PolluxSJ

You're probably seeing the Station fire in LCF... it's just behind the Burbank hills, so it looks like it's coming from Burbank when you're in the valley. Nick, I'm probably only a couple miles from you (north of Glendale Community College), but we're pretty safe here. The fire would have to tear through hundreds of homes to reach us. If you need couch-space or a backyard for pets, drop me a PM. I took this yesterday from up on Foothill Blvd. This was when it was only about 300 acres and the winds were taking it north. It's since shifted and grown to 1500 acres...

That's a great thread! I don't deal well with high altitudes myself... I feel myself breathing deeper and slower on normal jump runs at 12.5k; and yet I still didn't really consider "what happens on a high altitude run when the O2 system malfunctions". Scariest of all is how it effects everyone on the load... I'll be taking a trip to the chamber long before I consider any high altitude jumps.

I watched the normal speed video, and it's nothing faster then I usually ride; especially on the 10 during traffic hours. Me: I'm a dedicated rider with over a decade of daily riding experience in every condition imaginable (I didn't even own a car until a month ago...). I'm a member of a Motorcycle Club that emphasizes rider skills in all aspects of motorcycling. This is something I'm quite comfortable with; and it's a calculated risk (like sky diving!). Despite how unsafe it may appear, it can be done safely. This isn't too bad (the normal speed video). Admittedly I didn't watch the whole video, but, I've seen people split far faster then this before... I just move out of their way and shake my head as they blast by me. The only thing I would have done differently is move over to between the 1 and 2 lanes. In California cities, most people get in the fast lane and stay there, so there are less cars changing lanes between the left lanes compared to the right. Regarding it's legality: It's "sort of" legal here; which is to say it's not "illegal". Without getting to technical, it boils down to an individual officers discretion about how safe you're being... I have no issues splitting past an officer on the highway; hell I even had an LA County Sheriff deputy pull over to the left so I could pass him on the 405 the other day, while I was splitting ON a double-yellow. It gets me to the DZ a half hour faster, so I can sleep in a half hour later

If they're landing at Crissy Field the Golden Gate bridge one would be most likely ... but if it's not aimed in the right direction, it might not be that great. The second one labeled "San Francisco Bay" looks like it might have the right angle. I found this one too, but it's not live. It looks like the image updates every 30 seconds and you have to manually refresh it. I'm not sure if it'll catch any of the landings or not...

I'd prefer my remains be donated to either further the medical or law enforcement sciences, or to help develop a more effective means of human remains disposal. Cremation and traditional burial are pretty toxic, so I'd like to be disposed of in a manner that doesn't have lasting negative impacts. If you're interested in donating your remains "to science", remember there are tons of different programs to which you can make that donation (in part or in whole), but many of them require you to sign up for their specific program before your passing. So do your homework and be prepared.

Sailor Jerry Navy Rum... ...with a Corona chaser. ...times eleventy We started that several hours ago... ...wait... where are my pants?!

I don't think it's fashionable, it's instinctive. For me at least (student) I'm still no good at judging my speed / altitude when landing and flaring, so I've got my arms up, feet and knees together, and when I flare I'm expecting to stand-up the landing smoothly. When it doesn't happen my feet are already out in front, and the slide in landing just comes naturally. PLF wasn't really enforced by my instructors during AFF. I think it came up once in conversation? We never even practiced it. Once, I even landed poorly (flared too early and dropped straight down), PLF'd, and my instructor wrote it up as "Stand Up" in my logbook. The only reason I know how critical it is, is because of DZ.com posts... specifically Incidents. I agree that it needs to be a bigger part of training, but, every instructor and DZ is different. USPA can publish all the guidelines they want for training, but it's un-realistic to think that every student is going to get the same training.

Voted for "wet and slobbery" but personally I find kissing smokers to be the worst kind of kiss. ICK! It's like licking an ashtray!

