peregrinerose

Hmm, this does sound good. I don't drink Vodka straight, but think it would make a hell of a long island iced tea

Have you talked to the folks at your dropzone? Mine has already found several that would work for me. And I'm a weirder build than you... 5'3, 140lbs. Want a 170 main in a racer container. So I'm short, stout, and picky. But I've still been offered several

I'm not shy, don't have a problem discussing here, might help another person or two. My seizures weren't triggered by stress. A lot of people's are, mine weren't. Honestly I have no idea what caused them. I kept track of times of day and what I was doing when having a seizure, and there were no real correlations. More often in afternoons than any other time of day, but happened at other times too, including in my sleep. They'd wake me up. Nothing seemed to trigger them. I'd have them in exam room, while working out, driving to work, watching TV, working on the house, anything. That can always change, of course, but it's something that I do keep track of and if anything changes I'll re-evaluate my thinking and how I do things. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Read the whole paragraph, not one line. I don't think that them blocking up traffic for hours at lousy times and pissing off an entire metro area is going to win any votes. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

According to my husband there is no such thing as a soulmate. I'm just the first person that he was completely compatible with that happened to mosey along. Although I know that he means well and loves me with all his heart, it still makes me feel extremely unspecial that he feels this way. I'm just one in a hundred thousand or so. Lucky me. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm with everyone else on the declawing thing. My husband's two got declawed as kittens, and both were extremely sweet before the surgery and extremely aloof and a little weird afterward. One is mostly normal again, the other just stayed really flighty and nutso. My ex decided to declaw the cat that was ours together. I couldn't talk him out of it because his new girlfriend wanted to do it. This cat is 4 years old and just got declawed. It broke my heart. I don't even like cats and was still furious over this. Haven't talked to the jackass since. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Awww, shit, and I work so very hard to maintain that image. Back to the drawing board I guess..... As for hit men. Go for it. I'm armed too and a damn good shot Oh, wait, that would make this thread about gun control and may have it booted to speaker's corner. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I don't think that 'convincing' someone is a good thing. Either they want to jump or they don't. They know you do and that you love it. But I wouldn't ever suggest that someone jump. My husband jumped for 1.5 y before I ever decided it was time for me to try it. He never even asked me to give it a whirl, he never suggested that I should. He just answered my questions and always left the door open should I decide to head to the DZ with him. That way I knew the choice was mine alone. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

There is no way in hell I will ever jump without an AAD. It isn't just for collisions. Although I have good altitude awareness, I'm still new, what if I flip out jumping without an instructor and am a total panic attack on the way down, an AAD would save my ass. Now that isn't my personality type at all, it won't happen, but it CAN. What if I pass out, have a heart attack, a seizure, etc on the way down, again it can make a difference. To jump without one, to me, is not an option. In a sport that can kill you, I will take every precaution to ensure a safe jump. That is my personal decision and certainly not one that I impose on anyone else. The day the USPA or anyone else tells me that I am obligated to do a jump without an AAD is the day I quit jumping. It's like telling a NASCAR driver that they must do one practice session with no seatbelt or harness. Chances are they won't need it, but sucks to be them on the off chance that they do. But back to the original post to begin with. I have a whopping 10 jumps, just finished AFF, passing every level on the first try plus a tandem (AFF is 9 jumps not 7 now). I'm still not entirely comfortable with a gear check, so make sure an instructor is present while I do it. Not because I can't, but because I am new, I know my limitations, I know there's a lot that I don't know. For those who criticize a new person who ask questions (regardless of why we may ask), just discourages us from doing so. Lack of knowledge is not good. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm in one of the battleground states and am freaking fed up with it. I hate the signs everywhere. Neighbor has a Bush/Cheney sign up. I want to put a Kerry/Edwards sign up just to piss them off (even though I don't give a flying rat's ass who wins). I'm sick of both of them coming into the area (harrisburg, pa) and fucking up the traffic at rush hour for ages on end. Do they really think that is going to help either of them any? Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm with you on this one. Freaking sick bastard. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

What would bother me is if they didn't bother to ask and just shrugged it off and jumped. With several instructors working with each student, some things may get missed or others covered twice. As students, we have to be quick to ask questions of anything we don't understand and be comfortable enough at our drop zones to be free to do this without feeling stupid. I ask a mazillion questions every time I'm there, but I learn a lot, and what I learn will keep me alive. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

We may bitch at each other in speakers corner, and I may disagree with every last one of you (after all, I'm right and you're wrong ), but I still think most of us would help out whenever needed if anyone was in trouble. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Happy Birthday and congratulations Uncle PJ

You're a wise man. I'm of the trim it short but not shave it persuasion. I hate the maintanance and the itch factor of shaving, I like the extra sensation of having some hair there, but also like the tongue lashing of a well skilled man so want to make his life as painless as possible. Trimming gives me the best of all worlds. As long as the guy isn't sweaty and stenchy (scrotum sweat will never make it as the next Yankee Candle scent) I don't give a damn what he does and I enjoy myself very much. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I already tried that, he didn't buy it He's lived in Philly all his life, and I lived there for 4 years, but it was after this occurred. I hadn't heard of it. He insisted it was one of those 'my parachute didn't open' events, and doesn't believe me that a lot of incidents are human error. Something that I'm always going to do my best to minimize the risk of as much as possible. Just from an education stance, so I can learn from it, why did he cut away if his main was still inflated? I'm assuming the other jumper was ok? Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Why does God have to be the booming voiced entity that is often taught by Christianity? Since no one knows for certain if a God exists, much less what he/she is like, why can't people have a differing concept of Godness than you do? There is always more than one way to look at something. I made no attempt to 'prove' that God exists, I only explained what my concept of God would be if indeed a God existed (still not entirely sure on that one). As you are probably more 'peaceful' in real life than you sometimes you come across on here, I'm probably more cynical than I often sound like in my words. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I differ. Don't think a hair or two is that bad. Kills to birds with one stone, I get to have fun (so does he) and I get to floss, all at the same time. Honestly I've never been with a guy that had truly furry balls, just some wispy hair here and there. If it isn't stench free, I'm not going there, regardless of shaved or not. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Does this mean I'm an impure athiest?? I guess I didn't explain myself well. I see mother nature or whatever as the god figure, the energy or spirit or whateveritis (tired, not really literate right now. I work too freaking much). I think there is a chance that yes, it is all by chance. Did that make sense? If anything was different, constants, energy, mass, laws of physics, even a little bit, nothing would exist. So for all we know, all this happened a majillion times before and just hit it right this time. After all, if you draw lottery numbers enough times, sooner or later you will get all possible results. Same with big bang or cosmic history. I don't think that there necessarily needs to be a creating hand behind it. I think there could be, but doesn't need to be. I also think that firm athiests who don't entertain any other conceptions are just as obnoxious as the Christian (other other brand of religion) zealot who refuses to accept that anyone else may actually have a valid point. Both extremes drive me batty with the rigidness and lack of honest questioning that occurs. Though I fail a lot, I really do try to be open minded. Oooh, just found out there's a tornado warning in Chambersburg. Hope my office and dropzone stay in one piece. I just found a rig that I might buy, don't want it blown away!!! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The whole concept of ballshaving baffles me. You are guys, you are supposed to have hair. If there's so much I'm gagging on it, that's not good, but that kind of hairiness tends to have a hairy back too, and I'm just not into men who have to use shampoo instead of soap. Normally haired men though, aren't exactly carpeted in the ball-al region, so who gives a crap if they are shaved or not? As long as everything works okay, that's what matters. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I have a friend in Phila who's been doing his best to keep my ass on the ground by citing a fatality that occurred about 20 years ago to a Phila weatherman. I couldn't find anything on it, so was curious what happened. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Of course I'm smarter than SH, I'm a woman :-) Actually, I have read a lot of his writings and love astrophysics. It makes my brain hurt and I enjoy a challenge. Anyway, a lot of us acknowledge that God is a possibility (except PJ). Personally I am agnostic leaning toward some form of God. I just think that Christianity and other forms of religion have taken the whole concept of a deity and warped it into something that suits themselves and controls the masses that follow them. My concept of God is more of Goddess, or mother nature, or that which binds all things together. I don't even know if it is a true consciousness or not, more like the glue of matter/energy, that basic essence that ties all things as one. Like String Theory. Just my humble interpretation of things. Poke holes in my perception all you wish, I'm okay with that. Been known to be wrong before. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Yes, I skydive. Just finished AFF, got measured for jumpsuit, and put an offer on a used rig today. The only time I have seizures is when I miss a dose of my meds (playing with med levels now to make that less of an issue). It is always 2 days later. I can usually tell a good couple minutes before a seizure is going to happen that it's coming (aura). If I had a seizure that day, I would not go anywhere near a plane. If I missed a dose of meds in the 2-3 days before I plan to jump, I won't jump. If I have the aura at any point prior to jumping, I won't jump. Even though I don't lose consciousness or anything and can still function normally, and even if I had a seizure in freefall, I would not have a problem staying altitude aware or dealing with a malfunction, I'd rather not jump that way. Just like I won't jump if tired or hungover or anything else that would affect my reaction time. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Interesting point. Anything written by Oliver Sachs is along the same lines. But how do you know the soul has changed or if the outward manifestation of consciousness had changed? A few years ago I had a head injury, knocked out, woke up not knowing a damn thing about myself or where I was (sure explains a lot, eh?). I was the same person, same personality in my head, I just couldn't get it out right. I felt like my brain was disconnected from the rest of me by a fog that just fucked eveything up. I acted weird, not because I wanted to, but because I just physically couldn't make the mind and the rest of me work together. How do we know that alzheimer's etc. isn't the same thing? I've seen stroke patients who have no capacity to speak or make sense verbally or with writing. But they understand every word you say, just can't respond. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Yup, I agree with this completely, do the same thing. Bury my face in his shoulder, hard to breathe that way, but sure does the trick. Also same with closing eyes/blindfold, or tethers. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda