MarkM

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Everything posted by MarkM

  1. MarkM
    I hang glide off of Everest.... naked.
  2. MarkM
    I guess I'm one of them
  3. MarkM
    Except divers use that same method for ascending as they do descending. I think more than anything the pressure it causes forces the tubes open. Even if you have more air pressure from doing the trick hit your ear drum, it doesn't stay there it flows back. Ie/ your tubes are sealed creating a chamber on the other side which will cause trauma on pressure changes. Blowing pops the tubes open briefly and allows the air to flow both ways. Inhaling/sucking air in probably wouldn't do anything since the tubes are already sealed like a rubber gasket.
  4. MarkM
    Sounds like mild barotrauma. Nothing to get concerned over, unless you have some sharp pain(which might mean an eardrum is perforated) or it doesn't eventually go away. If you saw a doc he'd probably recommend not jumping until it cleared up though. In the future you can likely avoid this by popping your ears on the ride up to altitude(hold your nose and try to blow through it while it's held).
  5. MarkM
    Except that guy likely isn't a true skydiver. They'll jump for a year or two because they like the concept, then get bored and move on to the next cool thing. Profile someone who's been in the sport regularly for 10 years and I'll bet you see some definate trait differences. Those differences won't make him or her "better" either, some of those differences are likely healthy while others probably aren't.
  6. MarkM
    Huh, I was a geek when I started skydiving and I'm still a geek 4 years later.
  7. MarkM
    The only worthless part of the video's though is that they always show this nice small neat canopy fitting nicely into a big ole D bag when I have a ball breaking big ass canopy I'm trying to get into a bag that's SUPPOSED to be the right size, but I'd swear it was actually designed for a canopy 2 sizes smaller than mine. For that you need a real live packer who shows you all the nasty little tricks you can use to get the SOB into the bag, even if it don't look pretty.
  8. MarkM
    Pretty much dead on for me. Graduated AFF at SOBE which was nothing but FF and tried a couple sits solo soon after graduating because everyone else there was a FF'er. Was pretty uncontrolled though so I decided to stop attempting to FF unless I get serious training on it, I just don't want to risk sliding into another person's airspace. Right now I'm at Miami which has a lot of RW jumping so I have access to that, but I'll likely still stick to solo belly jumps. I just don't want the pressure of having to perform, I got enough of that during AFF and am finding a lot of fun in just exploring the 2d world, perfecting my tracking, side slides, powerful turns, height control, various exits and so on by myself. It wouldn't suprise me if I skip group RW and solo/group FF both and go straight into wingsuits when I have enough jumps/skill for that. It just seems like a very "fun" discipline and FF itself to me seems a bit "turn points"-ish lately when I hear people talk about it.
  9. MarkM

    FEAR

    MarkM replied to tmontana's topic in Safety and Training

    When I hear the use of the word "fear" as used by the origional poster I get the impression it's the mouth dry, limbs numb, heart racing variety of the demon. I'm sure a lot of people don't feel the slightest twitch of nervousness when they skydive, just like people rarely get nervous driving their car to work.
  10. MarkM
    Weather-wise you'd probably be best off at Perris in the summer and Deland in the winter months.
  11. MarkM
    I don't really get the "tandem factory" comments about Skydive Miami. For sure they do a lot of tandems. They're right next to Miami, they get all the tourism from there. But when I hear "tandem factory" I think of a place that only cares about tandems because that's where the money is. It's like a bad slur as a way of saying that the DZ doesn't want or care about fun jumpers. And as a fun jumper I've always felt warm welcomes when I've showed up at the dropzone down in Miami.
  12. MarkM
    "Much to my dismay, last weekend at Clewiston, everyone left went and played paintball instead of jumping with 3-4 hours of sunlight left." Yeah, Pahokee was always awesome. I can't help but think someone will get something up and running there though eventually, unless for some wierd reason it's just amazingly unprofitable to run a DZ there.
  13. MarkM
    Never jumped at Clewiston, though I drove out there once to drop off some stuff for SA when it was up. Skydive Miami is about the same distance from Fort Lauderdale as SOBE was though. You just take the turnpike down to around exit 6 or so(you want the exit for SW 288, it will be marked as such), head west to US 1, south one block on that to SW 296 then follow the dirs as per their website. The only downside is you pay $4 in tolls each way(less if you have a sun pass), unless you skip part of the toll road and take 95 down to 836 and cut across to the toll road on that, then you pay $2. Jumps are still $20 though. Hrm, it's sad that I know all my Florida driving stuff just from the DZs I've visited.
  14. MarkM
    I've heard zilch, which makes me worry about whether or not they'll be back up at all.
  15. MarkM
    Yeah, but you should really stop worrying about junk science websites. The guy giving out the deodorant warning also recomends on another page that you should have your amalgam dental fillings removed. Before you make changes in your life based on some information, consider the source of the information. There are a lot of quacks and whackos out there and the internet makes it easy for them to get exposure.
  16. MarkM
    Where did you read that Europe stopped importing Canola oil? http://www.ohiohealth.com/healthreference/reference/FC87FDDF-8CF4-46A4-AB198616E697BD9F.htm?category=questions
  17. MarkM
    On the canola oil article, have you read the rest of the site? Wow, what a great science site. The article on the canola oil itself is just as good: And hey, he read where rape oil was used in mustard gas or something! And let's not forget it's called "rape" oil, therefore it has to be bad. I mean, they're like raping the oil or the seeds or the land or something... Definately go with olive oil, olive branches are a sign of peace and hence harmony. You want to put harmony in your body not some oil that was raped. In fact, I'd recommend extra virgin olive oil. You can never be too careful.
  18. MarkM
    Not always. I got a fairly big check from the IRS a bit back and later on I got a letter stating I had made an error and that was what they owed me. My only question was that if they knew how much I was supposed to owe them then why the hell do I have to file in the first place?
  19. MarkM
    Hmmm I wonder how it'll look after a few months of hard use. Dirt stains, grass stains, etc are really going to show up on it.
  20. MarkM
    I would only sue if I could prove that they knew about a problem but failed to correct it or to properly alert people about the issue. I can accept the mistakes, but I fully expect the manufacturer of my gear to not ignore potential problems for their profit margins and to not cover up issues because they don't want the bad PR. In regards to your wife I hope she heals quickly. My brother had a heart attack with no insurance coverage and the bills quickly climbed past 100k+. He didn't have to pay it all off, there are ways out from under large medical bills. Just get her all the help she needs now and then worry about what you can do with the bills later on.
  21. MarkM
    Hey, I got a $1700 refund coming. So what do you guys think, should I replace my old 1996 Triathlon with something like a nice new Sabre2? Maybe I should call around the DZs and see if anyone has demos of sabres or spectres.
  22. MarkM
    I don't see the problem. The police asked for DNA, he refused, end of story. It's no different than a cop asking you if he can come inside your home and take a look around while responding to a nearby call or something. They can ask all they want, but not force the issue unless they have a warrant.
  23. MarkM
    Oh yeah, I gotta do those.
  24. MarkM
    LOL, search for Perfect Blue Sky by Junkie XL. Also As the Rush Comes by Motorcycle is a good one and a less obvious choice than Extreme Ways by Moby. You reminded me that my music tastes have sorta of changed towards tunes that would go well with a skydiving video. I guess I'm more addicted than I thought.
  25. MarkM
    Geez, you could have at least shared the secrets of avoiding a hangover with her or something.