grimmie

FOUR more days, let the banter begin! What matchups will you be watching in the first round. Flyers/Pens will be a great battle. Rangers/Caps will be awesome. Sharks/Canucks will come down to goaltending. I think the Kings can take the Blues. And yes, I know, the RedWings are in it too... I'm off to Calgary to play in an International Firefighter Hockey Tourney next week. I'm skating with the Prince George, BC FD Legends team. "Legends" means we're in the "nursing home" division, 45 and over!

Ever plane out of a high speed turn at 50 feet? It takes almost as much skill to manage the resulting deceleration and surge on a sub-100 canopy to not smash your ass into the ground as it does to not auger yourself in in the first place. I understand why DZOs don't want people swooping around. It's not worth it to cater to the 1-200 of us that compete regularly. However, taking away the pond and not banning swooping is all but stupid imho. Removing a safety device and still allowing the discipline is contradictory at best, negligent at worst. (Perris went all the way, though I can kill myself on a 90 just as easily, so I am still not sure what they are solving) Limit the canopies people can fly, the wingloadings people can fly until a proper progression/time/experience has occurred. Limit swooping on regular loads. Require dedicated passes for HP canopy work. We obviously cannot regulate ourselves anymore, and it SEVERELY pains me to say that. This is the start to limiting open canopy fatalities. /my $0.02, worth what you paid for it. We had a Western Region S&TA meeting at Skydive San Diego. Bryan Burke spoke about Skydive AZ incidents over the last decade. Due to excellent data, it is now known that 90 only patterns lead to fewer incidents. The fewer the turns, the fewer traffic/landing incidents. One of the many reasons Perris went to the 90 only rule, IMHO.

We have about 36,000 USPA members. Out of that number we have maybe 200 or so serious competition swoopers. (My off the cuff estimate, anyone have real numbers?) The skydiving fatalities and serious injuries are increasing due to pond swooping. The bad press is mounting after each incident. As an organization, how do we justify using our resources to keep the FAA, Airport Sponsors and the press off of our asses, and keep telling everyone that skydiving is safer than driving a car. I just had a meeting at the Oceanside Airport to finalize my DZ lease agreement. The latest swooping related fatality at Perris was discussion number one initiated by the airport manager. What happens at drop zones around the nation does not go unnoticed by the public. Maybe it's time for the swooping community to band together, buy a 182 and dig a pond somewhere on private land if you don't like the fact that DZ's are drying up their ponds. As a business model, it makes zero sense to have a pond. High risk, very little reward. I'm not for banning swoop comps, but maybe we need to look at the speed rounds and other issues to make it a bit safer with less pressure for the competitors.

I made lots of jumps with B3 over the years. Always fun to be around.

All good points. Much more thought provoking than the usual left/right arguments. I don't know much about the VA, but I have worked with county run ER rooms for years. Very efficient and dedicated staffs at those government run facilities. These are the facilities being over run by a lack of health insurance. The Feds could probably give the existing rail carriers a big tax break to run Amtrak and come out money ahead.

What part of ACA do you guys all dislike, other than the mandate that you must have insurance?

You said "clicker"... That's the "remote" for all of you young uns.

There is a DZ in Guam too...

Good thing she had a GoPro at 130 jumps to capture it all.

They should, since goverment pays for indigent burial costs. Where? I'd like to know. AFAIK, there is a small social security death benefit ($500 if memory serves me correctly. That is not based on anybody being indigent. There are no other government programs where I live that pay for indigent burial costs. http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/virginia-cuts-aid-indigent-burials Most states and counties have indigent burial programs, usually for $750.

It's a socialism issue. +100 Welfare Farmers Indigent emergency medicine care School programs Indigent burial Unemployment benefits Government nursing homes The list goes on and on, but now all of a sudden everyone is worried about Socialism, after all of these years. And everyone is a Capitalist, until gas hits $4 a gallon.

They should, since goverment pays for indigent burial costs.

So if ACA was passed on a state by state basis, it would be constitutional?

Think about this scenario. Joe Billionaire has enough money to cover the expense of his limo if it crashes. He can buy 10 more fancy cars if he crashes, cash. He has enough money to buy a hospital if he injures another party in a crash. Insurance is a waste of money to him. Why does the government mandate him to buy auto insurance? Where is their constitional power?

Where is their Constitional power in requiring the forementioned items?

The government forces a business to purchase a fire extinguisher. The government forces individuals to purchase car insurance. The government forces parents to buy car seats for children.

Too bad, kid could have downsized to an Icarus 18 and a GoPro by age three.

The citizens in Oceanside sued the city to close the airport about 10 years ago. Without getting into the entire history of the FAA and city vs. a group of citizens, just know that the airport became an albatross around the city of Oceanside's neck, because they let it. Whe I approached the city TWO years ago to conduct skydiving there, it was met with some very serious resistance. After umpteen meetings with council members, city staffers, the city attorney, risk management, phone calls back and forth with the FAA Airport Compliance Division, endless guidance from USPA's Randy Ottinger and finally a giant legal bill from a tremendous land use attorney that crushed the city at their own game, I was finally awarded a city business license. A private company manages the airport for the city. In our discussions regarding a lease, we both agree that it is better to start out slow, with more experienced jumpers, to ensure a long term relationship with the city. The landing area is about 30 acres, it's huge, with not a lot of good outs for beginners surrounding it, as this truly will be skydiving in almost a downtown setting. (The LZ is just over 9 football fields, including end zones long and 2 football fields wide) The airport is a mile and a half from the pier and harbor. The views in freefall will be stunning.

Government hospitals. Socialism...hmmmmm...

Good point. It has been ten years since I went out of the Bradley terminal. I usually use San diego, pricey but simple

I spent 31 years responding to calls like this. It is not only the homeless. Elderly folks would call us all of the time, because they were lonely. Uninsured citizens would call us all of the time for the common cold or flu. Illegal immigrants called us all of the time for simple things such as childbirth. Some wanted us to show up and then go to the pharmacy to get them medicine. Some thought an ambulance ride for constipation would get them seen sooner at the ER. The US health care system has so many flaws in it, it will never be corrected. Emergency medicine and countywide free healthcare costs the taxpayers billions. signed, 31 years on the fire truck.

You need the "C".

Update; -I have secured a one year lease on a PAC 750. -I am meeting with the airport management next week to secure our hangar lease. -It looks like a mid June or very early July opening. As of now the DZ will be a 200 jump, "C" license minimum requirement. I am meeting with the Oceanside tourism stakeholders to secure hotel and travel deals for skydivers. More info to follow in the coming weeks, including ticket prices and events.

LAX is a pretty simple airport to get around in.

If you come into the international area for customs and immigration, it is about a 32 mile hike:(