peregrinerose

I have contacts and I'm an eye doc, so know a thing or two. Taping the little holes doesn't do a damn thing other than make the goggles fog up quicker... won't hurt the contacts to have the holes open. It's the air that gets in under the goggles that's a problem, so make sure that the goggles seal tight against your face. Also, what brand of contacts do you use? What contact lens solutions do you use? Do you sleep in them? Do you rub them when you take them out at night? Do you take any medications? All of these things will determine the appropriateness of a lens for jumping. Some lens/solution/care combinations dry out easily and will not be all that compatible with jumping. I have 700+++ jumps with contacts and lost 2 lenses total (an older brand that dried out at the end of the day, jumping or not, so I switched out of them to something else). Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Oh, crap.... I didn't even consider the extreme prejudace of the pro-sperm/ignore-egg stance so blatantly evident in that piece. I'm so sorry

Trust me, it's not Speakers Corner fodder

1. I am still scared every single jump. Fear isn't the problem. Managing fear is. Get Brian Germain's book "Transcending Fear"... written by a skydiver, so great information there for you on this very topic. 2. $$$ Save up, pick up an extra job, work at the DZ, there are lots of options to do that. We all made it work. If you spent a lot more time on the DZ, you'd understand where your money went and why AFF jumps cost so much.... no one is getting rich off of owning a DZ or working for one. As an instructor, I make probably $200/weekend (both packing and instructing total). Of that, $50 goes to gas, $50 to my dog sitter so I can even be at the DZ all weekend without worrying about my pets. $60 to taxes since I get a 1099. That leaves $40, which usually covers food or a case of beer. If anything, I lose money as an instructor. You'll find that most of us are not in the sport for money. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

That's easy.... rebates suck you in to making the purchase, but only about 30% of people actually send in the rebates, so the company in the end makes much more money. Plus, most rebates are from the manufacturer, not the seller. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Unfortunately, when a DZO is short staffed and stressed, not to mention a bit territorial, they get very upset with their instructors if they dare take a weekend off or *gasp!* jump elsewhere. The DZO really does make all the difference with staffing and burnout. Skydivingchad's and my new DZOs understand the need for fun jumps too, and the need to take a break occasionally, and are very supportive of us when we need that, to the point they are willing to reschedule students if necessary to keep their instructors happy and on staff. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'll most likely be there

During the course of your training, were you made aware what a PLF is? Did you perform PLFs on the ground? During your AFF jumps, were any comments made on your landings (plf vs. butt vs. stand up)? It sounds to me like you are blaming the AFF program for YOUR decision to land on your butt instead of PLFing. Look at the incident with the student at Mile-Hi.... clearly they were taught EPs as well as how to deal with a 2 out situation (per another student in the same FJC), yet they still did not perform either task appropriately.... did the FJC fail them or did they fail themselves? Remember the question asked at the end of every FJC... who is responsible for your skydive? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I would not suggest this philosophy at all. Treat every skydiver like they are out to kill you in the sky... other jumpers watch your back less than you think they do, and have more potential to hurt you than you appear to realize. None of them intend to cause harm, but it does happen and there are moments when the sky is very very small. Trust is the last thing you should be relying on to keep yourself safe. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Last year my husband and I went as Willie Wonka and an Oompa Looma (gene wilder version) It was great, cheap, and a lot of fun Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm still a young-enough AFFI to have a split decision on this. On the one hand, I agree with the sensory overload statement. On the other hand, it's hard enough to get them to keep their legs out and even harder to get them to do PLFs instead of the tandem butt slide. All in all, I lean towards "no tandem" because of the tandem butt-slide training. I'm there with them to deal with the sensory overload, I am not with them to prevent the butt slide. It's awfully sad to see an eager student cut his career short with a tailbone/back injury on their first AFF/SL landing. Ditto that. Students that butt slide make me crazy and give me gray hair.... my hair's going to look like Pops' after another year of this Seeing one of my students break himself on a butt landing made me even more emphatic about it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

At least she asked. Too many people don't. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I've heard that too, and think it's crazy talk. I like doing my Racer repacks... very easy, no brute force, no measuring closing loops, simple. I don't understand why some riggers complain or won't do them at all or charge more for them. I'm with Pops though... I wish more people knew what the parts of their own rigs were, wish that they did their own 3 ring maintanance, wish they pulled their own handles prior to every repack, wish they asked more questions about their own gear, wish they packed their own mains from time to time, wish they understood the differences between their rigs and other rigs, etc. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Your search for suck it up cupcake returned 213 results in 0.732s. Guess a lot of posters think it's their line too http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=all&search_string=suck+it+up+cupcake&search_type=AND&search_fields=sb&search_time=&search_user_username=&sb=score&mh=25 Guess I should have licensed that phrase, eh?

Anyone else see the irony in someone called 'anonymousdude' griping about lack of honesty? Seems a little bit hypocritical to me. As Pops said, suck it up cupcake (and that's MY line by the way. You can't change how other people are, you can only modify your own behavior. Accept others as they are, build bridges instead of burning them, and look at your own treatment of other people and try to handle situations as ethically and well as possible. Learn from your mistakes. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

www.allrecipes.com Lots of healthy things, includes nutritional information. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The 'reality' of this sport is you can do everything 100% right and still die. My husband and I 'joke' about being entirely too close to 11% of the fatalities last year. The bitter cynicism is how we deal with it. When you are slapped upside the head with a friend or two dying in front of your eyes, you'll have a different outlook. I could have written those same words a few years ago... in fact, I probably did. And some older and wiser jumper told me my perception of the sport would change. They were right. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The reality of the sport is that people die. If you're in it long enough, you'll know someone that goes in and/or see it happen (I always hoped that saying was bullshit, but unfortunately it's not ) Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

October 4-5 Kutztown, PA. Contact me for more details or if you need a place to stay! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I agree with DSE completely. Everyone on the planet likes to think that we are so much different that everyone else, that our problems are bigger, our situations unique and no one else get get it. Reality is, none of us are all that special, we are more alike than we are different, and our hurdles are more similar than you think they are. First, what is your 'life priority' and where does skydiving fall on your 'to do' list? If it's a high priority right now, you'll make it work, if it's lower on the totem pole of importance, it may not be a bad idea to focus your efforts on more important facets of your life for now. The sky isn't going anywhere, and there's nothing wrong with putting it off if that's what you need for your own personal balance. Money? It's an issue for all of us, but we all made it work. You can too. You can save up for a year or two... have a skydiving fund with $6000 in it. That will cover your fees for your first 30ish jumps, A license, and all your first gear, assuming you buy used. Some of us saved up, some of us worked an extra job, some of us cut corners in other areas of our lives, some of us started working at the DZ in low paying grunt jobs and worked our way up in order to be around the sport. Skills? That comes with time and jumps. You have too few jumps over too much time in too many disciplines.... all that erraticism only hurts you and slows your progress. Learn patience, grasshopper, for only then your skills will progress. It sounds like you're jumping around from one training method/DZ to the next and not spending serious time focusing on one DZ and one training program in order to progress from one jump to the next. Focus more. Family? Do you really think none of us have families?

LOL! You beat me to posting that picture

I'm still nervous every jump on the ride to altitude. As soon as the door opens though, I have to set that nervousness aside and concentrate on other things (especially now that I'm an instructor). That's all the 'relax' signal means..... let the nervousness go during the freefall part. Adrenaline makes you stupid, makes you tense up, and that affects your flying. You'll learn how to do it. Probably took me 300+ jumps to be able to do it well, but most people learn quicker than I did on that

First, if you live in NJ, have you considered Kutztown Skydiving Center (Kutztown, PA)? I'm an AFF instructor there, and I guarantee you won't find more personalized instruction, instructors dedicated to personalizing your AFF program to your individual needs, and doing whatever it takes to make sure you're successful. It's a smaller DZ, one cessna, so we aren't running students through like cattle that have numbers, not names. Next off... you have 21 jumps spread out over 3 years. 21 minutes of freefall experience spread over 3 years. Exactly how to you expect to master anything with that little practice? Skydiving does take dedication, and part of that means making a jump or two every weekend (more if possible), as you learn so much faster that way. Third, who cares if you repeated levels? A LOT of students repeat levels. I have a good friend now that is a hell of a jumper, took her something like 15 jumps (in her case all done back to back, not spread out like yours) just to get off of AFF. Her struggles as a student will eventually make her a very good coach. There's something to be said for working hard. Fourth, as someone else mentioned, you come across as a very intense personality type. As a result, you aren't having fun, and your instructors probably also aren't having fun dealing with that kind of attitude? Don't beat yourself up for this... I was the same way as a student, it's just how we are, but something you need to out grow, just like I did. Skydiving is far more psychological than anything else. If you have the mind set in order, the physical skills follow. Intense personality types tend to fight with the air and be very stiff in freefall. You have to learn to relax, set thinking aside, work with the air, treat the air and your canopy as partners, not enemies. Those mindsets will do a lot for your AFF progression. Feel free to PM me if you want to try out Kutztown or need more information. We bust our butts with students and we want this to be a fun experience for all concerned. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I have Fred and Zoe. Fred is definitely a guy. Very simple, straightforward, behaves exactly the same way every single time I jump him, listens to inputs but at his own sweet pace. Zoe is full of life and energy and definitely a girl. Opens consistently, but always on her own terms. A bit jealous if I jump with Fred or if she doesn't get jumped at least once a week. She's very touchy and sensitive. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Ummm...... read my whole paragraph, including the edit that I added before you replied Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda