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HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY It's your birthday! There are a lot of January babies.... Me, Stevie, my mom, my brother-in-law and many more I have forgotten in my old age. Have a great day! Go jump!!! Blue skies, Jim

Or a "No" answer! Blue skies, Jim

:11:1 SCR with brother-in-law and SCS with sister-in-law. Speed belly jump with Kirk & Big Tim. 154 in a belly 3-way. The big guys can scream! Blue skies, Jim

I was told yesterday that they were full during the convention. Blue skies, Jim

You will need a car to get to the nearest hotels. There are 4 or 5 on Suniland Gin road on the interestate that are around 3-6 miles from the dz. There is a Best Western, a Hotel 6. Blue skies, Jim

Trent and Steveie and Jed have one at Spaceland. They also said it moves around a lot, but think it may be controlled by the type of shot used and the length of the tail. Still experimenting at this time. They had one of the pilots take it to altitude empty and it did pop open on the descent as advertised. Getting the shot in the tiny hole is a pain in the butt though! Don't know why the hole isn't bigger with a rubber snap plug. Blue skies, Jim

Some of us had the opportunity to see the jumps from the King Air. It was amazing to see the 300-way come into view and then scream past off the left wing tip. And the view from the ground at break_off was equally amazing. There was so much movement, color and noise it was hard to grasp it all. The sound of canopies deploying seemed to go on forever and the sky was filled with color and movement from horizon to horizon. Simply amazing. Blue skies, Jim

Be sure to visit Trent in the Spaceland gear store since he's a dot.commer too. The new lounge just opened this weekend. There's a juke box and a pool table so it's a good gathering place next to the deli where you can get a beer. We all look forward to your visit. Bring friends too! Blue skies, Jim

Now you're quoting the party line. I thought you were above that. Remember Bill, the estimated US losses for an invasion of Japan were as high as 1 million US servicemen. Regardless of the accuracy of the estimate, it was the information that was available at the time and on which the decision was based to use the bomb. I also suspect that had the bomb been ready in 1944, it probably would have been used against Germany. I know the Russians wouldn't have hesitated to insist we use it after suffering the losses they did to the Germans. Blue skies, Jim

Exactly. Thanks for stating it so clearlt! Blue skies, Jim

Not in Texas. The school districts are required to operate under the Robinhood Plan. This law says that rich districts who collect more money, must share funds with the poorer districts. The legislative goal was to even out the tax revenues between districts based on their student populations and local tax rates. Unfortunately it has not worked exactly as planned, but many more dollars are going to the poorer districts. No I think you are missing the point! My family and I do not own most of the resources and power either locally or nationally. I had to work my way through school after military service with the help of the GI bill. All minority vets had the same access to this assistance, but many chose not to go to college after serving. This was a voluntary decision probably based on their personal economic situation at the time, but nevertheless a voluntary decision. They wanted to earn bucks then instead of investing in their future. I was willing to survive on hot dogs and rice to pay tuition. Now you're saying that their children should have an advantage over mine because they did not have equal access? Education was more important to me than it was to them, but they had equal opportunity and access. No one in my family has ever treated anyone as subhuman. We never owned slaves or participated in the killing of American Indians. My father's family fled Syria in the late 1800's to fled from religious persecution; My mother's family fled Scotland after being kicked out of the church there. They came to America with nothing and in one lifetime were comfortably middle class citizens. And yes they suffered from racism too! Even in South Texas as a 4th generation American, my brother was kicked off a high school girlfriends front porch by her dad who said "My daughter does not associate with Arabs!" We had blue eyes and blond hair and were Christian, but that didn't make any difference to those with small minds. I believe in equal access and equal rights for all. If two kids, one black and one white, make the same SAT score and enrollment at a school is limited then the receipt date and time of the application should be the only discriminating factor. If the SAT is biased as you have stated, we need to fix that problem instead of penalizing the kids who had nothing to do with creating the exam. You have accused and lumped all Caucasians into one pot and attached a label. That my friend is racism! Blue skies, Jim

Regular radio spots especially before holidays, business cards, staff visits to clubs and bars with videos and discount cards. People who call or get on the mailing list the first time get a video by mail that they can return for a discount. Press releases to local media re: special events, record attempts. Blue skies, Jim

woohoo! 13 out of 14 right. Not bad for an old, nearly blind skydiver!!! Blue skies, Jim

When I worked for Hughes Tool Company in the 70's we were being audited by the IRS. The agent wanted to review the corporate aircraft and logs to make sure all flights were for legit corporate business. I toook him out to the airport and he was looking at the aircraft and said "What's that back in the corner?" I had never noticed that back in the dark behind boxes and stuff was an olive drab PBY. The pilots told us the story of how Howard Hughes had crashed the PBY in Lake Jackson in the 30's or 40's and instructed the mechanics to put the plane back together because it was his favorite and he would be back later to fly it again. They rebuilt the plane, got it recertified to fly and waited. The only time it flew after that was to keep it certified and Mr Hughes never returned. I understand the plane was later donated to the same museum where the Spruce Goose is located. The PBY was an interesting plane. It had a canvas skin and fairly large radial engines. Blue skies, Jim

Sitflying! I cannot figure it out. You would think after 4 or 5 attempts I would have it nailed. Oh well guess I better stick to RW. Blue skies, Jim

At those 7 day rates, it is cheaper to get 2 rooms again at the Best Western and rent a car like we did last year! Blue skies, Jim

Is that fox? He looks familiar. Blue skies, Jim

Savings at 3% (a negative return if you include stocks) or 2 Otters! Not much choice there... Blue skies, Jim

Hey thanks for reminding me. I need to get back to Aggieland too...to collect those two jumps!!! Blue skies, Jim

Skydive USA - Wharton, TX The Ranch - NY Skydive Spaceland - Rosharon, TX Skydive Arizona - Eloy, AZ Skydive Houston - Waller, TX WFFC - Rantoul, IL Skydive Austin - Lexington, TX Deland - FL Sienna Plantation - Demo TX Ballunar Festival - Demo Johnson Space Center, TX and Skyventure Orlando THE TUNNEL! Blue skies, Jim

It's a shame the powers that be at SDC and WFFC can't grow up and schedule these two events on different dates. Some of us would like to go to both and stay for the entire event. With attendance down the last couple of years you would think money would win out over ego! Blue skies, Jim

Last year there were two neighbors fueding over their lawns and common driveway. You know---"Your leaves are in my yard." That kind of stuff. It escalated to tossing dog shit into each other's yards. One of the guys got a video camera and set it up for low light at night with a 24 hour tape loop. Several days after setting up the camera, the video showed one of the neighbors bashing the other on the head with a shovel. Guess which one is in jail? Blue skies, Jim

Brand new Sony desktop from my wife and new 17 inch flat monitor from Trent---What a great Christmas! Blue skies, Jim

Some of the ripcord episodes are available from a guy in New Mexico. Big Mike had one Sunday at Spaceland and we watched it on the big screen. I'll get the address and PM you. Blue skies, Jim