MarkM

Hey Weid can you post links for the above two? I'm doing airspeed in March, but since I'm local anyway I'll probably always be up for a little tunnelwork. Is Sebastian XL affiliated with the DZ?

Haha, good call.

Damn dude, that's a whuffo question if I ever heard one

He did. Old age. The mind, you know.

Freezing? What is this word? I recall some distant memory... from when I lived in Indiana... yes fields of white or something.... Hmmm. Nope, drawing a blank here. Anyone want me to pick them up something from the beach this weekend?

Hmm, 1250 on 1 card? Might try applying for a second card with a 1k limit on it. That'd give you 2200 to play with between the two. Also no reason to need 3k, you can buy a perfectly good used rig in the 1500 range.

Java code won't work with html like that. If you're talking about a real time gradual color change, then javascript might do this but I kind of doubt it. If it's just a static color fade effect I'd use background images to create the effect.

Mine's at around 1.0 to 1 which should bring me down in once piece if I'm under it unconscious.

I was thinking about getting an audible for the reasons fred laid out. Say my pull altitude is 4k because I want to be under canopy at 3.5-ish. I'd set my first warning at 3.5 never planning to hear it. Also the other warnings might be useful if I'm dealing with a total mal.

When I've been coding all day my english goes to crap.

People are dropzones are more open because all that matters about you when you're there is that you love to jump. Only been to 3 dropzones but at each one there were people there that accepted me because I truly love to jump. It didn't matter to them that I had the personality of a rock, they loved to jump, I loved to jump, that's all that mattered.

Holy crap dude. We'll, now I know why you're called Thanatos. Think that was Freud's term for death instinct.

First jump was May 6th 2000. Slept about 3 hours the night before, if even that. The drive to the dropzone was hell. Got there early, didn't see anyone at the hanger so I drove on past, wandered about a bit then forced myself back to the DZ. Got in, went through the program and was cool until they showed a video of former students leaving the plane. This was a SL jump, the plane was a C182, and I was afraid of heights. Seeing that video hammered the above home. The training went long, I was starving and guzzling down liquids while watching the experienced jumpers swooping in for these amazing landings. I'd never see skydiving before and it just looked so totally cool. They made it seem effortless, I was so jelous. My turn was about up, I had eaten a little and used the bathroom about 1000 times(don't drink a lot if you're nervous), and was as about as ready as I'd ever get. I geared up, looked at the plane and wondered if I'd be able to jump out of it. I was really scared I'd chicken out and ride back down. I was the smallest guy there, so joy of joy, I got to sit right next to the door. Boarded the plane, buckled myself in and we taxi'd a bit with the door up(it was hot out). Wasn't scared yet, maybe I'd go white-knuckled zombie-boy when we took off. The door closed(didn't seem like much of a door to me), we took off and I still seemed pretty cool. We got to 2k, I got linked up to the plane, the JM yelled "Door!" and he popped the sucker open to let some air in. Zombie-fying white-knuckle terror didn't set in yet, this wasn't so bad! The plane circled around a bit while I stared out over a few thousand feet of air and then I put my hand out the door into the airstream. Felt pretty damn good. A more experienced student in the back gave me a thumbs up. I'm sure I grinned back like an idiot. We climbed while I looked at the ground. It didn't look real, it looked like I was staring down at some poor quality photograph. I was feeling good, saw the DZ, checked my alt, the JM yells "Get out and stop!". So I scoot over a bit and swing my feet out onto the step above the wheel. Had to really fight against the air. "Get all the way out!" I stand up, swing my right arm out onto the wing strut and shimmy up it until I'm past the red tape that says I'm where I'm supposed to be and look to the JM who's back in the plane. He gave me the thumbs up, I looked up at the wing and let go. Thoughts: "OMG I just did it-OMG I just did it-OMG I just did it" (chute opens) "Ommmf. Fuck that hurt!" Then I bitched myself out for forgetting to count to 5 when I let go of the plane. I did my control checks and waited for radio instructions. I heard static and someone that sounded like a trucker. I looked to my right and peered down at the nearby interstate. I doubted that trucker was going to be much help getting me down. So as per ground school I turned and headed towards the DZ and just sort of sat there checking out the surroundings. The air up there was the sweetest and cleanest I'd ever tasted. After a bit the radio kicked in and the DZO brought me down for a decent landing. 2 months later I was back in a plane at another dropzone committed to getting my license.

Haha, mistake! Now we're all gonna come out of the woodwork to hit on ya Tee.

What!? You mean I spent all this money to get into skydiving and I don't even get my own babe when I show up at the dropzone for my first jump? Well crap.

Mininum? Guess I might not bother if I only had 10 or 12 feet until impact.

On the ride up make it a habit to check what the ground looks like at 3-4k. Also be checking your alt against other people alts in the plane as you climb to altitude. If there's a mechanical failure in it you may notice it then.

I heard a rumor that they closed a few months back too, but I'm fairly certain it was just that, a rumor. Call 561-924-2020 and get the lowdown from them yourself if you want. Last time I was out there a year back or so they seemed like a pretty cool bunch. I'm looking forward to jumping there.

Eh..er. no... must resist.. obvious puns.... HELP!

Think this is it.

Bah, ugly. People are going to be too busy laughing at him flailing through the sky to notice his jumpsuit.

I'm sorry. Is this site called dropzone.com or youredreaming.com?

This http://www.para-gear.com/jumpsuits/slipstream/slipstream_ii.htm isn't a bad first jumpsuit. Comes in pretty generic sizes and if the one you order is too small/big Para Gear will exchange it for another size.

It's not your job in life to be polite to everyone and not cause any trouble. I get sick of people not willing to say anything bad about a DZ because they don't want to deal with the political blowup that always results. Fuck that. If you know of something bad going on at a DZ, spill it. Worrying about hurt feelings doesn't do crap for my safety as a jumper.

Know the feeling. Just nose around for other solo jumpers to hang with. If there are none at your DZ, visit another DZ or two. It's great hitting new DZs, they all their own vibe.