indyz

Cue Bob The Angry Flower...

I have a Mac Plus (1Mb RAM!) new in box, never even powered on, sitting on a shelf right here. I want to fire it up so bad, but the owner would kill me.

I'm pretty sure it was withdrawn from the market before too many of them were sold. I demoed one at WFFC '04. It is an HP canopy, in the same class as the Stiletto, if not higher. It's been over a year since then, so my memories are a bit hazy. I think I did 3 jumps on a 150. I never got a chance to take it to terminal because of the weather, but the sub-terminal openings I had were very, very snivelly and more-or-less on heading. Again, because of the weather I didn't have much time under canopy, but I recall that it turned hard, as ellipticals are wont to do. It was twitchy, quite a bit twitchier than a Stiletto 135. Landings were no problem. nothing especially good or bad (straight in approaches, no riser input). My overall iumpression was that it was a solid canopy, but nothing to get too excited about.

I'll be at work until about 7. I'll set you up with FTP access when I get home and PM you the details.

The Discovery channel version is crap. If you like it, you'll looooove the BBC version.

I tried to rip that segment for skydivingmovies.com last night, but my computer is acting up at the moment. I do have the whole episode in electronic format, if anybody else wants a go at it (stupid BBC America doesn't play any of the good BBC programming, so I'm forced to steal it).

When I worked for Six Flags, I noticed that the harnesses were sent to Sunrise Rigging for maintenance. Boosted my confidence a little.

USairnet is just a prettier representation of the NOAA forecasts that Tom linked to. The actually do have winds aloft forecasts, it's just not integrated with the main forecast (see here).

For $400, you are going to be forced to buy used. With lens you are probably looking at a used original Canon Digital Rebel, Nikon D70, or (longshot) a well-used Canon 10D. Without a lens, you might be able to find a used Canon Digital Rebel XT or a used Nikon D50. You can get a useable lens, new, for a digital SLR for about $100 (nothing spectacular, but it works).

The basic tips for getting started on eBay: 1. Start with lower value items, so buyers will be more willing to take a chance on somebody with low feedback. 2. Have only a few auctions ending on any given day until you are comfortable with the process. 3. Keep your listings simple. Bullets points with major features. Avoid paragraphs. People don't read them. 4. Be brutally honest with your listings, disclose any and all flaws. 5. Take great pictures. Well composed, well lit photos can make or break an auction. Ask yourself what you would want to see if you were considering bidding on something similar. 6. Respond to questions promptly. I usually answer questions before I go to work in the morning and again before I go to bed in the evening. 7. Ship quickly. I ship within 2 business days maximum. Use new shipping materials and do a really good job packing. Be fair about your shipping rates. People aren't stupid, they will notice if you are overcharging, and they will bid less or not at all. 8. Bend over backwards on customer service issues. Don't be afraid to give a refund. As somebody with no feedback, you have to go above and beyond. Getting a negative feedback at this point can screw you down the road.

Most experienced skydivers in the US are members. Most "one timers", including tandem students, are not.

On top of that, I got a coach rating, hit 500 jumps, and did my first demo. Good year.

I don't have any numbers, but more than enough to justify the salary of the guy checking the bags. Plus, just having a guy at the door looking through bags, even if it is just a cursory glance, probably has a deterrent effect.

Most people have no idea how big of a problem theft is at Ciruit City / Best Buy type stores. Thousands of dollars a day during busy times of year. And most of it is small objects, like DVDs, batteries, or Palm Pilots, slipped into a bag. When I worked at Best Buy the door guys would catch dozens of "mistakes" a day.

Try Alexa. You can also filter by language and category.

You need to find people with compatible goals. Not necessarily the same goals, but compatible. You need to plan out what you want to do (training schedule, meet schedule , number of jumps), figure out the expenses, and get everybody to commit before the first practice jump. Nothing sucks more than having the team come apart after one meet because somebody didn't realize how much time or money it would take. That's about it. Compatible goals, enough time/money, take it seriously, and have fun.

Yesterday in Wisconsin we had scattered clouds at 4,000 feet and a solid layer somewhere up above 13,500. From the ground, it looked like we were weathered out. It just goes to show that in some situations the only way to know for sure is to go up and look.

In theory, you are obligated to pay. In practice, it is almost impossible to collect payment if the buyer backs out. eBay can shut down the users account, but even that requires a fair amount of work on the part of the seller. I suppose you could sue to collect the money, but in the vast majority of situations it just isn't practical. So most non-paying bidders go completely unpunished. A few loose their eBay accounts, but you only need a credit card to create a new one. Where I work, we don't even leave negative feedback, because it only guarantees that we will be hit with retaliatory negative feedback.

2000 feet. No big deal with my Triathlon 160, but I also did it for my first jump on a Stiletto. Stuuuupid. Don't try that at home, kids.

It's easy: Give your rigger $10 to sew the split closed.

I wanna see the Cream reunion soooo bad, but to pay for it I'd have to first have a baby, then sell it on the black market.

I need to be able to stretch out when I sleep. If I can't, I wake up constantly. Otherwise, I can sleep soundly anywhere, any time. Planes, cars (even when I'm driving ), boats, busses, trains. In school I would fall asleep sitting up at my desk. Right as I'd nod off my neck would relax, my head would start to fall, and I'd wake with a start. Over an over, dozens of times during a single class.

Royal Lens makes a sweet low-profile .5 with 25mm threads (here), for $160. If that is to rich for your blood, you can try a Kenko SGW05 (here) with a 37-25 conversion ring (here), for a total of about $35.

Who the hell knows, but changing batteries have fixed a lot of bizarre problems in the past.

Don't care for solos. There isn't anything I'm working on right now that can't be better practiced with another person. I even sold my wingsuit because at the time nobody else at my DZ had one, and the only thing more boring than a 60 second solo is a 135 second solo.