Ron 10 #1 March 20, 2003 Manbird posted this in Incidents: Whuffos often comment on how active all these skydivers seem. Personally, I find their inactivity strange. It really doesn't surprise me when I find that a fellow jump, in addition to hundreds or thousands of jumps, has decades of martial arts experience or thousands of SCUBA dives or is a kickass skier or goes on climbing expeditions, etc. But it confuses or saddens me to hear that outside of this tandem, someone would just sit on their ass at home or sit on their ass at a bar, and that's it. There's nothing wrong with sitting on your ass at home or a bar, but that should be like no more than 10% of your freetime. Which leads me to this........ I live on the Dz in Zhills....I have a few jumps over almost 10 years. There are times I want to get the F>CK off the DZ and have a "real life"....The problem is I have been jumping so long now, and most (if not all) of my friends are jumpers. Yes we as a group sometimes go bowling, or out to eat ect...But I know many people who have quit the sport due to kids, jobs ect.....My question is...What the hell do they do on a nice day? I have TRIED to not be at the DZ on a nice day, but I really can't think of anything that can hold my interest like jumping does.... What do the wuffos do on a day like today???? Ron"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FLsurfer 0 #2 March 20, 2003 A lot of my co-workers golf. One day they were asking about my hobbies and why I tend to like the more dangerous ones. I remembered a quote I had just read in one of the mags about another jumper in the same situation. When I used it, the silence and look on their faces was priceless. "When you were a kid, did you ever dream you were flying?" A few "yeahs" "Did you ever dream you were playing golf?" "Uh, no." In this day and age this might not work with the younger golfers brought into golf by Tigermania. With a father that spent 26 years in the Air Force and a mother that flew Cesna's recreationally, I must have had a dream about flying my body every other night. I wonder why it took me until 28 to do my first jump, AFF 1. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanuckInUSA 0 #3 March 20, 2003 My current life is very busy with at least 3 other activities besides just skydiving (even though skydiving is almost always on my mind). There's work (how I pay for all of my hobbies), hockey (both playing and watching the NHL) and how could I forget my volleyball (the big co-ed social activity of the week). And while I don't fly airplanes as much since I started jumping, I do try and get up at least once a month to stay current. There's also many other sports which I like (such as skiing, mountain biking, mountaineering, rock climbing, etc, etc, etc) that I've put on hold since I've started jumping. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve1 5 #4 March 20, 2003 Now that I'm back jumping, I agree with you that there is little in life that holds my interest like skydiving does. I quit jumping and skiing for almost 25 years though. During those years I kept busy building a log house, hunting and fishing with my family, playing with my horses, going to school, rodeoing (for about four years) and working. Now my priorities are family, jumping, and a little skiing....... Steve1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slotperfect 7 #5 March 20, 2003 I am married with two children, so most of my time when I am not working, travelling, or skydiving is spent with my family. Currently on the weekends I am dividing my time between Church, soccer x 2, and working at the dropzone. Arrive Safely John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rdutch 0 #6 March 20, 2003 I hear getting Divorced is a fun thing to do when your not jumping. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoshi 0 #7 March 20, 2003 when not at the dz I am ussualy spending time with my wifee, friends and family...bowling, going to plays, art galleries, museums, visiting other cities...etc... but I think about the dz every 4 seconds...and its especially hard when its a nice day -yoshi_________________________________________ this space for rent. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Iflyme 0 #8 March 20, 2003 Over the past years, I have skied, played hockey, volleyball, walleyball, and scuba dived for fun ... now I have 2 kids, so most of my free time is devoted to them. I figure if ya work hard, ya gotta play hard! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #9 March 20, 2003 I'm a very active musician, as well as an avid weight lifter and love doing outdoors things. Such as camping, hiking, off-roading, etc. I generally keep myself busy. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sfc 1 #10 March 20, 2003 yeh it is, one of my few hobbies that cost more than skydiving Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freakydiver 0 #11 March 20, 2003 I have it tough as hell living in Colorado because I am an avid backcountry skiier and snowboarder, plus I like to get my camp on in the summer. There are so many things to do in this state that sometimes, its hard to go to the DZ on a nice day. This is in stark contrast to how I felt when living in Illinois where all I could think about was good low wind blue sky weather (does that actually exist in IL/WI???) and skydiving. I never thought anything would/could compete with my desire to go jumping, but when there is four feet of fresh powder and 40 foot cornices to throw one's self off of, sometimes, its a tough call... -- (N.DG) "If all else fails – at least try and look under control." -- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #12 March 20, 2003 Bicycling, kayaking, studying for my commercial pilot exam, visiting museums, hanging out with my girlfriend and cats. Post-whoring. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #13 March 20, 2003 Quote hanging out with my girlfriend and cats. I like how you grouped those together, sorta made me chuckle.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #14 March 20, 2003 I have been DEEPLY involved in a great number of outside sports and expensive hobbies; all of which took me away from skydiving to the degree that I would get the always-funny "hey, didn't you used to skydive?" when I would show back up at Raeford. Har-de-har-har. Never mind that I had 1000 jumps in 1990. Anyway, I was a competitive slalom waterskier, wakeboarder (since there was such a thing), barefooter, and snowboarder (also since there was such a thing). I have had as many as three motorcycles at one time and raced motocross for a while on both two and three wheels. I have built a Toyota truck that had 22 inches of lift and a Chevy V8 and have built many a hotrod. I had a Corvette fetish for some time and have owned three. In the end, I needed to get back to serious skydiving because I knew that is what I "needed" to do. I hated that I was out of the loop. Like Ron said, once you are on the dropzone all the time, that is pretty much all you hang out with. That being said, when you stop hanging around the dropzone all the time to partake of any other activity you truly relish, then your dropzone friends forget about you. Well, not truly "forget", but I can promise you that you get way out of the loop. Still, as a result of being so serious in those other activities has made it so I have WAY more friends than I could ever keep in touch with. Once you stop being heavily involved in those other things, then, of course, you fall out of touch with those other people. There is just not time enough in a day or you life to stay up with everything, so in the end you have to either compromise in some way, or just commit wholeheartedly to one activity and not fret about anything else. While I truly LOVE skydivng and all my jumping friends, I do miss my other buddies. I often get jealous knowing that while I am here skydiving, another huge circle of friends is down on the river, cutting up, drinking like vikings, and skiiing their asses off. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BMFin 0 #15 March 20, 2003 Quote Anyway, I was a competitive slalom waterskier, wakeboarder (since there was such a thing), barefooter, and snowboarder (also since there was such a thing) Cool .. You been barefooting alot ? Did you use any suit ? ( I dont mean just a wetsuit , but a barefoot suit) Do you prefer the boom or long line ? What kinda starts do you take ? Longline open water ever ? I have been also doing some slalom and wakeboard, but started practicing barefooting last summer. (I still suck at it...) Next summer I want to learn some new tricks. I gues I have to buy a barefootsuit.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikeat10500 12 #16 March 20, 2003 3 kids...----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamsville 0 #17 March 20, 2003 I run in the morning or go roller blading, and I used to play a lot of golf. I ski when I can during the winter or sail sometimes in the summer. Nowadays I like to make videos on the computer, having discovered this through doing skydive video. But Ron, having said all that, I consider myself to maybe be earlier in the life-cycle (if you can call it that) than some other longer-time veterans of our sport. If I can in any way manage the time, a nice day will mostly find me going to the DZ and maybe spending the weekend out there. Since I live in downtown Chicago, I also feel like I'm spreading my wings to drive out to the country and jump with my friends. I'm not married. In any case, the airing-out aspect of the sport helps my outlook and perspective during my week at work and with my whuffo friends and family that I also love. But, the 20-30 year experienced crowd long ago gave up jumping when it's 25-30 degrees in the winter, and don't seem as gung-ho as I to make time for jumping, whether or not they are married. I have 5.5 years of experience and still place the sport high in the list of "what do I do now?". Maybe if I lived on the DZ I wouldn't feel this way, so maybe not having my home on one adds to the enchantment of skydiving. I thought about living on the DZ for a while if I could, but then I wondered, would it be the same, would I actually like it over time? It's kind of a ramble. Not sure where the opening tag goes. |I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrianM84 0 #18 March 20, 2003 I'm a student at Cook College at Rutgers, so that takes up a lot of time. But also Computer security, rollerblading, magic (slieght of hand mostly), tennis, and playing on the swings and pretty much my day is fullBrian McCarthy BrianM84@eden.rutgers.edu Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #19 March 20, 2003 QuoteCool .. You been barefooting alot ? Did you use any suit ? ( I dont mean just a wetsuit , but a barefoot suit) Do you prefer the boom or long line ? What kinda starts do you take ? Longline open water ever ? The only thing I don't do well is backwards footing. I took some horrific falls doing that and my neck was already worn out from shooting video back in the day, so now I just don't do that. I tumble, one foot (either foot), flip, toe-hold and toe-up (longline and boom). I have two SkiWarm Violator barefoot suits and a kevlar rope with a masterline trick/toe handle. I have some good photos somewhere of me doing a flying dock-start off a 20 foot high pier; no big deal. Footing is fun and easy to learn, once you get past the fear of faceplanting. I have found no other activity that gets you in that good of shape, ever. Chuck Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cheneyneel 0 #20 March 20, 2003 When not jumping? Play rugby!!! Keeps you adrenaline level high, keeps your reactions quick under pressure and hell its fun.. I try to make 4 to 5 hundred jumps a year but rugby is the only thing that takes me away from skydiving even on the most beautiful of days... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JJohnson 0 #21 March 20, 2003 Weightlifting, martial arts, motorcycle riding, beating my stepson (love the kid to no end), beating my dog (or getting beaten by my dog), read avidly, shoot, throw darts, shoot pool, pretend to learn guitar (no talent),.....and like Pinky and the Brain......every night plan to take over the world. Golf is admitting to the world that you have nothing better to do. Only watching grass grow is more boring.JJ "Call me Darth Balls" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeorgeOrwell 0 #22 March 21, 2003 Well since the dz that I usually jump at is only open 7 months a year that leaves alot of time to do things. First I like to play with my kids age 2 1/2 and 2weeks. Second is I'm building a vw meyers manx dune buggy so I spend alot of time in the garage Third I bowl two nights a week. Since I just started jumping last year 86 jumps!! This summer I hope to do at least 150. bought new gear(Custom Mirage G3,Sabre 2 190 and a PD 160 reserve) so I better jump the sh#t out of it Have a good day Eric W Blair-------------------------------------------------- If your not jumping your not living LEARN TO LIVE (L2L) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamjenner 0 #23 March 21, 2003 i go to school or stay here at home. Yep. No life for me Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #24 March 21, 2003 Interesting question.. First, I work. I work a lot. I drink, too. After a day at work or at the dropzone I often drop by a favorite pub for a beer or two and some conversation. Never more than two. Don't drive drunk! Sometimes I'll have a date with a wuffo. Once the date lasted from Friday night to Sunday morning. Somehow, I didn't mind not jumping. I also enjoy a game of pasture pool. That's what I do when the weather doesn't cooperate. This may also seem odd, but every now and then I veg for a day. Just do nothing. This would happen more often during football season and my Raiders were on. But I also go to hockey games and hang out with the family. Add to that playing in a band and seeing other bands in action, skydiving is that activity I do when the other ones have a gap, or when I have the money to spend on it without other requirements. I won't be jumping this weekend with the three trials scheduled to start in the next week and a half. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmpnkramer 0 #25 March 21, 2003 Quote I often get jealous knowing that while I am here skydiving, another huge circle of friends is down on the river, cutting up, drinking like vikings, and skiiing their asses off. Hey Chuck!! I remember when we used to ski all day one day and jump the next. I always tell people the way we used to live up there. Amoung some other interesting adventures we used to partake in. I really enjoyed my time at "CASA AZUL" It is definitely one of my more fond memories in life to date. I wish I would have stayed longer in hindsight. You are a hell of a bud. I was learning some new tricks. Anyway Dude I just had to post to this comment. Take Care. See ya on Tuesday. Blue Skies!! KRAAAAMER!!!!!The REAL KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER! "HESITATION CAUSES DEATH!!!" "Be Slow to Fall into Friendship; but when Thou Art in, Continue Firm & Constant." - SOCRATES Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
