tbrown

I yam a fizzolofical drunk. I coulda told you that without no stinkin' test. Guess I'm an argumentive phizolphisizer as well... Who cares, now I need another beer. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Add knowing how to pack to the list. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

We used to call people like that "lurking death" types. I've never really considered what kind of canopy they're jumping, that's really a new part of the equation, but I suppose it's one more way to flaunt their arrogance. I'm more worried about somebody who's going to clean my ass in freefall, I watch out for myself - and everyone else, on breakoff. Once we've all opened, I figure the hotshots are going to get down quicker than me, but I suppose they could clip me on their way past. We used to socially isolate and refuse to jump with the lurking death types. I guess nowadays they're called "digits" - dead guys in training. You should feel just fine avoiding them, refusing to jump with them, and warning your friends not to jump withh them. The life you save may be your own, or that of a good friend. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

She aint been in contact that much since she's been gone, but now wants me to take time off so we can 'spend some time together' on her return to blighty. Do I...... She musta run out of money and figures she can put the touch on you. Don't expect any sex though, she's not "ready" for that with you. I once knew a guy who waited a year while his wife pulled that shit and publicly fucked around with every guy in town. I couldn't understand it. Then she divorced him and he was crushed. Tell the bitch you're making porno films and haven't got the time for her or especially to listen to her CRAP. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Suck it up and jump anyway. I've had plenty of jumps where I didn't feel so up for it. If I'm out for awhile, like a few months, I know the first one back's gonna be a humdinger, like "what the fuck am I doing this for again ? This is nuts...". Emotion is a funny thing and we know skydiving goes pretty deep into our emotions. All our natural instincts are telling us that we'll be killed. So if we're tired, hung over, having relationship problems or any of that shit that bothers everybody, it just compounds itself on this airplane ride when you know you won't be landing with the plane. So suck it in and jump, the moment you exit you won't even remember what it was that was nagging at you and everything will be just fine. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I think Kerry will win, and by a surprisingly large margin. Why ? "The emporer has no clothes", people are starting to figure out that Bush is incompetent and given the choice they'd really rather not have to put up with another four years of it, wondering what the hell he's going to do next. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Be careful what you wish for, it could come true. Would anybody really want her there ? I mean, she'd never get what it's about, she'd just expect it all to be about her. I was hoping that by "Nicole", you meant Kidman. This poll sucks... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Not the PISA 9 cell that eventually begat the Pilot canopy. The Pioneer Hornet, a 1975 seven cell canopy, about 185 sq ft. It had a unique trailing edge in that it actually had "flaps", that were seperate from the main body of the canopy. The Hornet wasn't a commercial success, as it disappeared rather quickly. In fact, other than a few ads in Parachutist, I've never actually seen one. Any of you old timers ever own or jump a Pioneer Hornet ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

