elfanie

8.5 years, 4 years, and 16 months. (see attachment) Oh yeah...he saw me going goofy over jumping from airplanes and thought that it looked like I was having too much fun to do it without him. Heck..I might do that anyways. KIDDING HONEY!! (yes..he's on DZ.com...he's Bsoder) That's why we're thinking Florida would be a great place to vacation - amusement parks for the kids, a kick-butt amusement park for hubby and I ...should make for a pretty awesome vacation... -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

thank you!! I got the page to open (I must have had a problem on my end that resolved itself or something)...and it's exactly what I am looking for.. as is the page with the 4-way dive pool formations... but I wanted to start with the 2-way names..and this is exactly what I wanted. Printed it out even...thank you! -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

Oh how I wish I'd been able to do that my first solo-off-AFF jump!

Sweet!! We'll see you there then!! Funny thing is...the ONE time I took pictures of Brian landing (Brian is my husband, for those who don't know)...is the ONE time in I can't tell you how many jumps that he's biffed. He landed short (didn't realize the winds had picked up while they were on their way up)...landed hard and slid on his butt/side... he was SO PISSED!!! I couldn't have gotten pictures of those beautiful landings right in the middle of the grass he was doing..NOOOOOO...I had to get perfect pictures of him messing up. And Phil...you shoulda been there Sunday....to see Mark, Josh, Brian (different Brian, heh), and Wade CReW'ing....way way too cool! Watching them hook up a 3-stack..way too cool. I got great pictures of Mark and Wade swooping, too... OH!! And I almost forgot to tell you...if you can get ANY time this week...they are doing Style and Accuracy training out there!! (I am 99% sure it's the Golden Knights doing the style and accuracy training) They set up the harness on Saturday...we're hoping to go out tomorrow (Tuesday) just to watch them.. would that be cool to watch or what! they will be out there all week...you shoudl try and make it out..even for an hour or two! -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

and the reason ya'll cannot make it? You are going to miss one hell of a good time. 3 kids...mortgage....job to pay for it all...living all the way across the country... All in due time...don't worry. I visited the website even before you posted it.

Only had one cutaway so far (thank goodness!) - that is, if you don't count the tandem cutaway I had before my training - I would have had NO CLUE where anything was...but others were watching my back (pun intended) and the freebag and cutaway handles were retrieved. never did find the D-ring, though... My DZO started to tease me a little bit (a week later) about losing the D-ring (good humor ribbing)...and I just said, "Hey..I did exactly as YOU trained me to do. Never did you say, 'look red, grab red, look silver, pull red, hold on to it, pull silver, hold on to it..' " and grinned. he got very serious and said, "absolutely...that's absolutely right..." Not often that I get to 'win' against the DZO. -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

I don't know.... but wait until my family vacation there and get a chance to jump at your DZ, and I very well might be. -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

No no no...I was directing it to more experienced jumpers...because I am not experienced enough to make any comments on it that anyone should listen to. I was asking more experienced jumpers than myself if they agreed with your suggestion of half brakes first then completing the flare...if they would suggest that for students. And are the students at your DZ on 190's? My DZ starts students off on a manta 288 or a nav 260...190 seems a little smaller than what I would expect. (but I don't know any other programs at any other DZ other than what my DZ does...) -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

Z-Hills. You can usually fine me there unless I am doing Military things. aww...I wanted SO MUCH to go to Zhills at the end of this month for the pink mafia boogie.... we're thinking maybe sometime very soon we can take a vacation out there and meet you folks. Now...I haven't noticed much dust here.. But I"ve also not jumped in the summer yet. (started here the first week in September.) There are dust STORMS that happen usually in the spring...and those are horrendous!!! (close everything up and wait them out while you're covered in blowing dust) But usually it's not that dusty out here (that I've noticed...but I might not be the best judge. Maybe some people who visited eloy a couple of weeks ago would have a different impression) Yes...everything has it's pluses and minuses. Hopefully it won't be too far in the future and you'll be able to show my family the pluses and minuses of your landing spot. -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

First off.. I missed you blushing? I woulda paid good money to see that! (at least a jump ticket. ) There's just something about a young, sky blue eyed stud that's still modest enough to blush at a compliment that is absolutely adorable. And about my husband's camera...hee hee. He just walked in here laughing about the compliments, because I'm a photographer and I'm ALWAYS after him about how horrible his pictures are. I had to take his pictures and crop them and fix them up a little bit (as far as the lighting goes). Wait until this next weekend...I'll have lots more to show you that *I* took. (my husband, even before we graduated AFF, commented that he KNOWS I'm going to end up with a camera strapped to my head...because it would combine two things I love to do. ) When are you coming back to AZ to visit us? -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

Now...I've never been to florida, so this isn't a slam on florida...more a question to make sure that my impressions are correct (or not).. but... isn't Florida massively humid...all year round? I mean...95* weather there, isn't that miserable? And when it's colder...isn't it "chill you to your bone" cold because of the humidity? I went skydiving in Playa Del Carmen in Mexico..and even though it was "only" 88*..it was MISERABLEY hot... what's the humidity where you are? Do you jump Zhills or someplace else? What's your home DZ? -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

that page doesn't open for me..? -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

*said to more experienced jumpers than myself* Umm...doesn't this depend on what canopy you're flying as well as the winds? If I go to half brakes on my sabre, it'll lift me right up...especially on windy days. If I went to half brakes on the larger Silhouette I was jumping, it would have taken all of my speed so I'd get NO lift.. So...doesn't this depend on the canopy you're flying as well as the winds? (right now I'm needing to do a staged flare most of the time..works great...but still, I can't imagine if I just went into 1/2 or 3/4 brakes and stopped..) What do you more experienced jumpers think or have to say about this? -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

they are cool, aren't they! I just had such a fun day (even go to do a jump with a guy from Wisconsin who was visiting us..his 69th jump. We tried desperately to figure out how we'd exit the Cessna in a 69 position and couldn't find a way to do it that we felt was safe...hee hee. Instead we decided to try to get into that position in freefall...funnelled the exit, but we're sure SOMEWHERE in the bumbling we MUST have passed that position if only for a second. I can't wait for this weekend. (and anyone in Arizona should join us!! I love jumping with new people!!) -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

So this weekend I go out to the dropzone..and I'm very very frustrated at the winds on Saturday. but yesterday morning head out there...and it was the most perfect skydiving day I could possibly imagine. Cool at altitude but not cold, warm on the ground but not hot (we are in dry arizona, so it was a high of 78 on the ground which made it so amazingly perfect!)...breezy but not blowing (right about 10MPH)...beautiful! Perfect!! I got a few pictures, too...most are just some shots taken by my husband of me under canopy (and backlit, so they are more image shots than of me) But look at the sunset shot... JEALOUS YET? Amazing sunset..just gorgeous. And I'll be heading out there next weekend as well...and I know Coolidge will have the King Air all weekend long..WHOO HOO!!! but aren't those nice sunset shots? (and it also shows off my new Sabre190 that I got for Christmas. Except that the last picture he got of my landing looks like I"m going to do a butt slide. I assure you that I did not...I slid, squatted, and stood that up nice as you please, thank you! Looky - pics! -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

I just can't top that. *applauds* well said...I totally agree with you. Sometimes you explore for the benefits you didn't even know you wanted or needed... You don't have to know what the gift is before opening it...you open it anyways and sometimes you are pleasantly surprised with a gift so precious you didn't even know it existed. The earth is flat, so why explore only to fall off the ends. Mars is a dusty red plant, so why explore a place that has nothing to offer. *sad sigh* some people just don't 'get it'. -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

had one cutaway (just this past sunday) did not pack it myself..used a packer...and I don't blame him at all for what happened. -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

Interestingly....everything, every single page, that comes up with my name.. is me! Imagine that. Also...every single page that comes up with my handle....is also me. Not real easy for me to hide, I guess. -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

ENGLISH TWISTS AND TEARNS The written English tongue Has got to be amongue The most confusing languages on earth. You learn a spelling rule In grammar class at schule, And then you learn how much that rule is wearth. You think without a doubt You've got it figured oubt, You know that different spellings can be weird. You study and rehearse -- But things keep getting wearse, The obstacles are greater than you feird. You take a word like "height" And write it down just wreight. But things aren't always what you think you learned. It's spelled the same as "weight", But then you find too leight There is no law where spelling is concearned. Don't try to spell a word By what you thought you hord. The indescrepancies will make you wonder. With life itself so tough, This crazy spelling stough Could be the final straw to put you onder. The answer is, I guess, That you should more or luess Approach the problem with a touch of laughter. There is no set design, And so the bottom lign Is whether it's perfection that you're aughter. -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

I'm not quoting or replying to anyones thread specifically because I want to address the general notion of fat and fitness, not address any one specific thing that any one specific user has said... It's been insinuated that if someone were fat, they'd be out of shape and unsafe for skydiving. (I won't touch the maximum safe weight for canopies, because that's a truth that just needs to be dealt with) Fat does not always equal lack of fitness. I'll make that statement more specific: Just because someone is fat doesn't mean that they are inactive, or that they are any LESS fit that someone who happens to be thin...many many MANY thin people are horribly out of shape, and many overweight people are more fit than many very thin people. Me? I have lost 200 pounds off of my 5'2" frame. I have gone from a size 30/32 to a size 6/8 (I know, I know..you guys are going to look at those numbers and have no clue what they mean. I'll just say I went from VERY VERY large, to someone that a lot of people are calling, "Very petite".) at 331 pounds, no...I couldn't have gone skydiving because I simply wouldn't have fit. Could I have walked up a flight of stairs? You bet. Was I in good shape? I wasn't in BAD shape, I was just carrying extra weight, After I lost 125 pounds and was still about 75 pounds overweight (something most in here would call "grossely overweight" still..I was as size 18/20), I did my first 5K marathon. Yet I've known very thin people who were in horrible shape....who ate like crap when they DID eat, who never exercise (I've known women who said they didn't want to exercise because it would make their muscles bigger and cause them to look larger and they didn't want to 'gain weight' by going to a gym)...and who can't do one flight of stairs without gasping. Yet it appears (and this may be an incorrect impression) that some of the people responding to this thread are saying they'd take the thin person with few questions and wouldn't be comfortable taking the fat person (again, I'm not saying anything about canopy weight limits...talking about physical fitness here). that's making the assumption that the fat person is automatically out of shape...and that's not the case. I think it would be a good idea if someone were to come to your DZ looking for instruction or a tandem jump...rather than looking at them and judging them solely based on size, you should WORK with them and see how they do first. (both fat and thin people) walk them around...mock them up...'show them around' the DZ landing area..see how they respond. (BTW...when it came time for my solo jumps...I was on a Manta 288 as well as having a 20 pounds weight vest strapped to my chest. Yes, I was HUFFING and PUFFING dragging myself and all of my crap in from the edge of the landing zone in 100+ degree weather. I'm not saying that this isn't a physical sport...just that the assumptions being made equating thin with fitness and fat with lack of fitness aren't often accurate.) -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

wow... I'm actually a little surprised at how many people say that they wouldn't tell their family if they had a scary event or difficult landing or something...they'd only tell their skydiving friends. Mind if I ask why? -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

You're right...in that it didn't make a difference. I landed with my main still on my back in the bag and my PC still in the pouch. so why did I cut away? Because I didn't think..I just acted. I did what I was trained to do (which is why it's so important to practice your emergency proceedures! Because you don't always think about things, you just do). and I don't think it's probably a good idea to give students "options" of things to do...because that could cause a fatal delay of action with them trying to THINK about what to do too long. I was SHOCKED that I was already at around 2K...surely did NOT feel like I'd fallen 3.5K feet! (and imagine if I'd started at 4K, which is not exactly a low starting point! how many here pull the PC at 3K..or even 2500...) -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

Yes...only 2 tries next time..I've chanted that to myself since Sunday. Denial, even for a few seconds, is definately NOT a good thing when skydiving! Now I KNOW it can happen, and don't think I'll have what I jokingly call my "Scooby Doo" moment... (ie. yank on the hacky, PC doesn't move, and with a scooby doo voice I go, "Huuuhhhrrrrr?? Ruh Roh...") 2 tries next time...never more than two tries...never more than two tries... look red, grab red, look silver, pull red, pull silver... never more than two tries... look red, grab red, look silver, pull red, pull silver... never more than two tries... look red, grab red, look silver, pull red, pull silver... never more than two tries... -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings

Heh...I caught myself telling certain people, not telling others, and telling it in different ways depending on who i told it to. Parents...told very matter of fact in a positive light. "I couldn't get my PC out, so I did exactly as I was trained to do and landed uneventfully right at the DZ." Friends.."High speed malfunction...pulled my reserve...scared me, but everything was fine. Friends who have jumped with me before.."10 seconds before I would have impacted the earth I pulled the reserve, saving myself from certain death.." (said with background music for mood) whuffo friends...don't tell them at all... but I was surprised to see how I told the story slightly different (exaggerated here to illustrate a point) depending on who I was talking to. -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings