mfrese

Our beloved Gavmaniac is heading back to SA next week, heading outta here on Wednesday. How about meeting for dinner at the ever-popular Olive Garden on Blossom Hill at 7:00 on Monday to see him and Eleanor off in style? I'll also send out emails to as many people as I have addresses for, please send me email back at mfrese@cisco.com if y'all can make it so I can get a headcount. Lemme know... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Hey, y'all have fun, and good luck to everyone in the Coach's course...wish we could be there to laugh, uh, I mean encourage all you future coaches, but Lynn and I will be freezing our asses off in Idaho for the weekend...yippie-ki-yay. See y'all next weekend. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Whoa...makes me wonder if I should read my "spam" a little more carefully...or look at my Spam a little more carefully... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Re: the subject, $25-30, depending on the DZ I'm working at, and I NEVER pack the rig, these DZs have several packers working and I'd be taking money from them to pack. Also, extra money for either over 200 or over 220, again depending on the DZ. Re: Dave's post, I've never had a problem flaring either, as I try to stay in pretty good shape and do a lot of upper body stuff specifically for tandems. That being said, I still think it's fair to earn extra for heavier people. It's not really a freefall issue, it's for dealing with mals and misbehaving students in an environment where you're taking the equipment right to the TSO limits. It's also for the times I've lost skin off the top of my bald head from taking a 6'5", 240 lb guy out of the King Air door. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Andrea, seems like most everyone's ignoring your fine suggestion! So I'll repeat it for you...go below to REALLY show your appreciation (especially bail money...never know when that's going to come in handy ) http://www.dropzone.com/pub/donations.shtml BTW...HIM, HIM, FUCK HIM! Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Good luck, man...it'll be 4 years in January, and I make myself sick all the time thinking about all the cash I missed and the damage I did to myself. I used the Nicoderm patches, my wife used the patches and Zyban, but ended up with hives from the Zyban. The other thing that helped me immensely was doing it in a HMO-sponsored smoking cessation class...I still think it wasn't so much the patches, but the competition that got me through it. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I'm loving all of both those CDs right now...played these at the DZ week before Thanksgiving, and after all the moaning and bitching (we're pretty much a rock DZ, with a little trance and Beck thrown in), it was pretty funny to see everybody singing along with "Roses" in the packing room without realizing they were doing it Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

"Wildfire" off the new P.O.D., but "Roses" by Outkast is running a close second in the "can't get it outta my head" race right now... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Actually, the TM is the she...Connie is definitely a pro, looks like she didn't get a drop on her. Deuce, great job with what you had to work with, dude. Was this yesterday? We had a few minor interactions with industrial haze on Thursday and Friday, but nothing like that. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

As far as the tandem income goes, I think Phreezone about nailed it...and trust me, it won't make any difference how good you are, they'll still pay the same . However, if you do it as a business, you can take a lot of write-offs and get some great tax breaks as a result; talk to an accountant to see how to set things up and what you need to track. Made about a $3K difference in my taxes last year, probably more this year. It's interesting to see how long people are willing to keep this stuff up...supposedly the average cut-off is at 400 tandems: you either decide it's great and keep going, or you've had one too many hungover frat boys hanging off you, and just decide to forget it and get a real job again, and use all that extra money for jumps! Good Luck! Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

We're skipping the turkey and doing tri-tip at Bob and Patti Krieberg's (AKA "Home away from home for half the skydivers in the Bay area"), but if I wasgoing to cook a turkey, the Weber way rocks. Haven't done that in years, mainly cuz Mom was pissed off that mine was better than hers... No matter how you cook it, hope you have a great Thanksgiving! Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I've had about 20 off landings at 5 different dropzones, but my favorite was with a tandem two years ago. Horrid spot, made the mistake of listening to the first TM going out saying "the spot's fine", knew I was screwed the second I threw the drogue. We have a great skydive, considering it was about a 20 second freefall and I pulled at 8K.... Now, this is about my 30th tandem, I'm in Bumfuck Egypt, and I am absolutely shitting bricks. However, I remain calm, keep talking to my student, explaining that we are a ways from the DZ and will be landing off the DZ. She's still amped from the skydive, doesn't have a care in the world (and compliments me later for "how calm and reassuring" I was during the canopy ride), just wants to know where we ARE going to land. I point out the golf course I THINK we can make it back to, and decide to aim for there... We execute a perfect standup in the fairway of the 9th hole at Bolado Golf Course. My student walks with me all the way back to the parking lot looking like a rock star, bouncing off the trees and telling every disinterested golfer on the way that she just made her first skydive and it was AWESOME! I just had to smile...oh, and the groundskeeper came up to us twice to make sure we were OK, but the jerk refused to give us a ride back to the clubhouse... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

WHAT!! Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Alright, WTF, I'll play, one the best line in a really stupid movie, the other the nastiest funny line I've ever heard: "Grandparent love me, parents love me, little kids love me...EVERYBODY loves me! Now you come out here and love me or I'm gonna kick your little skinny ass"! "Pork away, pal! Fuck her blue"! Iceman

I used to allow people I TRUSTED with less than 500 jumps to go out if the student was OK with it (don't forget, it's their skydive...they have a say as well), but recent events have forced me to reconsider. I'm pretty much allowing only people I KNOW have the skills and over 1000 jumps, or AFF instructors. The skills without the judgment scares me more than the judgment without the skills... Iceman

HEY! Don't speak to your daddy that way! Smoke up, Johnny! Now go fix me a turkey pot pie! See ya bright and early tomorrow, son! Iceman Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Definitely classy...hell, sounds like something I'd do...if Lynn reminded me... Of course, I would have sent a tall, frosty, glass of Miller Lite. Iceman Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Haven't hit all that many DZs, but I still have to do this by category, can't pick an absolute favorite: Best view - Skydive Monterey Bay (with Sebastian and Space Center coming in tied for second) Best vibe/nicest people - Skydive California City Best Grass - Z'Hills (why can't we grow grass like that in California??) Everything a skydiver needs, almost nothing they don't - Skydive Arizona Personal all-around fave - Adventure Center Skydiving, of course...where I started, and always #1 in my heart...(but speaking of bathrooms...they may be the hands-down worst-of winner) Cant wait to get to WFFC this year, and really want to try SDC, sounds like an awesoome place. Iceman Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Oddly enough, several of the BASE jumpers I know are in the 40-50+ crowd, and nobody seems to give them much shit Maybe because we have so many in NorCal, but there is definitely no attitude here. We watch a lot of skydiving video after the beer light is on, and usually we catch some of the latest BASE exploits at the same time, so it's more of a "holy shit that looks low!" attitude than telling them they're crazy or giving them a hard time. Funny...when I started skydiving, I swore I'd never do a hook turn, and now I'm swooping almost every jump. When I got to be a more experienced skydiver, I swore I'd never get a tandem rating, and now I've got over 500 tandems. When I got my tandem rating, I swore I'd never do a BASE jump...so maybe I need to fill in the blank soon, eh? Iceman

Damn right we do! And here's our horoscope from the current "Onion": "You will wake from a sound sleep shaking and weeping, struck by the sudden revelation that you need a new vacuum cleaner." OMFG...that actually HAPPENED TO ME THIS MORNING!! Too weird... Iceman Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Let's see...working those percentages, on the rare occasion I actually GET tips, manifest, packer and pilot would get about...$1 or $2. Woohoo! Think I'll just keep buying beer. Iceman Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Dude...you just never learn, do you? You wanna go in the cage, too? Iceman Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I agree that everyone gets the same effort from me, but it is gratifying when someone has had such a good time that they feel it's worth their effort (and cash) to show you that they appreciate it. Years ago, I worked at Macy's when they still had sporting goods, and a really nice Italian guy tipped me $10 for helping fit him with a $40 pair of soccer shoes. When I tried to protest, he replied that it was just his custom to tip, and he would be insulted if I didn't take it. Since then, I usually make at least a token effort to refuse tips, but accepting them graciously usually seems to be the best thing to do for both me and the student. Besides, it always ends up in the beer fund or tipping the packers, so it goes to a good cause. Iceman Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Happy Birthday, Vinnie! You da man! However, I need to warn you...word around H-town is that the mountain has ordered a CASE of El Tesoro de Don Felipe, having discovered that tequila can succeed where it failed in kicking your ass. So stay under the radar, Anvil...it's out to getcha! And have a great one tonight! Iceman (and Lynn) Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Hey, how about a big shoutout to the one and only Kath Ax, known here as Flymysky! Weekday manifest queen at H-Town, vidiot extraordinaire, and all-around awesome skychick! Happy Birthday, girl...you ROCK, and are the absolute shiznit as well. HER, HER... Iceman (and Lynn) Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash