steve1

I don't mean to knock anyone who is religious, but I disagree with the thinking that anyone who is not a believer, in some type of god, must surely be imoral and unethical. I don't need some religious leader or church telling me what is right or wrong. I learned those things a long time ago from my parents and from the norms in my culture. Religion has been a minor influence in my own children's upbringing and I'd compare their morals and sense of right and wrong to anyone's. I also think that some of the most violent conflicts in history were fought in the name of religion. To tell you the truth when I hear a politician start talking in terms of what is right or wrong in the name of God, it scares the hell out of me, because I know they are very narrow minded. Again I don't mean to knock anyone, but this is my take on this subject....Steve1

I've met a teacher or two who did the same thing. I would imagine it is a great stress reducer. I joke around about having a bottle hidden in my desk, but I haven't had to resort to that yet....Steve1

I went through in 70. I was ruff and tough back then, and it didn't seem too difficult. I was built like string bean, and the runs were easy. I think we had to do six or eight pull ups (my memory is going on me). Nothing very hard. All in all I thought it was a great experience, and a great school. We lost several people to injuries. We had a couple windy jumps. A good friend from Texas banged his head hard on a rear PLF and ended up in the hospital with a severe concussion. So much for a steel pot saving your noggin! I sprained my ankle bad on my first jump out of a C-141. It was hard to hide my limp from the black hats, but I made four more jumps on it before going on sick call. Ah those were the days!.....Steve1

You'll do fine if you have that many previous jumps. You may be a little rusty though. I no nothing about birdman jumps, because I've never made one, but it might be wise to get current again before doing anything too difficult. It's been about that long since I've jumped also. It's the shits living in a cold climate. Can't wait to get in the air again....Steve1

There's no reason your son should have to deal with this. The school needs to step in and do something to stop what is going on. Document everything and tell the school you plan to get a lawyer if needed. In every school there are bullies, who may be powerless in their own home, but they can come to school and bully the hell out of someone else and they feel great about it. If they get into enough trouble usually they'll stop. The more waves you can make as a parent the more likely the school or law enforcement will start doing something to protect your son. Too often this sort of thing is pushed to the back burner, and little or nothing is done until someone is hurt. Threatening to sue the school for their inaction to protect your son may get results. Usually if you turn up the heat on the school administration something will get done. Don't be afraid to visit the school often to remind them that your son is still being threatened and harassed. If the bully is pushing or shoving and threatening, this could be considered a law enforcement issue. You can also get a restraining order if needed. Make life miserable for this jerk and I'll bet he'll quit. Most bullies are cowards and need to be put in their place.....Steve1

I'm leary of most supplement adds. Companies are selling a product and many times a lot of untrue hype is involved. How often do you see a huge body builder bragging about the only way they got that way was the use of a particular product or supplement, when in reality they may have never used it. You see this all the time, whether it's selling exercise equipment or an add for a supplement. And then there is the price factor. You can spend a fortune on supplements, and they may not be very effective in helping you reach the gains you want to make. Stick with a good workout program, healthy food, and get plenty of rest. This will produce results. Also bear in mind that you may not have the genetic potential to get huge or even half as big as some body builders or power lifters, but we can all improve....Steve1

I've worked in a public school for 20 years now. I also grew up with guns and hunting. I often brought my rifle or shotgun to High School in my pickup, if I planned on hunting or shooting after school. It was no big deal back in the 60's and most farm kids I knew did the same. When I was just twelve years old I walked into a sporting good store and bought a new 22 rifle that I had saved up for and walked out of the store with it alone. You can't do that now days. But again I was taught gun safety from the time I was very young. My how things have changed! Today I see kids expelled for even bringing a BB gun or small knife to school. I have a hard time understanding some of the mentality behind zero tollerance on this subject......Steve1

I agree. Bob Sinclair is a great guy who's forgot more about skydiving than I'll probably ever know. It would be a shame to have all his stories and history die with him. Too bad there isn't someone out there who was interested in writing a biography of interesting characters in our sport. Bob would be a great resource, and there are a lot of other old jumpers who I'd like to read about. Jerry Bird for example. I only met Bob once at Coolage. He gave us a tour of his bus and showed us some of his old memorabilia. What a cool guy!.....Steve1

Back in the 70's I came up with the bright idea to go snowshoeing for several days in the Bob Marshal Wilderness. I talked an old jump buddy, Paul Juel to come along. Paul later made almost 3,000 jumps before hangin it up. We packed up a pile of low tech gear and food into our packs and drove about 60 miles from Missoula where I lived at the time. The trouble was we didn't really explain to anyone where we were going or how long we'd be gone. We planned to leave one rig at one trail head and then make a big circle and come out another place. What an ordeal. Nine days later we finally completed a very long loop and came out in the right place. In some places we hiked up frozen rivers. Above timber line we picked the easiest route. Through heavy timber we tried to follow the trail as best we could. We averaged about eight miles per day going from sunup to sun down over many mountains and frozen valleys. On the trip over one mountain pass we noticed an airplane flying but didn't pay much attention to it. Apparently it was a forest service plane that was looking for us. Someone saw our rigs parked for over a week and figured we were lost. The police checked license plates and called Paul's parents up. They didn't have a clue where Paul was. So before long a search was in progress. Many days later Paul and I stumbled out of the woods exhausted and crawled into his truck. We found a couple of cold brewskies behind the seat, and started driving out down an old logging road. We were celebrating how we had survived this ordeal and were enjoying the comfort of a nice warm pickup when..."Kerwoom" a huge Cessna 180 fills our windshield and flies through the trees ahead of us. "What the hell!" It was "Crazy" Jay with a couple jumpers on board, coming to look for us. How he had found us and recongized our pickup, I'll never know. It's great to have friends out there that care enough to come looking for you when they figure you need help!. We also learned to tell more people what's up before heading out on the next adventure...Steve1

I used to work with a guy who was a former Marine fighter pilot in Vietnam. He had all kinds of really cool war stories to listen to. He said after flying a mission often times they'd fly down a river and buzz over the top of any boat they'd see out in the water, in their phantom jets. He said they finally got in big trouble over this and had to quit, but it was great fun while it lasted. Can you imagine the noise that two or three Phantoms would make whistling over your head, just off the deck. Maybe this is another reason foreigner's don't like Americans.....Steve1

I think one of the cooler buzz jobs I ever experienced was when I was jumping with the Army in Utah. Actually it was a National Guard summer camp. We jumped a C-130 and landed in a field with rolling hills in it. I was down in a depression and I could hear the plane coming. I didn't see it until it came out of nowhere directly overhead very close overhead. What a rush! Only in the National Guard could you get away with stuff like that....Steve1

I agree....Steve1

The wife and I have been married 24 years this June. It took us about ten years to learn how to get along with each other. We used to have some terrible battles when the fur really flew. We were both carrying around a lot of baggage from our dysfunctional childhoods and didn't know how to handle anger well or how to fight fair. I was really good at blaming everything on her. It took me quite a while to realize most of the problem was inside of me. It also took me a long time to figure out you can't change the other person, but you can change yourself. We came really close to divorce several times during those terrible years, and our kids suffered. Today we get along great. We seldom fight, and she is by far my best friend. She wants me to be happy, and she knows skydiving is something I need to do, even though it is a drain on our finances. Our kids are another thing I wouldn't trade for anything. Yes, they are a cause for worry and are a real money pit, but I love them more than myself and I'd do anything for them or for my wife. Marriage isn't for everyone and it's far from perfect, but I wouldn't want to go back to being single. I've never been happier than I am right now. I hope the wife feels the same way. I need to start doing things to let her know how much I appreciate her. She probably thinks that I take her for granted much of the time....Steve1

They're fun - but we've got to do them carefully, and with common sense. I knew another pilot who buzzed a party on the shore of Flathead Lake one evening. He caught a wing tip on the water and killed himself and a passenger. So low passes can definitely can be deadly. The low formation passes at Lost Prairie are really fun to watch and video. Usually a DC-3 is in the lead with a couple otters following. I got so excited the first time I saw this that I about dropped my video camera....Steve1

Back in the olden days there were fewer rules and jumpers got away with a lot more, and so did the pilots. Low passes have always been great fun. In the 70's we had a pilot named Jay that may have had a screw or two loose, but he did a great job of flying jumpers. Whenever the FAA wasn't looking, he'd buzz our landing area. It seemed like he would just barely clear several fences and power lines and then go Varooming over our heads. I mean you would instinctively crunch down when he went over...he was that low. All this was considered great sport by all of us, and we kept encouraging him to do it again. One day we decided to jump up in the mountains into this really cool meadow. It was late winter with snow on the ground. By the time we got all the jumpers loaded into our club 180 it was almost dark. By the time we jumped it was dark, and we had trouble finding the right meadow. We all landed okay in the right place, and here comes "crazy" Jay for a low pass. He dropped down below the steep walled canyon, buzzed the length of the field, and then went into a steep climb that would make even a jet pilot proud. Then cough, cough, sputter, sputter, as the engine quits..... Jay then had sense enough to level the plane out and head down the timbered canyon instead up into outer space. He disappeared into the darkness. We kept waiting to hear a big boom as he hit the side of the mountain....Somehow he got the motor going again and flew out of there. Jay no longer flies jumpers. I heard he now spends most days riding a bar stool. Maybe that's a good thing.....Steve1

Sometimes it is kind of pretty. I remember a couple times after opening when it was just like looking out of a stain glass window.....Steve1

I haven't been there since about 74. Did you know Wally Benton, Steve Morrow, Sully, or Rozzo? They were hard core Idaho jumpers back then. I heard Rozzo still jumps. Wally and Sully are both dead. Hope to see you at your boogie this Spring....Steve1

There's so many people, that really need to take a look at this prayer. I'm not an alcoholic or even religious for that matter, but just realizing there are things out there I can control and things I can't, help's me live a better life. It's important for me to realize that many things are beyond my control and these problems have a way of working out on their own. Also just knowing that there is a higher power out there that is greater than myself brings a lot of peace into my life. Those who grow up in dysfunctional homes often end up trying to control everything in their life later on. Usually this is because things were so out of control when they were younger. Ever met someone who is a control freak. There is a reason for their behavior...Steve1

Ed, I have nothing but respect for anyone who is an alcoholic and can quit. It's terrible how this disease runs in families. My wife and I were both raised in alcoholic homes. My wife's Dad drank himself to death over Christmas a few years back. He was also had of Cirrosis of the liver and was skin and bones at the time of his death. It's amazing that my own father is still alive with all the drinking he has done. He get's bombed out of his mind every day on whisky, and he also has Cirrosis of the liver. At any rate the wife and I are trying to break the Cycle. We don't drink a whole lot, and my kids have never seen us drunk....But the kids are still having problems. Both are in college, and both have shown severe signs of depression over the past couple years. We've undoubtedly passed some dysfunctional garbage on down to them that we learned growing up. Some of this is biological, but there's more to it than that. The oldest daughter is the family "Hero" and a perfectionist. She's really hard on herself. She feels nothing she does is good enough and has very low self esteem. The youngest daughter is the family "Clown" and has a great sense of humor to relieve the stress in the family. It's awful how alcoholism starts showing up again in later generations, even though the parents don't drink. Our oldest daughter is in counseling when we can get her to go and is taking an anti-depressant to cope. The youngest daughter is doing quite a bit of drinking and smoking now. We talk to her about the dangers of alcoholism, but it kind of goes in one ear and out the other. Maybe her uncle dieing will be a lesson for her. Thanks for your input.....Steve1

I agree cremation would be a whole lot easier. My Mom wants a funeral though, so I guess that's what it'll be. She also wants a catholic funeral, so I guess we have to go with that too. I told my wife that when I go that I want to be cremated and then have an ash dive with my old Pals. I'd also like to keep the religious part out of it, but that's just me. My brother wanted to have a traditional funeral. So I guess we're doing the right thing. I think he wanted to be buried in a different grave yard, but he didn't write anything out, so we're going with what my Mom thinks is best. Thanks....Steve1

Just got the news that my brother, Scott died last night. It's a relief really, because of all the suffering he's been through. Not to mention all the grief it put my poor Mom through. At the end he couldn't eat anything. My Mom was trying to spoon feed him a few teaspoons of food yesterday and he started vomiting blood all over and crapping blood. He was in a great deal of pain last night and finally died. His legs were about the size of my mother's wrists. What a lousy way to die! A dog or horse would have been put to sleep a long time ago. At any rate the next plan is trying to figure out a way to keep from getting ripped off by the funeral parlor. My other brother is planning to drive the body back to Montana after Scott is embalmed. This may not be legal, but my brother works law enforcement and he hopes he can do it. I know this sounds kind of morbid to think of hauling dead kin-folk around in the back of your truck, but if it will save thousands of dollars why not. I may come down to Palm Springs after the funeral and help my Mom and Step-Dad move or sell Scott's stuff. I may also get over to Perris to make a few jumps. It's been months since I've been in the air. Thanks again for you support through all this....Steve1

To me it is a person who put's there life on the line in defense of their country. There's a lot of war veterans who were in a safe area with a safe job, and to me they are not war heros even though they get the same benefits as those who were on the front lines or behind them during a time of conflict. A veteran who earned the combat infantryman's badge in war is a war hero in my mind. And I agree their are many civilians and non-combatants who are also heros...Steve1

I remember when Blaine first started jumping in Missoula. Now, I ask him questions about jumping. I've heard he's one of the few jumpers who've been in every World Record RW jump since the 200 way. He is also a competitive water skiier, (without a doubt the best in Montana). I heard he got hurt kind of bad blade running. Most of this I heard through the rumor mill, so I hope I'm not too far off. Blaine doesn't talk much about himself or his accomplishments.....Steve1

What a great group of people! I feel really close to many of you, even though I've never met most of you in person. My family all knew my brother couldn't last, but we kept hoping it wouldn't happen. I counsel school kids on death, but to tell you the truth I haven't experienced much of it first hand. I just finished a grief group with five little 5th graders about an hour ago. They have all lost parents due to drinking (one way or another). I won't bore you with all the details but, one of the mothers died last week of Cirrosis at 27 years of age. I remember this same girl when she was a cute little 4th grader in my class about 17 years ago. She started drinking, and couldn't stop. She left behind a couple little kids who are really hurting inside. Pretty sad stuff. Thanks again for your support. And do come to Lost Prairie if you can. We'll have some fun and forget all the crap life throws at us at times.....Steve1

My sister was diagnosed with Cirrhosis years ago but she was not alcoholic...very unfortunate she had contacted Hep C. The liver is like a huge sponge and gets larger (she looked more than 9 months pregnant) and the rest of her precious body was skin and bone. reply] This describes my brother exactly. He's now skin and bones with a huge stomach. His eyes and skin are yellow. He's also out of his head a lot, talking about paranoid stuff. I doubt if he'll make it through the week. My Mother says she knows they need to start packing up his stuff, but they can't bring themselves to do it. And thanks again for all the nice replies. It really does help....Steve1