skydiver30960

How often this comes up depends on where you live and where you work and a lot of other factors. BUT, when you are faced with/ approached by someone asking for a handout, how do you reply? Unfortunately (I wonder about what it says about my personality) I feel bad no matter what I do. If I give, I'm pissed. If I don't, I'm pissed. Although lately I've found that I'm pissed for slightly LESS time if I give something than if I don't. Elvisio "would call myself the poll master but that sounds REALLY bad" Rodriguez

"... you realize that you aren't in college anymore, and the 'real world' is a MILLION times better than college EVER was." Elvisio "living the dream" Rodriguez

Holy CRAP I just got wood. What a phenomenal idea! I'm IN! Elvisio "giddy" Rodriguez

Heh. Sorry all, I TOTALLY spaced on this thread. I don't spend much time in SC, and when I posted it here I never came back to check on it until I just remembered I put it here. Sorry to post and run! SO, as I mentioned in the OP, it was YEARS ago. So, WRT sub- vs. supersonic, I really don't recall if it was "BANG... -zip-" or "-zip-...BANG". All I recall is that I heard both. If I hadn't heard the report I never would have thought that sound was a round going by. Sorry I can't give more info. So, my question related more to how close the round was when it went by me (or my head, if that's more appropriate) rather than how close the shooter was to me when he fired the shot. Thanks, and SO sorry for the delay in clarafication! Elvisio "SC = unfamiliar territory" Rodriguez

I'll be doing clinical time (i.e. sitting around watching the clock) in Labor and Delivery all day today. Actually, Rapture sounds like the lesser of two evils. Elvisio "you want me to check to see if her WHAT is dilated?!" Rodriguez

Frap Hat - in storage Factory Diver - in storage B2K Pilot - in storage, about to be upgraded to active status Old NVertigoX - used on every jump. Definitely showing its age. See above note about returning the Pilot to active status. Elvisio "don't kick the baby" Rodriguez

Skydivers EXACTLY. And funny somebody upstream mentioned skiing: I knew a guy who, when he started skydiving, went out and bought a downhill skiing helmet because it was the closest thing he could find to the helmets he'd seen at the DZ. The first few weeks he had it he only caught shit from those of us at our little piston DZ. THEN one weekend we went to the Mullins compound for a boogie-till-u-puke weekend. He got ridden MERCILESSLY about that helmet. Every load, there was somebody new to give him the dirty look and "what the HELL is that on your head?" IIRC, he had a Factory Diver the next weekend (this was the late 90s, FDs were all the rage then). Elvisio "me, I let people taunt me about my flying" Rodriguez

And she's bitching about the results? http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/would-you-ever-let-your-guy-pick-out-your-clothes-i-did-for-a-week-2482587#photoViewer=1 Hell, we should be talking about revoking this guy's Man Card for what he put her in. MY choices would have been something more like: Monday: French Maid outfit. Tuesday: Black corset with matching stockings Wednesday: thong bikini Thursday: the black panty and bra combo that my wife KNOWS drives me nuts Friday: Birthday suit. Hey, TGIF, right? Saturday: The thigh-high leather boots, and nothing else. Sunday: Catholic School-Girl getup from Halloween a couple years ago. Elvisio "I'm ready to run the runway" Rodriguez

Wait a minute. Arizona doesn't observe Daylight Savings Time. So... we're actually an hour behind the rest of our time zone. So when it's 6PM in the rest of the Mountain time zone it'll only be 5PM here. So, for us in Tucson, should we expect the Rapture at 5PM when the rest of the time zone gets hit, or at 6PM our time, at the same time the Pacific time zone takes the plunge? I mean, hey: if we're gonna get it right, let's get it right, no? Elvisio "confused" Rodriguez

Anybody see the latest Dos Equis commercial with the guy getting lifted out of a tailgate aircraft wearing a rig and a kayak? Simply awesome. Elvisio "badass commercials" Rodriguez

I can't stand weak, watery beers. I can't stand thick, strong beers. To each their own I guess. My personal fave is somewhere in the middle, probably more toward the lighter side of the middle. Sam Adams, Amber Bock, stuff like that. Plop me down in a bar and I'll gravitate toward a good draft lager most of the time. And if anyone tries to tell you I went through a "Zima phase" in the 90s when that crap first came out, I will deny it with my hand on a STACK of Bibles! That is all. Elvisio "pleading the fifth" Rodriguez

Didn't somebody on DZ.com from SDA (Remi?) post about a car they would rent visiting jumpers? Elvisio "seemed real, not a joke" rodriguez

I'm usually not a fan of trance-like stuff, but this song is fecking awesome. Definitely worth a listen. There are several videos of the song on youtube. I picked this one because the sound quality is good and it gets MOST of the lyrics right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HITvT0hUORM&feature=related Edit to add: better sound quality but without the lyrics in text: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHkUq9U_lak&feature=related Elvisio "don't stop" Rodriguez

Don't do it too much. By that I mean don't do it every day you're at the DZ, and don't do it the entire day you're at the DZ (if you can pull the second one off, I know that doesn't jive with some student operations). I thoroughly enjoyed being a TM at my first two DZs. In hindsight it was because the workload was manageable and there was always time for funjumping. When I went to my most recent DZ, the student operation was MUCH bigger than the first, and I burned out in about two years. It was nobody's fault but my own: the money was great, the jump ship was great, the gear was great, the staff was great. It was just too much work and I somehow forgot that this thing we do is supposed to be fun. Ten or more jumps a day, two days a weekend, followed by a full work and school week just to do it again the following weekend: it was all too much and I lost the taste. Again, I only blame myself. Just make sure you don't end up blaming yourself for the same thing. Elvisio "fond memories, always" Rodriguez

I am SO glad I wasn't around for that super-tight jeans time in history. I don't wear my jeans sagging down around my knees, but my boys definitely need a little room in their house. I usually go with either regular fit about a size too big, or baggy fit at the right size. And it's button, then zip. IMO it allows for better control of the bits and pieces before the zipper tries to mangle them. The parts on the zipper are called teeth for a reason! Elvisio "don't know which would be worse, the physical or emotional scarring" Rodriguez

Was this in the U.S.? One thing to keep in mind is that an organ harvest doesn't just happen in an hour. Watching the donation team in my old ICU it was just about a 24 hour MINIMUM to gather all the blood and tissue samples necessary for typing, and then to complete all the necessary typing. For example, one step is to collect a number of lymph nodes to help with the typing process, a minor surgical procedure that typically occurs at the bedside. It's MUCH more involved than just a blood type and screen. And, given that the U.S. is an "opt in" donation system, there cannot be a harvest without consent. If a patient is incapacitated (i.e. brain dead) and there is no family to consent to the procedure, the harvest wouldn't happen. I think the fear of being "rushed" off to an organ donation just because you couldn't make your own decisions and your family hadn't made it to the hospital is misspent. As I said above, just because there is a "D" on your driver's license doesn't make you a donor. Elvisio "talk to your families" Rodriguez

This is a question I've been carrying around for a long time but never thought to ask, but I figure this is a perfect place for it. This happened YEARS ago, at my first DZ, GCSPC in Bardstown Ky. It was a small piston DZ that consisted mostly of a T-hangar, a trailer, and a two hole outhouse. It was a cold, cloudy day (sometime during hunting season) and we were not jumping; I was walking from said trailer to said outhouse with appropriate business on my mind when in the distance I heard a shot fired and about a second or so later I heard ".......zzzzzzziziiiiipp......" of the shot flying through the air somewhere in my vicinity. My first thought was "Heh. Whatever he was shooting at, he missed!" and then the second thought was "Shit! If he missed then he may try again, and send another one my way!" I double-timed it over to the outhouse, feeling somehow more protected behind a layer of 30 year old wood held up only by the layers of paint on it. There was never a second shot. I'm reasonably comfortable they weren't shooting at me: back then, as with today, I'm not a very high-profile target. I figure someone took a shot at a deer or something, missed completely, and I found myself unfortunately downrange. SO: assuming a typical hunting rifle and load, how close was that round to me when it went by if I was able to hear it clearly? It was a windless day (no jumpy due to low clouds). Elvisio "thanks!" Rodriguez

Wow. Never been in this situation, but I'm the kind of person who would probably try to do the "I want to be friends with you both, keep me out of it" route. If that didn't work, then I'd kick them both to the curb rather than pick one. Situations like this are a perfect example of why I don't have friends. Yeah, sure it is... Elvisio " and for no other reasons" Rodriguez

To the OP: sweet! I just moved into the area and I've only been to Eloy once so far but that will change soon... To all the others: how do I meet some of you fokkers out there? Elvisio "need to pay of some debt then get my jumpy on" rodriguez

It's an AN-2. Elvisio "had to do it" Rodriguez

Other: Facebook sucks. Elvisio "proudly leaning into the ever-increasing wind of inevitability" Rodriguez

What if I am already in VA? I'm safe: she's seen you with red hair. Elvisio "thanks for the generous offer though " Rodriguez

My wife. I'm in Arizona on a new job and she's in Virginia. She's trying to transfer her job. Worst case scenario, we'll be apart about four months, in total. It sucks. I SERIOUSLY don't know how you military types do it. Fuck the bullets and bombs and constant, imminent fear of death and all that crap. You deserve our gratitude for your service just for being away from your loved ones for 6-12 months at a time. And any of you dudes that offers to go to VA and "comfort my wife" or any crap like that and I will reach THROUGH this computer screen and pop your grapes! Any of you ladies that makes the same offer and... well, I WANT VIDEO! Elvisio "haven't used this much lotion since high school" Rodriguez

I prepped for my current (brand new, hooray!) job as a flight nurse by spending a few years working in a Trauma ICU. We saw a lot of donation cases. It is a powerfully touching process. Although little can slake the grief of a family suffering such a loss, the magnitude of the gift never failed to impress me DEEPLY. Regarding "who makes the call": I don't ever recall a donation taking place without consent from the family. Nobody ever said "I'm sorry ma'am but there's a "D" on his license, we're taking everything." Next of kin (or power of attorney, if applicable) make the call, as they do in most care decisions for an incapacitated patient. So, if you are adamantly for or against donation, make sure your family knows, because they'll be the ones making the decision. Remember that there are many reasons you or a loved one may not be able to be donors: sepsis and a past history of cancer are two prime examples. If you ever find yourself in the unfortunate position of being someone making such decisions (whether or not to have a loved one be an organ donor) PLEASE don't be put off if it seems like the medical personnel are bringing up the subject too early: it is a time-sensitive process and while they don't want to rush you to make a decision, time is of the essence. Regarding another post upstream: As I understood it, the issue with not being able to be with their loved ones "when they passed" relates to the fact that we as a society associate "death" with the cessation of heart function. In a donation case, it would take too long after the stopping of the heart to get the patient down to the OR and ready for the donation process. I've gone back and deleted several sections of text because I keep getting what I feel is too technical for such a forum: I don't want to gross anyone out or seem dispassionate. Please feel free to PM me if you have any particular questions. I'll just say that the process of organ donation is a miracle in itself: that the tragic loss of one family can save the lives of so many others is a silver lining to an otherwise terrible moment in time. Elvisio "please talk with your families" Rodriguez My most memorable donation story: we lost a patient in our unit, a patient who died WAY too young from brain death due to a traffic accident. The family agreed to allow their loved one to be an organ donor. The patient was wheeled down to the OR for the process. Several hours later, the next patient to be put in the SAME ROOM the donor had left was a patient who had just received a liver transplant. Although nobody could ever confirm it due to patient confidentiality concerns, the timeline of the events and a couple knowing nods from the transplant team let us know this patient's new liver had come from the donor who was just in that same room. So, on that day we got to see a terrible ending and a new beginning in the same room. PLEASE consider organ donation.

...Makes all of us on DZ.com look like a bunch of Rhodes Scholars. Elvisio "no, I don't want to buy your 'raw iron table'" Rodriguez