Nightingale

How do you know that? If I were charged, there are a couple of people I would call, several of whom are public defenders as their day jobs. They're excellent attorneys. It's not a matter of "going with" a public defender or private counsel. The court looks at your finances and tells you if you can afford private counsel, and that's the end of it. I would have to hire counsel outside of the public defender system because the court would tell me I could afford my own attorney, nevermind it would bankrupt me to do it.

OJ probably would've gotten off if he'd had a public defender. The defense did not win that case; the prosecution lost it. They did a very poor job educating the jury. When your case hinges on DNA and your jury walks out saying they didn't take the DNA into consideration because lots of people have the same "blood type", you have failed in educating your jury in how DNA works. Had the jury understood DNA, the prosecutor would have gotten their conviction. They brought in too many experts who were talking over the heads of the jury, who got so lost in grad-school level genetics when they needed middle school level biology that they latched on to the phrase "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit!" There are many very good public defenders and some very bad ones, and some very good private defense attorneys and some very bad ones. Just because you're paying for legal counsel doesn't mean it's better than the public defender.

There's a difference between self pity and asking for help from your friends when you need it. I didn't see your post as self pity; I saw it as asking for coping strategies and support. You have been through so much and it is amazing that you have come out of it as well as you have and that you can usually keep such a positive outlook on life. When I've gone through a few rough patches, I've found such wonderful support from friends here, and it sounds like your self-pity (if you must call it that) was productive in this case... you learned what an amazing support network the skydiving community can be!

I've also got chronic migraines and cluster headaches. I used to get them 4-5 days a week. I tried many preventatives: Wellbutrin, Amitryptaline, Nortryptaline, Verapamil, and a couple of others I can't remember that I either couldn't tolerate or didn't work. Topamax worked, but I couldn't deal with the side effects, but it's been amazing for many people. Have you tried it? I've also heard good things about depakote, but didn't want to try it because of the side effects. I found an herbal preventative, called Butterbur, trade name Migrasolve Petadolex, and it's worked wonders, and now I get migraines about once a week. I take it twice per day, four times per day if I have a string of migraines. Might be worth trying if you haven't already. Takes about three weeks of taking it two to three times per day to notice a difference. Only side effect I ever noticed was heartburn if I take it on an empty stomach and go to bed right after. For an acute attack, I use imitrex shots, which work instantly (30 seconds to five minutes), or if I'm feeling needle phobic (most of the time), I use relpax (fifteen to thirty minutes) or maxalt mlt (five to fifteen minutes). Have you tried any of these? Injectable imitrex quite literally gave me my life back, and it sometimes works for people when nothing else does because it gets into the system so quickly. Have you tried alternating between several pain meds that work? Honestly, before I found triptans (imitrex, relpax, maxalt, zomig, etc) and learned to use them properly, vicodin was probably the only thing that kept me from shooting myself during a migraine or cluster headache (cluster headaches are sometimes called suicide headaches...they really are that bad). I knew I couldn't use that more than once or twice a week or it'd stop working as well, so I'd use 800 mg ibuprofen for the ones that weren't quite as bad. My doctor was very understanding and open with me, sat me down and explained how to prevent addiction to narcotics when using them for chronic pain, and was very helpful every step of the way and worked with me to find something else better (triptans) while going with what was working currently and keeping me sane (narcotics). Migraines suck, and there's no one-size-fits-all treatment, which makes them suck more. ((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))))

I have seen the human body do amazing things when the mind is behind it. You can do it! Remember, for your first marathon, your only goal is to finish.

Yeah, I was tired after class yesterday, but dragged myself onto the exercise machine today, and I'm glad I did. =)

Go, Cindy!!!!!

By the way, thank you SO much for the advice on the supplements! I ran them by my doc and pharmacist, who gave me the okay, and I've been taking them since Tuesday. I had class yesterday, and I am barely even sore. I feel like I worked out, not like I hurt everywhere. Last week after class, I could barely move, and this week I worked harder, did more, and improved noticeably, with hardly any next-day ouch! Edit: short week... I had my days wrong.

Your weight is really irrelevant... it's size you're concerned with. Muscle weighs more than fat, and it burns calories, so gaining muscle is a good thing! A pound of fat is a lot bigger than a pound of muscle, which is why your size is changing but your weight is not. Pick up a weight watchers scale from Bed Bath and Beyond that tells you body fat pounds and body fat percentage as well as overall weight and that will help you better track your progress, because you will see yourself losing fat.

The hotel's response, in the interest of balanced reporting, was that there was no blanket policy in place, but they had experienced some trouble with soldiers recently, and management was evaluating it on a case by case basis.

So do some research on breeds and find one that will fit your lifestyle, and then go to your local shelter or rescue, or find a responsible breeder, and get a puppy. (or an adult... there's something to be said for not having to endure "puppy issues")

You can accomplish a lot in three months!

We had fitness threads every week a while back. I was just wondering how everyone was doing and if they'd kept it up.

Yeah.

How's it going?

Yes, I do HAVE to have an AAD to jump. When my dad loaned me money for my first rig, his condition was "you won't ever jump without one of those parachute opening computers." I keep my promises. I don't know but it seems kind of weird to let a whuffo decided if you should be jumping an AAD... Well, since I agree with him, it's not a problem.

How's it going?

Hehe... nope. the last cypres, now expired was also a new used cypres.

Yes, I do HAVE to have an AAD to jump. When my dad loaned me money for my first rig, his condition was "you won't ever jump without one of those parachute opening computers." I keep my promises.

I've only got a few more jumps than you (and this is not advice of any kind), and I'm not going to go hacking away at my lines in mid air when I've got a perfectly good reserve. If the spin wasn't too violent, I'd probably play with it a bit before my hard deck to see if I could get it to unknot itself, but if not or if I hit my hard deck, it's gone. You have one problem (knotted line), but cutting the line can create a whole new set of problems which you may not have the altitude to deal with. I did have something similar happen to me on around jump 28. When I released the brake, I pulled the toggle through the extra loop of line stowed with the brake, and tied a knot around the riser. The canopy began to spin. I was able to straighten it out by holding the other toggle down, checked to make sure I had clear airspace, and then, keeping tension on the left toggle, began to unknot the right one, keeping my left hand right in my face and my altimeter right in front of me. I got it untied at 2100 feet or so and was fine, but if my alti had hit 2000, that canopy would've been gone.

This is my second cypres (the last one expired)... how do I owe beer?

I second the unplug everything and reboot idea.

It's about damn time. It's been way too long since I made a skydive.

After months of searching, I finally got a new (to me) CYPRES. Karen at SSK was amazing, found exactly what I wanted, and it'll be on the UPS truck headed to me tomorrow. It's just had new batteries, had it's 8 year check, and has a little over a year left on it, which is perfect for me. Now, I just gotta renew that USPA membership and get the CYPRES in my rig and I am back in the air!!!!!!

I've still got Deuce and Shannon's phone numbers in my cell.