livendive

I have two "home" dropzones. DZ-A is less than 2 miles from my house and has reasonably jumpable weather March through November with occasional good weekends in December and February. I started and spent my first several years there. DZ-B is 125 miles away and only runs May through October, but I've spent most of the last two years there and will be back essentially every weekend in '07. Both dropzones have their pro's and con's, and right now DZ-B's Caravan is wintering at DZ-A. It's nice living in an area where dropzones try to support each other rather than stab each other in the back.

Perhaps its position on the remote is symbolic... Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Did the person on your left break his wrist on that grip? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm in total agreement with you on that. Now can someone please change the record? This kum-bye-yah shit is totally inappropriate in Speaker's Corner! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

What the fuck were you thinking? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Sure I can. The driver should not have run into police cars and the police should not have shot and killed an unarmed man. Quarterbacks should also not throw interceptions. The fact that I'm not a quarterback, a cop, or someone being shot at by a cop doesn't make me incapable of understanding the shoulds and shouldn'ts of a particular situation. Unfortunately I don't have enough information on this specific incident to say exactly who was in the wrong. If nothing else though, the shots that went astray were "wrong", and it was fortunate that nobody was hit by them. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So if a township with a Muslim majority passes a local measure that bans citizens from public participation in Christian or Jewish ceremonies, the ACLU shouldn't be able to step in and file suit to protect the first amendment rights of those discriminated against? What do you have against an organization that is dedicated to protecting our constitutional rights? For one, I'd prefer they protect ALL of them... In a perfect world, they would. But it doesn't make sense to hold a grudge against a private organization for only doing some good rather than all the good, does it? A bit of help is better than none at all. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

If you wore it all the time, unfastening it would become just as routine as not unfastening it is now. I'm 100% opposed to seatbelt laws, but can still admit that they've switched my habits. Wearing a seatbelt used to be uncomfortably restraing for me. Now, not wearing one feels wierd. Putting it on and taking it off is a fluid habit that requires zero conscious thought. And I'm still adamantly opposed to seatbelt laws. Give Darwin a chance dammit! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So if a township with a Muslim majority passes a local measure that bans citizens from public participation in Christian or Jewish ceremonies, the ACLU shouldn't be able to step in and file suit to protect the first amendment rights of those discriminated against? What do you have against an organization that is dedicated to protecting our constitutional rights? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

You owe Tanya a dollar I think I should get the dollar. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I got a bottle of Stag's Leap (), a copy of "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles" (

I'M NOT GETTING SUCKED INTO THIS AGAIN KRISSANNE ! It's Christmas Eve, thus I actually am a year closer to your age...but the difference is still practically infinite. Thanks Krisanne and everyone else. My day has been good so far, and I'm heading out shortly for a good birthday dinner. Those of you who know me know how much I like good food, good wine, and good company. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Make sure to take your glasses with you wherever you go for Christmas, silly. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Yesterday I woke up to a nice layer of freezing rain. Not all of the ice melted before the dusting of snow we got last night. The two mountain passes look kinda icy, with just a little bit of snow. Have I mentioned I vastly prefer driving on snow to driving on ice? This'll be fun. Give Beth a Christmas kiss for me, have fun at Eloy, and kick your nephew's ass into gear. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

No, those are "da girls" and of course I would never post pictures of them. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Soxs? Is that pronounced like breastesses? And the pitch is on it's way Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Hello, you left out amputees. I'm offended and think I'll sue...with today's laws it's possible... I'm sure I said something about "the things you're missing" or something like that! Merry Christmas man. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

For once you are actually almost right Hugs and kisses to everyone

Whether you're spending this weekend with family, friends, lover(s), coworkers, or just relaxing in solitude by yourself... Whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Zarathosht Diso, Yule, Litha, Winter Solstice, the start of Hajj, something else, or nothing in particular this month... Whether you're short, tall, fat, slim, rich, poor, smart, dumb, straight, gay, good-looking, plain, or average in any or all of these categories... I hope you all have rewarding days ahead of you that are fulfilling and make you appreciate all the things you do have rather than rue the lack of whatever things you don't. So there. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I did not mention it in my original post - but I wanted to see if someone else would by putting the "pros vs cons" option to see if there were any legitimate cons... The raven I have flies so differently than the fx, that personally I doubt that thirty additional feet of fabric will make much difference with a two out situation. I worry a whole lot more about a off dz landing, imagine dropping into a backyard on a relatively unfamiliar canopy... no fun in any event, but with a larger, slower and more forgiving canopy my odds of walking away from it are better. I do not have an AAD, and with the reflex container with the reserve pin against my back, the chances of two out are very slim.... Of additional relevance is the fact that you've done CRW with a small high performance main where the other canopies were big docile things. I think if people are worried about canopy compatibility, the safer thing to do is build some rudimentary CRW experience and get comfortable with it rather than downsizing their reserve to a stupid wingloading. I do have an AAD (now) and am comfortable with my 170 reserve regardless of whether my main is a 176, a 135, or a 99. As Winsor says, nobody ever looks up at their reserve and thinks, "Man I wish that thing was smaller." On the container issue, Infinity is another that will happily accomodate a bigger reserve and smaller main. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Do we have to go through that whole rigamarole again? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

If he couldn't get any penetration with his reserve with the brakes unstowed, I'm guessing he'd have been holding or backing up under his main with the brakes stowed. Additionally, without a lot of night jump experience to fine tune his depth perception, and no rear riser landings with the brakes unstowed, much less stowed, a stall would have been very possible. Stalling into the dark would have likely resulted in a worse outcome than this did, so I'm not going to criticize his choice to chop. I'd say the next order of business should be to configure the gear appropriately for whether pulling the slider down the risers is desired. It should either be very easy or nearly impossible, not somewhere in between. Second, he should work on riser flying with brakes stowed and unstowed, and riser landings at least unstowed. With properly configured gear, the number of situations in which one would be risering in a canopy with brakes stowed are (or should be!) so few that the risks of doing them intentionally might outweigh the gain. A curiosity question for the original poster. Did attempts to clear the problem on the main include pushing up on the slider grommets or just pulling down on the toggles? In my experience, the former is easier than the latter. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

It's Alabama... Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Do you think the value of "please", "thank-you", and "excuse/pardon me" are also reduced by being reflexive? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

What she said. I say these all the time as a sign of respect, but go out of my way for service industry folks. They put up with a lot of shit, so I especially make a point of saying please and thank-you, sir and ma'am to them. It's funny when they're only half my age. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)