tkhayes

Just FYI, Skydive City started fund-raising for the skydivers in LA/MS this weekend. So far, (Saturday) we have come up with $770 to send to Laurel who has offered to distribute for us to the local skydivers in need. Dropzone is kicking in $1/jump, Janine donated $1/meal to the fund for last night's dinner and we have more than $250 from the Raffle held by Arlo, and the rest was collected by passing the can around. I would hope that other dropzones around the country are doing the same - there is no reason we cannot together come up with thousands of dollars to help pay for food, gas, lodging, whatever they need right now. Ill keep you guys up to date on the progress over the weekend, TK

I sat next to him on a flight from Ottawa, ON to Chicago about 3 years ago - a real gentleman, he had a concert the night before in Ottawa and was more than happy to talk. TK

you may not be OK at all - the FAA has definitions of 'foreign parachutist' and 'foreign gear' A USA made rig is NOT foreign gear, it is USA gear and thus US rules apply no matter where you are from. How about 'save the dropzone a bunch of federal hassles from guys with badges' and just get the rig packed within the 120 days. that way you will FOR SURE be within the rules. This is NOT dropzone option, even though many people think it is. It is a federal law, pilots get into trouble for it if you break the rules and get caught. TK

and that's just ONE of the things I love about the Christian right-wing. God Bless 'em all....... TK (extreme sarcasm)

new quote from GWB: great - now we are going to continue to fight a wrong war just becasue people have already died in it...... TK

I was not comparing GWB's crimes to anyone elses. - not sure why you are either. Is starting an unnecessary war, based on lies, NOT a war crime in itself? thousands of innocents have died. If I start something, and people die directly from thopse actions, it is at the VERY LEAST manslaughter, and certainly criminal negligence causign death. A war crime as defined by Geneva? Maybe gray, but a war crime nonetheless. If the majority of Americans THINK he is a war criminal, then I bet he would be accused as tried as one. This is a democracy afterall. When we all objected to the election, we all got told by MANY Republicans in MANY cases that "hey - the majority won - get used to it and we now get what we want...." I would like to see the President and the White House held responsible for the unnecessary deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians and the unnecessary deaths of 1800 US soldiers. TK

Some of the most flawed logic I have ever seen. You quote stats without sources, assume that there are only 3 scenarios where the RSL does some good, etc etc. How about they help when: 1. they deploy the reserve EVERY time you cutaway if it is connected. 2. they help EVERY time by getting your reserve out faster that you ever could, allowing more time under your reserve to find a nice safe place to land 3. they save many lives every year, given that we USED to have bounces due to low/no reserve pulls and now we have almost NO boiunces due to low/no reserve pulls. SOme are saved by AAD and many - we will never know......but they do exist simply from the statisticall number dropping. I remember why we put them there in the first place, been jumpign for that long. I think too many people have started in recent years and do not know those reasons. Maybe we need to restate them once in a while. I will stand by RSLs for pretty much everyone. Watched my friends die and watched many people who maybe would have - maybe would not have pulled after a cutaway. Glad they are here to talk about it, not groping anf flailing all the way to their deaths. DO you actually have any idea how many are saved each year by the RSL? I doubt it and I doubt I can prove it other than the 70's stats the 80's statst and the 90's stats comparisons. Take your 99% number and stuff them, they are meaningless and pulled out of your head. Show me some real numbers that tell me RSLs kill and I will believe you. TK

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/presents/ 'nuf said I think - CNN was a staunch war supporter at first, now switching to the other side..... even the media might be following public opinion for a change so NOW can we accuse GWB of war crimes?....... TK

On the new style harnesses, we found that i9t was impossible to stop the chest strap from choking the student. Several reasons, 1. articulated harness makes it easy for student to rotate when they lift kness to sitting position (mostly for comfort on ride down) 2. too much hardware on the lift web to allow chest strap to be moved down and others We switched back to the old harnesses with newer fatter padded legatraps and they work great. 1. Student can still lift knees for comfort but that matter less due to fat legstraps 2. lots of room to move chest strap down 3. old harnesses can easily be retrofitted with new leg pads as well as harness stitching if they are showing their age. TK

what sort of 'facts' are missing exactly? If we dig up a bone, we can date it - do you believe that or not? If it turns out to be millions of years old - do you believe that or not? If I find light from distant stars using proven methods and theorems of physics and mathematics, then I can also date many parts of the universe (and prove they are billtions of years old) Do you believe that? If thenall these things ARE actually millions/billions of years old, AND we do similar things for thousands of other species/stars, does this not lay down some 'facts' that can support the 'theory of evolution' as fact? Now let's go to 'intelligent design' cleverly hidden as Christianity.....the world was made in 7 days and is only about 6000-10000 years old or so. Is this a fact and do you believe it? Now I ask you - what do you want us to teach kids....the facts or the "facts" Or maybe you were hoping for an 'eye witness' to the dinosaurs/apes/cavemen? TK

AND he has silky thighs too! TK

actually my post says exactly what it says..... we seem to offer a lot of support to a regime that appears on the outside to be harboring the very people we are trying to stop. Hypocracy. Anything else you read into it would be your problem, I do nto trust Ms. Rice to do much of anything except perpetuate this very hypocracy. TK

did I mention war? Or perhaps I was just pointing out yet another hypocracy and contradiction that our government has bestowed upon us. Seems we support dictatorships when it pleases us, support whomever we please when it pleases us, with littel thought to consistency or future outlook. I also wonder how long it will be before Pakistan does something to become "our enemy" or God forbid, a member of the Axis of Evil...... TK

1. Buy a parachute that historically opens slowly, Dacron lines if you have to 2. Match the pilot chute carefully to the rig and the main 3. Learn to sit up as you get to line stretch, especially if you are a big person, this reduces the whiplash on your neck and allows compression of the spine instead of whipping 4. Don't keep doing the same things over and over if it does nto work. 1000 jumsp later, your spine will look and feel like mine - which is not good TK

Not that I try to be biased and I generally stay anti-war - but it seems ot me that 1. OBL is hiding in Pakistan 2. the recent London bombings apparentlly got training in Pakistan 3. Many of the Afghan Taliban and other rebels fled to and are hiding in Pakistan. so why are we wasting out time in Iraq? Maybe my facts are wrong, but we seem to offer a lot of support to another dictatorship/regime that puts uperficial efforts into stopping terrorism. Granted I doubt they have the skills/resources to stop a lot of it, but we have hammered many other countries in the past with sanctions and threats for much, much less. I do not get it... TK

I think our free speech is 'going'. not yet gone - but defnitely going mandatory prayer? You bet, only a matter of time. We are already integrating Christianity with the government at a scale I have not seen in my lifetime. How long do you think it will take to intergrate it with the laws of this country, especially with Christian right-wingers in the supremem court and in the Congress/Senate? Excessive? not at all. Just looking out for YOUR right to choose....

we run jumprun already, drove most of the ideas that are in the curent version, but it does not do what I need it to do in the way of tracking which instructors jump with whom, what rigs they use, pass/fail for AFF, etc

We have gone from $18-$19-$20 in less than a year, the largest increases ever at Skydive City. Reason? 100% due to fuel increases, which is now more than double what it was 18 months ago. Thanks George Bush - Oh yea, I feel a whole lot safer too...... TK

we landed once in Alberta 7 miles from the DZ after a solid cloud jump. elevation was almost 100' higher than where we took off. Lucky for us, we landed near a sheep farm - Baaaa Baaaa! TK

we also already have SQL running on our server, that is another option for the database structure since th enetwork here is pretty sturdy

Does anyone have/use a spreadsheet or database for a log of the jumps that their staff do? We currently use a whiteboard to sort all the jumps to be done, it is helpful, but also manual and then is transferred to a paper log at the end of the day. I am more interested in a database that allows me to put entries in like: Date- Student Name - Instructor Name- Type of Jump - Rig # - Video - Load # etc and simplay have that as an permanent electronic database. Anyone know of one out there? I do not have the whereabouts to start learning Access and design one myself. Also anyone got something similar for packing? Something that tracks packers, which rigs they packed, who jumped them, and even monitors the jump numbers on various components like in tandem rigs? would pay a lot for that, thanks TK Hayes Skydive City

1. Sell Sabre 2. Buy Spectre

yes hook it up TK 275lbs out the door with a Vengeance 135

The weather has been cooperating for the most part for the past few weekends, and we are having a greast 4th of July this weekend. Saturday Night, Janine will be serving dinner. Sunday Night is the Pig Roast, and that is free! Monday is fireworks night of course - Johnny Gates is on his way to SC to load up on the usual outrageous display that we host here every year. Hope to see you all here, TK Skydive City

what is 'Heaven'? TK