peregrinerose

Words are easy to SAY. If she truly meant this, she'd be adopting a child with Downs out of the foster system... there are a LOT of them out there. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The above was what she wrote in the post with the pics, which is why I thought she had seen the bridle prior to leaving it with him (maybe pulled handles before dropping it off with him? I usually have the people I pack for pull handles before I take the rig). I dropped my hot knife once, scared the crap out of me and made me very glad I keep it well away from anything gear related when in use! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Hypocrisy like this is exactly why I left organized religion. Could you imagine Jesus using words like this? How can you call yourself Christian, but use very un-Christian attitudes and demeanor? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Didn't she say it wasn't like that when she dropped it off? Dropping a hot knife on the bridle could do that, or some similar mishap in the loft. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

My first trip to the farm was in March, and it won't be my last visit either... I had the same warm welcome that you did and had a great time. My Whuffo cousin and her 3 kids also had a blast... the two boys keep asking when they're going skydiving with me again

Picturing you scaring the shit out of a DZO just made me giggle a little bit

Working pretty well so far, I'm in the matching process now to adopt 2 boys (age 9 or older) out of the foster care system from my own state. I'm making a difference because it's the right thing to do, yet I look at my 'Christian' collegues and neighbors who sit on their high horses telling others what to believe, popping out their herds of kids because they don't believe in birth control (or apparently absinence), without lifting a finger to make a difference with the problems that are already here. That's hypocrisy. How about making it a little harder to have a kid? Better birth control, better pre-conception education, etc.? Who has to jump through hoops for years? I went through 24 hours of training over the course of a month, FBI, child abuse, and criminal record checks, 3 references, a 4 hour home visit, wrote a biography, proved my income, and filled out a binder full of forms. Sure it was work, but don't exaggerate.... it's not going to take years to adopt... it's only a PITA if you are looking for an infant or going over seas. There are 100,000+ kids in the US alone that are legally free for adoption. Most of them will age out of the system and never have a forever home. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Doesn't have to be one or the other. I think abortion is morally and tragically wrong, and I am pro-choice. I wouldn't have a "problem" as you say with that woman, because I have no business telling her what she can't do with her pregnancy and her body, nor any business at all in even giving her my opinion unless asked for. You believe it is "morally and tragically wrong" but do you believe it is ending a life? What about teenage girls that throw their newborns in the dumpster, Still just "morally and tragically wrong" or is that actually killing something? I have no problem telling women that killing babies is wrong and should be illegal. I'm also pro choice but would love to see no abortions ever happen. Problem is that even if it's illegal, they are still going to occur, just on the streets. It makes more sense to eliminate the 'need' for abortion... better sex ed, easier access to birth control and sterilization, better adoption networks. Abortion is a symptom of a far greater problem. Treating the symptom does nothing for the actual issue, only masks it for a while. If 'Christians' wanted to make a real difference.. adopt a kid out of the foster care system... the crack babies, the older kids, the sibling groups... the ones that never get a real chance and end up making the issues worse. Take in a high risk teen to help them out. Support a high risk family on a very personal and real basis... give them a job, give them a home. Pay for a vasectomy or tube tying for someone who wants it but can't afford it. One person at a time, the symptom can be addressed and the abortion industry long term would decline as a result. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Give them time, they'll get the pack pecking order figured out eventually. It took a couple of months for our dogs to accept the greyhound as part of their pack when we got him. Now all three of them get upset if they are not all together all the time. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The flip side of this is that if not pressed a little bit to move forward, students never learn to believe in themselves either.... I'd still be doing level 3s now if it was a 'move forward when you feel comfortable' thing Students are their own worse critics and generally perceive themselves as much worse skydivers than they really are (and then they turn into 100 jump wonders who think they know far more than they really do... how does that happen??) She should talk with both instructors of her level 3, if there was video, watch it, and go from there. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

When I was a student I found the terminology "arch hard" to be unhelpful. In my mind, "hard" meant rigid... rigid ain't good. When I changed my vocabulary to "arch deeply" it worked better for me. I can relax and arch "deeply"... I cannot relax and arch "hard". This may seem like silly semantic games, but it really made a difference in my performance... and I bet that I am not alone in that. BSBD Oooh, I like that terminology. I'm blatantly stealing that to try on some of my students. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The difference between level 3 and level 4 is that you go from two jump masters down to one.... otherwise, it's exactly the same skydive, so I would not bother repeating level three. A little bit of a turn does not mean you were unstable. Stability means you are belly to earth... if you are on your back tumbling through the sky, you are unstable. A little bit of a turn just means you were having trouble maintaining your heading, that's all. Not a big deal, and very common. The criteria for passing from one level to the next is not perfection, none of us look for a perfect skydive from our students. Were you on your belly? Were you altitude aware? Did you pull yourself? Was your heading control reasonable (meaning a little drift that first time is ok, but an uncontrolled flat spin is not)? If the answer to all of these is, yes, I'd agree with your instructors, go to level 4. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm with Pops... there's no reason to roll the nose on a Spectre. I have over 450 jumps on mine, never did a thing to the nose and the openings were consistently great. About the tail rolling for the cocoon... when you have the rig over your right shoulder, put a tight little roll at the top. Hold it there with your left hand. Then take your right hand as far down as you can reach, and start cocooning the tail, always pulling toward the floor as you roll the fabric. Use your hip to pin the tail to keep it from unrolling as you rotate your hand. When you lay the canopy down, do it neatly, like you are laying a baby on the floor, left hand still at the top, right hand at the bottom, lift it up and lay down. It's easier to show you than try to describe it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You might want to put a little more thought into this procedure. First, what do you learn about your canopy's flight characteristics by burying a toggle and spinning around? Sure, it's fun, but all you've learned is how to toggle whip. There are a lot more control inputs that you should be gaining experience with. Take a couple of canopy courses (I try to do one a year, and learn more each time) Next, since you are hell bent on burying a toggle, what is your first instinct going to be when you need to avoid another jumper, obstacle, etc at a fairly low altitude? Probably to yank a toggle, as that's what you know how to do well. This will probably have adverse effects on your landing. Finally, airspace. Vertical separation among canopies is every bit as important as horizontal separation. When you spiral down, you have closed the distance between you and other jumpers, making more people landing at the same time in the same landing area. By keeping good vertical separation, you make the landing area that much less congested, and thus safer. I don't swoop, I'm at a 1.3 WL on my 135. I love to spin under canopy as much as you do. But I don't do it very often for the reasons I cited above. Please put a lot more thought into your actions under canopy and how they affect traffic overall, landing patterns, your individual learning of canopy flight. You have a lot to learn (This isn't a rip on you... I still have a lot to learn too!) Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

That was the part I wondered about. The truly altruistic good deeds are the ones that are done with no attention called to them. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

October 1-5, Randy Shroeder For more information, PM me

To me a course means a college course... you learn stuff and take a test at the end. A pre-course is just like a pre-course (ie pre-algebra)... a course designed for those people that may not have all of the skills/knowledge necessary to succeed in the course, but to groom them accordingly... a class that some students may require, but some students may already have the foundation and not need it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Depends on the DZ. Some DZOs can beat the bloody fun out of skydiving if you're on staff. Burnout can happen FAST in that situation. A good DZO/DZ vibe can make all the difference. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Clickified because I'm bored at work. http://www.wgal.com/video_legacy/16868283/index.html http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/18/224430 http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/224430 Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Now you know why instructors beat PLFs into your head... bet you wish you actually did one, eh? Without video, there's no way for anyone here to be all that specific, so talk to some experienced jumpers that saw your landing. Realistically, you have 3 jumps, your landings aren't going to be ideal after only 3 tries at it, it's a skill that needs to be learned. You'll get there. I'm more concerned about your lack of PLF. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

They had a good article on their web site regarding osteosarcoma in dogs. Unfortunately, based on their article, even best case scenario with amputation and chemo, dogs only make it an extra 11 months on average Chad and I aren't willing to put him through all that just to buy him a few extra months. If it cured the cancer, we'd be all for it. Keeping our fingers crossed that it's something benign, but know it probably isn't. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Anyone have any experience with this? My grey is 8 1/2, a rescued racer. His last race was April 2004, we adopted him in early 2005 and absolutely love him. He had a bit of a limp a couple of weeks ago, but it resolved in a day, before I could even get a vet appointment. Friday he started limping again, badly, same leg as before. Vet is treating it like arthritis (NSAIDs and doggie glucosamine/chondroiton), but he's getting worse. He can't put any weight on it, and until today couldn't find anything in particular that seemed to make the leg hurt. Now he screams if I move his leg forward at the shoulder, even a little bit. Based on what I'm reading, the odds of it being osteosarcoma are extremely high. The treatments (amputation/chemo) buy a few months, but that's it, so not really worth putting him through all that. X-rays are tomorrow. Anyone have any experience/pointers with this? I know that we're probably going to lose him, either through euthanasia soon, or cancer in a month or two. It's killing me watching this poor dog stumble around in obvious discomfort. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Yes, the price is reasonable not including gear rental. Gear rental is completely unrelated to recurrency jumping as a lot of folks with his number of jumps already own their own gear. There's no reason it would be included in the fees. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

That's just a bullshit excuse. I drive 2 hours each way, and have a dog sitter that charges me $12/visit to my house to take care of my 3 large dogs. We have her make 2-3 visits during the weekend so we can stay and jump our asses off, and it costs me $36. Although our dogs are welcome at the DZ, realistically, we are instructors, so can't be spending all of our time ensuring our dogs are behaving well, so it's in everyone's best interests for them to be at home. For our old DZ, we had a piece of crap trailer that the dogs would stay in all day. Cost us $300 for the trailer, but it was worth it so they were contained and not in anyone's hair. There's always a way to responsibly handle pet care without getting on the nerves of people who just aren't dog people. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Really well said. Something that a lot of us on here need to remember sometimes. Presentation matters just as much, if not more, than the content of the words. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda