JohnMitchell

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Everything posted by JohnMitchell

  1. JohnMitchell
    I played football in school, like most Texas kids do, and I grew up sitting on the couch with my dad, rooting for the Cowboys. Now, of course, I'm a Seahawks fan. But my 3rd choice is the Pats, and I was awed by the comeback. Wow, what a finish. And my son-in-law in Boston is not in the depths of depression anymore.
  2. JohnMitchell
    Thanks.
  3. JohnMitchell
    I totally agree with you. With Vskydiver it was lust (amazement? breathlessness?) at first sight. Love certainly followed, but I was not the type to "fall in love" quickly.
  4. JohnMitchell
    I somewhat agree with you. I'll smoke pork ribs and brisket for 4-5 hours, then put them in a convection oven at 190-200 degrees F for the finish. Ribs need about 8 hours overall, brisket maybe 12-18 hours. I've never gotten the perfect brisket yet, but I keep trying for the moist, fork-pull-apart, smoky flavor goodness I've seen the pros make. Trigirl, can you send me a pm on your recipe? A coworker who's a very good cook raves about sous vide, and I can certainly see the attraction. For the most part, I cook low and slow anyway, and still like my steaks on the grill, then resting up to rare. I'm a late adopter to just about any kind of technology. Only started jumping squares a few years ago.
  5. JohnMitchell
    Very good reasons for setting the bar high. Thanks for the input.
  6. JohnMitchell
    +1 That place is beautiful. Some of the best scenery I've jumped over.
  7. JohnMitchell
    JM'd my first student when I had 46 jumps. My first demo, 115 jumps, flew a two-stack into a community college quad. Dinosaur stories. . .
  8. JohnMitchell
    Koppel, good to hear from you again. I just had to drop into this forum to say that Valinda and I flew out of Melbourne 2 days ago. We kept both our rigs as carry on luggage, making sure the hook knives were removed and placed in a checked bag. Both gear bags went thru the x-ray without comment. I did, however, have to surrender my small multi-tool in my other bag, because it had a very short knife blade.
  9. JohnMitchell
    Good practice. I see many people going thru their EPs on jump run. I'm usually just trying to remember the 2nd point. If you watch people doing that, it would be interesting to see which direction they mime pulling the handles, and if they keep their fists closed to retain the handles. One piece of harmless advice? Put your feet on your butt and arch when you chop.
  10. JohnMitchell
    Thanks for the review. Sounds like a great story that got Hollywooded up a bit, like they usually do. I look forward to seeing it.
  11. JohnMitchell
    Were you trying to get the gear thru security as carry on luggage, or did you check it as baggage?
  12. JohnMitchell
    Crap. I hope they get their act together. I have to fly out of Melbourne at the end of the month, with 2 rigs..
  13. JohnMitchell
    A friend of mine has that t-shirt. It took me a few seconds to "get it". Glad to hear you're doing well.
  14. JohnMitchell
    Running down the street from a pissed-off husband?
  15. JohnMitchell
    It seems some people learn EPs in AFF, and don't seem to think about them after they graduate. Even practicing them just in your head helps.
  16. JohnMitchell
    I had seen the first video. This was a great follow up..
  17. JohnMitchell
    Should have done a helmet mount. . . Seriously, a "dead man" cutoff switch would be the smart thing before he goes out again. Maybe a fishing buddy and a life preserver too.
  18. JohnMitchell
    For FAA controllers it was 8 hours, and blow a 0.0 if tested. I had a random BAC test in the morning a few times. If you blew a .01 or .02, they'd let you wait an hour and try again. I never had to do that, but a few did.
  19. JohnMitchell
    So did he ever tell you how he got the callsign "Lizard"?
  20. JohnMitchell
    Yeah, he was the RIO snapping pics but the camera got lost in the ejection. Somewhere out there in the desert is a dented camera with some bitchin' film.
  21. JohnMitchell
    Yes, that's where a LOT of the old stuff came from, isn't it? My first rig, and maybe yours, was a modified B4. BTW, my first piggy back was on one of your Wonderhogs, belly band, "tapewells", elastic closing loop, etc. Did me a great job. Thanks for all your work making gear better over the years.
  22. JohnMitchell
    Maybe off topic but a very important point. Some people tend to freeze in high stress situations. Not a good response when a planet is coming up at you.
  23. JohnMitchell
    ------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Things. Lizard Waltzer? (sp?) He's got a great story about punching out of an F-4 after a mid-air collision. Talk about an expensive skydive. Blast handles? I had one on my first pig-rig. Had to use it once. No problem, just pulled in the proper direction. I'm happy with a D-ring, though.
  24. JohnMitchell
    I track pretty flatly, then I wave off and pull, sitting up as the canopy opens. I don't make a point of slowing down first, etc., just track-wave-pull-sit up. It works for me but I tend to fall slower when I track, which gives some pretty nice openings. Maybe get a video of your wobbles and show it to an instructor. I still think it just might be trying to fly "head high" on the relative wind after the track. Keep us posted.
  25. JohnMitchell
    You know you're an older jumper when you make a statement like that.