AllisonH

Ooh, that sounds like a nice way to spend a day before flying home!

If you want to pay and are out with someone who will either not want you to or will want to argue with it, just take a "restroom break" and while you're gone ask your server to please hand the check to you at the end of the meal. Or if you're finished ordering, hand them your card and ask them to run it at their convenience.

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas!

If you get the regular Z1 (without the external audible mount) you can still put an audible inside the helmet. I love my Oxygn, but i would strongly suggest trying on whatever helmet you're interested in before buying. I chose mine because it was the only one I found with a flip-up visor that fit me well. Sizing varies a lot between and even within manufacturers (I'm an XS, S, or M depending on which helmet) and there can be a lot of difference between fullfaces in visibility, what head shapes they fit best, etc. You really won't be able to tell which will work best for you without trying on a couple. Edited because I'm dumb and can't spell.

Ooh, that looks cool - thanks!

I actually LOVE the body worlds type exhibits, but I've been to a couple in the last year. Is the rest of the science center worth visiting?

I'm going to be in Perris in late April/early May, and would like to spend a day or two off the DZ. Any suggestions for destinations that are doable in a day or less (on a weekday)? I'll have a rental car, but will be traveling alone, so I'd prefer something relatively inexpensive within maybe an hour or 2 drive of either Perris or the Ontario airport. Thanks!

I'm flying Skybus into KC (less than $100 round trip) and combining it with a visit to my parents, whose car I will borrow to drive out there.

I was wondering when you were going to post this - I'll be there for at least a couple of days. Looking forward to seeing everyone and jumping in Wamego again.

Is it just me, or does this seem to indicate that the data is skewed to anyone else??? The girls are apparently 14-18. Most adolescent girls don't see an OBGYN (and therefore have swabs done) UNLESS they are sexually active or have some type of problem. I *think* the recommended age to start seeing an OBGYN is 26, or upon becoming sexually active. I know there are other reasons to start going to an OBGYN, but just based on this I wouldn't really trust this sample popluation as being indicative of the entire US population. I don't know though, maybe the girls who participated just had swabs done specifically for the study. If that's the case I'd question where they got the girls who participated and if they're truly representative of the entire US population. Maybe it is valid. If so, that's pretty scary. STD tests (along with lots of other lab work) were done specifically for the NHANES. I don't claim to be an expert on research procedures, but NHANES is a large, reputable study that's been conducted many times over the last 40+ years. It's run by the CDC and households are randomly chosen from census data. It's probably one of the better, more comprehensive and representative studies in the US. http://www.cdc.gov/nhanes/

I only jump alone if they need 1 more warm body to make the plane fly - I think it's boring and always have. I don't know if I'd say I'd be bored and quit without a mentor, but I've had several on and off and they certainly help get me excited and remotivated.

Am I the only one here who doesn't like dogs (or really pets in general)? I get along ok with those belonging to friends/family on a short term basis, but I can't imagine ever having the desire to own one?!?

Even in fantasy land I don't want a huge expensive car. At the moment I'm imagining my next car (which is probably 1-3 years down the road) as something like a Civic Hybrid or a Prius.

For clothes, probably Ann Taylor. Otherwise, Square1. Unless we're considering a car dealership a store?

Mine's 208 2 way from raleigh to dallas. I don't live anywhere near there, but it gave some basis of comparison. It's basing it on 36 mpg - I usually get more like 32-35 highway mpg, but still not bad for an 8 year old car with 114,000 miles on it and no car payment. Yeah, I think I'll keep this one a bit longer!

I think many people agree with you on that. What they disagree with is your assessment of when a person is able to "understand" the risk.

Sorry to be a bit off topic here, but I've always wondered - is the comfort pad supposed to overlap? If so, how much?

I'm heading to Kansas City Saturday, otherwise I might be up for the trip. Hope the weather cooperates and you get some great jumps in.

Last time I discussed this with my S&TA, he agreed with me that there were a few people at our DZ jumping canopies that they were definitely not ready for, but he said something to the effect of "he was already jumping it, so what could I do?"

Ask manifest and/or your former instructors. They'll be able to point you in the direction of some friendly RW guys who are happy to jump with newbies. You'll have a great time and learn a lot in the process that will be helpful to any kind of flying you do in the future.

It's possible she's working on her abs to make them stronger, not to look better?

Can't give you specific advice as I've only done RW there, but there's almost always at least one freefly organizer around - just ask at manifest. If you're looking more for some coach jumps, I'd call ahead and ask. I'm sure some people who've done freeflying there will chime in. If you have any non-jump related questions about going there solo feel free to PM me.

What are you looking to do? I've been once by myself, had a fabulous time, and will be returning solo in a couple of months. Are you wanting to do RW, freeflying, or a combination? Have you already booked your tunnel time?

I've been told it's hard on the planes to start them up when it's really cold. If they're anything like my car, I totally believe that - it wasn't happy about starting earlier this week (I do remember it taking a couple of tries for the plane to start before my first jump when it was 32 degrees - didn't give me much confidence even though I was told it was routine!) Honestly though, to me it isn't fun to jump in the cold - if I want to jump in the winter I go to warm places, otherwise I wait until it's a reasonable temperature on the ground. I fully admit that I'm a wimp about cold, but I just don't understand why someone would WANT to jump when it's below freezing? Unless maybe it was a really special occasion or something. Edit to add: If I were dressed warm enough for it to be comfortable jumping below freezing, 1) my jumpsuit wouldn't fit over my clothes, so it would severly limit the kind of jumps I could do, making it much less likely I'd want to jump, 2) my rig wouldn't fit well, and 3) my gloves would be so thick I couldn't feel my hackey or my toggles.

All of my files, important or otherwise, will also be stored on either my laptop or on CD/DVD. I'm just looking for something to use as a backup to my laptop. It hasn't been liking me so much lately, and I'd feel better if my things were stored in 2 somewhat iffy places rather than just one somewhat iffy place