narcimund

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Everything posted by narcimund

  1. narcimund
    I feel threatened by anyone with big muscles. They could punch me and give me a bloody nose. Or what about bullies. They could stick their foot into the aisle when I walk to the toilet. I might trip and bruise myself. People who excercise and anyone with a history of picking on little kids when they were in school should be confiscated by security so I feel safer. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  2. narcimund
    ... if more threads had complete subjects. With dozens of threads appearing every day, it's not my goal to look at all of them. I'd rather get a pretty good idea of what the thread's about BEFORE I open it so I can skip ones that just don't apply to me. I assume most people don't enjoy wasting their time on highly specialized threads that are for someone else either. Example: If the topic is "I'd like a...", every dropzone.com user worldwide has to open it to find out that the first line is "... ride from downtown Portland to Skydive Oregon next Tuesday." 30 seconds wasted! So save us all some effort. Put at least one real clue in the subject of your threads. This has been a public service announcement. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  3. narcimund
    I hope you find and adorable guy and finish AFF, too. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  4. narcimund
    One of many books on my shelf. Unfortunately, I think much of the magic is lost when he isn't reading it. Hearing him read his own works is oddly MANY times more amusing than reading it yourself. Generally I think exactly the opposite but his voice and interpretation is brilliantly well suited for it. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  5. narcimund
    Hah! Wowsa. I'm a gear fag too, I guess, but if I used that term people will think something else (which also happens to be true, so it's hard to unconfuse things.) My container, main, jumpsuit, and gearbag are all primarily black with minor use of hot pink and sky blue and an accent here and there of yellow for brightness. Very faggy in both senses. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  6. narcimund
    Continuing to hijack the thread, there's a custom in America to make trends of popular mental disorders which excuse laziness. Several years ago everyone had (or thought they had or just claimed to have) dyslexia. Every slip of the tongue, spelling error, or poor word choice was reflexively explained by "I have dyslexia." It's astounding how many people suddenly acquired this convenient disease then equally suddenly forgot about it when the trend faded. Then it was depression. Everyone has is, at least when they're in a sour mood or just don't feel enthusiastic or motivated. Besides, the drugs they give away like candy are numbing much the way television is, and people seem to enjoy that. More recently it's been the attention disorders which equally well excuse laziness and lack of interest. This one has been around for about as long as the trends usually last, so I'm expecting another shift soon. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  7. narcimund
    Even if the question were one I wanted to answer, I'd refuse to take it seriously because of the presentation. Bad form. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  8. narcimund
    Oh! Sorry. Two other people were making the same claim seriously in another thread so I was primed to take it seriously. Ooops. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  9. narcimund
    'nuff said. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  10. narcimund
    To be more specific, they don't need anything. You are the one who needs them to pick a side. It's entirely unclear to me why it matters to you however. I sure wish you would explain why you believe there's a problem. Did a bisexual person do something bad to you once? First Class Citizen Twice Over
  11. narcimund
    We have a "Bitter End Pub" here in Portland as well (is it a chain I wonder?) although I've never been there. I've always thought it would be a great place to break up with a lover or fire an employee. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  12. narcimund
    My first rig had a round reserve and in my one cutaway on that rig I discovered firsthand the problem. If you have to use it, you're jumping something you're not current on. Now I think it's a terrible choice for anyone unless their main is also a round. Anyone who's been jumping for less than 20 years has probably never jumped a round at all and the first time they pull their reserve they're going to be like a first jumper without training. They're coming down under a parachute type they've never seen. Now, in an emergency situation I'd rather have a round than nothing, no matter how untrained I was, but that's not the choice skydivers are faced with. Pilots fly with emergency rigs which are most often rounds, but that's the best option available. Besides, their likelihood of ever using them is insignificant while ours is (relatively) high. We should have ram air reserves for ourselves and definitely for the students. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  13. narcimund
    My longest walk was from Reed College to the Reed College Ski Cabin on Mt Hood. That's 58 miles split evenly over two days (29 miles per day). The last 10 miles are something like 9% grade, too. It was totally worth it just for the excercise and air and being outdoors for two days. But even better was a bike ride back DOWN the mountain. My longest bicycle ride in a day is 140 miles. Whew. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  14. narcimund
    blueandblackblueandblackblueandblack. Oh god, not more blueandblackblueandblackblueandblack! First Class Citizen Twice Over
  15. narcimund
    Oh no! I'm late joining the fray. Well, at least I have the excuse of WORKING WHILE I'M AT WORK! Anyway, my answer to the question about a gay gene: I don't know! I'm not blessed by the omniscience most people seem to have. I don't know more about genetics than the genetic scientists do so I'm not qualified to have an opinion. However, the interesting claim that homosexuality is or is not a choice is something I can respond to. Having homosexual desires is not moderated by choice. One doesn't choose to want something. However, acting upon ones desires is a choice. One chooses to screw around with the object of one's desires. This is very important and hardly anyone breaks it apart this way. DESIRE IS NOT CHOSEN but ACTION IS CHOSEN. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  16. narcimund
    Here are the relevant quotes from my responses from Continental. I consider this very friendly and helpful and (assuming it's not just customer service fluff) it's exactly what I'd want an airline to do. And later... First Class Citizen Twice Over
  17. narcimund
    This is not an "Eloy" thread, it's and "Eloy thread" thread. Be nice. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  18. narcimund
    I'd gladly jump at the chance for a 40k ft skydive. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  19. narcimund
    Nothing turns me off so quickly as the "Admire me. I'm pretty." attitude. Besides, like Janet Veiss (Weiss!) says, "I don't like a man with TOO many muscles." First Class Citizen Twice Over
  20. narcimund
    Thank you very much for that inside information. I'll do that first thing tomorrow. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  21. narcimund
    "That would be telling." First Class Citizen Twice Over
  22. narcimund
    I have a Continental Airlines flight to mexico in a few weeks and the Delta thread scared me. So I wrote to Continental telling them of my concerns and asking for reassurance and assistance in boarding the flight with my rig. Several days later I received a confirmation email stating that sport parachuting equipment is allowed on Continental flights and a promise to tag my ticket record with the notation that my equipment is allowed. Hopefully this note will lessen the chance of some freshman staff member's kneejerk reaction about cheesy adventure movie scenarios. I'm very happy with their response and recommend this proactive pre-flight planning to all skydivers. The more of us who get out in front of the problem, the more the airlines will be inclined to assert pro-skydiver policies and training. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  23. narcimund
    Uh oh. Drama ahead. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  24. narcimund
    Easier than coordinates is zip/postal codes. There are online mapping services that provide socket connections for distance calculations. It's a relatively minor operation. The data required is the zip/postal code for the DZ. A user can then enter their zip/postal code and receive a distance ranked list of DZs, starting with closest. The coding on Sangiro's end isn't complicated, although the services charge a fee. -- Another option is to just graphically place a dot on an GIF outline map of the state or country. DZs don't move all that often so it hardly needs to be dynamic. First Class Citizen Twice Over
  25. narcimund
    Corporations bring you the power and the computers. Who's going to provide your comfy goodies after the revolution comes? Who's going to bring you coffee and sew your parachute and butcher the hog? First Class Citizen Twice Over