DickMcMahon

Does anyone remember a movie called "Capricorn One"? It was about staging a faked landing on Mars (I think). And it was a pretty exciting movie at the time. Check out the video stores ... many still have it.

JC: How'd it happen? I went through something similar on my 13th jump. The story is told on my website if you want to check it out. My hamstring was torn and sciatic nerve damaged. There were lots of sleepless nights and shooting pains. Over a year passed before I jumped again. There's still no feeling on one side of my right foot, and it's not easy to run. This probably doesn't help you feel any better ... but I wish it did. Be assured there's someone who knows what you're going through! I thought I'd died in that jump and went directly to Hell. Hang in there man, it's gonna get better. Just give it time.

LONDON (Reuters) - It was April 1944 when flight engineer Norman Jackson clipped on his parachute, grabbed an extinguisher and crawled out onto the wing of his Lancaster bomber flying through the night at 20,000 feet to put out a fire. Still under attack from a German fighter after a bombing raid on the town of Schweinfurt, the 25-year-old sergeant's parachute partially opened, caught fire and dragged the badly burned man from the wing into the 200 miles an hour slipstream. He tumbled to earth, breaking his ankle, was captured and spend 10 months in hospital before being transferred to a prisoner of war camp. For his extreme courage, King George VI presented Jackson with the Victoria Cross, Britain's top military medal in 1945. Sixty years after his act of bravery, his children reluctantly put the medal up for sale through auction house Spink, where it sold on Friday for a record 235,250 pounds. ($417,110)

Has this ever been posted before? I'm not sure I understand it, but it's cool to watch when they really get going on the music ... http://www.topeuro.co.uk/blagger/the_duel.html

Oh ... I forgot! Where's my TEN BUCKS?

Here's a link that may help answer your question. It will provide a look at where the sun is shining at the moment, and where it is not ... http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth/action?opt=-p

Happy birthday Lisa!

I was born and raised there, and in fact my son is named "Denver", and my daughter is "Molly" (after the Unsinkable Molly Brown). So you can see I'm pretty unbiased about it. I'm not there at the moment, and the last I read no one can move to Colorado unless someone moves out. You'd better check on that ... and be sure your passport & visa are valid. They don't want too many people soaking up the sunshine (there are only 300 days a year of it). In fact, when a skydiver says "Blue Skies", people in Denver often say, "Oh No, not again!"

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE BEER DRINKER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel shamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver." ~ Jack Handy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." ~ Henny Youngman ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case Coincidence? I think not." ~ Stephen Wright ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. Sooooo, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!" ~ Brian O'Rourke ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." ~ Benjamin Franklin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." ~ Dave Barry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BEER: HELPING UGLY PEOPLE HAVE SEX SINCE 3000 B.C.!!! ~ "Unknown" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Remember "I" before "E", except in Budweiser. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To some it's a six-pack, to me it's a Support Group. Salvation in a can! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin, of Cheers. One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm. Here's how it went: "Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

Congratulations on getting past this! Now you know there REALLY IS a reserve packed in there. My first was on Jump-6 (a line-over)

Not sure where this came from, but it's cool information ... If you purchased $1000 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49. With Enron, you would have $16. With WorldCom, you'd have less than $5. But, if you spent $1000 on BEER one year ago, then turned in the cans for recycling, You'd have $214!

Excuse me. I guess I missed seeing your clothes in the picture on your posts.

O.K., in all seriousness now … what happens on landing? Is there a way to have shorts attached to the rig in freefall? The open canopy is available once on the ground, but there still comes that moment in the packing room when you have to drop it on the floor. And, what about pictures? Are they needed to prove you made the jump? It seems a little perverted to show ‘em to somebody even though you're proud of having the guts to make the jump. There’s also the danger of secret photo copies being made for a DZ party. But, here’s the most important question … what if some temporary bodily change occurs during the experience? By the way ... in case anyone I know is reading this, PLEASE UNDERSTAND THESE ARE ONLY RANDOM QUESTIONS. I HAVEN'T SAID I'M INTERESTED IN DOING IT!

Dick Just starting to mature Started jumping to see what it was like Taken Yes Solara No Oregon No, wish I had a dog 71 Blue Irish body, Mexican soul No Full Monty Used to work Pseudo base off Auckland tower No 1 brother, 1 sister South America Blue Brisbane

It's not very smart, I know ... but I like jumping without a helmet. I've got my Pro-Track attached to goggles with those plastic "stays" (don't know their official name). There's a chance, of course, that the googles might come off in freefall or deployment ... and there goes the Pro-Track too. Any suggestions on how to secure everything better? (Someone has already suggested that if I'm dumb enough to jump helmet-less, I might as well NAIL stuff to my head.)

"Faint Echos" sounds like a book I'd like. Most recent favorite is "Wild At Heart" by John Eldredge. It's a "guy" book (no girls allowed)

I think this is the BEST line ... " ... a typical jumper can expect to die when both parachutes fail."

Well, this isn't skydiving related ... but, I've always thought "Peeve" would be a great name. Then you can introduce him to everybody by saying, "this is my pet Peeve".

Would the guy flying Air Force One be called a "bush pilot"?

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I'm on the west coast, that's why I'm still awake. Will be saying some prayers for you Jim. Give me a call if you can't sleep. Hang in there, you'll be looking back at all this tomorrow night at this time. Dick

What do you mean "IF" you're back jumping?

This one was taken last week by the Pathfinder on MARS. Incidently, it's now 4pm Pacific time and I just checked the weather up there. It's +3 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 16.1 C), and the winds are light from the West. Doesn't sound like good skydiving weather to me.

Would that be called a "wardrobe malfunction"?

It seems like I'm dreaming more than I used to. The weirdest one happened a few weeks ago when a big ugly Martian attacked me! I put up my best fight and slugged him a few times. Later, when my wife woke me up, I found out it was HER that I was hitting. If she ever takes this to court, I'm not sure the judge will believe my story.