NoShitThereIWas

A series of songs came on the radio today and made me think of each one of my friends lost on N203 Echo last year. It was July 29th, 2006 to be exact and we are all still dealing with the loss. The biggest thing that helped me get through initially was having my skydiving family of friends close by. It is a traumatic event for those who are experiencing it. All I can say is don't be afraid to reach out. There are plenty of us who can relate to your pain and we are a year and a half ahead of you on the grief time scale. Many of us have sought out therapy and/or meds to help. I don't know if they will or have televised the crash sight and I don't know whether or not seeing ours was beneficial to me or not. It is a memory I can never erase from my mind and although it satisfied my curiosity and need for closure, it also left a vivid memory in my mind I could probably live without. My sincere condolences go out to the families and friends of the deceased. Use your inner strength and the comradery of your loved ones to help see you through. My deep and heavy thoughts are with you. BSBD Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

OK just thought of a couple of mine to add: How about: Meet the Fockers and Meet the Parents? Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Yep, History of the World Part 1 was GREAT!!! I was super bummed they never made the 2nd. I was really looking forward to seeing Jews in Space and Hitler on Ice. I also love Monty Python and American Pie. Never saw the 2nd one though, I should probably rent that one. I also have the American Wedding on tape but haven't watched it yet. Anything Mel Brooks is pretty great. He has great humor!!! Thanks! Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

So pretty soon we are going into winter and I had been out of the movie loop for some time ... It will soon be time for late night poker and movies. I love the hilarious comedies and was wondering what your most favorite funniest movie is???? I need to catch up on some humor! And I am not talking dumb humor, like for instance I know someone is going to reply Kill Bill. Although I found a couple parts of that movie funny, I thought most of it was dumb but that was just my opinion. I am looking for some good comedy and it can also include stand up. Thanks for helping me to laugh. Blue skies, Jen Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Speaking from the experience of someone who racked up close to 30K in student loans to help pay for school, housing, skydiving and the need to EF and S ... My advice is that student loans suck when you have to start paying them back. Don't borrow if you don't have to and deferment is the way to go unless you can afford to pay them off sooner. I will defer as long as I can before I have to pay them back. Do the subsidized thing for sure. Unsubsidized is for the birds. Anyhow, the longer I can be a career student, the longer I can postpone paying it all back. Cuz it is going to hurt bad. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

LT: Got your PM. What up dude? Sorry to hear about your pain, that sucks. Did I know Erin? Got any pics? Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Rapter: Just out of curiosity: That picture that says Arvin 1990 ... Is the guy on the right a guy by the name of Randy Goken? Did you know Dave Salaz when he owned Arvin? I did some AFF at Air Adventures back in '96 and have heard of Adam but did not know of him personally. Thanks and blue skies. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Whooooooolllllly Shit!!!! That was JUICY! Damn, I had to watch it twice. I wonder what went wrong??? Double thumbs up to the student. It didn't look like she was arched much after the RJM released but managed to get belly to Earth before pulling. She did a fantastic job!!!! I wonder if it was her first skydive or had she had any other jumps under her belt? Edited: Just read entire thread... I guess this student did have many jumps. (Thank goodness) Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Just came back from the island Aug. 2nd. Lived there for 3 years. Hopefully going back next year for good. You need to get away from Waikiki girl. Head to the North Shore for sure. If you want to do something touristy but cool, visit the Polynesian Cultural Center in Lai'e. Skydive Hawaii is the place to skydive. Nice caravan, great people ... It is off of Farrington Hwy in Mokuleia on the North Shore. Things I have to do while on the island: Ted's Bakery (near Sunset Beach) for breakfast and choclate haupia pie or chocolate macadamia nut pie

I'm not sure if I also mentioned that she generally sleeps about 18-20 hours a day. Today was the first time she ate a few pieces of soft kibble by herself. It was only a couple bites but it was improvement over having to pry her mouth open to feed her every bite. It is almost like something tight has a hold of her. I see her trying to fight it but it has control. She seemed to be regaining control of her eye a bit more but it still occassionally pulls slightly to the left. I actually got out of the house today for a change so I wasn't with her a lot today but feeding her is getting a little easier, it seems like she can open her mouth with more ease now. She also seems more respondent to hearing my parent's dogs barking like she wants to get up and join them like her old self and is trying very hard to get up by herself. Still a long way away from where she was before this all happened though. I don't care though, I am not giving up on her no matter how hard it is, the doctor said the timeline milestones are 24 hours, then 72, then 2 weeks, then 6 weeks. We are at about 3 weeks and there has been much improvement but of course I would like to see much more. Thanks again and I will keep you posted on how the drugs affect her. Do you think it is the right time to administer them? Too late, too early? Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Thanks for the heads up MaadMax, after reading your post I called our vet and asked him about the Prednisalone. He did try a shot of some type of corticosteriod (cannot remember the name of it) her first day in the hospital and didn't seem to think it did much good and he also mentioned concerns with treating with steroids during the time of infection. But he said that now (it has been almost 3 weeks since the onset of symptoms) he thinks the infection has most likely run it's course and that we can try that or Prednisone which I am guessing is pretty silimar and just to stop treatment with it if things begin to go backwards. I am going to pick those meds up tomorrow and hopefully that will contribute to her healing fster. Initially he spoke of a lesion to the third cranial nerve and you are speaking about a lesion to a cranial nerve in the inner ear. I am still not clear on what lesions and cranial nerves are and what they do, I guess I have more reading to do. Whatever it is, it is definitely affecting her vestibular system. Can you tell me Doc what your experience has been as far as recovery rates from this kind of infection and what the causes have been? She seems to be SLOWLY regaining strength and it seems like today her circles when she runs are not quite as tight as they were. She seems to be working at ways to get up on her own although she is still highly uncoordinated ... I know it will take time and that is fine, but I worry about the type of damage done and if it is reversable. Thanks. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Wow Skydivellama thank you for your time and kind words. You sound like a pretty on top of it vet student. I did do some research on the vestibular system and I myself kept questioning that to our vet. Yes, this is a very trying time, I could not be getting through this alone and am grateful once again to my parents for helping me through this rough time. Another thing that frustrates me is I of course want an answer as to "how" my dog got like this. All I keep finding are things about mosquitos/tick borne transmission or transmission through rabid animals or infected bats, mice, etc. I am thinking at this stage that although I wish it were bacterial, after three weeks and 8 days of antibiotics, her response to them should have nearly cured her by now. I take it a day at a time but it is hard to tell if she is getting better. Should I encourage her to get up even if she is running in tight circles? Is it bad for her to continue to do this? Any ideas on recovery time, cause, fatality rates ... I have spent over a grand just this far and if I could afford it I would send her to the University and have the MRI, catscan and EEG done but I could hardly afford the vet bill as it is. I do not mind the heartache, time commitment or money involved if my puppy comes back to her normal self. It will all be worth it. However, it will be devastating if she does not come back. My guess is that if she has made it this far she hopefully won't die, but I also have no idea if this is going to change her personality, intelligence, etc. She has been a remarkable dog, can do at least a dozen complex tricks and has had the personality of a brilliant animal. I don't know my chances of her recovering that. Thanks for your insight. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Thank you Normiss and ACMEskydiver (oops and Freefallfreak too)... Although I wish this was an inner ear issue, I don't believe it is. The vet says her signs are encephalitis-like which is an inflammation of the brain and that it is likely that there is a lesion to her third cranial nerve. I think the third cranial nerve controls voluntary eye movement and there seems to be many types of encephalitis, i.e. West Nile Virus, East Nile, Equine, St. Louis, etc. I think we tested for West Nile and it came back negative. We dosed her with a week's worth of antibiotics (Doxycycline) and also gave her that in combination with Niacinimide, Clindamyacin and those are now gone. The only thing we are still administering is Meclazine which is supposed to be for dizziness. I also have to give her sub-cutaneous fluids via the needle which I hate, I am not a vet but it has to be done. Thanks for the PMs and those who have checked with others. Any other advice from vets or those with this experience, please feel free to PM or chime in. Thanks again! Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Hi. I was wondering if there are any veterinarians in the house who can give me some advice... I am basically a worried sick mother of a 15 month old miniature schnauzer (Delilah). Our vet thinks she has some kind of encephalitis. It started around July 24th when she would run but arc to the left instead of straight. Within hours it turned into her head tightly winding to the left almost as if she was trying to touch her nose to her ribcage to circling uncontrollably to the left, whincing until she would fall over. I was on vacation in Hawaii at the time this all started, my stepdad called me and told me what was going on, took her to the vet and she was hospitalized there for eight days. The vet said it would be a slow recovery and after seeing her the day I got back and brought her home she would mostly sleep. She could not move by herself, still head pulling to the left, and had nystagmus in her left eye which pulled left and downward. It has been three weeks almost since the onset of this and she seems to be regaining her strength because she can push her upper body up now with the strength of her front legs. I do not know if it is improvement or not, the vet is closed today but today she started pushing her upper body up and torquing it to the left until she is top heavy and collapses to the ground often followed by a roll. If I don't stop her she will continue to do this until she tires herself out. If I support her weight while she tries to stand, she will continue to circle to the left and everything seems to pull to the center of her body on her left side including her eye and tail. I have been doing tons of research on the Internet and although I have found what I think may be some answers, I was wondering if anyone has had this happen to their pet and/or if any vets can help me out with some advice, prognosis, things to do, things not to do, anything... I want her to get better right now more than anything and this seems much more difficult than caring for my daughter when she was a baby. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you... Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

That all depends on how many of us are honest about our jump numbers. I happen to know a few people who would log two jumps for every jump they made or just make up a number to sound cooler... Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Bump. I hope the moderators choose to make this a sticky. I am going to call you this morning. I definitely want to donate. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Hey Gork: How do I watch Sammy's Ash Dive? I went to YouTube and did a search and no results came up and I went to your page to try and find it without any luck. Thanks, Jen O. Edited to add: Never mind, I figured it out, nice video Garrick! Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Hey Kim: Glad to see you on DZ.com. You are the bomb and I am glad to know your recovery is going well and that you will be out to see us in July. I won't be taking you on your tandem because I am not a Tandem Master but I would be delighted to take you skydiving if you ever choose to take up AFF. Can't wait to see you again and please say Hi to Dad and all the family. It will be a great reunion for sure. Blue Skies Kim!!!! and Much Love sent your way!!! Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Dress for success. Understand how what you wear has a huge implication on your range. Practice, Pray. Practice, Pray. I would practice more than pray but praying might help. Find a kick ass instructor you know. Give them money and ask them to teach you everything they know about controlled exits and how to prepare you for the course. That is what I did. Unless it has changed a whole lot, I remember my course from nearly 5 years ago like it was yesterday. Controlled exits, flying your slot, stopping spins (correctly), turn overs, altitude awareness and proper in air communication. That is what I would focus on. Ground Preps a monkey can do. Key in on Key points and don't drag on too long. Use props (evaluators like those) and practice practice practice! I found Nanette with thousands of AFF jumps at SDC at the time. I am not recommending that you go to Skydive Chicago by the way, (that is the last DZ I would recommend to you). However at the time, Nanette was there and she did a fantastic job preparing me for the course. She also gave me some real life AFF skills because you will also learn that AFF at the course is somewhat the same and somewhat different than real life AFF. Rick Horn used to have what I considered valuable info on the the Web, sort of precourse material ... It was helpful to me to read, but I got my rating back in '02 so I am not sure how it has changed. The biggest thing is, don't let yourself get psyched out over it. I know people who almost quit in the middle of it because of the stress (back in the day). I have heard it is not so bad anymore but the one gal I am thinking of Yvonne almost quit right before she earned her rating because she allowed herself to get psyched out. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Yep: Frankly I don't release em unless they are stable. Am I going to say that it never happened that they looked stable and as soon as I released them it all went to hell? Nope. But I used to be very anxious on Level 3 release dives. Especially on TAF (single JM Level 3) or main side with the particularly hairy students. I think release dives for me are sort of a here and now type thing. How does the student appear? Relaxed? Head up, arched, relatively stable? Hell, let em fly. Are they conscious? Does it look like they are registering altitude? I have purposely released an unstable student on one occassion I recall. It was his 6th Level 3 and he kept making the same mistake. Everything else was spot on but his inability to hold heading. I finally just said you know what? I'm letting go and you have about 6 thousand feet to figure it out. As soon as we practically left the airplane he was released. He started to do his usual turn, I flew up in front of him and stuck my tongue out at him and gave him a legs out and relax sign with a smile and he stopped. We looked at each other both with giant smiles when he corrected the problem himself and he got a double thumbs up too! It was a great skydive and then no problems after that. Some things come from reading my student. There are those I knew who were not ready and so I did not release them. There were those who I knew were ready so I did. And there were those who were not ready and I released the hell out of them and smiled as I let em go Why? Because that is what THEY needed. Some of em will hang on to you forever if they could when they know deep down they really want to fly on their own. I believe there is a lot of psychology involved with release dives more than any other. Some want it, some are ready, some need motivation, some need pure help. It is our jobs to try and recognize which ones fit into which categories. If I release one and it all goes to hell, I am going to try and remember what I saw and how it happened at the same time I correct it and then I will definitely note it in the debrief. After all, it is how we all learn. I am not a perfect instructor ... I had one guy on a single AFF JM that became unstable everytime he looked under his arm at me to check in. He would initiate a barrel role and become unstable. I had another gal who looked stable every time she completed her check ins. As soon as I released her, she spun to the left. She appeared to be in perfect body position and relaxed with alti awareness. It turned out during one of our many debriefs I find out she was hit by a car and her left hip was slightly displaced which was causing her to turn to the left. This was not visible from a main side single JM perspective and it wasn't until many Level 3s, debriefs and Scott shooting video that we were able to identify the problem and then be able to correct it. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

I am not so sure that all AFF I's have to have a range of fall rate to fall with 90-270 pounders. For one, most DZs will have a weight limit of about 225-235 pounds. Some people weigh 90 pounds but in about 700 AFF dives I had one girl who was 105 pounds. Some of the bigger dudes were in the 220s. My heaviest student was 230-235. I wore weight and had no problems with him but I only took him on release dives and single JM dives after getting to know him with a few non release dives. Part of being a good and safe AFF I is knowing your limits and not over extending them. If anyone expected me to jump with someone over 230 pounds and I was not comfortable with it I would simply say No. Just like I would not expect an old friend of mine "Big Dave" who probably neared 260 to fall comfortably with a 95 pounder. It's all about making good decisions and maintaining the control of what you are comfortable with. That is one thing I learned from my CD at my course. In the air, students are in our airspace and they are our responsibility. My course was exactly what I hoped it to be. It was challenging, physically and mentally rigorous, energy and time demanding, intense, informative and extremely rewarding. I felt Glenn Bangs and the evaluators did their jobs and if you came prepared and had the skills, you got the rating if you followed their curriculum. 7 out of 8 passed our course and a few of them were repeat takers. I worked very hard and prepared intently. I also listened to my mentors. I did the pre-course, researched everything I could about it and I also read all of Rick Horn's material on the Internet. That and Glenn Bangs positive encouragement and teachings is what made the difference for me. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Hey Bonnie: I would not be pissed necessarily, I would just find out what happened. Perhaps the other instructor's altimeter was set differently, or if the instructor is new and is told pull time is 5,500, he/she may be taking it too literally and maybe let them know that the student really has till 5K. Sometimes it is just a matter of simple communication. Now if you have already nicely communicated about the range (most AFF Is have a range of "pull time"). Our students would lock on at 7, wave at 6 and pull. I would always give them till 5K unless they really sucked and I wanted the skydive to be over. That is the other thing. Maybe there was something that the other instructor was uncomfortable with on the skydive. I have deployed students at high altitudes when I felt it was the best decision for whatever reason (gear issue, long spot, etc.) I hope you can communicate with your other instructor. After all, no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes now and then. I think it is important for morale to develop an environment where you can just talk to a person and communicate what is going on. Good luck. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

5th grade??? Wow, they grow fast don't they? Dakota is at least 4'8" and she's only 6! I'll send you some pics. 1st Basketball game, how cool/exciting. (Rough game, I used to play). This season was Dakota's first season of T Ball and soccer. T Ball was about one of the cutest things I have ever seen. So much fun to be a parent!

Huh??? Am I suggesting that skydiving chicks do not shave? How in the hell did you get THAT from my post??? Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

LOL I remember that picture (Tomtakingyouallout). It is a good thing you followed that picture with picture number 3 with Christopher. You taking out the formation in that picture just never did you much justice. Tom is much cuter than picture #2. See picture #3! Miss you Tom! Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."