
JohnJug
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Everything posted by JohnJug
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GREAT weekend up at Skydive Dallas. We had the second anual Freaks Flock Together boogie. It was a blast!! I don't know all the official numbers but there was something like 170+ people registered for the boogie, plus they did something like 50+ tandems on saturday and they had 25 tandems scheduled for sunday. I didn't participate in any of the orginized hybrid dives myself, I'm still trying to get this sitfly thing down, but I did get to see some video of them and they looked awesome. Personally I only got in three jumps on saturday, but they were good jumps. First jump on my own pack job and the damn thing actually opened. My third jump was outstanding. Actually held a stable sit for the whole jump. What a great feeling that was. Then to top that off at the door prize drawing I actually won something for the first time in my life, and it was 50% off a vector three container!! Now I just have to save up enough money for a main and reserve. WOOHOO!! Had a great time partying that night with freaksis, among others. She said she would write an article for the front page here. Sunday morning by some miracle I was actually up to see the swoop contest at 8:00 am. I took some pictures with my crappy little disposable camera. If any of them come out I will let you all know and get them scanned into my computer tonight if you all want to see them. Unfortunately I had to leave early on sunday, so I don't know how the rest of the day went, but the weather was as beautiful as it was on saturday so I'm sure it was a great day. All together it was a great boogie and I congratulate everyone who orginized and participated in it. Blue skies, Bill
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Hey, that's about the exact same forecast as here in Dallas, but only 83 here. Plus we've got the freaks flock together boogie goin' on. Should be a GREAT weekend. Blue skies, Bill
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Here's one that I actually saw on the bus on my ride to work, had to write it down: Excerpt from "The Edge" by Richard (lost his last name): It doesn't have to be terrifying, sometimes it's simply curling your toes over the end of the high dive, bending your knees and lightly bouncing up and down as if your wings were fluttering Blue skies Bill
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Oh man, vegimite!! I think I'm having flashbacks. I tried that stuff once in high school, because a cute Aussie girl asked me to. I think that was the exact moment in my life when I realised that women are EVIL!! I think Greg's description is dead on, as is his advice. Blue, vegimite free, skies, Bill
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Well, my sister doesn't jump, and probably never will, but my mom did a tandem last thanksgiving. She loved it. I am trying to convince her to take AFF, but she is afraid of having to be responsible for herself in freefall. She did say she would do another tandem though. Blue skies, Bill
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How about just the neoprene webbed surfer gloves? You should still be able to pull fine with those on, but they would increase the surface area on your hands. Might also be warmer than just the golf/batting gloves that a lot of people use for cold weather. Blue McSkies Bill
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Does anyone know if the POPS webpage has moved? When I searched Yahoo! it gave me www.thepops.com, but when I try to go there, I get a "host was not found" error. Blue skies Bill
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I wasn't there for it, but I was told that once a few years ago at Perris they got weathered so they had creeper races around the pool. Of course a bunch of the people ended up IN the pool with the creeper. Blue waters, Bill
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Exactly. The really sick thing is that lately I have been thinking that it would be a pretty good joke to wear some kind of concealed rig to work, then in the middle of the day just stand up and yell "I CAN'T TAKE THIS S@!T ANYMORE!!" and take a running leap out the window. Think you would get fired for that? Blue skies and scared coworkers, Bill
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So I'm sitting here in my cube (read dungeon) where there is a big window right across from me. Not only is it bad enough that it is beautifully sunny out, and about 75 degrees, but now there is a big falcoln, or eagle, a really big majestic bird, just hanging out outside the window. He has been glididng around for about 10 minutes and hasn't flapped his wings yet, just riding the thermals I guess. You think they do that just to torture us office bound skydivers? Man what I wouldn't give to be able to glide like that. Oh well, at least it is only two more days to the weekend and I will be back in the sky with him or her. Blue skies Bill
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I'm pretty sure I'll be up there as well. Just look for the guy in the purple, blue and black freefly suit doing solos, that'll be me.
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Well, I did live in Sunny San Diego and jump at Perris, but about 6 months ago I moved to Dallas, TX. Let me tell you, the weather was a little better in SD. Although I am getting screwed at work right now, so I may be moving back to So Cal soon. So maybe I will meet all you Perris and Elsinore people before too long. Blue skies and warm weather. Bill
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Well, my first was on jump 26 so I think innexperience had something to do with it, and it goes something like this: Why did you have to chop? Opened up in pretty bad line twists, went into line twist mode. Reached up and pulled the risers apart and started kicking. I was not succeeding in getting any twists out and I started spiralling. At 2500' I thought, well, this isn't getting any better and I sure as hell am not going to try to land a spiralling canopy with line twists so I chopped it. What are your recollections of the skydive? Well, it was just a solo dive, practicing tracking so nothing exciting up to that point. I think it was scarier deciding to cut away than actually doing it. Once I decided that it needed to be done I just went into auto mode, I had practiced it so many times I knew exactly what was going to happen, I was going to look, grab, look, grab, peal, pull, pull, arch; and that is exactly what happened and then I had a beautiful reserve above my head. Landed it perfectly on tiptoes and by the time I got back to the packing area someone had already collected my main and freebag and had them neatly folded. How soon after did you skydive again? As soon as I could get a new set of rental gear and get it packed up. I knew that if I didn't get back into the air that day (it was a sunday) then I would be mulling over it all week and I would have problems the next time I tried to jump. What was your state of mind on your next skydive? Pretty damn nervous. But I knew I could do it so I just did a basic solo jump and opened a little high. Just a confidence builder basically. How did your family react when you told them about it? (you did tell them didn't you???) Actually, my mom and my sister were at the DZ to watch me that day. They hadn't realised what had happened until I was talking with them and someone came up and asked me why I cut away, then they were like "What? You cut away? What the hell happened?" But they got over it, and my mom actually did a tandem last thanksgiving. Blue skies and square, stable, steerable canopies Bill
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Three words, hmmm... here's the best I can come up with now, seeing as I am too damn tired. 1) Skydiver 2) Nomad, never sure where I'll be in 6 months 3) TCK- Third Culture Kid Bill
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The Doc actually said that if I was older they might leave it in, but being young and slightly insane (he knows I skydive) it is better to have it removed. This is because if I manage to do another really stupid thing while it is still in my leg there is a SLIM chance that the bar could actually get bent. Since it runs down the inside of my femur, this would make it a bitch to get out, and could result in permanent dissabilities. So for now I fly conservative canopies in a conservative manner and want to get it out of my leg as soon as possible. I've taken plenty of breaks from the sport before, I'm sure I'll live through one more. It's actually kind of cool because everytime I come back after a long break I get the first jump jitters again, which are one of the great aspects of this sport. Blues skies and lots of milk Bill
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Couldn't settle for just the hanging harness...
JohnJug replied to cyberskydive's topic in The Bonfire
We had one cutaway at Skydive Dallas on safety day. It was on the first load of the day, too. A high time jumper cut away from spiralling line twists. As far as I know everything was recovered, and of course he took sh!t about it all day after that. Other than that we had a couple hard landings in the mud, but nothing too serious. Blue, safe skies Bill -
Well, my story started in the winter of '95. I had been interested in skydiving for a while, I think probably from Point Break. So for christmas that year I open one of my presents from my parents and it is just a box with a little slip of paper that says "Go take a running leap out of an airplane". I was incredibly shocked but excited beyond belief. I went up for AFF 1 and when I landed I knew I had to get another, so I talked my mom into buying me an AFF 2. Then it was back to school. My parents wouldn't pay for anymore jumps, so I had to stay grounded for the next three years while I finished college. As soon as I was out I got myself a credit card and maxed it out getting through AFF. Then I had to have surgery getting a plate removed from my leg (I broke it in Oct of 97, not skydiving) and I was back out of skydiving for 6 months. I finally got back into the sport, and got my A license. Then in Dec of '99 I broke my leg again, playing paintball of all things, and was out for another year. Last December I finally started jumping again and am loving it as much as ever. The only bad thing is that this summer I am supposed to get the rod that is my leg now taken out. That will probably mean another 3 to 6 month grounding again, and that I am not looking forward to. Blue Skies and Healthy Bones Bill
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I would have to agree with everyone that is saying to take her up to the DZ with you. I'm not married and don't currently have a significant other, but when I first started jumping my mom was very reluctant about me going, typical mother stuff. I got her to start coming to the DZ with me when I went. She saw how much fun I and everyone else was having, and got a sense for how safe it can really be. Last thanksgiving, at the ripe young age of 53 she did her first tandem, and loved it. She says she is willing to do another tandem. I am trying to get her into aff, but she is scared that she wouldn't be able to control herself in freefall, she feels much safer with someone else in control. Blue skies and WARM weather
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I have no idea how many times I have landed. I pretty much grew up on commercial airlines. Lived overseas my whole life and was constantly traveling home to the states for summer, and to other locations for winter and spring break. Haven't had to land in a jump plane yet, though.