AndyMan

A few more, _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It was an honor and a pleasure to be a part of your celebration. Who knew I cleaned up so well?!?!?!? Here's a few of my favorite pictures. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Where do you jump? The "E" designation means "European", which means it'll record in PAL format. It won't play on most US TV's or VCR's. I only mention this because according to your profile, you're licensed by the USPA. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You simply can not go wrong with either the Alti-III or Neptune. I'm not sure why you don't like either. I've jumped the Alti-III for years and it's stood up very well, and always done its job. I now jump a Neptune chest-mounted, and have yet to have any issues. I know early releases of the Neptune had some minor glitches, but those were fixed with firmware upgrades. Pro-tracks are really only useful as an audible altimeter. It doesn't have any freefall visuals. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Our favorite wedding pic: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=15473; _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You are of course absolutely right. That said, sometimes it's the simplest things that get the greatest credit. I remember a few years ago the National Art Gallery of Canada spent 3 million or so aquiring a painting. Given the price, you'd think the painting was done by a famous impresionist, or was amazingly complex. You'd be wrong. The painting was 50 feet high, and consisted of a single red stripe down the center of a white canvas. It was minimalist almost to the absurd, and it became a bit of a controversy when the public found out how much they paid for it. The point here is simple: something does not have to be technically dificult or complicated to be "good". Sometimes it's the simplest of things that have stunning beauty. However, this short is not stunningly beautiful. While watching it I was constantly distracted by how he failed to separate himself between actor and videographer. Many of the shots ended with him clearly walking towards the camera and shutting it off, right before the transition. For me, that simple lack of foresight completely ruined it. I'm curious as to what ruined it for those with a more critical eye than mine. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Remember your order of priorities. (1) Pull. (2) Pull at the correct altitude. (3) Pull while stable. http://www.uspa.org/publications/SIM/2005SIM/Section4CatC.htm _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

We haven't had a box spring for years. With the improved mattresses out there, box springs really are redundant. They simply don't serve any purpose anymore. A lot of the "box springs" out there don't even have springs anymore, they're really just boxes to give those who demand one something to take home. Usually they're included for free or low cost. The biggest problem in going without a box spring is that most of the beds sold - especially by the large department stores - require them for the mattress to be at a proper height. When I went bed shopping last, I shopped at Room And Board, a Michigan avenue store that can be pricey - bud I found their beds all very reasonably priced. They also offered a choice of mattresses - all without box springs - for also very reasonable prices. http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/. They offer a range of mattresses from an innexpensive store brand up to luxurious memory foam models. I picked the most inexpensive store brand, and have been very happy with it for 5 years. Recently craichead and I added a memory foam topper we picked up at Costco. The best part is that the beds are designed to work without box springs, so that the mattress is at a comfortable height and we have lots of storage space available underneath. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That's a different plane. The fuselage is painted in the colors of Canadian military Search & Rescue. http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/equip/cc-138/intro_e.asp. It looks like that particular photo is suposed to highlight the new control surfaces painted green in the foreground. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

What is? edit: the objective isn't to get rid of the color - the color has come out with the launderings. Our concern is a white waxy substance that's remained after repeated attempts to launder. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I see a lot of really ugly slider stowing techniques out there. I wonder if many of them would release if they have to cuttaway after they've stowed it. Of those that would release, it certainly would put them in unstable position as it tears out of the stow. Brian Germain has come up with an ingenious way of stowing your slider at the base of risers. That way when you cuttaway the slider stow goes with your main. No hang-up issues. He calls the system "Slocks". Instructions for making a set are provided here: http://www.bigairsportz.com/article.php I use them, and they work well. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It sounds like a simple issue, but it's not. My wife and I are trying to get a grass strain out of cordura. The grass stain happened on a very hot day with a very fast landing. The grass appears to have melted onto the cordura. My first impression was tha the friction of the landing actually melted the cordura itself, but closer inspection showed the a buildup of grass is sitting ontop of the cordura - not really ground in, more like its melted on top. First we washed in cold water and a generic laundry detergent, to no effect. Second we tried scrubbing with "Mr Clean Magic Eraser", which was quickly turned to sawdust by the cordura. Third we soaked the stain in "Simple Green", and laundered in Tide in hot water. Still no effect. A waxy substance is built up on the cordura in the stained region, we can not figure out how to remove it. Thoughts? Is the only remaining option to replace the cordura? Thankfully we're looking at a jumpsuit, not a container. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The search button is a valuable tool. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=638723;search_string=panasonic;#638723 Panasonic video cameras suck. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

A clarification. No matter how good a Microdrive is, they should never be used above 10,000 feet MSL. Every Hard disk (which a microdrive is) has an operational ceiling of 10,000 MSL. Period. Using a Microdrive above 10,000 MSL risks the likely loss of any data previously written to the microdrive. Flash-based memory cards are the only option for use above 10,000 MSL. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That was my thought, too. Now that you own your own home finding someone to take over the car loan should be easy. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

True. With USB2.0, the throroughput of the card itself SHOULD be the bottleneck, not the reader or the connection. That said, you will still see small differences in transfer speed among different card readers. Firewire card readers may or may not be faster... it really depends more on the manufacturer of the reader itself than how it gets plugged in. Me? My PC has 8 USB 2.0 ports and only 2 firewire ports. I keep the firewire for video and external disks that can actually take advantage of the higher speed. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

All this because a guy can't read. Amazing. You know a lot of native-born Americans can't read too, right? I'm lucky I blend in better than many native-born Americans do. Nobody ever questions my legality. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You didn't. The poster I was replying to, and the post that started this thread did. Hence my post. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think you misunderstand. Kudos to the employees for admitting their weaknesses. Kudos to PD for thinking out of the box and providing relevant benefits. Shame on anyone who automatically assumes that someone who can't read is an illegal alien. I too would not dream of living in a foreign country without trying to learn the language. Conincidentally, that's exactly what started this thread - people trying to learn the local language. I object (strongly) to the notion that imigrants have the requirement to learn not only to speak, but to read and write the language BEFORE they immigrate. That's just offensive, and I'm lucky that I don't have that standard applied to me. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

After a weeklong vacation featuring too much food, booze, and dehydration.... I was up to 232 when I got back. Last friday I was back down to 226, which I *could* claim was a 6 pound loss in one week... Instead I'll claim it's a 2 lb gain since before the vacation. I think I'm back on track for another good loss this week. We'll see... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

This thread has driven home to me how lucky I am. I'm lucky because even though I live in America, I come from a country where English is the native language. I'm lucky because I speak English natively, I get to avoid 95% of the horseshit like this that gets heaped on most imigrants. Yay me. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I have a personal aversion to precision reserves due to well known customer service issues. As an alternative to PD, I have heard the Aerodyne Smart reserves are very nice, and very affordable, too. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Yes, you need a repack. Since your gear is TSO'd, you call under the FAA repack schedule of 120 days. That meant you became out of date 4 days ago, on July 19th. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Ding! TSO'd gear must be packed within the FAA specified repack date to be used in the US. The foriegn gear requirements only apply if both of these are true: 1) the jumper is foriegn. 2) the gear is foreign. Additionally, the WFFC requires that your gear be in-date for the entire duration of the convention. If your gear expires on the last day, you'll be required to have it repacked on the first day. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It's funny you mentioned the festivals. Craichead and I live in a condo literally accross the street from St. Pats Church. Every year they host their Worlds Largest Block Party. We literally live 50 feet away. Despite living in the area for close to 5 years... I've never gone. Why waste a good day of skydiving on some lame over-produced parking lot drunk-fest with crappy bands? Echo similar thoughts for Taste Of Chicago, too. I will admit to having gone there once, though - it was lunchtime and it was a "work outting". Chicago has a lot of great things going for it, fantastic restaurants, night clubs, sports... You name it. Lots of things to do withouth worrying about crime. The streets are clean and safe. However, I could REALLY do without all of the mega-"festivals". Real estate is affordable because it hasn't seen the boom of the east and west coast, but it's still appreciating at a high enough rate so that property owners will make money. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.