nerd137

That's the first thing I thought to myself when I met you: "Geez, she's like a GIANT!"

There fixed it for ya! Hmmm...I sense a divorce a-comin'!

"They knew beforehand that sex would be part of college life, but many were surprised at how prevalent it was."

I would build shires to Google if they can pull this one off. Amen to that!

A date is what the night before just became after you and your "friend" wake up in bed together.

Oh good lord.

I've heard this a few times myself, during my one year so far in the sport. I've always thought, "Ok, now you're just being melodramatic."

Outstanding book. If you like Baldwin much, my favorite is "If Beale Street Could Talk." That one really got me going on him. (He's one of my favorite authors.)

That Nobel Dream by Peter Novick. (Any other history nerds out there?)

Wow. I'm not quite that positive that he did it. I think he's a real weird-ass, but that doesn't necessarily make him guility of molestation. (Not that I want to turn this into a SC sort of thread...just my opinion.

I agree. I don't think the case against him was strong enough to convict. Too much circumstantial evidence. (And he's Michael Fuckin' Jackson.)

What, I can't vote for the next major hairstyle alteration?

Well, think about it. If someone says, "I'm cutting away" isn't the very first question you're gonna ask in response gonna be, "Really? What exactly do you mean by that?" It could mean quitting a job to be a packer, it could mean selling your house and/or car, it could mean all of the above... And that's on top of the colossal and inescapable cheesiness of the 3 word phrase.

Awwww, I thought you were gonna shave it. Still, I think it looks nice.

Wow. I took 6 months to get my license. Congrats!

I should probably actually respond to this instead of sidetracking the topic into a discussion of the semantics of "cutting away." I wouldn't do it. But that's just me. I need my current job to support all my expensive lusts.

I guess I'd just prefer telling it like it is (or would be, if I were to do something like that): "I quit my day job so I could skydive more." -or- "I sold all my shit and so that I can buy an RV, live at the DZ, pack for money, and skydive as much as possible."

I still can't believe that people actually use that phrase in real life. I can . It's a good phrase to describe that activity whether it be your girlfriend, job, or bad habit. What should it be called ? I dunno. It just sounds so cheesy.

I regularly (like weekly) have dreams that always have a similar series of events. I have a malfunction of some sort and have an inner dialog like this: "Huh. That ain't good." "I guess I should cut away." "Huh. That's lame." Then I always gently float to the ground, landing without incident or injury, after which an instructor will come up to me and say: "What? No one told you? You don't really need a parachute. Those're just for show." "Oh," I say.

I still can't believe that people actually use that phrase in real life.

Wow! That almost seems unbelievable.

Maybe they meant it's safer versus driving a 1966 VW bug at freeway speeds. I'm only halfway kidding; driving newer cars with crumple zones, airbags, and so forth drastically reduces the risks of serious injury following a high speed accident. Risks are just part of everyday life. Mitigating those risks is human nature. I think it's common to use driving as basis for comparison to skydiving because nearly everyone gets in a car on a daily basis and accepts the associated risks involved with driving. I mean, everyone knows that traffic accidents are a leading cause of death in the US, but we keep driving. The logic that follows is "if I can and do accept the risks of driving, then other activities in that same range of risk must also be acceptable." Sadly, compared to driving accidents, impact after a skydiving mishap has a pretty high risk of death or serious injury versus something you could walk away from. The risk of actually having an incident may be lower, but the consequences of having an incident are much worse. I don't think it's necessarily bad to use driving as a comparison, as long as it's not grossly oversimplified. That being said, I suppose everyone has to make their peace with the risks involved with any activity in order for them to feel fulfilled by it. I've made mine with this sport. Edited to add disclaimer: This is my humble, newbie, low-timer perspective. Take it or leave it.

...I should probably define "obscene." Let's call it 1500 jumps or more.

I'm curious about this. Now, I'm pretty sure there was a thread on this topic a while back, but I can't find it! (If anyone else can, please post a link for me.) If that other thread was just a figment of my imagination (totally possible), I'm really curious to hear from people who did a totally obscene number of jumps before having their first cutaway or still haven't had one at all.

I'm the nerdliest of all nerdkind. (Or, at least I'd like to think so. ) I even wear one of these at work: http://www.thinkgeek.com/cubegoodies/toys/57af/zoom/ (Nerds can be geeky, too!)