livendive

If one is currently collecting a fair price and someone offers to instead pay them a far less than fair price, wouldn't the difference between the two prices constitute an expense? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

The changes would need to be made but both the DZ's and the booking service. Advertising it as an intro to skydiving would mean more time would have to be taken with the students. Too many times the first interaction the student has with their vidiot and instructor is when they are walking to the plane after switching out their rigs because they are on back to back loads. Then right after they land they are off to the next person. The "student" does not get much chance to ask questions or even really make a connection with their instructor. If there were more instructors, each could spend more time with their students. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I think there will be more than just 1 ex rd Youre fooling yourself. Most jumpers could'nt give a shit. What he said. It's kinda sad really...being able to predict with near certainty the outcome of a game because you can't field a team. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That thought has crossed my mind on many occasions, I just don't have enough time left in my days to add it to my "To do" list. I think there is such a market, especially if the entrepeneur is willing to keep realistic profit goals and make their money with volume rather than swinging for the fences with every single tandem. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

No, that's not what I said. You proposed a hypothetical situation that involved them no longer being dishonest. The dishonesty is where my real problem lies. Outside of that, they would simply be a form of advertising. I don't currently pay for television advertising because I don't think it's profitable. That doesn't mean I have a problem with television advertising, it's just not worth it to me. I would view an honest Skyride similarly...good for some people but not high on my list of things to spend money on. If they were honest and I got to the point that I wanted to outsource some advertising and it looked like it would be worth the expense, then sure, I'd consider them. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

It is that simple. That doesn't mean it'll happen, as skydivers are a fickle bunch, but it is that simple. ALL of the dishonesty? I still probably wouldn't. The last time I heard a quote from them, it wasn't worth my time. In order to make it worth my time and still make their current profit margins, they'd have to screw my customers, which isn't something I'd want to be party to. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Hey, your vocabulary hasn't been governed that much; "invidious" made me turn to a dictionary, and that doesn't happen often here. As for the rest, when did you first notice these attempts to assimilate you? I'm guessing 2003. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

She was kind of hot, but she could have at least waited till after the honeymoon to castrate the poor bastard. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

If you don't hook the lowers up, I'm assuming you do put a seatbeat on them? I've seen plenty of tandems where the student was hooked up to the TI and did not have their own seatbelt. I've seen plenty others where the student was seatbelted and not hooked up to the TI. I don't think I've ever seen a student have neither (or both). Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

And everything and everyone else too. Ahhh...Mike's okay. He just loved (and probably still loves) being a curmudgeon. I still have my tee shirt: "The only guarantee in skydiving..." :) I've got one of those too (and that's kinda funny given some of his and my interactions). Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Current winds on top of Rattlesnake are 67 mph, with gusts to 95. The storm coming tonight is supposed to be worse. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So that's where you got your cross-dressing tendencies! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Oh, and did I mention which BOD member oversees preparation of USPA's annual reports? Yep, it's none other than our Treasurer, Lee Schlichtemeier, a Skyride affiliated DZO. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm not turning away future/potential skydivers by not accepting skyride certificates. I'll commiserate with them over how they got scammed, and maybe even offer them a discount. They are totally encouraged to jump and are more than welcome at our DZ (the only DZ within hundreds of miles.) I simply won't accept anyone else's certificate as payment, especially if it's from Skyride. I don't think United Airlines is "turning away potential travelers" by not honoring tickets purchased for American Airlines, and I think Costco is perfectly justified in not accepting Sam's Club cards...and both of those are examples of reputable businesses! It's in neither my nor the sport's interest to do business with entities who are deceptive and fraudulent. If you do business with Skyride, well, don't blame us if you're judged by the company you keep. That's just human nature. If every instructor refused to do Skyride affiliated work, dropzones would quit taking their certificates in a heartbeat and this problem would go away. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Can I get a vote too? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I don't think any of your dues go toward it, except *maybe* the salary of the government liaison/lobbyist du jour (is it still Ed Scott?). The annual financial report used to be mailed out, or maybe it was simply published in Parachutist, or available as an attachment to BOD minutes. I'm not sure which, but I do remember reading it on a few occasions. The primary focus seemed to be building bank. Staff (paid USPA staff, not volunteers like BOD members and S&TAs) salaries were included to some extent. I think the President's salary was itemized individually and everyone else's was lumped together and collectively considered one expense. Recent large expenditures include the donation to the museum and the move of HQ, and both were discussed in vague terms (amounts and vague rationales, the latter not being very convincing). If you query "Mondays with the BOD" on rec.skydiving (archives available on groups.google.com) you'll see some very contentious threads and some reasonably constructive threads. Not all BOD members participated and not all questions were worded objectively, so it wasn't as valuable a tool as it could have been, but it was better than what we normally get out of USPA. Two elections later, I could maybe take another stab at it. First couple weeks could address this Skyride issue to the extent we could get anyone to say anything (Jan's avatar makes me think it wouldn't be much). Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Your homeowner's insurance almost assuredly includes liability coverage that's better than the insurance provided through USPA. Renter's insurance usually includes the similar coverage. Yes, it's nice, but it's not like most jumpers don't already have similar coverage that doesn't exclude damage to a USPA member's property or have as high of a deductible. This I wholeheartedly agree with. It's my primary reason for promoting individual USPA membership and well worth the price. I very rarely open the magazine, but I still agree with you. It's nice to see friends named or pictured in a magazine. I can only think of a couple instances in which USPA has come to the rescue, most notably the Nevada fiasco several years ago. We won . . . sort of, and it was in part due to USPA's help. Much more frequently (it seems to me), dropzones are run off airports without much help at all from USPA. Still, I think such a defense fund is important, and it's a secondary reason I support USPA membership. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

USPA will revoke an individual membership for failure to comply with the BSRs. Apparently they won't do the same for failure to comply with the group membership pledge. You folks who think the group membership program does anything whatsoever other than cost jumpers money need look no further than Skyride. There are no consequences for violating the group membership pledge. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

It's a good thing the officer didn't take two steps backwards, he might have dented someone's bumper. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Why not Kansas? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

http://www.uspa.org/about/index.htm I'd like to know the details of the settlement. Right now I'm pissed off. I'm supposed to "endorce and promote USPA policies", and I kind of walk the line on that one with the Group Membership thing, but this one I cannot even come close to supporting. We're talking about fraud here...we're supposed to endorse that? It's intentionally set up that way. Mike Mullins was excluded from the ballot back in 2000 or 2002 on the basis of his kids jumping, and in favor of a candidate or two with dramatically less experience and historical perspective. Mike got elected by write-in anyhow and USPA got called on it. They made some unofficial promises to extend a lot more latitude and expand the ballot if necessary, but I'm guessing they've forgotten about it by now (and assume we have too...it's pretty well known that skydivers have a short attention span). Go here and read the group membership pledge on page 3 (including skydiving service code of conduct on page 4). Then go here and read 1-4.3 (G) on page 17. It looks to me like a) USPA is caving on its own membership criteria (group membership is like at-will employment and can be terminated by either party with or without reason, as specifically spelled out in the membership app) and b) the RDs of any regions in which Skyride operates are failing to fulfill their responsibilities. With the help of several donors, I ran a half-page ad in Skydiving the next election promoting new blood, with perhaps some result, but not a ton. Truffer likes to stir the pot...perhaps I should start drafting a new ad about this Skyride fiasco and USPA's kowtowing on it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Yeah, starting out down 21-0 with 3 lost fumbles in the first quarter didn't do much to bolster their claims. Outscoring a PAC-10 opponent 35-7 thereafter was a bit more like what we expected to see. Personally, I tip my head first to undefeated teams, and second to teams with minimal losses to highly ranked opponents. Hawaii beat all comers and Kansas' only loss was to a team ranked #4 at the time. Ohio State's loss was to a lesser opponent, but I suppose the argument could be made in their favor (as much as I can't stand 'em). LSU lost to Arkansas and Kentucky...where are those two teams in the polls? Hawaii certainly didn't have the toughest schedule, but they *did their job* every week of the season. No other team can make that claim. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That's what I heard as well. I think I'd go with Hawaii-Kansas. Ohio State lost at home to Illinois three weeks ago, which wouldn't be so bad if this were basketball. Kansas' only loss was to Mizzou...who was ranked #1 going into the last week of the regular season. Hawaii beat all comers, included one ranked opponent (Boise State). Anyone who watched last year's Fiesta Bowl knows that such a game can be VERY entertaining, and I personally think we ought to reward the teams who brought it every single week. Who better than Hawaii and Kansas can make that claim? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I've been advocating for fresh, jumper-oriented blood for years, but it hasn't seemed to help. I think USPA's problems are rooted in the same philosphy that started the group membership program (a program I'm not particularly fond of). I think USPA's focus should be industry standards for provision of student training, competition, and demos, and that's about it. When they added in the money-making components, they lost track of their purpose to the point that rating courses seem to be considered profit-sources more than anything. I think someone without a lot of experience in skydiving could do ok on the BOD, especially if she's smart , but it's tough to convince everyone who doesn't know you that you would be a good BOD member. I've tried to push one pure fun-jumper through as a write-in before...he got some votes, but nowhere near as many as our incumbent RD. I've considered running myself a few times, but now I might be perceived as having the same conflict of interest I accuse others of having. Mike Mullins seems to do fine in my book, and I think I could similarly separate my efforts, but I doubt I could convince those who don't know me of it. Did the parody we're talking about involve pet shelters? Edited for grammar Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I've though for some time now that we should come up with some sort of award for the person who most brutally destroys the quote/reply process, and it was always with you in mind. This thread is reinforcing why. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)