chigbee

You mention releasing toggles at 1,000, do you mean unstowing? . No I mean releasing them from my hands when I grabbed my risers. They were unstowed much higher. As far as my HD @ 1800' what I mean by that is that is my decision altitude of when I quit trying to fix a problem with my main.

Proud of you, Chigbee! And congrats for getting right back up immediately, but you shoulda stayed long enough to pack the rig you borrowed from me. I know Spot, I feel bad about it too. I owe you big time. I will show up next time with offerings.

So do you believe that I should not have cut away? The instructors I talked to thought I made the correct choice. I know that if I was much lower a cutaway would probably do more harm than good but I figured @ 1000' I was better off chopping. I am not trying to be argumentative, just trying to get as much info as possible. In the air no one is going to save us, it is our life our choice. I want as much knowledge as possible when I make that choice.

I do have a hard deck of 1800'. And I will be the first to admit I screwed up if I did. But honestly I did not do a radical turn at all, I brought my toggle no lower than a few inches below my chest and I wasn't trying to do anything exciting, just turn around. When you say stick to my hard deck are you saying I shouldn't have chopped or that I should have been flying more conservatively at that altitude? my jump #s are correct this happened on my 54th jump. Unfortunately no one witnessed this it happened very quickly and there was another cutaway on the same jump.

So I had my first cutaway this weekend and I can’t figure out what may have caused it. Here is the rundown, second jump of the day, uneventful freefall, clear and pull @ 3500’, in the saddle with a fully functioning canopy by 2800’. I fly the canopy with no problems down to 1400’ at which time I initiate a turn which causes my canopy to go into a violent turn resulting in line twists. In the span of probably less than a second my lines have made 1.5 complete revolutions, I release my toggles which does stop the spinning but at this point I check my altimeter and realize that I am just about at 1000’ and make the decision to chop. I was sitting in a big beautiful canopy @ 600’. I think I made the right decision to chop, I absolutely did not want to land a canopy with the line twists, and though I may have been able to kick out of them who knows. My toggle turn was not a hard turn, I did not bury my toggle nor was it excessively fast. The only conclusion we could think of was that I was passing through 2 layers of air and somehow it just caught something weird. It was a sunny day about 75 degrees with light winds, not very turbulent at all. I still owe beer because i am in Utah and it was the lords day so no alcohol sales, but I am good for it

If you take the education expenses as a personal deduction they count as a miscellaenous deduction. Miscellaneous deductions only come off your income when you itemize, and then only to the extent that they exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income. reply] So If I am understanding that correctly I can take a $1200.00 deduction if my agi was $60,000.00 as an education expense? or is there something else I need to prove on it?

I had a friend tell me today that if I form an LLC I can use it to write off all skydiving expenses as long as I say it is to obtain the training I need to get a job. So are there any accountants out here who know if I can say I am jumping to become an AFFI or TI, can I write off my jumps and gear? Both of which are required to become an instructor. It would be nice to take an extra $4000 deduction this year.

I will be in Anaheim next week for a work conference and am hoping to go to Elsinore to take a few jumps either Wednesday 01/10/06 or Thursday 01/11/06. I am staying at Disney's PAradise Pier hotel and unfortunately have no transportation. I will be out of meetings both days by 1:00. I will pay for gas and buy beer for a ride. Help I am dying here in 20 degree weather and 12 " of new snow I need to jump!!! PM if you are willing. Thanks, Chris

If you were at our year end party on Saturday you would know they get very, very drunk.

During the midst of a crazy NFL year and at the end of another nasty election cycle, I am really missing the writing of Hunter S. Thompson. No one can quite grab the crazy essence of living in this country quite like the Good Dr. Mahalo

I would say that it is a combination of adrenaline and an elevated heart rate. When I am skiing in extreme cold I freeze on the ride up and for the first 30 seconds or so of the run. After that I am always comfortable no matter what the temp is.

But now who is going to defend the country against all of the peole who want to marry their dogs?

Reading all of these posts on politics is starting to give me a headache, so let's talk about something we can all agree on, like religion. As required by Utah law I spent a few years being active in the Mormm church but have since left. I am pretty sure i believe in God but what form he takes and what interest he has in us I don't know. I wonder if i believ in God to make me feel better about the thought of losing family and friends. So what religion are you and why do you believe what you do? p.s. I am sure I left out numerous religions and I apologize

Fair enough, but not similar to the type of corruption trouble as Rep. Ney. Agreed. Many Republicans do not approve of gays and gay marriage. Many Dem leaders in congress also have voted against gay marriage, enacted the Defense of Marriage Act, the don't ask, don't tell policy, etc. True, I think this is because they are afraid of what will happen come election time. They are cowards. I think it is hypocritical to support gay marriage, but not allow polygamy, or even marriage between relatives. I think the same arguments apply - what goes on in private...doesn't affect my marriage...why shouldn't 2 or 3 people in a loving relationship be allowed...However, I've been called lots of nasty names when I make the comparison. I feel that if it is OK to deny a polygamist their marriage rights, then I should be able to oppose gay marriage without being labeled a 'phobe. I wholeheartedly agree. I have absolutely no problem with polygamy (as long as no one is underage). I actually have an uncle who has 2 wives and 4 kids with both women. Just because it seems insane to me (and especially my wife), doesnt mean it should be illegal. What I do have a problem with is this gov't making things illegal because God says it is bad. This is the same line of reasoning that the Taliban used when it stoned women for adultery or fornication. This should probably be made into a thread of its own though.

Has anyone heard if this is still happening? And if so when it will completed?

I know, I know. I am eating my words today. Peyton played excellent last night, and Brady had four picks. Oh well probably won't be the last time. He will probably go 16-0 and be Super Bowl MVP. Then I really will look silly.

Exactly what moral standards that have been violated by Repubs would the Dems exclude themselves from following. Being gay. Because most Dems don't view it as being morally wrong, the GOP on the hand view it as mortal sin. But it seems like every other week a new rupub is being outed. Bill Mahr said it best when he said that the next GOP convention needs to be held in a giant closet.

I want some of what you are smokin....... If you really think that the sudden drop in price these past few months has nothing to do with the current administration of oil barons, then I have some great swampland to sell ya. You can keep your swamp but I am confident that market forces had more to do with the price changes than a conspriacy. Hell, the prices have whent back up 20 cents here in the week and a half. Dam poor conspriacy I would think. You? Honestly I hope you are right. However, the oil industry has a lot to lose if the dems take control of the congress, and I don't think it is at all beyond them to manipulate gas prices. I guess we will see in a few weeks.

I want some of what you are smokin....... If you really think that the sudden drop in price these past few months has nothing to do with the current administration of oil barons, then I have some great swampland to sell ya.

Just wanted to remind everyone to fill up your gas while it is cheap. Because come Wednesday morning the price is gonna start climbing. Of course I am sure it will be totally unrelated to the election.

How will we remember Dubya? As the president who did more to undermine the constitution and consolidate power within the executive branch than any president since Lincoln. The difference is that Lincoln's war was justified.

The morning games just finished and Miami just beat Chicago, the Redskins won against Dallas in insane fashion and the Saints won again. This is the craziest year ever, and it is becoming very hard to gamble on, unless you take all the dogs (which I haven't been doing). The dogs are covering like 65% of the time this year, and winning a bunch of games outright. Between skydiving, Sunday Ticket, and gambling losses my wife is really starting to get pissed.

It is just one of many made up words that we use for our sports. But I think the word has tremendous upside potential, and some serious length

You're right, the Colts are looking very good this year much like the last 3 years. I don't think they can win in the playoffs, becasue they can't stop the run. It will take a huge performance by Manning for them to win it, and so far he has shown that he is not up to it. Of course he still has a lot of years left and can shed his his choke artist reputation.

He performs in a clutch, or tight, situation. It is a compliment. You're confusing it with "chokes", as in "He chokes when the pressure is on." I don't know what Webster's says as the defintion, but now it means someone who can perform when it matters. For example, Phil Mickelson is one of the best golfers in the world, but he is not clutch. (especially before he picked up a few majors). Tiger Woods on the other hand - Clutch. Peyton Manning is an excellent quarterback but he is most assuredly not clutch.