CanuckInUSA

In most cases I know this is the party line. Yes Colorado does suck. But Alana is a hottie. Creator of the "If you're a hottie and you know it" thread, and for her I think we should make an exception to this rule. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hi Alana Colorado is one awesome state to live in if you like adventure, awesome scenery, healthy people and sunshine. There are many really cool places to live, but most of them come with a price tag. But in most cases it's worth it. Exactly where you will want to live will depend a lot on where you can find work. The south Denver metro area has the worst traffic (not LA bad, but bad nonetheless), but getting around the metro area usually isn't that bad. Getting into the mountains up I-70 during the ski season sucks. But that's the only way from metro Denver. There is a less travelled route if you're travelling from the Springs. You won't save any time, but at least you're not sitting in traffic. I have lived near downtown Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder CO and each one of these places has had it's pros and cons. Living in Denver offers all of the amenities of being in a big city, but you are in a big city. Colorado Springs can be quaint and very picturesque, but some (not all) of the people there are very mixed up. South Denver is suburbia, Lakewood isn't a bad location and Golden is actually pretty cool (if you can stand the smell of the Coors Brewery). Boulder is well ... Boulder. On one hand it is a really cool place to be with awesome scenery and a lot outdoor recreational activities (I've been here since the summer of 2000), but some (not all) of the people are just too bizarre what with their tree hugging and related activities. Northwest metro Denver is actually pretty nice, reasonably affordable and traffic isn't too bad. North metro Denver and eastern Denver (Aurora) are the cheaper places to be. But you also have to remember the sort of people which are attracted to these cheaper areas. If you can find work, the Fort Collins/Loveland area is very nice and reasonably affordable as well. But getting to the ski resorts is bad enough from Lakewood let alone Fort Collins. So before you start asking how much would you pay to live, you need to know what part of the Front Range you could find work in. Hey and I didn't even touch living in the mountains (which would be awesome if you could find work, but it could also be very expensive at the same time). As far as the weather is concerned, for most of the year, Colorado rocks and we get just as much sunshine as a place like Florida would get (without the natural disasters). And the air is dry here, so you won't feel as cold in the winters as you would in Ohio. Maybe I'm not the best person to ask, but in the 7 years I have lived here, I have yet to experience anything that comes close to Canada and/or Minnesota cold. It just isn't that bad here. One day we may get 2 feet of snow, but within a few days it will melt and believe it or not, I have been out in shorts and a t-shirt on some January and February days. As far as jumping is concerned, it is no accident (besides having a well paying job) that I have accumulated the number of jumps I have in the short 27 months I have been jumping (and I'm pretty much just a weekend jumper). We may not jump all 52 weeks of the year (and we go skiing on those overcast and snowy wintery weekends), but we do jump all 12 months of the year. There are three drop zones in the state not counting the one Spizarko speaks of (YES DO NOT JUMP AT SKIP'S DZ) and depending on where you live, how far you're willing to travel and what sort of drop zone environment you are looking for, any one of the three DZs should suite your needs. What else can I say? Do you still have that video I gave you last Christmas? Much of that was videoed here in Colorado. And two of the three DZs offer great scenery while the other DZ offers a great party atmosphere. But I must warn you that landing your canopy on a hot summer day in low wind conditions is nothing like you've ever experienced before. Your approach speeds will be faster than what you're used to and your canopy will lose it's lift faster. You really need to know how to complete your flare here if you're jumping a small canopy. Colorado is just a great place to be. I know one day (who knows, maybe sooner rather than later), I will have to leave the state. Are there any single women out there, not necessarily directed at Alana willing to help a Canadian out by marrying him so that he can stay in the state? LOL ... didn't think so. Anyway, from what I know about you and the brief times we did chat at the holiday boogie, I'm pretty sure you'd be happy here in Colorado and Colorado would be lucky to get someone like you. There are plenty of people here who would be happy to help make your transition to the state more enjoyable and we hope you choose us over another state (god I sound like a politician or something). Wingi: Yes you may have only been paying $400 for your place in the Springs, but don't forget some of us (like yours truly) have actually set foot in your old pad and well ... I couldn't possibly tell people about the ### ######## #### you used to live in without it being confused as a personal attack. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Well done Drew!!! Think you could do that two, no make that three times in a row. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You don't know much about history do you? Did you even bother to take notice of the years that Frenchy quoted and the reasons why they were brought up before you clicked that send button? You should have payed attention to that grade seven history lesson they taught in school. Cause if you did, you would have known better not to make that comment you just made. How's that toe jam taste? As you just got caught with your foot in your mouth big time, and there's nothing you can say to get you out of this one. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

It's not the pilot I have an issue with. From what I understand the people at the back of the load told the pilot two things. 1 hop n' pop and a 15 second climb out. Seeing as this pilot (from a big DZ) is used to 4-ways teams working on exits with hop n' pops, I can only assume that he confused me as a hop n' pop with the 4-way team + camera man and turned the light on 15 seconds early. No my issue is with the senior tandem master and believe me I'm am ready willing and able to continue argument #2 with him. Problem is, is that I won't be at the DZ for at least the next 4 weekends due to prior commitments (Perris Valley this coming weekend, Canada after that, the Skydive Moab boogie and either the Go-Fast games or some fun at DZ "B"). Once again, I'm problaby ranting more than I should. But this one individual (and a few of his co-horts have tainted me to the point of ... well I just don't care about certain things any more). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

That's a good one. For the record, I pretty much blocked out whatever else was said in the air by virtually everyone on the load and my frustrations with this individual exists more from his history of bitching to people about leaving on green light (regardless of the spot), his history of bitching to people once he sits down on the trailer and his history of not talking to fun jumpers and students. So when he bitched to me on the ground about not leaving on the green light, I just decided to say enough was enough telling him that the spot sucked, that I too was a paying customer and as the only hop n' pop on the load I wasn't going to exit until the spot was right. Mary is right. I should talk to the acting DZ manager and S&TA. I do respect this individual and maybe something can be said to this other individual in such a manner so as not to insult him, but at the same time tell him that his views of jump run, the green light and hurrying up once on the trailer don't necessarily co-exist with other people's views. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Perhaps you should understand why I am doing a hop n' pop in the first place before you make unnecessary replies such as this. I do hop n' pops for two reasons: 1) I have swooping goals and it is much safer for myself as well as my fellow jumpers to be doing my 270s when I have no other canopies in the air to be concerned with. 2) Because I have swooping goals, there is a specific set of skills which I am working on. I would much rather get 1 or 2 practice 270s in where I work on my accuracy and recovery arc recognition (and maybe a little rear riser work) before it's time to get down to business. If I have to fight a bad spot, then I am missing out on those practice approaches and am missing out on some vital training time. Yes high altitude hop n' pops are also good times to enhance ones skill set. But I also use normal hop n' pops to help work myself towards these goals. While I am not about to claim that I know it all, as I don't. I know how to get back from a bad spot. I have taken formal canopy control training in the past and I will continue to seek training from qualified instructors. Plus there has actually has been certain jumps (like a night jump not long ago where I was the only jumper to get back due to some nasty uppers which caught everyone by surprise). Anyway, I am a paying customer with specific training goals in mind. Why should I sacrifice my training goals just to exit an aircraft early only to satisfy some senior tandem master dick head who feels I should be following his rules. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

What about BJ? Or would that be considered a PA. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

There are many people: tandem masters, videographers and AFF instructors who are not seen at this DZ doing fun jumps. But most of these people are reaonsably friendly, they are approachable and willing to talk to you. But this individual does not talk to fun jumpers and does not talk to students. He's only there to haul the cargo and to give shit to people not following his rules. I know this is a rant. But the dude really pissed me off and made my experience at this DZ more strained than what it's already been. Yes drop zone "B" will see me more once I'm done with my commitments in the next 3-4 weekends. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

This is pretty much what I was doing, my head was outside the door almost the entire time. It should have been obvious to this dick what I was doing. No argument here. One thing to keep in mind though is that during Safety Day, the DZO stood up in front of everyone who was there during a special presentation and told the entire DZ that go arounds were not a big deal and that the DZ wasn't worried about the added fuel costs in the effort to promote safety and for that I applaud the DZO (so my rant shouldn't be directed at the DZ itself). But this person in question always ends up bitching on the trailer when he's involved in a go-around and is often seen telling people to hurry up once he gets on the trailer and for some reason he is never challenged. #### him I say. It's too bad that the next 3-4 weekends are already booked and that I'll be out of town for most of that time as I'm ready and willing to stand up to him (even if it means getting banned from the DZ). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I made identical jumps at two different drop zones this weekend and observed two radically different experiences. I will not name names, but for those of you out there who know me and know where I’ve jumped, you’ll know where I’m talking about and you may even be able to pick up on who I am talking about. Also, my negative experience at this drop zone is really isolated to only a few select individuals and in no way fully reflects the majority of the people who jump there. Anyway … On Saturday morning I show up at drop zone “A” to make a hop n’ pop before I had to leave for most of the day to go play in a volleyball tournament. I told several people that I was only there for one jump, so hopefully they knew why I didn’t hang around. Anyway I’m on Load One, I am the only person doing this hop n’ pop and the drop zone is using a visiting pilot (associated with the aircraft being used) and I’m guessing that this visiting pilot wasn’t all that familiar with the DZ. He turns the green light on way too early and people in the airplane start telling me to jump. There is a camera guy for an experienced 4-way team (this camera guy is a good guy) and he’s the first one to tell me to jump and I say “No ####ing way” and he checks the spot and agrees with me. Well one of the senior tandem masters is in the back of the aircraft and this dick has a history of getting on people’s backs for not jumping when the light comes on (despite the fact the DZO told people on safety day the go arounds are not an issue at the DZ). So he starts yelling out to me that I need to jump because the green light is on. Well I ignored him and waited the 15 or so seconds before I jumped. Well on the ground this senior tandem master guy starts giving me shit for not jumping when the green light is turned on and we start getting into an argument. This guy has a history of being a dick to many people at this DZ and he’s telling me that I need to jump when the light turns on, no matter what. I am wasting fuel and slowing down operations (tandem operations) at the DZ. Well I’m sorry Mr senior tandem master dick (I hope he sees this, but I doubt he will), I’m on a hop n’ pop I’m not ####ing up anyone else’s spot on the airplane and what would people say if I blindly jumped without checking the spot and got into some sort of incident because of it. The only one I was inconveniencing was this senior tandem master dick because I was delaying him from getting to altitude (by 15 seconds) so that he can process his tandems and get the hell out of there (this dick always leaves the DZ once the tandems are processed and is never seen making fun jumps). On Sunday morning I show up at drop zone “B” (actually I showed up there Saturday night, partied with the locals and slept at the DZ). Anyway once again I’m on Load One and I’m the only one doing a hop n’ pop. The same situation occurs where the green light comes on and people in the airplane start telling me to jump. I gesture to another jumper near the door that I’m not going yet as the spot isn’t good and there are no further questions asked. I jump and believe it or not there are some interesting strong winds between 2k and 4k and I actually have to spend a good part of my canopy ride (despite the good spot) to not get pushed away from the DZ by these strong uppers instead of working on some skills that I’d rather be working on. Once I land, the DZO of drop zone “B” comes up to me to talk to me. Was he about to give me shit for delaying in the door? No he came up to me because he noticed that I was fighting these uppers and he wanted to know if what he saw was the same thing that I experienced so that jump run can be adjusted (which it was for that load that went up to altitude as well as the loads for the rest of the day). So what kind of jumper does your DZ want you to be? I brain dead jumper that goes on the green light no matter what the spot is or an informed jumper who knows of the dynamic conditions we jump in. It’s one thing to be at full altitude and delaying your exit so that your first group gets a great spot above the peas. But this was not the case on a hop n’ pop and it just goes to show that there are some dicks out there who don’t give a shit about the less than lucrative yet still steady fun jumper customers. Drop zone “A” does have some good people there, but my experience Saturday morning with this dick has totally soured an already stressed situation with this DZ. Jumping at this drop zone is just not going to be fun and yes it is time to spend more time at drop zone “B”. Does that mean I’m done with drop zone “A”? Hopefully the answer is no, but time will tell. I realize that this post is more of a rant than anything, but what’s a fun jumper to do when they are being treated as a 2nd class citizen by senior tandem masters who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but their precious lucrative cargo. Note: save me the “tandems are the business” speech as I know this. And I am very happy to report that drop zone “B” has found a way to bring in more tandem business this summer from last summer. I have no issues with tandems, but I have issues with dicks who think they are all that just because they’ve been flying cargo all these years and don’t give a shit about fun jumpers. I can’t wait for the next time this dick tells people to hurry up to get in the trailer (once he sits down) as I’ll be willing to tell him to shut the #### up and I don’t care if the DZO at drop zone “A” (who’s not the dick I speak of) tells me I’m not welcome at his drop zone any more. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I agree with many of your impressions. But let's also not forget that it's only the end of week one. There will no doubt be many more WTF ... how did that happen games. If I was to pick two teams out of the hat to be in Super Bowl today, I would pick Philly versus the Pats. But injuries and team chemistry could have much to say before the season is done. It should be an interesting year. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The Czechs played a great game. But Canada takes on Finland for all of the marbles this Tuesday evening. Oh and you know what they say. "A great goalie can beat a good team any day". Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Fans of the great game of hockey care. If you don't care, no problem. There's plenty of other useless threads for you to post whore in. But do us a favor and waste some time in there instead of in here. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I was very surprised to see the Broncos offense do well tonight (despite Plummer's two stupid interceptions to start the 2nd half) and the defense did very well against one of the leagues top offenses. Maybe there is hope for this team after all to win the AFC West. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Make that two more. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Plus don't forget it's the canopy pilot not the canopy. There is video out there on the net (I can't remember where I got it, but it's out there) of Scott Miller swooping a Navigator 220. Yes Scott is a pretty big and strong fellow allowing him to maintain the front riser pressure throughout his hook. But it's pretty impressive nontheless to see him swoop this big boat. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'd buy you a green dress. But not a real green dress cause that would be cruel. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Wow I needed a good laugh this morning. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

It's kind of funny. For thousands and thousands of years, humans survived without electricity. And now look at us. Yes I'm sure there are millions of people who are inconvienced right now. But it's not like the power company went around at night time being incompetent and purposely neglected to maintain their power system. Mother Nature played a cruel trick on the people of FL and people need to remember that we humans CAN NOT control that bitch. She controls us. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You're right. The last thing on my mind is that sort of stuff when I'm about to jump. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I enjoy both skydiving and BASE jumping and have goals set for both disciplines. My only long term concerns about skydiving exists in "can I afford to do the sport if/when I don't have a well paying job". But as I said, I enjoy doing both. Oh and on another observations, some people have said they left skydiving because they didn't like the DZ politics, drama and egos. But quess what? I see similar politics, drama and egos in BASE. It's just done on a different level. Anyway, I hope that years from now I will have thousands of skydives and thousands of BASE jumps under my belt and more importantly I hope that I can remain healthy and happy in these two ever so cool sports and I hope that I'm not alone in my healthy and happy pursuits as there are many people out there in both the skydiving and BASE jumping communities which I hope to still call friends. Skydiving and BASE jumping are two totally cool sports. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Canada looked good last night beating Slovakia 5-0. Next up, the semi-final games: USA vs Finland (Friday night) Canada vs Czechs (Saturday Night) Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The Chechens have stooped to a new low. I find it hard to imagine anyone who could support what they did last week. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

If I was a fan of USA Hockey (which I am not), I would think that they are sitting pretty good for making it to the finals (they will play Finland on Friday in one semi-final game and I think they'll win that one). They beat Russia tonight 5-3 in a very entertaining game and the line of Tkachuk, Modano and Gomez kicked ass factoring in in all 5 of the USA's goals (with Tkachuk scoring 4 goals and assisting on Gomez's goal). The Czech Republic smashed Sweden 6-1 and assuming Canada can beat Slovakia (if they can't you might as well just kill me now and the rest of Canada as I don't know if we can handle that sort of shit), Canada will then have to play the Czechs in the other semi-final. I don't know, it could be another North American World Cup final, but I'm not so sure if Canada peaked too early in this tournament or if I'm just being a little paranoid. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over