Nightingale

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{VIBES}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Go distract yourself by jumping out of a perfectly good airplane! The adrenaline rush will help.

ask your instructor to tell you when to flare on radio... when you think you need to flare, start counting (either in numbers or in "oh shits)... then you know how long between when you think you need to flare and when you actually need to flare.

Ok...here it is... AFF 6: I went to the dropzone today with the plans of graduating AFF. I had two 6 packs of guinness in the trunk (what the guys requested) and a little gift for Shelly (who doesn't like beer) because she'd been my JM more than anyone else. Its about 11 am, and I go in and sign up. Shelly's teaching FJC, so I couldn't jump with her for level 6. Raoul told me to ask for Kai, so I did. We chat out at the picnic table behind the school for a bit. I was very nervous, because I didn't get to jump last weekend, and the longer I go without jumping, the harder it is to get myself out the door of the plane the next time. Kai explains to me that all I have to do during this skydive is fall out of the plane, get stable, and smile. Ok. I think I can handle that. He tells me to make sure I get in a flip or two before arching, because the point of this level is to experience instability and recover stability. kewl. We chill out for a bit after going through the harness room, and then its time to get geared up. I am taught how to do a complete gear check on myself. Cool! Nice to really know what to look for. So, I get my gear on, and get a second gear check from Raoul, who's shooting camera for a tandem. There are two tandems on our load, which is cool. Its fun to talk to the tandems to get them to relax, because it helps me to relax too. So, its time to jump. I'm not all that nervous now... I grab the rope at the door and stabilize myself. Kai asks if I'm ready, and I take a deep breath. He tells me to lean forward and grab my ankles. I do. He asks again if I'm ready. I say "yeah." and all of a sudden I'm flipping, spinning, falling and WOW! This is cool... oh yeah...I'm supposed to arch now, aren't I? ARCH! uh oh....I'm supposed to be seeing ground now, not sky... I'm on my back. Ok...tuck arm, roll shoulder...ah! There's the ground! Practice Ripcord Touch. Its right where it ought to be. Altitude Check! 8000 feet! Oh! there's Kai! Smile, wave...he gives me thumbs up. I give him thumbs up back. This is the first time I've been able to play a bit in freefall. Now that I know I can stabilize myself, I'm not so scared of instability. He motions for me to do a turn... 360! Whee! Ok...there's Kai again... 6000 feet. 5000 feet... wave off...PULL! Good canopy! Control check is fine. I'm still on radios for this jump. Still working on the flare issue. Kai's going to tell me when to flare. Set up landing pattern...looking good. Oh shit, I need to flare! Oh shit...oh shit...oh shit...oh shit... "**FLARE**" crackles over the radio. I flare. Tiptoe landing. Hehe... now I know... From when I think I need to flare, count four "oh shits" and then flare! I pick up my canopy and hop into the truck. I'm grinning like an idiot. This skydive is the first one where I really enjoyed freefall. Life is good. AFF 7 In the school, when I asked for Kai for level 6, John gave me a hard time because I didn't ask for him... I didn't even know he did AFF! I'd only seen him do tandems (he did both of my tandem jumps). So, on level 7, I asked for John. No harness room this time...I already did it today. We just spend a few minutes going over the skydive. He wants me to control my fall rate. Hard arch, and de-arch. De-arch is kind of like a position I used to do in yoga (was either called cat or dog, I don't remember which) so I was familiar with the body mechanics behind it. At 7,000 feet I was supposed to track off for six seconds, and then pull. We get on the plane. We're going last because there's a tracking load in front of us. The plane's going to drop them off and then let us out three minutes later. Ok. The tracking load goes. I'm getting a little nervous. John had me sit on the ledge right behind the pilot. I don't really like this seat... sitting totally backwards is making me feel a little sick. Ok. Our turn now. We walk up to the door. Up, down... ok..try again...up, down... um...one more time. Up, down, stepback, ARCH! On the ground later, John said he could see it in my face, that last exit try... he knew that at that point, I'd told myself to get my ass out of the plane NOW! Good exit. Stable. There's John. PRCT. 11,000 feet. Oops, he's above me... De-arch! Ok...now below me... Hard Arch. I'm checking altitude every few seconds... De-arch...oops... little bit of instability there... I feel like I'm bouncing... After a few seconds of this, John grabs hold of me to stabilize me. We're now at 6,000 feet. No more manouevres. 5,000, wave off, pull. Nice good canopy. I was scared to death of this jump, because John and Kai said no more radios. I'm all by myself up here. Control check. Good toggle release. Toggle control check. I play with the parachute a bit. Turns. Trying to burn altitude. I just want to land this thing so I can stop worrying about landing this thing. Ok. 1000 feet. No more fancy stuff. I set up my landing pattern with the direction I think the wind is going. At 500 feet, I see I read the flags wrong. Oops. I'm going the wrong way. So, instead of doing a J shaped landing pattern, mine was a little more Z shaped. Uh oh... I have to flare... no...not yet... "oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit! FLARE" half a second too late... I landed on my feet, but my momentum took me down to one knee. I bounced up and began collecting my canopy, again grinning like an idiot. I'd landed all by myself! AFF 8 Graduation jump! Shelly was finished with FJC by this time, so I requested her. Seemed kind of appropriate, since she'd been there from the start. I want a video of this one, so I ask for Raoul, who's an amazing photographer. Both Shelly and Raoul have really been there for me, so this was a way for me to have both of them in the air with me on what feels like the second most important jump of my life (the most important being the first one, of course). Shelly briefs me on how to do barrel rolls. I have to do one in each direction. The exit is up to me. I choose a running/dive exit, because that way I don't have to look out the door... I'm fine leaving the plane as long as I can't see the ground. We're on sunset load, so we've got some time to sit and chat. Shelly goes over a lot of stuff about planes and safety with me. Ok... our turn. I tell Shelly that if I stop at the edge of the door, just give me a good shove. She promises she will. I didn't know this at the time, but Raoul told me later that the two of them had already discussed doing just that if I hesitated. We get in the plane. Raoul's waving the camera in my face. I'm not nervous. People are chatting with me and wishing me luck on the graduation jump. We're the last ones out of the plane. Someone talked the pilot into extra altitude. An extra 1000 feet. Awesome! Raoul's hanging out by the door, spotting for us. Shelly squeezes my shoulder "ready?" I grin. "Yep. Lets do it!" I try to get up a bit of momentum, so I couldn't stop at the door if I wanted to, but stopping at the door didn't even occur to me! WHEE!!!! I love this exit! ARCH! Uh oh... upside down. Roll over. Ok. PRTC. Altitude. 11,000. Wave at Shelly. Barrel Roll to the right. Uh oh. not enough momentum. I'm on my back again. Arch! Flip over. Ok. lets try that again. Left side this time. Whee!!! Perfect barrel roll. I'm loving this jump! Altitude check. hmm...there's Shelly. Lets play with fall rate. I pop up a few feet above her, and then hard arch to get back to even. I mug for the camera a bit. Smile, wave, thumbs up. The sun's right behind me, so Raoul must be getting some awesome shots! 7,000 feet. Time to track. I wave bye-bye to the camera and track off. I pull at 5,000. Good canopy. Good control check. Shelly wants me to play with turns. Okay. I turn hard to the right and then left immediately. Pendulum effect... WHEE! I straighten out and try that again. This is fun! Ok... bout time to set up the landing pattern. I see the wind direction and realize that if I set up a traditional landing pattern, I'd be over the runway at 500 feet. That would be bad. So, I just took the canopy fairly far out and did a straight in landing pattern. I was the only one in the sky, so I wasn't worried about getting in anyone's way. Hmm... should flare about now... "oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit FLARE!" PERFECT and right in the circle! Tiptoe landing all by myself and its all on camera! I collect my gear. The truck is ferrying people out to the swoop pond, so I'm walking in. Shelly's waiting for me over on the grass. I've got the perma-grin thing going on again. I know I passed. Shelly confirms this. We walk back to the school and I take off my gear. I duck out and dash to my car to collect the beer and Shelly's gift. When I get back, she's making notes on my A License Card. Raoul gets us together for a final shot for the video, and he takes off to go edit. I tell Shelly to close her eyes, because I have a surprise for her. She does. I take her gift out of my backpack and set it on the table. "Okay. you can open your eyes now." She does. The gift is a skydiver teddy bear. I'd gotten the bear at build-a-bear in the mall and made a jumpsuit and rig to match hers. I even found little bear sized helmet, goggles, and shoes. The rig is closed up with a real closing pin, and the pilot chute is in the bear's hand. I warn her that if she pulls on the pilot chute, the pin will pull and the rig will open. There is a parachute in there, but its a pain to repack. She laughs and points out she's a rigger. The bear seems to be a hit. Cool. I'm glad she likes it. I had fun making it. Raoul and I walk over to the bar. We get drinks and he bugs me to watch my video. I finally give in and let the bartender put it on the tv. The video is amazing! I can't wait to see the still photos! So... that's the end of AFF for me... I'm completely thrilled, but a little sad at the same time. I can't wait for the next part of the journey. However, at the moment, I've got $15 to last me til payday, so the next part of the journey will have to wait until next weekend, after I get paid. Next weekend, I'm going to go out and do a fun jump and just play in the sky. Blue skies! -Nightingale

at perris, red means stop, green means go (after you spot for yourself and make sure, of course)

Jessica Lynch cannot walk unassisted by crutches. Shoshanna Johnson can. That's the difference.

I don't think a single person could solve anything... World peace is going to take a little effort on the part of every person. Sooner or later, we will realize that we either need to work together or we're going to end up blowing ourselves up...either way, the universe could be a better place.

My parents car rules for me: 1. I was NOT allowed to have my own car until I went away to college. Use of my parents' cars was a priveledge and not a right, because they didn't belong to me. I could use the car if it was convenient for them. 2. If I got a ticket, I had to pay for the ticket, pay for traffic school, and lost car priveledges for a month. Any additional tickets, I'd have to pay out of pocket for the increase in my insurance rates. Same for accidents that I was at fault. 3. If friends, parents, or neighbors observed me using the car in an irresponsible manner, I lost car priveledges for a month. 4. As long as I kept my grades up at a 3.0 and above to receive the good student discount, I did not have to pay for my own car insurance (unless I did something to cause an increase in that insurance, in which case I had to pay the difference between the old rate and the new). 5. If I did anything to show I was abusing car priveledges (such as cutting school and DRIVING somewhere else) no car for a month. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Honestly, it sounds like she has a little too much financial responsibilities for a kid. Kids need to have fun money too... how much is her car payment/insurance compared to what she's making at work? there can't be a lot left over unless she's working WAY too many hours. However, she needs to drive the car responsibly if she is going to drive at all... there's an interesting video called "Red Asphalt" that you could probably get ahold of...shows what happens to folks who don't drive responsibly. Made an impression on me when I was 16...to this day, no at fault accidents (couple of morons have rear ended me at red lights, tho), one speeding ticket (for doing 30 in a 25!) and one citation for an obstructed windshield (hung my graduation tassel from the rear view mirror...cop was being a prick. I fought it...my defense was "this is a stupid ticket!" the judge agreed and waived the fine) and that's it...pretty good driving record for someone who's been driving for 8 years now... Take away the car for a month. She can get to school the same way she got to school before she got her license. If she can't drive, that should solve some of the cutting class problems. Also, if you haven't done so, call her school and report her truancies. They have unpleasant things such as saturday detention to deal with such issues. Make them aware that they are not to accept written notes from her without speaking to you first. My mom is a teacher and she's got a student with such a truancy (and forgery) problem that the office will only accept parent notes which are faxed from his mom's office! Schools WILL work with you to fix this, because if a child isn't in class, the school loses funding. Take her on visits to a couple of colleges...let her see how the students live and the freedoms they have. then you can tell her "if you want this kind of freedom, you need to earn it. you earn it through good grades and responsible behavior" If her friends are encouraging her to cut class...perhaps a change in schools is in order. If it hasn't gotten that far, it makes for a good threat.

I believe in lust at first sight... But I don't think you can really love someone until you know them, and that takes time.

You'll get the details sometime today... last night I was a little too buzzed on adrenaline and cosmopolitans to really want to type...wanted to celebrate instead! (and yes, I did bring beer)

I did levels 6,7,8 today! It rawked!!!!! I am so happy and I'm cleared to jump solo!!! More update later... I just wanted to do the electronic equivalent of jumping up and down and screaming "I PASSED!!!!" -K-

I'm 24. will be 25 on dec.1.

Its well documented that Spencer Tracy hit his longtime girlfriend, Katharine Hepburn on a regular basis. Not my definition of a real man.

I have comcast... I pay for cable modem, but not for tv. I have sat tv. works fine.

I finished college in 2000. I stayed with my parents for three months after graduation while I did some temp work and looked for a job, got a job, and moved out with a roommate. Got my own place eight months later. Haven't been back since, except to visit every so often. Every job I've had since I graduated has required a degree, and I'm making more than twice the amount that my friends who dropped out are. Even if the initial entry level job doesn't require a degree, promotionwise, it can make a difference. At the moment, I work for the government. The starting salary for someone with a degree is 16,000 higher than someone without a degree. The folks with degrees are put on the management track, while folks without degrees are put on the clerical track. I have colleagues who are my age, just as capable and intelligent, but because they didn't go to college, they're making quite a bit less than I am, and spending their days answering the phone and filing, while I'm working on presentations for the mayor. If I stay in my current position, college will have paid for itself in six years, and I went to a private school that is much more expensive than a state school (and paid for it myself by working my ass off.) My friends who dropped out... they're all saying "I wish I'd stayed in school instead of moving in with three roommates...now I'm stuck in a dead end job and can't afford to quit and go back to school." Its only a few years, and it can make a huge difference in the rest of your life.

hehehehehe... Quoth the Raven EAT MY SHORTS!

whats a snake board??

I've golfed a grand total of 27 holes in the last 3 years, but now that, that would get me to pull the clubs out!

lol... probably the only thing a serial killer is going to learn from another serial killer who got caught is how not to get caught. the serial killer thinks he's smarter than the cops. he thinks he's never gonna get caught. its the ultimate hubris.

And now, the helicopter is taking off... and I'm wondering what it would be like to jump out of it.

I'm on my lunch break at the moment.

the fire helicopter landing on the roof of parker center.

however, most murderers either don't believe they're ever going to get caught (serial killers) or don't take the time to think it through (mass murderers, crimes of passion). if they either 1. don't think about the consequences when committing the crime. or 2. don't think they're going to get caught no amount of punishment is going to deter, because the perp either believes the punishment to be irrellevant, or the thought of punishment isn't crossing his mind.

make sure the gauge is large enough to sustain the piercing... my piercer warns about "cheese grater syndrome" where the gauge is too small and basically the jewelry will cut its way through your skin... OUCH! Don't push your piercer for a smaller size, let him or her use whatever they feel is the best size for the piercing, and if the gauge is too large for your taste, consider a different piercing, because there is no point in having a piercing that will look cute for a few weeks or months, and then migrate out and leave a nasty scar.

yep! what he said!

I'm really hoping the nice weather holds out through tomorrow! I want to do levels 6,7, & 8! I've got the cash, and I wanna be done with this AFF stuff so I can start doing FUN stuff!