JohnMitchell

The small sugar pumpkins make a better pie, I think. But the Jack O'Lantern pumpkins do well too. I'm not sure if she changes the recipe between the two types.

What you're talking about there is as normal as can be. Most people went thru the very same thing starting out, including myself. It just takes time and experience to build the confidence in your gear, training, and your abilities. If you can gut your way thru it, you'll find soon that it will all come together and you'll feel at home in the air. I would recommend a skydiving vacation this winter to a major DZ with good winter weather and make some skydives there. Keep practicing all your EPs daily, keeping them fresh in your head. Feel free to review the SIM and all other aspects of your training. Once you suit up and get on the plane, keep visualizing the planned dive in your mind, over and over, going perfectly. When riding to altitude, never cloud your mind with negative images, worries of malfunctions, or any other "what if" concerns. If anything should happen, you've been trained to handle it, so don't worry about it. Simply concentrate on the skydive you're going to make. Remind yourself you've done this before and you know how to do it.

Yeah, she starts with a raw pumpkin and cooks it from scratch. Hers is the only pumpkin pie I eat.

Great story of a great man.

Looks more like an Easter decoration.

If you do all your Christmas shopping at a truck stop, you may be a redneck. ~ Jeff Foxworthy

Hey, there's a ring you don't have to take off when you jump. So have you tied the knot yet or just getting the rings "sized"?

Hol-eee Fook!

Thanks for the info. :)

When Delta had a lot of Pacific Rim routes out of PDX years ago, the heavily loaded MD-11s were waivered to exceed 250 KIAS. I've heard the T-38 has a similar exemption.

I grew up in the 60's and 70's. Lots of censorship, couldn't say a quarter of the stuff that's routinely said on TV now. And with cable? There are no limits, I feel. I may be nostalgic for the good old days, even though I feel I'm not a prude. But, although I weep for polite society's decline, the world hasn't fallen apart because of a few dirty words and some double entendres. Freedom of speech means occasionally hearing things that offend you.

I like my double entendres a little more subtle. Okay commercial, funny joke, but I don't think it would sell a lot of wine.

Only problem is that right after that ya get whacked.

I was doing tandems at a non-home DZ one day when I was given a female passenger with a prodigious booty. I made sure to get the one y-strap modded harness for that lady. Boy, I'd love to see height-to-weight limits instituted at all DZs.

Damn, he's almost as good lookin' as me! No wonder you're draggin' him to the altar. Good on ya, N@.

Those were the days in the Bonfire. What a bunch of crazy f-ers we had.

Many writers know very little but what sounds "cool". Accuracy is not their goal. Although not a licensed pilot, I do know that the gear and flaps tend to be used in the same directions during various phases of flight, i.e. both come down during approach, both are brought up at various points when departing. What I really want to know is this. Does The Rock actually own a Ford?

Although it's nice to know where everyone is behind you, I feel it's also very important to watch where you're going. If anything is going to kill you while you're tracking, it will probably be out in front, down below you. An open canopy, or a jumper tracking the same direction getting ready to pull, or a jumper from another group who exited too soon after you. I would advise looking forward and below more than back.

That's why our exit point is always over an non-congested area. We think of the dropzone as where we land. The FAA thinks of the dropzone as where we splat when the 'chutes don't open. They want to make sure we don't bounce on a taxpayer.

I just saw something in Pchapman's photo. Does that rig have adjustable main lift webs? I could see what looked like a loose strap end on your left side. If so, I would tighten those down a few more inches to get that chest strap off of your throat. Now you know why it's so nice to have your own custom gear.

we let our passengers take up their own go pros. I know there's a lot of debate on that, but it's usually no big deal. I had one student who had $hit body position on exit trying to get a great selfie, but lesson learned. I'll have 'em grab the harness better next time.

Looks like the hip points are pretty high on you. Could the leg straps be tighter?

I couldn't agree with you more on all 3 points. I tell my students that great tracking is a HUGE survival skill. I've gotten out of a few tight spots with it. I feel I'm a pretty good tracker, can keep up with some pretty good people. I occasionally mention to a fellow jumper I've videoed or observed on how they could improve their tracking. No one really seems to have cared yet. One particularly poor tracker with 1000+ jumps sad "Well THAT'S how I track." Oh well, at least I can still keep leaving them in the dust. I'd like to hold a Lodi-style tracking contest sometime, for prizes, maybe, and bragging rights. Maybe that could generate some interest.

Man, it crushes you when you lose good friends. Sorry to hear about that. My last canopy collision was on a 2 way, both of us in line twists. It was 35 years ago, when canopies were slower and lines were fatter, so I was able to spread eagle and bounce off the lines. Never get complacent.

I'd like to say I've never busted an FAR. . .