PWScottIV

Make a thread to respond in public to them... Maybe that'll give them a clue... Especially if the message is of a personal nature. Gravity Waits for No One.

Please tell me that 300ft is a typo, and that you meant to type 3000ft. Don't forget that you can just as easily take some one out at three grand if you are yanking on risers and whipping toggles while not paying attention. Why don't you practice something useful instead, like flat turns and stall recovery. Why do you need to be practicing hook turns at 40 jumps? 1. I am ALWAYS very aware of my airspace. Especially if I'm making high-performance maneuvers. 2. At my DZ I typically land in a separate area from most or all of the other jumpers. When there's someone else that is going to be landing in my area I ALWAYS make monitoring their position relative to me a priority. 3. I HAVE been working on flat turns (three different methods), stall recovery, and accuracy. As well as a host of other maneuvers that Bill Von and my instructors have recommended to me previously. 4. On most of my jumps and all of my last 20 jumps I've been landing LESS than 20ft from my intended target. 5. I've only had one PLF so far, and it was intentional. All of my other landings have been soft stand up landings regardless of the wind conditions 0 to 25mph. (And no, I've never been dragged.) 6. I've read and am working on methods from "The Parachute and it's Pilot" by Brian Germain. So it's not like I'm just, "Hmm, I wonder what will happen if I try this..." 7. I feel that I'm ready to start working on more advanced canopy piloting/landing, just not at ground level yet. I don't plan on making any actual high-performance landings for quite some time. Maybe another 50 jumps I MIGHT consider doing straight front-riser landings, but NOT hooking it. And definitely NOT with anyone else around for me to hit. Does that sound good enough for you? Gravity Waits for No One.

True... I'm definitely not gonna be trying it near the ground anytime soon, just because I did it near a cloud... However, it has been my closest reference to date. I've been doing hook turns frequently, but I'm usually above 300ft when I do so, so it was nice to be much closer than that to the cloud. Gravity Waits for No One.

LOL Gravity Waits for No One.

So we've got two situations here: 1. Somebody punches me in the face. 2. A company puts up several fradulent Web sites. As amazing as it might seem, I think these are different enough situations to warrant different responses. I'm working on my taxes and it occurs to me that we could save a shitload of money on cops, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, so on... fire all of those people, and get together once a week to decide who needs to get stomped and go stomp them. Some countries already have a system like this - see here or here for how well it's working. Prosecutor up for re-election? "Local Prosecutor Fights Cyber Crime Ring" looks nice in the paper and sounds good on TV. Alternatively, Skyride just calls up Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe and files a lawsuit against John Does #1 through #1000. They've already got the records from their hosting company and a few lawyer letters will get them the logs from your ISP. So, not only do you lose your connection, you get to hire an attorney and pay him five jump tickets an hour until either the case is resolved or somebody runs out of money. And once you've burned through all of the broadband options, it's easy to pack up your stuff, move, and do it again! Hooray! Maybe you'll understand when you're older. Eule Although yeah, I don't have a whole lot of experience with lawsuits, actually no experience, I have a feeling it would be pretty difficult to sue people for stuff like this. I mean, if you get caught spray painting on a wall, then of course you're screwed... However, I don't think it would be the easiest thing for them to nail thousands of people for going to a website a bunch of times. Could be wrong, if you have more experience with this particular sub-section of the law, then let me know. And yes, I think I can make a pretty strong correlation between Skyride's practices and someone hitting you. 1. Both "hurt". One hurts your face and the other hurts the image of our industry. 2. Both are wrong. Maybe not necessarily by legal definition, but definitely by most people's moral standards. 3. Both have the potential to be effectively and efficiently dealt with by applying the proper pressure. My argument isn't AGAINST doing it the "right" way, it's just that if nobody is doing anything, or if whatever is being done is not working, then why not think outside the box and develop a solution to the problem. Just complaining on here does nothing, except maybe entertain Skyride executives. Gravity Waits for No One.

Yeah, I'm sooo sure they're gonna sue me or anyone else on here for talking about hypothetically shutting down their websites... That's just as likely as them suing someone on here for talking about how fucked up their practices are. Their lawyers can suck a fat dick. I'm so sure they're gonna sue me for that too... For hurting their feelings. Right? If I knew how to build a DDOS program I would do it myself. I was just hoping there might be someone lurking around here who might... And would anomalously distribute it (as a Torrent probably, which is essentially untraceable). I, and I'm sure many others, would be willing to run it 24/7. What would their big scary lawyers do then? Not much more than take some more of SkyRide's money... After which they'd probably get nowhere. Which would be a scenario I'd have absolutely no problem with. I mean, are they really gonna be able to sue each and every skydiver who is involved? And what would the charges be? I visited their website too many times?! Hey, I only visited each of them 20 million times, is there a law that says I can only go to each of them a certain amount and after that I get in trouble? Gravity Waits for No One.

Don't fight abuse with abuse. Or, if you don't like lofty ideas, read your ISP's Terms of Service. Or, if you don't care about having to use a different throwaway dialup acount each week, maybe read the state and federal statutes about computer crime. Eule If someone punched you in the face, would you just say "Oohhh, please don't hurt me! Help Police!"? Or would you do your best to beat the crap out of them and defend yourself? Bullies need to get stomped every once in a while... I'm just saying it sounds like Skyride needs to get stomped. There's no way anyone is going to prosecute hundreds/thousands of skydivers for keeping a skydiving website down. There's usually more than one high-speed internet provider in the same area these days. Gravity Waits for No One.

1. Because it was not a cloud... It was "Industrial Haze". 2. Because I wear two altimeters. 3. Because I was spotting and I know there aren't any high objects in the area. 4. Because I never lost sight of the ground. 5. Because I hooked ONTO it, NOT INTO it. 6. Because that could NEVER happen to me. Gravity Waits for No One.

So do non-fluffy kittens. Gravity Waits for No One.

No way! But we should definitely ban 180s... Them's dangerous. Gravity Waits for No One.

Superglue? Gravity Waits for No One.

Well considering that I went through my AFF pretty recently, I think I might be able to deliver some good advice to you. Hopefully. First, if you have a choice, choose dropzone that you feel will do the best job of offering you what you want. There's ratings on here for just about every USPA Dropzone . You also might want to compare prices. If you happen to know anyone who already jumps in your area, you might want to ask them what they think about each of your options with respect to things like safety, quality of instruction, facilities, etc. Second, I've found that I feel much safer knowing as much as possible about the potentially dangerous activities that I engage in... Although NOTHING can be a substitute for the information/training you'll recieve from your instructors, you might want to start reading some books on the subject, such as the SIM ( Skydiver's Information Manual ) and/or the "Skydiver's Survival Guide". Third, and some might disagree with my logic on this, but I found it useful to both read through the fatalities that have happened in the past and watch all the malfunction videos that I could find on skydivingmovies.com . It may seem scary and morbid, but I think it's better to learn as much as possible from the mistakes that others have made, so I might be less likely to repeat them. If you think you might get freaked out, then you might want to wait till you've had a few jumps... But, you also have to understand that it IS possible to have a malfunction on your first jump, (I actually know someone who had that happen very recently), so wouldn't it be nice to see video of some before YOU actually see it in person? Same thing with reading about the fatalities, the more you develop an understanding of what is most likely to injure you, the less likely you are going to be scared about the fact that you're not sure what can... Which is what most people are actually scared of... The unknown. Fourth, and most importantly, listen to your instructors AND ask questions. No matter how stupid the question seems. It's their job to make sure you know the things you need to know for you to be safe, and it's your responsibility to make sure you let them know if you don't understand... Especially if you've read something somewhere that contradicts what they are saying. If in doubt do what they recommend. Oh, yeah... And HAVE FUN! Cause that's why you're doing this in the first place, right? Gravity Waits for No One.

I'm not saying that skydiving alone will get you chicks... But from what I've found so far, it doesn't seem to hurt by any means... Well, now that I've figured out that I need to keep my mouth shut about how fucking unbelievably awesome it is. I've definitely heard, "WOW, it sounds like you REALLY like skydiving." from more than a few people... And they weren't saying it as a compliment... They were saying it because they were concerned that they were going to start bleeding from their ears if I didn't shut the fuck up. In the long term, there's NO way that I'd EVER want to be with someone who wouldn't support the things I do that make me feel alive and fulfilled... Unless I became a heroin addict, which in that case I probably wouldn't give a shit either, lol. Don't really talk about it, be humble but let them know you are a skydiver. Then listen to them talk. Act like it (skydiving) is no big deal, cuz really, it aint... Chicks DIG skydivers, especially the humble ones! I honesly get fucking tired of listening to skydivers talk about skydiving - I mean give it a rest people! (Like I need to take my own advice!) Lol... My point was NOT that I talk to girls in particular about skydiving till they bleed from the ears... It's just about everyone who I might encounter after a day at the DZ. I swear, my roommates run the other way when I get back from the DZ. lol. My point was, that I've had to make it a point NOT to talk about it on dates, because I'll end up pretty much dominating the conversation with the topic. It's better if I just say pretty much nothing, even if they ask about it I'm "relatively" quiet about it, because when I get on a roll... Oh man, get away from me, lol. So, although my tactic is not necessarily to be "humble", it probably comes off that way somewhat, because if I didn't she'd probably think I was on drugs or something. Skydiving is "No big deal"? Ummm, OK. Then why do you spend as much on it as you might if you were addicted to crack? I'm sure it's because it's "No big deal"... Oh, and you might want to check how much YOU converse about skydiving, MR. 1300+ posts... HI Pot! I'm Kettle! Gravity Waits for No One.

You jumped it... Right? Gravity Waits for No One.

Motherfuck asswipe shit bastard bitch dick fucker prick dickwad fuckstick asshat cock fuckity fuck fuck fuck. Ooops, I thought this was the Tourette’s thread... My bad. Gravity Waits for No One.

You might get lucky and find one in a junk yard... Might wanna call around. OR Get it covered by your insurance. OR Buy a new one... At least you wouldn't have to pay the 150 they'll probably charge you to install it. Gravity Waits for No One.

We had a guy pass out last weekend. He was totally out when he got to the ground and just slumped over in front of the TI... Thankfully it was fairly windy, so they had minimal/no forward speed at touchdown. Gravity Waits for No One.

I flew my canopy through a bit of industrial haze last weekend. I was able to setup a 360 hook turn onto the top surface... It was the first time I've been able to see exactly what is happening during a high-performance maneuver such as that... As I'm not nearly skilled enough to do that anywhere near the ground yet. Gravity Waits for No One.

I'm not saying that skydiving alone will get you chicks... But from what I've found so far, it doesn't seem to hurt by any means... Well, now that I've figured out that I need to keep my mouth shut about how fucking unbelievably awesome it is. I've definitely heard, "WOW, it sounds like you REALLY like skydiving." from more than a few people... And they weren't saying it as a compliment... They were saying it because they were concerned that they were going to start bleeding from their ears if I didn't shut the fuck up. In the long term, there's NO way that I'd EVER want to be with someone who wouldn't support the things I do that make me feel alive and fulfilled... Unless I became a heroin addict, which in that case I probably wouldn't give a shit either, lol. Gravity Waits for No One.

I've actually had several girls hit on me recently, at least in part, because they thought the fact that I skydive and rock climb is hot... So it might just depend on who you're dating... I doubt most of the young Cal Poly girls will complain... But who knows, there's so many variables. I have a feeling it would be more of a problem if you were in your late twenties to early thirties, when you'd be in relationships with women who could potentially want to pop out babies... Probably wouldn't present a strong feeling of security for them if they didn't understand how relatively safe skydiving can be. However, from what I hear, many skydivers don't stay for 10 years anyway, so you might be best to enjoy your freedom while you still have it... It would be a shame to let opportunities like skydiving pass you by and then want to do them when you can't easily afford to do so later in life. Carpe Diem! Hope I see ya at the DZ soon. If you start AFF this week I can come with ya just about any day/time you'd like. Gravity Waits for No One.

You forgot the artichoke hearts. Gravity Waits for No One.

Source: Bloomberg News I think they should just ban knives everywhere and for everyone... Thems knives ur really sharp. What if you were to drop it on your foot?! That would really smart! I was just thinking the other day about how many people die from Dihydrogenmonoxide... I think we should ban that too... And cars... And skydivers. And kitty cats. They have really sharp claws that can potentially scratch your eyes out. Think about how bad THAT would be! Hell, I'd rather get stabbed by knives all day long before I had a kitty cat scratch my eyeballs out. Gravity Waits for No One.

Yeah, all 4 of them... lol. I was working on an electrical project once where they had two separate breakers feeding the same circuit. Thank fucking god that I ALWAYS recheck the circuit after I turn off the breaker. Whom ever wired it was a complete idiot. I'm surprised they survived the wiring process long enough to complete the project. Gravity Waits for No One.

Holy Shit! That's fucked! Gravity Waits for No One.

It depends on your DZ... My ex-gf and I never did Tandems, but there was one location (Monterey, CA) who would not let us... So, that is THE reason we didn't go there. Gravity Waits for No One.