That's an awesome idea! *yoink!*

I want to freefall again... it's been too long. I want to be in the commanders seat on Endevour right now! I want the weather to cool off. Stupid LA summers..... I want a fun job

I gotta jump with an instructor again, so, first thing in the morning on a weekday is the best time to do that. I'm sure boogies are super busy... I'd LOVE to have my A at, or before, Boneanza

I hope I can be there... I'm planning on it, but, work has been really variable lately. Also; I'm no longer current So I need to fix that BEFORE the boogie.

For sushi, check out Domo: http://www.domorestaurant.com/ It's more "Country Style Sushi" as opposed to the "City Style" that you're used to. It's a great time of year to sit outside in their garden too. It's more of a full service Japanese restaurant as opposed to just a sushi bar. And for the love of god don't leave Denver without going to Lucile's Creole Cafe http://www.luciles.com/ for breakfast / brunch. It's seriously one of my favorite restaurants in the country. I was just through there two days ago on a road trip and I wasn't able to stop. There's locations all over the state, but the one in Boulder is in a nice converted home. The one in Denver has a liquor license and they have the best Bloody Mary's in town (no liquor license at the one in Boulder). Also, consider trying their Cuban OJ if you like your brunch with a little more booze You're going to have to wait for a table, especially on the weekends, but, it's SO worth the wait.

That's exactly how I feel. If I force myself to jump, things generally don't go the way I want, and then I get frustrated and end up leaving the DZ in a bigger funk then when I got there. I've gone out to the DZ hoping that just being there would get me out of my funk, and when it didn't, I left without jumping.

Traveling up to the bay area for Maker Faire (it's a big, nerdy, science faire for grown ups. well... kids too I guess) I'm back to jumping on Monday... hopefully...

Oh wow, I'm so sorry to hear you got hurt that day! I hope you heal quickly and we see you back out there soon.

You know... when I found out she was pregnant, my first thoughts ran to the various pregnancy myths they could test Thus far though, they haven't done a single one.

Heh, yeah, she's pregnant. Depending on the segment in question, it's visible a lot this season. They recently had to bring in a friend of mine to act as her hands, since she can't work with chemicals and stuff... He does a lot of the molding and building that she used to. I understand they're about ready to wrap shooting for this season, so she'll probably be un-pregnant by the time they start shooting the next season.

That definitely some interesting reading there... it sounds like a Pro Track or similar device would record mostly the same data? Too bad. I'd rather have bonfire conversations over a laptop with graphs and data, then catch up on the latest DZ drama and speculation.

So... is there a generally agreed upon fall rate that most people shoot for? And how do we measure it? I'm assuming with something like a pro-track, but is it average miles per hour over the course of a dive, or in feet per second? I'm 6' and about 240 - 245 out the door with my big student rig so I drop really fast. The last guy that shot video for me had to sit fly to keep up. So I'm looking to correct that soon after I'm licensed... probably before I even buy my first rig.

I just got one and I noticed that they run kinda small... I bought an XL and it fits really tight. Especially if I wear a bandanna under it, to keep the fly-aways at bay in the aircraft. Maybe I just have a big head (everything else about me is "big" in relation to skydiving). The price was right though, and I like it better then the protec helmets... It's gotten a few questions from people around the DZ including from some of my instructors. Also; I find the goggle channels are useless.

0 : 0 : 0 I just couldn't make it out to the DZ. And when I finally did Saturday morning, it was completely cloudy. At least it's a short week this coming week

You know, I think you were the first student I met my first day out at Elsinore... You were doing jump #9 I think? And I was there for AFF 1. Congrats on the license! I hope to be not far behind you

Mary Roach is really awesome. I thought she was sexy in a smart, dorky, way long before I ever saw her give a talk or a reading. Her latest book is "Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex", but she's written others as well. Specifically "Stiff" and "Spook"; about death, and the afterlife, respectively... I love that she writes like she talks... She's the kind of author I know I could sit down for a drink and some conversation with, without feeling like an intellectual inferior

Amusingly, I just reading the Wikipedia article on bacon, and saw: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon Is there anything bacon can't do?!