Cepheus

Scariest dream I've had to date went something like this: I'm walking through my house, and it's filled with electronic equipment and radio parts, and there's people there, that apparently I 'know' and are good friends of mine. I walk into my room, say hi to the guy who's in there soldering some components onto a board, and I sit down on my bed to watch him. I prop myself up on my bed with my arms behind me, and as I'm sitting there, just after the other person in the room leaves, I feel this strange gnawing on my right hand. I look, and there's this creature laying in my bed. It looks roughly human -- or once-human -- devoid of legs or arms. It's very bloody, and looks to have been beaten up very badly. It's staring at me with yellow eyes, and it's chattering its razor-sharp teeth. I stand up, staring at it, and it starts to shake its head back and forth, rapidly. I run out of my room and into my bathroom (i don't know why), when I hear it scream at me. With a voice that changes in pitch from deep, deep bass (almost in the inaudable range) to extremely high, it screams, "TELL ME WHERE IT IS!!!" I wake up, and for 30 minutes I am unable to move, frozen in fear. This was like 4 years ago. I've been trying to discern a meaning, and in all this time I've been unable to do so. I don't know what the creature thought I was hiding from it, and I don't know where to find what it might have been looking for. All I know is that I feel as if something in my subconsious were trying to get my attention. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

And as long as you're safe, and you enjoy it, well, what's it matter how long it takes? You pass -- great, you get to make another skydive! You fail -- great, you get to make another skydive! Also, remember there's no such thing as 'failing' a jump if you live to make another one. It's a constant learning experience, and as long as you keep making jumps, you'll keep learning, at your own pace. That's the important part.

Ooh, gotcha. No worries. Stick with it. Took me 4 attempts to complete level 4. Once I did that, everything else went by like a flash. When it hits you, it's like the puzzle pieces finally make sense... A few million-watt lightbulbs went off in my head on that last AFF level 4 jump, and they've been burning brightly since. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Why were you on your back for a level 4? -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

So how long does it take for hypoxia to set in? -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

And that would just... well, suck... Though, if I'm ever in such a situation, I would certainly appreciate having a parachute... Anyone know if it's possible to get a rig on in freefall? -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

It's in the interest of playing with the canopy, to be honest... That and I want to enjoy the view. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

What's reasonable? I've read websites with people who talk about doing these from 14k -- is that realistic? For a recent AFF graduate? And what kind of weather conditions should I expect / plan for? -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Not 'afraid' of heights -- even ladder heights. Worked as a network installer for a while, occasionally had to climb ladders 2 or 3 stories high to run Cat5 through external conduit. I actually enjoyed doing that, got something of a rush from looking down. Didn't take too kindly to the climbing down part, though. Gimme a parachute any day. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

The downside to muscle memory. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Not sayin a word. Besides, even if I were, there's no video... Thank god... -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

That was my green car in the way, btw... If only someone had come into the hangar and said something, I'd have moved it sooner... -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

It does, lippy, it does... -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Shit, you can play it off all you want, I'm scared of those buzzards... Hey, when are you gonna be up there next? I'm gonna drop by Friday and hopefully do my first non-student jumps (heehee). -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

The only time I've ridden the plane down by my own decision was the time I was having inner ear trouble. My sinuses were clogged, and never popped (and BOY that hurt coming down -- the pilot even took it slow for me; I hate to speculate on what might have happened had I jumped anyway). It was horrible -- I wanted so badly to jump, but I couldn't. edit: And the DZO didn't make me pay for it, either. Thanks Wally.

Are you referring to SkyVenture? I just got back from Orlando yesterday (24th), and I got in a little tunnel time myself.

I repeated level 4 4 times before I finally passed it. If you want to know what passing it feels like (and why you need to get back up in the air as often as possible -- forget all this 'I'll take a month off' stuff), click here: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/xinfangacs/skydive/1min.htm Let me know how you do with your next attempt.

You're worried about the buzzards that fly over St. George all the time, aren't you? -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

When? Probably next weekend. What? I have no idea... I think I'm just gonna be lazy... And yes, I have that relax thing down. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

It is PARTY TIME!!! -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Woohoooooo!!!!!

My analogy applies fine. Take 'I don't care' out of both sides, and you get the exact same message. "You get free will, but if you don't believe as I say you will you're DAMNED." Screw that. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

or this anywhere. Paraphrasing, of course. And that second part completes the analogy. Don't take my words literally, please. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

"You can believe whatever you want, I don't care, but if you don't believe in me you're going to suffer for eternity, because I am a jealous God." Hmm. "Here son, you can eat this cookie, I don't care, but if you do I'm going to beat the living snot out of you from now till mom gets home, because I'm a son of a b$tch." I think I've had enough of that kind of love. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Oh my god... Dude, you sound EXACTLY like I did last week... I just recently passed level 4, last weekend. Took me 4 attempts to do it. What was the problem? I was all intensely focused on 'getting it right.' I was so rigid and tense that every little error I made was magnified 100-fold. My legs were slightly asymmetrical, and my arms were just the smallest amount out of alignment, but these minor errors would have been easilly corrected if I weren't as tense as I was. What'd I do about it? Told myself, 'screw the dive flow.' Yup. All I wanted to do was jump and fall stable, so I told myself that, despite what the original plan was, all I'd do is enjoy the ride. Did I work? Well, I passed level 4 last Saturday, and I had more fun on that jump than I've had on the 9 before it, combined. Hell, the feeling is still with me. Something I think that helped me a lot is that I had a jumpmaster that agreed with me. 'Screw the dive flow. Let's just have fun.' He recognized that my problem was that I was so focused on the specifics that I was forgetting the very most important thing... Have fun. Of course, I had a lot of help from dz.commers on that relax part, too... AggieDave gave me some wonderful words, and I don't think he'd mind if I repeated them here: Remember the reason you're doing this. Remember the freedom you feel when you're up in that beautiful blue sky, flying as man has always dreamed. Remember that you are doing something that only so few of us are brave enough and lucky enough to even so much as think about doing. Most of all, remember that, as one very smart person told me in chat a couple weeks back, "The punishment is the same as the reward -- you get to jump again!" Good luck with your jumps, Kuper, and have fun.