Shotgun

I was digging through some stuff on my old hard drive the other day, and I came across on old Eudora mailbox that I had to open just for fun... I have a good friend who died a few years ago, and there were all these emails in there from him, so I sat there for a while and read through a bunch of old conversations we had... I was so glad that I had saved those and that I just happened to open them that day (was having a stressful day)... It really put a smile on my face and made me feel like I was talking to him all over again.

Hmm, trying to think of any "adventurous" stuff that I am willing to post in a public forum... Hmm.... Nope, can't think of anything. You have to get me drunk if you want to hear any of those stories.

I had a jump similar to this once... I was doing a solo headdown jump, focused on the mountains on the horizon... It was going better than usual (staying vertical), which probably means that I was going a lot faster than usual... so my "internal clock" was off. The first time I decided to look at my altimeter, I got slightly unstable which caused me to get a glimpse of the ground, at which point I no longer needed to see my alti because I was obviously low. I quickly arched and pulled my main at the same time, as the siren on my Dytter went off (the last setting at 1500 ft. - I had not heard the first two warnings). My main opened much faster than usual, most likely because of my increased speed, but it seemed like I only had time to unstow my toggles and quickly find a place to land. This jump turned out ok, but it left me wondering if I had done the right thing. I do not jump with an AAD, and I have a pillow handle for my reserve which I have never pulled in freefall before - I pull it every time I have my reserve packed, and it is definitely harder to pull than a D-ring. So in this case, had I decided to go for my reserve, there's a good chance it would have taken me longer to pull the handle than it did for me to pull my main. Not to mention I would have been landing off with a Tempo 120 that I had never flown before. So basically I decided that I had done exactly the right thing for that situation (considering the gear I was using) and that the only lesson I could learn from that was to not lose altitude awareness. I was also glad that I was not using an AAD on that jump because I probably would have had to deal with two canopies out. So it made me think that if I do decide to jump with an AAD that I would need to be prepared to go for my reserve if I ever found myself low again... but honestly, no matter how much I try to grill that into my head, I can't see my automatic reaction ever being anything other than to pull my main... something to think about whether you jump with an AAD or not. And something to think about if you do choose to jump with an AAD - if you lose altitude awareness, the AAD may save your life, but you're also a lot more likely to have to deal with a two-out situation that could have serious consequences...

Thanks... he looks possessed in that picture. He's my little camera-hog/male-model kitty... always wants to be the center of attention.

Uh oh... Don't get me started... I only have about a million pictures of my kitties. Here are a couple of Iggy and Moonshine... (I think I posted one of these before though.)

Wildfire. Isn't that what all girls name their ponies?

And now I know what to get Rich for his birthday. (Or should I be getting him one for -my- birthday??? )

It's an old Nine Inch Nails video... but I just realized that it probably came out when you were just a baby. It's alright to look like him though (even if you don't mean to)... It was a sexy video.

YES! I am feeling exactly the same... And trying to find out where a good acupuncture clinic is, here in SoCal... was doing that for a while in TX and it was great for relaxation. Massage too, but they're both a matter of finding the right practitioner.

So, I have to know... In your current avatar, are you intentionally trying to look like Trent Reznor (in the "Closer" video)? http://perso.calixo.net/~uzim/NIN/images/closer3.jpg

Now that would be pretty cool... I'm not particularly into Playboy bunnies myself, but I would like to check out the mansion, especially "the grotto". My first thought of "where would I go" was Austin, TX. Yes, I am boring (Austin is where I'm from)... I've just had Austin on my mind lately, and I don't have time for a visit anytime soon. But if I could MAGICALLY go anywhere, I do want to go to the moon... I know there's nothing there really, but it would be fun to bounce around for awhile - where there's less gravity than this place...

We clip the cats' claws about once a month... it is always a challenge! The little girl (Moonshine) is fairly easy, but the boy (Iggy) throws quite a fit - we have to wrap him up in a towel and only allow one leg out at a time, otherwise there is serious carnage. Have fun!

Ok, THAT made me spit my drink out.

Yes, let's... Or more specifically, the people who are writing it... I'm usually a fairly mellow person, but these people have royally pissed me off. And it depresses me to think that anyone can enjoy their life when their whole livelihood depends on making other people's lives more stressful. (BTW, ebay and AOL are two big clients of these people - and are therefore supporting the use of unsolicited spyware/adware - something to think about before using their services again.)

Hmm, never occurred to me to name the little bastard... but the next time it says hello to me (probably soon), I'll try to think of a name.

Just wanted to mention to anyone that might be having trouble with spyware... Webroot Spy Sweeper is a great program. I had MAJOR problems with spyware last week... Ad-Aware (either version) was pretty much useless in fixing the problem... finally got the free version of Spy Sweeper and that cleaned up most of it... though a few things still had to be deleted manually... then I got the corporate edition of Spy Sweeper and that found a few more things, but I think my machine is finally clean now. Anyhow, that was a major PITA, and I would really like to torture the people who wrote that crap... I was at least able to find out who they are through one of the log files: 180 Solutions, Inc. in Bellevue, WA. Their toll-free number is 1-800-270-4927 if anyone feels like calling and bitching out a spyware company. (I already did - didn't do much good, but it made me feel a little better ;-)

You jumped the WHOLE DZ!!!??? Wow, that must have been a fun (and tiresome) weekend!

I've always thought of a soul mate as being someone who I just have a certain "chemistry" with... someone who I feel extremely comfortable around and who I can share my most personal thoughts with without worrying what they might think (because usually they understand)... and I've never thought of a soul mate as having to be a single person - there are a handful of people in my life who I consider to be my soul mates... and perhaps there are more who I will meet in the future...

Wow, I wouldn't have thought that a roach could fit into an ear... but I guess those nasty things can squeeze themselves through just about anything... That makes sense that the light would be a bad idea for a roach though... since they seem to prefer the darkness.

Yes, and that is only from one jump (and one nasty landing). Geez, I am a wuss...

How bizarre! We were just discussing this in my First Aid class on Friday - bugs crawling in to your ear, and I was thinking that I've never heard of that happening to anyone. Apparently the only thing you can do without going to the doc is to shine a light into your ear and hope the bug will crawl towards the light... Well, I hope your ear is feeling better! Enjoy the Oxycotin, and get some screens for your windows!

But see now that Timmae is being silent, I want to know what it is that he is best at??? And actually I don't think I've ever had a guy tell me how great he is at giving oral sex! Skaggs once told me how "giving" he is in bed, but obviously he was just making a joke.

Just from my personal experience... I've been in four auto accidents that were not my fault... In three of them, the driver of the other vehicle (who was at fault) was a man... and in the fourth one, the driver at fault was a woman... Though I guess I should mention that the woman driver was the only one that put me in the hospital for a few days. Also, I have been in one wreck that was my own fault... So my experience is that it's pretty even... There are a lot of careless drivers, and I see men doing stupid things just as often as I see women doing stupid things... (And cell phone driving is definitely adding to that! Stop talking on the freakin' phone while you're driving, people!)... And I'll admit that I'm not perfect and that I've done a few stupid things myself, as I'm sure everyone else has... (And I did score 100% on the test for my CA driver's license, so I think that gives me the right to bitch about how bad everyone else drives. )

I'm pretty sure it is not legal in Alaska anymore, except for medical marijuana... though I believe they are a little more lax about it than some states.

I don't know about other women, but I don't always want to be first... Maybe sometimes, but not always...