wolfriverjoe

Wow. What an original concept. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, apparently the owner may have been in the wrong. I'm not sure I agree. I am of the opinion that a business owner may refuse service to individuals, based on their individual behavior. Either in or out of the place of business. For example, a cake baker could refuse to make a cake for a child molester (based on behavior) but not refuse a gay couple (discriminating against a group). Interesting article. I've seen it before, and it was recently updated to include this incident. And I will disagree that Sanders is "just doing a job". A child molester needs a lawyer (anyone accused of a crime does). There's virtually no way for an amateur to successfully navigate the criminal justice system. OTOH, Sanders is a senior staffer to a horribly flawed President. This is a highly paid, very prestigious position. She does a reasonably competent job of supporting the Mango Mussolini and his policies. She routinely lies to the press and the public. Bad comparisons and false equivalencies. I'm not going to go so far as to compare her to Goebbels, but if she had any decency, she would not have taken the job in the first place. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Not a German Veteran of WW2, but still a Nazi supporter, reportedly 'idolizing Hitler." Maybe not an official member of any white supremacist group, but he certainly displayed their symbols. You do know that they are still around, don't you? They continue to espouse the principles and policies of Hitler and the Nazi party. The Illinois Nazis that fought to hold a march in Schaumberg weren't German or old. But they were still Nazis. The ones in Charlottesburg were marching around waving Swastika Flags. I don't know if their group charter specifically includes the words "Nazi" or "National Socialist Party", but if they wave the flag, they get the name. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

What's remarkable is the level of false equivalence the Trumpettes need to reach down to in order to defend him. This is a good example, another is the recent meme going around FB that shows pics of soldiers being deployed saying goodbye to their kids and comparing it to the recent shitshow with the immigrants. Another is comparing Trump's near adulation of KJU to Obama's meeting Fidel Castro. Again, huge (and I mean HYOOOOOGE) differences in the tone and statements. Praise and adulation on one hand, criticism and conditions on the other. But to the Trumpettes, they are the same. The list of examples is pretty long. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

You do understand that, after a Nazi ran a car into a crowd and killed a woman, that Trump defended the Nazis, saying that some of them were "Fine People", don't you? When the term "Nazi" is brought up in reference to Trump, it's because he actually spoke up in their defense, as President of the United States. This isn't standard 'name calling', it's calling out actual, despicable behavior on Trump's part. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Very true. But the current administration has far exceeded the level of deliberate lies, not just 'inaccuracies' by a large (and I mean HYOOOOGE) margin. Not to mention the embracing of monstrous dictators, praise of Nazis, alienation of our historical allies, nepotism and corruption. All on an unprecedented scale. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

They refused service to a liar who routinely defends the indefensible actions of a corrupt, traitorous sexual predator (and those are his good points). As was pointed out, they have the right to refuse service to anyone, as long as it isn't discriminatory. Political affiliations aren't 'protected'. Neither are liars. After being refused service, Sanders used her government Twitter account to make a petty, pissy little complaint. Which is illegal. Go figure. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Run away. Fast and far. Before you know it, you will be eating Ramen & hotdogs and living in a van, down by the runway. But it sounds like it might be too late already. For serious suggestions: Download and read the SIM (Skydiver's Information Manual). Available free from USPA. Brian Germain has a couple of good books, The Parachute and It's Pilot and Transcending Fear. Worth a read. You might also take a look at the Skydiving Duck cartoons. A lighthearted but uncannily accurate portrayal of the AFF process. There's a fair amount about fear in there too. Try not to spend too much time on here. There's a lot of good info, but there's also a lot of garbage. At your experience level, it's hard to discern between the two. Never, never ever tell your instructor "But I read on DZ.com that I'm supposed to..." Your friend didn't feel it. He didn't get it. Not everyone does. Being a pilot makes very little difference. I know pilots that are avid jumpers and ones who would only jump if there was no chance of surviving the landing (and maybe not even then). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, first off - Practice, practice, practice. It does get easier over time. Don't sit around shooting the breeze or goofing off on your phone during weather/wind holds. Work on packing. Since you seem to have the most trouble bagging it (which isn't at all unusual), just do that. Bag it and stow the lines on the locking stows. Pull it out to the 'cocoon' stage and bag it again. Second off, newer canopies are a stone cold bitch to pack. If you can find an old, ragged out F1-11 canopy to practice with, it will be a lot easier to master the basics. Not too many of those around anymore, though. Watch how the packers do it. One of the most basic tips that took me a long time to figure out/find out was to not 'put the canopy in the bag', but instead, 'pull the bag around the canopy'. It's a subtle difference, but one that makes a huge difference in effort. Controlling the S-folded canopy is also important. Use whatever you have available. Knees, elbows, boobs (if you are a girl), your face, whatever. As was suggested above, try to find a rig where the canopy is not the biggest that will fit into the bag. I have jumped some seriously fugly pack jobs. They all opened just fine. I was told early on that packing is somewhere between 70% and 80% psychological. A certain amount of neatness is necessary, but much of it is for your own comfort and peace of mind. It's a modern ram-air canopy. It wants to open and fly. Last, there's really no 'magic trick' to packing. There's some technique to it, but most of it is practice. Everyone goes through this. On the plus side, after you are able to pack proficiently, getting sleeping bags, car covers, tents, ect back into their stow bag will become very easy. You might even be able to fold a fitted sheet. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Adultering food is a crime. I agree with Ryoder that liars aren't a protected class. If she thinks she can do what she does with no consequences at all, then she has found out that some people will treat her badly because of what she does. TFB (Too Bad). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

