skydiver30960

There should be a sticky thread in this forum: "Things I've found in a reserve." Elvisio "geocaching, fine, but reservecaching?" Rodriguez

...how a thread with such a title is not yet flaming, I do not know. Elvisio "I live in Virginia, and I'm considering the drive" Rodriguez

Well, the article said he was trying to bargain for two forties, so I'm guessing anything palatable is out of the question... Elvisio "no OE 4 me" Rodriguez

I don't remember my dreams. I can wake up and remember how the dream made me feel, but that's about it. I could count the dreams I ever remember having on one hand, probably. It's kind of a bummer. I figure people who can remember their dreams have a real insight into themselves that I miss. Elvisio "maybe it's just a clean conscience... nah, that's not it" Rodriguez

Thank you for this post. I can NOT wait for the next chance I have to use this. I'll walk from stall to stall and urinal to urinal, flushing them ALL! I'd go hang out in a restroom waiting for it to happen if.... well.... maybe I won't go that far. Elvisio "people already look at me weird" Rodriguez

If it turns green, add more stuff. If it makes your eyes bleed when you get it, add less stuff. If your skin is blue when you get out, turn the temperature up. If your skin is red and blistered when you get out, turn the temperature down. If you are sitting in the tub and you can see your feet, turn the airflow up. If you are sitting in the tub and you can't see anyone else because the foam is over the top of your head, turn the airflow down. If your kinky neighbors borrow it when you aren't around, or it's at a boogie, stay away from anything floating on the surface. Elvisio "feel free to copy and distribute freely" Rodriguez

Dude, I grew up in Erie. You suffer just being in Cleveland. Whether or not you follow sports is irrelevant. Elvisio "go south, young man, go south" Rodriguez

Fight Club. "I'm just here to regulate funkiness." Elvisio "as seen on my helmet" Rodriguez

Boatloads of washable neon paint... ...sounds like the makings (or the start of the makings) of an absolutely historic party... Elvisio "wish I could be there" Rodriguez

Yeah, at this kid's age I'm pretty sure I was still playing with my own poo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxDlC7YV5is&feature=player_embedded#! Elvisio "now I'm a nurse and I play with other people's poo" Rodriguez

Pray to God that the TSA doesn't pick up on this one, or flying will become a whole different kind of strange.... Elvisio "no sir, I will not press my tongue there" Rodriguez

Negative. That'd be cheating. It's so much more fun when one learns about Bolas all by one's self. Elvisio "I bow to his Bolas-ness" Rodriguez

If the trailer is a genuine representation of the movie, it looks like it's going to be a feature-length ad for Red Bull... Elvisio "deal breaker" Rodriguez

So, how did the evening go? Elvisio "spill the dirt" Rodriugez

Wally West? A degree in psychology? ...must be abnormal psychology! Congrats, dude! Elvisio "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but probably not around Wally" Rodriguez

I don't know that an instructor should be strutting around like the cat that got the canary when s/he sends someone packing. But I think it's OK to feel that you did the right thing. There are so many forces an instructor needs to overcome to make such a decision: the DZO pushing for the $$$, the student who wants so badly to jump, and (yes) the instructor's own pride and desire to feel good and feel that they can "handle any student." I don't think there's anything wrong with an instructor feeling good that they did what they felt was the right thing in the face of significant pressure to "give the guy a chance" or "another chance" depending on the situation. The little voice in my head is wrong 99% of the time. But the 1% of the time that it IS right makes up for the other 99%. Elvisio "except when it tells me to play with matches" Rodriguez

Wow... the fabled "blank thread." Elvisio "ruined it" Rodriguez

Without a doubt, my most memorable jump was from the 909 (B-17) at the Convention several years ago. Just as memorable was the opportunity to roam through the plane prior to take-off. I was struck by how tight many of the passages were, and could not imagine trying to make it through them with my 21st Century rig on with the plane on the ground, never mind with a 1940's era rig and an unstable/spinning aircraft. It would be a long slow way to die. Elvisio "exciting and sobering experience" Rodriguez

To me, this ALMOST makes the existence of Facebook worthwhile. ...ALMOST. Elvisio "member since, oh yeah, never" Rodriguez

You just dig looking around for the hottest armrest-mates! Elvisio "always stuck next to the crying baby" Rodriguez

Did the pee dry before you found it? My rigging days are far behind me but IIRC getting the pee out while it is still wet is much easier than once it dries. Something about the uric acid crystallizing, no? Other riggers? Bueller? Bueller? Elvisio "bomp bomp, chicka chicka" Rodriguez

This year, take anything you get and be thankful. Many many many folks are getting nothing, or worse. Elvisio "got a little raise, but that was from my wife" Rodriguez

If I won, nobody would ever know. I think my wife and I would just be gone one day. Polite and apologetic letters would be written to our employers. Our parents and sisters would be brought up to speed, and promises to keep in touch would be kept; otherwise, nobody else need know to where we have disappeared. Belongings would be sold; whatever cannot or honestly should not be sold will be prepared to be stored for a long time. Careful investments would be made, ones that would let us travel the world frugally yet fully, seeing all the places that I am pretty sure that I never will otherwise. We would not seek fame, we would not seek opulence. But we WOULD seek just about everything else the world has to offer. Elvisio "sounds good to me" Rodriguez

Dude, don't worry about not sounding manly enough. I'll say it: cutaways scare the hell out of me. I've only had two in 1500+ jumps, none on tandems, but they still worry me. We call them the Plan B handles, but the thing is most of us don't wear a Plan C. Any time you have to use your last possible means of salvation, that's a scary thing. Reserves CAN fail; if you need it then USE IT but whenever possible, keep it in the bag. Elvisio "secure" Rodriguez

This was my thought. "Back in my day..." (Damn, that makes me sound even older than I am) I paid for my first few years of jumping by packing. The guys doing the tandem jumping at my DZ were militant about all tandem packing being done by the book: that is, by either a TI or a senior rigger. Even though I had hundreds of sport and student pack jobs, they would not let me pack tandems. I spent a winter repacking reserves, sewing patches, and got my senior rigger ticket, mostly just so I could pack tandems. NOW we have a situation where people who have never jumped (other than maybe a tandem or two themselves) are packing tandems. You can say "the times, they are a changin'." I say, this is one example of how we're selling our souls and the lives of our friends and students in the name of making a buck. You can say "jumping experience doesn't mean they would be a better packer." I say BS: a skydiver has a better understanding of how the systems work and what's at stake. Let the non-jumpers pack sport mains. There will be plenty of business for them. Let the experienced packers pack the tandems. Elvisio "happier every day that I quit tandems" Rodriguez