RhondaLea

Steve Rafferty gave this answer to your question in 1995: > p.s. Can I call myself a skyiver yet if I haven't finished the AFF yet? You certainly are a skydiver. You become a skydiver when you begin to dream of falling or peddling your trike fast enough to get airborne. You become a skydiver when you marvel at the birds, the clouds, or a wind-blown leaf. You stay a skydiver as long as you continue to be able to look at life through the eyes of a child. All the rest of it is just a matter of the implementation schedule. Congratulations. rl P.S. He's an old-time jumper who still jumps. And the person he was writing to made skydiving her life and business. If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

It doesn't happen at 42. It doesn't even happen at 47. I suspect that--by definition--it only becomes totally clear at the very end of the road. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

$1604.62 for a five year loan at 6%. If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

It's not a discipline that you forgot, but a person: Carbone. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

It would be nice to have two events. It would be sad, after so many years, to turn away from Bridge Day. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

You average 146 a year and Trae 120. What's your point? Looks like you are only 26 jumps a year from being a loser and playing golf. I think the actual point is about pretensions to omniscience and omnibenevolence. When we turn this thread into a movie, Trae is a shoo-in for the Wizard of Oz. We'll cast Joe as Toto. rl Edited to add: Is this really the proper forum for this thread? If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

Some of us don't care. If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

That's your take, but it's not what he wrote. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

If that's your logic (i.e., all criticism is projection) perhaps everyone needs to keep their rig where you can't get to it. After all, you're the one who made the rig-tampering allegations, right? I'll bear that in mind. You haven't "shown up" anything. If you can't provide proof, your claim fails at the outset. I have seen no proof provided of any of the weird claims you make. Ya think? As we previously discussed, there are sociopaths and narcissists in the world, along with others of ill-intent, but one cannot spend ones life always monitoring the behavior of others. The only person you can change or control is yourself. The people who are determined to change and control others are those who lack self-control. Oddly enough, they generally have sociopathic or narcissistic traits. They take no blame themselves, but they are quick to point their fingers at everyone else. It's very simple: in all aspects of your life, don't associate with those who make you feel nervous or uncomfortable or unsafe. All this discussion about such people is a waste of time, and it borders on the paranoid. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

No, he isn't. Sorry, Walt, but the catoon's out of the bag. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

If this is possible, and if it is accompanied by an explanation that points to the increased cost to the base jumpers for providing the day's entertainment, it's a great idea. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

Really. I am. Then I think you need to go through the fatality database, and show exactly where and how the kind of people you're talking about affected the outcome. I wouldn't think of shooting the messenger, but I would consider asking him to go review all the outlandishly negative posts he has made these last few weeks. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

Skydiving is a microcosm of the larger universe. You find the same people in here as you do out there. The kind of person Trae forgot to mention is the constantly negative person who never stops complaining about everyone else's behavior, but never looks at his own. Such people do more damage than all the rest combined. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

No. You don't know what you're talking about.

Dammit--now you've got ME gagging!! Would you please stop! Walt Yeah, well, it's all bullshit anyway. Remember? No gag reflex. If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

Then he should get out the trusty rifle and go squirrel hunting. As long as he remembers to eat what he kills. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

Bad idea. The spectators and the media are our best friends, and we don't want to alienate them. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

A friend of mine made this choice not all that long ago. He had severe health problems, and he was in constant pain. We talked often about our shared belief that each of us has the right to control our own lives--including when to call it quits. We also talked about why someone might make that choice. But there's a part of me that still believes if the rest of his life had been happy, he wouldn't have opted out when he did. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

I never had a problem. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

It's not a big mess. Bridge Day without BASE will be just another community street fair. While the commission members may try to bully you (because they don't want to do battle with NPS), they do answer to a higher authority--the media, the people who come each year just to watch the jumpers, and the businesses that benefit economically from the event. (A letter to each of the latter explaining the situation and the potential consequences therefrom might not be a bad idea.) rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

It isn't about the response you get. It's about the impression you make. There are two issues here, anyway. Bridge Day is a unique animal, and base jumpers have no small influence, because they draw spectators to the event. Spectators mean money for the local economy, and this creates a power base for the stars of the show. If the stars of the show take an obvious interest in what affects them directly, it will not go unheeded. But making the best possible impression will not hurt, and it usually helps. A grassroots campaign, on the other hand, starts at a disadvantage. There is no economic reason to indulge you, and the success of such campaigns is measured in the number of supporters you collect as you go along--in other words, how strong a showing you can make. Even so, as you work toward your goal, you will make friends--or enemies--based upon the impression that you give the powers-that-be. You never know who is going to be in the right place at the right time to see the letter you have written. You really don't seem to understand that sometimes things actually happen because a single person happens to be in the right place at the right time to take an interest in your cause. Letters get filed. Letters on good paper may be read again when that file is opened because they stand out. Faxes, on the other hand, get lost in the shuffle, and emails just get deleted. No one has to listen to me. I'm just talking about what I've seen happen over the years in the places I've worked--both to the firms and their clients--when things are done the wrong way and when they're done right. rl P.S. Purely as an aside, and in my humble opinion only, a grassroots campaign is useless and a waste of the limited resources available to the base community. What is required is well-planned and duly executed legal action to compel the entities involved to knuckle under. If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

Nothwithstanding the whole ABP brouhaha, faxing a letter of this kind is a no-no. Letters should be printed or handwritten (legibly), in a traditional format (whether you use letterhead paper or not) and signed in blue ink. They should be mailed in a properly addressed envelope with a return address, and real stamps are better than postage meters. Make sure you use the correct amount of postage. Or go for the gusto, and send it overnight. FedEx will be grateful, and such deliveries generally get more immediate attention. The only time a letter should be faxed is if it is an emergency, and even then, a "hard" copy should follow. Emails are also out. The more work it appears that you put into the letter, the more attention it will receive. I feel stupid explaining somethign that seems so basic and very much a matter of common sense, but you would not believe some of the total shit people send out these days. What they don't understand is that the impression they make is lasting. If anyone needs help, I'll be happy to offer suggestions. I won't write your letter, because then it would be my letter. But I will proofread for you and help you make any necessary corrections. (And if you're reading this, Banned Boy, it's just one more thing I don't have time for, but what's a couple more weeks in the grand scheme?) rl P.S. Each letter should be addressed to Hite, but a cc should go to Sherri Clendenin as well as anyone else you elect to send a copy to. If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

Mergansers are the fish-eating duck, but mallards will eat with "mollusks, insects, small fish, tadpoles, freshwater snails and fish eggs." A vegetarian mallard is almost edible. A fish-eating mallard is disgusting. Any true sportsman will tell you that you don't kill what you're not going to eat. This is the only reason that I will fish but not hunt. I hate the taste of everything that is game, be it bird or mammal, but some are worse than others. What's that about antelope? rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

I see. Morons, eh? Tell you what, dude. Jaap wrote a nice letter explaining why it was time for him to sign off. He didn't throw mud at anyone. I, for one, will miss him. You, on the other hand, I won't miss at all. rl If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

Spoken like a man who has never eaten squirrel. There are two things worse in my experience: raccoon and fish-fed duck. If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb