Wings-n-Things

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Everything posted by Wings-n-Things

  1. Wings-n-Things
    How so? How is a person with 200 jumps teaching a newbie a good thing, but a person with 200 jumps getting their slot covered a bad thing? It's not so much that money is exchanged that is a bad thing. Capitalism is good! It's just that the rating given to someone with such a low jump number gives the individual ideas of grandure. It feeds the "skygod with madskillz" mentallity when a person with a couple hundred jumps should just shut up and listen. Also, and maybe more importantly, it takes away from the joy of skydiving and learning with others. As I said before, some people you jump with you will know, and some you won't. Some you will learn from and others you will teach. The sport is expensive enough as it is without some greedy egotistical skygod soaking young jumpers for whatever they can get. It just kills the vibe. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  2. Wings-n-Things
    I'm not gonna read all that! Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  3. Wings-n-Things
    You make some good points. Either way, giving someone with a couple hundreds jumps the idea that they are now knowledgable enough to charge money is not only a joke but IMHO dangerous. Not to mention bad for the sport. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  4. Wings-n-Things
    So... you speak for "everyone" now? What you mean is you're speaking for USPA. I don't mind saying, USPA is WRONG. Someone else called it right when they said it was a way for USPA to make money for additional BS ratings. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  5. Wings-n-Things
    NO. In my mind at least, a JM is a junior instructor who is still learning. A coach is a master. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  6. Wings-n-Things
    That's what the JM rating was for. Calling ones self a "coach" implies a complete mastery of something far above one's peers and years and years of experience. You don't see folks with yellow belts teaching karate do you???? Which is what? Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  7. Wings-n-Things
    Sure. I guess. But if someone is gonna call themselves a "coach" they'd better have 20,000 jumps under their belt and a room full of medals and trophies. Think about it in terms football. Is a professional coach a guy who played one season of Pop Warner football or a guy who spent 10 or 20 years as an NFL player, maybe won a Superbowl ring or two THEN went to a team as coach. The current definitions of what USPA calls a coach is ridiculous at best. And it's a scar on the sport. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  8. Wings-n-Things
    Heroes. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  9. Wings-n-Things
    You're absolutely right. Either way it's insulting. Part of skydiving is going to the dropzone to jump with people you know and people you don't know. Some of them are better than you and you'll learn from them. Some you would need to teach a thing or two to. At the end of the day, you will have had a great time, met new friends shared beers around the bonfire and it's all good. The idea of paying for the exchange of experience just sucks donkey balls. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  10. Wings-n-Things
    Here we go... The idea of having to pay someone to jump with me is beyond my comprehension. What a load of arrogant skygod bullshit!!! Pay for your own fucking jumps! Sigh... I guess if you were an internationally known, corporate sponsored, world champion, taking time out from your busy training regimen, I may consider paying for your slot on the airplane in exchange for lengthy instruction and detailed debrief, etc. But if you've got a few hundred jumps and an attitude, you're more likely to get my boot up your ass. And I'll be damned if I give you a beer out of the case I just bought for my first whatever. Gawd, what has the skydiving world come to? Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  11. Wings-n-Things
    I haven't "been around for awhile" but best wishes to you this Christmas and in the new year. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  12. Wings-n-Things
    Flying a camera is no distraction at all. No problem. Sparky Sparky 'ol pal, my only point is that jump number matters little. Anybody could potentially get so distracted they forget their rig. And for what it's worth, a simple pin check would have saved the jumper I mentioned. NOBODY is too cool for a pin check. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  13. Wings-n-Things
    When I burned out after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, I threw out my computer and didn't have one for almost 3 years. Didn't miss it at all. Once I got one again and tried to make money webmastering, I found out I was obsolete and unemployable. Now I'm going back to school to get into the medical industry and could give a shite about web development. I just wanna surf the web... and skydive. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  14. Wings-n-Things
    Not to mention a comprehensive class on what kind of video equipment is out there, what kind of helmets, how to rig the cameras on the helmets, the various cutaway systems and the advantages/disadvantages of the various brands and such. Anybody remember that guy in Florida about 20 years ago who was so distracted by his camera equipment, he forgot to put on his parachute? I wonder how many jumps he had??? The tiny cameras available today, combined with camera ready helmets make camera flying a much easier & safer prospect than it used to be. So much so that a lot of the bickering on this thread is pretty silly IMHO. Forget about an individuals jump numbers and focus on establishing a somewhat standardized training program and go from there. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  15. Wings-n-Things
    As long as I'm not paying for them! Who cares! But if a girl can afford them....oh even better! Nothing like a good looking girl with an education and extra spending money! +1 Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  16. Wings-n-Things
    Looks like a blast! Those lobsters were HUGE!!! Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  17. Wings-n-Things
    Those guys are the best! Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  18. Wings-n-Things
    Coffee!!! Someone I don't know. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  19. Wings-n-Things
    Cool. Good 4 U. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  20. Wings-n-Things
    The POGUES - Fairytale of New York http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrAwK9juhhY Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  21. Wings-n-Things
    They would be forced to use an artist's rendering. (OK, I was the artist... at age 4 or 5) http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1328120365587&set=a.1228967966839.2035648.1308271686 Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  22. Wings-n-Things

    AA Logo?

    Wings-n-Things replied to airdvr's topic in The Bonfire

    I was thinking about this one. http://www.combatreform.org/82ndairbornepatch.jpg Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  23. Wings-n-Things
    Not to hijack the thread but I can't for the life of me figure out why a new rig should cost 6K+!!! I realize there is more going into the cost than materials and labor. But c'mon, today's prices are absurd. Twenty years ago you could buy a new rig for less than 3K. It's ridiculous! Maybe the factories could reduce the size of their demo/comp teams and minimize their globe trotting!! Or maybe go back to cutting canopies with hot knives instead of those fancy shmancy lazer cutters... I don't know. Whatever. New gear is way over-priced. Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  24. Wings-n-Things
    Thanks! Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front
  25. Wings-n-Things
    I was looking at Z Hills on Google maps and was wondering what the deal was with all the trailers I see parked on the edge of the dz??? I tried searching for info on 'em but came up empty. Are these RVs owned by jumpers and parked for a week or two or privately owned mobile homes with the owners renting the space by the month? I assume there are full hook-ups for RVs. If those are semi-permanent mobile homes, any idea what the rent is??? Card carrying member of the Nanny State Liberation Front