Sinkster

amen brother! preach it!!!!

The main thing is to not lose your dignity over it and grovel or beg her to stay with you. No point in a relationship unless there is some kind of equal reciprocity. Plus the balance of power appears to be in her hands at this point. I had a similar thing happen once too. My advice now is to: 1. Ditch her cold turkey and leave it be. No point dragging it out when it's over when you could be meeting someone new and exciting. 2. Find someone else real quick as a "pivot" even if you don't really like them to make her jealous and want you back. This strategy also works to get dates in general. There are a lot of fish out there so don't sweat it and don't settle for "game playing". (although astute readers will note that my advice above about getting a "pivot" is also a "game" so I might be a hyprocrite. However, I'm still not jaded enough to actually follow my own advice which I have learned only from listening to other people.)

In the context of the play, act, and scene in which those words are spoken, it is my opinion that those words are best interpreted as essentially saying "to act or not to act, that is the question." so in light of that of course I must say "ACT!" which of course Hamlet does. Edit: Actually the next few words let u know what he means. U dont need the context of the rest of the play, etc. (duh) hehe. "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?""

Thanks gravitysurf!

yeah, I totally agree that a TM shouldn't be too much of a clown unless they know the person or that it will be ok. I'm just a newbie skydiver, but I've watched a lot of tandem videos and some of them (while funny), were kind of ridiculous in how much attention it seemed the TM was trying to get. Antics include antlers, tongue sticking out, covering eyes of student for a second, swimming hands, praying hands, assorted silly faces, and my all time favorite," the put a head lock on student and swing your fist out like your bashing the student in the head several times" trick. Some of those are appropriate IMO, but some are not (like head bashing) because they do really seem to cheapen and take away from the experience of the student. I know some ppl will say to "lighten up", but I guess to me that first jump was just a too special and spiritual experience to treat like that. Of course, some ppl probably don't think the same way and just enjoy the crazyness which is fine, but I think that it's best to play it safe. (Course I didn't do a tandem first jump either b/c I didn't want to be butt to nut with any dude, and I didn't want to be a "turista" either, but that's another story! )

That's my home dz so I'll be there! Everyone come so we can meet and stuff. I wanna see the infamous bill von. hehehe. (and of course most importantly all the ladies)

do you mean too loud even inside a full face helmet? freefall seems pretty quiet inside mine. i've thought about installing some sort of communications system to talk in freefall b/c i think it would be pretty neat. if anyone tries it please let us know.

BEER!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a link to an archive of "motivators" by Ralph Marston (includes the ones posted and more) so you can browse through them at your leisure, look for more, and explore whatever you want without having to wade through this thread or go about it in a linear manner. Thanks for posting these btw. Archive of 'Daily Motivator' columns by Ralph Marston

As an example, I can remember as a recent AFF grad being terrified of getting out for my first hop-n-pop from 5,000. (jump 15) I said some colorful words before exiting and I pulled as soon as I was stable. Yesturday, I decided to make a couple more hop-n-pop's from 5,000 just for fun (jumps 30 & 32). One out of a super otter and the other a cessna. (I like cessna best cuz the slower exit speed let's me feel more downward acceleration which is scarier and more of a rush

According to that site there are only 2 theatres with the movie planned to be shown.(as of now) One is in canada (ontario or something) and the other in sweden. More will hopefully/probably pick it up though.

Some of you, (or alot) may already know about this, but I just had to post for those that didn't and because it looks pretty cool. Someone is releasing an IMAX sized 'movie' called "Adrenaline Rush" (formerly known as "Courage"), that will supposedly premier in Toronto in Sept. of this year. The movie is about risk taking but it primarily focuses on skydiving and base jumping for illustration. It even includes a scene where they test out Leonardo Da Vinci's parachute design according to his exact specifications and materials. (spoiler: it works great!! (apple.com shows it working in a short clip (search for "Courage") amazing considering da vinci designed it 500 years ago. of course other designs of his including a bridge have been built and worked great too. awesome.) Anyhow, here are some links to the trailer and some basic info: Direct link to high bandwidth windows media trailer. Link to some more basic info and other trailer formats.

In reply, all I can say is: Why even skydive? What do we see as the benefits that make the added risk worth it?

Your quest begins here.

