Deuce

What was his reason? Unless I hear a good one, I won't ever order anything from him. Well, that's one of the things that makes skydiving different than the ourside world. It's smaller. I know Bonnie of gravity gear better than Max, but if she went through a rough patch I'd wait and still do business with her. Max is a standup guy. I'll always only buy wides from him. Skydiving is small. It's about individuals and people aren't as resilient as big businesses. Cheers, Max, I hope all is well. JP

And happy, happy birthday Sandy!!!

Congrats, you beautiful people! I'm so happy for you! JP

Wow, do you have any photos of drunken piggyback rides? I think Derek might have taken some a couple years ago

Max is a great guy. We all have lapses. JP

I did the Air Force altitude chamber training back when I was a good air force cadet and was kicked into the Marine Corps program. I did the program at Mather. My partner was a 50 year old or so airline pilot, and a smoker. At 30,000 feet or so he took off his mask and promptly passed out. I put his mask on pressure back on and he came to right away. Oxygen is marvelous. I did several tests in the chamber, but the most amazing was the color test. You watch a TV color test and take off your mask at altitude. After a few seconds you put the O2 mask back on and there is an amazing "Wizard of Oz" moment as color floods back into the view of the user. People pass out, vomit, crap their pants (brown out) etc. I'd do it again, but I don't thing I'd gain any more respect for altitude. My training included explosive decompression to 30,000 feet. Kicking and unconscious guy out at 21 grand is equivalent to attempted murder without the intent, cause the kicker is not in a right mind. Geez. Why are we trying to make this sport more dangerous? Geez.

John, when a cop pulls you over it's a bad idea to lunge under your seat or to the glove box. When a cop tells you to stop and put your hands up in the air, it's a bad idea to "furtively" and quickly reach iinto one's waistband or pocket. There's a school of thought that cops should take the first round to establish that the "opponent" or person of interest is actually armed, but it has been discredited. A suspect becomes an opponent when they refuse to obey a lawful order. Yes, people can use force to resist an officer's unlawful and excessive force. That's not what I'm talking about here. Out.

I agree with you ethically, but reaching into one's pants when confronted by any armed opponent is stupid, unless you intend to fight. I was at a shooting where the officer told the subject to put his hands up (the guy had warrants and fled from a vehicle stop. Shot him right through his hand and abdomen (one shot) the guy was reaching for a big bag of crack.

Most pistol fghting courses teach officers to shoot the target down. You can empty the magazine on a glock in the time it takes to say "Oh shit!"

I enjoy shooting with a fixed 100mm lens. Hardest part is just getting your site squared away. I had a tele picture of Gravity girl that had the two page center spread in Parachutist.

Iwan is your guy, Vert. Go Hollish, or go home! JP

Clay, goddamnit, people think that folks in your line of work deserve whatever you get. WTF?

You guys clap at suicides too? Fun to watch folks choke on their vomit? Like to hold their wrists as their hearts stop/ Idiots who think death is funny haven't held enough hands of people while they died. Whoever they were. Whores or saints. Assholes. Joke with her daughter about how funny it was back when her mommy died. I don't know WTF is wrong with people. With all the people in the world who need killing, why laugh at this poor train wreck? I don't care about the answers, I'm attempting to encourage introspection. Waste of my time, I know. Geez, for all my hostility toward Saddam, I didn't even make fun of his death.

Shame on you assholes who are making light of this tragedy. She was a disaster on wheels. Do you guys clap whem a NASCAR driver crashes? Geez. Assholes.

I was just diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I gained about 30 pounds all at once and hadn't changed any habits. Went to the dr. and that was it. They have meds for both hypo and hyper and they have pretty low side effects. Apperently both conditions are fairly common and easily treatable.

Hell yes! I've taken both rigs and my camera gear to LA/San Diego a bunch of times! (K1200RS). It works best if you have a backrest on your seat (Corbin makes nice removable ones). Use ratcheting straps. The load will compress as you ride, and it's easy to just put a couple more cranks on to hold everything rock-solid. Sunshine Factory makes excellent gear bags.

Europe. They put them on teeny-tiny cars there. As to the blue and red thing, in CA the red light tells people to pull over to the RIGHT. The blue lights just tell them they are being pulled OVER by a cop, not just to move right and stop, like they are supposed to do for an ambulance (prounounced am-BUH-lants), or fire truck. Want to make some easy money? When a cop is roaring up the shoulder with the lights and siren going and he's on your right, at the last minute pull right, like he's ordering you to do, and let him/her T-bone you. It kills me to watch shows like COPS and the officers are weaving all over with lights and siren going.

When we're talking about Kieth, it's actually "dup-a-licious".

Grunt, I'm a retired cop and graduate of the Gunsite ATP. Thanks, though. I went with Sportsmansguide.com cause they had Sellier and Bellot ammo, and I've gone through several cases of that stuff at Gunsite. I like it about the same as Fiocchi, but cheaper. Good prices, and they had the hydra shock, too. As to expansion, thet's why I shoot .45. If it expands, it's a bonus. If it doesn't, it's still like shoving a piece of rebar through the target. Cheers!

I was helping by plugging in the King Air to the start cart. Once the engines were started and the pilot gave me the disconnect signal I couldn't get the damn plug out. I grabbed it with both hands and pulled with all my might. Suddenly the plug exploded out from the socket and I tripped into the turning propeller. Hurt like hell.

High quality practice ammunition, but not match quality. Nothing but .45 FMJ, not plated, practice ammo round nose 230 grain ball, similar to Fiocchi or Federal, American Eagle, etc. Defense would be 230 grain hydra shock.

Where's the cheapest online ammo? I really like Fiocchi for target and I need to buy some more silvertip. Anyone? JP

And thousands motivated by your example. And just a couple skymonkey hats. Thanks MonoUno! (nice avatar)

To summarize? Insurance is good. Insurance is expensive. Expensive is relative to the income of the jumper. The income of full time jumpers puts them usually below the poverty line, and unable to buy insurance and own a black and white television at the same time. People without insurance still get red-helicopter rides when they crash, and are still treated in emergency rooms, regardless of their ability to pay. People living below the poverty line are unable to pay, and the counties pick this cost up. In California the Counties run the ER's. My sidebar: The Counties DO NOT want to treat anybody in the ER. Heck when I was a deputy, there were tons of women who would come in with menstrual cramps! Guys coming in with infected ingrown toenails (and gunshot wounds, but GSW's are cool, like skydiving crashes and BELONG in the ER) The counties in CA all have some sort of low-income subsidized health plan, as I've posted the one in Contra Costa (where Byron is). These plans tend to discriminate against healthy single young men, but healthy single young men usually just need catastrophic anyhow. For young healthy single men with infected ingrown toenails, make an appointment at the county clinic where you are charged on your ability to pay. Anyhow, Emergency rooms are like public schools. I don't choose to use them (much), but they are good for the overall benefit of society. They should allow orthopedic surgeons to do indigent work for a tax write off.

Lodi in NorCal