Luna

I took some classes in 2004 (not college classes) that have given me some certifications which I plan on using to earn money with. However, I was not able to earn any money using them in 2004. Can I still write off the cost of the classes in 2004? If not, would I be able to write it off in 2005 if I earn money using the certifications in 2005, even though I took the classes in 2004? (No, I don't have a business license, but I really did plan on using it, and it just didn't pan out. Now I've just run a quick and dirty estimate of our taxes for this year, and it looks like we'll be owing WAY more than I want to pay, so I'm grasping for straws at this point to see if I can find something I can deduct that will help. Thanks! I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

I'm -4.6 for my first week, 90.4 to go. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

I was in the Orlando tunnel with Neal Houston during a tunnel camp evening tunnel session, with Mark Kirkby working with some of the other folks in there with me. The rain was so bad, and so painful, I wanted to stop, but thought, hey, I'm paying for this. Neal, however, asked the tunnel to be shut down until the rain abated a bit. He said that we were paying too much money to be in those conditions. I was most appreciative. Even with a full-face, with nothing on my neck or hands, it was very painful! Normal customers...I'd imagine that they wouldn't have shut it down, but I really don't know. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

My cousin has it, and she did about 20 skydives years ago, after being diagnosed. What meds are you on? Hers worked really well for her, leaving her needing only a couple of short naps during the day, and as far as I know, she took nothing during the day. She went off it when she got pregnant, and said that it wasn't as bad as it had been when she was a teen. I haven't talked to her about it lately so I don't know if she went back on or not. Anyway, she was on GHB. Yes, that is the date rape drug that has been classed as a narcotic after killing several people. The difference is, hers is made in a controlled laboratory, not in a bathtub. Also, she obtained it legally as part of clinical testing for its use in treating narcolepsy. It's taken to put you into a deep sleep at night, thus leaving you less suceptible during the day to episodes. It's so powerful she would empty her bladder for the evening, take a half dose, then wake up in the middle of the night to empty her bladder again before taking the rest. Otherwise she'd wet the bed. It worked really really well for her. If you are on other meds, you might try asking your doctor about it. I wish I could relate with you, but all I know is her stories, and the research I've done (it's quite different from the way most people think that it is).

To calm and focus better, try this: Pick a spot high up on a wall or ceiling. Keeping your head facing straight forward, focus on that spot moving only your eyes. Now, take your hands and hold them up in front of your face, so you can see them. Gently wiggle your fingers, and start moving your hands slowly out to the sides of your head. You want to keep the wiggling fingers in your peripheral vision. Once you cannot see them anymore, move them back in front and do it again. You should be able to increase how far you can move your hands back and still see them by doing it repeatedly. Two things to keep in mind while doing this...keep your eyes focused on that spot high on the wall, and your hands will not be right next to your head, but rather around six inches to even a foot away from the sides of your head. Once you have done this a few times, go back to what you were doing, and you should feel more calm and better able to focus. Kids can do this before class starts. They will be much better able to retain the information they learn in class, as well as remain calm. Once you have done it a lot, you can learn to switch to your peripheral vision without using the very obvious wiggling fingers to do it. Why does this work? ADD/ADHD see the world differently. Take an empy paper towel roll, or hold your hands together to simulate one, like kids simulate a telescope or something. Hold the roll or your hands up to one eye, and close the other one. Now you are seeing things like ADD/ADHD see them. They have tunnel vision. To see everything, you have to very rapidly move all over the place to try to take everything in. Using this exercise allows ADD/ADHD to switch to perpheral vision, thus eliminating the tube they have been seeing through. Now they can take everything in at once, thus making them much more calm (rather than so hyper trying to move around and see everything they can), as well as better able to focus on the task at hand. Give it a try, especially if you've forgotten your medication today. It's amazing how well it works! If anyone has kids with ADD/ADHD, teach it to them! It can be like a game or something, and it can do wonders for their attention and hyperactivity problems. Good luck! I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

Ugh! I did WW too, and lost about 65 pounds on it. I bought my canopy when I was down there, and loaded it at 1:1. I had plateaued for a long time (needed to lose about another 55 to reach goal), and had no intention of gaining, so I felt safe buying that size. Well, the best intentions and all that. Over the last 14 months I've put back on 40 pounds. I just feel gross now. I was going to get back current on New Year's Day, it was so gorgeous out (and I was going to rent a larger canopy), but I couldn't fit in my jumpsuit, so I figured even if I got current, I wouldn't go jump very often until I lose some of this weight back. So, Saturday morning I'm joining back to WW. So yeah, I'll play too...it'll be good to have some more accountability: 95/0 I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

The tunnel workers won't let you sit until you can demonstrate proficiency in back flying. HD comes after proficiency in sit. I had ten minutes at Perris where I was just going to try some freefly, thinking sit, and that was a no go. Back flying comes first. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

I'll kick in a bit too. Just PM me and let me know what to do. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

I grew up there, and I can tell you that it would sometimes snow on or around Christmas, maybe every few years, but it would almost never stick. My mom's birthday is the 22nd and all she ever wanted for her b-day was snow. I talked to her this morning and she said they got around 3 inches that stuck...I asked her how she liked my present for her! She really needs to move out of Houston, she just loves the snow too much! I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

You make some good points. I mean, I think it's something like 68% of communication is through body language...it's something on the order of only 8% or 12%, something like that, is acutally the words that you use, and that is all that we have online. So yeah, a lot is lost as far as that goes, I totally agree. And, in the links you provided, a lot of what they say supports what I'm saying (actually, it seems that a lot of people here are agreeing, whether they realize it or not, maybe because my point is unclear [shrug]). For instance: and: (I couldn't get your first link to work) Essentially, these are saying that the internet frees people to say and do things that they wouldn't normally say or do IRL, but the key is that they have these thoughts or feelings or urges, they just filter them IRL, while the internet allows them to be comfortable enough to not use those filters. Which to me means that the online persona can be more indicative of the true self (I don't want to generalize, because a lot of people are pretty much the same online as IRL...I'm really speaking more about the huge dichotomies that you sometimes see between the online persona and the IRL persona here...what accounts for the difference is what I am interested in). Am I wrong? Granted, some people are truly acting, yet, take for instance someone who flames, incites, etc. They are doing it (the acting let's say) for some reason, aren't they? It fulfills something inside them, wouldn't you say? So, what does that really say about the person who "acts" like that online, yet IRL is the sweetest, kindest, nicest person you would ever want to meet and would never say a single bad word about you (at least to your face, as far as you know). What explains the dichotomy? If it's just simply acting, then why do they do it? For what purpose? And if it's not simply just acting, then doesn't it say something more about their true character than their IRL persona? I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

I don't think it's a matter of "trying" to be different. For example, take someone who gossips and talks about other people when they aren't around...be it co-workers talking about the one co-worker who drives everyone crazy, or whatever the case may be. They aren't likely to say those things to their face, are they? But, if they are online and it's someone that they have never met face to face, they would be more likely (in my opinion) to say to them the type of things that they only say behind the back of people they know in real life. Basically, I think it's a comfort level. In my case, I'm more comfortable and able to be myself either with people I know really well, or with very small groups of people, say 1-3 other people. So, in a group of people I've just met, I'm going to be very quiet and standoffish, especially if it's a large group. That's not who I really am, but it isn't like I'm trying to be a different person in those instances. It's just comfort. Online, I think people are very comfortable letting their true self show, because of the relative anonymity factor. But more to my real point, people who are a-holes online and then say that's not who they are in person, or other people may meet them and say that's not who they really are...I have to wonder then, where is that coming from? It has to come from somewhere. And my belief is that if you are that way online, then that does exist somewhere inside of you. You may put on a really nice face for people in real life for any number of reasons, but mostly, I think, coming down to comfort level. In real life, most people have some level of fear of being judged, most people have some level of pressure to fit in and be liked, to not upset people, etc. Some level. Online, most of that seems to evaporate, so the filters that we use in real life are gone, and so, I believe, how we are online is more of a reflection of our true, core self. For many people, there is no real difference. Others...not so much. Again, this is just my theory after spending so many years online...does anyone have other ideas on it? Do you really think that you can be an a-hole online if you truly do not have an ounce of that in you? (I'm really not trying to judge anyone or pick on anyone...behavior just fascinates me, so I'm just curious about things like this) I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

Something in a recent thread made me think about this. And, I've heard from other people about people who come across here as total a-holes that they are really very sweet, nice people IRL. So, it got me to wondering, because I've been playing online much longer than most of you here have even known that there was an "online" (17 years and counting), and from my experience, I've always found that who I am online is more of a true expression of who I really am. Meaning, online there are no societal pressures, there are no worries about people judging you, etc. because you will never see most of these people and online just doesn't seem as "real" as real life. So, it frees you to be who you wish you could be in real life if you weren't so weighed down by other people's expectations of you, fears, etc. At least, that's what I've found. I started online as a very shy and introverted fifteen-year-old who never dated or made many friends. Online I was very popular, meeting and gaining the attention of all sorts of guys, and even garnering some real life dates (I met my husband this way). It just allowed me to be who I really wanted to be, but wouldn't in real life because I was too afraid of being rejected if I was myself. Someone rejecting you online is a lot less traumatic than in real life. Apparently a lot of people disagree, believing that who they are online is not a real reflection of who they really are. My contention is that you can't be something or someone online that is not in your core personality. It may not reflect the person that you show the real world, but it has to reflect the person that you really are, at least to some extent that is greater than what I've encountered people believing. Thoughts? I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

On Bonfire it was questioned whether there was a stand-in or not. Having seen the footage, I'd bet not. The actual freefall was not that great...looked like a student for sure. There was a bit of a turn as well as some movement across the sky. Granted, it was great for a brand new student, but I'd have a hard time believing that it was an experienced person doing stand-in work. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

In order: Skyventure Orlando Skyventure Perris Flyaway Las Vegas I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

I'm going to, just as soon as we get the Tivo up on our network. The only phone calls I take on the land line phone are my family (they can call my cell very easily), and telemarketers. No thanks. I'm paying like $35 a month for this?? The network adapter for the Tivo will be here in about a week, then I'll be cancelling the landline. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

Well, you can, but it would certainly be wise to use delivery confirmation (~$1.50) which provides you with a tracking number, that way your buyer can hit F5 all week on the tracking site until his/her package gets there. Delivery Confirmation only tells you once it's been delivered. It is NOT a way to actually see the package in transit as with UPS, Fedex, etc. I want to know where my package is at all times, whether I'm the buyer or the seller, not just find out when it was delivered. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

Probably so, but my father sent me a box for my birthday, Priority with USPS, supposed to be here in 2-3 days. It took over a week. When I got it, the box had some sticker on it indicating it was for gound transportation only (Tennessee to Virginia). Why? Who knows. So, It's possible that it's the post office's screw up, though ten days does seem really extreme. I personally would never ship something that someone ordered from me through USPS, just because there is no tracking available. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

I just did ten minutes about two weeks ago, trying to learn to back fly. Man! Not easy at all! After ten minutes, I can say with certainty that I have improved, and I still had very little control, though I was mostly staying in one place. It's something that I'll try again for sure. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

Yes, I've heard of it. Actually seen ads for it in several different places (not mainstream). Really have been wanting to get it. Can you update me on what effects you notice in your overall life after you've used it for a while? A PM would be great. Thank!

I'm in my first semester of an online Master's degree program, taking 3 classes. I really don't have a choice, as no local colleges offer my degree. My opinion is that several factors go into whether it's a good experience or a bad one. First, the format of the class. We are using Blackboard software, which is really nice. There is a module that allows for online test taking (multiple choice, T/F, ordering, etc.). Some professors prefer to use other formats for the tests, like I was given one in Word format and filled it in and sent it back. There are many other features in Blackboard that make it very easy to use. Second is the professor. I have one professor who provides details notes including Powerpoint presentation and Word documents as well as web links for further information for each module. I have another professor who gives a word document with he meager notes for each lesson. You are mostly on your own. So, it could go either way. Finally, your commitment and attitude have a huge impact. Do you do well on your own? Do you have a lot of self-discipline? Do you have the time? As others mentioned, at least with Blackboard, there are optional chats (Office hours) available, as well as discussion boards where you can talk to your classmates and professor. One professor who does a lot of chats has been recording them and posting them for anyone who couldn't be there. In other words, it can be as interactive as you want it to be, without having to actually go to campus. Overall, I like it, and I will do it again, and would even if I didn't have to. But yeah, it does have it's problems. Good luck!!

Happy birthday sweetie!

The Casa returns with organizing by Chris Wagner and others for Relative Work. There will be organized freeflying and oddball jumps as well such as hybrids or raft dives. Performance Designs will provide demo canopies for those wanting to try out something new. A costume party Saturday night with prizes for the winners is always a highlight! The ever popular ice luge returns for more night time entertainment. $15 registration covers the beer for four nights of festivities! For anyone who has been to STP throughout the 42 years, they are officially kicking us out of the clubhouse immediately after this boogie, after which it will be torn down. If you have any memories there and want to see the clubhouse one last time, this is your chance! Soon it will be nothing but a memory. Come say goodbye, and join us for an awesome boogie! Last year we had enough people to bring out a super otter in addition to the Casa...come on out and maybe we can do it again!! It's an awesome time and we look forward to seeing you there! www.skydivethepoint.com for more details. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

I'm sending lots of vibes his way! Keep us posted! I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

You get over this with more jumps. The more jumps you do, the more awareness you have. There really isn't anything that I've ever heard of that will help other than more jumps. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

ok now tell me the diif between then and THAN. (really, I always screw those up!) Since you really want to know... Then is a reference to something happening, basically a time reference, like "I'll get a car, then I'll be able to take my friends to the mall." Or if you could say "when?" then you could say "then." Than is a comparative, like "This is better than that." Pretty much, if it's not comparing two things, then you should use "then." I hope that helps. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!