karenmeal

I've found the use of dolls is helpful with doing a freefly dirtdive. I like to use a barney doll personally. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I've got a highly experienced rigger friend who does that on his rig.. (uses two main closing loops.) I think that it's unnecessary. But I also think that if doing something small like that contributes even remotely to the prevention of an incident, where is the harm? Not everyone thinks it is silly, look at a strong tandem rig, they've got that idea pretty much integrated into their rig design. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I just got a pair of them for my rig (they were free.) I had them converted to regular risers after a few jumps. I really didn't like them. I don't think it would be worth the extra cost. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I've never done the tunnel, I'm an air purist. But I am pretty sure that freefall time is freefall time and tunnel time is tunnel time. Two seperate things that may have the same result, but are quantified seperately. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

You can actually skip all the liscenses, I've only got a D liscense.. no others. You just have to meet all the qualifications and take all the tests for each liscense, but don't have to pay for all of them. Just have an instructor stamp your card and that counts as an A liscense without you having to pay any money. But back to the thread, I think it is ridiculous to lie about jump numbers! If you don't feel like you have enough jumps to "fit in"... then just leave it blank! Most of the people on here have less than a hundred jumps anyways... everyone fits in. If you want to point a finger at the people who don't "fit in" it would be those crazy mofos with over 5000 jumps! "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

If you're jumping at a dropzone that forces you to learn to pack very early, you've got a tremendous headstart over many other newbies! I learned to pack during my AFF and it helped me to understand and have confidence in my gear. I think that truly understanding packing and the effect of different techniques is an invaluable skill in our sport. Its not something that you simply learn from taking a packing course. Its more a skill that you figure out through lots of repitition and curiosity. I know that at large dropzones its easy for people to get lost in the crowd and continue to put off learning to pack. However, it is your personal responsibility to learn as much as you can about your gear. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Damn! I thought of a good stupid human trick that my old DZO did once! He pulled down his pants, stuck a bottle rocket between his butt cheeks and then had someone light it. He was attempting a known maneuver called the "buttle rocket." He got a bit freaked out when the sparks started flying down his butt crack and clenched his cheeks and started to run. With his pants down around his ankles he fell over and then rolled on his back and arched, feebly attempting to get the bottle rocket out with his hands.. It exploded while still wedged between his butt cheeks and he had third degree burns and later had to go to the doctor. Before he got to the doctor though, he had someone put salve on it and he ended up punching holes in the wall. So that is probably the funniest stupid human trick I have ever witnessed. Oh.. and right before he did this he said to someone, "Hold my beer and watch this." True story. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I don't know if this counts.. but we used to tie two ropes to the back of a truck and go up and down the runway having creeper wars and trying to push the other person off the pavement. We'd get going pretty fast! My personal stupid human trick is that I can play two recorders out of my nostrils and do harmony on several songs. Thats right.. Out of my nose. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

That reminds me, you know those silver jesus fish? Have you seen the one that has the jesus fish eating the darwin fish? What on earth sort of message is that sending? If you believe in evolution Jesus will eat you?!? "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Yeah, I'm really grateful, to the pricks who took my car for a joyride, "thanks!" I'm cancelling all of my cards anyways, who knows if they wrote the numbers down. They also have keys to my house and car now, so I have to get all the locks changed too. But I'm seriously really appreciative of the good deeds that they did in spite of everything. Really. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I am so pissed off at the fucking little wankers who stole my car last night. So we get a call at four in the morning... I'm thinking its my parents or something so I persuade my boyfriend to ignore the phone. When he got up at six he went to go check the message that had been left. It sounded like some 16 year old or something telling us "Dude, your car was just stolen. THere wasn't shit that I could steal off of it.. next time don't leave your keys in the car.. umm....I parked it at the fred meyer parking lot." (Yes the keys were left in the glovebox, I lock myself out of the apartment/car about once a week and just got sick of it) So we drive the block and a half to the fred meyer.. there my car is. Locked, pretty much nothing stolen.. not even our two rigs (both in the trunk), my wallet was still in there along with some atm cards and a platinum visa. All he took was my cell phone that was free with the plan anyways. I call the police, just to report it so that they can track it. What d'ya know? They don't fucking believe me! The officer is asking me all of these questions, hes got a low voice and is mumbling so I keep asking him to repeat what he said and giving him the wrong answer because hes not enunciating for shit. He gets all miffed when he asks me what type of cell phone and I'm not sure. I explain to him that my mom pays the bills on it and I use it for emergencies mainly.He doesn't believe me! Then I get a bit pissy and tell the asshole that this is not the issue, I don't care what happens to my phone, it was free.. all I was trying to do was alert them to where the people are breaking into cars. He asks if I want my case number, I tell him no, because there is absolutely nothing to be done or investigated. The asswipe doesn't believe me and he thinks my friends stole the car. I don't have any friends in this area! My only friends in Washington are an hour away in Snohomish! Fucking cops and little boys that steal cars. I know I got my car returned and all and that I should be happy, and I'm thrilled that they didn't take it... just what little arrogant pricks! "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

stupid april fools day. I figured it was just another example of conspicuous consumerism that some yuppie skydivers came up with. hahaha. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I've never heard of or seen one of these canopy whistles. Are they supposed to warn you of an impending canopy collision? Can other people under canopy really hear these? Or is it just a "hey look at how cool I am swooping and making pretty noises" sort of thing? P.S. You forgot to add a "no" on the poll. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

So I guess we need to start a WHOS GOING thread here. Just Cut and Paste the list into a reply to the last poster who added theirs and add your name if you are coming to THE Lost Prairie Boogie Whos GOING Amazon SeaKev Shell666 TallGuy Karenmeal (with Jeff in tow)

I thought that getting my wisdom teeth removed was a blast! I had all four taken out at once and anesthesia was so much fun! I do whip its every now and then to reminisce about the surgery. Good times. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Hail storms can be good! As long as you're not concerned about the cosmetic aspect of a car.. you can collect the insurance money! I got my car for 2000 under the blue book value because of the hail damage.. you can hardly tell! Maybe you need some new gear that the insurance money can take care of. (If you are lucky enough to get hail damage on your car) "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Well Gee.. I kinda liked it. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

heres my interpretation: you had a silly skydiving dream. Heres a good one that I've had: I dreamt once that I was on a perfectly normal skydive, I totally forgot about pulling anything and whacked in. I peeked over the edge of the crater that I had made to see if anybody noticed. Nobody had, so I got out, kicked a bit of dirt back in and walked back to the DZ like nothing happened and didn't tell anyone that I had just bounced. I was particularly relieved that the DZO hadn't seen me, because I knew I would be in really big trouble! "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

HAhaha.. I'm guilty of this one. I get pissed at my boyfriend when I just feel like being mopey and he tries to help solve the problem. Bastard. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I'm guessing the feeling is similiar to a BASE w/out a slider? I'll probably put a jump or two on them and sew em back up this weekend. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

So my risers are getting pretty old now.. actually way too old. I have a brand new free pair of triple risers sitting around the house, so I may as well start jumping with them.. I guess.. What are the pros and cons of it? I'm not expecting to lengthen my swoop.. but I may as well switch over. What are the reasons that some people love triple risers, why do some people dislike them? Once you get used to flying triple risers, is it pretty much the same? And finally.. on triple risers.. are rear riser landings just as easy? or do they complicate them? thanks for the input. -Karen "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I did that right after I got my ticket too. :) It was a challenge.. and the fabric I used ended up exploding. Bummer. They were pretty pants while they lasted. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I'm a freshman at a local community college in Washington. Just recently decided to give up the full-time skydiving scene to pursue a degree, so that I can one day afford my addiction better. I tried going to school once before, but had no motivation. My time away from school has helped me to become more focused and goal oriented. So my major is going to be early-education. I want to be a kindergarten teacher! I love hanging out with children and the work schedule of a teacher seems to go perfectly with skydiving. Summers off.. yeah baby! Anyways.. theres your answer. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I have a pet sugar glider. My parents, who are both college professors, encouraged me to drop out of college and pursue skydiving full time. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

So.. if I go to an ob/gyn in Georgia, is she required by law to report me? *note to self- Don't get knocked up in Georgia. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham