tkhayes

tit for tat, productive or not productive, I think it boils down to a freedom of speech issue, I can say/do whatever the hell I want, or at least I used to be able to. Whether you agree or even know my reasons is absolutely none of your business. How about we pass laws that define "productive" protests.... now THAT would be a waste of legislative time and money TK

So my question would be then - why are we paying politicians huge salaries and wasting our tax dollars on the issue? Like we have nothing better to do on Capitol Hill? please...... TK

I only partially agree. No one is obligated to enter into said 'discussion' - you can choose to ignore it. The guy standing on the corner with the "end of the world" sign ranting and raving is a good example. I do not need to know his reasons, I have no need for them, nor interest his reasons, even though I firmly believe that the 'end of the world' is not near and I can completely ignore him. Now even if he burns his sign, creates a 'fire hazard' for me, yells and gets in my face - I can still simply ignore him and choose NOT to participate. The 'discussion' that you may enter into may end up being completely meaningless to both sides anyway, but that is not the sole reason not to do it. You have that choice, just as they do. i.e. never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig. and offending others IS a valid form of protest. A black lady did it years ago by sitting on the wrong seat on the bus. It offended plenty of people. I expect some people ended up getting killed over the issue. And it changed the world. perfectly valid to offend someone - it wakes them up. TK

beauty is in the eye of the beholder, protest is not necessarily. No one needs to explain to you the 'productivity' or the meaning of their protest - that is the basis of free speech. They have the right to protest however they see fit. burning the flag is an expression of anger or disappointment with the government/country and perfectly viable (in my opinion.) If they tore the flag down and burned it, then you would also have the right to go get another flag and put it back up. I think millions of Americans did just that after 9/11. TK

are you kidding? We should ban flag burning because of a fire safety hazard? In that case, since the NFPA writes almost ALL the fire safety code for the country, then maybe the NFPA should handle the issue in their code. Since the NFPA does NOT make constitutional decisions, I say leave it out of there. TK

I tell all my new-hires, "It doesn't pay much but at least it's long hours.." TK

when I started 25 years ago, I afforded it by adding up what I spent in bars every Thurs/Fri/Sat night getting hammered with my friends. - and figuring how many jumps that was. I drank a lot. It did not cost all that much, but that's how I afforded it. TK

what hospital and where?

just one step closer to banning criticism of the government itself......

does not really matter since 83% of all statistics are just made up on the spot..... TK

old school - I've been on MANY of the big ways, always in the base, always near-last to open, wore a Cypres since 1991, NEVER had a fire and I never worried about it either. turn your Cypres on, big ways mean more chances for a collision. Learn to track fool! that will keep you alive longer. leave the formation when you are supposed to and stop making excuses for opening low. (TK's survival skills for fat base guys) TK

hell no, 1996-1997 was the worst, El Nino, 100,000 inches of rain Actually it started raining on the Sunday of the Turkey Meet and did not stop until April TK

N/A

Wow, many days with rain now - that sucks, more time for projects at home I guess..... TK Z-Hills

it's not THAT close - you can't even read the N number....... I nearly got taken out by the biplane at WFFC years ago, right at line stretch ona tandem. he pulled up and I could see the parts of the airplane really close up..... TK

Don't forget all the other rescue organizations, there is one for practically every breed out there. Most are looking for people to foster the dogs while they find homes for them. We are fostering a deaf Aussie right now, Check them all out if one is in your area, and help out TK http://www.aussierescue.org/ http://www.springerrescue.org/

any videographers that want to help out, slot plus $15 for filming the team jumps, thanks TK

I rounded up some t-shirts and jump tickets for prizes, hope everyone makes it out to the Meet, TK

I think any DZ that takes your money, does not give the service you paid for and then decides for itself that you do not get a refund should probably be avoided. Offer a raincheck, sure, but force you to take one? We have full refund policies in place, well explained and posted. There are exceptions of course; discounted bulk tickets, tandems that were sold at special prices and group deposits that offer deals to the group and so on. I fail to understand in this day and age why customer service can be so poor in what is basically a service industry. On a bad weather day, the customer does nto deserve to be forced to spend any money. And the DZ does not deserve to earn any money either. If that sucks for them, then I am sorry about that, but stop taking your bad luck out on your customers..... TK

we built some straps for ourselves to do just that. Soft ankle wraps with velcro to keep ankles tied together. Second strap to wrap just above the knees to keep them together. This strap also had a quicklink or caribiner (Sp?) connected to it with an adjustable strap. Once under canopy, you can use this strap to lift their knees up high, and connect the caribiner over the passenger harness upper connector. This keeps the legs up and out of the way. During freefall, just connect the thing to somewhere where it will not get in the way. Youc an also build wrist soft wraps to keep their arms crossed in front of them and out of harms way. We found that limbs will break when flapping in the freefall winds. Binding them helps the TM keep everything in place. TM can cross their legs around the passenger and help hold them thru freefall. Under canopy, very important to get legs up and out of the way, the straps help with that, and the TM can 'slide' in under them on landing to help cushion that. We have done many TK SKydive City

Start by buying a larger, less radical canopy. One that opens smooth and not hard enough to knock you out. Buy a good rig, maintain it to better-than-manufacturer recommendations.... then use your brain and hands. TK

Gus apparently died just a while ago, wow one of the nicest people you ccould ever meet with a great outlook on life, what a tragic way to go. Blue skies my friend, TK

sure there are better ways - lets raise seals in confined pens, wait for them to get to the right age, then 'harvest' them with slaughter lines like cattle. What's the difference? At least the wild seal had a life to live and a chance to live it. The raised one did not, nor would he EVER get a chance to live a life. TK

everyone just needs to shaddup on the issue. I was born, raised and educated in Nfld, where the seal hunt is pretty much a way of life. My post WAAAAAYAAY back (http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1514169#1514169) explained much of the situation.....'torture' my ass. No more, no less than hogs on the slaughter line, chickens strung up with their throats slit, cows with a bolt fired into their skull. Do you eat meat? Wear leather? If you do then countless numbers of animals are slaughtered every day for your personal needs. So shaddup. Hypocritical. Paradoxal. If it comes on a styrofoam tray wrapped in saran wrap, then it must be OK and humanely killed? Go visit a slaughterhouse and get a reality check. I have seen both the seal hunt and slaughterhouses. Fact of the matter is that we kill other living beings to survive. Call it what you want. Do you think a wild animal that dies via a pack of wolves gets killed 'humanely'. Talk about slow torutre. Let's stop all the wolves, mountain lions, grizzlies and such in the name of protecting poor creatures from torturous, and slow deaths. Someone suggested that the hunters could find other ways to make living..... Maybe you should try growing up on a rock in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean and see what options you have. One of the poorest places around, dominated and controlled for centuries by British merchants who took all and left little. Rampant unemployment, but probably better educated than many of the southern states. Many scrape a living between fishing, lobster, seals, and a moose in the winter to feed the family. All seasonal work, so they do what they need to do to make a living. my $0.02 worth TK

jesus $%#%%@ christ - I did not say "YOU", I said "US" and I did read your post...... I was sharing a similar experience and supporting your post - not critisizing it. take a pill. TK