tkhayes

I agree with both sides of the fence - you can get extreme with deductions, but if you make income and you spent money getting the ratings that require that income, then you have a 'small home-based business' and you have real expenses that relate to that. Even with all that, the worst the IRS can and will do is 'deny' the expenses. Fraud happens when you take deductions for which you have no proof or receipts. I have claimed pretty much every jump i have made, my gear, auto expenses for travel, courses and more for the past 28 years in both Canada and the USA. Skydiving is my business, even when it was a hobby. The tax code allows me to run a small business from my home and that is what it is. I have never had so much as a glitch or even a question from either the IRS or Revenue Canada, - what I have gotten is a nice tidy tax refund check every year. Sure, be cautious, be reasonable, but go ahead and make all those deductions, track your expenses, keep receipts and do a Schedule C every year.

I bet Obama would gain a lot of points by making the corporation pay for it or face massive fines, rejection of permits/operations in the USA. and even jail time..... might wake them up that we actually give a shit about something more than profit here. Mining disasters, Wall street, now oil spills. - I expect a lot of Americans would like to see a lynching or two.....and not of Obama...... of a few select corporate executives who put their profits and bonuses ahead of safety and the country at large.

not everyone can skydive - it's that simple. Not everyone can go to the moon either. Get used to it. Weight is only one factor. General health, medical conditions, you need to be in good shape too. SKydiving is NOT an amusement ride and it is NOT for everyone. More and more dropzones are less and less likely to make exceptions. We just tightened up our tandem guidelines. My guys are tired of getting hurt taking big people and I am tired of making exceptions for big people on tandems. Get in shape - plain and simple. At some point in your life you were in better shape and 180lbs or less. Life goals should include reaching that point again.....

Chris stayed at my place for several months after he was diagnosed with cancer. He really thought he had 6 months to live and was pretty distraught. He managed 9 years or more, and a lot of it in a lot of pain i expect. Good guy, fought hard, won a lot of battles over the past while. So sorry for the news and all our thoughts with Kelly and family Everyone at Z-Hills I am sure feels the same way

1993 with IBM in Canada, everyone took a pay CUT of 5% across the board, some more and some less, with a new pay structure that allowed you to earn all and more of that back given performance targets. Alot of people took a pay cut and stayed there. I took the pay cut and then ended up making about 8-9% more. Stop whining about your raise. inflation is at 0.1% or something like that. You can always start your own business and make all the money in the world....

not really - I would not get too excited about it.....

he is not required to 'prove his statement' If you are going to claim that something 'exists' then I would expect the onus would be on you to prove that. So far, nothing but faith exists as a 'proof of god's existence'. Sorry but I need more than that to prove anything.....

Go Bruins!!

44 in a week, did that twice 14 in a day, once lots of ibuprofin

reason number 673 to end the war....

Stihl professional stuff, 2 stroke - you pay $250 or so, but you get a lifetime machine.

So what you are saying is that people who leave the military end up on food stamps. That the military never educates or trains people in real-life jobs and that they stop serving any function after retirement. (?) I mean that MUST be true - I have NEVER met a CEO, a plumber, an electrician, an IT guy, a skydiving instructor, a teacher, a pilot, a bus driver, a carpenter who was previously in the military - they simply don't exist...... stop being ridiculous,

actually, most of us would rather see EVERYONE pay their fair share of taxes, not just the rich. That, combined with military budget cuts you so flatly deny in other threads would make any difference ot the country, would pay for the deficit and health care and provide better education for our people. Omigod....what am I thinking? Come up with programs that help the American people and then devise a clever tax structure to help pay for it???? How radical - -

actually stopping the wars OBVIOUSLY saves money, it just takes a while. Would you rather we keep spending another trillion on them AND the benefits/pensions? No red herring at all - what's important? Wars in Afghanistan or health care and security at home. I vote for home. Your argument that my argument is bullshit, is buillshit. OK here's NOT hyperbole. Who gives a shit how old the aircraft are. Does Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Korea, Congo, Columbia, Honduras, Bosnia, and any other country we have had troops in for the past 50 years have better aircraft superiority than we have? Do they have better airplanes overall? Get fucking real. And if I am not mistaken, we are developing the F35, and the Osprey just went online, not to mention hundreds of other aviation innovations currently in production and in the works for the military. You are suggesting that our air power is somehow inferior. I might have hyperbole as you say - you you have buillshit. let me see......ALL of them. I give up - how much DO we spend on covert ops? I expect the American taxpayer would like to know.....and I expect they would be mortified...... I absolutely care about the deficit and I proposed a way to take care of americans and reduce the deficit at the same time. SOrry that you do not share my priorities. The Heatlhcare bill is not about making money - it is about taking care of Americans. What is the military defense bill about? Your 'excuse', my 'good example' you forgot that the deficit still includes the military budget year after year. In the long run, we would save money. I don't "think", I know..... Yes, God forbid that we look elsewhere for an idea when we apparently have no clue of our own.....WHAT was I thinking.......

very sad and very disturbing. Congrats and thanks to the person(s) that leaked the video. reason number #912 not to fight wars.....

years ago, laws were passed in most places to stop malls, bus stations etc. from charging to use a toilet. The fees were there to discourage vandals, but the lawmakers saw it differently, basic human rights - gotta go....

mighty arrogant of you to assume that we are the world's police force and somehow the world is a better place because of it - and that the rest of the world even gives a shit if we are or not.....

so we don't change anything? The wars have cost $1T already over 9 years. If we stop TODAY, we will spend hundreds of billions more in health care, vet benefits etc. So saying that we cannot recoup the money is pretty much a bullshit argument. We cannot recoup - no, but we can stop the bleeding. It is not just the wars, how about the 730+ military bases around the world? How about all the covert military operations and meddling we do in other countries? We can stop a lot of that and focus the money we spend on TAKING CARE OF AMERICANS. 'cause sure as shit, the military bases are NOT generating revenue for the USA. Dozens of other countries are already doing it so that means it CAN ABSOLUTELY WORK HERE, if we decide that we want it to. popular left argument my ass - it is actually reality. Yes today, the way things are - we cannot afford the bill. I have proposed a solution that will allow us to afford pretty much everything. If you think that is impossible - oh well, so much for ingenuity. I disagree. We have to change something right? We cannot afford that stuff right? So what is going to change? Or are we just going to bury our heads int he sand and say that it cannot be done when so many others are already doing it.?

sad but true....

It actually can be paid for - very simply as well. reduce the cost of the military. We cannot afford two wars. Something that is also so fucking painfully obvious that it amazes me how we continue on that beaten path. dozens of other 'modern progressive economically sound well-developed' countries around the world are already doing it. We could learn a few things from them.....

my first tandem cutaway, the main blew up, but was still open, just not flyable. I chopped and the reserve deployment took a full 6-7 seconds Count that out, it was one fucking long time and we were accelerating like mad. I was pissed. If you are not allowing for at LEAST 1000' to do a chop on a sport rig and 2500' on a tandem rig, then these days you are playing with fire. We are all going faster than ever before, in freefall, and under canopy. Pull higher, practice your emergencies, try once try twice then get the fuck out of Dodge and chop that sonofabitch.....

And that kind of recklessness is what gives the sport a bad name. Most rational people would think - wow, already have an 'emergency', so lets get the reserve out and then have more time to actually figure out where I am going to land, have enough time for deployment, what else might go wrong. like a long snivel. Humming it down on your reserve adds another link to the chain of events that lead to accidents. Just 'cause you're 'cool', (which by the way you are), does not mean that you make rational decisions when confronted with an emergency. Glad you are so level headed that opening a reserve at a grand is something you feel that you can rely on. Plenty of dead people out there that tried the same thing......snivel, smack. If they only had 200' more or those extra few seconds. Pete Luter just went in at Z-Hills, an RSL or Skyhook may have saved his life. He is 'cooler' than you are and highly experienced, but he got 'bit' by something. Safety equipment is there for a reason. You and anyone else are not immune to the chain of events that lead to accidents REGARDLESS of your skill or 'cool' level. Besides the thread was about "Reasons not to buy an AAD', not forcing you to wear one. There are no reasons not to buy and use an AAD, and no one is forcing you to wear one.

And AADs fire on swoopers all the time right? You are naming a very specific group (small group) of skydivers, who are generally highly experienced and are capable of handling their own AAD decision/situation for a particular jump, not on all jumps. Not necessarily 'relying on an AAD', but able to turn it off, or even purchase the right product for their type of activity. The Swoop does not negate the possible need for an AAD, it just demonstrates a situation where having one requires perhaps more planning for your particular jump. And what are the 'other types of jumps' you suggest where you might not want one?

Thanks to everyone that came out for the Easter Boogie - while it seemed a bit slower than a lot of years, It was in fact, not. 4000 jumps, 400+ jumpers came through during the event and with Skyvan, Otter and the 900HP Super Caravan and Helicopter, we even had a cool variety of aircraft to jump from. Most of all, it was the best week of weather we have seen since last November. THis is probably the worst weather winter we have seen in 12 years or so, but looks like it is finally turning around.... Hope everyone has a great summer - skydive safe and take care... TK Z-Hills

I disagree that people do not want to work for the American dream. But for so many the dream in non-existent and not even possible. We have decimated the middle class, lowered wages , removed practically all foreign tariffs, all in the name of big business. This does nothing to 'promote' nor does it 'provide' for the welfare of the people. The guy who works at Wal-mart has NO CHANCE of achieving the American Dream, he cannot afford it and is working hand-to-mouth and we promote it. because we all want WalMart and low prices. Get a better job you say, go to school, whatever. But we cannot all be upper management executives. The world needs janitors too. My point is that we need to provide for the janitors because we need them as well. Society is a mix of people all doing various things to make it all work. All the pieces fit together. Does paying minimum wage and making me rich mean that the people that work for me are more worthless in their lives because they choose to do so? Taxes are what funds society. period. Name your standard of living, divide it by the population and you get what needs to be paid in TAXES. It is so fucking simple it makes me sick that the obvious cannot be implemented. Now what is the 'minimum' for the government to provide? IMO, education, food and healthcare. A great investment in our people. Lowering corporate taxes so people can get jobs? That is one solution we have been doing for 30-40 years now...... Does it appear to be working to you? Sure does not to me.......