Zennie

matt - If you do the tunnel in Vegas, get Ray as your coach. He helped me out immensely. And tell him Zennie sez "Hi". ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

I talked to HH about this a couple of weeks ago. The problem is that he's afraid, rightfully, that having a permanent IRC channel would overload his server. I've been working on trying to set up an permanent IRC channel on EFNet, but I'm having trouble getting Eggdrop set up correctly (it's a program that creates a permanent administrator on the channel so you don't have to be logged on all the time). Any IRC/Eggdrop gurus out there? ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Roy - Not to get off topic, but I'm heading up to Indy tomorrow thru Sunday. I've talked to cacophony about getting together at SD Greendburg. Where do you jump? Any chance you can hook up with us? ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Super schweet! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

C'mon man, give it a try. The first one's free.... Yep on both counts. You might be able to avoid the rental costs by borrowing/demoing a rig. Otherwise, I'd strongly recommend that you purchase one as soon as you can. Those rental fees add up! There's one cost that nobody's quite sure about because it's based on a new USPA requirement: those 12-odd jumps between AFF and your "A" license. Under the new BSR's you're supposed to be accompanied by a certified jumpmaster or coach until you get your "A" license. I don't know what effect this has/will have cost-wise. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Ann in a nun's habit? Kinda gives The Flying Nun a whole new meaning! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Look at it this way. At least you have your cutaway procedures down!

Heheh. See? A full face has its advantages (plus I can wear my glasses). I have not yet had the good fortune to encounter the pointy ends of raindrops. By all accounts I'm not missing much. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Hrm. I spent a lot of time in the Vegas tunnel while I was still on student status and I think it was some of the best money I've spent. I purchased 5 coached sessions and 5 regular sessions. Yes, there are some whuffos, but when I was there there were a fair number of "regular" skydivers (two of whom had over 700 jumps) who were there to hone their skills. When I went to Vegas I had a bad chipping problem. When I got back I sailed through my student progression. It made that dramatic of a difference for me. I don't know which staff scud encountered, but most of the staff that I met were skydivers at the Gravity Zone (SD Las Vegas gets very bad reviews from regular skydivers). If you have the chance to do it I totaly recommend it. Especially at the early stages of your skydiving career. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Congrats guys! Anybody have a URL for the current results? ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Congrats on the job. Did some poking around, it looks like S'port City Skydivers is what you're looking for. http://www.awebplus.com/skydiving/louisian.html Hope you can still make it down to Houston to jump every now & then! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Ding! Too many people confuse education with intelligence. Sorry to go on a rant. But that kind of elitist crap just burns me up. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Hope you get to feeling better! BTW. Do you jump out of Skydive Greensburg? I'm going to be in Indy this coming week and I plan to jump out there. Maybe we can get together and do a few jumps (so get better quick! ). ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

It was late last night & I didn't have time to respond, but I absolutely cannot let an ignorant comment like that stand unanswered. I'm not one to toot my own horn, but in this case I think it's appropriate for the purpose of making a point. If your "friend" believes that relative lack of education qualifies him to spout off on the intelligence of those who choose to participate in our wonderful sport, you may want to remind him that there are several of us here with advanced degrees. I graduated in the top 10 of my high school class (out of 450). I attended the University of Notre Dame where I got my bachelors degree in psychology. I attended Southern Methodist University Law School, where I graduated a member of the legal honor society. I practiced law for five years, quit for personal reasons and became a software developer. I have written software for the International Space Station and currently am a developer at Enron Broadband Services. But like I said, I'm not the only one with advanced education. Ramon works with computers, Ann works in the medical field. I know one guy at our DZ who is an anesthesiologist, another who is a veterinarian and two guys who work in radiology. Adam Rosen is a resident in orthopedic surgery. And, finally, one of the members of Deguello, Mary Ellen Weber, is an astronaut who has been up on the space shuttle twice. She has a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a PhD in Physical Chemistry. So, if he'd like to intelligently debate the topic, maybe he should choose someone more on his "level" rather than taking a condescending attitude. Send him my email and I'll be more than happy to oblige. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

My condolences. The fact that he's still getting around at 98 is great though. My grandmother is in her mid-80s and she's really starting to fade mentally & phsyically. It's always sad to watch. I tell my wife this all the time, and I'm totally serious. I'd rather bounce than fade away in some nursing home not knowing who or where I am. That's not living, that's existing. Anyway, I hope that your grandfather gets better. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Congrats! Now get that "A"! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Yeah, you would have skybytch-slapped him! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

I certainly wouldn't delude myself into thinking skydiving is safe. But I don't think that's the point people are trying to make. I think what we're trying to say is that everything is a calculated risk which involves some chance of death or serious injury. But for some reason people do "risky" things without even blinking an eye. Driving an automobile or motorcycle is dangerous. SCUBA diving is dangerous. But most people wouldn't give you grief about it. That's considered "normal". Yet when you look at statistics, skydiving isn't much riskier than any of those activities. Yet whuffos think we're maniacs. I think the issue is one of proportionality and understanding facts, rather than visceral reaction to the dramatic act of jumping out of an airplane. Other dangerous activities are more mundane and thus acceptable. Ours is spectacular and therefore crazy. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Either the DZ has really poor pilots, really bad aircraft, really bad maintenece or really bad luck. Porbably a combination of the above. Sure planes go down from time to time, but I think that's a little to close in time for my taste. Better find a better-equipped DZ. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

I spent a summer in England & Scotland and had a great time. Congrats & have fun! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

MMmmmmmmmmmm..... haiku. Those are good-uns! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Same problem on the fogging front. I never thought of that. Duh. Mine doesn't fog up until I'm under canopy. I usually just flip up the visor. Nice breeze in the face anyway. I might have to try putting some anti-fog stuff on my glasses & see if that helps. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

I wear my glasses under my Z1 no problem. I do take the glasses off before I put the helmet on & take it off. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Have a good one sis! I'll be in Indy, but The Mistress is coming with me! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Thank you thank you thank you! I'd like to thank the Academy, my manager, my accountant, my dog.... Thanks HH!