ccowden

I gotta agree with ya there. He is THAT good!

There was video on that jump? Didn't even notice.

She's not nearly as scary once you(high comma)ve met her, is she?

Hey, come on! Go easy on her. She is getting up there in years and her sight isn't what it used to be. That is why she has to stay back from the base like that.

Yeah, but no one could tell who you were anyway with that RW helmet you wear!

This picture of me and chaoskitty that Iwan took.

You should look into doing an AFF.

Me too........THANK GOD Try again. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=61352;

I think this one of me and Chaos will go on my wall! I likey!

Nice work, as always, Iwan! I ordered a few.

Pretty much ALL the DZs will be operating in the next month. Most are operating now. Crosskeys would be a great choice in the Piladelphia area. Check this out: http://www.dropzone.com/dropzone/North_America/United_States/index.html btw- you DO know that Minneapolis is nowhere near NJ/Phila, right?

Yeah, probably not, but I am willing to let you slide.

Seriously girl, you don't have to thank me for being your friend! I am flattered though!

Couple more...

Here are a few I took.

So, when are you guys flying up to the Ranch or Crosskeys?

Remember how you got so bored waiting that you took that bottle and.... ah, nevermind!

Well, I went from thinking dropzone.com was awesome because of all the great people I have met through it and coming off an absolutely wonderful weekend of meeting even more, to never wanting to post on here again. We posted this video: http://www.sidsrigging.com/galleries/video_clips/waiting.wmv going on a year ago and it was just reposted a couple days ago. The first time we posted it, we did so in the Bonfire and I guess people saw it for what it was and thought it was funny. This time it got posted by someone in General Skydiving and now everything from my character and integrity as an instructor have come into question. Ah, the wonders of the internet! Anyway, I am done defending myself in General over this and figured I at least had the right to explain myself here, since others seem to have the right to bash me for my actions to the point of questioning how safe I am and whether or not the USPA should have ever given me a instructor's rating. It pisses me off because the ONLY people who know the facts are the people who were there, yet others are allowed to speculate and come up with a million "what if" scenerios to make me look bad and read WAY more into it than there was. These are the facts, and they are undisputed: Cessna 207, 6 jumpers and a pilot on board. 4way RW going first before my 2way freefly. GPS spot by the pilot. Pilot told us to go, and to make it quick. RW group began climb out and then sat in the door. From the "green light" to the time of the push was approx. 15 seconds. Pilot was again emphatically telling us to go. The RW group had forgotten to organize who was giving the count, so once in the door they were all just looking at each other and nodding with no one giving a count. They were all experienced jumpers with no one being a student or someone that I could really endanger by "forcing" them to go before they were ready. They were all ready to exit. I could clearly see that they were all in fact ready to go, they were all clear for exit, no one was saying they were not ready, no chest straps were undone, no 747s were flying below us, nobody was saying to wait, they were all looking at each other in agreement they were ready, and no one was giving a count. The pilot was making it very clear we needed to go now. This was NOT a case of them spotting or waiting because something was not right. They were in the door and ready to go. I was only a couple feet from them and could CLEARLY see what the situation was. I made an assesment of the entire situation and gave the one guy a push. Not a shove to cause bodily injury, rip someones arm off, or in a manner that would put anyone's equipment in danger. It was more of a "Come on guys, get moving" push. The guy I pushed then started to go on his own and the others saw him and went as well. When I started to climb out, the pilot again said, "Get going!" and I ducked my head back in just a second to hear what he was saying. The mad look on my face was just coincidental and I was not mad at all at the RW group. I did not push them out of anger or in a way that was abrupt or that putthem in danger. The mad look just added to the humor, or what WE considered humor, of the video. Everything was fine with both groups and we all had a good laugh about it. Everyone was in complete agreement that there was nothing dangerous about it and even found the push amusing. One jumper in the group even thanked me because he was having trouble hanging on and thought they might sit there forever if I hadn't pushed them. So, you can watch the video and read the posts in General and form your own opinion, but there are the facts. I personally think that the video got blown WAY out of proportion this time around and it pisses me off that my character and integrity have even come under attack due to it. I have admitted that there could have been something I didn't see and maybe I should have thought of something different rather than a push, but I was right there and had assesed the situation for safety and did what I considered to be reasonable, and once on the ground, everything I had assesed was complete fact and everyone was in agreement about it and no one who was involved was upset or questioned my actions or character. It was not until the video was posted this time that people began to speculate and throw everything but the kitchen sink into to make me look bad and attack me for it on this website. So I have said my piece. Agree or disagree, that is up to you. But I am not going to defend myself anymore about it. I am completely discouraged about this site right now. Hugs to all my friends. I hope anyone who really knows me will be able to see it for what it was and realize that I would never do something that might put people at risk intentionally. If people want to slam me because they think I am being dramatic or whatever, that's fine. But I take it very seriously when people start to question me as a person and instructor in a public forum. That's it. The End.

I give up. I pushed them out. There could have been a million "what ifs" that I never considered. I didn't need to push them and probably could have done something different. My bad.

Yeah, and they were a 4way RW going before our 2way freefly. Did I miss something. Dude, watch the video again. You are really blowing things out of proportion.

Holy crap people! Everyone involved got a good laugh out of it and the video IS funny. Wow! The first time this video was linked here in the forums, EVERYONE thought it was funny. THIS time some people are taking it so damn seriously. Weird. The RW group climbed out and no one was counting. They all were just staring at each other and nodding. The pilot was emphatically telling us to go, so I gave them a little push. They went and had a fine skydive, then we went and we all landed just fine. They were not forced to go before the spot was good. They were not forced out aggressively to cause injury. If you watch the video, I gave the one guy a pretty light push. In fact, he started going on his own once I pushed him. One of the guys even thanked me because he said they may have sat there forever if I didn't. It was actually all pretty amusing. I wasn't mad at all. The mad look on my face is actually just coincidental. When I climed out, the pilot yelled something else and I was just determined to get going at that point. The video is funny because it looks like I was pissed, but was actually not at all. Ok, that is all the explaining I am going to do. I can assure everyone that there was nothing dangerous about it. If you think so, then I will allow you your opinion. The fact of the matter was, by the time I pushed them, the pilot was almost demanding we get out now, so at that point I was more concerned with that. Jeesh. We all just thought it was funny.

The facts: Pilot said GO! because he was spotting with GPS and we needed to get out now. The RW group was up to about 15 seconds in the door and they were NOT spotting, they hadn't decided who was doing the count, so they were all just sitiing there staring at each other. The pilot was saying GO! again and we needed to GO.

Well, I was actually being serious, but ok.

I couldn't wait to see you and I kept watching for you everyday, thinking any minute I would finally see you guys, and now I find out that you blew us off for a swoop comp. Jeesh. Can't believe I came to GA and didn't leave with a fresh bunch of Brie hugs.