Zennie
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Everything posted by Zennie
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Was this in the Naples/Ft. Myers area by any chance? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Maybe the time is ripe for BASE tandems to go mainstream. You know... let folks drop oh... I dunno... $25 or so, strap 'em on, huck off a nice 300-footer. If they like it, they can then rent gear and enter an ABN (Accellerated BASE Number) program. Think of the possibilities! The BASE tandem business alone could be a cash cow. Throw camera people in and make cool videos with cool music (like Tom Petty's "Freefallin'"). As they get near the top scream as loud as we can "ARE YOU READY TO BASE JUMP?????" We could set up slick advertising campaigns and a 1-800-FLICK-IT phone network. We'd have to start bumping people off our elevator loads to make room for the BASE tandem business. That might kind of suck, but think of how much MONEY we could make! That's it, I'm calling my financial planner right now.... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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One of the other prerequisites for being a BASE jumper is having a thick skin. We don't tend to sugar-coat things too much. But look at the bright side... you'll always know where folks are coming from. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Hey bro, I know what you're saying. I've had more than my fair share of close calls. By some miracle each time I walked away. I've flown into trees, clipped guy wires, stalled into the ground... I walk away each time thinking "Fuck... how did I pull THAT one out of my ass?" Answer is... I don't know. For whatever reason, getting broken up wasn't in the cards for me those times. Still, I know I know I'd be a fool to think I'm bulletproof. We play with odds. Sometimes they fall in our favor, sometimes they don't. I've been lucky thus far... someday that won't be the case. But I know that going into it... maybe that's the difference. I'm drunk & babbling and I think it's time to hit it. Nite all! :-) - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Again, if you're not sure, I would strongly recommend attending Bridge Day. As far as why FJCs cost so much, aside from what other folks have said, I'd point out that all but Johnny's courses are offered by manufacturers. So the time they're spending teaching you is time spent away from making rigs. Not to mention travel, lodging, meals, supplying student rigs. They have to make a living too. Also, there is a SUBSTANTIAL exposure to legal liability that a person assumes when they take on a student... waiver or no waiver. I honestly think that the FJCs are very REASONABLY priced taking everything into consideration. You don't get something for nothing. And like Avery notes, I've blown a substantial amount of money in this "free" sport. Rigs, travel, safety equipment, etc. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Wowzers! SL or DB? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Yo Rat, are you wanting to do an A jump first or are you planning on going to Bridge Day? Bridge Day is a very good way to test the waters to see if BASE is for you, and you can usually borrow or rent gear. I know Vertigo rents gear for Bridge Day. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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You sure she wasn't giving him a hummer and just came up for air? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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It's a tie between Animals & Wish You Were Here. Lots of folks think today's music is dark. Give those albums (and The Wall) a listen and Waters wrote some of the darkest lyrics I've ever heard. Here probably my favorite... Stone... stone... stone... stone... stone.... GOD I love that album. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Same here bro. On the plus side, I've lost 10 lbs in the two weeks that I laid off beer.
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My folks live in Bonita Springs (basically between Naples & Ft. Myers). Called my Mom yesterday and she said their condo is built to hurrican specs so she's staying. What a trooper! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Heh. That's my BASE motto... especially when I or someone else is about to try something new and/or scary. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Not advocating one system over the other, since I've never PCA'd anyone, but one other thing that riggersam told me was that he held the PC with the arm straight and outstretched. This allowed him to maintain a fairly firm grip on the PC without over-doing it... since you can't hold a tremendous amount of weight with that little leverage. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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I have the Album of Fluid Motion and Understanding The Sky as well. Very good, informative books. Other good impromptu wind drift indicators... Toilet paper Small piece of a plastic bag (though not biodegradable like tp) When all else fails... spit. My personal fave, though, at least on higher, more remote objects, is my patented Pee Drift Indicator. ground crew beware.... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Tom was a wonderful host when the Houston crowd came up for Memorial Day weekend. We had a great cookout and good times just hanging out when the weather was crummy. Thanks again Tom! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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All I gotta say is they better cool their jets REALLY fast. Down south we handle bandits by forming a posse and stringing 'em up. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Nice avatar Karin! That's my favorite X-Mas movie! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Hey Fab, sorry we didn't hook up that last evening, my phone was having all sorts of problems. Hope you had fun on the one jump we did. Hopefully we'll get you to some of our other sites next time.
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There's a fine line one has to walk when someone new shows up on the scene... especially when you're skeptical that they're cut out for the sport. If you're too blunt, the person may take a "screw all of you, I'll do it alone" attitude. At the same time, there are those who just shouldn't be in the sport. In the really severe cases, I'm not sure how you reconcile the two, and I'm not sure there is a right answer other than go with your gut insinct. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Like Brit (and maybe a bit because of her ) I sort of got thrust into the "mentor", for lack of a better term, role before I personally felt ready. Like Tom, my personal preference would have been for me to have 200+ jumps before I took on anyone, but I knew there were a few folks who would jump regardless, so I felt it would be better to impart what little knowledge I had upon them in the interest of safety. I consulted with several far more experienced jumpers on how to handle it as well. So I didn't fly totally blind. They've since become very knowledgable, talented jumpers in their own right. JenneJenn is probably my first "official" student. But around here we tend to sort of do things as a group, so it's really more of a combined effort. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Gang, gang. I wasn't trying to disparage those who SL extremely low stuff. Like I said in the other thread, "purist" was a very poor choice of words on my part. Here in my neck of the woods I have more freefallable objects than I can count, so my thinking is probably skewed in that direction. The only thing I've done like that was a PCA from 210, and I was under canopy before I knew what happened... I missed the ground rush. Now my buddy riggersam pointed out that I'd probably be climbing up my risers if I SL'd from 150. And I'm sure he's right. Maybe I need to hunt down some sick low stuff to gain a finer appreciation of SL jumping. Speaking if which... what's y'all's hard deck for SLs? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Nope, no offense taken, and you make a very good point. Maybe "purist" wasn't the best selection of words. I'm sure there are plenty of SL objects that would be every bit as fun as a freefall. The only thing like that that I've done was a PCA from 210 and I was sort of disappointed that I didn't get much ground rush. Now a PCA/SL from 150? That might be interesting. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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Gartner: Florida Voting Machine Data Loss Shows Need for Safeguards
Zennie replied to PhillyKev's topic in Speakers Corner
A number of civil livbertarian groups have been concerned about the security (or lack thereof) of all-electronic systems. Personally, I think the touch-screen concept is fine, but there should be a paper printout (ironically enough, punchcards?) which can be seperately run through a counter as a cross-check and backup. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon -
I know you're saying that tongue-in-cheek, but I'm sure that's what a lot of BASE-whuffos might think. Hell, we could get some sweet Petronas shots, cave shots, the list is endless, that would look awesome on the cover. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
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I just went through the teleporter. I'm PISSED that I couldn't get at that BFG in the one guy's office. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon