SivaGanesha

Good to hear from skymama that the big ball is getting smaller :) "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

It depends what you consider to be "included" in the Boogie fee. At Skydance the boogie fee was $35 and additional aircraft (beyond the usual DZ PAC/Cessna) included a second PAC, an Otter, a Skyvan, and balloons. But jump tickets were, I believe, slightly higher than usual and package deals were suspended. The fee also included a number of non-jumping goodies such as: a keychain, a pull up cord, earplugs, a T-shirt, beer, and dinner on Saturday night. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

From the SIM: "USPA C and D-license holders who have not made a freefall skydive within the preceding six months should make at least one jump under the supervision of a USPA instructional rating holder until demonstrating the ability to safely exercise the privileges of that license." Although he has in fact jumped in the last six months presumably his one tandem for his 85th birthday would not qualify him as "demonstrating the ability to safely exercise the privileges of that (D) license." "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Everyone has the right to make their own decisions in life, but I personally wouldn't date a woman who had coffee with her ex, much less had sex with him. (With adjustments made for circumstances where some contact is necessary because they still work together/have a child together/jump at the same DZ together/etc.) You can't move on to the future until you have the courage to close the book on the past. I'm all in favor of casual sex, but sex with an ex is never casual--it comes with a lot of baggage that is better discarded (if the baggage were healthy they wouldn't be your ex). "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I understand perfectly

Wow, I would never have guessed that seven inches would be enough to blow a woman's mind away . "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I did the static line progression in the 1980's...but didn't continue with the sport...so I basically started over with AFF when I returned to the sport. So I've done both programs in my life, and I had to repeat jumps doing static line, and I had to repeat jumps in AFF. I think it is pretty common to have to repeat some levels. I spoke to someone this weekend who took 26 jumps to complete AFF but went on to do thousands of jumps. I sometimes get the impression that the people who have a bit more trouble in the early going may actually value skydiving more because they had to work harder to earn it. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Some skydivers might also describe it as an art form--the most beautiful jumps (this being completely subjective of course) are the best. That's a little different from basketball where a basket still scores 2 (or 3) points whether it's a thing of beauty or not. Skydiving is definitely an addiction whatever else it might be . "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Here is the full gallery. Most of the other photos show skydivers being a tad more active

I am a skydiver. Freefall is what touches my soul. Of course I love the canopy ride too--but the ride under canopy isn't why I'm doing this. Freefall is what it is about for me. When I have dreams about skydiving, it is always about freefall--never the canopy ride. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Yes--although I read one interview with an illegal who said that ironically a US recession tends to bring illegal workers to the US. This is because a recession usually hits Mexico, etc, harder than it does the US. Illegals do a lot of routine maintenance work that has to get done even in difficult times--whereas good jobs in Mexico are very dependent on expanding corporate prospects for US firms doing business in Mexico--which doesn't happen in rough times. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Here's a link: Strong Enterprises--Tandem System My first jump was in May, 1983 and the photo of the dad jumping with his 2 y.o. was definitely on the wall by then--so it must have been one of the experimental jumps referred to at the above link. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

When I jumped at SWOOP in Canada back in the 1980's there was a photo on the wall of a father taking his two year old daughter on what would now be called a tandem skydive. (The photo was at SWOOP; the jump itself took place elsewhere but I do not recall where). This was before tandem was a common method of jumping and in fact I wonder if such jumps with very young kids were the way that tandem jumping originally got started. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

It depends what you mean by "independent". If by "independent" one means a woman who is capable of fending for herself in her career, financially, and in traditionally male-dominated aspects of life--then that is really great to see. I've sometimes noticed, however, that the "independent" type of woman sometimes likes to surround herself with a pack of guys, with whom she may or may not be sleeping, and who she plays off against each other in subtle ways. Eventually (sometimes after several years) she picks one and pushes the others out of her life rather harshly. This sort of behavior can be a bit of a turnoff. I'm interested in the kind of woman who is ready for a committed relationship right now and whose idea of independence won't hold her back from a serious relationship. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I'm not clear with whether the issue here is--the thing that libertarians might have an issue with--is the inherited wealth of the royals or the inherited power of the royals. In general I don't think libertarians have a problem with people making their own free choices as to who will inherit their money--even if the wealth was originally acquired a few generations ago via not-so-libertarian mechanisms. However I think most libertarians would claim that within a generation or two the dominant force determining wealth distribution would be libertarian market forces and not "old money" staying with "old families". Basically I don't think libertarians would especially like "old money" staying with "old families" indefinitely but they would prefer to let free market forces even things out over time rather than introducing new government intervention to rectify past government intervention. When it comes to the power exercised by royals, it is actually rather small in a constitutional monarchy, and well within the limited role that libertarians allow government. In practice the UK/commonwealth queens's primary role is to decide whether to dismiss the government and call an election or allow the existing parliament to try to work through a crisis. I think libertarians would consider that a legitimate role but they'd prefer the role be exercised by an elected, not an inherited, official. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I believe the solution of choice among the more thoughtful of the anti-legalization folks is attrition through enforcement via the use of E-Verify. E-Verify already exists so the additional cost is minimal--eliminate the jobs magnet through mandatory checking of employees' credentials to work in the USA and many illegal immigrants will end up self deporting. The very way in which the term 'amnesty' is being used here--by both sides of the debate--shows how lenient and compassionate the USA has traditionally been towards illegal immigrants. In other countries, when the term 'amnesty' is used re illegal immigrants, it doesn't mean they get to stay--it means get out NOW and we'll let you leave with further penalty--try to stay and there will be criminal charges and jail time on top of deportation. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Yes but OTOH I would be a little put off if I definitely wanted to buy the whole package and were told I had to pay jump-by-jump--potentially paying more in the end--because they didn't believe I would stick with it. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

You Are a Petunia You are a tried and trusted friend who will be there for your friends when they need you. But you have a tendency to be nervous about doing things that go against the norm. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

However, I would think the AFF instructors--and not any other skydivers on here or at the DZ--should be the sole source of advice regarding buying gear, especially regarding canopy size, for anyone who does purchase gear very early in their skydiving career. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

If he can articulate his views more clearly than he has done so far then I am interested. I'm not really interested in seeing any more diarrhea of the keyboard though. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Just five more years until ol' Gorbie may need to make good on his word

By "numerological coincidences" are you referring to the fact that it was the Friday the 13th (March 13) immediately before Safety Day (the 14th)