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John are you feeling ok? This has nothing to do with guns, rifles, ammunition or the 2nd Amendment! Over is easier for when the roll is near the end and you grab the last piece of paper before speed reloading the next roll.... ohhhhh ok, now i see the point he is trying to make. Subtle John, subtle "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

thanks Ron but yeah i'm currently in the UK (although married to an American so might well find myself stateside at some point). "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i'm in the UK so we don't have 401k's here (although i was under the impression this was actually just another form of "pension" which is what we get here). Could be completely off on that though. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

what's an IRA? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I don't have one - i'm 30 this year. I'm kind of worried i should perhaps have one. I work in the public sector currently and have done for 2 years but opted out of the pension scheme straighaway (which i'm now sort of regretting). Just had an informal chat with my boss/colleagues in the office about the fact i don't pay into a pension and never have done...and er, well i'm starting to think i've been a bit short sighted. It's not like i have money to burn, and after having some fairly significant outgoings recently (non skydiving related) i haven't even had a chance to think about trying to put money away. I was trying to put away 15% of my net income, which i did manage to do, but marital related expenses sort of put an end to that Anyhoo, should i be worried i don't have a pension at almost 30? What sort of corrective actions can i take to make sure im not eating cold beans out of a can aged 65? I work for my local council (government) and apparently the pension contribution is quite a bit safer/better than the private sector but i have no real facts on this other than what my boss has said (she has just hit 60 and pensionable age, and seems quite knowledgeable about this, having done both private and public sector work). Any guidance is as always, appreciated. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Question for everyone - Would you have a problem if Bush only donated $100? No. Doesn't matter how much you give, just give something (even if it's a dime in a collection box, that dime might be enough to buy fresh water for one person for one day) "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i don't think it's about which is the more dangerous - i think it's more about accessibility. Anyone can go outside and (attempt to) free run (although not necessarily up the Severn bridge) - not necessarily well - but they can do it (see Sebastian demo'ing the simple moves to new free runners). No one can - and virtually no one ever would - go and learn about BASE and then put all the money into a rig, and it will never be the "mass movement" as they predict free running will be (which i don't think it will, it's just the latest "urban sport" to catch it's 15 mins but that's another topic). So when you say "market dictates" you are kind of right, but the market dictates because of accessibility (free running doesn't have to be about life threatening jumps - it can just be simply running and jumping off of small posts or any unconventional movement and use of street object) Sebastian embodies the free runner spirit, whereas the vast majority of the UK contingent do not (see: their surprise when he says the best way to practice is alone, because then you are not looking to impress anyone, and it's all about you conquering your fears by yourself). They see it more of the "urban sport"; he sees it far more deeply and philosophically, and will most likely still be doing it when the Gen-X'ers have moved onto something else and the steam drops out. I also preferred Jump London over Jump Britain - i think probably because it had more of Sebastian and the founding philosophy, and less of the more spiritually shallow bandwagon jumping "we're in a video game now" UK contingent. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

what weird stuff when you were a kid? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

power and money in this case (i.e. the President) are not necessarily in direct correlation with one another. Just because he has "all the power" does not mean he has "all the money". Look at the bigger picture (how much of his annual income he donated), to put things in perspective. You cannot deny his family has money, sure, but i doubt his entire family wealth runs to more than what many A list celebs and All Star NFL/NBA stars make in a year or two from fees and sponsorship deals. I certainly gave no where near 3% of my gross annual income, i could barely afford what i did give (well, the bank gave it, i just have to pay them back now ). It's all relative - we can say "hey he gave $10k what a tight idiot!" or we can say "wow he gave 3% of his annual gross income, how generous". Bottom line, give what you can afford to, but give a little something. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Well he gave 3%+ of his gross annual income. If everyone in the western world followed that example, we would have a lot more than the few million we are getting from rich ball players/multi millionaire celebs who can afford to drop a mil here and there, that's for sure. Again, i'm no Bush supporter. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Yes - but there must have been a landmark case/amedment to have this begin from somewhere surely? Does anyone know more specifically about what could have instigated this sort of behaviour? I'm kind of interested to know the when and why things started to get this way, if you know what i mean. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I know we often read funny stories about people suing each other left right and centre in the US over things that seem relatively trivial, and simply as a way to make money. We also know that the US takes it's rights of it's citizens very seriously, as we do, but there, it seems to equate a larger financial cache to people who might say trip on a slab of concrete as they walk along the pavement. I saw this today and just thought "has the US become TOO litigious?". I know this isn't anything new, but i was wondering what you guys think about this story in particular. It smacks of nothing more than a legal insider trying to make a few bucks. Again, nothing new there. Would society in the US as a whole be better off without this sort of massive financial gain from litigation suits? We can sue here sure, but it's for peanuts in terms of financial rewards, unless it's a very serious (miscarriage of justice sort of thing) high profile case. Anyway have a look at this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4150893.stm Also, how on earth can something like this stand up in court? Could the defence not just say "You should have turned the TV off?". Edited to add: does anyone know WHEN and WHY the US went this way with regards to litigation suits? Did the legal industry drive it as a means to make $$$ galore? I don't remember this being such a big thing (multi million dollar litigiation cases) until the last few decades. What has driven things to go this way? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Bush may be the leader of the most powerful nation in the free world but don't confuse his earning capacity with that of an NBA player. Like someone else said - he gave, and hopefully this will encourage more of us to give who haven't already done so - whether that's 10 or 10000 of whatever currency you work in. And i'm not a Bush supporter. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

for someone describing some pretty scary stuff going on, you seem remarkably chilled about the whole affair!

At a time when we are witnessing one of those rare moments in history where different nations come together to work and provide assistance to help the common good, this really makes me wonder. Whoever this is knows full well what they did is wrong, no matter how justified they were in their minds that it was the right thing to do, and this will live with them forever. That to me is more punishment than i would ever like to receive, and worse than a beat down or simply not having access to this site. I would try not to feel angry for whoever did this, more sadness for them that they could try to ruin another persons livelihood in this way, skydiver or not... "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

You paid $90 for the 7500?! Cheapest i can find it here is amazon for approx $180! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Ok so i'm inspired to post this after my afternoon trip to the dentist. There, like the hallowed Exaclibur on their front desk, was the toothbrush i have been salivating over for the last 6 months. Toothbrushes normally don't excite me that much, but this one looks great (see below) To date i have only ever used manual toothbrushes - the wife uses a fairly standard electric and many people say they are WAY better than regular ones. I haven't been bothered about upgrading until i saw this...the Sonicare Elite range. http://www.sonicare.com/products/elite/7500.asp It's DAMN expensive though (i think it's about £100 here in the UK), but man oh MAN it looks like the daddy of all toothbrushes. So - should i go electric, and if so, is it worth the upgrade to "The Daddy", or should i just pick something up for £20 and be happy without all the bells and whistles. Also, has anyone gone electric and not been happy, and then switched back to manual? Thanks. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

ok thanks - and yes, not the most encouraging thing, but hey it needs to be done so.... PS how does one prevent root canal work needing doing? Anyone know what the cause of root canal damage, or is it simply decay that has reached the root?? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

OMG "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

what a root canal? I've heard of it but no idea what it involves. It sounds infinitely painful though. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

well he said it could be gold or porcelain, but he said he wanted me to come back next week, after he had taken a look at the xrays i think, and then we would see if it could just have another filling, or crown it. Gold sounds better in the long term, but it's a lower molar so it might be obvious when i talk. I will consult with him depending on his prognosis when i go back, but thanks for the comments all. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

a NUB?! Oh man this doesn't sound in the least bit fun. Is yours on a molar? How on earth can you grind a huge molar down to a small point? Mine will - possibly - be my molar that needs to be crowned, depending on what my dentist recommends. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

this is something my dad got done a while ago - and now my new dentist (first visit today) said i might need it done! I seem too young for this sort of thing Anyway, im wondering about the process. It would be on a rear molar, which has fractured. Anyone know what the process is for something like this? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I don't know much about the NY Daily News but i would question some of the validity of what's quoted in that article, only because anyone going to an area to complain about the view after a natural disaster of this magnitude is either not very up on world events, or it was made up by the reporter (there is no direct quote of who said what other than "a Russian guest" etc. While reading some BBC news today, i came across this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4143713.stm which is quite interesting. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

well i assumed it had been ineffective reporting of the facts, to go from $130,000+ less than 2 days ago, to over $20 million today. Thats not money raised, that's what the government has pledged. It could always be that the French govt DID say they were only going to send $130,000 odd, and then changed their mind and upped it by more than $20 million 48 hours later, i suppose. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts