jm951

Ever try to wash a cat? Stitches are a highly likely outcome. While they're toweling kitty off I bet the cat is thinking of leaving kitty treats on their pillow during the night.

Lost mine back in August 06 through downsizing. Still searching or I'd already been through AFF and have my A. At this moment I'd take most anything. The problems I'm encountering are- over/under qualified, no college diploma (26 years of industry experience and 3 years of college mean nothing to some HR types), too close to 50 for comfort. While looking I've even thought of starting my own company, but the state regulations in the area I want to be in raise the financial entry barrier to HALO proportions. Unemployment stinks. Sorry to be a bummer.

As I see it, she's in it for the power. Things I really, really don't like about her- 1) Condescending attitude (Leona Helmsley comes to mind) 2) Carpetbagger, she couldn't get elected in her own state, IL or AR, so she went to one of the highest concentrations of liberals in the country outside of the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia. 3) What really happened with the Rose Law firm records anyway? You want someone with that poor of a memory in charge? 4) Just like her hubby, take a poll, take a stand. Just what are her personal convictions and when, if ever, do they enter into the decision making process? 5) Gun control- no gray area for the dems there, look at Schumer, Obama, Feinstein et al. 6) She's a socialist. 7) Would you really want one of the most liberal women in the country teamed up with the likes of Pelosi and Reid? Whatever happened to the idea of voting balance? While I am a R, I'm no fan of the spending and governmental expansion of recent. And don't even go anywhere near border security. The problem as I see it is both parties have truly lost their ability to pick a course and stay with it. It's getting harder and harder at election time.

Big Time COOL! I can see an upcoming major motion picture- "now pay attention 007....."

For starters, Yellowstone is just up the road from Jackson. Just outside of Yellowstone is a natural hotspring that mixes with river water, depending on where you sit is how hot it is. There's plenty of great hiking, rafting on the Snake River, and some pretty decent shopping for the better half in what passes for downtown. One interesting place is the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. You just have to see that place to believe it. Stools are all old saddles and lots of woodwork made from some very interesting trees. There's also a place that serves mooseburgers IIRC it's near Jenny Lake. Finally, if you like climbing, there's plenty of that. You'd have to be a bigtime city slicker to not find some cool stuff to do and see. Yellowstone by itself can take up 2-3 days and that's if you just hang out in the touristy areas.

I have visited in Canada a number of times. Last time was in 05 and I about didn't get back into the US. The guard was insisting that I show a passport (which I didn't have at the time) but I had always just shown my driver's license to get back in. The problem has come up due to the issuance and false driver's licenses by illegal aliens. pain in the backside, but I now have a passport.

Which authors of the Bible? Where is there any independent verification of the majority of OT authors? The life of (I assume you mean Julius) Caesar is extremely well documented by multiple independent sources. Ditto for Augustus, Tiberius.... Your statement is simply incorrect. Here's some stuff from the archaeological record- http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/arch-ot.html http://allaboutarchaeology.org/bible-archaeology.htm Some interesting facts about Homer, etal- http://www.biblestudy.org/maturart/is-bible-the-word-of-god/chapter2.html http://www.worldinvisible.com/apologet/bible.htm Compare the number of existing works from authors that are not questioned in secular circles to the number of known NT manuscripts. Next read up on the Dead Sea Scrolls in the archaeology links. Try it, you might find some very interesting things.

Like they say in West Virginina, it's all relative

More of a general response to the gist of the current thread direction. Totally in support of your Biblical position my friend.

Well, some of the Illuminati just can't keep a secret

We know less of Homer, Plato, Ceasar and Aristotle than we do about the authors of the Bible. As for the Catholic church, sorry to say this but, they've been known to be very, very wrong. If you think that every church is going to be strictly on message and doctrine, then go read up on the churches at Ephesus, Laodacia, Smyrna, Thyatira and see what they were up to. After growing up in a very legalistic environment, I've found that what "others" say is in the Bible often is nothing more than a snippet taken out of context to prove some personal point or to gain control over others. It took getting into it myself with a copy of Strong's Concordance to get at the meat of what was being said. That was a very liberating experience, and I haven't looked back since. If you are really serious about wanting to know what the Bible really says on things, I'd urge you to get an NIV study edition (much easier to read) and Strong's. Read a passage, understand the background, lookup the original meanings of words in Strong's and then pray and think through what you've read. Back to the subject of end times, things are certainly looking that way. Isreal is again a nation surrounded by enemies, they are working on getting the items necessary for the Temple either found or remade, behavior that would have shocked people even in the drug soaked 60's is passing as acceptable. Even so, the Bible is very clear that nobody knows the exact time and that we should be ready at all times. Submitted for further reading http://www.christiananswers.net/archaeology/home.html http://www.allaboutgod.com/is-the-bible-true.htm

Thanks for clarifying that. One further question and I'll go back to just listening. What do the experienced jumpers think about those canopies I've listed for a novice/student that will be about 210 out the door?

Yup. Scene of the crime was in NC, he was caught in FL hauling dope in my stolen car. Hanging judge up here threw the book at him, he did about 15yrs before NC let him go and let FL have a crack at him. This "upstanding" citizen was also charged with robbery as part of his FL bill of particulars. Said robbery was of a church during the offering. He got out of prison down there last summer (the original crime in NC was in 81), but being on probation and selling crack hasn't won him any friends in the local law enforcement community, so back to the pokey for mr wonderful. I kept track of this buzzard for most of the time he was in NC prisons. I've had unlisted phone numbers and have taken other measures to protect myself just in case. Said measures even made it hard for the FL probation board to find me for input over his probation last spring so I guess they're fairly effective. Doesn't matter now since he went back to marketing crack almost immediately and tried to sell some to an undercover cop. It wasn't a fun part of my life. I'm carrying a % disability as a result. One of the slugs is lodged in L5. (I was hit 5 times, still carrying 3) When I was doing ground school for AFF, the arch drills were... well, unpleasant. In the air, no problem since the air resistance helps the position.

I'd like to ask a question here, being a noob, it might sound dumb. In the course of this thread, I've seen references to wind penetration, flight (air) speed and ease of control. I'm conteplating that first rig and I want to stay conservative for quite a while (old bones heal slowly). I was thinking the PD Sabre2 (230) aspect ratio 2.58:1, PD Spectre (same size) ar 2.14:1, and PD Navigator (220) ar 2.52:1. I weigh in at 185 sans rig. All of these should put my wl at under 1:1. The questions- 1) How does aspect ratio affect the handling? 2) How much of an effect does line material choice make? Dacron v others Sorry for the thread drift, I couldn't find out quite what I wanted to know through Search.

I have this little nugget to relate. The night I got shot, my brother and some of our mutual friends decided to "guard" the house in case the perp was stupid enough to return. The wife stayed at the hospital all night with me. My dad went over in the morning to check on the impromptu militia and bring them some breakfast. Those guys were sitting around all night in a darkened back bedroom playing cards. The lightest caliber in evidence was a 9mm. The rest of the arsenal ranged from a 12ga to a Thompson SMG. The comment dad made to me that really cracked me up that morning was "if the crook shows up, he's going to get away because they'll be arguing about what to shoot him with first"

Only if you want an overpriced, antiquated piece of technology. I have both 1911 and Glock, the Glock is far and away less sensitive to ammo variations, ie, it don't jam near as much as the 1911. Let the controversy begin!!!

You left out- NONE OF THE ABOVE

I saw a mention of 45/70 one of my favorite calibers. The thing I like about that round is the versatility. Factory loads are very mild, having been designed for the old trapdoor Springfields. With a modern bolt or falling block design, the 45/70 can be pushed almost into the same energy range as the 458 Win. We chronoed 300gr hp out of my bolt gun at about 2500fps. The real problem with the majority of the readily available bullets is the low ballistic cooefficient, ie the aerodynamics of a brick. Back to the big 50, I don't think it should be regulated past what's already imposed on normal, semi sporting rifles. The cost alone of one of these toys will keep it out of the hands of many in the criminal world where concealability is very important. It's hard to sneak into a convenience store with a Barret under your coat.

Cops by the nature of our society are an expostfacto type of operation. The one time I really, really could have used one being right there, they weren't. But in all fairness, the average crook isn't going to commit a crime with a cop standing there. As a result I got shot. Even then, the ambulance was there long before the cops.

For those who think that cost is an issue, look at what it costs to do something else, downhill skiing, mountaineering, racing, boating, rv, 4 wheeling. All of those activities involve significant amounts of money either in equipment or recurring fees. Let's look at big time fishing. I have neighbors in my little corner of nowhere that have no problem buying a $10k bass boat but whine over $.05/gal increase in gas. Others have a rolling second home behind which they tow another car. Ever price an RV including fuel, ins, food and campground costs? A four wheeler can easily crack $8-9k and that doesn't include a trailer to tow it on. How about a serious money pit, a boat. It all boils down to what sport appeals most to the customer. There aren't as many adrenaline junkies out there as we would think. Another angle to look at is the perceived risk factor. There is nearly equivalent risk in the other sports that the participants don't think about when considering skydiving. If you ski, you could always pull a Sony Bono, your bass boat may do a fair rendition of the Titannic or an Andrea Doria rut roh. Brakes fail on the Winny on a 6% downhill. I've always looked at skydiving as something I wanted to do at some point in my life, but I didn't want tandem. The cost of climbing was a wash, but it was far more accessible. I think skydiving may have an image and accessibility problem for the average guy. It still is perceived as a very risky sport (stats don't bear this out) but with many perception is 90% of reality. Tandem has a place as a starting point for some, as does SL and my fav- AFF. I would think that tandem is helping somewhat, but it's not the only entry point for the noob.

I went to a trade show a while back at a venue that could host multiple events simultaneously. Our event was at one end and the banquet was at the other. Walking from one to the other we went through a tire manufacturer show, now that was really interesting with great eye candy. The next one, just before we entered the banquet, an oncologist convention. Try that before you eat.

Well I brought this up from experience in climbing. I have two harnesses that I used, one was for summer routes where we didn't have to bundle up and a snug fit was a good thing. The other is a bit looser to accomodate more clothing. Even so, the looser one wasn't loose to the point of unsafe in summer clothes, but it was light years more comfortable than the summer rig in winter. Later I got a harness that was adjustable so I didn't have to have two. For you climbers out there, the summer rig was an old style Forrest Sit harness consisting of belt and separate leg loops. The winter rig was a Forrest Big Wall one piece. When Black Diamond started, they made a pretty decent adjustable that was just at home on rock jock routes as mountaineering snow slogs. I still climb that harness today. I haven't seen anything new that can rival it aside from weighing an ounce or two less. One other cool feature of that harness is you can attend to calls of nature without totally unroping. Being a noob at skydiving and seeing my weight fluctuate through a season like it does, I was just thinking about that first rig and canopy.

what?? no votes for Foghorn Leghorn?!?

I agree totally that HS is just marking time till you really get started. My HS graduating class was 42, not class of 42, but 42 in the senior class. I really don't know where most of them are now, but one of the guys who was not a friend, but always pretty decent towards me, is a missionary. I only found that out when they tried to track me down through my parents. I went to the 25th reunion, wasn't too happy about being there. Of my best friends in HS, one is now a lawyer in FL, the other was murdered the year after we graduated.

I didn't have quite the problem. The one time I got into it with the bully, I lost the fight, but he had one of "those" wins you don't want ever again. It changed his bully status in school socially and we later became friends. There were 3 kids that tormented my youngest son through high school. I kept reminding him to finish his Eagle (BSA), get good grades and not let them get to him. It was the frequent subject around the table. Fast forward to now- Eagle Scout, is graduating UNC on the Dean's List, was the AFROTC CO, is going to flight school, finished very high in field training, has been invited to a very pretigous event in DC hobnobing around with generals, and got his jump wings at freefall school at the Academy. His tormentors, one is addicted to drugs, in and out of jail, one MIA, and the last nearly killed during a drug deal. Have faith, live your own life to the best of your ability. Nobody is responsible for you but you. Karma sometimes takes a while to get back around.