sdgregory

I am reading it now along with going through the 40 day companion journal. Powerful stuff.

Holy Crap! I told it to lay an egg and it did. Then I told it to get laid, now THAT was funny.! edited do to spelling

I find out -I am a porn star. (My past is more horrifying than I thought) -And yet another porn site -Ooh then I must have been discovered because now I am a real actor (actually if you go to IMdb that IS me.) Don't ask. -Oh guess what! I am a Head of Professional Development and an undergraduate/postgraduate tutor at the Guildhall School of Music -And I work as a composer, performer and creative producer throughout the United Kingdom and overseas -OOOOO! I play tailback for Georgia Tech. What a life I must be living.

To no one and everyone: There was a time where I had been layed-off from a Union job and had a hard time finding work. My wife was already making more money than me and we decided that it would be best for me to sit out on the bench and stay home with the kids. Three of them aged 7, 2, and 1. I did all the domestic crap for over a year before I was able to afford to actually take a job (child care being expensive). I cooked, cleaned, did laundry, grocery shopping, etc. It took me a while to come up with a routine that enabled me to get everything done and still have a little free time. I learned a few things. One, that there is more to my day taking care of a house than there was driving an hour forty-five to work each day and working 45 hours a week. Just cuase five oclock hits or the sun goes down does not mean that your day is over. Two, if you BUDGET your time, even though there is a lot to do, it can be done. I have seen both sides. I think that if you stay home and your SO works, you should cook, clean, take care of kids, etc. It is a team effort and everyone has to pull their weight. My wife stays home now and has for a few years. She loves it. And because I had done it first I was able to give her advice on how to manage it. And still, sometimes, I am down to no jeans or a pair of socks and underwear and I get a little frustrated. But, it rarely happens and I know that sometimes she needs a break. Her job is 24-7. Mine is not. Help your SO figure out how to organize. Set up a routine. And find out where they have a bottleneck and help relieve some of that pressure. If you think you bring home the bacon and they do the rest, that is lopsided. They have the toughest job. (Unless there are no kids. - Kids are the bulk of the work.) On the other side of that, if you are a stay at home spouse and you just sit around the house and talk online, go skydiving, or sit around watching TV eating Bon-Bons, while leaving the house to the one who works, your a bum and better rethink your priorities. Or your SO will rethink what value you bring to the relationship.

Gotta go with Colorado in that match-up.

I just got back from Florida a couple a weeks ago. I never got allergies or anything growing up there. But this trip by day five, I had orange neon orange stuff coming out of me and my face hurt for the last week there and the first week home. The pollen is really bad down south this year.

I have taken mine just to the stall point but never seen the thing completely ball up or touch ends cells. (I don't think I have anyway) The idea of it kinda freaks me out. I get to a point where I just start feeling myself backslide and then I let up. Guess I am just chicken. You guys are maiking it sound fun though.

Not to hijack but Packing Cathy is at AerOhio this year. Back on topic, I honestly do not look FORWARD to a cutaway with any sort of excitement. But I always go into the jump thinking I may have to do so, that way I am mentally prepared. I hope, however that I never have one. One of my AFF instructors just had her first cutaway last year and she had over 3500 jumps. Hope I make it that far without one.

I am actually a softy so stories like this would normally touch me anyway, but for some reason I cannot explain, it seems that this one touches me a little more today than usual. Thank God for the gifts we do have.

Ditto on the "dirty" flying. Makes ya feel like an intruder, huh?

I agree. Let me put in my cheers. Nice job HH.

Somebody please remind me what each number stands for. ?:1:? I got one jump in and then the winds got too unpredictable. 14-18 mile sustained depending on the time of day with gusts up to 25 all day. 14-18 I do not mind but with my big gorilla of a canopy and my wing loading landing in a sudden 20-25 mile and hour gust have been an exercise in reverse landings.

Honestly, I have to say, we need to understand that it is THEIR property. They own it, they bought it, they have a right to prohibit trespassing. Maybe a little PR. Invite them over for wuffo parties occassionally or soemthing is in order. I for one do not like people telling me what I can and cannot do with my property. Also, if we do land on their property. Taking the time to not damage their fences or gardens, or crops or any other number of things just because we do not want to walk around would go a long way. And if we do happen to damage property, confess it and offer to help repair it, whether through physical labor or financial payment might go farther too. If we always walk up and say, "look I landed off today and hit your fence. There was some damage and I would like to help repair it." Then when they go to their feild or yard and find something damaged that they did not know about, we will not be the first one they blame. That in and of itself will help with neighbor relations. Yes, sometimes we land off and sometimes the only safe place to land is someone's property. But if we do more than just "oops, sorry, I couldn't land anywhere else without getting killed" they may say something kinder than "Next time aim for the powerlines." If we want them to respect us we had sure well better respect the property that they worked for.

I agree with napaguy and Ron. Here's why. I am generally pretty outgoing as long as I have one person with me I know. That gets me opened enough to talk and start conversation with other people. If I go to a new place without knowing anybody prio, I tend to be very shy. Then I just sit around and watch everything going on. It is intimidating to walk up to people you do not know. You feel intrusive. So it is nice when someone who is a local comes up and says "Hi, I've never seen you before." It helps break the ice and can only benefit the DZ by making sure a visitor enjoys their time there. ON THE OTHER HAND, you already have to go to maifest anyway, so why not say to manifest, "Look, I am new here and do not know anybody. Can you introduce me to someone who would like to jump with a stranger?" I did this at Deland and the dude in manifest used the PA system to help me hook up with people to jump with. I had a great time and enjoyed the day with three people I would not have had the opportunity to know otherwise. My point? I have none. I never do. No, I am kidding. My point is that if as locals we take the time to see everyone rather than be self-centered, we could make someone's visit to our DZ a great experiance and have a great time ourselves with someone new. AND as visitors, if we break out of our shell even just enough to talk to manifest, who we already have to talk to, we may find our visit to even the busiest DZ's, that much more friendly. If we all remember both sides and try to follow this simple advice, there would never be a problem.

Yeah, some suds would go down nice right now

Hey Lisa, If I rent a car and the tire goes flat, I do not pay for the new tire. I put the spare on and return to the rental agency. They take care of the tire as a normal part of business. If I rent a rig then I do not think I should have to pay for the repack of the reserve. I think your rental price should cover some portion of a repack. Use the ratio idea used above, then adjust your rental accordingly for the cost of gear rental or set aside 2 dollars of each gear rental (or however much you choose) for a reserve repack fund. And don't forget to set aside a large amount for beer.

If I had to guess I would say it was between 25 and 50 feet of to my left. But honestly? I could not say. In fact I am guessing on the altitude. I know it was after 12 grand and before 9. The whole thing lasted maybe 20-30 seconds and I looked at my alti and saw 9 grand and that was a few seconds or more after the "formation". At the time it seemed like I could reach out and touch it. But in my memory it seems like it was a little further away. (or is it closer in memory than it really was?). It was pretty damn sweet though. (On the same dive I remember looking down at my feet and the Otter flew between my toes several thousand feet below me. I remember thinking at that moment "Holly crap the Otter just flew under me!". It struck as kinda funny.)

How funny that this thread came up. On the cross country I did in Sebastian, as I was hitting 11000 ft, what looked like (and sounded like- you'll see how I know how it sounded) a red-shouldered hawk flew up beside me and did it's kee-yer call (very distinctive). It was on my left and as I turned a little to the right it turned with me. Then it circled around me once and came back to my left. I turned slightly toward it and it turned with me, then after flying stright on with me for a second or three it kee-yered once more and flew away. Not sure if it was thinking "What in God's name is this thing?" or if it was just flying with what it considered an ugly looking bird, but it was the most incredible feeling I have ever had. Either way, it was a gift from God that this bird decided to descend with me and fill me with an incredible amount of joy. This is the reason I have always wanted to skydive. To fly. And this was the first time I ever actually felt like I was truly flying. Words cannot express how it felt.

I bet he is more of an intricate, precision, TIG kind of guy I think your both wrong. I am betting on the forceful slag pounding STICK kinda guy.

I am with you on this one. When I settle up at the end of the day with packers I always pay extra because I have a 230 lb gorrilla for a main and so far every place I have been the packers that have packed for me have given me sweet soft openings and no mals. I appreciate the care they took and I want them to know it. As far as how high would be too high a price? It depends. IF I am trying to get on every load I possibly can I cannot pack for myself because I am so slow. Packing for myself I am lucky if I can make 5 loads in a day. The extra money for the ability to make 3-4 more loads is worth it. Not sure how high would be to high. ANd what would be not too high now, may be too high 100 self-packs from now. I hope I will be faster in 100 pack jobs anyway.

Sebastian was a great relaxed place to go. This place couldn't be any easier to find under canopy if it was painted neon orange. Their manifest system is the coolest I have ever seen. You get a card with a bar code of your account. Put money on it, then show your card when you manifest. The packers were fast and good. Plenty on hand. The people are absolutely great fun to be around. The food was pretty decent. The bar only served beer though, so no margaritas. I would say the most beautiful veiw from the air of anyplace I have been. Really close to the ocean. Inviting, friendly, fun. What more could you want? And the gear shop is pretty cool. The only thing I did not like was that the water was well water, which is par for the course that part of Florida, but this was really stinky. While that does not matter for toilet water, it is kinda sucky for shower water. Everyone who works at Sebastian is worth meeting and spending time with. Well worth spending a day or two at this dropzone.

I have heard people say something about Deland being a Team oriented DZ and that a solo person will not find people to jump with. Nere was my experience. This place is certainly team oriented. Lots of teams working their four way dives. But there are plenty of people there who fun jump. You just have to look around. I went to manifest and asked if they could help me find some people to jump with. They made an announcement about a visiting jumper looking for people to jump with and two showed up. As the day went on a fourth person joined out group. We had a great time. The staff are friendly and eager to help you enjoy your time there. They have an Otter, a porter and a Skyvan and the loads were non stop. The packers were friendly, professional and damn good at what they do. Deland is what it is and it is what you make of it in your time there. Go there with the attitude that there is nothing there and you will find nothing. Go there with a open mind and seek out fun jumpers and you will find them. Plus they have the Restaurant and Bar with skydiving video playing all the time and free internet access for the days when the weather does not co-operate and you want to whore around DZ.com.

I can pack but I am so damn slow at it. Of course I have packed what, 25 times? On my florida trip I used packers. I was on vacation and had the extra cash. But now that I am back home I will be packing myself again. I' love to get my pack time down from an hour.

Hey dove I love the Second one. That is a great shot.

Hey bonehead! You should have called me! I have a nasty upper resp infection and a severe case of sinusitis but I would have taken a friend to the DZ. In fact Jackie was wondering if you went. She wanted to go too. I would have taken ya both. Next time you will know better.