The numbers of those hurt by seatbelts and vaccines vs those helped by them is slanted immensely in favor of using them (both belts and shots). There's virtually no intelligent debate about this. I don't think we are there yet with autonomous cars. But I'd bet that the autonomous cars are less dangerous than humans, on average. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

There you go again, using facts and data. How many immigrants could we 'absorb'? There's currently something like 11 million illegals in the country right now. They seem to be 'absorbing' just fine. There are still labor shortages in lots of markets, often for unskilled, low paid positions. You know, the jobs traditionally taken by... Immigrants. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Log out and look at the main forum index. You can't access this forum without being logged in. Incidents used to be similar (it was invisible, not just 'dim'), but that changed at some point in time. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

What do you mean? He's not an elected office-holder. He's not running for anything. What 'backlash' does he fear? And what is he covering his ass for (or from)? If he's branded a Republican he's a politician. IDC if he's running for office or not, he's savvy enough to see the wind shift and is spineless enough to cover his own ass. It'll probably come back to bite him. He's a long time strategist for the Republican party. As in an employee of the party. He's basically walking away from the job he's had for a very long time because he cannot stand to be associated with the party any longer. That sounds a lot more like 'courage to stand on principle' than being 'spineless' to me. He could have easily ignored his conscience and continued on with the R party and kept his job. It won't 'come back' to bite him. It's bit him pretty hard right now. He's walked away from a pretty lucrative job. He won't be able to go back. He's likely done in politics. For ever. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I am not at all surprised by that. And I don't really blame the 'safety guy' for doing it. They were on a stretch of road that isn't supposed to have cross traffic. Running straight & steady. The autonomous programs handle that stuff very well. I'm going to guess that the 'human backup' would only really pay attention in places/situations where there's concern that the auto programs might miss something. And there's virtually no way a person is going to pay close attention all the time, especially when there's no apparent reason to. Even the most vigilant will lose concentration once it's clear that the car drives itself well. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

My wife just renewed her license in WI Monday. No check for color vision. Oops. CDL not regular gets it. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

CSC is nice, but I wouldn't call 15 miles "quite a bit closer". Also, Rock is right across the WI border from Rockford. They have a King Air. Not a huge fun jumper population, though. SkyKnights is about 35 miles up I 43. Great club DZ, lots of fun jumpers. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Oh well; I take that back. She is as bad as Trump. Can anyone seriously imagine Michelle Obama wearing such a thing on such an occasion? I can not wait to read the justifications for such a tone deaf, selfish, and for our nation, embarrassing act. Bit by bit these idiots are robbing us of our national pride. It's sickening. Michelle Obama got crucified (figuratively speaking) for going sleeveless. Melaina Trump is going to get a pass for wearing an "I Really Don't Care, Do U?" jacket. Her spokes-creature has already chastised the media for focusing on what she was wearing, not what she was doing. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

They still do it in Wisconsin. http://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/dmv/license-drvs/rnew-and-chge/vision-standards.aspx "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

What do you mean? He's not an elected office-holder. He's not running for anything. What 'backlash' does he fear? And what is he covering his ass for (or from)? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Some of them. Most, however, are more along the lines of 'I want it to be true, so it must be true. So they search out stuff that validates their positions. And ignore the rest. And, of course, they are the victims of vicious slander, persecution and discrimination. Trump gives them all of that, so they flock to him. Just like Hitler. Yeah, I really went there. The similarities are getting a bit scary. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

For me, it took a while. There are a lot of factors. Your own self confidence (sometimes misplaced, in both directions). Your understanding of the gear. Your physical abilities, primarily 'body position awareness'. Often gymnasts and ballet dancers do very well because they are used to knowing exactly where their arms & legs are and are good at putting them where they want. Keep in mind that if you aren't nervous, then you are either nuts or don't understand the risks you are taking. I had a very experienced camera flyer tell me early on that, even after a few thousand jumps, he was still a bit nervous in the plane. And that if he ever reached the point that he wasn't, then he would very seriously consider calling it quits because he wouldn't be taking the risks seriously enough (complacency). And, of course, there's the Duck. A light hearted, but uncannily accurate portrayal of the AFF process. Including the "Freak-Out-O-Meter" and the best depiction of the "Door Monster" I've ever seen. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, it didn't work for THIS GUY. 3 convictions, one more pending, and another arrest. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Ahhh yes. Fireball. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Better yet ... everyone that has the 'cat' position has to have a real cat. You don't have to worry they will fall off, they will dig the claws in. Hence no de-clawed cats unless you want extra points. That reminds me the cat chasing championship story in Bedtime Stories for Skydivers. Cat Chasing was a pretty good story, but the one that followed, 'Cat Stacking' was even better. In fact, that whole book is pretty awesome. FWIW, the store at SDC had a few copies left last year. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo