wolfriverjoe

It is a fairly involved process. And it is very dangerous. Most instructions emphasize keeping the ingredients wet to minimize the dangers, but even that won't eliminate them. But none of it is terribly difficult. High school level chemistry. And there's other, easier sources for the saltpeter. Bat guano is one I remember, I'm sure there are others. "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

Meh. I've got far better toys as an "adult" than I ever had as a kid. A REAL Porsche, a REAL motorcycle, REAL G*** (can't mention them here ) and a parachute that I can actually jump with, not just a bedsheet attached to a backpack. A friend of mine just turned 69. He has a '65 Vette convertible, a '67 Malibu convertible, a newer Camaro convertible. His wife gave him a sweatshirt that says "Still Plays with Cars." You don't give up playing because you get old. You get old because you give up playing. You can insert "with cars", "with motorcycles", "with airplanes", "with parachutes" or anything in there.

What I object to is the requirement to have a permit to exercise your 1st amendment rights. I don't have a problem with requiring proper permits, especially if it's a large group. As long as the permits are not restricted. Here in Wisconsin, the KKK had a rally on the capitol steps a few years ago. They needed a permit to set up the PA equipment (and a few other things too, IIIRC). A bunch of folks wanted the permit denied because of the hatred in their message, but those in charge said that as long as they followed the rules and the laws, the permit had to be issued. This sort of permit process allows the local authorities advanced notice to prepare for the event. Traffic control, crowd control (at the KKK rally, the ones protesting against the KKK outnumbered the KKK by 4:1 or more), sanitation and all the other logistical stuff. Interestingly, in Richmond VA, the Tea Party is demanding a refund for the fees they had to pay for their rally. They noticed that the "Occupy" group didn't have to get permits or pay and want to know why they should have had to. http://www.wtvr.com/news/wtvr-richmond-tea-party-wants-refund-after-seeing-occupy-richmond-protesters-camp-out-for-free-20111026,0,7880023.story "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 mean like Jesus on a piece of wheat toast? The Virgin Mary on a rotting pumpkin? Yep. Or the "Man in the Moon" Or the "Old Man of the Mountain" in New Hampshire. Kind of like abstract art. You see in it what's in your own mind. That's why people who see obscenity in abstract art are so amusing. "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

Nature is not wasteful, everything serves a purpose or it is weeded out of the gene pool. Like the appendix? Or the tailbone? Nature can be extremely wasteful during natural selection. How many mutations die off without reproducing, or end up evolutionary dead ends? (as was pointed out before, there is no "conciousness" to it) Some of that stuff takes a long time to be weeded out, some never leaves. We see faces in inantimate objects because pattern recognition is a valuable skill for spotting predators or enemies hiding in the wilderness. It still has people seeing faces in trees and rocks. Some insist that there was a civilization on Mars because they saw a "face." Considering that there aren't any succesful civlized societies throughout history that didn't have some sort of deity, there is either some validity to the "God" idea, or there is societal value to perpetuating the idea. People also have a rather tenacious tendency to want explanations for stuff. They want answers. They will make up the most ridiculous answer to a question, regardless of the truth. And it's been shown that a lot of people won't accept simple answers to complicated questions. They want answers that are as complex as the situation that generated the question. Conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assasination or the Sept 11 attacks are a good example of this. "It was a lone whacko" or "It was a small group of pissed off Muslims" aren't sufficient answers for such people. They need a complex and intricate conspiracy to equal the huge results of those situations. Searching for meaning is an instinctive act. Curiosity about our world has enormous survival value. But again, a simple or incomplete answer, or "It was just random chance" isn't enough for some. The answer of "Where else would you put it" isn't enough of an answer to the question "Why is the Universe here?" for a lot of people. They want a deeper meaning. Sometimes there isn't one. Some people refuse to accept that. That's simple human nature. It has it's values under certain circumstances, but it can also cause people to make up some of the most amazingly ridiculous answers to such questions. "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 personally think it's really cool and well worth the money. The robotic missions are far more cost effective than any manned mission. But I gotta admit, every time we send one of these off to Mars I wonder if the first pictures are going to show giant chicken people. Does anyone else remember Gilligan's 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

It has nothing to do with a rigger working on it. It means that you (as a US resident) aren't legally allowed to jump it in the US. Search "TSO" for more info, look in FAR part 105 for info too. Short version - US rigs need to pass FAA certification (That's the "TSO" thingy) to be legal to jump in the US. It's a long, involved (read: expensive) process. Foreign citizens who aren't residents of the US can jump their equipment in the US if it meets the requirement of their home country. But you can't. Edit to add the part about non-resident non-citizens. resident aliens need to jump TSO'd gear. "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

Proper knowledge only gets you so far. You also need to raw materials the the energy to run the machinery. Just making something as seemingly simply as smokeless gunpowder requires a fairly extensive and interconnected web of technologies. Would somebody eventually make it? Sure. No doubt. It also depends on what we mean by post-apocalypse and just how far civilization has collapsed, but in almost every scenario I can think of it's winds up being something that really wasn't an apocalypse or . . . we really do sort of revert to the Middle-ages and have to rebuild from there with only a marginal head start because of our previous knowledge. We might have the knowledge in book form, but certainly not the skilled humans or modern technology to recreate it. We don't even get to revert to steam . . . most of that knowledge is lost. And But let's be clear, you're not using black powder to reload your AK-47, 1911 or any other "modern" weapon. It's just not going work properly. I'm open to hearing other people's opinions on the topic, but that's my current understanding of the situation. Responding to both posts: I'm not up to speed on pharma or even modern gunpowder, but there's oil wells all over the place, and even small refineries in a lot of places. Fractional distillation is pretty basic science. Power to run the pumps and distillation process could come from solar, wind or hydro. I wouldn't be capable of doing it, but anyone who could would be pretty powerful And for the second post, you certainly could load an AK or a 1911 with black powder. The action wouldn't function automatically, the bullet wouldn't be propelled very fast, and it would get dirty, really dirty, really fast. But it would fire and be lethal. And 38 Special, 44 Special and 45 Colt for pistols, 45-70 and 30-30 for rifles (among others) were originally black powder cartridges. Primers would be a challenge, but doable. There are books in the link I posted previously that not only have the process for making the stuff, but also ways of obtaining the raw materials (saltpeter for black powder for example). And I agree that it depends on the degree of "apocalypse". History Channel did a show about a flu pandemic that they theorized would push civilization back to the 18th or 19th century in terms of technology. A fairly benign situation like that would leave a lot of infrastructure still intact and usable by those with the knowledge. And I agree with whoever it was said that the knowledge that it is possible will make it a lot easier to reaquire a lot of technology. There are very few who now know how to use steam power, but I'm sure it wouldn't take more than a handful of engineers and machinists to relearn it. Again, wind, solar or hydro to power the machine tools (or even old fashioned elbow grease with hacksaws and files). Take the apocalypse to the extreme, major asteroid impact or similar, and then back to the Dark Ages for tech is very likely. There would also be a much smaller pool of knowledge to draw on. A lot more technology would be gone, not to return for a long, long 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

True, but that was hardly my point. My point was films which portray a post-apocalyptic world and high rates of automatic weapons fire just don't seem like something which is sustainable. The other thing to consider is you won't have the internet, so unless you have a book at your disposal with formulas and procedures or you already know how to make the stuff, you're not going to be able to look it up on Wikipedia. My guess is, the vast majority of people do not have the printed material laying around that would tell them how to go about making it. How many films accurately portray anything? The Road Warrior explained the gasoline situation by having an oil well and small refinery inside the compound (How did the bad guys get gas? I don't know). Gasoline and guncotton would be valuable commodities. The technical knowledge how to make them (or making electricity or pharmeceuticals or food or...) would be very valuable. Gasoline and smokeless powder were developed in the late 19th century. Pharma in the early 20th. Nothing that couldn't be accomplished in a post-apocolypse world, with the proper knowledge. And the books on this sort of thing aren't usually in the average public library, they Are Available. You just have to have a few of them before things go bad. But that sort of behavior is being paranoid, isn't 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

Lack of character...guess this is the new face of skydiving. Guess I just need to lower my expectations... :-) Realities of buying and selling. I had a seller accept a full price offer on a canopy and was expecting him to send it off to Chutingstar for inspection (and escrow) the following Monday (offer made Friday and accepted on the phone Saturday) only to have him e-mail that he had sold it for more than the original asking price to someone local who had cash in hand. It happens. "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

How tough? Not at all. You simply launch yourself headfirst out the door. No climing out, no hanging on, no nothing. Proper body position (I'll leave the description of that to your instructors) ensures stability, but even without it, you've regained stability before so it won't be a problem if you do a front loop by accident. How intimidating? That's the real question. You have to launch yourself headfirst out the door. Or into the mouth of your friend the "Door Monster." The first one will scare you. As soon as you are in freefall you will ask yourself what you were scared of it for. At least that's how it was for me. "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, you might want to consider the fact that he'd be lucky to get more than two or three hundred bucks (US dollars) for that rig. It doesn't sound like a very even trade to me. "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 really do not see how my last post differs from the first when I got my message across, the purpose of written communication. I think people are just bored and as soon as they find something, they jump right at the opportunity. Everyone has their own perspective and language is arbitrary. Depending on how you were taught, where you were taught, and other surrounding factors, communication will vary. A simple example is the word "gay." Today it means something totally different then it did 60+ years ago, which was "happy." Just saying. Your first post is written well enough, it's the thread title that puts everyone off. If you are going into communications, you might want to work on tailoring your style to the intended audience. For example, using the word "gay" around teenagers would carry a significantly different meaning than if you used it at the Rainbow Boogie. This site has a lot of "old farts". Look around at the posts and you will usually see proper spelling, grammar and sentence construction. "Textspeak" is usually disparaged. If you want a response, then using proper sentence construction, especially on the first thing people see (the thread title) is probably a good idea. I filled out your survey, I hope you let us see the article, even if it doesn't get published. Just a note: Senior and Master Rigger are FAA ratings, just like pilot certificates. They aren't USPA. Oh yeah, before I forget... Get off my lawn!!!! "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 necessarily. It sounds more like the consultants don’t really know what they are talking about. Once the FAA steps in I think there should be a good chance of the City and Airport Board changing their tune once they realize the obligations they have after accepting federal money. This hopefully will work out in the DZ’s favor. Good luck guys! No kidding that the consultants don't have a clue They need to visit a few DZs that share space successfully with airplanes. They might want to visit a couple fairly busy uncontrolled airposrts too. Pilots don't need a tower to be able to communicate "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

Manual. All of them. Car, truck, motorcycle, work truck. I haven't owned an auto in almost 20 years. More fun, more control. For the motorcycle and the work truck (semi tractor) it's not really a choice - Autos really aren't available. "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. Your permit to carry doesn't give you any rights in any state that doesn't recognize it (that's what the reciprocity bill attempts to address). "Right of passage" applies to transport, not to carrying. You can have a cased and unloaded weapon in your car and pass through areas that restrict them (pistol through New York City). If you have it loaded and on your person going through NYC, you could get into a lot of trouble. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act "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 -- God also told Perry to run. He just wants the entertainment. Wendy P. You know, I'd rather hear directly from God about that. Lots of people think that God told them to do this or that. I tend to be a bit skeptical myself. http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/local/lakeshore/door-county-man-charged-with-trying-to-kill-wife "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

"Seasoned Skydivers?" What flavor? "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

