peregrinerose

We are looking at adopting a greyhound since so many were left stranded recently with a track closing in CT. We found a cat friendly grey (we have 2 dogs, 3 cats, 1 rabbit, 2 guinea pigs). Any of you have experience with greyhound adoptions? Pros/cons? Questions I should be asking, prep I need to do? Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Wouldn't the canopy open quicker at terminal than for a hop/pop? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Definitely all are not miscommunications, some people can just be ignorant. I've had a couple like that over 2 years of reading here. That's why the delete button was invented It's therapeutic to e-shoot the post that way. But I always let it get to me too. A PM is just plain cowardice, you're a stronger woman than the PMer was. I also hope that your PMer is reading this thread. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

It happens a lot here. I think that part of the problem is that it's easy to read more than one interpretation into the written word. And just like everyone puts their foot in their mouth from time to time, it probably happens that folks put their keyboards in their mouths occasionally too. Hell, I've done that more than once Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

First, my opinion doesn't mean shit since I have 47 jumps. Take it with a grain of salt. Heck, take it with the whole salt shaker! Like you, I'm always getting offers to jump with people (and I'm about as attractive as your average warthog, if there are any Chambersburgers here, they can confirm), so I doubt that gender has anything to do with it. I'm a new licensee that wants to learn as much as possible from as many people as possible, and I learn more jumping with other people than solo to avoid getting into bad habits. A vast majority I have accepted since I have an insane amount to learn. I have done 2 ways with some lower to moderate jump number people. I did an 8 way speed star on a sunset load that was the most fun I've had in the sky yet! Most of the jumpers on that load were either coaches are were very experienced jumpers. With any other group, I would have said no. A coach that has jumped with me several times and is very safety minded felt that I could do it, and I trust his opinion. If anyone else told me the same thing, I would not have been quite as sure about that. I've turned down a couple 3 and 4 ways because I knew I wasn't ready for the things they wanted to do. The way I see it, there is always another day to say 'yes' on an offer that I may not be ready for at that moment. Oh, and I always turn down politely, like 'I'm already jumping with my husband on this load, thanks, but definitely another time.' I'm just delighted to have people willing to jump with a newbie like me. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

And using lube pretty much keeps any remaining tube morsels from sticking to whatever you happen to be probing with. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You think that is bad, try this one... http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/D01/Class/Dog+Supplies+Apparel/T1/D01+0039+1925/EDP/44004/Itemdy00.aspx I swore I'd die before dressing up a dog. But we are in the process of adopting a greyhound. And it gets cold in PA during the winter, and since greys don't have much fur and no undercoat, they have to have a coat on for temperature regulation. It makes me want to gag that I'm actually going to need to buy one piece of doggie apparel. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

That's why I like the 2 smaller DZ that I'm at, it's easy to find people with higher jump numbers willing to jump with a 40+ jump newbie and give lots of feedback too. Plus when I fuck up, it's small enough that at least one person is watching and can (nicely) ream me out so I learn for the next time. I'm also really uncomfortable in any situation involving lots of people, I'm just more comfortable in the small DZ setting for that reason. Though I'd eventually like to hit the larger ones (I have a cousin that just bought a house 1/2 hr from Deland

First, if your eyes are too dry for contacts, you are not a LASIK candidate. LASIK dries your eyes out significantly more due to severing the corneal innervation. If you correct your distance vision with LASIK, you will still be blurry for reading (the same as you wearing glasses without the bifocal in them would make you blurry for reading). If you had LASIK for reading, you'd be blurry at distance (try looking through your reading part of your bifocal for distance). The alternative is monovision, one eye corrected for distance, one for near. Not the hottest idea in the world since it compromises depth perception to some degree (the farther past 40, the bigger the difference between the distance and near prescriptions and the more monovision affects depth perception). I don't like monovision in general for this reason, and would not recommend it for jumping. I would strongly suggest a second opinion on contacts though, since there are a LOT of different contact lenses. I have not had any patients that could not wear contacts at least part time due to comfort. I would suggest getting contacts for jumping only. I have several patients from the DZ that I have fit this way... wearing one day lenses. Put it in the morning you jump, throw it out at night, keep spares in your gear bag 'just in case'. Probably the most convenient way to do things if you don't want full time contact wear. If you do want full time contact lens wear, consider the PureVision lenses. These are absolutely fantastic for dry eye, extremely comfortable, more O2 transmission than all but one other lens on the market, reasonable cost, and better optics than most other lenses out there. Talk to your doc about these. If your vision is good at distance (which it might be considering that you only just started wearing glasses full time due to the accumulation of birthdays) you may not need correction at all for distance. Get a second opionion with a doc that does a lot more contact lens fitting. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I lost a lot of weight and have donated about 4 garbage bags of clothes to goodwill. If you ask for a receipt, they give you one that you fill out, use it as a tax deduction. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

We both knew shortly after we met. About 2 weeks after we met, he was telling all his co-workers that I am the girl he'd marry. It took me a bit longer to say it out loud, but knew after the 2nd date or so. We got married 4.5 months later, and have been happy ever since. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

That sounds like a great concert! I'm a country girl completely, my husband usually picks country first too. Guess there are a lot of us that buck the trend, eh? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I knew Amber in college. Dumb fluff sorority chick then. Get the feeling I didn't vote for her/rob? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I had my first rig and jumpsuit ordered by jump 10, was jumping my own gear by jump 15 or so (needed to taper my way down from a 210 to a 170. I'm at a .97ish wing load even with the 170). I talked to the master rigger at the DZ, I trust him. He helped my husband with gear the year before and Chad was happy with it. No way in hell would I have bought anything on my own (without basically being told what to get) this early. But it is great having my own gear and jumping the same canopy every time, I learn more that way. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Had one of these unintentional downwinds myself. As a new jumper it wasn't pleasant. Ground winds 17-18 mph when I left the ground, fairly consistent, occasionally dropped a bit and picked back up, but the high was 18. I always check wind meter frequently before jumping so I don't get in over my head. Our DZ has a waiver so students jump up to 16 mph wind, so this wasn't a stretch on what I had jumped in the past. What I didn't know is that by the time we hit altitude (cessna), winds were gusting to 28 mph. If I had known, I would have enjoyed the view as I landed with the plane, so it was a bit of a surprise. I completely misjudged the winds and how my canopy would react. Instead of turning low and killing myself, I landed cross/downwind. Flared well, didn't even try to stand it up though I probably could have, wasn't hurt. I learned a lot after talking with the DZO, how to work much better in higher wind situations. But there's no way I'd voluntarily jump higher than 18mph anyway, so it will be a very long time before that happens again (I hope!!). It wasn't pretty, I would never have jumped in winds that high, but I learned a lot. I was flat out lucky to have gotten so many lessons in one jump without injury. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Mine is definitely my smile. Body is so/so, nothing horrible, nothing to drool over. I'm cute facially, but my face just lights up when I grin. Good thing that is pretty often!! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I always encourage people to spend their money on this, simply because it does not work at all but it won't hurt them. All this does is improve blur interpretation. If you don't wear your correction starting in the morning, you will feel like your vision is better by evening. This isn't that your Rx changed, it is that you have gotten better at estimating blurry objects. Prescriptions are based on the size/shape of the eye, only changing that can change prescription... That's how refractive surgery and orthokeratology (using RGP contact lenses to mold the cornea) work. The eye changes your entire life, it grows, the lens inside changes shape slightly, and that is why prescriptions change. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm an eye doc, and you're just plain not all that smart about contact lens care. Contacts are primarily water. The water is a sponge sucking up everything in your tear film and the air around you. The more builds up, the less oxygen your eyes get. The less oxygen your eyes get, the less they can fight off infection and the more swollen they get. That slight haze to your vision is called corneal edema, the cornea's response to hypoxia. When the cornea responds to hypoxia, it grows blood vessels in that are not supposed to be there since that's the only way to get the oxygen it needs. This is called neovascularization. If you have LASIK with neo, you will bleed, this is a bad idea, you have to wait until the blood vessels drain of blood. There are no symptoms of these new blood vessels until they cross your pupil, at that point, you have permanent vision loss. The blood will drain out, but the walls of the vessel remain. If you wait until contacts are bothering you, you have already damaged your corneas, that irritation you feel is all the crud on the contact scratching the cornea. Would you sleep in your underwear for a month at a time without cleaning them? Then why the hell would you do it to your eyes? Even with the 30 day extended wear lenses I recommend taking them out weekly overnight to clean, disinfect, and give your eyes a break. There are only 2 lenses approved for this, Focus Night and Day and Purevision. If you are doing this with any other lens, your risk is dramatically increased. Even with these lenses the risk is 1 in 20 having significant complications. It only takes one corneal ulcer for you to truly understand what I'm talking about, but I get sick of trying to clean up corneas that are diseased purely due to lack of contact lens care (aka stupidity, I just can't say that flat out in the exam room ) Jennifer Galbraith, OD, MS Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Oh that sucks. I was laid off with three days notice. Within 2 days of finding out, I had part time work. Now I'm so killed with work that I'll have 4 days off the entire month of May, same in June. I'll be making more money with less commute 1/2 the week (the same 1.5 hrs the other 1/2). Call everyone you know in your profession. That ripple effect works wonders in finding new work. Other option, marry a US Citizen in Vegas Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

There's a place not too far from Harrisburg that will teach you all the bullriding skills for those of us who have never had any exposure to it. If you end up going this route, let me know, it's something my husband and I both are interested in giving a whirl as well. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Both options included a private practice (hoping for long term potential here), plus a corporate office. The question was which corporate to go for. #1: Employed by corporation, my schedule is at their mercy. Flexible until one doc goes on maternity in a couple months, after that I'd be killed work wise. No more ability to fill in for friends as they need it, if I needed to cut back to have more time in private practice, I'd lose the job. I would have to be salesgirl as well as doc (required to push certain testing onto patients at a certain percent level). I don't take well to being told how to practice. My patients, not a corporation, comes first. #2: Employed by myself, subcontracting with a corporation. Good tax breaks. Longer commute, but flexible weekends, 1 mile from DZ, so those every other Sats that I'm working, I can still pack for the afternoon. Slightly less certainty with this since I don't know what will happen when doc comes back from maternity. At the other place it would be easy to pick up an extra day or two a week, not so easy this way, but doable. Pay somewhat less, but I can always chose to work more to make up for it if unexpected financial disasters occur. Plus some good tax breaks for self employment that more than offset self employment tax. I busted my ass all my life and gave up a lot. I have never regretted days off, or not working for a weekend, but I have regretted giving up life experiences to work and losing out on so many other things. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I would still be home earlier even taking the longer commute into consideration. Plus my old commute was 2 hours. Anything is better than that! I did take the lower paying job today. It doesn't pay much lower, but I have a lot more flexibility work wise. I'll be a little snug financially through the end of June, but then making 50% more than I have been in the last year. I'll actually have time with my husband, I'll be working for myself (vs. employed in the other option). It'll be 2 part time jobs, one with a private practice that has some potential to become more than a part time option. Yes, skydiving was a part of the decision, but not just skydiving directly. It isn't just the jumping out of the plane, it is the time with my husband. It is being able to take a weekend and do whatever the hell we want to with it. The only thing I ever do for myself is jumping, the rest of the time is working or volunteering or renovating my house. Even unemployed and scavenging for fill-in work, all my bills have been paid. Yup, I learned how to pack in general a few months ago, and still think my brand new ZP canopy is a bitch to get in the bag. It is a 170 canopy smashed in a bag that previously held a 150. (Yes, the master rigger approved of this, he was the one I purchased everything from). Even the established packers hate my canopy, it isn't just me. Every packer has to start somewhere don't they? My husband and I both just started packing over the weekend, it paid for a majority of our jumping costs and after a couple months of packing my pita canopy, student canopies are extremely easy for me. I guess the very fact that I'm defending this decision so adamantly means that I made the right one. I'm not so hot at decision making. If I had taken the other position, there's no way I'd be this emphatic about defending that choice. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Job #2 would mean no weekdays off, I'd be working 6, sometimes 7 days a week. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I've been unemployed for a couple weeks and scavenging for work. I have two basic options. One is a little bit less dependable and less money, but allows me infinitely more time at the DZ (only 1 mile from the DZ, plus only working every other saturday). The other is much closer to home (20 minutes vs. 1 hour), but requires a bit more sat/sun work and less control over my own schedule. So why is it that I am willing to drive farther and make less just to have more time to be at the DZ??? Of course to offset this difference, I started as a packer last weekend Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'll have my A this weekend, and really hope that one of you far more experienced people are kind enough to make a jump or two with me. How can us newbies learn if no one will jump with us??? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda