Zennie

I'm really tempted, but I'm not sure I want to give my CC number to someone who runs a site along those lines. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I rented gear from Vertigo last year. It was kind of expensive ($200) but I'm glad I did, if for no other reasons than I got to demo some BASE gear and had a little extra comfort knowing I was jumping a BASE-specific rig. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

And know when to climb down. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yeeeaaahhhhh boyeee!!! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Congrats! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

And it only took what... 2 years? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I voted for "You can find a normal recreational skydiver" because a good friend of mine is dating such a person. I'm in pretty much the same situation as you and here's the dilemma as I see it. Jessica is right in that the ratio of female to male skydivers is most *definitely* in the female's favor. Now let's couple that with the fact that every testosteron-crazed male is going to be slobbering over every female skydiver. So the competition is pretty fierce. And even if you DO hook up with a nice skybabe you have to work extra hard to keep her around because of the continued presence of the aforementioned slobbering testosterone-crazed males. One slip-up and she's got a dozen other guys waiting in the wings to take over. I'm tired of having to deal with that kind of crap. And quite frankly I'm having an awful lot of fun since the only person I have to keep happy is me. So quite honestly, I don't know where that leaves me. Guess I'll just keep jumping and not worry about it. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I think we're pretty much on the same page. You hit the nail on the head as far as the necessity of meds to at least get you stable enough to start working on thought patterns. It's a fine balance, and each person is different. And if you've read any of my past posts (and I know you have) I also get spun up when people try to downplay the importance and efficacy of meds. They've made my life bearable, and like I said, I'm still on them and probably will be for a long, long time. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I don't either, but I do agree that you can shape your thought patterns to somewhat help mitigate the problem. No one really knows how the mind works. My pet theory is that thoughts, being electrochemical impulses, can alter the brain chemistry. So "depressed thoughts" can bring about a biochemical state that reinforces depressed thinking. The converse also seems to make sense. In my case I was relatively happy until I went through the whole divorce thing. I almost immediately went into a severe depression that I still take meds for. I'm generally upbeat now (though I seem to get stressed out easier than before) and I've tried going off meds to see if I had everything back together. BAD idea. I was good for about 2 weeks and had a bad crash. So meds DO work. And I'm pretty sure I'd be a mess without them. But I also try and stay positive about things to keep my mood stable. Oh, and exercise and BASE jumps do WONDERS for my mood. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Because some people don't mind and others do. So it's best to err on the side of safety. I personally don't mind, but others try to be a little more discreet (me discreet? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! ). - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Major Depression & ADHD. Interesting that you left out ADHD, because I think you'd get a LOT of hits on that one. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

How timely is this? I've taken to going to the local rock gym a couple times a week with some skydiving buddies. 460 & I have been kicking around merging the two activities because they seem to go hand-in-hand. In some ways, climbing the object you're going to jump seems to me to be sort of in the spirit of what BASE is about (at least for me). I climb As all the time, but you guys are posting some seriously impressive times. I just started tracking times more closely and I think my best is 600 feet in about 30 minutes. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hey man, the pleasure was all mine! There's only one way to top off a great jump... with a nice cold Shiner Bock. Other than the "technical difficulties" that delayed us a bit, that is a cool object eh? I'll keep you posted on that other one I've been scouting out. Naturally, any time you are in town give us a heads-up. Hopefully we can take you to a couple of other cool places. Any chance you'll be out in Utah? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Oh that was the other thing.... Adam recommended indirect control, which I am also doing. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I while back I posted some questions regarding slider-up heading performance with my Ace. Just wanted to fill people in on what I've learned since then. After talking to people, trying a whole bunch of different ideas and watching Adam's & Vertigo's packing tapes a few times, I think I have the issues worked out... I've had 3 dead on slider-up openings in a row after narrowing things down. In a nutshell, the problem appears to be mainly due to how I was closing my container (a Warlock from Vertigo) and partially how I was handling the nose. With all the weirdness and head-scratching between me and my mentor, I decided to go back to the sources. So I studied Vertigo's and CR's packing tapes... Vertigo's to try and mimic how they were folding the canopy & closing the container, and CR's for how they were handling the nose, primarily. On the container front, I was routing the pullup cord through the grommets and then just pulling everything together. No big deal on a skydiving rig, BAD juju on a BASE rig. After I became more disiplined about controlling the pack job and container flaps, my heading performance improved dramatically. I also figured that since the Ace is Adam's canopy, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to do the nose the way he did it. So I started wrapping the nose around the packjob (something which had given me the heebie-jeebies before). So I'm pretty happy with everything now. Thanks to Adam for emailing me out of the blue and offering suggestions, as well as those of you I talked with offline. Now if I can just find a pilot chute fold job that I like.... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

What bothers me about this "find" is the well-known fact that Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein hate each other. Why on earth would you want to establish a relationship with someone who has been a bitter enemy for so long? Now it may be a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", but I still find this highly suspect. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Good to be back, thanks! And I just wouldn't be me if I wasn't stirring the pot a bit. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Right on!

Realize that what you've just said could be turned on it's head quite easily. Oh, and for the record I have a Juris Doctor degree (i.e. I have a law degree, which is PhD level) as well as a 3.9 in my post-graduate Computer Science studies. However, I don't support the war and haven't since the beginning because I think our Administration's rationale for doing so is suspect. AND, not supporting the war does NOT equate into a lack of support for our troops. Just the opposite in fact. I'd much prefer (and hope) that they come home safely to their families and friends. Nor does (a healthy) distrust of one's government(which is comprised of politicians after all) equate into a lack of patriotism. Love your country and the principles upon which it was founded. ALWAYS distrust your government. This public service message is brought to you by a proud card-carrying Libertarian. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I've been trying to figure that one out since it was first mentioned. Which is the "fat" one? They all look pretty hot to me. I think people have lost all perspective (again perpetuated by Hollyweird) of what a normal, fit, attractive body is. Dixie Chicks ain't fat. Now Mamma Cass, that's a different story. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Musicians, yeah I'd agree. Actors/actresses seem to mostly have a college level degree. Years? You're being awfully generous there. I was thinking more along the line of weeks. I think I have a better grasp of where this comes from having lived with a clinical Narcissist (no joke) for 10 years. Step back and think about these people's experience for a bit. Show business is very much an "it's all about me" business. These people are used to being fawned over and catered to and basically being the center of the universe. So you wind up with a huge collection of people who have an inflated sense of self-importance. Put two of them together in a relationship where each has top be the center of attention and you see how they have such short-lived relationships. I would note that Mel Gibson seems to have avoided all that. He's still married to his original wife and they have like 6 kids. So it is possible to stay centered... but maybe youhave to be Australian to do it. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

A microphone. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Not bad, thanks.

I'd fuck 'em all right. (Sorry, but that but that was just too good to pass up) - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Jesus Yuri, that rig looks like it weighed more than you did! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon