livendive

Absolutely My only real problem with an open hand to the butt is that most parents do it for the wrong reason, i.e. anger at the child's behavior, rather than as part of a comprehensive education plan. Actually, I never even sent my daughter to her room as part of a time-out. I just made her sit on the couch and not talk for a short period of time (5-15 minutes). She could watch TV just like she was before the time-out, but the fact that now she HAD TO seemed very effective, and I haven't had to do that since she was 6 or so. The funny thing is my ex-wife does believe in the occasional spanking, but when she reached the end of her rope, she'd call me and ask me to talk to my daughter or come over. Invariably all that would be required was a simple change in the tone of my voice. I'm not sure why she perceived a threat in that tone (as I never once followed through), but it worked. The last couple years she's been grounded or lost privileges on occasion, but that's it. The key, in my mind, is to never reward inappropriate behavior, starting well before the child learns his/her first word. Thankfully, we don't have to. Regardless of intelligence, humans are animals. The best method for training animals is also the best methods for training humans, i.e. positive reinforcement. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

There's a big range between "have no problem with it" and "children should never be struck" that isn't allowed for in the answers, so I went with "should never be struck" because it's closest to what I think. I think children should rarely be struck, only in a certain manner, and only for good reason. I disapprove of about 97% of the physical punishments parents in our society dole out. My daughter is now 15 years old. The only time I've hit her was slapping her hand away from the stove when she was about 4. She's turned out pretty well so far. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Have you seen the recent release to video "Solaris" starring George Clooney? It's obvious they were trying to go for the same feel as 2001 (closer to a copyright infringement than the keys E and F or whatever that Metallica wants protected). Unfortunately I thought they failed miserably and that it sucked ass, but someone at the video store liked it, so maybe it was just me. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I hope everyone doesn't feel the urge to grab your jowls & shake them like they do my dogs! "ohh...what have we here....look at those big shmushy lips...gotta get em....yeah...yeah....what are you gonna do about that?...huh?....huh?"(degenerates into baby talk) shmushy lips are the best. See attached. :-) Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I have another DZ within 15 minutes of home, another within 1 hour, and two more within 2 hours. However the closest turbine is about 3.5 hours away. Our TwinBo is fun for 10-ways, but I gotta drive a bit in order to get on anything bigger. Plus - There have been several times that I've left work and spent my lunchbreak making a skydive. Minus - We built a new house last year and I've been up to my eyeballs with honey-do's. It sucks spending a Saturday putting in landscaping or whatever with the jump plane climbing overhead. Of course the option of driving down to the DZ, getting on a load, landing at home, and going back to get my truck when I'm done with the day's work is a simple one to exercise. The neighbor's think it's odd, but their kids think it's awesome. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Ally (boxer) and Gracie (bulldog) "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Until a year ago, I lived within 2-3 minutes of the DZ and worked within 7-8 minutes of it. Now it's about halfway between work and home, so 7-8 minutes from either. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

It worked out quite well yesterday. Pulled out of a reasonably fast dive a little late, threw everything out to match a 102 mph fall rate (tough with an exit weight of 240). Also played with riser turns, and had a little induced speed on my landings, all with zero pain or feeling of instability. That sucks, but at least it still leaves you with plenty of options. Prior to yesterday, all but 4 of my jumps in an almost 2 year span had been hop & pops or solo freefalls. Sure some were demo's, some with flags, a little low-pressure CRW, etc, but not being able to play with my friends in freefall sucked. I've got a grin on my face today with the knowledge that I'm well on my way to being "back". I wasn't that good at freeflying anyhow, and all of my good friends like to play on their bellies too, so I've got nothing to cry about. Just so I know who I'm talking to, was your accident the result of a broken steering line? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

After 3 shoulder surgeries in 2.5 years, I have to admit the thought has crossed my mind. Not so much "Do I want to keep jumping?" as, "If I'm doomed to hop & pops with docile canopies for the rest of my life, is it worth remaining current?" Now that I've made a couple extended delays without any pain, tomorrow I'll be lurking a couple RW jumps to see if I can control my fall rate with a similar lack of pain. It'll still be awhile before I'm willing to risk zoo loads, and I doubt I'll ever be able to freefly comfortably again. I may be able to work my way back into swooping. The problem is that the angle/loading of the shoulder during landing is, for me, its least stable configuration so a bump that wouldn't normally hurt anyone can cause my humerus to tear through the thrice repaired tissue and allow a dislocation over the bolted-in-place bone graft (which would probably hurt more than dislocations did before that repair). I ain't quitting, but I'd be a liar to say the thought hasn't crossed my mind. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That instructor is my best friend and I'm still waiting for him to send me the video. :-) The funny thing is that a couple guys drove the truck out to pick them up, saw what was going on, and walked back, leaving the truck for them when they finished. Apparently the gal (a stripper by trade) was pretty hot, and the instructor was quite thankful for the chance to finish up with what was probably the best looking girl he's ever gonna get. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Cool staple pics!! Is that your femur that you broke? Anyhow, here's hoping you heal quickly.

STILL laughing! Great one!

There are lots of different kinds of "bests", and I'm not going to describe any of them here. :-) Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Like propane refrigerators in RV's? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

umm...you buy it from someone who has power? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

1 grade school 3 junior high/middle schools 4 high schools 4 colleges Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Of course. Though I'm unsure how handy a hookknife would be in carving a nice clean backstrap roast, I bet it'd do fine for ribeyes. :-) Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Hajj? They're killing an awful lot of animals there each year (over 700,000 last year). Of course they kill a fair number of humans by way of stampedes too, so at least the deaths are somewhat distributed between species (though nowhere near evenly). Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Someone was posting a few weeks ago about playing the Washington state Lotto which was at 20 million or so at the time. Well after last night's drawing, it's up to 33 million because it still hasn't been won. The numbers were: 17 18 21 40 42 and "gold ball" 2 I had: 17 19 21 40 42 and "gold ball" 5 I missed one number by 1 and another by 3, and that my friends is the difference between receiving a 32 million doller check and being cashed out for 25 bucks. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Well Jacques Istel is apparently running. Pictures and periodic mentions here. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Actually, I thought the original article was reasonably funny, but I had nothing worth posting in response to it. On the other hand it seemed bmcd308 was asking an honest question "...why, in and of itself, would "neutralizing" a perceived bias be a bad thing? " and so I gave an honest answer. Given I was answering a question that had nothing to do with an involuntary secession of California, what was it in my post that smacked of liberalism? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

In order to "neutralize" something, you have to go a similar distance from "neutral" as that which you wish to neutralize, just in the opposite direction, e.g. neutrilizing an acidic solution with a caustic solution. Thus while the overall bias may be relatively neutral, it's only by averaging opposite extremes, neither of which is good for anyone on it's own. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I don't much care for either of those. My favorite skydiving shirt shows the grim reaper standing over a geared up skydiver, who's shaking his fist and saying "Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but if you don't stop following me around I'm gonna kick your bony little ass!" (or something very similar to that).

Actually, you're betting portions of your life here on earth. It's those of us who don't believe in god who are betting eternity on it. :-) Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

It's not clear to me what you mean by the "higher power" option. Are you referring to belief in some greater being that takes more than a passing interest in us and the rightness/wrongness of our actions (i.e. some variant of a "god")? Or would more intelligent non-humans fall into this bracket (e.g. "aliens" that couldn't care less what we do with our lives/planet)? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)