Nightingale

Only jump if they're comfortable with it. Otherwise, you'll make them even MORE uncomfortable, which isn't what you want. See if the DZ will let them do an observer ride, if they want to. My mom's kinda intrigued by the observer ride thing and is thinking about doing one, but only if I do an observer ride on the same plane with her. She says she'll freak if she watches me go out the door! LOL.

scared? who? me? ROFL!!! You wanna read about scared, check out my online logbook. http://nightingale.qlogger.com

honestly, if someone approached me with a rotten attitude and told me I was screwing up, I'd probably return the attitude in kind to the bearer, and then go ask my instructors for some assistance... but that's me. Most people, if you go out of your way to piss them off instead of being kind are just going to tell you to fuck off, and then go do their thing out of spite. An almost certain way to get someone to do something you don't want them to do is to tell them not to do it while you're being rude. Its human nature. Just because someone's new and made a stupid mistake (maybe they honestly don't know any better!) doesn't mean they shouldn't be approached with politeness. You can talk til you're blue in the face. But, you have to get the person you're talking to to WANT to hear your message, and they're not going to want to listen if they're being cursed at, shouted at, or approached in a less than courteous manner. Its your choice to talk. Its their choice to listen. You are more likely to get them to make the choice you want them to make if you're nice.

huh?

and that one takes the cake! I bow to the guru of high risk activities!

You don't have to be a US citizen to work in the US.

um... Oscar?

we were a little afraid of that happening too... but the thing is, for every ten people or so who have an issue with the post, only maybe one will take the time to fill out a report.

check your health insurance... make sure they don't deny coverage to injuries occurred while skydiving. If they'll cover you, you were skydiving. If they won't... you fell off a ladder hanging christmas lights.

I help moderate another forum, www.martialtalk.com we have a very useful feature there. Under each post, there's a clicky that says "report to moderator" and then it takes you to a screen where you can put in what's wrong, or what needs to be fixed (an NSFW warning, perhaps), and an email is sent to the mods of that forum to let them know to check it out. Its been a very useful tool for the mods over at MT. Not sure how practical it would be to implement here but it would be nice to be able to alert the mods to something, because we know you all can't be everywhere at once.

see your doctor for an x-ray to make sure you didn't damage anything and everything went back the way its supposed to. rest, ice, etc... glad you're okay!

if someone is determined not to listen to you, you can do one of two things. 1. leave it alone because you're not getting anywhere. 2. talk to someone else who can help. in the example you gave, you could call manifest at the other DZ and let them know about the guy and that he's lying about his jump numbers. Then, let them make the appropriate decision with all the information.

Easiest program out there to make brochures: PrintShop by Broderbund. costs about $60 and is VERY easy to use.

If I make a mistake and you walk up to me and say "you really f-ed up that landing! It was stupid and dangerous and you better learn how to set up a good landing pattern!" frankly, they're probably going to get the finger and be told to fuck off. However, if someone approaches and says "you look like you need a little help with landing patterns... I can help you a bit, if you like." they're going to get a completely different response, like "Sure! I'd appreciate any help!"

if you approach someone nicely, most of the time, your sentiments will be returned in kind. If someone gives you attitude, walk away. You tried. It is their choice not to listen. If you truly feel their behavior is unsafe and they won't listen, talk to someone at the DZ who can make them either listen or not jump. a phrase I've heard quite a bit, both in the martial arts and education fields: You can lead someone to knowledge, but you can't make them think!

lol... yup!

lol... I think the lesson here is: Old timers need to guide the newbies to the best of their abilities. Newbies need to listen to those who've been around a while. But nobody's going to listen to anybody if they sound like a jerk when they're attempting to educate someone. Something we learn in teacher education classes: you need to build a rapport with someone you plan on teaching, and you can't do that if you build animosity.

Rats make wonderful pets. For some reason people have fear issues with them, though... I think its the tail. They're much more social than hamsters or mice, and much more intelligent. As a hamster ages, it will typically get very anti-social, and bite often, no matter how well it is socialized as a baby. A rat won't do this. Its because hamsters are solitary animals, and rats are social animals. Rats are better when kept with at least one other of the same gender. They're also much cleaner than other rodents. I have two rats right now, and they're wonderful little friends. I got them after a co-worker brought them in to work. I spent half an hour playing with them before Carl told me they were going to be snake food. So, I did something typically female, and brought the cute fuzzy little ones home with me. They are house trained, so no worries about accidents with them riding in a pocket or sitting on my shoulder. They scare the shit out of my cats, which is hilarious, because they're really small for rats, about hamster size, and aren't going to get much bigger.

yup. Switching from glasses/contacts/goggles can really mess up your depth perception if you don't switch around often and give your brain time to acclimate.

I'm going to take it, when I get my A.

Cats (Mogul, Cloudy, Anakin, Indiana). Fish (too many to name). Gecko (Charlemagne). Turtle (Timmy... my brother named it!). Hamster (Socrates). Frog (Frogula... dad named it!). Tarantula (Arachne). Rosy Boa Constricter (Minos). Rats (Pip and Squeak) Also many injured creatures that we nursed back to health, birds, lizards, etc...

I agree! People who are not disabled have no business using handicapped parking spaces. That said, there are quite a few folks out there that have "invisible disabilities" You'd never know it to look at my aunt, but she's got cardiomyopathy and is on the transplant list and waiting for a new heart. She looks completely normal, but can't walk more than a few feet without a lot of difficulty, getting seriously out of breath and all that. She has a handicapped pass and uses it. I can't count the number of people who come up to her and say rude things because they think she's not disabled! That's one of my pet peeves! They walk up to her, start yelling, and then leave without even letting her explain! My other pet peeve is smokers who throw their cigarette butts on the ground, especially when they're standing right next to an ashtray! Just because you smoke doesn't give you the right to litter too! I don't care if people smoke as long as I don't have to breathe it, and they're courteous about it and all that. No problem! Just don't throw the cigarette butt on the ground. Put it in the ashtray.

Um... greenies? Can we get a sticky thread about this? seems someone asks at least once a week.

0:1:0 one jump! YAY! I managed to stay current!

Finally! After three LONG weeks of being grounded due to finances, I scraped up the $50 for a jump on student gear at Elsinore. Grandma sent me jump money for my birthday! Dad got pissed at her for it, because he thinks I'm insane to throw myself out of perfectly good airplanes, but she told him to shove it.... GO GRANDMA!!! No wind, so I decided to jump the student 240 instead of the 220. Got the gear, and a gear check or two, manifested, and hopped on a plane. Nice ride to altitude. Floating exit. On my jump, I did nothing but enjoy freefall. No fancy barrel rolls, just relaxed, arched, and enjoyed. Something was wacky with my alti, though. I zeroed it on the ground, but it read 6250 when my protrack (demo) was beeping 5500 warning. I was planning on pulling at 4500, second protrack warning came, and I pulled, even though the alti said 5750 at this point. According to protrack, I was open at 3750, so the alti had to be wrong, because that student canopy doesn't have a 2000 foot snivel! LOL. Glad I had the protrack, or I'd have opened WAY low. Was a bit far south due to uppers, was wondering if I'd have to land out, but made it back to the DZ okay. AND I STOOD UP MY LANDING!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!