Zennie

Shhhhhhhhhh! Don't tell anyone! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

I had falling dreams for a long time. They were weird floaty kinds of falls though. And I always managed to not get hurt when I "hit" the ground. I also had dreams where I'd try to run from something but my... feet... seemed... stuck. I'd also try to shoot people but the trigger was too hard to pull. Since skydiving, the running/shooting dreams have gone away. All the falling dreams are freefall. And I've had flying dreams, but they're all under canopy. I'm weird. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Heh. I am. That was in my wild college days. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Don't post anonymously. I agree with you. It's very easy to get excited about our sport. I can go on and on about it (and watch people's eyes glaze over as I do). There's nothing wrong with enthusiasm. But it is very easy to get one-dimensional. One thing which skydiving has done for me is make me realize that different things make different people happy. For me it's skydiving. For my wife it's music and dancing. Since I've found something that really fulfils me, I've found I have a lot more respect for other people doing things that fulfil them.... even if it's something different from what I'd do. Different strokes. Ya know? ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Now don't y'all go talkin' trash 'bout us Texans ya little prairie poop! Ah don' wanna hafta go an' open up a can 'o whoop-ass on yore sorry little beee-hind! Dey ain't chickin's. Dey're skeeters. Dey jus grow 'em a little large down here. Oughta see our rattlers! Why jus' the other day ah wuz wrasslin' this naaaasty one come snuck up on me whahl ah wuz feedin' mah pet tarantula hiz daily bunny rabbit. Hadta whack him upside the noggin with mah machete. Took 2-3 three good 'uns fore he went down. Frahd rattler! MMmm. Mmmmmm...... ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

They're all great guys. Rabbitt took me on my first tandem ride. I've never seen someone chug a beer faster than Joe. And I've seen a lot of pros. I swear he sucked it down faster than I could pour one. Super, well, words can't describe him. Wait 'till you get to know Scotty! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Actually, you could make a few friends if you caught an errant shot, swooped over by the green and dropped it about 3" from the hole. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Funny, my Dad does as well. So he really can't give me much grief. I think he'll do a tandem, but I just have to get him past the waivers. Just out of curiosity. Have you looked at other sports like auto racing in a different light since skydiving? I find I have a lot more respect, almost a kinship, with people who participate in "high risk" sports. I also find I don't like seeing bad crashes anymore. Reminds me too much of watching a skydiver hooking it in or something similar. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

BTW. Who took you on your tandem ride? Did you get video? If so, do you remember who the vidiot (video guy/gal) was? Just coo-rious. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Hey skip, welcome! Looks like we have another jump junkie! Ramon and I jump out at Spaceland regularly. AirAnn switches between Spaceland and SDH. I'm there pretty much every Saturday and sometimes Sundays. Ask around for who we are (most folks know me as Ted, a couple call me Zennie) and say "hi". Everyone's really great out there. Hope to see you soon! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

I'd think the Croatians would have nasty post-traumatic flashbacks seeing a bunch of people parachuting down. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

I take it a Fokker is somewhere between a CASA and a C-130? ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Yeah, actually from about #45-50 was when things started falling into place for me. It's funny because just the previous weekend I was starting to get frustrated thinking that I'd never get the RW stuff -- that I couldn't dock or turn points without going low or backsliding. All our exits the previous week funnelled and this week went without a hitch. This week I really worked on driving with the legs more and keeping the hands in and it really made a difference. Everything, exits, fall rates, tracking, canopy control felt like they just notched up another level. Funny how things like that happen. You get in a rut and then "bam" you plateau. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

The mind is a very weird thing isn't it. What makes it weird is there's this you-inside-a-you. There's the you that wants to skydive, but this other you wants to run. One of them is the "real" you. The other is the "fake" you made up of all those irrational hangups and fears that we collect over the years. So the trick is to let the real you get control again. Guess that's what they mean by conquering yourself. In Zen parlance, that's what we mean by just "being". Easier said than done though. Try some relaxation exercises, the best of which is just concentrate on your breathing when you feel the fear creeping in. Just focus on the air flowing in & out of your nose (no snot please! ). Brings you back in the moment. Do it on the plane as well. There's always bowling. Just kidding! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Yep! So to speak. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Just did my 50th skydive this weekend. Not necessarily anything special (other than meeting the "B" threshold), but this weekend also seemed to be one where things started "clicking" for me, both in freefall and under canopy. I'd been doing some RW with some other friends and had probs moving in & docking, maintaining relative fall rate, the whole bit. This weekend, I swooped in and docked just fine. Turned points on two way pretty well also. I'm still a little shaky, but we were able to turn about 5-6 points after a swoop dock on two way. I found myself driving with the legs more and reaching less. Besides the jump numbers, the only thing I changed was that I bought a full-face, which seemed to help my RW work as well -- I think because I could focus more. Under canopy, I also found that I was more easily finding my slot in the landing pattern and staging the flares much more effectively than before. I'm starting to get a much better feel for how my canopy flies and hardly consult my alti anymore on my landing patterns. So I guess my question is for some of the higher-timers. Did you notice the the puzzle pieces starting to come together around the 50 jump point? I'm no expert by any stretch, but I really felt like I made some progress this weekend. Just coorious. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Technically, I don't think it's a beer event unless you actually jump it. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Excellent post! I think you hit the nail on the head with the solution, to the extent there is one for brain lock. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Did you explain to him why you didn't have a good time? If a person doesn't enjoy something, I'm more apt to be understanding if they tell me why. Just a thought. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Yeah, mine was pretty fragile right after I got off student status as well (still is, just not as much). You're new. You will screw up. Hell, people with hundreds of jumps screw up. Best thing to do is get back on the horse. Talk to your instructor. Mine have always been willing to give advice when I ask for it. Try the "accuracy trick". Work on finding that stationary point. See how it changes when you ride in brakes & full glide. It just comes with practice. Oh, and you will land downwind/crosswind as well. So don't get bummed when it happens. Have fun! ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Heh. That's the truth.

I had something similar happen a while back, but not quite as close as you. In my case, I was suffering from a bad case of target fixation. I was trying to do an accuracy jump, botched my approach, thought I was too low to turn back (I wasn't) and wound up heading straight for the runway. So my "cure" was simply to never let myself get out of my landing comfort zone, even if it meant not getting close to my selected target for that jump. Don't get too distressed though. We all have close calls. My philosophy is that it's OK to make a mistake (within the boundaries of sanity), as long as you learn from them and don't repeat them. Just move on and be safe.

I was researching a goofy Perl issue and I noticed that Google now has usenet posting back in place! Yay! Now maybe I can get decent answers to my coding questions again (and flame an ALF or two on wreck ). ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

My condolences to jumper's friends, family & the folks at Sebastian. ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie

Yep. It's called "sarcasm". ------------ Blue Skies! Zennie