Ahh Bill von, what good classic ethical questions you pose (and food for thought as usual)!! In scenario (1) the "Train Car Dilemma", most people choose to sacrifice the one person for the good of many people because it seems to have the best results of a bad situation even though they have to take direct action to kill the one person. In scenario (2) the "5 Patient Problem", most people decide that it would be murder to kill the one to save the many, even though saving 5 people seems to be a better outcome. According to some ethical doctrines (the Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE) for a classic example), it would be wrong to even kill the one person to save the five with the train car, because "intentionally killing an innocent person is never permissible" even if the resulting good is possibly greater than the bad that results as well according to the DDE. Yet, some better doctrines treat a non-action with the same weight as an action, so it would be 'more' wrong to let the car kill the 5 people since through your non-action 5 people died instead of one. I was going to write a long essay, but I want to eat soon so I am just going to quickly state that in the second case (if you decide the kill the one person) the notion of personal rights and justice are destroyed and that morality and ethics are more than just what produces the best outcome. To save time I propose another thought experiment: Suppose that there is a heinous racial crime where say a green girl is raped by a blue man. (real colors removed to avoid stupid racial comments) Furthermore, suppose that because of the crime, the green people start rioting which you calculate will result in numerous innocents to be killed. Now, suppose you can frame a blue man and have him tried and executed for the crime successfully. If you do this you will save many innocent lives at only the cost of the one blue man. Is this morally right? The answer is that obviously it is morally wrong because to murder the blue man even though it saves many lives destroys the notion of personal rights and justice. People believe that they have intrinsic value and rights and that it should not be violated for any reason. That is one reason why they answer negative on the second one. However, on the first they possibly believe that non-action is just as bad as action and decide for the lesser of evils. Still, if you think about, it may be just as wrong to kill the one guy in the first scenario as the second, since both require direct action. But, there is more to the scenario than just 1 or 5 and you have to consider the circumstances and other factors just like you consider motive in a crime case. It's not just the mechanics over whether a driver hitting and killing a pedestrian is manslaughter or 3rd degree murder (or whatever i'm no lawyer), but motive and circumstance of the driver. So that's my quick and incomplete answer, but I think it's enough that will people get the idea. (time for pizza)

*** What has been your canopy progession (the canopies you have jumped, the number of jumps on each canopy and your performance under those canopies). What training canopy training have you recieved? *** Jumped some F-111 starting at 260 down to 190 in about 16 jumps. Then jumped the sabre 170. Have like 11 jumps on it now. Performance was basically I was able to stand up the landings consistently on everything else. The 190 was no problem. As an update, some people helped me out this weekend and that including some advice from people here helped me have some great landings, I stood all of them up and have solved my problem of flaring too high. I am just going to keep being careful and make sure I keep improving and learning at a significant pace.

Alright, I will seek out training if there is anyone on the dz that can do it or I will try to get a demo canopy if a 190 will fit my container. The cypress on my rig is due for a 4 year check which will probably take a couple weeks so it will be a good excuse to wait for a demo. Good grief! I had no idea that I should be able to confidently do all of those things. I am actually somewhat angry now for being put out on a too small canopy with no training. Of course, I am a fast learner and graduated AFF in 6 jumps (almost a weekend) with the 1st being my 1st jump ever so maybe they figured I would pick it up like everything else. Once I asked about flat turns and they said just to not worry about it that I didn't need to know yet. I realize it is still my responsibility though so like I said I am going to find someone to help me even if I have to pay for coaching!!!!! (especially pay--since then I should be getting good instruction or I hope so) Thanks again for the excellent advice. I am going to destroy this threat before it destroys me! -Sinkster

Hey all. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I appreciate everyone's thoughtful posts on this matter. It is definately correct that I need to take this seriously and really focus on learning the flight characteristics and handling of the canopy. It is also correct that I honestly should be on a main at least 20 sq ft larger. I think I would feel comfortable on a 190 at least I was comfortable when it was F-111. Honestly, that is what I already figured, but hated to act on because of the investment in my gear. Anything larger will probably not fit in my container and I bought the only thing available that looked sufficient that I could find used within my price range yadda yadda yadaa. Yet, it would be remarkably foolish to get injured over something as preventable as maintaining the proper canopy/wingloading per experience/skill level. Thus, the only two options are to either (1) augment my skill and experience, or (2) to simply move up to a larger or more forgiving canopy. (1) is the option that I am currently trying to fulfill. Obviously, the problem with this one is that it could end up teaching me a lesson that I don't want to go through. (2) is the best option if not considering what I would have to do to make this happen. With these two options and all the previous postings in mind, I am going to fulfill the following course of action: I will make 3 more jumps concentrating on really nailing the control, flaring, and landing. If problems still continue then I will simply be forced to keep jumping and pray that I don't get injured. Yes, I thought I was going to say I would just jump a rental 190 F111 but then I realized that I would rather take my chances on my gear than jump the ratty, FXC equipped, improper closing loop lengthed (due to throw-out to rip cord conversions without changing closing loop size which is not supposed to happen but I suspect does sometimes), with hundreds of jumps on the canopy, etc. I know that makes my home dz sound bad, but I am a picky person and had to suck it in during student status to skydive even though I felt some things could have been better. I just accepted that the risk was worth it to me and hurried to get my own gear. lol So thanks for listening and sorry if these posts have seemed a waste of time since I was just going to be stubborn anyway and maybe only posted to rant and see if I could get anyone to say that "yes, u can do it don't worry". I don't know. In any case, I will now jump with more resolve to make it unscathed through this dangerous time. My own safety is my responsibility, and if I don't feel like I should be doing something even if someone else that is experienced says I can, it would be better not to even if only for psychological reasons. But I feel that I can do this just like I learned about all the other aspects of skydiving, and I will. At least now, if I break something it can be said that someone warned me.

Hey all. As you might know, I got my first rig a few weeks ago and have been jumping it for about 3 weekends (I have 25 jumps now the last 7 on the Sabre). The main is a Sabre 170 and I weigh 185-190 so the wingloading is somewhere between 1.18 - 1.26 depending on the weight of the container. Anyways, the first few landings were great and I stood them up but on that day the winds were something like a constant 10-14. Then, the next weekend the winds were almost non-existent and I consistently flared too high and had a couple of hard PLF landings, but one turf surf at the end which was great but scary because now I feel like the most dangerous part of the the skydive is by far the landing and I probably just got lucky on that landing because I was just flaring on instinct at the last minute without 2-stages on that one. Finally, last weekend I got one jump in and came in again with a slightly too high flare (about 2 feet) and landed hard forcing me on my knees but no harm except tingling ankles. I am young and have strong ankles, etc. but I am beginning to think that perhaps this canopy is too much for me at this point. The only problem is that I bought it because it was the only thing I could get in a used container at a price I could afford within reason that was offered to me. I trust the guy who sold it to me and he watched some of my landings under a 190 F111 (forgot what) and figured I could do it. Still, I never received any instruction except "use a 2-stage flare" and I still consistently flare a tad too high OR just too much too fast which I think is probably the case. Anyways, I am still going to keep jumping it because not jumping is not an option and I think if I continue to be careful I will probably be fine, but I am wondering if anyone has any comments on this. You think my bag of experience will fill up before my bag of luck runs out? I sure hope so. As far as the two-stage flare is it still initiated at 15 or so feet like a "normal" flare? I think because my risers are so long by the time I get half-way most the flare is gone so this complicates things and may actually be why I am having such bad landings. In fact, I swear I can distinctly remember having the toggles halfway at about 5 feet and then all the way at about 3 then surfing about 2 feet above ground before subsequently dropping hard. Anyone have any tips besides just keep jumping and practicing and tweaking it out(which I plan to do)? I know this is pretty dumb, but I had to ask instead of just hushing up about it and hoping for the best (and hoping people don't notice that guy always coming in with a *grunt* on the landings resulting in a dirty rig and jumpsuit each time.)

what's the server again? heh

rock on! the fun has only just begun...

wow, that's pretty dang cool! i wish my school had a skydiving club, I know only three other people at lsu who skydive. i totally agree about the price being a big obstacle, there is no way in heck i could afford this without working all the time at a decent paying job and really a lot of college students don't have time to work all the time (or dont have the desire and i dont blame them, i used to enjoy my time so much more than the money before i had somethng useful to spend it on like skydiving) so what can you say? in debt and loving it

the problem with WMV is that it is a proprietary format that is difficult to find on a lot of programs (at least the ones I use) that compress or generate video. (for example flaskMPEG to produce compressed DVD content and program I used to create the compressed avi (VideoMach) has no WMV option or codec with it) for the quality and size i would be happy to use it, but the restrictions and availability keep me away from it. what program(s) can I use to take a basic avi or any other video and create a WMV with it? I don't mind doing that for future videos/projects to make it easier for people to enjoy them.

I think I encoded it with the divx 4.12 codec. The way I did it reduced it from 260 megs to 10. And that's with bloated wav style audio too. Anyways, I know a lot of people probably lack codecs for divx--the superior way to encode movies (tm), so here is a link to a program that installs almost every possible codec out there for divx and anything else. All the codecs are not that big either and I use it without any problems or bugs just so you know. Maybe you should make a directory on the site to put the software needed to view all the different movie types. ANyways, here is the link to get tons of codecs in one slim and easy to install package known as the Ace Mega Codecs Pack. There are others out there but I know this one works fine so I use it. The link: http://www.internews.hu/dl/ACEMCP.EXE Direct download or go to the site: http://www.divx-digest.com/software/acemega_codec.html for more information. Sorry about no 'clicky' links but I have to go take a final in 30 min so no time to figure it out. BTW, almost all the movies you can get from kazaa and imesh are encoded in divx like this so it's very useful to have. Also, if media player doesn't work the codecs pack comes with a small program called "The Playa" (worth the space) that will probably play whatever won't work (i.e. you get a black screen and only audio) with windows media player.

yeah, ur totally right. plus, i can't afford a camera yet anyways. gonna be paying off that rig for the summer at least anyways and i still need a helmet and jumpsuit. (was borrowing full face to test it (kinda nice with noize cut out but cant decide what i like best yet)) probably gonna just keep jumping in t-shirt and shorts though if you think that's ok. I heard it helps you get better somehow. anyone have a comment on that? the DZO said ppl should get a jumpsuit first thing offhand to someone but i dont see why u can't just do RW by just grabbing arms and leg hairs. =)