Boobies (but not enough), beer, dogs and romance. SSDD. They are still arguing about DB Cooper. Mostly the same characters. A few have left, a few new ones. There's this duck that does some pretty good cartoons. And no, it's not BillVon . The true postwhores will never leave. "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. All this talk about karma and all is bullshit. He already know what is going to happen if he gives them respect from the employee side and gives a "notice" - escorted out and no more cash for him, that he has earned. If not under a contract, that's perfectly fine from the company's standpoint. All this talk about "giving them the respect they deserve" is a bunch of crap too. Sign on with the new job. Give them your start date -two weeks after you plan to quit - tell them it may be sooner. Work til you get your commission. Give your two weeks. Leave if they fire you, work the two weeks if they don't. You profit. You are respectable from the business side. You move on to new job, possibly enjoying a 2 week vacation in the process. How is this even still up for debate? This. YOU do the right thing, but make sure you protect yourself. "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

+1 Well, the OP is near Chicago. The nearest tunnel is over 1000 miles away. Not really an option, unfortunately. We really need a tunnel in the Upper Midwest. "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

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=3849977;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25; Is this the one you mean? "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

He's in the US. He means Farenheit. Somewhere around -10C. I won't jump if it's that cold. But I'm a wimp. It has to be above freezing on the ground (32F or 0C) for me to jump. But it will still be really cold (-20F or -30C) at altitude. "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 sounds like you're asking if it will be harder to pack a 170 into a rig built for a 190 than packing a 190 in that same rig, right? It's the exact opposite. The smaller canopy will be easier to pack, as there's less 'stuff' going into the same size space. What you really want to do, is look for a rig that will hold a 170, and then do one of two things to make a 190 fit - option one (as mentioned) is to buy a low-bulk 190 made from ZPX, and it will most likely be new or close to new, as ZPX itslef is new to the market. The other option is to look for a well-used 190, one that that has been 'broken in' and is easy to pack. Option one is going to be more expensive (of course) and the downside is that when you want to downsize, you'll lose some money on the sale. A canopy with 0 jumps is very expensive while a canopy with 100 jumps is going to be several hundred dollars less, and the difference is the money you lose. Option two is cheaper to start, and cheaper to finish. The price difference between a canopy with 700 jumps and 800 jumps is almost nothing. If you get a good deal on a used canopy, and find a buyer willing to pay top dollar, you might even make money on the deal. Provided it passes a riggers inspection, a canopy with 500-1000 jumps on it should be an inexpensive and easy to pack first canopy. In the end, you end up keeping your new container through 3 canopies, the 190, 170 and 150. By the time you're packing a 150 in there, it will be loose and easy, and you'll be a good packer by that point. You should be able to get the job done in 8 to 10 min, no problem (by that time; the 190 is going to take you longer the first 100 times). Wow Dave. It's really rare that I disagree with you on stuff, but I do here. You are the one who usually says to get the gear you will jump now not the stuff you will jump in the future Squeezing a 190 (with the exception of the low bulk ZPX) into a container made for a 170 can be done, but it has it's downsides. It's a real pain to pack. Long term, it will damage the container. Stiffeners will deform and crack, the stitching on the flaps will start to come undone, grommets will dislodge. And a very tight main pack can cause reserve hesitation when dumping the reserve with the main still inside. For the OP I would suggest finding a used container that will hold a 190. You may have to be patient and look for a while, you may have to find one that fits the canopies and have the harness resized. You can put a 170 into it in the future, and if you choose a new 170 if/when you downsize, it will pack into a larger container more easily. And you may choose to jump a 190 for a while. I was happy to stay on mine for a long 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

My mind left a loooong time ago, so it's not that much of a problem. Postwhore on here. Watch videos (YouTube and my own/my friends). Mess around with gear. Oh yeah... JUMP!!!!! I have yet to jump in January, but I've jumped in December and February (and all the other months). There's a couple DZs open year round. I may only do one or two but as long as it's above freezing, I'll go up. Layer up, gloves, a balaclava to keep my neck warm, it's not too bad. There is someone on here who jumps at Skyknights (East Troy Wi) who had made a jump each and every month for several years. That may not sound too impressive.. Except he makes his monthly jump naked. Now that's gotta be cold. "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