jsmcfadden

Personally, I feel that it's between the mother, the father, and the doctor. The government has no business entering into anyone's personal life like this. Of course, I feel that way about the drug laws also. Abortion is a difficult decision for anyone to contemplate, and we really don't need any political office further muddying the waters while trying to get elected by a small group of left or right extremists. It sickens me when a politician enters into my bedroom/house and tries to tell me what is morally right or wrong for me and mine. While I don't particularly agree with the way abortions can be used as a late birth control, I do not see banning them accomplishing anything except possibly creating more health problems from backroom clinics. Isn't that what was happening before Rowe v. Wade? Fortunately, I don't have to worry about this since I have had my tubes tied, but if I did, and my bf and I decided we could not have a child, I would certainly not appreciate the limelight being thrown on such a personal issue. If it's truly a medical concern for the child, then my doctor can handle any of those questions. Politicians just aren't qualified. My two cents. (This topic gets me really fired up, so please forgive and don't flame too much. I don't post often and am sensitive. )

Can't resist.... How You Doin'??

So, anyone else think it may be time for mom to increase the dosage? This is hysterical!! In a really painful kind of way.

LOL - My non-skydiving friends now get this pained look whenever they see me looking up at the sky. I try to keep somewhat quiet about it now, but they can tell on those days that I'm really jonesin' for a jump. My family doesn't want to hear about it much. My brother and my son are the only ones who talk to me about it - my brother started on the same day that I did, so we both get pumped up. I must not be a very good missionary - only one convert, and she hasn't started yet, so no points. Good luck with your AFF, and with the long days between now and March. DZ.com is keeping me somewhat sane, I think.

You know, it's funny. I look back on my last two jumps and the solo landing scared me less than the slipping off the strut. I also learned A LOT from that landing. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to jump again - either weather, money, or holidays have prevented me each time. I have, however, learned to pack, which is good. I'm also reading and watching as much as I can about skydiving to regain some of my comfort. I expect my next jump to be terrifying, to be honest, but then it should get a bit easier each time. I keep trying to visualize good exits to reinforce my belief in myself, too. One thing I know - I will conquer this fear of the door. It's not even an option at this point. I haven't even considered giving up, which is kind of cool. I've even been thinking that in five years - assuming all goes well with skydiving in those years - I may try to do a BASE jump. (I'm thinking Bridge Day 2010 would be a great first jump.) So, between now and then, I have lots to learn. It's a great sport, isn't it??

Follow their directions when you know they're wrong, then smirk silently while you "fix" things Drink the last of their favorite beverage - then ask them to get you some more

Which DZ are you jumping at? I'm also really new to the sport, and I'd love to meet up with some other students in the area. All of my skydiving buddies are WAY experienced, so I'm a bit of an oddity with them at times. It's cool, but they don't always remember what it feels like to start out jumping. PM me if you'd ever like to meet up one weekend at your DZ. I've jumped primarily at CAPC, but I'm open to trying out other ones in the area. (I've been thinking of heading to Siloam Springs recently. It's been long enough since I jumped that I wouldn't mind going through the FJC again if needed.)

They keep threatening to teach me to pack, but I haven't done much more than watch yet. That's on my winter list of things to do, though, definitely. Out of curiosity, how did you exit on your IAD jumps? The one thing I seem to do consistently is get into a stable arch, and I'm guessing that is at least in part due to hanging off the strut for my exit. Granted, that's the part that scares me the most right now, too, but... My instructor (one of them anyway) offered to teach me a different exit, but I worry that I may lose my arch if I change at this point. I know that I will have to learn alternate exits in order to get licensed, but since it's so early in my training, I'm somewhat leery of messing up the one thing I seem to do well. My instructor was not insisting at all, though, and he did agree that this exit helps promote good arch position. sigh...I really want to jump. One of the guys at the dz just called and invited me out this afternoon for a few jumps. The weather is gorgeous today, and I've been moping all week because it's been so long since I was in the air. I was all ready to go, putting in my vacation time for the rest of the day, when I remembered that my son has a dentist appointment this afternoon. Now, I'm so bummed that I can hardly stand it. Not to whine, but man!!! Update: Woo hoo!! The guys are all going to come out to the DZ tomorrow so I can jump. How great is that?! I'll even get to take my kid for the first time so he can see me jump. I am more excited today than I was before any of my other jumps. I think the people at work think I'm insane at this point, though. heh! I really don't care. I'm practically bouncing off the walls here. Just wanted to share with people who get it.

I'm a sysadmin now, but this used to happen to me all the time when I was programming. It's great! I would look at the code the next day and wonder who wrote it because it was so clean. Who knew that I was actually good at my job?! I have a theory on the whole IT/Skydiving/Extreme Sports connection, but you all may laugh me off the forums. I think it's because technology is a cutting edge field, and while many aspects are EXTREMELY dull, the field itself is constantly changing and requires ongoing education. This allows us to challenge ourselves mentally (sometimes at least), and I for one get off on that. Skydiving does the same for me. I'm always looking for new ways to push myself. Granted I'm really, really new to the whole skydiving thing, but I think this may be the connection for me.

Well, it's kind of a glum Monday for me. No jumps this weekend. I had plans to go up yesterday, but the weather kept me grounded. I did hang out over the weekend, though, and the pilot took me up for a quick ride Saturday morning. That was weird! I felt naked without a parachute on my back. I kept looking at the door and picturing an exit the entire trip. My hat is off to all of you AFF students, by the way. I'm not sure I would have the nerve to go out that high that quickly. Part of me thinks it would be a better way to get accustomed to the sport - more time in freefall and all of that - but I could just see myself spinning out of control and having absolutely NO altitude awareness...ugh! At least with the IAD, I know I should deploy immediately. I'm hoping I can get back up there this weekend, but with the weather changing like it has, I'm trying to resign myself to a long, boring winter. Good thing I have my SIM and DZ.com to keep myself occupied. Ooooo...and maybe I'll save up for Cancun or somewhere warm and jump there. That could be my Christmas gift to myself. Anyone up for a trip this winter??

You're absolutely right. I figured out last night what it was that spooked me so much, and now I'm ready to go again. See, on my first PRCP jump a few weeks ago, I fell off of the strut. It scared me to the point where I screamed like a little girl (NOT COOL!!) and didn't even think about the PRCP. I was just looking back up at my instructor to see if he was pissed/scared - had thrown the PC mainly. Then, the radio died on my landing, and I ended up doing my first solo landing. All in all, not a great jump. I made myself go back up that afternoon, and that jump and PRCP went fine, but I was still really shaken by the whole falling off the plane incident. I realized last night that what was really spooking me was that feeling of being out of control. Every time that I've gone up, I've been nervous, but I always felt like I knew what to do and ultimately had control of my reactions. Slipping off of the strut made me doubt that, and I ended up spooking myself out of several jumps last weekend as a result. I suppose it's probably for the best, since I obviously needed some more time to deal. I woke up this morning with images of climbing out and letting go once more. Can't wait to get back in the air and feel that utter calm again! I just hope the DZ is ready for me this weekend. Anyone know what I mean by all of this?

Thanks to all for the replies. It turns out that I didn't jump this weekend after all. My instructor was sick, so he didn't make it out this weekend. I could have gone with another instructor, but when drama broke out at the dz, I decided to just wait. I'm kind of kicking myself now, but it felt right at the time. It was fun just to hang out and watch the experienced jumpers do their fun jumps anyway. I definitely love this sport, and someday I hope to be able to swoop in on a sub-hundred like these guys! (That is the coolest sound and visual in the world!!) I talked to a lot of the old timers at the dz while hanging out yesterday, and they made me feel a lot better. They still get nervous before jumps, so I guess it's alright. I'm not such a coward after all. Now I've caught the bug that was going around, though, so I may be grounded for a few more weeks. (It's a small dz and they basically shut down after Halloween. If I don't get back in before then, I think I'll just save up and go to a big dz for a week or two and get as many jumps in as possible. Then I could come back to this one more relaxed and have more fun.) Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all for your replies. DZ.com is great, and I can't wait to have actual jump stories to post. :)

I've been lurking a bit over the past few weeks, reading everyone's posts and generally learning, laughing, and wasting work hours while dreaming of jumping again. As today has worn on, though, I've become increasingly nervous about my jumps this weekend. I started with a tandem jump over Labor Day and have since completed 5 IAD jumps, two PRCPs. My last two jumps two weeks ago did not go so well, though, and I guess that's upped my anxiety a bit for this weekend. I just thought it'd be nice to post a message and see if anyone could encourage/cheer/calm me down a bit. I'm really excited, but I feel as nervous as I did before my first IAD exit.