Jewels

LOL Play fair. . . . TPM Sister #102

Please stop. I'm not responding to one particular post; I'm just tired of it in general. Take it to PMs if you really need to vent but airing everyone's grievances here isn't particularly appropriate. It's time to call a truce. TPM Sister #102

LOL Yeah, trying the Great Tunnel Time Bribe, huh? Okay, this is where the test kicks in: Am I or am I not yet a Tunnel *&(#$#! who will do anything for tunnel time? Sorry, cheesy, I'm not there yet. TPM Sister #102

I am SO not going to ask the obvious question here!

USPA shows 4 DZ's. Did the other 3 close? http://uspa.org/dz/states/CO.htm As a practical matter, Sartre's right. There's really only one viable dz to jump from around here. Calhan DID close. Colorado Skysports, in Boulder, is not fun-jumper friendly. The online information makes it sound otherwise, but it's my understanding that it's pretty much exclusively for tandems. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know anyone who regularly fun jumps out of Boulder. Fun jumps happen once in a while but I don't think that's where their real focus is. Skydive the Rockies is in Canon City and not a practical location for people from the Denver Metro area if they just want to drive down and jump for the day, as it's over two hours away. I realize people do that when they have no other choices, but it's hard to build up regular Denver traffic when the dz is that far away. If MileHi disappeared, maybe one of the other existing locations would step in and take its place but FOR NOW, most people I know don't consider any of the other Colorado dzs to be serious options for regular jumping. TPM Sister #102

Squeak's gonna be here in a couple of weeks. We just need to get Turtle out here, too--but apparently not at the same time!

Wait--he's not hideous, unless the webcam feed is of someone else. . . . TPM Sister #102

I like watching tutlre and squeak, they're so cute when they disagree. And it's funny because I seriously doubt that either of them are disagreeable in real life. Well . . . wait. . . . TPM Sister #102

There are a lot of non-dz.commers you need to meet, too. I'm sure you'll get it figured out.

Didn't this happen once before?! I'm so sorry. TPM Sister #102

Oooo--look! Something shiny! (Our thread just burst into flames. ) Edited to add: It probably means we're all going to hell for this one. KIDDING, just KIDDING! TPM Sister #102

LOL Just make 'em think you've been around longer than they have and invite them on your jump. I know you'll be fine. You're not exactly anti-social. TPM Sister #102

LOL--Really? I like being under canopy. I'm just not good at it yet and I have a lot to learn, although I stood up my very first landing. Yeah, never again, but whatever. As soon as I'm ready, I think a good canopy course is in order. TPM Sister #102

Everyone has been great to ME, but I had the advantage of getting to know a lot of people through the tunnel first. I came in with a lot of friends in the hangar to begin with. I've heard that it can be hard to break in and find people to jump with but I ALWAYS have someone to jump with--my instructor! Anyway, we'll introduce you around to make the meet-n-greet period short for you. TPM Sister #102

LOL--C'mon, not yet. I'm still working on HD transitions. Besides, they kind of frown on competitors who can handle freefall but who can't land their canopy without being on radio. TPM Sister #102

Yep, we have an Otter, a King Air and an . . . um . . . another airplane (I want to say a Cessna--who knows this?) . . . and the recent rumblings of expansion to fulfill that promise about no more trailer rides. TPM Sister #102

You're on! Bring your rig and your blades.

I understand what you're saying. The only distinction I'm drawing is whether it matters that it's set up as a fund where part of the money comes from the jumper and part from the dz, as opposed to the dz collecting all of the revenue and then later designating a certain amount of the profits as a contribution from the business itself. It starts to sound more like the jumpers are making individual contributions when the dz is describing its contribution as a "matching" contribution. All of that aside, the important thing is, at the end of the day, I am glad to see those moneys being put to good use. TPM Sister #102

Can I watch? Only if you're skating too and you're not laughing too hard at me! And I say we put Cocheese in the skating outfit and let HIM do the graceful swan moves. TPM Sister #102

Never could master a good hockey stop, though. TPM Sister #102

Since there is no qualifier on that question to provide that I must ice skate WELL, the answer is yes, I can ice skate.

That's precisely my question, though. If the funds are specifically ear-marked for this fund, who is really making the donation? The donation is to the organization set up by MileMi--is it the jumper who pays the additional dollar with the knowledge that it goes to charity, or is the dz that collects the dollar as income and then designates it for the fund? Is there more than just a difference in semantics? I don't know. That's what I mean when I say that I don't know how charitable contributions work. Edited to add: I suspect you're right, and it's what we've been talking about in terms of all the money going to MileHi and it being THEIR contribution. I just wonder if it changes anything because they've designated the amount and the organization that will receive it ahead of time. Too much accounting and tax law for me . . . . All I know is, the rule is that the money leaves my pocket and goes elsewhere! Edited AGAIN to add: Did I kill the thread? I mean, if you make it boring enough, it's not worth arguing about, right? TPM Sister #102

Safe travels! See you soon! TPM Sister #102

I'd rather have a $1 charitable contribution on the price of my jump than even a portion of the nickle and dime charges for who-knows-what on my cell phone bill every month. The one thing that I *do* think MileHi should consider is whether they have any obligation to provide receipts to jumpers after so many jumps to indicate the amount of their donation. I know nothing about how it's supposed to work where charitable contributions are concerned, but this could be more significant over the course of a year if you have some people making hundreds of jumps during that time. Again--not my area of expertise, just a question. TPM Sister #102

It's a dollar. I wasn't around to know that there was any sort of issue on this point, but given the overall cost of what you pay to play--even if you have your own gear and are not on student status--a few dollars over the course of a day, a week, a month is not a big deal. I suspect that if the dz decided *not* to make that donation, the cost of a jump wouldn't go down any. It's nice that they are making a contribution. I agree generally with the concept that I don't want others forcing me to contribute to their pet cause, but on the other hand, Squeak is right. Frank can charge what he wants to charge for the service he provides. What he does with the income he receives is up to his discretion. I have to say that I prefer to think that money is going back to the community than it is to his pocket. (No offense, Frank!) I would be a lot more upset by it if it was a larger charge, but $1 is not a lot in the big picture. Companies make charitable contributions all the time. We just don't necessarily see those funds ear-marked at the time of purchase. TPM Sister #102