Nightingale

Mine's on a shelf in my closet. no bag. don't have a gear bag yet. My parents babysat my gear for a weekend (I was moving and didn't want anything to happen to it). I set it down in front of a rather out of the way cabinet that hardly anyone goes in to. Of course, that evening, Dad decides he wants something out of that cabinet, and reaches down towards this nice and solid looking silver handle... "DAD! STOP!!! THAT'S THE RESERVE!!!" he jumped a mile. Both mom and dad got a lesson in how a rig works before they were permitted to rig-sit.

how can you tell whether a rig's been pencil packed?

in the "incidents" forum, there is a story of a girl who, after having an open container problem "fixed" in the plane, was hesitant to jump, and got out anyway because of pressure from the other jumpers in the plane. She had a mal. When I was having a lot of anxiety issues on my level 2 AFF (switch of Otter to Skyvan and change of JMs in the last five minutes before boarding, combined with some anxiety issues to begin with), the jumpers in the plane put a lot of pressure on me to jump, even after I'd already declined. I still didn't jump (which was the right choice for me... I was not in the right headspace to make a safe skydive at that point) but the folks in the plane made it a lot harder for me to make the right choice. encouragement is one thing, pressure is another. We have to know where to draw the line. If a jumper says that something feels wrong and they're not jumping, I think the best course of action is to respect their choice.

ask your instructors... and check Billvon's list.

As someone who's been through this, if you were set to graduate this may, and the only reason you won't is that you changed your major... finish the marketing major first, this semester, as planned. THEN, go add on the computer science major. It won't take you much longer, you'll already have one degree, and the double major will make you MUCH more marketable. I had a friend who did a double major of business and finance. She finished the finance major first, got a full time job, and then did the business major two nights a week and finished up pretty fast. don't throw away something you've worked hard for this far. I'm finishing up a master's degree right now that I'm never going to use because I changed careers. However, I know that I'm more marketable to both schools and employees with a masters than I would be with half a masters. If you are so close that you'd graduate this may, bite the bullet and graduate. Then, add the other major if you want, OR, just go on to get a masters' in computer science instead. best of luck!!!!!

I did two websites for MORONS that I'd have dropped as clients had I not needed the cash to finish AFF.

Hollister isn't far.

anyone going to be at Elsinore on Friday? After hearing about the $1300 vet bill for my kitty, my grandmother decided to paypal some jump money my way. the note she included said "heard about the kitty. hope he's doing well. I know money's tight right now especially with the vet bill, so please use this little gift for falling out of perfectly good airplanes." Grandmas...gotta love em! Thing is... money's been so tight recently I haven't jumped in over a month! And now, since its been so long, I'm scared all over again. It'd be nice to have someone to jump with this time around... oh! I'll be buying beer. This will be my first jump on my new-to-me rig since I paid it off, so now its ALL MINE!

I like the beer thing... every time I've had to buy beer, its given me the opportunity to hang out at the bar with my instructors and discuss the day's events.

I know it was long- thats why I almost cutaway. It probably wasn't a full ten seconds, but close to it. talked to the packer after... he said he'd rolled the nose pretty tight to give me a real soft opening. The opening was really soft and nice, it just took FOREVER.

I was reaching for handles on my first jump with a spectre... it just took so damn long... I counted to ten slowly (one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, etc) and it was still sniveling. I reached for red, and just as I was about to pull it, the canopy opened all at once. I looked up and started laughing "oh! there you are! bout damn time!"

congrats and happy b-day!!!

:0:0 0 jumps. was going to go down to elsinore for a jump yesterday, but wussed. grandma tossed some jump money my way after hearing about the kitty, so I have a bit of cash to be spent only on, as she puts it, "falling out of perfectly good airplanes." however, I didn't know if anyone I knew was going to be there, and its been so long since I jumped (over a month!!!) that I'm starting to get that fear again... so, I wussed out. I will be jumping on friday, barring any kittycat complications. Anyone going to be at Elsinore??

I felt like a skydiver when I did my first solo. Before that, I felt that I was learning to skydive, but wasn't quite there yet. That was a personal thing, though. I think anyone who's pulled for themselves has the right to call themselves a skydiver.

I agree with you... I'm still very much a newbie myself, but people with one or two jumps think 32 jumps is a lot. I'll answer questions about stuff I know, like "how do you work through door fear?" or "how do you know what order to get on the plane in?" and stuff like that. If they ask me for landing tips or freefall stuff, the answer's always "ask an instructor. I don't know a whole lot more than you do."

I'm sorry... with what I just went through with my kitty, I really can't see the humor. and where's the repost police???

for people who are looking.... its called Covert Action. That might help a bit.

nothing wrong with his methods... he wants to know about marajuana use among skydivers. 1. are they valid? does the survey really examine what he wants to find out? YES. 2. are they reliable? will he get the same results if he repeats the survey? PROBABLY. he'd need to account for a certain margin of error, but he'll probably get more honest answers here than if he were to do a face to face interview at a DZ.

I'm still sending out applications... I could definitely use a letter of rec for Loyola!

I don't use. I also don't care if anyone else uses, as long as they're sober while jumping.

Well, when I went to Ireland, I had a plane ticket, a hostel reservation for the first two nights, and a rental car reservation. beyond that, no plans. now... I had my first skydive planned for eight months. sometimes, I know exactly where I'm going and when. Others, I'll just throw a sleeping bag into the back of my car. depends on my mood, really.

eeeew....... WORMS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

its not a mandatory denial according to the guidelines posted on their website. personally, I'd talk to a lawyer.

did you ask for her supervisor?

1. I'm a democrat. 2. I'm a liberal. 3. I think most gun laws are moronic. there's no need to make laws restricting certain kinds of guns, because the only people who are going to follow them are law abiding citizens, who pose no danger to the public because they ARE law abiding citizens. If an outlaw wants a gun, they're going to get it... and personally, I'd prefer that the outlaws not be better armed than the law-abiding general population.