livendive

Be a good bellyflier, capable of staying no-contact less than 1 meter from a moving subject that's varying his fallrate (sometimes dramatically). I had essentially no exposure to AFF before the course. I didn't learn that way & the only time I've spent at DZ's that taught AFF was while at boogies when I didn't care about their student program. The CD at my course (Jay Stokes) was really good about explaining the system, so all I had to bring was a brain and some air skills. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Rather than a definition, how about a couple examples...Democrats & Republicans, Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Of course. GWB couldn't personally commit war crimes because he thinks only the little people should have to go to war in the first place. It's easy to not commit war crimes when hiding out AWOL in Alabama. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Do we have any evidence that Saddam Hussein was planning another 9/11 or that our "preemptive strike" prevented such an occurrence? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Alternately, "I don't care if our man is qualified or not...if we're going to have an unqualified man in the position, we want it to be OUR unqualified man." Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Or perhaps just our language and specific uses of slang, but why give the benefit of the doubt? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Are you talking about Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, both of whom were in country before the war insisting they couldn't find whatever it was the US was chest-pounding about? You know, the guys who turned out to be right? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Well at least the monkey would only fuck things up randomly, as opposed to Dubya who will fuck things up systematically. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So if McCain were the nominee, who would the Republican votes go to? If GWB's health took a dive and he had to be replaced on the ticket, McCain would be a slam-dunk. Although Republicans might not want to vote for him, they wouldn't have much of a choice, and I think an awful lot of moderates would swing that direction to. I know I would. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Yes. Hanford still has a long road ahead of it, but it's much better today than it would have otherwise been. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Like father like son, four years and he's done. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Don't kid yourself. Both of them want the job because they want to be President. Unfortunately it's one of those jobs that probably shouldn't ever be given to anyone who actually wants it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I just wish I had the spare cash laying around to go buy a bunch of new toys. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I think it depends on your definition of "think" and "developing." Are you talking about credible evidence, pure speculation,...? Are you talking about working on or has them or both? I'm talking about what we actually had, i.e. not a clue. These days, many of the supporters of the war state that SH's record was reason enough for our action. I'm just wondering if they would have felt the same way if that had been the primary reason given before the action and whether they think Congress would have authorized the action on that premise. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Funny, those years from 1992-2000 look pretty good in that picture. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So what if GWB had gone to Congress a couple years ago and said "Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator and has killed many of his own people. Additionally, we think he might be developing WMDs (though we're not sure). Given the events of September 11th, 2001, we don't think we should allow people like Saddam to remain in power. For this reason, I am here to ask Congress to approve an invasion of Iraq with the goal of removing Saddam Hussein from power and installing a democratic government." If he had not sold us on the WMDs, but instead on SH having an atrocious human rights record, would you have supported the invasion? Do you think Congress would have authorized the invasion under those circumstances? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I wouldn't consider myself much of a treehugger, but I do care quite a bit about how we interact with our environment. Bush's lack of consideration for the environment is by itself enough reason for me to never vote for him. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I have to differ with you on that one. I suppose I fall into the category of "environmentalist" (got my AAS in environmental restoration and my BS in environmental quality) and I certainly wouldn't oppose BASE jumping in national parks. BASE jumping does not have much of a negative effect on the environment, provided the jumpers do not establish new routes to the top (e.g. new anchors, new trails, etc). I have no problem with wilderness/national park recreation that doesn't detract from the ability of animals and other humans to enjoy the environment. Rockclimbing, hiking, BASE jumping, mountain biking, hang gliding, etc...these things can be accomplished without noxious emissions or tremendous amounts of noise. Snowmobiles and other off-road vehicles cannot make the same claim. How well can YOU appreciate the tranquility of nature with a couple dozen unmuffled snowmobile engines screaming in the background? Which type of activity is more likely to scare off the indigenous creatures? Which type will leave more "scars" on the terrain (granted mountain biking will as well)? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

On tandems...5500, 4500, 3000. On AFF jumps...5500, 4500, 1500. On RW/VRW jumps...breakoff altitude, 2200, 1500. Hop & pops/CRW...whatever, it's in my pants pocket where it won't bother me. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Average joe skydiver, if my hands are still empty at 2000 feet, I'm out. I've been in a similar situation with a student, but I knew he had an AAD, and he wasn't unconscious, just "googly-fucked", so I dumped at ~1900, he saw it and dumped about a second later. Very few good friends (

I'm faced with a wierd personal dilemma on this point. I've always maintained that if you are unwilling to make a particular jump without an AAD, the correct response is to not make the jump (as opposed to getting an AAD). That said, I'm seriously considering buying an AAD in the near future because it seems like a wise thing to wear on AFF jumps (especially for Billvon's reason). So if I'm thinking I should wear one on AFF jumps, does that mean I shouldn't do AFF jumps? Well the way I've rationalized it is this...I'm currently doing AFF jumps without an AAD. That proves I'm *willing* to make the jumps without an AAD. Once the willingness is there, wearing the AAD becomes a result of prudence rather than "need." Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Tandems can beat you up a bit but I don't think they cause all that much back trouble unless you slam your tailbone on a sliding landing. I have lower back trouble and often times end up sore by the end of a weekend, but I mix up my jumps quite a bit and don't think it's really the tandems that get to that part of my body. Tandems leave me muscle sore after a long day, but that's about it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

...:16:0 16 jumps, including: 5 AFF level 1's 3 sit-fly's 3 tandems 2 frontside tandems 1 tracking dive 1 headdown 1 hop & pop to recover a lost main/freebag. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm shocked you would make such a suggestion Arlo! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Maybe it's just me, but right now I'd say the average citizen of Iraq would be justified in having serious fear of personal harm whether they say anything or not. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)