CanuckInUSA

In many respects, we're seeing a lot of arrogance in this thread with people slamming other people about arrogance. Hopefully we can all agree that being good at something and having experience at it are two totally different beasts. To be good at something, we either have to repeat it over and over again (with no guarantee that you'll actually be good at it) or have a natural talent. To be experienced at something, you have to repeat the activity time and time again. The more you do the activity (ie: currency), the better chance you'll have for success and being good at it. And the longer you do the activity, the more experience you will build. So, while arrogance can be annoying, it does lead to confidence and confidence isn't the worst thing that can happen in this sport (though it can occasionally get you into trouble). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I usually remember to do my 30-day three ring maintenance because the person who started this thread (Hooknswoop) is also my current rigger. So he's not only has he told me to do it, but he also occasionally handles my rig and can tell if I'm cleaning my cutaway cables or not. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Welcome to DZ.COM and the wonderful sport of skydiving. I like you, experienced likely the same thrill when I did my first skydive and decided that one jump wasn't enough (that was 10 months ago). Yet I was the only one out of a group of sixteen who pursued the sport. It obviously takes a certain sort of person to do what we do and enjoy it. But there's no going back once you're hooked is there? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

There is nothing cool about my job except to say that I still have it and it pays the bills. What can I say, the people I work with are boring people. The hi-light of their lives is to go home at night and watch the reality TV shows (because they don't have realtity in their lives), do computer geek stuff (like work on their home networks or software projects), work on their gardens and maybe for the few yuppies in the crowd hang out at the golf country club. But most of them just work 12+ hours a day because that's all they know and enjoy. I think most of them are surprised that I'm not dead yet as since I've become a skydiver, my responsibilities have diminished. But that's ok with me, as I don't live for work (despite the fact that the whuffo boss once told us that he wanted us to live and have a passion for the company). Work sucks ... I'm going to the mountains ... or going skydiving!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You're not inviting a certain TX girl up to CO to be with another former TX but now CO girl are you? If you are, then the rest of us better run for the hills as trouble is coming to town!!!

Wow, am I going to see the BikerBabe and her hubby up in CO? Cool ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

High: New friends in my life. Low: Friends lost from this life. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Great news Mary!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

It's a quote from the movie "Office Space" and lately I've really been kind of acting like the main character Peter. Take whatever we tell you here DZ.COM with a grain of salt. I'm not that much more experienced than you are. But if I ever run into you at a DZ, but be happy to jump with you. It sounds like your sit is coming along just fine and right on schedule. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Vengeance, Velocity and Stiletto are all canopies for more advanced canopy pilots while the Sabres and even Spectres are good for people learning how to fly a canopy. I'm sure I could handle a Spinetto or maybe even the Vengeance, but I'm not ready for the x-braced Velocity. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I have fond memories of going up the chair lift on a sunny weekday morning thinking to myself that I could be stuck in an office in front of a computer (LOL ... like I am now), but I wasn't and I would then decide what run to ski down. But what attributed to my ski patrol burn out was two fold. First off many of my friends who I patrolled with quit the year before my last year and the politics of the patrol ate at me. Dealing with accidents was serious business (and I took it serious when I dealt with them), but ultimately I was there to have fun. Of course as a pro patroller I got paid shit ($7/hr) and spent way more money on gear, food, accommodations and beer than I ever made. So when I look back I couldn't keep working as a full-time patroller. But I'm sad to say that the politics drove me away from the volunteer job. Of course if I was still a volunteer ski patroller, I likely wouldn't be in CO and likely wouldn't be a skydiver. So it's all good. But I can see where Bill was coming from in terms of dealing with tandems day in and and day out. I've seen it with some of the full-time tandem masters at my DZ. If you were lucky enough to be their passenger in the morning, you got a nice experience. But if you were a passenger at the end of the day when the TM was tired, you were just along for the ride. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Like most, it was on the list of things to do in life. Myself and a bunch of friends I play volleyball with showed up at the DZ to do our tandem jumps. I was the only one out of sixteen to become a skydiver though. But aviation is in my blood. I'm a licensed private pilot and my father is a retire air force jet fighter pilot as well as a retired airline pilot (he's also a total whuffo). I'm a youngster. My skybirthday is July 14th, 2002 and to date I've made 231 jumps. Not only do I love the adrenaline rush of skydiving, but more importantly I love the constant new experiences I encounter in the sport. I also like the comradery I get from my fellow skydiving family, whether they be people I jump and party with, or you guys here on DZ.COM. I do not like the financial drain it's been and I'm disappointed that my airplane flying skills have suffered. But I get more from flying my body and my canopy than I get from flying an airplane (which I do love to do). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

That's a good story Bill and I think the moral of the story is that we can get burnt out at any job that we do (no mistake in that working at a DZ is a job). I was a volunteer ski patroller for three years and a pro ski patroller at Lake Louise for another year. So when I wasn't assigned hut duty, I purposely avoided the accident prone runs because I didn't want to deal with that aspect of the job. I knew with that bad attitude I developed in my last year (burn out), it was time to stop. I miss the skiing aspect of the job, but I don't miss the carnage. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

As a Wings owner I would vote for Wings, but you can't go wrong with a Mirage or Odyssey (or virtually any modern container for that matter). Also, Wings has something called a freefly handle (which I have). The handle resembles a pullout, but it's still a BOC. It's phat I tell you. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Lucky girl (I mean that in a good way) ... go visit them all ... When I first started to freefly I wore anything from my ski pants (which didn't work that well), to an RW suit without booties (I had trouble at first, but then got the hang of it), then using tight sweats. Now I use my baggy freefly pants (I'm fairly big so the extra material helps slow me down). Any person with decent freefly skills should be able to jump with any clothing. But you know what they say, "Dress for success". If you're freeflying most of the time, wear freeflying clothing. If you need to slow down, wear baggy clothing. If you need to speed up, wear tight clothing. I'm with you on this one. My RW suit sits in a closet right now and was last used at Eloy over the holidays on the DZ.COM formation loads. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I don't blame them, I was very leary about making that last jump on Sunday. Damm ... I wish I was more experienced. Hey Dave, what time should I show up for the night jumps on Friday? I'll be sure to bring some beer as it will be my first night jumps. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You and Betsy suck!!! I was stuck at work today. Of course working in the salt mines is how I pay for my addiction. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

That's awesome, I'll let him know about it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Happy Loliepalooza Day!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Ya I forgot about that rule ... hmm that could be a problem for my bro. We have a dude at our DZ who's been on the job for about three weeks now and he's only got one tandem under his belt (he very much wants to become a skydiver and it's just a matter of time and money for him). But we do have at least one rigger who packs tandems and slippery sport rigs as well, so I guess the rigger has supervised and cleared the new guy. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I don't know if different DZs operate differently in terms of becoming a "for pay packer" or do they all sort of work the same way in terms of training? So how does one becomes a packer at a DZ? I ask this question for two reasons. First off, while I currently don't need a packing job to get my jump fix in, I figure it might not be a bad idea for myself to become a part-time packer to gain some much needed experience packing different types of rigs. But I also ask this question because I planted the packing seed into my younger bother's head last night (who knows if it's still growing today). I found out yesterday that my bro (who's currently in Montreal) is cutting away from his electronics retail sales job and will be spending his summer in Wildwood NJ doing some sort of under-the-table work (don't tell the INS because he'll be an illegal alien). Anyway, he told me that come September he was thinking of making his way down to Florida to try some scuba diving and then I proceeded to tell him about the possibility of becoming a packer at a DZ. Is it possible for him to show up at one of the Florida DZs and get trained to become a packer or would he be better off getting trained at a Joisey DZ (such as Cross Keys)? I don't know what my summer vacation plans will be this year or will the whuffo boss even let me have a vacation? But if I don't make it to Rantoul, visiting my bro in Joisey and taking him to do his first tandem at Cross Keys sounds pretty gnarly. I could then introduce him to the skydiving world and who knows maybe even convert a whuffo? He says he'd like to do a jump, but he doesn't think he'd become one of us. But then he hasn't jump yet huh? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

It sure looks like my hope of attending the DZ.COM Perris Valley Memorial Day boogie has gone to the shitters. The whuffo boss just informed me that we have a drop dead deadline of May 31st to ship version 2.0 of our product. Working in the computer business pays well, but it sucks when it comes to messing with my much needed leasure time. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

That's surprising!!! My DZ must have at least 1/2 dozen regular tandem videographers with several more trying to break into the business (not counting all us crazy freefliers who jump camera as well). I'm still 2 years away and 270 jumps away from being able to fly tandems, but that's something I could see myself doing down the road (as well as being a videographer). I understand the need to become a rigger, but I'm not sure I'm the right sort of person to do such a job. But I am detailed oriented with my software development career (which I'm ignoring at the moment). So maybe I could become a rigger? I don't need the money made from packing in order to jump. But lately I have been thinking that maybe I should become a part-time packer as it could always come in handy if I was to find myself cutaway from my whuffo computer career and living on a DZ. And like riggerrob, I am also a licensed pilot and could pursue that aspect of the business if I was to become commercially rated. If only I had my three years in the sport and 500+ jumps, then I'd be tempted to cutaway now. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I would like to get back onto to topic of this thread. As a Sabre2 owner, I'm naturally concerned when a thread like this pops up. If there truly is an issue with the canopy (which I doubt there is), I'd like to know about it. I'm under the impression that all canopies are susceptible to the dangers of turbulence (even the air locked ones). It's just that some may be better at handling it than others and I obviously don't have a lengthy track record of personal experience of using many different canopy types. I've been told by a very well respected instructor at my DZ (who's got over 5600 jumps) that the Sabre2 was an excellent canopy for someone like myself to learn on. Plus another instructor who was talking to myself on Sunday about my canopy progression, voiced his opinion that he thought the Sabre2 was an excellent canopy. So if anyone out there has some real evidence that the Sabre2 has stability problems, I'd like to know what they are. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You're obviously pretty selective with your quotes here. Why didn't you quote the part where I said my home DZ tends to ground ALL jumpers when the winds get squirrelly? Instead you choose to pick on my wing loading. Dude don't judge a book which you've never seen. I do quite well with my current canopy (which I don't plan on replacing anytime soon) and I do it here in CO where the density altitude is high. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over