skydiver30960

A few for you. Starting with a dose of teenage angst from my highschool years (pardon my skipping the accent marks): Ayer Te vi ayer, No me sonreiste. Solamente continuabas caminando, Brazo y brazo con el. Te recorde ayer, No me llamaste. Habian cosas mejores que hacer, Habian hombres mejores tambien. Gritaba tu nombre ayer, No me oiste. Solamente los arboles oyeron, Y ellos no recuerdan. Tome la mano ayer, Tantas veces, en el mente. Pero la mano no movio, Se quedo a mi lado. Lo hice todo ayer, No te diste cuenta. Que voy hacer Hoy? And a poem to go with "Dulce et decorum est..." and a response written by an author I know of only by name. How I found the response is pretty magical, but that's for another post... In Flanders Fields Lt. Col. John Alexander McCrae In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place. And in the sky The larks still bravely singing fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow. Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders Fields Take up the quarrel with the foe! To you from failing hands we throw The torch, be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders Fields. A response by Maud Oliver Yes, ye may sleep, ye Canadian brave, For freedom's flag forever waves Where once the hun with iron tread Trampled the living and the dead. You heard the call from distant land And caught the torch from falling hand. You held it high, and carried on 'Till victory at last was won. True, you no more see sunset glow Nor feel the breeze of morn ablow Nor hear the skylark's lilting note Rise up to Heaven from golden throat. Yet in our home beyond our ken You still shall guide the hearts of men. Though crucified and torture wrung, Your deeds shall live on every tongue. Sleep softly then, in Flanders bed, 'Neath coverlet of poppy red. The wind shall softly o'er you sigh, The birds sing soothing lullaby. Elvisio "chokes me up every damn time" Rodriguez

Bingo. A lot of people who haven't been to BD wonder "it's just one jump, how damn long can it take?" But there's a lot of red tape to be dealt with, and getting through it, seeing folks you haven't seen since last BD, packing your gear in the middle of the Holiday Inn hallway, making the jump, watching the video, eating the free pizza, staying up way too late on Sat night, and dragging your sicker-than-hell ass home on Sunday morning is all part of the process. Elvisio "want more than one next year" Rodriguez

But no matter how far down the list a thread goes, the search bar stays right there at the bottom of the screen! Elvisio "been guilty myself a time or two" Rodriguez

The above poll says it all. Cool game last night, I always like to see the "David vs. Goliath" matches come out in favor of the little guy. I dunno if the Sox can pull it off, but it'd be cool to see it happen... Elvisio "in my lifetime" Rodriguez

POODLE! Elvisio "anti-hero" Rodriguez

Man, imagine it... ...big Crucifix for the hood ornament... ... holy water cupholders... ... boomin' system playing organ music... ... votive candles for interior lights... ... incense-scented air freshener on the rearveiw mirror... Elvisio "goin to hell" Rodriguez

Good Stuff! ...but did you notice the type of plane he was about to jump out of? ...YIKES! Elvisio "no pushers for me, thank you" Rodriguez

Seems pretty evenly distributed when I voted, except for the "never date a jumper" category. There are no hard and fast rules. Bad news: you really can't even say: "FOR ME, these are the rules." It all comes down to how you and that particular person mesh, dude, and it changes every time you start sharing time with somebody new. I've been in super clingy relationships, and been in really independent ones as well. Right now, I'm in a relationship that is pretty balanced: we enjoy the time we spend together, but I really don't mind the fact that she doesn't come out to the DZ much and she appreciates getting me the hell out of the house once in a while. So for us, the fact that she doesn't jump is OK. Elvisio "not nearly this wise" Rodriguez

Tenth month of unemployment so far. I've been claiming all my earnings at the DZ to the folks at the unemployment department like a good little boy(as the DZO will be filing 1099s, dangnabbit) so chill out Kinney! I've been jumpin' a BUNCH (mostly working tandems), playing ice hockey, and have been chasing a dream by taking an EMT course. I'm setting myself up for a career (EMT/FF) that will pay next to NOTHING, but should be a lot more personally rewarding than what I was doing before (engineering/front line supervision). Plus, everyone says it's one of those "you don't do it for the money" type of jobs, and I AM having a blast so far. Elvisio "you want me to palpate WHAT?" Rodriguez

Urban myth at my old DZ was that a guy was in the middle of a four way when he FREAKED out. Thrashing, slapping his head, he clumsily tracked away from the group and dumped. Turns out that a spider had been hanging out in his helmet and he didn't notice until it started crawling across the inside of the faceshield of his full-face. One of the old non-flipup Factory Divers I guess, otherwise he probably could just have closed his eyes and "dumped that spider out of the formation". Elvisio "so they say around the campfire" Rodriguez

Graffiti party. It's a blast. Sort of like "low carb rave", i.e. without all the UV and trance music. The basic idea: everybody comes to the party in a white T shirt and pants they don't mind throwing away. Collect all keys at the door, because this party works MUCH better when everybody's bombed. Proceed to facilitate intoxication by any means your crowd happens to prefer. Have TONS of markers of various colors onhand, and encourage people to write on each others' t-shirts. This works great as the ice breaker, BUT... As people get more and more hammered, inhibitions go down and people start tagging the "fun" parts of the shirt (boobies!), then writing on skin instead of t-shirt and so on and so forth. Everybody wakes up in the morning and gets to read all the stuff they forgot about writing the previous night on all the bodies of the other party goers. Taking the party to the next level: Go to Home Depot or a craft shop or medical supply store and buy one of those big rolls of butcher's paper. Cover the walls of your place with the paper and let people write on the walls too. Double-thickness on the walls is best in case there's any bleed-through the first layer. I would suggest you avoid this part if you have white carpets! Elvisio "warhol" rodriguez

Ok.... 1.) Cool. 2.) WAAAYYY too much free time. Elvisio "when I use both hands, is it a three way?" Rodriguez

The report I heard was that his death was caused by complications arising from his condition. This morning in my EMT class the instructor mentioned that he significantly outlived the average post-injury lifespan for quadriplegia. He was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at our state's EMS conference in November. Sorry to hear I won't be able to hear him speak. Elvisio "bummed" Rodriguez

Who did you write the letter to? Did you try to approach the rigger and voice your concerns to him personally or use another LOCAL figure of authority to voice your concerns to him? Did you indicate to the rigger your concerns about how he tested your pin? (Although I must admit his testing method sounds more than a little bit shady to me, not at all in line with the CW bulletin) If you felt unhappy about your rigger's condition when he repacked your reserve, did you ask him to repack it when he was in better shape? My point: your message sez you talked to somebody else at the DZ, but did you try to talk to the rigger? If the letter you wrote was to the rigger personally, I don't think there'd be too much reason for him (and his buddies at the DZ) to be stressed. BUT, if you wrote a letter to a governing body (such as the U.S.'s USPA or FAA, sorry I don't know the South African equivalents) regarding the rigger's performance without first adressing them with him then I might understand their concerns more. We try to be a self-policing sport. Part of that involves being comfortable enough with each other to question each other and call each other out when we feel something hasn't been properly handled. When you wrote the letter, if it WAS to a governing agency, the rigger and folks at the DZ may have felt that you "went outside the lines" and exposed the rigger and/or the DZ to (possibly) unnecessary outside scrutiny without first bringing it up with him one-on-one. Was your line twist caused by the "figure eight" knot? Quite possibly. Was this sabotage? I dunno. Things happen with our gear that we wouldn't expect to happen, that's why we do so many gear checks and regular inspections. My gut feeling is that the friction between you and your buddies might have made you a bit paranoid. Skydivers are a passionate bunch, we argue and fight often, but to consider killing another skydiver? Next time, try talking one-on-one with the person with whom you have an issue. Then, try to involve other people in positions of authority at the DZ. Then, if your concerns remain unanswered and you feel your safety (and of others) is still compromised, then by all means feel free to notify any authorities you feel necessary, IMHO. Elvisio "got a little long winded" Rodriguez

What's that high, whistling sound? Elvisio "wile E." Rodriguez

OH! That's BASEketball. ya, good movie. It gave me a grin. Elvisio "netflix rocks" Rodriguez

Better yet they should jump WITH the ball. Schweet ad that would be indeed! Elvisio "leave the lead shot at home" Rodriguez

Oh, those Canadians with their floppy heads and beady little eyes... Elvisio "what what what?" Rodriguez

The only thing worse was when ephedrine was still around. Pop a couple pills from your preferred supplier (ripped fuel, stacker, whatever) and hit the clubs. Man, it's great; you stay active and alert SO much longer into the night. Problem is, you feel so much better and energetic that you get to drink so much more and the next morning the ephedrine is gone but the supersized hangover is RIGHT where you expect it to be. Elvisio "working on simultaneous heart and liver conditions" Rodriguez

Setting aside all the "emotional issues" and "more than skin deep" stuff and concentrating STRICTLY on the physical side of things, here's the way I sees it: I will never be a hardbody. I will never be in a Gap commercial. I will never be on a 100 foot billboard in Times Square selling Calvin Klein underpants (probably a good thing for mankind as a whole). I will never be on any major TV program. So it would be really unfair for me to expect any of that from my lady. On the other hand, I try to take care of myself, try to eat at least reasonably well, and work out whenever I can. I may not have much, but I try to take care of what I have and look my best. Yeah, part of that is for me, but part of that is for her too. What I appreciate is when she does the same: when she tries to take care of what God gave her in the same ways I do. It's about looking good for each other, sure; but there's more to it too. By taking care of ourselves (i.e. eating right and working out), we're setting ourselves up to be happy and healthy both today and in the future so that our time together can be as long and enjoyable as it can. Make sense? Elvisio "need a reason to drag my ass to the gym before sunrise" Rodriguez

Amen. Hey, not to hijack but it is an honest (and related) question. I was somewhat interested by the fact that it was two police officers that were bringing the case to trial. My question for the police officers (or friends and family thereof) is: In general, are police officers pro- or anti- gun control? My first thought would be that they would be very pro- gun control, because they would still be legally permitted to carry while the law would (supposedly) reduce the number of guns out there that could be used against them. And don't even THINK about goin' down the "if guns were outlawed..." road because that's not what my question is about. BUT, then on the other hand, I got to thinking about how many police officers come from military backgrounds, and ALSO got to thinking about how many people who are comfortable with guns (through training or proper exposure to them at a young age) tend to be more anti- gun control. So which is it, guys? Just wondering... Thanks and sorry for the hijack; Elvisio "too early to be PWing" Rodriguez

Maybe do it in stages? Cut off some, then cut off some more, and then some more, that way if you reach a point you don't like it then it won't take so long to grow out. I also like Bolas' Photoshop idea. Wazzup Bolas! Elvisio "long hair rocks" Rodriguez

I saw the show last night too. What an awesome project. I agree with comments that this is another Kitty Hawk in the making. It won't happen today or tomorrow, but someday folks will point to these flights as the ones that got the ball rolling. The one thing that really caught my eye on SS1 is the lack of pressurized suits. Nothing but a little fiberglass between you and the absolute vacuum of space. I know, I know... if something goes wrong on a flight like that, a pressurized suit is nothing more than a security blanket because if the ship is damaged enough to depressurize then it probably isn't going to survive re-entry anyhow. But still, ya know... Elvisio "beam me up scotty" Rodriguez

EXACTLY. Besides, you don't actually go to boogies to JUMP, do you? Man, you can jump out of airplanes at home. Boogies, in my opinion, are about everything BUT the jumping. If nothing else, not having a rig will make it easier to concentrate on the real reasons you made the trip: drinking, partying, buying new gear, drinking, hitting on hot co-ed dotcommers, drinking, and did I mention drinking? Elvisio "" Rodriguez

Mom comes to visit No skydiving tomorrow Get to play Sunday Elvisio "relative work" Rodriguez