peregrinerose

My husband, skydivingchad on here, quit with it. He was nauseous if he didn't take it with food and he had very vivid dreams at night. He actually only took it once a day instead of twice, and that was enough for him to quit. It's been almost a year now since he quit smoking on Chantix. PM him if you want more information. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/handsomedave Here's a Dave Dewolf update website

Alrighty, here's the Dave update. Chad and I just came back from visiting him. He's doing great, bored out of his skull and very stir crazy, itching to get back to work and jumping. He's delighted with the fresh audience to share his jokes with and appears that the staff is all quite entranced by Dave. Surgery is going to be Tues or Wed, not sure yet, depends on some tests, and then he will be in intensive care for at least 6 days after that, so his room and phone numbers will be changing. Keep the cards, balloons, phone calls, and other forms of entertainment coming. Dave's just normal Dave up for a laugh and a chat... he'll probably not be so up for entertaining immediately after the surgery though. He isn't letting this slow him down at all, he has rigging work at home waiting for him, has a trip in July for rigging instruction, POPS meet in the fall, PIA, etc. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Sure, why not... Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

In the Gear/Rigging forum there's a stickified thread on Dave... All of his contact information including room number, visiting hours, mailing address, phone number, and updates will be there. He's having the surgery on Tuesday. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I agree!!!! As a packer, I started refusing to pack for newer jumpers with their own gear on the last jump of the day... I told them to go home and do it themselves, or I'd happily stay and keep an eye on them and give them pointers on how to do it. A couple just had another packer pack, but some actually did what I told them too... all of them took me up on my offer to help... and they pack for themselves most of the time now. One guy has a slippery as greased shit Spectre 230, very few jumps on it. I admit, even as a very adept packer, I hated packing that fucker. I can do it, but only after it and I had come to an understanding I have spent more than one Friday night in the FBO with him, helping him, giving him pointers. He's still not a proficient packer, but when he shows up at the DZ 9 times out of 10 he had it packed himself. He still doesn't jump his own pack jobs, always asks me to open it and give him feedback, and they typically look like they'd open fine... he just needs a little confidence in himself. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Update on Dave... He had a mild heart attack, surgeon says 5 blood vessels are 80-90% blocked, bypass surgery is scheduled for Tuesday. He's welcoming visitors (can you imagine Dave actually having to sit still for a while??? He's got to be bored!) and cards. I'll probably stop by on Sunday. Edited to add: Dave's direct number at the hospital is 717-544-4641, so call him!!! Edited again to correct the phone number Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Why does every person in skydiving think they are 'special' or 'different' or have some extenuating circumstance that they can't pack, or can't learn their own gear? Yeesh. Hate to break your bubble, but you're not special, not remotely. You are going to struggle with packing like every other new jumper. If your canopy is fairly new... great! Learning to pack it will make you a better packer, able to handle just about any fabric that comes your way. But if you're too damn lazy to learn how to do it and just keep paying your packers, you'll never know your gear and never learn to pack. Hang out with the packers, find one willing to work with you, watch you, give you pointers. Buy them beer in thanks, they'll like that. Your last jump of every day... pack that yourself. Then pack at least one time every day at home. It might take you two hours to start with, but the more you do it, the quicker it will get. Eventually you'll have a pack job in under 10 minutes (which is probably quicker than waiting for a packer to get to it!). Whining about how special you are won't make you a better packer. Only initiative, determination, and true desire to know the gear that your safety in this sport depends on. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

This is posted in Bonfire too, but I also know that a lot of you rigger types don't read in there much. Dave is in Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster PA tormenting the hell out of the nurses since has a new audience for his jokes. The last I heard, the docs recommended a triple bypass, which has not yet been scheduled. SO, Mailing address for him is MR. DAVID DeWOLF, patient Lancaster General Hospital 555 N. Duke St. Lancaster, PA 17604-3555 Knowing Dave, he'd be happier if ya'll sent him strippers instead of flowers. Preferrably large breasted ones. Visiting hours are from 9am to 830pm for anyone who's local. Room 6902 at the moment. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Aaaah, but you didn't mention the fact that Dave now has a whole new audience at the hospital to try out his jokes on

I'm with everyone else... bring a case of beer and save that tip money for future jumps. If you want to give us the warm and fuzzies, listen to what we have to teach you during your debriefs, thank us for the jump, give us a great big grin afterwards and tell us you had a blast and want to do it again... and then do it again

Yep, that's very true. LASIK gives 20/20ish vision and relatively good comfort by the next day. PRK takes about a week to get full 20/20ish (usually 20/40ish the first day) and about a week to feel comfortable again. BUT, long term, the safety profile is better, dry eye symptoms are better, etc. If it was me, I'd do PRK over LASIK in a heartbeat. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I don't have the foggiest notion what it would cost

Once we get our old house sold and aren't covering 2 mortgages, plan on seeing us again... probably late summer/early fall. I think you just want to meet the Packing Fairy again

Rats are no more smelly than mice and don't bother me at all. Just not a very high rat population in our area. Stuff dies, critters eat other critters, that's the circle of life. A very fat pet cat that kills things just to kill them, not eat them out of hunger, is a nuicance and a prolem. People who don't keep their pets in their yards really bothers me. Not just because of the rodents/birds/fish that become carnage for no good reason either. When I was 17 or so, I had 2 pet rabbits. Both kept outdoors, in very large hutches that I helped my dad build out of chicken wire and treated lumber. These rabbits were both about 8 years old, very beloved pets, I had them both since they were a few months old. Played with every day. One day, I went out to feed them, in the morning before school. I found the cages both ripped open... the 1 inch wood around their boxes was knawed most of the way through, the chicken wire was torn apart. So were both of my rabbits. Pieces of them were all over the back yard. Both tried to run, one made it about 100 yards, the other only about 6 feet. One of our neighbors (I use that term loosely, I was surrounded by cattle farms, these people lived about a mile away, I didn't know them) had 3 dogs that roamed in a pack. We found out later that they had been fined multiple times because their dogs had taken down deer in the area. The dog catcher that went to confront the people checked out the dogs and found one of my rabbits fur in one of their teeth. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

With your script, although you could get refractive surgery done, you'd be nuts to do it. You function fine without glasses (except maybe for night driving/night jumps/movies, far distances) and when you're 40 you'll be delighted to be a little nearsighted... not having to get readers like most other 40 year olds. If your vision doesn't bother you enough to wear your glasses very often, then it probably isn't worth it to go through the risk of surgery over it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Achchchchchchchchhhghghadkfgaoihgioandg!! 2 weeks straight in the contacts? Think underwear... you wouldn't wear the same pair of underwear for 2 weeks non stop because it's gross and unhygenic, you'd at some point clean them. Contacts are even worse... they are mostly water, so absorb everything in your tears and the air around you, they get really nasty by the end of 2 weeks. Even with the lenses like Purevision and Focust Night/Day, it's a good idea to pick one day a week to leave them out overnight to clean/disinfect and give your eyes a break. The risk of corneal ulcer with sleeping in lenses, even those lenses approved for it, is pretty high. Ok. Contact lens lecture done

Yep, I'm the fuzzy helmet girl. I want to get back out to SS, especially now that you have 2 former Chambersburgers there.... you guys have both Selena and Greg, and I miss the living crap out of both of them... give them both a hug for me

Define 'too bad for all the laser stuff'? Are your corneas too thin? What is your prescription? Do you correct to 20/20 (see 20/20 WITH your glasses or contacts)? Dry eye problems? Age? Allergy issues? Other health problems/medications? There's a lot that goes into determining if you are a candidate for a refractive procedure or not... more than most people think. About the implantable lenses.... I'm not a huge fan of the concept... they put an artificial lens up against the natural lens of the eye. Problem with that is theoretically, that kind of trauma (and to a very fragile ocular system, that is traumatic), it may increase the odds of traumatic cataracts forming/earlier onset of cataracts. I say theoretically because the procedure hasn't been around long enough to know for certain. Depending on your age, goals, ocular health, and prescription, a better option may be a lens replacement. They remove the natural lens of the eye and insert an artificial one.... the same procedure as cataract surgery, but before the cataract actually forms. Drawback is that you will need reading glasses for all close work after the procedure. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

What is your left eye script? There is no such thing as -0.2... it's either -2.00 or -0.25 or -0.5? If you were glasses part time, why would you want a surgery that is full time? How old are you? Any dry eye or allergy issues? Are you ok with wearing reading glasses at 40? Being a little nearsighted like you are is actually a GOOD thing at 40, and you will lose that advantage. Do a search on here for LASIK and PRK and you will find craploads of information. For skydiving, I'd recommend PRK. PRK is NOT more invasive than LASIK as one person stated... it's actually much less invasive. PRK cornea heal to 100% after surgery, LASIK corneas never heal to 100% strength again (which is why I would not recommend LASIK to skydivers). If you have specific questions, let me know. I do a lot of pre and post op care for several different refractive procedures ,though my gut instinct is that with a script as low as yours, the risk probably far outweighs the benefits in your case. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Very true Pops. And to the guy who feels that way, yes, I really did nurse 2 mice back to relative normalcy and let them go in my garden again. I have no problem with the critters in my yard. A chipmunk gave birth in my house then died (of natural causes as far as I know) in my house and I raised the 2 babies (Squeak, Stumpy, and Annie) until they were big enough to fend for themselves too. I have no problem with barn/farm cats.... they do a job, they are generally to some degree feral. House cats are not feral, they are pets. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I agree that the same sentiments are as strong in black culture as white, I don't agree that Obama needs to apologize for a lecture given by someone else. I don't understand this pathology of crucifying a candidate for something that a friend, advisor, collegue, etc of theirs says. People are allowed to be different, disagree, and have friends that are different from them. They should be encouraged to have friends and advisors of all sorts of opinions, to keep them informed and balanced regarding the reality (good and bad) of what's out there in the world. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I could not disagree with this more. All a license means is that the rigger passed the practical. It doesn't mean that he pays attention to SBs, keeps up to date, has a decent work ethic, maintains a clean rigging environment, counts his tools, actually inspects the reserves he repacks, etc. There's a LOT of variablity from one rigger to the next. I have seen first hand a rigger that takes a LOT of shortcuts (not inspecting most reserves, just popping and repacking, not cleaning cutaway cables, lying to his clients about things like cypres being on 'back order', insulting other riggers' work even though it's neater than his, etc.) Someone who doesn't know shit about rigging wouldn't know just how many shortcuts this guy takes, unless they watched another rigger, asked questions, or knew a bit about gear and reserve repacks. And THAT is why learning gear and rigging, at least to some degree, is so important... to be able to make educated decisions like that. Until a person has that knowledge base (like a new jumper), the best way to find a good rigger is to ask other riggers who they would trust to pack their own reserves. The rigger to run away from is the one that says no one but himself. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Obama did tell the truth with his comments. It's not a pleasant truth, and one we'd all like to see be different, but that really is the reality. I spent most of my life in small town Pennsylvania in a blue collar family with blue collar friends, only the last few years I've been more upper middle class in income, but I still have the same friends and neighbors as I did before. Latrobe, PA from 1982-1992, New Wilmington PA from 1992-1996, Phila from 1996-1999 (Ok, not small town, but I lived in a ghetto, and the sentiments were the same, just the people that held them were a different color), Elizabethtown from 1999-2007, Newport for the last month. So I've been in small towns in PA for 26 years all over the state. He's dead on the mark with his comments. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You enjoy getting people riled up entirely too much Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda