Tinkerbelle

Didn't Wesley Snipes do that too on TV? Rehab is for quitters.

4 percoset, and I'm ready to jump! Just have to point me in the direction of the plane. It's harder to remember the points on pain pills though, so larger formations are easier! Send your friend to me. I know everything there is to know about disc problems, and what not to do! Been there, did all the wrong stuff first, Wish I knew then what I do now! annbrolly@earthlink.net. Just say NO to surgery. There is one procedure done by a Jeffery Saal, & bro. at Soar clinic associated with Stanford. If you haven't already had surgery, like me, boo hoo, they can make the disc resorb! Also check out the guys, Dr. Reynolds at Spine Care Center, in Daley City, near SF. Don't let anyone talk you into fusion without checkinh every alternative first! Check into arthroscopic procedures and micro-surgery, not complete unzippering like me, wrecks too much healthy usable stuff that will never be the same again! Check out Drs. histories, and procedural outcomes. I got scared into surgery right off the bat, haven't been the same since. He said should be be jumping within 2 weeks... now I'm told 'cause of the surgery I had I will never jump again, without risking complete quad paralysis. I live on pain pills from the surgery! Dics problems are scary stuff! Be as non-invasive as possible! Don't trust surgeons, they all want to do their one trick pony act on you for their own reasons, not for your best interest! Don't let any surgeon pull the car sales man act on you like they did me! And I should have known better too! Tink Rehab is for quitters.

Yeah, Bob has 2 sisters, one in Texas with a cool fishing cabin by a lake where he likes to stay, and the other there in Michigan. He says his sister in Michigan is like the kindly old Grand Mother who loves to take freshly baked cookies out to the local DZ, so proud to be Bob Sinclaire's sister! That is where he collects his mail mostly. His sisters both support his gypsy life style and are very proud to have such an extreme, excentric brother! Yeah, as far as his accuracy goes, ...it is simply amazing! At the WFFC I walked out with him onto the field to put his little pillow out there in the middle of the grass. It even took glasses just to see it from 20 paces away. I thought he was kidding when he said it was there to cushion his landing since it was not big enough to cover the average butt on a car seat, and is only about 3 " thick! But sure enough I watched him, and he did indeed land right on top of the little thing! Maybe I'll encourage him to join in the accuracy competition at the Nationals next year! Wouldn't that be funny for him to show up out of nowhere, and with his "House of Frankenstein" parachute equipt with an old, spring loaded rip cord, just blow all the high speed competition away with all their high speed gear and special accuracy trinkets! He would of course be oh so Bobly irreverant and make them all feel so emasculated, even the girls, to be whooped by some crazy old guy! While everyone else is equiping their gear with the latest, greatest, high speed stuff, Bob always has to modify his gear with antiquated weird stuff! Bob is truly unique, one of a kind! I am proud to call him a good friend and kindred spirit! If I were 10 years younger, I wouldn't let that man out of my sight! Tink! D#272! Rehab is for quitters.

You know that dude from Perris who jumps with a neck brace.... Do you think it is actually helping him or just makes him feel safer? Rehab is for quitters.

Say, I tried Melanie's Spectre 107 and it sniveled then popped. I tried a Spectre 120, had ths same experience, pilot chute in tow feeling, then a rapid pop at the bottom. I hated it! Gary Peek suggested I try an old F111. Have you ever considered one of those or know of a camera flyer with oune? Which one? o you use dacron lines? Sorry I asked some of the same Qs you already answered. Are you scared about an increade in injury rate with camera stuff on your head? What specific neck strengthening stuff do you do? Would you brave skydiving with herneated discs, bone spurs, and arthritis? I have been told it is too dangerous and my land me in a wheelchair. Every medic says no way! But I say, if I can bear it at all, yes way! Is that taking too big of a risk in your honest, professional opinion, or are they just being overly cautious? Tink

Say, about body position on opening.... I found it felt better to sit up on opening so the opening shock was straight down rather than pulling you up from horizontal. Is there some reason you can think or why that might not be perferable? Tink Rehab is for quitters.

Hi There, It's you! Howzit? It always amazes me how you do it! Hope it was OK to mention you. I've gotten in trouble in that past for making specific references, but I did want to give you credit for being one of the few, the brave, the women camera flyers! Say "HI" to everyone around Perris for Annie Brolly! Wish Kate God's speed on her recovery! Give Tony Bear Dominico a hug, & give Quade a huuuuggggeee hug & a kiss for being the one brave soul sticking up for me on this forum amid a flury of misunderstanding and malice! Say "HI" to Pat Conatser & Melanie if she is around and Monny & Daddy Contser & Dominique and Brett, & most importantly,... the unforgatable Moosecat! Miss you guys! Annie Keep videoing! Do you ever get neck problems? What kind of canopy do you have? How much does your camera weigh? Being a PTist.... what kind of strngthening and stretches do you recommend for the neck? Is your neck still in one piece? Tink Rehab is for quitters.

Wow, what a thorough evaluation! I will not rebutt all of that, but as per the incidence of catorid artery severing and dying as a result right there on the table, at the time I spoke to a couple sttorneys and was told by a couple they had just finished or were pursuing that very thing! Have you ever heard of that? I suspect the best thing a chiropractor can do is massage the area to encourage muscles to loosten that are holding bones out of place. What do you know about pressure point therapy? It sounds like great stuff! How many times do you have to have an area worked on with pressure point attention before the area of pain lets up? What would you do is the person had numbness and tingling? I went back to the chiropractor at his request for about a week before I had an MRI which revealed the hernations and spur. Two days later I was in surgery, had a foramenotomy which did relieve some of the tingling, but absolutely destroyed my neck! Been on pain pills ever since! What would you do is someone came to you with 2 badly herneated discs in their neck? How would you know without an MRI? How would you treat them? Do you think it would help? I agree all medics can do is throw pain pills and butchering at you, which is not good! Less invasive, more mechanical adjustment is much more preferable, as long as the manipulator knows what they are doing and is gentle, not forceful, which could be the final straw that breaks the camel's back! I went to several chiropractors. Got hooked on them all, but never helped. They do have a way of making you feel like it's gonna work, and in some instances that is better than anything else! I am sure you are a great and it sounds like a very thorough chiropractor! Tink

OK Kids.... Here's a good one that baffles me!... How is it that camera people don't all have neck problems? It would seem that if just regular openings expecially hard openings can leave a regular neck hurting, what on Earth do camera people do about the fact that they have between 5-20 extra pounds of stuff bobbling on the end of their poor necks? Just thinking of the mechanics of opening, I can see how my C 5-6,6-7 got compromised from over bending like a wire bent too many times... Not only do I have 2 herneated discs there, and bone spurs, but I also have severe arthritis at the fascet joints. Wouldn't putting all that extra weight on the top of your head and the end of that "lever arm" made the neck that much more vulnerable? Why don't camera people end up with neck problems twice as fast or likely as a normal jumper? Are they concerned about this? What sort of precautions do they take? I know Mikey McGowan weight lifts all day long and has a thick neck and shoulders like a Sherman Tank! And you know what they say about guys with thick necks! Ha Ha... he would appreciate that inuendo... But what do others do? Special gear? What gear? Special strengthening exercises and stretches? Which ones, with what regularity? Holding the head and body in a certain position on opening? I know of one great camera girl in Perris who is tall, long, and lanky and has a thin neck. How does she prevent injury? Tink Rehab is for quitters.

Hey, I've missed seeing your pretty face! PM me... Yeah I tried a belt, but would have to get used to a different flying position, always preferred shoulders lower to drive body forward, but that of course is why I now have neck problems. In retrospect I know exactly what I did and why I did it. If I had it to do again, though I would do it all differently. Wish I had other small people around at the time to help me figure out my solutions were going to hurt me in the long run. Now everyone gets into everyone's business, which is good if you can take the condructive criticism. More info is better! Wish I had a fresh neck and back to do it over with. To the one above, be careful....what you do when you are young WILL ketch up with you, so if it hurts, STOP and fix it, don't just suck it up and deal with it! Tink Rehab is for quitters.

I finally found lead shot in tiny squares, in bigger squares. The lead brick was what urt me, it was hug and solid! Long ago I net a guy who made a horse collar type vest with long shot worms that covered from and back. I tried to get one, but he said he broke several nedles just making the one so he didn't want to make another. Had I had one of those I would not have hurt my neck. It was so well distriguted, you could hardly feel it. Seems like the more you can spread out the weight the better. But still don't know whether it's better on the rig or on your body?! As it was mine was so lame all on the backpad, that if I got tipped I felt like I would tip over. Also I couldn't change the weight since it was all sewed in and solid. I came up with lots of designs, but never put them into effect 'till it was too late! Little people wearing lead have to be careful! I envy all them big people with tiny weightless rigs. As it was mine was about half of my body weight! I guess in the end I was just too small for this sport! Too much extra weight my body could not handle just to keep up with all the big lugs! I would still be very interested in any new novel ideas about how to best carry lead! Tink Rehab is for quitters.

Hi There, I am a small female, 100 lbs. I have had trouble for years trying to carry weight on my body to jump with all you big people! Having grown tired of weight vests squishing me making me feel like a sandwich I finally put the weight on my back pad. The way it was afixed was a bun design. It was 12 lbs of lead shot in a plastic matrix in a cardboard frame attached to the back of my reserve. It was solid and inflexible! It ended up crushing my spine and hurt my neck 'cause it dug into my spine and did not allow my torso to flex on opening, thus putting all the extra impact on my tiny neck! 4000 jumps later, I finally took it out and replaced it with softer, more flexible weights that I can velcro into the backpad pocket. he system is not ideal, as the weights are not long and there is a heavy seam where they attach in the middle of my torso. Doas anyone have a better idea of how to best hang weight off a timy frame so as not to injure the jumper? I have debated with myself for years whether or not it would be better to put it on the rig or your body. My thinking is that if it is on the rig, when the parachute opens it suspends the weight, but if it's on your body, when the parachute stops, the weight on your body and your body keeps going, only stopped by the harness. Thus if the weight is on your body, that puts the added weight as an extra strain to your neck and body against the harness. What is your thinking on this? Tink Rehab is for quitters.

Wow, that's really cool! I would be careful about those chiropractors though. Before you go next time look up chiropractic malpractice on the internet. The straw that broke my neck was a chiropractor. He did that neck torsion thing, and 2 hours later my hands were numb. 2 days later and I was having surgery. I have never been the same since! It was said that he broke my neck. I don't know for sure whether it was he or my parachute openings, but he did definitely seal the deal. I looked it up and that torsin thing is so dangerous they can even bust carotid arteries and kill you right there on the table. You are supposed to be allerted to this danger and sign a waiver understanding and accepting the risk, but few ever do that. They just twist everyone's neck. I asked the guy at the time what was the difference between that and breaking someone's neck, and he just said, "oh don't be silly, I know what I am doing, and have been doing it for years." Well granted if someone has a healthy neck to begin with, a little cracking isn't gonna kill them, but if they have some inherent pathology already in there, it just might. The chiropractor will never know either at what risk you are since they don't do MRIs to assess soft tissue and disc vulnerability. Sure they do X-rays, but they are bogus marketing ploys, and aren't even done properly if you show them to a real radiologist. If you show an x-ray to 4 different chirporactors they will give you 4 different assessments. Given to 4 different radiologists, you will get one straight answer. Most of Chiropractics is bullshit marketing ploys, and it works. People fall for it wanting to believe in them! They say, oh no... crack... oh there, perfect... and you believe them and feel better 'cause it cracked and you want to believe it's now straight! They are not real medics though! Go look it up! Most of their schooling is not in anatomy, but in marketing. Look up Chiropractic malpractice to be alerted to the BS hypnosis, mind games they play to gain your confidence and rob you. If it works for you though, Hell, I'm all for it! Whatever floats your boat. Just be aware that if you have a real mechanical, anatomical, or physiological problem, they can really hurt you! Just think about it... if you have a fense that is crooked and a vine growing through the fense... the fense being yourbones, and the vine being nerves and muscles growing around them, what would happen if you suddenly jolted to fense to straighten it out? Dor sure the vine would break, as did my vine! Also think about it... if they could snap you "into place" so easily, after 50 years of activity, wouldn't you just be a mass of disorganized bones? How then would a couple jolts be sufficient to "snap you back into proper alignment"? The dude who did me... said my tingling, numbenss, and waekness after his sharp jolt was just my body finally getting used to being in proper alignment after all these years! He said I just needed to go back to him every day for a week, and I would be all better! Well, in reality, that tingling and numbness as viewed on an MRI, finally was identified as my nerves being squished by herneations and bone spurs, which he likely either caused or exacerbated since they had not bothered me 'till that point. I was told by a neurosurgeon just days later that if I didn't have surgery immediately I would be paralyzed forever... so who to believe? Of course I wanted to believe the chiropractor so I went back to him... but he couldn't fix me. The neurologist said, he has crushed your building, there is no way in Hell, he can pound and twist in you more and uncrush it! So just be careful! And before you or anyone goes to the Xhiropractor, be sure to look that stuff up on the internet! I am sure you will find it very informative and enlightening! Tink

John, I am worried about you! You seem way too in to this gun stuff?! Have a nice day! Tink Rehab is for quitters.

True, a gun can serve to protect you as long as you know that of you brandish it, you'd damned well be ready to use it, else if someone thinks you are not serious, they will just take it away from you and use it on you instead. If you are going to point a gun, you have to be ready to shoot whatever or whomever you point it at, else it just increases your own risk of being harmed! Tink Rehab is for quitters.

Say, does anyone have any good Bob Sinclaire stories? We need to record in a book Bob Sinclaire's History & life & Times in Skydiving B 4 it's too late!!!! He of course has been jumping since the 40s, before most of us were even a glimmer in our Mommy's eyes! He even knew and has pictures with Tiny Brodrick, the first person/ and yes it was a woman, to voluntarily jump from a plane with a parachute, just for fun! Bob has been jumping since the 40s, and had a Skydiving School in Hollywood, CA. back in the 50s, 60, & 70s. I know at least a couple people, one of whom still jumps in Perris, Shirley Perine, "Shirley You Jest" as I call her... who was trained static lining with a round and belly pack by Bob in the 70s. Shirley is one of the sweetest ladies who owns her own jumpsuit alteration, fabrication, and other sewing services business called "Pineapple Express". Bob also is proud to have taken Johnny Carson on his first jump. Bob brags about still getting royalties when Johnny shows the video on the Tonight Show, or at least he did 'till Jay Leno took over! I have plenty of stories of Bob. He and I are kindred spirits! He gave me his D#272, and insists I use it to forever be his emissary! I love that old guy! He basically innovated skydiving videography way back when! I have seen photos from his extensive albums of himself with a whole multi-media facility on his head! He did lots of stunt work in Hollywood back in the very early days! He was basically the driving force and the person behind the old TV series "Ripcord". His list of Hollywood film and other crdits fills about 4 pages closely spaced! He has jumped, trained, and vieoed people skydiving and flying all over the World since the 40s, before they even invented color in the World, back when everything was black & white! Some literary person who is maybe working on their college thesis needs to go find Bob in Coolege, AZ, and get all of his stories and copies of and descriptions of his extensive photo albums and journals recorded down in print before he goes away and his vast wealth of Parachuting History is lost forever. Luckily Bob is one of those guys who is very careful to record and lable everything and writes a newsletter frequently keeping up with the where abouts and goings on of many of his old and current comerads! Luckily Bob is what you might call anal, so for anyone who might be willing to record his info, not only would they get tremendous credit from everywhere and everyone, not to mention the privilege of having published such an awesome work, might even get a Pulitzer Prize, but it wouldn't even be that hard to do. All it would take would be a cassette recorder, a transcriber, a scanner, a xerox machine, and a couple days of well-spent time interviewing Bob. Whomever stepped up to the plate would have to be sure to be very witty, patient, inciteful, prodding, be a good listener, be interested, and have a good sense of humor since Bob is sharp as a tack and tells jokes and makes funnies continuously. Those would have to be recorded as well to reflect Bob's tremendous wit and sense of humor! That is one of his most irreverant, yet charming characteristics. He and I have gone out to dinner on many occasions, and it is so funny to watch all the naieve, ignorant, judgemental waitresses treat him like a deaf, old, man! He always has something funny to say that keeps you rolling, but most often goes right over everyone else's head! As someone said in another section of this forum... I think it was "General Skydiving" in the thread "Stuck in Eloy with nothing to do"... 'during high wind days, Bob is always pissing everyone off with his "Kiss my Butt" irreverant sense of humor!' It is sad that so many new jumpers don't respect their elders or take the time to really listen to our Skydiving History! One time I even dragged Bob over to Mikey McGowans in Eloy from Coolege where Mike Mullins allows Bob to live in his bus and jump for free. I knew Mikey was too busy to take the time to go to Bob, so instead I dragged Bob and all his photo albums to Mikey instead. We all sat down there at the kitchen table and went through each photo, one by one, 'till late into the night. I wished I had had a tape recorder! Bob always has such funny stories and commentary! I just thought since Mikey was into photography, he should know more about the history. Bob has so much to say and specifies so many different names, though, there is no way anyone could possibly keep them straight or commit them to memory without writing them down! So here's the challange.... If anyone is in college and needs a good thesis project.... go interview Bob Sinclaire, and get that wealth of info and history recorded before something happens to Bob and it's too late and is all lost forever... Bob is not getting any younger, and is still an active >1x/week jumper! I worry about him! He is one of, if not the nearest, dearest friend of mine! He is truly the most significant skydiving icon alive today, and anyone who has the privilege of meeting him should consider themselves lucky! Tinkerbelle AKA Eloy Annie! If anyone runs into Bob, please give him my love and kisses from Eloy Annie, D#272! Rehab is for quitters.

I own a gun, a 45 mm. I bought it for my own personal protection because I had a stalker who scared and threatened me. I went to lots of shooting ranges to learn how to use it properly, 2 to the chest, 1 to the head. I posted my sillouettes on my front door so that anyone who entered my apartment would know if I ever pointed it at them I was serious about shooting it, knew how, and that I had learned to be very accurate! I think it is important as a female to have a means of protecting myself since there are so many bad guys out there who may think just 'cause you're small, they can pick you up, throw you over their shoulder, and carry you off for their own use and abuse! I feel better having and carrying a gun. It makes me feel safe and larger than life! I believe in that saying "better judged by 12 than carried by 6"! Although I would want to be sure I was judged by 12 impartial folks, rather than perhaps some on this forum who may not judge me fairly! Say since you're into guns, John, do you know John Storey who owns "The Storey Parachute Works"? He runs the Chute-n-Shoot there in Texas. He and his wife are very good friends of mine! I think the World of them and visa-versa! I think it's funny and also kinda scary that there in Texas at the DZs after everyone is all liquored up in the evenings, those who are into guns always bring them out to show off! This I find to be quite arrogant and downright dangerous! This killed a guy in Alaska when one accidently went off! Gotta be careful with those things... so many of them are specifically made for killing people, which they do quite effectively and most often accidentally! If a gun is mentioned in the first act, it always has to go off before the last, often killing some innocent person, if only accidenty! I am pretty sure that more people have been killed accidentaly by guns than were supposed to be stopped by the people who bought them for protection! Also, once you bring a gun into the equation, suddenly the stakes are raised! While it may be unlikely that you will be shot and killed by a gun ordinarily, if you own one, those statistics suddenly become more likely and significant! Fire arms have an uncanny way of summoning other firearms in opposition. Fire begets like fire! If you carry one, you are probably far more likely to be harmed by one, one way or another! So be careful John! Tink Rehab is for quitters.

Hi guys! I am a neck injury person from too many hard openings wearing too much extra lead in a bad position on my rig! Is anyone else out there also suffering from a neck injury? How did it happen? How do you cope? Have you all found anything that helps? Have you been able to return to skydiving despite medics warning you otherwise, as so many do? I have 2 herneated discs in my neck and some bone spurs pressing on my spine at C 5-6, 6-7. I also wore a solid lead plate attached to the back pad of my reserve that dug into my spine about 1 & 1/2"and pushed in and crushed the spinus process of a couple of vertebrae in my upper Thorasic region, generating an unbearable amount of pain that radiates throughout my whole neck, upper back, under my right shoulder blade, and down my arms, specifically the right and into the fingers causing some tingling, numbness, and weakness! It is very painful and disabling. Does anyone have any good suggestions about care for the neck post injury? I hate it when medics call you chronic. 'cause that basically just says they have given up on you. I had surgery, but just a foramenotomy, which was supposed to have been a minor, conservative "procedure" intended to eliviate some pressure on a nerve radiating down my right arm, which was causing some loss of strength and tingling in my right fingers. Unfortunately, I was not told at the time that having that surgery would prevent my being able to have any further surgery to remove the really bad pathology. I got scared and rushed into surgery by a bum surgeon who was just after saving his job. Apparently they were making cut backs at the Hospital, and since he had not operated in 20 years, he was at risk of losing his job. They stopped doing the surgery he performed on me 20 years ago because of the damage it caused to all the highly integrated, delicate, and essential muscles and nerves of the neck in addition to so many that pass through the neck, which as it turns out, is far worse than any benefit I gained from having the surgery! There is even a name for those who have had that specific surgery, the "Post laminectomy syndrome". How weird is that to have a syndrome named after and generated from having a specific surgery. Be careful all you injured people.... Lessons I learned... 1) if it hurts, stop and fix it! You may be able to just suck it up now, but if it hurts, after a while if you don't fix it, that hurt may become permanent! 2) Be sure not to be scared into having anything done by any medic. Stop and research the problem, every possible solution, and the histories all the procedures, the outcomes, and all the relevant medics as well on your own first! Lots of medics out there don't care about the welfare of the individual, but each have their own impetus driving their intentions, be it their professional reputation, keeping their job in a publish or perish kind of environment, or they have lots of allamony to pay, or the mortgae on that million dollar mansion on the ocean cliff is due, or they just bought a fancy new BMW! 3)Don't ever let anyone touch you who is > 45 years old! They should be young enough to have learned all the latest, greatest techniques, and still be green enough to be reading, still interested in, and keeping up to date on all the latest info. Too many older medics learn just a couple things, then sit back on their laurels and become 1 trick ponys. refusing to put in the time or effort to learn new techniques. You must find a medic who is new enough to be still learning, yet experienced enough not to be using you as a learning tool! That is a tricky fine line to decipher. Also, remember that in any given med school class, there were those at the top of the class, and those at the bottom, who just barely got by. Be sure to know where in their class your medic was, and only visit those at the top of the class! 4) It is a shame, but medicine seems to be so subjective! For any given problem there are many different solutions depending on who you talk to, so in all honesty, you must do your own research and know what you think is best and find the medic who agrees with you. Don't let anyone talk you into something you feel is wrong! 5) Be sure to look into and first try every non-invasive alternative before you ever allow anyone to cut on you. They may try to tell you that the surgery is just a "minor procedure", but know that any surgery will leave you changed forever. It will never feel the same as it did before, and you can never undo the operation. Surgery is major, no matter how much a surgeon tries to diminish the impact. 6) when they say... well, there is an 80% chance you will be better, know that you just might end up in that 20% category! 7) Try to learn to forgive those fair weathered friends around the DZ who do not stick with you after you have had some problems and can't entertain them or skydive with them like you used to do - that is a hard one - If anyone knows how to better deal with this last issue better than I, please let me know! I have been so alone and lonely since I fell victim to a neck problem and have not been able to participate in my sports like I used to. How do you deal with this? Where do you go to make new friends if all you have ever known in the way of socializing is skydiving? Luv -n-stuff Annie

I will just say one more thing then go away, I did not trash talk anyone at Deland. If you are talking about EM, who is the only one at DeLand I even mentioned besides Carl, she & her husband, JR, are very good friends of mine. We talk on the phone & email each other every day. I love her! It was not fair what may have been said at DeLand. Carl doesn't care nor want to hear about any of this. So don't waste your time telling him. I think it was unfair that I got ganged up on. More negativity was said to and about me by you guys than I ever said about anyone! I don't understand why I am any more at fault than any of you guys. I love all you guys too! You are in my prayers. Hugs-n-kisses! Tink

I do not understand why I was banned from the forum discussions when, if you weigh the two, more people have said mean and nasty things to me and about me than I ever said to or about anyone else! I do not understand why I was so heavily scrutinized, while others who said plenty of offensive things about me and others were not?! I even asked that one thread be locked out since it had turned into a burn Annie at the stake thread, which was not only personally attacking of me and my character, but was definitely off topic and in violation of the personal attack rule as well, which I assert others have most definitely violated more than I! Yet none of them were reprimanded! There was even an entire thread started by Flyangel2 specifically about how I had no right to put my D# on my personal profile. The thread was very hurtful and ugly directed at me for her own personal issues. Then when I tried to post any defense of myself I got slammed and banned. That was not fair! I was called all kinds of nasty names by people for their own personal reasons and issues that had nothing to do with anything I said or did. Specifically I would draw your attention to the thread on cold sores, which is a real concern of mine. All I was asking in my poll was if anyone else was concerned about them what with all the kissing on the DZ. It was not directed at anyone, yet I was personally slaughtered for simply asking the question. Also, I don't see why my putting my D# as 272 on my profile caused such controversy to begin with. Most of the people speaking out against me on that issue had not stated most of their own true to life info either on their profiles. At least I posted my real picture in my avatar. But even that I was accused of stealing off the internet in addition to so many saying I was not real! Would I have been equally justified to get on someone's case and make a tread slamming them for misrepresenting themselves as a wet cat? Where did Flyangel2 get off slamming my D# when her name is not even Flyangel2 to begin with? That same thing goes for many of the other girls and a couple guys who have personally attacked me. I happen to know that one of the moderators does not like me for her own personal jealousy and in fact not only has she caused problems for me on this forum, but has spread around so many nasty rumors at DeLand, that I got numerous phone calls from angry people about things I never did or said. She also spread around DeLand that I was dangerous! She has caused all kinds of problems for me in my personal life and with my SO, simply for her own personal reasons that are not forum related. This is not fair not to mention simply cruel, mean spirited, and cold hearted. Why should a moderator be allowed to use her power on this forum to violate the personal attack rule in real life?! Most of the threads I posted were valid concerns and issues that I wanted input on, yet so many specific people who seem to have a personal problem with me just turned them into personal attacks. But if you will notice, I did not attack back even though I wanted to. I did not want to get onto a name calling thing, so instead I just allowed them to make false assertions and be mean and just tried to make a funny and diffuse the situation instead. I should get a pat n the back for this rather than a global ban. Those other hurtful people are the ones who should be banned. I even sent PMs to all of my agressors trying to be their friend. I made a good friend in the BASE dude from the PDG thread. But some of the girls were less friendly and were clearly not interested in being friends. They then took thse personal issues to anything I posted on the forum making me look like the bad guy, which I was not! These are the bad people, not I with the olive branch and the out stretched arms who got slapped down! I also don't understand why I was banned for being off topic when so many others do it so much that it even has a name for it, "hijacking threads" And my off topic discussions were not even that off topic! It seems to me that I got blacklisted unfairly due to more personal issues of a few that were rather subjective and individual, and don't seem to be applied equally to all parties involved. If you are going to make rules and hang people who are perceived to have violated them shouldn't the same rules apply to everyone equally? Rehab is for quitters.

JohnRich Veteran Feb 25, 2004, 9:45 AM Post #8 of 10 (60 views) Copy Shortcut Re: [foobar] Identity Status Suggestion [In reply to] Quote | Reply -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Reply To -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get everyone to vote for the top 25 (or however many you need) people on the site they trust. Not the most pofieint experts but he most trusted (yeah it's open to interpretation but so what). Give those 25 the power to bless anyone else's post as trusted. The more cumulative blessings you get from trusted posts the better you are. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I disagree. This would allow some people to use this new-found power to create negative marks for those they disagree with in personal debates. It's prime territory for abuse. We should not have a star chamber that judges each member here. Just let everyone decide for themselves, using their own judgement, as to who can be trusted. When we see Bill Booth, we know we can trust him. When we see someone with no profile information at all, we can be suspicious of their comments. If someone is spouting junk or bad advice, others can call him on it, and set matters straight. Leave it up to each individual to decide for themself!

I am in complete agreement with you, Mr. John! Have a nice day! Tink Rehab is for quitters.

Funny story about packing: You know Patrick Swazie showed up in Hawaii to jump once, back during the "Break Away" days. He jumped once, then just threw the used rig down and walked away. Steve Machiovitch, then the DZ manager at Skydive Hawaii, grabbed him by the arm and said, "Dude, aren't you gonna pack?" Patrick looked shocked and alarmed that someone had called him on it and made such an astounding request! He then had to admit he didn't know how... so Steve got one of the packers to help and made sure Mr. Swazie sat there and helped out 'till it was all done! After that Steve told him to beat it, and he never jumped there again!

For all you cynics out there who gave me so much shit about my asserting my D#272 on my user profile, and of Bob Sinclaire and me being kindred spirits,... Here's the validation!: elfanie Old Hand Mar 1, 2004, 7:17 AM Re: [Tinkerbelle] Stuck near Eloy with nothing to do In Reply To ------------------------------------------------------------ Yes, Bob wanted me to have his D number so I would forever be his emissary. Actually he wanted it to be legal so he sold it to me for a dollar and wrote me a permission slip just in case anyone doubts the validity. It concludes with... if anyone has a problem with it... tough shit! ----------------------------------------------------------- Hee hee... I was chatting with Bob this weekend...and told him I had 'met' you on the computer. ("Oh, I don't get into new Fad things like computers." he says with that cheshire grin of his) I told him what you'd said..he laughed and said that he did not sell the number to you...he GAVE it to you, and mentioned the ticket he gave you to prove that it was yours. (and told me about the "tough shit" part. heh...) He's doing well, though...still does his potato exit about once a week or every other week (and on days with higher winds aloft...pisses people off in his charming "kiss my butt" way... Gotta love Bob..) he did hope that you were doing better.. anyways...he wanted me to relay the message, so I have fulfilled my promise to do so. -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Tinkerbelle Old Hand Mar 1, 2004, 9:59 AM Re: [elfanie] Stuck near Eloy with nothing to do? [In reply to] Quote | Reply -------------------- Thanks! I hope all those sceptics read this validation. I can just hear Bob saying that "I don't get into FAD things like computers...." stuff. That is so Bob! He is great isn't he! Definitely a skydiving icon everyone should have the privilege to meet some day! Eloy Annie! Rehab is for quitters.

Personally, I don't need no stinkin' gadgets, nor an AAD, in fact, I don't even need a parachute! For longer trips though I take the broom so my wings don't get too fatigued! Rehab is for quitters.