Doasfu

I went to a geek high school, so I missed out on most of the stereotypes. Are you the nice bad ass girl who's cool to crack jokes with, or the kind who'd steal my bad fantasy novels? :) And I must admit that if you searched my old bedroom at my parents house, you would probably find the occasional multi-sided die. Not that I skydive to make me seem cool... oh no... :) Dan

Man, is this refreshing to hear. I always worry I'm the only one at the DZ who has an inner geek. I think our geekish pasts might account for many typical skydiver behaviours, such as the too cool for words acting skygods. You just know they had their lunch money stolen as kids. :)

Hey Skreamer, Do I make the cut? I don't work in IT (in fact, I don't work right now) but the computer I'm using right now I built from components, and I read slashdot every day. Dan

I like a lot of stuff. My favorite band right now is The Magnetic Fields (any other fans) but I dig all sorts of stuff. I'm really getting into blues, but I'm a clueless newbie in that area. If anyone wants a good overview of what I really dig ('cause you're all dying to know more about that enigmatic doasfu chap) or you just want to hear some really damn good music, check out the real audio feed at WYCE Radio, where I used to work a few years ago. This is a great community radio station out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is one of the few places left in the world where the on-air DJs actually pick the music they play. Their format is really eclectic folk, blues, jazz, rock and world music. Come to think of it, maybe I should get a show there again. It was a blast. Dan

Hey Dirtsucks, You may feel like you're sitting on the sidelines, but never forget you are a skydiver, and will be for the rest of your life. I've had struggles as far as getting myself back to the DZ, and I've done it. After a several month layoff, I made a jump late last summer and when I hit the ground and was gathering up my big-ass student chute I just started laughing out loud. No one was near me, no one could see or hear what I was doing, but I was just so happy, and so full of life, that I burst out laughing. Whuffos never get it when I tell them that, but I'm sure you do. Get your ass back in the sky and you'll be smiling the whole way down. It may not solve all your problems, but it'll sure as hell put them in perspective. Good luck and blue skies, Dan

I always buy a pop when I get down on the ground. But I think that's just because my mouth hangs open while I'm sensory overload and the relative wind dries it out. :) Dan

heh. I don't drink anything American, aside from the occasional micro-brew.

Good analogy. It's almost hard for me to remember what it was like when driving a car was really exciting. I can't imagine that I'll ever really forget the sensation of my first jumps, though. I still get sweaty hands when I start thinking about it. :)

Uh, nothing personal Dutchboy, but you hadn't quite talked me into getting you the beer yet, so you're not missing much. That said, let me know if you are definetly going to be at Hastings that day, and I'll introduce myself.

Hmm... I'll do that when it's not 5 AM sometime. I have class in 6 hours, I suppose I should go to sleep. Dan

I can honestly say I don't miss the fear... maybe when it's gone I will, but right now I don't. :) Dan

The observant may have noticed I started posting here a few days ago. :) Everyone here seems to know one another, so I thought I'd introduce myself: My name's Dan Bennett, and I'm a static line student who's been at it for quite a while but is still working towards graduating. (75% nerves, 25% broke-assedness) My secret identity is that of a college student at a podunk university in the middle of a cornfield in West Michigan, studying political science and looking to go to law school in a year. Right now I'm looking forward to when Skydive Hastings opens in a couple of weeks so I can get my ass to the retrain class and get back in the air. There's no feeling like sitting in class on monday morning just hoping the professor will ask, "Anyone do anything interesting this weekend?" as the class is about to start. :) Any questions? :) Dan

Froggie, Myself, I'm a recovered roller coaster addict. I'm curious, have you been on any since you've jumped? I have to admit, I was never scared of rides, but since I've skydived, they honestly don't even phase me. It's actually kind of a bummer, as I really used to love them. Last year I went down to Cedar Point in Ohio with some friends and rode the tallest roller coaster in the world and was pretty much underwhelmed. I actually remember on the ride to altitude for my first jump I turned to the JM and asked, "this is really going to ruin roller coasters, isn't it?" He just snorted derisively at their mention. That said, the ride that still freaks me out a little is the "Skycoaster." Has anyone here ridden that crazy thing? It's a 200 foot arch, with a tower some distance away from it. A harness hangs from the bottom of the arch, and once you're fastened in, you're pulled backwards to the top of the tower, so that you're 200' in the air, directly across from the arch which you are connected to by the rope. When you're at the top of the tower, you pull a handle (like a cheap plastic ripcord), disconnect from the tower behind you and zoom down through the arch, swinging back and forth. The ride itself isn't much, but being winched backwards up 200' is quite something. Procrastinating rather than studying, Dan

Hey all, I'm curious as to who has, or has come close, to riding the plane down. I've never done it, but I came really close once: On my 7th jump, which was a 10 second delay in the S/L progression, I started getting terribly panicky on the ride to altitude. Every jump before that had been getting easier and easier, but for some reason this one was just murder. I had been talking to a JM friend of mine, and she told me about how on her early freefall jumps, she had a recurring problem of her chest-mount altimeter flying up under her chin and being unable to read it. For some reason, this thought freaked me out and this started my brain getting panicky. When we were close to jump run, my JM noticed that my leg straps where a bit loose and gave them a yank. At this point I got even more freaked out, even though I knew it was irrational and started babbling about falling out of the harness and maybe I should ride the plane back down. As I said, though, I did manage to jump. Oddly enough, the altimeter did indeed ride right up under my chin, forcing me to dump quite high. (I can't really tell my altitude at this point, so I didn't want to run a risk of getting low.) As you might guess, however, once I was out the door, there was no real worry about the mishap, more an annoyance that my freefall was cut short. Also, I am now the proud owner of an FT-50 hand mount. :) Any good stories? Dan

Skreamer, I agree. There are lots of ways to lead a fulfilling life in my eyes, and I should have been clear. Penty of people are passionate about something they believe in, and try to do something about it. That's as good as an extreme sport. That said, my original post really refered to those people who you can tell just by looking don't lead interesting lives. The dull eyed fraternity boy sitting next you in class, etc.(disclaimer: not all fraternity boys are dull eyed.)

1) A nervous but hooked skydiver 2) An unabashed liberal 3) A wannabe writer

I'm with ya, Froggie. They should wear shirts that say, "No Fear. No Danger. No Excitement. Nothing Interesting to Talk About." :)

Inspired by the recent thread on fear, which I am quite familiar with, I was wondering what you folks think when you see a whuffo walk by wearing a "No Fear!" T-shirt. I always have to laugh to myself and think, "No fear? I've been scared out of my mind many times, but I'm still more extreme than you!" :) Anyone else have to stifle a laugh at those? Dan (Hey Sangiro! It doesn't know whuffo either! :)

"i would think to myself "why the hell do i do this?", and then i would land safely under an open canopy and think " when can i do this again?", now im just pumped and ready to complete the task at hand. the confidence will come." This is my first three or four jumps. That's just what I thought. The entire ride to altitude I'm thinking over and over, "Ok, I'll do this one. Once I've done this one last jump, I quit for good. No one will think I'm a wimp after X jumps." As soon as I'm on the ground I'm thinking, "I need back up there now!" :)

My DZ opens in three weeks, so I know what you're going through. :)

They look to me like someone removed the rigs with Photoshop. Dan

umm... Resistance is futile? (ducks)

Wow, from West Michigan and with a name like "dutchboy." Now that makes sense. And I'll have you know it was well above 32 here yesterday! Dan

Jason, Don't know for sure where I'm going when I get out of here. I've got another year of college, and the current plan is to go to law school. I think I'm going into personal injury law, representing tandem students with sprained ankles. heh. (ducks) My only plan is to try living somewhere not in Michigan for a few years, just because I've spent my whole life here. The southwest is sounding awfully nice as this winter that would not die refuses to give way to spring. It's cool to bump into someone who knows the area. I hope you get a chance to see Skydive Hastings sometime. It's a cool place. Dan

Hey Jason, It's a small world indeed. I'm living in Allendale at GVSU right now, but I've spent my whole life in Grand Rapids. I myself am a future ex-resident of West Michigan, so we have much in common.