Leaderboard

It's a simple solution really. Name all the bases and put up statues in honor of those 3,520 Medal of Honor recipients. Of those, 90 of the MoH's went to 89 African-Americans (Sweeney was awarded twice). Who's gonna take exception to an MoH recipient.

I think it's fair to consider myself an experienced skydiver. I started back in the end of 2012 and did about 3.500 jumps since then, of which "only" 1.500 jumps are tandems. Did my coach rating the second year after obtaining my license and my tandem and AFF ratings not that long after. Where I jump skydiving is seasonal so it's not really possible to live off it alone, so I still have a part-time job next to it. Skydiving season is pretty intense, as we have a 6-day week at our dropzone and due to my part time job I have a 7-day workweek from late spring until mid fall. Staff does normally not get any days off and we are expected to be available at all and any time. No pay for bad-weather-standby-days though and no getting out even on light workload days. I've had a total of 2 requested weekends off the last 7 years - and that is "surprisingly" taking the fun out of the sport for me. Season opening was late this year due to COVID. When we finally started our season it hurt to see all those great people at the dropzone, all my friends and students being amazed to get up into the sky again and me myself just feeling numb and irritated that all those days of endless standby and waiting at the dropzone are now starting again. Being on my canopy for the first time in more than 6 months did not excite me even the slightest. My only thought was to just get this over as quickly as possible so I could finally go home to do something with my valuable spare time that I actually wanted to be doing. I don't want to rant too much. I just never had those feelings about skydiving ever before. Maybe all that is caused by the COVID restrictions, that finally gave me some spare time in the warm season and reminded me that there is more in this world than just skydiving. Maybe I just overdid it the last few years and need a break from skydiving. Anyways... Has any other experienced skydiver out there ever been in a similar position? Advice is very welcome...

Hi Keith, One of best ideas that I have heard of. Good on you, Jerry Baumchen

Eh, the liberal supremacists won the Civil War. Didn't have to kill off the rest of the South.

I echo the OP's experience. I started skydiving back in 1977 and earned my first tandem instructor rating in 1986. From 1992 to 2010 (18 years) I worked full-time in the skydiving industry, often "8 days a week." I did tandems on weekends and rigged from Monday to Friday. It was only after 10 years, that I was able to negotiate 1 day per week as a rest day. Otherwise, I had to be on the DZ everyday and ready to jump with students. If weather turned nasty, I busied myself in the loft. A few years back I heard a younger TI complain that she was exhausted by the end of July and just dragged her ass through August and September. When the rainy season returned in October, she suffered major depression. Over the winter, I supported myself rigging and preparing 50-some-odd school rigs for the next season. For many years, I was the only Canadian skydiver collecting a salary 12 months out of the year. It was not so much burn-out that forced me to leave the skydiving industry as it was injuries suffered during a plane crash. I recovered from most of my physical injuries after a year, but never recovered psychologically. I was more bored than stressed 3 months after the crash, but then too many lawyers, bullies and fiercely competitive skydivers reminded me of the crash too many times, burning that miserable crash into long-term memory. The worst part of leaving the skydiving industry was sociological. Working those long hours prevented me from forming social connections outside of skydiving, so when I no longer worked as a full-time skydiver, I lost my social circle and huge part of my identity.

I have been jumping since 2006, and I got my TI rating back in 2012. All that time I had a full-time salaried job in Public accounting, so I literally worked 7 days a week for most of the year, with no down time unless you count sitting around on a weather day. That was 7 day weeks during busy season while the staff was on their 5 month off-season going on cool trips or going down south. A mix of great days at the DZ when I wasn't at the office when the weather and students were awesome, but also days spent wasting my time with bad weather. During the summer Saturday and Sunday could be longer "work" days than my full-time job. At first what kept me going in the beginning was that I was one of only a small group of instructors. There was three of us on the weekend, and as a result there was zero flexibility, but I could expect to get 30 jumps on a weekend if the weather was good. I got to be a legend in my own mind, and walk home with a bunch of bonus money. Then later on I kept things going because the DZ was purchased by new owners that are awesome people who respected my time. I didn't drive out days with bad weather forecasts unless I just wanted to hang out. I love working for them, and the flexibility has made it work. This January my Son was born, and then COVID hit. I still haven't been out to the DZ because work has been nuts, and for now I let my ratings lapse, but I think this year will be another time where my involvement changes. Wanting to have some time for my son is probably the best way to motivate change after so many years. I think you need to respect your time. If the DZ isn't respecting your time you need to evaluate whether you can make change in that area, or if you need to beat feet.

Ah yes another idiot who thinks everybody has equal opportunity in the US. Clueless idiot. Spent his life being told what to do and thinks he now has all the answers.

I burned out on TI work way faster than that. Good on you for sticking with it so long. The logistics of working in this industry make burnout easy. Always having to be available, no (or low) pay when the weather is bad, no benefits or paid time off like a "real" job, zero hopes of building up a retirement fund, etc. The lifestyle is part of the "compensation," and I think it will always be that way. If the lifestyle isn't your jam anymore, go get a proper job with a proper wage and jump for fun again. I spent 3 years as a TI and loved it. I'm so glad I did it. That said, I'm back in the real world and if I never pickup another tandem rig it wouldn't bother me one bit. =)

"the quickest way to take all the joy out of a hobby is to try and make a living at it" I know of a couple TIs who left the sport due to burnout and never went back even as fun jumpers. that's a bit of a shame, so if you feel some love for funjumping, just not working, stop working now so, like jimjumper, you still can get some enjoyment

I did AFF and Tandems for about 15 years after I retired from the military. Almost killed my passion for the sport. Quitting students and getting a regular part-time job as a replacement was the best thing I ever did. Now, I get to decide when, where, and how many jumps and it's back to having fun with friends. I see Instructors fall into the trap of "I have to always be available!" and when they are burned out you don't see them anymore....

Those actions are (May be) illegal, and will be dealt with with the judiciary system, if they are deemed to be so. I think its kind of ironic that a lot the pro second amendment people are railing against the protests, which are similar to the Bundy stand off that happened. They are doing exactly what the second amendment is for, except without a shit ton of weapons. Relax Mark. Its a news item - it will go away. Most of it is the youth. They have passions and assumptions that don't always align with the perception of logic that us older folks have. The underlying reason for this is real and valid. We need to reform, and perhaps, reduce the militarization of the police forces in the US.

Its the premise the constitutional amendments start with. The first amendment. Unless you think there should be "Thought Police" . . .

I think it happens a lot, I've known a lot of guys who were very active and made a lot of jumps in a short time, only to suddenly disappear and never be seen again at a dropzone. Others keep on going year after year. Me, I quickly stopped doing tandemvideo when someday I felt relieved that jumping was cancelled for the day due to the weather. It started to feel like a job, and I already have one of those! Went back to jumping just for the fun of it, and never regretted it. Maybe someday I'll change my mind again, maybe not.

Ahh thanks man, those videos were really informative and pretty much filled me in on all the questions I had. It looks like i’ll be pulling the kill line farther in to extend tmy PC life and make sure things are functioning as they should

Thank you. That's a Standard Caravan with the Texas Turbines 900HP -12JR Conversion. The tells are the Chrome Collar on the air intake and the very round exhaust. Well, also that it climbs like crazy.

You'd be surprised.

Hahaha! Yup! And I'm so freakin' happy :) :) :)

“Bolton writes that the House should have broadened its impeachment inquiry to other areas of his foreign policy, contending that he can document — and identify witnesses to — "Ukraine-like transgressions ... across the full range of his foreign policy,” Well it would have been nice if he’d had a fucking spine and said something at the time instead of saving it for a book deal.

Pilots didn't say 'over'