JDBoston

2:0:0 Freakin' winds. Joe

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Blue skies, Seth. My condolences to his friends, family, & teammates. I got a couple of jumps in this past Saturday at Cross Keys. Including my first out of a Skyvan. What a weird little contraption. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay for the party, but I did get to see all the topless girls with body paint on out on the back deck in broad daylight. Now that was a treat. Joe

May I make a correction to your tagline? "Your mind is like a parachute, opening it will only slow you down." Thanks, Joe

Tunnels, drills, blah blah blah. They can all be very helpful, but, the most important thing to do is simply relax physically. Think of it like learning to swim. Air, like water, is a medium. You'll be fine in it. Just arch the trunk of your body and keep your arms and legs a little bit tense and a little bit loose. Falling stable is less about precise body movements and more about balance. Like riding a bike for the first time. You just gotta find your balance. I'm not super experienced (35 jumps), so take it for what it's worth, but student status is a reasonably recent memory for me. Good luck Jason!!!!! Joe

I've been to Pepperell, Skydive New England, and Jumptown. Jumptown is my favorite. Jumptown is a very cool place with very cool people. Skydive New England (in Maine) is cool too, and seems like more of a party than Jumptown, but it's farther from Boston so I probably won't get up there as much. I have been to Pepperell at least 5-10 times, and there are some very cool people there, but I prefer the other two places for their general feel. What I like about Jumptown in particular is that everyone, instructors included, is focused on getting to know new people, having a good time, and sharing knowledge, and they don't much care whether they extract the maximum amount of money from jumpers for everything. I did my recurrency jump there and was not bled dry for it. My second jump there was a 4-way with two instructors who approached me. That's the kind of atmosphere I look for. Anyway, drop me an email if you get in the area and let's jump. Joe

Nothing against young, paid-by-the-hour, recreational drug users, but I think those people are much more commonly responsible for equipment maintenance and your personal safety in bungee jumping than in skydiving. I don't know any "professional bungee jumpers." Joe

Amen! I go AT&T Broadband cable, 1.7 Mbps. Porn, porn, porn. Joe

Good article on Scientology: http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/time-behar.html Germany had the right idea. These guys don't deserve protection as a "religion." What a bunch of nut jobs. My roommate's from Clearwater FL where they own like the whole town. Disturbing. Joe

0:3:2 First jump of the weekend on Saturday was my first 4-point 4-way, with two Jumptown instructors and another guy. Unfortunately it was also my first reserve ride, as I dropped the pud (pull-out), had it floating behind me, and couldn't get a hold of it after a few seconds so I just went for the silver. I was wearing leather gloves, which didn't help, but the main problem was a lack of planning on my part for what I would do if that happened. I now have a plan and do not expect any more reserve rides in that situation. I spent the better part of the day trekking around in the woods and fields nearby looking for my freebag, which finally a couple of guys on the sunset load spotted on a nearby baseball field. One of the riggers there had it repacked for me by Sunday morning (thanks Brian!) so I was up in the air again on Sunday though I only had a 1/2 day to spend there. Love my Triathlon - the thing kicks ass. Anyway, I'd rather fly it than my PD Reserve... Joe

0:3:2 First jump of the weekend on Saturday was my first 4-point 4-way, with two Jumptown instructors and another guy. Unfortunately it was also my first reserve ride, as I dropped the pud (pull-out), had it floating behind me, and couldn't get a hold of it after a few seconds so I just went for the silver. I was wearing leather gloves, which didn't help, but the main problem was a lack of planning on my part for what I would do if that happened. I now have a plan and do not expect any more reserve rides in that situation. I spent the better part of the day trekking around in the woods and fields nearby looking for my freebag, which finally a couple of guys on the sunset load spotted on a nearby baseball field. One of the riggers there had it repacked for me by Sunday morning (thanks Brian!) so I was up in the air again on Sunday though I only had a 1/2 day to spend there. Love my Triathlon - the thing kicks ass. Anyway I'd rather fly it than my PD Reserve... Joe

Break into construction sites and climb around on the equipment. That's always good for a few giggles. It's more fun if you're drunk, then you get beer muscles and try to climb the cranes and stuff too. Joe

You must mean the ones that drop on you from the trees and scratch your eyes out. Mean little fuckers they are. I hear it's a real problem down there. Joe

One of the guys organizing the trip to BM is Bryan Burke, who I believe is the S&TA at Skydive Lake Tahoe right now. I had some correspondence with him earlier in the year about it. The basics are: D license minimum, and more importantly the organizers are trying to limit it to people they know personally and have seen land. BM is way out in the middle of nowhere, and it would really rain on everyone's parade if someone hooked in and had to be med-evac'ed. Equally important, they want to bring people who are going to be a part of the whole BM spirit and perform/do something unique, not just people who think it would be cool to jump out over the festival and swoop in to crowds of adoring, naked, drugged-out hippies... Wait, maybe I was imagining that last part myself... Hope that helps. I hear it's a cool time even if you stay on the ground. Joe

Yeah, didn't anyone ever tell her that hamburgers don't come from ponies? Seriously, this feels to me like a media and language issue (similar portrayal of women and meat, use of "piece of meat" as a figure of speech to refer to women and tandem passengers). There may be similarities between sexual objectification and the dehumanization of food animals. But it doesn't follow that one is morally obligated to be a vegetarian if one realizes this and wants to treat women better. Animals are animals, not humans. Sure, they're cute and furry, but guess what - if we released them all from their confinement and let them roam free, their 3-square a day would turn to famine and getting torn apart by other animals. Is it morally better to let nature take its inevitable course, so they'll rot out there in the woods somewhere, than it is to make some use out of them? Humans are omnivores, like dogs. Meat is part of our diet. If anyone doubts that, they can look in the mirror and examine those little pointy teeth on either side of the middle four. As an aside, I actually don't try to dissociate my meat from its source at all. I like it better when it retains some of its original shape - such as drumsticks, squid & octopus, steak with a bone in it, and so on. That way I feel more connected to it, and it feels less processed and artificial. Joe

Vivid dreams, huh? Maybe ya gotta lay off the Nyquil then... that stuff's potent! Joe

2:1:1 First jump on my new rig. Yahoo! If a hand-job counts I guess I get maybe 2.5 on the first category. A little random but what the hell. Different girl than the 2, that's the only reason I'd count it. Sorry if that's TMI. Joe

Me too, buddy. Two T stops away from ya. Flakes everywhere. Guess I must have liked it, though, since I'm back in the "People's Republic" now... Joe

So 60% of the people on this site are ass clowns according to the poll #'s when I checked it. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's a bit higher than the percentage of the population in general. You are all a bunch of weirdos. What's wrong with the front door? Joe

We go wine and beer at 4 PM at the office today. I need that like I need to be hit in the head with a tack hammer, after consuming the following last night: about 1.5 bottles of wine and some wussy frozen drink that nevertheless had a lot of vodka in it. Throw in 3 hours of sleep, went straight to work from some girl's place, and I have felt awesome all day (is my sarcasm showing?). I would like nothing better than to be asleep right now. And Lisa, good luck finding a monitor. Joe

It looks like premature ejaculation to me, what with the "~" and all. Joe

Bill, I'd like to agree with you, but, strange as it may sound, I feel like humans as a species would actually get bored without a certain amount of conflict, risk, and death. Granted, we have made a great deal of progress, and we should continue to do everything in our power to keep wars from breaking out, but my fear is that humans just aren't wired for a perfectly peaceful existence. Frankly, most ordinary people NEED an enemy or at least an opposing group in order to keep their sense of identity intact. It's not ideal, but I do think that's how we're built. Still, I'd like to be wrong. Joe

I only have 2 questions: 1. How the hell can you score that high drunk?, and 2. If you bowl sober, why? J/K Thanks, Joe

If you suck it up and do it over the phone or in person, you'll be a better man for it. It's always a good idea to practice the steps even on girls where you know the outcome (or think you do...). That way, you'll be ready when it comes time to step up and ask out the ones that are less of a sure thing! Joe

Very sorry to hear about your loss. Hope your memories of her last forever. Joe