Zennie

That's amazing. I would have thought you would go with a larger VX (or maybe a Velocity). So you like the new Crossfire's performance even compared with the crossbraced canopies out there? "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

0:6:2 Don't really have a good explanation for the first number, other than I'm lame. Somehow managed to get 6 in on Saturday, even though the winds weren't being very cooperative. The last two are for my first night jumps. One solo & one vRW. They were both fun, but the freefly night jump was a total blast! And the guy that I did the FF jump with did his first night Birdman the jump before. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

I like jumping with newbies for this very reason. They may think I'm not having fun or getting anything out of it, but I have to fly my ass off to stay with them. It really is very good practice. It forces you to quickly react to changes in vertical (and horizontal) fall rates and IMHO really expands your range. Ramon is really good at this. Me, Ramon & a newer guy (maybe 30-ish jumps) went out. The newbie's goal was to hold a solid sit. Ramon was filming him and my goal was to try and stay as close as I could. I managed to stay roughly within the same vicinity as him, but Ramon was all over him like glue. You learn something from everyone. It's all good.

Well you hit the nail on the head as far as the big difference with skydiving. In almost any other sport, as long as youhave the time, you can practive a cool move, or even the fundamentals, over & over for hours. In skydiving, there's the time factor as well as the financial constraints. Very few of us have the time or resources to do the 30 - 50 skydives a week you need to get really good. I'm like you in that I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well. It's a blessing & a curse. It drives me to work hard toward a goal but I tend to get frustrated when it doesn't happen. The other problem I'm starting to notice is that when I fly with the better freefliers, I for some stupid reason get to thinking I should be able to do what they're doing... totally forgetting they have several hundred more skydives than myself. And in that respect, and this is true in almost every sport, learning isn't linear. It's a series of short bursts of progress followed by (what feels like) long "plateau" periods. I usually get frustrated whan I'm in a plateau because I feel like I'm in a rut. I'm starting to get a little better about it. I'm trying to get myself to remember its not the destination but the journey. So just try to enjoy the process of learning and improving and don't get frustrated when you're in a plateau. Those short "eureka!" periods are always so much fun! "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Now having read the responses, it's nice to see I wasn't the only one who seized the opportunity to shamelssly throw in some Monty Python one-liners! "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Without looking at any of the following posts, I don't think you can answer that question the way it's phrased. I can think of a whole plethora of issues. Is it an African or European ant? Can ants even jump? Is the 14K measured AGL or ASL? What is the point being jumped to? Is its level measured AGL or ASL? I mean, assuming an ant can jump, if it just jumps up & down at 14K, that's a fraction of a second. If it jumps, say from my knee to the airplane floor, maybe a second. If you're talking out the door & to the ground, then you have the A/C to ground AGL/ASL disparity issues. And just what is the ant doing with a coconut in the first place? "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Absolutely. IMHO fuel cells aren't a matter of "if", but "when". There are several benefits: 1. It's a clean technology. The by-product is good 'ol H2O. 2. The raw materials (i.e. oxygen & hydrogen) are two of the most abundant elements in the Universe. 3. We (and everybody else) would have economic independence. In addition to automobiles, fuel cells could also replace utilities as the primary source of household & commercial electricity. Of course, I'm personally enthusiastic because my company, Air Liquide, is one of the world's biggest producers of industrial & medical grade gasses. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Ah, no worries.

I think because he realizes (at least I hope he does) that things are a little more complex than us just blindly supporting Israel, no matter what they do, like we have in the past. Things are getting worse & worse, and quite frankly, I think it's in our national security (and economic) interest to try to get some semblance of peace in the region. For you This Modern World fans, there was a great installment on this just last week. He pretty much nailed my sentiments on religious infighting in general and the current Arab/Israeli morass in particular. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Just out of curiosity, how is what I said homophobic? I'm not gay (or bi) so the thought of kissing a guy isn't all that appealing to me. That's a far cry from having something against homosexuals, which I don't. If that's what you're into, fine by me. It's just not my thing. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Oh man, that reminds me of another one. One time I drank too much the night before and was way, way hung over. As in lying on the couch until 20 minute call and hurling so bad in the bathroom that the guy next to me yelled over the stall "You gonna be OK?" Good think I hurled before I got on the plane, 'cause the entire ride up I'm thinking I'm going to hurl again. All I'm thinking is "Just make it to the ground, just make it to the ground..." I get outside the door and go and my first thought was "AAAHHHHH.... man, that fresh air feels good!" "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Hell, I could prolly do it for free just to freak everyone else out. Though money would gratefully be accepted. Mind over matter really. Speaking of which, on CNN the other night the had all the actors from that "Queer As Folk" series on Showtime. All but 2 were straight (supposedly). They were showing scenes of guys seriously getting down. Don't know if I could go there, but again, mind over matter I suppose. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Why is Scotty hitting me? Another time, I tossed, didn't feel anything, looked up and saw a twisted up ball of s#$% above me. I thought "Aw CRAP! I don't wanna have to chase this friggin' cutaway main". Just as I reached for the handles it opened and I kicked out the line twists. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

This has been a bug in the system for quite a while. What I'm finding is that it only seems to happen with certain people. And sometime the message goes through despite the error and other times it doesn't. I haven't really figured out a pattern to it yet. A couple people have suggested selecting the preview option before sending. That seemed to reduce the problem for me but I still see it from time to time. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Mari-ja-wana's bad... don't do mari-ja-wana. Mmm-kay? Mmm-kay who's got the mari-ja-wana? Anyone? Mmm-kay, whoever's got the mari-ja-wana just pass it up front mmm-kay? Uh oh... "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Comprehending Engineers - Take One Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said, “Where did you get such a great bike?” The second engineer replied, “Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, “Take what you want.” The second engineer nodded approvingly, “Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn’t have fit.” Comprehending Engineers - Take Two To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. Comprehending Engineers - Take Three A pastor, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a pparticularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, “What’s with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!” The doctor chimed in, “I don’t know, but I’ve never seen such ineptitude! “The pastor said, “Hey, here comes the greenskeeper. Let’s have a word with him.” [dramatic pause] “Hi George. Say, what’s with that group ahead of us? They’re rather slow, aren’t they?”The greenskeeper replied, “Oh, yes, that’s a group of blind firefighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime.” The group was silent for a moment. The pastor said, “That’s so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight. The doctor said, “Good idea. And I’m going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there’s anything he can do for them.”The engineer said, “Why can’t these guys play at night?” Comprehending Engineers - Take Four What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers? Mechanical Engineers build weapons, Civil Engineers build targets. Comprehending Engineers - Take Five The graduate with a Science degree asks, “Why does it work?” The graduate with an Engineering degree asks, “How does it work?” The graduate with an Accounting degree asks, “How much will it cost?” The graduate with a Liberal Arts degree asks, “Do you want fries with that?” Comprehending Engineers - Take Six An architect, an artist and an engineer were discussing whether it was better to spend time with the wife or a mistress. The architect said he enjoyed time with his wife, building a solid foundation for an enduring relationship. The artist said he enjoyed time with his mistress, because of the passion and mystery he found there. The engineer said, “I like both.” “Both?” Engineer: “Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will each assume you are spending time with the other woman, and you can go to the lab and get some work done.” Comprehending Engineers - Take Seven An engineer was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him and said, “If you kiss me, I’ll turn into a beautiful princess”. He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week.” The engineer took the frogout of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I’ll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want.” Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, “What is the matter? I’ve told you I’m a beautiful princess,that I’ll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won’t you kiss me?” The engineer said, “Look I’m an engineer. I don’t have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that’s cool.” "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Not me. Plain 'ol military grade rubber bands. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

The other thing I want to add, besides the fact that I miss you both terribly, is that Scotty also watched out for me and the other newbies. He was always coming up to the mock-up and showing us flailers better ways to get a good exit off. He'd bail us out on big ways. Taught us to do hoop dives. Great man with a big heart. Lotsa love to both of ya! "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

OMG!!! If he does I want it! That sucker's going on my web page. I gotta admit, it was a bit embarassing, but even I thought it was funny. Yup, I was a newbie pup. Went low for the umpteenth time and backslid out. So here comes Scotty and I'm thinking he'll grab me and bring me back. He gets up to me. Gives me the "legs out" sign and SMACKS me upside the helmet! So yes I have literally been beaten on in freefall. Just like the movies! "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

He organized my SCR.

Is Trent having this problem too? Cuz I PM'd him about the site he ordered his camera from and didn't hear back. Or he could just be blowing me off. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

I was browsing the Birdman site and they had this in their FAQ... Q: Can I fly on my back? A: Yes, but the wing will not be that effective as flying belly to earth. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

What was it? "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

That's right. Just remember, even behind those dark sunglasses of mine, I won't be looking. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Wouldn't piss me off. And if you have to get permission from Mikey, I'm looking for the pod because someone has snatched him and replaced him with an imposter. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."