wolfriverjoe

Clicky Fixie

There's good advice in post #6. You can search "Rigger as Escrow" for more. Short version: You and seller agree on a neutral third party to inspect and hold gear. After you get word that the gear is good, you send money. After money arrives, seller sends word to release the gear to you. As was noted, make sure both sides agree to who pays for inspection & shipping for completed sale and in case of failed inpection. Many places will do the escrow part of the deal for low or no cost. They get paid for the inspection at standard rates. ChutingStar will do it for free (the escrow, not the inspection). Look on their website for a lot of good info on buying and escrow and such. Keep in mind that: It's a pretty small community. You don't say where you are, but here in the US, if you are at a larger DZ, there's a very good chance that someone at your DZ will know someone at the seller's DZ. Or even know the seller personally. Most sellers understand why a buyer would be cautious. Personally, if I was selling something big, I wouldn't have any problem providing verification that I was who I claim to be. Most scammers are pretty obvious. If you are reasonably careful, reasonably sensible, and use common sense, then you should be ok. Use common sense. Protect yourself. For example, if the seller says "Use Paypal, but send the money as a "Gift" to save the costs, then you might want to take a step back - "Gift" money can't be disputed/returned. If you are still uncertain, go through a known dealer. There are a bunch of them. Both big store type (ChutingStar, Square One, ect) and smaller folks. "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

Yup. I've lost a couple friends to the "not wearing a seatbelt" thing. One was a rollover where she was a passenger and fell partway out the passenger window as the car rolled. The car rolled on top of her. The other was a friend's cousin. The car rolled a few times. The passenger was launched pretty much straight up (kinda like this guy) and landed back on the pavement. On his head. They estimated he was tossed about 15 or 20 feet up (based on the injuries/impact). "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

Depends on the rig. Depends on what it does or doesn't have. Depends on what condition it's in. Presuming manufactured by a firm still in business (say a Vector, Javelin, Wings, ect), presuming RSL & AAD equipped, presuming good, airworthy condition. Then absolutely. Note: Some people don't consider an RSL or AAD absolutely necessary. While I would jump without if I had to, I wouldn't buy a rig that wasn't set up for them. "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

Interesting. In current (maybe last couple hundred years) society, we are best set up for monogamy. The "Family Unit" is a huge part of how society functions. Lately, with the "One parent is the bread-winner, the other is the caretaker" falling off, it's not as cohesive of a family unit, but it's still there. 2 parents, cooperatively raising the kids, seems to work well. Single parenting (either parent) is tough. "Split-parenting" (separated parents with joint custody) only works well if the parents are cooperating. If, as happens far too often, the parents continue their fighting with the kids as pawns, then the kids suffer. Personally, I've never cheated on a S/O. Ever. Once we decided that we are exclusive to each other, that was it. That's how I was raised, that's how I am. I don't think I could "Share" a S/O without a lot of issues popping up. But that's me and my thoughts on current society. I don't know if we, as a society, could have "open relationships", collectively raising the kids, no jealousy, no problems. In theory, yes. Doing it in practice, however, would take a rather different set of societal values than are present today. But keep in mind that other species cannot. Lions, for example. If a new male takes over, he kills all the cubs that aren't his. Purely to maintain his bloodline over the previous male's. "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

If you want to make an analysis on the dangers of X, lets say cars, it would be pretty useless without taking accidents into account. They are still a result of X. That's very true. Accidents are part of the overall risk of gun ownership. But are they properly classified as "gun violence"? The Bloomberg founded/funded group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, did a "Road tour" recently (last year or so). As part of their ceremonies, they read off a list of names of "victims of gun violence." The crowd that was listening was not exactly happy when they heard the names "Tamerlan Tsarnaev" and "Christain Dorner" read out as "victims." "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

Naaahh. We won't see jack. WMD is a standard "Make up stories to generate ad revenue" click bait site. About as accurate as the rest of that ilk (Info Wars, Blaze, Western Journalism, Common Dreams, Alternet, and on and on). Edit to add: Google the source quoted, " Trioler Tageszeitung". It's misspelled. It should be "Tiroler", not Trioler. Accidental misspelling? Or just make up a source that is really close to a real media outlet. "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

0 for 1? More like 0 for 15 or 0 for 20. There have been numerous investigations by a bunch of different states. Not to mention that idiotic circus called the "US House of Representatives." All of them came up empty. "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

Really? No WMD, just chem & bio. Really? "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

It's always about the French Maid outfit. (note the sigline) "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, the second thing would have to be that the studies be objective and unbiased. You posted 3 such studies in another thread. All 3 have serious questions about their validity. The reason the CDC was barred back in the 90s was because they were clearly looking to find reasons and excuses to regulate guns. The then head of CDC was also a member of the board of directors of the Brady group (formerly Handgun Control Inc, now the Violence Policy Center). Brady had been derailed in the 96 midterms. They had gotten the Brady Bill (version 1) passed, along with the "Assault Weapons" ban. And in the November elections, many of the lawmakers who voted for those laws lost. Gun control wasn't the only reason for this, but it was a big one. With their legislative agenda derailed (look up "Brady 2" to see what they wanted in the future), they looked for other ways to get what they wanted. They tried the "Public Health" route. The director said (in effect) that since they lost the ability to legislate gun control, they'd conduct studies that would show guns to be a "health menace". He had already decided what the studies would show. And the CDC was never banned from doing research. The language in the Dickey Amendment simply says “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.” But because their agenda was to promote gun control, they saw that as a "ban" on their research. "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

No, I'm not jealous of his luck in being born to rich parents. But I don't equate that luck with "business acumen". If he prefers to have "fun" with his money, rather than being intelligent with it, that's his issue. Apparently, his skill at the "art of the deal" isn't all that great. The companies that make up the S&P 500 are all businesses. And apparently they are all (or at least their overall average) run by better businessmen than Trump. "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

Ummm... Not really. He was born into a very, very wealthy family. He didn't earn what he has. As a matter of fact, he would have done better (like $10 billion better) by simply investing in the S&P 500. He's also driven 2 casinos into bankruptcy. How the hell do you go bankrupt running a casino?? "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 was a quick mention on the radio this morning that they had found the film. I knew it wouldn't take long to show up here. "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

Nothing wrong with that. I cheer for the underdog too. I just don't like the idea of killing for sport, or to show how "brave" someone is, regardless of how much it's dressed up in pomp, circumstance, costumes and traditions. "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 watched it about a week ago. God damn?? They're more batshit crazy than I ever thought. Why are they any more crazy than any other group that believes in invisible supernatural omnipotent friends who somehow control their destiny? 'Cause Scientology has only been around 60 or so years. Many Christians don't even accept Islam as a "real" religion, It's "too new". It's only been around since the 7th century. Now, Christianity, that's been around since "0", so it's good. And to add to the link Ryoder posted, South Park skewered Scientology pretty well. "Trapped In The Closet" did a pretty good job (as South Park does so well) of pointing out how bizarre the "beliefs" are and how much of a money maker it is. Parker and Stone were on Teri Gross' "Fresh Air" on NPR a few years ago. They told the fascinating tale of how the episode was written. They knew full well that the Scientologists have a well deserved reputation for litigation against anyone who insults them. So the writing team called in the lawyers ahead of time. They wrote the episode in full consultation with the attorneys, who advised them exactly where the line of "they can sue if you say this" was. They claimed they'd never before seen lawyers have that much fun. Episode on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/250045 "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

Ya know, spaces in between words are important. Kinda like punctuation. There's a big (and it's not tiny) difference between "Penis Land" and "Pen Island" "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

If the bull "winning" was anything more than a "one in a million" event, then I might be tempted to agree. Matadors get gored every once in a while. Some even die in the process. But the bull is always killed. Even this one. I'll bet the bull got killed anyway. But it's not "mindless slaughter". It's slaughter with a huge amount of parade and ceremony. Everyone marches around, showing how good they look all dressed up, then a few guys stab the bull a couple times, then the main guy kills it. I won't argue that it takes a fair amount of bravery to go out there with nothing more than a cape and a sword, but it's not a "fair fight", nowhere near 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

I know a very similar set of rules we call "TABK". Treat every gun as if it was loaded. Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction Be sure of your target and what's beyond Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. I agree that "T" and "A" were purposefully ignored. With real guns. Pretty damned stupid. I'd never participate or attend anything like that. "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

^This. Big time. None of it is rocket science. Disconnect main & reserve, remove AAD, and wash it. BUT... Doing it so that nothing is damaged, doing it so nothing gets tangled/twisted/messed up, doing it so that reassembly isn't a nightmare; that takes at least a little bit of understanding. Some jumpers know their gear well and can do it just fine. Others... Not so much. To the OP - Discuss this with your rigger. He/she may want to do the disassembly, or may just want to talk you through it. Also may have suggestions/tips for the actual task of washing it. I would strongly suggest against "just doing it" and then taking a loose reserve, loose main, loose AAD and empty container to your rigger without any warning. "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 recent fatal in Georgia is currently thought to be caused (at least in part) from the failure of the cutaway cable. The cable reportedly got jammed in the housing, and the jumper pulled hard enough on the handle to extract the steel cable core from the teflon coating (this was the orange teflon coated cable, not the yellow ones). This is the first time I've heard of it happening. I know there is a SB out there somewhere about the coating cracking and potentially causing a hangup from the white loop catching on the cracks. But I've never heard of the coating stripping off of the cable before. Has it happened to anyone before? Note: I'm going off the preliminary info that is posted in the thread in Incidents. There may well be other things found out during the course of the investigation. "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 places offer different rights to different animal species. As in: It's ok to feed a rat or hamster or similar to a snake, but it's not alright to use a kitten or puppy. Apparently, dogs and cats have more rights than rats and hamsters. A friend is "into" snakes and told me this. I don't have specifics, nor do I have any examples of places that have this sort of stuff in 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

I get the same thing. I don't ever remember clicking on that particular "button" before. But if I click on "Who's Online", I get a page that offers a search. IIRC (which may or may not be "correct"), premium members get a few extra perks, and that advanced user search is one of those. "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, as was noted above, the "War On Drugs" is why you have to show your ID for the decongestant. You can get as much as you want if you just go to a bunch of different stores. As with most of these kind of restrictions/checks, a bit of imagination & creativity can defeat them. Most places I know check ID for ammunition. Even the online places want to see a copy. Obviously there's no way to be certain that the ID matches the purchaser, but most places require the name and address on the ID to match the "ship to" info. And just how many rounds did Holmes fire in that Aurora theater? All 6350? "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

Nor me. The catch is that the interest accumulates during the entire time. Not a low rate either. No minimum payments required. And if the purchase price isn't paid off in full by the end of the "no payments, no interest" time, all that accumulated interest suddenly gets added to the balance. They are counting on consumers not paying the stuff off in time. A quick search found THIS. It covers the pitfalls. "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