peregrinerose

I wouldn't go walking in the interview talking nothing but skydiving, but if the interview turns toward personality, hobbies, get to know me better kind of things, then yes, I'd bring it up. Why hide it? Since I work in a fairly small profession where everyone knows everyone else, everyone I work with now did know I jumped prior to hiring me in that context (not interview) and it was never a problem. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm with you, I enjoy packing. Some guys can be stupid with regard to how they treat women at the DZ, but women need to be better about watching out for each other too. Sometimes, some women, treat others like competition instead of being friendly. It's tough for a newbie to stand up for herself, as far as she knows, how she's treated is perfectly normal and acceptable and something she will have to learn to put up with. Women tend to not want to be assertive in unfamiliar situations. It's up to us regulars at the DZ to give newer girls a warm welcome, and just keep 1/2 an eye open if there are problems. If a guy wants to bring a girl to the DZ and is concerned about the attention she may get, he has far deeper issues than taking a girl to a DZ. He needs to gain some confidence in himself and trust that just because a girl is hit on doesn't mean she is going to do anything about it. Yep, the good are a little bit odd. So what does that say about us that we married a couple of those odd goods?? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I pack for my husband for free. Mostly. He owes me one pack job for every two I do for him. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I do my best not to make statements like that. Nobody ever dubbed me God, so I just don't have that right. For all I know, I'm the one that has screwed up morals and they are right. "Right" is purely a matter of perspective. I agree that a fast death is braver than a tortuous one, but also any death in the support of one's beliefs is braver than I can be. How many people have given their lives for their friends/comrades in previous wars from the US and have earned medals for their bravery? Are they any less brave if their demise was faster, or more brave if slower? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You beat me to saying this very thing

It takes more balls than I have (barring the fact I'm a girl) to be a suicide bomber, so sure, it is brave. I disagree with the motivations, abhorr the entire concept of suicide bombers, but that doesn't mean they are cowards just because I disagree with them. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Me too. My brain understands 50 feet off the ground. My brain can't comprehend 13500 feet off the ground. Though my husband is worse than I am. When we did the siding on the house last year, I was the one climbing the 2 story ladder while he whined about being scared Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Oh, that's right, girls might break a nail, or get dirty, or worse, break a SWEAT if they pack Jen PS I'm a packer. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Well said, I agree completely. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

There is permanent change to the cornea with any refractive procedure, there is no way to avoid this. Every surgical procedure has pros/cons, risks/benefits. I'm not sure what your basis is of eliminating long term side effects of either procedure by comparison due to the relative newness of both procedures, particularly LASEK, so no one can really make that call at this point. Let me repeat that at this point there is no one 'best' option. Every person is different. Just because LASEK was your best option doesn't mean it is for someone else. I do pre/post op work for refractive surgeries and evaluate every patient on an individual basis. That's why I can't give individual based information here or any other internet forum, there are just too many variables to make that kind of call without an evaluation. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

LASEK DOES involve a flap (removal and replacement of epithelial tissue). The difference is that a finer blade than a microkeratome (LASIK) is used. It can be done on thinner corneas thatn LASIK, but the recovery time is longer, vision slower to improve, and is less comfortable. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The flap isn't 'fully healed' for years, the scar will be there for the rest of your life. The cornea has no blood vessels, so harder to send raw materials there for repair than the rest of your body. Talk to the surgeon/eye doc about when to go back into the sky. Everyone heals at a different rate, there is always the chance of complications. I would not recommend less than a month off of jumping. The longer the better, but clear it with your eye doc first. Take lots of rewetting drops with you, your eyes won't make as many preserative free tears after surgery as they did before, so use them just before getting in the plane and again on landing. To the person who said LASIK is a bad idea for jumpers, I disagree. Every person, prescription, and cornea is different. There is no one procedure better or worse then the rest or none of the others would exist any more Which is done is between doc and patient. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You have a hell of a lot more jumps than I do. I'd chop without a second thought... but I also don't have the experience level that you do, so wouldn't have the confidence of being able to safely land it that you have with 2000 jumps more than me

A couple of them are a bit too metallic, and a couple look like they have not yet hit puberty, but most of them really are gorgeous (and I'm a straight girl!). I love some of the tattoos. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Very true. Pediatricians are another. Same reason. I was talking with a malpractice insurance agent, and a lot of specialties are having to pay 6 figures per year for insurance premiums (and that is for one person!!). Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

TIAs all by themselves are not really horrible, it's the underlying cause that can be an issue (carotid artery disease, for example). Aneurism can be tough, as sometimes there are no symptoms until it ruptures and the patient is dead. Brain tumors are variable, you can have a brain tumor that doesn't change and is non cancerous, so isn't an issue. Basically, there is no 'best' diagnosis of the three, it depends on individual case. I've seen some lawsuits, fortunately not involving me, that were completely frivolous in nature, and I've seen others that were very well founded. People really are too lawsuit happy. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The odds thing makes me laugh too. My husband and I have the same birth date. We get asked quite a bit 'what are the odds of that'? Of course the answer is 1 in 366, but for some reason I get weird looks when I answer their question that way. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Best damn turkey in the world. Funny you say that, our Christmas party is going to have a southern/cajun theme this year, so my husband and I are contributing the fried turkeys. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I agree with everyone else. I don't believe in god granted 'miracles' any more than I believe that anything bad that happens is 'god's will'. I do believe that a lot of things happen that can't be explained, at least not at this moment in time. I believe in the placebo effect, that if people truly believe in prayer (or magic, or whatever) healing them, in some cases their body does respond to that belief positively. There's nothing wrong with calling a good thing a miracle, it only adds to the joy of it for most people. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Numbers 8 and 10 have me drooling.... Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Very true. But Christmas is the only time when most people have off of work, so families can get together in one big bunch rather than smaller groups getting together during the year as schedules permit. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Visual perception is a lot more than just depth perception. When you have any kind of corneal or lens surgery (including cataract surgery, refractive surgery, corneal grafts, even going from glasses to contact lenses) the image size on the retina is different. This takes a bit of time for your brain to figure out how to interpret, but is nothing you would notice consciously as it is very very minisculely (is this a word?) different. The other issue is aberration. No eye is perfect, there are all kinds of aberrations in the lens, the cornea, etc. Your brain gets used to that too, so when those aberrations change slightly do to any of the above procedures, it's one more thing that your visual system needs to adapt to. I don't know if you are wearing RGP contact lenses or not, but they can often improve your visual acuity and decrease aberrations beyond what glasses do in irregular corneas. That also may help a bit. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I've enjoyed most of his books. Useless Stephen King fact is that he has a form of macular degeneration that affects younger people (not the age related macular degeneration so common among those over 65). Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

We really don't celebrate Christmas. We'll do the office Christmas parties, for the friends and family we get to hang out with there, but that's about it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm not sure what the relevance is to being associated with a med school. MDs do not have a monopoly on education or learning. DO schools are not necessarily associated with MD schools. I'm an optometrist, went to a school not affiliated with an MD school. Didn't limit my skills or experience at all. Still interned in the hospital setting (VA hospitals) Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda