ranchhand28

My quick $0.2: News or not, the article is very dramatic. The writers are not martirs... Like in any other company, we, UN staff members (yes, I'm one of them), are bound by our employment contracts and staff rules and regulations. If you like it, you sign it, and are obliged to abide by it. If you don't, well, just go look for employment elsewhere. The staff rules are explicit, concise and clear: any material for publication MUST BE SUBMITTED for approval of the Administration. If approval is denied, and still one publishes the material, this consitutes grounds for termination of one's employment contract since it is a breach of conduct. Plain and simple, the writers all knew what they were doing, and knew the consequences. If they will be fired or not... that's a whole different issue. It would actually be better that they didn't... Less drama would be created, and they would not be sanctified... (and would still have to do the walk of shame along the corridors....). Peace... Thereza

just pmed you.

Ah! Almost forgot... We have planes... lots of them... Last time I checked three super otters, maybe four? Billy (the owner) is a pretty cool cat, and sometimes flies helicopter loads on the weekends. No worries on that area... there's tons of jumps to be made for the willing souls. Did I mention the fire works? Oh yeah, they're very noice. We were even lucky enough to see the northern lights two seasons ago. What are you waiting for? Go book that ticket!

Kolla, that will be so much fun! I can't wait! Is Gillian bringing the little chico? About the facilities, well, you can camp. If you're a rough rider, the showers at the DZ will do. Just stay tuned for people flushing the toillets, or you'll get scalded! Camping is definetely a big part of the whole Ranch experience... you can drink/party as much as you want and not worry about driving anywhere, all those crazy people out on the lose at night, exploring the woods, it's pretty fun. There's tons of hotels in New Paltz, which is a 10-minute drive from the DZ. New Paltz is a cute little college town with great choices for restaurants, cool stores, good sushi (Neko's, not Nemo's, but pretty close Kolla! :-))... You can fly Southeast Airlines (v. cheap!) into Stamford airport, in Newburgh, which is closer, but a smaller airport. Major airlines will fly into LaGuardia. And hey, this is New York, so anything you need is very easy to get. Make sure to make hotel reservations in advance. The summer is the high season for trekking, mountain climbbing in that area, so it's pretty busy. Let me know if you need more info. Tchau! -t

Hey D! What's going on, chica? 4th of July at the Ranch is really, really fun. I'm taking the whole week off of work since Kolla is going to be here, and we're planning on doing some run-around town, and then heading up to jump our butts off. You must come! Bring your boy, too. The facilities at the DZ are totally guetto, but we all love it. The planes and the people make it up for it Let me know if you need any info, help, ride if you do decide to come. In response to Skymama's post, the landing area is pretty big -- I think. In comparison to my home DZ in Brazil, it is huge. Like you pointed out, the major problem are the squiggly winds coming from the trees. During the summer, it gets turbulent between 2 and 4 in the afternoon, when it is the warmest, and that's when you'll see most of the sensible people sitting out. However, the jumping condition is nothing that you have to worry about. Just make good decisions, and you'll be fine... I'd say it's a must. xoxo -t

You know what they say... It's all about ME ME ME ME ME! Now seriously, your video is pretty dope. And it's nice to see some footage to refresh my memory. It's been a long month since I got back from Eloy... I should really be saying I miss Brasil and the never-ending summers! are you going to come to the Ranch for 4th of july or what?!? blues, -t

Word, Steve! That video is AWESOME... damn I miss Eloy

Tracking is a discipline all in its own. Regardless if you’re a belly flyer or a freeflyer, when you get on a tracking dive, you’re a tracker. And for that you will require a little knowledge of both RW and FF. When you’re tracking away from a RW formation, what you want to do is track as flat and fast as possible, on heading. For that, you just simply have to use a completely different position than that that you use for a tracking dive, where the purpose is to track relative in formation. Well… in that case you’ll be adjusting your position so many different times it’s even tough to describe: faster, slower, turning, arching, floating, docking, and so forth… I like to think that there are good trackers -- irrespective of their original discipline of choice, i.e. RW or FF. I think of tracking as a tricky formation skydive. From the moment you exit the airplane you have to know how you will be presenting your body, how and what you will be doing to get to the formation, be constantly adjusting your position to the characteristics of that particular dive (steep, floaty, etc.), and of course, know how you will be breaking off, doing barrel rolls, etc…. I’d have to go with Hookitt… there’s no answer to this poll. -t

Some will not be shown but used as bargaining chips JK And the names have been changed to protect the innocent!

Cool pics! -t

yep. The pictures you took! Looking forward to seeing them.

SWF is the code 1180 First Street, New Windsor, New York, 12553, Tele: 845 564 2100 http://www.stewartintlairport.com/home.html (don't remember how to do the clicky thingy.)

Nah.... I don't think so. I do pretty well with my *cough* *cough* Matter suit Wuz up Scott! Wanna see your pictures posted. :-)

PSN - Pond Swoop Nationals. If Stewart doesn't work, you can always fly into La Guardia and take a bus up to New Paltz. -t

By the way, Terresa rocks with her tracking dives. But she better watch out!!! I have her in my sights. Just give me a little time to improve my skills (it's nothing that 1000 jumps can't fix right). thanks Steve! 1,000 jumps did some for me, but didn't do it all. A lot of RW big ways... but mostly getting absolutely smoked, over and over on tracking dives by tall, limby guys made me wanna be a really good tracker. Oh yeah, little secret from Jimmy Tranter, while tracking, when it seems like you're running out of steam, breath. Everytime I'm tracking with Jeffro Speedy Gonzales on the lead it seems to work. Tracking.... yeah! -t (little miss dirty track whore)

I was there actually for 8 days total. 6 1/2 days of skydiving to be more precise, minus the one day the damn sushi poisoned me.... That will teach you not to eat raw fish in Toltec! (what the heck was I thinking anyways...) Thanks for the props, Steve. It was fun jumping with you! Next year we'll go out and do some small ones with over and unders, docks, all sorts of good stuff, heh?!?

6 days of jumping, 42 skydives... not too shaby... Made a whole bunch of tracking dives (wuz up CanuckinUSA! Watch out for your slot!!! hehehe), but I did not get to jump on New Year's Eve.... was taken out by some bad sushi from the toltec cafe. Yeah, Eloy just keeps on rocking.

Yeah people!!!! 4th of july will be huge this year! Bring your tent, be ready for the stinky shower water, the dirty bathrooms, and a whole lot fun! Hey Ian, you'd better back off my boy with that pie, or I'll challenge you for fight night (if we hadn't told you what that is... just wait till you're up at the Ranch for that holiday!) hehe... just kidding! Miss you all already... It was just too much fun! Kisses and hugs, T

Yeah John, one month down with a broken elbow (you remember my little incident on the tent pole by the loading area???), saving money for Thanksgiving, gone to Eloy for the Turkey Holiday. Plus, I refuse to jump in snow. I'm from the tropics, remember? See you in Eloy!

You should try calling Manifest. Talk to either Claire or Laura to see if there will be anything going on this weekend. If they transfer you to the school, Bernadette will let you know if there will be coaches available. She can give you the full hook-up. My bet is that there will probably be a handful of diehards shoveling snow so they can put a few Porter loads up. Manifest 845-255-9538 School 845-255-4033 Blus, t

In 2001 there were so many of them I kinda felt I needed an extra pair of eyes to keep up with them all... And the trails... they were so bright! They just stayed up in the sky forever! Yeap, if you're out in Eloy, try to get a local to escort you to Flower Rock. Massive fun!

For the lucky ones that live far, far away from the cities, don't miss out on watching this http://www.msnbc.com/news/981694.asp?cp1=1 I saw the one that happened two years ago out in Flower Rock, AZ, and it was one of the most amazing experiences ever. -t

It's too bad they don't make the 3-piece yet. Maybe that's an idea you can throw in Cedric's court and see what happens. There's a lot of differences between the original and the pro-concept. To name a few, they use spandex inserts or Flex-fit to allow for a more tight cut suit but yet comfortable and flexible. This detail looks and and feels really good (especially when you're sitting on a packed otter). The proconcept is also much tighter than your average freefly suit. As the fabric is heavy, they use much less. That is supposed to provide less interference with air for a "cleaner" flight. When I originally ordered mine, I didn't order a tight fit, and first time I jumped it felt like I was a baloon! Now it's being adjusted to maximum tightness. The proconcept has leg grips, and arm grips. The latter upon request. Overall, it's more advanced and more stylish. Hope that helps!

De La Guarda beats any of them... It's pure magic! I won't say no more, you have to experiment (yes, it is very interactive) to know it.

If you're in the UK, why not get in touch with Matter (www.matterclothing.com), which is located in Spain? They were extremely fast in building both my boyfriend's and my suit (3 weeks). Excellent customer service, and excellent quality jumpsuits. Their freefly pro-concept is just awesome. And I think that this month they have a little special deal going on that if you buy a pro-concept, you get a pair of freefly pants for free. Talk to Cedric Dummond. -T