There's some good news that may be able to help! (Just make sure you type the exact spelling into the Search box) Make sure it's a properly equipped centre that has done it before.

I don't do the ASL variant of sign language. I do Cued Speech. However, my usual interpreting method is a laptop. I'm more of a mainstreamed guy, so have rarely ever used interpreting services. Anyway, the fact that Scott Miller is coming to Gananoque is exciting. Whomever comes to our dropzone does kind of catch my priority. I hope I make it into class (I'm on a waiting list now).

I saw this happen when I had two hard disks changing modes (PIO / DMA). It booted super slow. I had to reconfigure the BIOS and cables. I forced them to singlemode (turn off multimode) and use a slow PIO setting. That suddenly sped up booting. The old hard disk drive didn't like to play with a new hard disk drive. Windows suddenly deciding to boot 10 times slower is often caused by a hardware problem or a bad driver problem - you may want to check into that. Try going to Safe Mode and seeing if that boots fast. It can be other things too...Just giving you a few handles to grasp at. Just don't pull the cutaway unless necessary

I'll just requote: Leave the real debates to the politicians and the people who vote for them, and the lobbying from all sides (organized activism), things like that. I'll do my debating over there in more worthy debate venues, if I feel like to debate or uphold rights, etc. But when it comes to skydiving, all I ask is respect as a skydiver, not what I do in the rest of my life. As long as I am respected as a skydiver, I don't really care who I jump with as long as we all have fun and they don't push their beliefs into my face. I respect them as skydivers back. Much like two persons of two different religions. They don't necessarily believe each other's religions but can still play tennis together or whatever. That is clearly different from "hate". Of course, I'm just a plain 'ol Canadian. You wouldn't understand.

Check the root dir for manuals of antique Singer's: http://parts.singerco.com/IPinstManuals/ If you get an error when clicking a manual, click Back then click the manual again. (Server 500 error = can mean server overloaded)

Rephrase: "Let's not waste too much time in petty debate with people who don't quite support gays..." I'd just like to have fun in the sport. Leave the real debates to the politicians and the people who vote for them, and the lobbying from all sides (organized activism), things like that. Just keep it out of the sport, please.

"I don't agree with skydiving, if it is your thing fine. But don't expect me to support it, encourage it, or vote for it. Don't force me to make a choice, and I will not bother." Hmm... Still... It's interesting how replacing one word makes it much less offensive. This is called "grudging tolerance" rather than "hate" - you're not gonna get shot by these kind of people (like in relatively rare rampant cases of homophobia). Replace the one word with anything else, to get another perspective. Personally, I steer clear of politics. This is not an invitation for popsjumper to make a response, but just a thought for all of us to go through that some of us are a little jumpy (from all sides). Maybe I am too. Let's not waste too much time with people who don't quite support gays, and just move on. Life's simpler that way. On the same vein, it's simpler not arguing with whuffos who obsessively keep arguing why you shouldn't skydive. Just respect their on-the-ground lifestyle and move on. Steer clear away from petty politics since it's just nitpicky stuff, bigger fish to fry out there...