are you serious ?? Sadly, yes. For the record, I was opposed to invading Iraq and would not like to see us invading Saudi. It would be a very bad, dark time, with terrible costs and the possibility of World War, the use of nukes, or any other nightmare I'd rather not mention. But realistically, what kind of alternatives do you think the west would have if the world's #1 oil producers spiraled down into anarchy and civil war ? The #2 producer (Iraq) is already a mess. This is why the Middle East has been such a headache to the rest of us. I only hope we can somehow get beyond an oil fueled economy, then we can tell those people to eat their damn oil and kill each other all they want. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'd rather have ongoing sex with someone I like or love. If the relationship's there, the sex will usually take care of itself, especially with practice. I don't think I could do it with someone I actually don't like, unless I was really drunk or else being mean & nasty. And as far as mean & nasty goes, pretend is fun, the real thing is not. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I don't mind putting Reagan on currency, even if I am a Democrat. But I do object to replacing Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton's ideas were WAY ahead of his time. Unlike Jefferson, Hamilton understood that the U.S. wasn't going to always be a sleepy nation of farming villages. He understood, and helped put in motion the structures and policies that helped America to become a world power in trade and finance. Hamilton really was THE economic Founding Father of the America we know, and the America that Reagan loved. Besides, Hamilton was also the illegitimate son of a single mom and can be looked up to as a good example for so many kids. I wouldn't mind seeing Jackson or Grant fade away off the $20 or $50 bill. Aside from both being generals, Jackson's known for throwing a few great parties at the White House, and for sending the Indians to Oklahoma on the "Trail of Tears" in defiance of a Supreme Court order. Grant unfortunately was one of of the most inept and scandal plagued presidents in our history, the only time the guy's life ever made sense was in uniform. Either one of them could easily be retired to make room for Ronnie. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Isn't it amazing how the Saudis catch up with and shoot the terrorists THE DAY AFTER they behead their American captives ? It's getting to be something of a habit with them. The truth is their entire social fabric is so rotten and corrupt it's going to collapse under its own weight very soon. Over a fourth of the population consists of foreign workers, without whom nothing could get done. The Saudis are so used to sitting on their asses they would be absolutely helpless without the foreign labor that makes their society run. The most common degree conferred in their country is in religious studies, not science, law, or medicine or the arts. They can't or won't fight to protect their own country and would have collapsed in a matter of days if Saddam had wanted to invade them in 1990, before we could get sufficient Desert Shield troops over there. And then they had the nerve to whine about how our troops "offended" their medieval customs. Anyway, al Qaeda knows all this, after all Bin Laden is a Saudi himself. It's no wonder they have such good luck recruiting from an alienated younger generation. They know if they can scare the foreigners into leaving that the economy will collapse. Meanwhile, the royal family sits on their asses wondering why all the bribes and donations to al Qaeda won't buy them "peace in our time". Some of us at these forums are too young to remember the fall of the Shah and the Iranian revolution, and what it did to world oil prices. That memory is going to be small potatoes compared to the fall of the House of Saud. And it's coming. We may have to invade that country to prevent a worldwide catastrophe. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I went to a parochial school up through 5th grade and then public schools ever after. The first two years in public school (6th & 7th grades), I felt like I'd flunked 5th grade over & over again. Aside from just the academics, I think we got a better morally grounded education than the public schools could, or would want to give. In the early sixties, the Catholic Church was deeply involved in the Civil Rights movement in the south and we had it drummed into us that God created all people equal with a soul, that black people were equal, and that racial prejudice was a sin. Which I don't think I'd have learned anywhere else in our overwhelmingly white working class neighborhood - certainly not at the public school, and certainly not on the moral level of a sin against God. Even if it was superficial by our later concepts of understanding race, it was a huge step ahead of the common views of the time. I believe in public education because I have to, there are no alternatives for too many kids. But public schools so often suck. School officials with rotten prison warden mentalities, politically petrified School Boards, teachers with all the degrees, but little else to offer (I know there are some great teachers in public schools too, but they're usually run off when a younger teacher can be hired for less). Private and parochial teachers don't have all the degrees and certs, but they tend to have the vision and sense of mission. On the downside, religious schools can easily go off the deep end with weirdo science classes that teach Noah's flood as scientific "fact". Or that the Pope is the anti-Christ, or that Catholics are diabolically evil. I know of some fundamentalist schools that actually teach that stuff. After all, look at what they're teaching kids in Muslim Madras schools around the world ("kill an American, go to heaven"). If it can happen there, it can happen here too. But just because a right can be abused, doesn't mean we take that right away. Not in America. We just need to keep an eye on all of our schools and challenge what they teach our kids. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Nah, Hillary won't change her mind or waste her time. She'll run for the No. 1 slot or not at all. If Kerry keeps pissing it away, you might see him running as her running mate. Never rule out a draft. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm sitting home, enjoying some coffee and my new WALKING BOOT on my left footie. I'll be wearing it for another 5 weeks before it comes off & pin comes out of the ankle. Then the therapy begins & boy will I need it. The foot's gone weak, what from seven weeks of hobbling around on just the right foot. Even so, it's just plain NICE to put the foot down, put weight on it again and walk around in a semi-normal manner. I'm down to just one crutch & none at all for just knockin' around the house. But I do still go out to the DZ's. Next weekend I'll be out to Elsinore and taking an observer ride. I've never taken the dive with the plane after the last jumper's gone, so I'm looking forward to that rush. Remember, PLF's really work. Do not reach for the ground with one foot, let it come to you... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Hope you brought your Pooper Scooper JP, cuz I ain't cleanin' up all that puppy poop! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It was my understanding that we "all" were whuffo's until we made that first fling That's what I was thinkin' too, like virginity until you have sex for the first time. But I was always jumping out of trees, off garage roofs, bailing out off swing sets (great fun), watching "Ripcord" on Friday nights, and constantly making parachute toys with cellophane, string and toy soldiers. Any time I ever saw somebody jump on TV or those rarest occasions when I'd see a real live parachute on some ride in the car with my family, I'd just go nuts. Ever since I knew what a parachute was, which I guess was about age six... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Oh Jeanne, what a beauty! Reminds me of my old Cobra-10... They were called squares back in those days because all the the rest of the PC's, Papillions, Starlites, Piglets, and cheapos wuz ROUND. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

although it contained the somewhat puzzling statement that the max exit weight for a PDR-193 is 232 lbs. This is in conflict with the chart on the web site, which shows it as 254 lbs. Brent, as I also pack a PD193 I took a little detour through the PD website to double check the figures posted there. The 193R is listed as having an absolute max exit weight of 254 lbs, which PD recommends only for "Expert" jumpers. The recommended max for "Advanced" jumpers is 222 lbs. The recommended "Advanced" level weight for the 218R is 232 lbs, but that was as close as I could get anywhere to 234 lbs. Considering the other figures posted on their website, and other sources like their ads in the Para Gear catalog, etc, the figure in the email is likely mistaken. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It's the mistaken belief that you can play Russian Roulette with a .45 automatic if you only put one round in the magazine. Which is about as safe as not waiting 6-10 seconds between exits... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

But I don't like others fucking with my gear on jump run. You know I've pointed out a few things to other people though. If my flaps are closed, leave my gear alone. I quite agree with Tonto, that I don't want just anybody messing with my gear, or especially my pins on the plane. The operative words being "just anybody". I don't mind if it's a friend I'm jumping with, if I know that he or she either jumps the same kind of rig (a Javelin in my case), or at least understands how it goes together and closes. I have noticed that very very few people do pin checks before jump run nowadays. Back 25 years ago, it was common, we all did them. Found lots of interesting stuff too, pilot chute bridles wrapped around belly bands, a BIC pen stuck through the closing loops on a RESERVE. Unbelievable stuff. Of course the modern gear, with BOC pilots and single pin reserves have gone a long way towards eliminating the horrors we used to find. But it couldn't hurt to have a trusted friend or teammate give you one more going over before you commit yourself to the tender mercies of gravity. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

We just bought an automatic because of my leg & ankle injury, otherwise I couldn't drive. But all our other cars have been sticks and we still have two. I've taught my wife to drive a stick, my older daughter, and two of her friends. It's fun, especially teaching somebody for the first time. We just go find a BIG parking lot and I tell 'em the "f" word is okay, in a week they'll be laughing about it. Then it's rodeo time ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Not much TV news. I listen to NPR every day, Morning Edition and then All Things Considered in the afternoon. On Sundays I read two Sunday papers, the Orange County Register and the LA Times, for balance. Oh yeah, also OC Weekly, for Dan Savage's column. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I think we spent maybe $300 on the wedding bands. Real gold ones. The engagement ring cost all of $40. My wife's ma gave her original engagement ring (she divorced my wife's father), and my ma anted up a diamond she was saving for the first of her kids to get married. A local jeweler put the two together for $40. Now, 23 years later, we're still wearing them. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

A lawyer friend of mine in Seattle was killed in his home fourteen years ago. The case has never been solved, but the two leading suspects were a disgruntled client and a former partner. The cops think the weapon is lying somewhere at the bottom of Puget Sound because whoever it was probably tossed if off a ferry right away. Don't be paranoid, but take some real steps at armed defense, get a dog, and otherwise grind the bastard's life to dust in court. I'm so sorry to hear about this, especially after having just met you at Perris last month. I'd do it for my family and you'll do it for yours. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !