NWFlyer

Amtrak's service on the east coast, particularly in the Boston to DC corridor, is probably its best and most heavily utilized service. When I lived outside of DC I used it sometimes to travel up to New York or into Connecticut to my grandparents. If one of your hopes is to hit major tourist spots in east coast cities, you will find that the train stations will put you right in the heart of those cities. Bus stations might too, but usually a bit more on the sketchy edges. As for what to do ... if you can time it to be in New York just before Christmas, I think seeing Manhattan dressed up for Christmas is something worth seeing. You can go harass Peter, too. Others have already mentioned taking advantage of all that DC has to offer much of it free. There's a lot to do in the area that is winter-weather friendly, including all the Smithsonian museums, the National Gallery of Art, the Holocaust Museum, and even bundling up and seeing all of the outdoor memorials can be nice without the throngs of tourists that you have in the summer. The chances of DC having snow in December are pretty low - it'll probably just be cold, and not that bitterly cold. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Yeah, but I'd prefer not to spend the night sitting on the floor in the Denver airport. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

It's in events, though there's not much of a list. You should shape the thread up and get a proper list going. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3166679 "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Nice sig line. :9:0 Damn, what a great time at Skyfest. Only one on Friday due to a late morning arrival and general post-redeye exhaustion and spaciness. But I did finally get a jump in with miss tmaricle herself. I still can't believe it myself but I did six great jumps on Saturday... not sure how I kept jumping in 99 degree weather but I was having so much fun on Chris Wagner's organized jumps I just kept turning in tickets. And this morning we had two wonderful record attempts for the South Carolina women's record... no record, but great fun jumping with some lovely ladies (and one lucky dude named Tony who took some photos and video...y'all might have heard of him). Now if I can only get home to Seattle, the trip will be complete. Right now I'm sitting in Denver, having missed my connection from Charlotte, and looking at not getting on a plane till after midnight here. Sigh. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Aight J, I said I was never going to come to Skyfest because I couldn't for the life of me comprehend why anyone in their right mind would want to come to Texas in July (no offense to Texans, of course, it's just that ... weather!!!). But then you went and moved it to South Carolina in early June and it all seemed so promising, so like the weather would be lovely ... maybe a bit warm and humid, but not altogether bad. But WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT????? Seriously, man, no regrets, and all the rumors are true - you throw one hell of a boogie (but really, you don't have to take the hell part so literally with the heat next time, okay?). I had an amazing time, and I look forward to attending many more Skyfests in the future. Great organizers, a heck of a vendor fair, free jumps, record attempts, nightlife... something for everyone! And thanks to our hosts at Skydive Carolina for taking great care of us and keeping us hydrated and cooled off as much as possible. Special thanks to the van drivers for picking us up, even when we only landed 50 yards out! Also, big kudos to Packin' Cathy and her amazing team - I cannot believe how hard those guys and gals worked to keep us all in the air. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Right now I'm actually shivering (yes, shivering) in the Econo Lodge because we had the A/C on the ARCTIC TUNDRA setting all night. And it feels niiiiiiiiiiiice. Time to wake up my sleeping boyfriend and get our asses over there for first loads before it gets too farking hot again! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Ooooh, eeneR FTW - that would have been hilarious. I would totally do that if I was in the right mindset. I'd have a bunch of people on an escalator looking at me like I was nuts, but it'd be totally worth it! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Nice. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

So I'm here in Charlotte, waiting for the rest of my Skyfest traveling crew to get here. And I'm mulling over an experience I had earlier this morning as I'm connecting through O'Hare. I'm heading down on the escalator to the passageway between terminals. A guy's heading up. I see a t-shirt that looks vaguely familiar and I focus in on it, sure enough, it's a "Jumps from Perfectly Good Airplanes" shirt. I look up at his face, nope, I don't know him at all. It's 5 a.m., I'm fresh off a redeye and my brain is mush, and I can't think of anything random at all to shout at a perfect stranger in a crowded airport to somehow harass him or otherwise acknowledge his skydiverness. And by that point I was at the bottom of the escalator and went on my way. I thought about it later and all I could come up with was "Hey Asshole!" If he's a Muff Brother, of course he'll turn immediately and yell "WHAT?" If he's not, he might still wonder if I'm a skydiver, but of course, I wasn't wearing any skydiving t-shirts (I know, sacrilege - new rule - always wear a skydiving t-shirt en route to a boogie!). And I might get some hostile reactions from everyone ELSE on the escalator. So who's got any better ideas? What should I have yelled at this dude at O'Hare? And if it was you... identify yourself! (Vague description - white dude, maybe early 40s, thinning brownish hair, medium build, probably around 6' maybe a little shorter). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Is this another one of those Angry White Man posts? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Well, in Southern California and many other areas, that's probably true ... but up here in Seattle my doctor has had me on prescription-strength Vitamin D supplements all winter just to get me up to the normal range at my most recent test last week; even with dairy consumption and OTC vitamin supplements and day-to-day exposure, it's tough at this latitude over the winter months. But we certainly don't have to go in the other direction, either. My fair skin can't take the abuse of tanning. I take after my father, who grew up on a farm and had lots and lots of sun exposure as a child and is paying for it now with vigilant and careful treatment of pre-cancerous growths. Fortunately, my exposure was mostly recreational and not nearly as much as his, but I know i need to be vigilant, too. Damn you people for turning this into an actual discussion when all I was trying to do was have a little fun. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I already did that. I don't agree that milk is bad for the heart. Unless maybe you cut your chest open and poured it directly on your heart. Then it might be bad. Or maybe if you replaced your blood with milk. Then it might be bad for your heart. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Not that I thought this would turn into an actual debate (I was just having some fun), but... that's not necessarily so. Go read "Rethinking Thin" and "Good Calories Bad Calories" and "In Defense of Food" and I'm willing to bet you may have a very different perspective on milk. Much of the "truth" about nutrition that's come out in the last 50 years ... isn't. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

News: Source: Kansas City Star "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Seems strange to be learning this at age 37, but here I am! I'm so thankful to have found this doctor and just wish there were more like her. But unfortunately, she's really a niche player, and to be successful at what she does, she actually plays outside the system - she's a non-participating provider with insurance. It's the only way she can provide the level of care that she can - 30-45 minutes with each patient, uninterrupted. No way could she do that if she got what insurance companies were willing to reimburse, sadly. [No, I don't want to send this to SC!!!] I can submit claims, but they'll only be covered at the non-participating provider rate, so I only get 60% coverage, and that's only after I've met my $500/year out-of-network provider deductible, and only after my insurance company has decided what percentage of her fee it thinks is "reasonable." Essentially, it ends up that I pay for most it anyway. Fortunately, her lab provider is covered by my insurance, as is the nutritionist for at least a few visits a year (I only pay co-pays on that). But it's been worth every penny. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

No, no, DOWN, divot, I want it turned DOWN. And why are you posting instead of jumping? Oh, nevermind... forgot who I was talking to. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I've used Fitday before and I agree it's a great tool. My problem with that is that if I start doing that, I start getting obsessive about calories and carbs, and DIETING, and that's actually counter-productive for me right now, and counter to where my doctor and nutritionist want me to be. They're just trying to get me to where I can have a normal relationship with food, not this fucked-up, obsessive-compulsive, psycho, diet-culture-driven relationship that I've had my entire life. I can sustain it for a few months or even for a year, but then I get to a certain point and I can't do it and then I don't know how to operate and I'm right back to scary extremes. So we're trying to get me to normalcy, to where I just know how to behave around food like a normal person who treats food as fuel most of the time, and who occasionally indulges, but for one meal and then it's back to being normal. So I eat when I'm hungry and I stop when I'm satisfied. Not stuffed, not gutted out, but satisfied. I don't let myself get to starving, I eat when I start to feel hunger. I'm basically learning to really listen to my body and what it needs, to pay attention to what energizes it and what drags it down, to what I'm craving and trying to figure out why and whether it's a physical need (sometimes, it is) or an emotional one (more likely). I do want to do some tracking for my nutritionist because while we've spent a lot of time talking about the emotional relationship to food we haven't really talked about the specifics of what I'm eating and when and (roughly) how much. So I do want to talk to her about that, but it won't be in the context of exact day-by-day calorie counts, because I, personally, can't operate that way - it sends me in the wrong direction. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Can you do something about the heat before I get there tomorrow? I'm looking at a 40+ degree swing from Seattle to Chester. I might melt. Granted, it's just stupid cold here right now. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

So ... had another follow-up with my doc today. The good: I'm ridonculously healthy. **Blood-pressure is back comfortably in the normal range (121/80) after being high for a while, then at the high end of normal. **Resting heart rate is excellent. **Cholesterol levels continue to drop (they were never high, but now they're even better). **Blood glucose levels are excellent. No risk of diabetes for me. **My vitamin D levels are finally (almost) in the normal range after supplementing all winter. A little actual sun and I should be good. **My thyroid is even starting to behave on its own after levels were starting to drop. **My lean body mass percentage improved - in other words, the weight I lost so far was primarily fat. The bad: I'm stalled out and have been for about 2 months. I'm just sitting around staying at basically the same weight (scale bounces around up and down within a 3-4 lbs range, which for me means I'm essentially staying at the same weight). I only weigh once a week, so no, I'm not obsessing. My clothes all fit the same way, so it's just a flat-out stall. Doc and I decided to tweak a couple things (different birth control pill, and tweaking one of the meds I'm on), but otherwise just hope it's just a temporary lull and ride it out. I do have an appointment with my nutritionist in a month (first available slot - she's damn popular) - I'm going to keep a log of my food for a week or two before and see if she sees any red flags. But I'm not going to get obsessive, either, because that always winds up counter-productive for me. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Ask Valinda where she and John went for their anniversary. Don't know how much it cost but it looked really cute and romantic. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Whuffo. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

This is an excellent habit to get into. yea, especially when the winds turn 180°.. So? It's still good to plan out a pattern before you go up. Then when you get out and the winds have shifted you just need to mentally shift your pre-planned pattern, not plan from scratch. At least, that's what Scott Miller recommended in his canopy course. But what does he know? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Those have nothing to do with birthdays. Those are more like dares. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Sweet, I can deliver spankings in person! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

You're just bitter you didn't think of it first. I know I am. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke