kirrz

I'm going to be in Europe for a while in July for the world cup and would love to jump there! I will be in Heidelberg for a while and then in Budapest. I will (fingers crossed) be freshly on an A license then and won't have my own gear so it would have to be some place with a rental scheme which is newbie-friendly. It would be awesome if I could do coached jumps. Also, I would be using public transport to get around.. are there any DZs accessible to either of these areas? Please advise.. thanks!!

Hahahaha if I tried that, I would stay on the plane. I'm feeling a bit better about doing a dive exit - I figure at least I can see where I'm going. Btw, are you in Sydney at the moment? Would love to catch up.

A few years ago I got a phone call from a friend saying that this model I had been telling everyone I was going to marry was sitting in a coffee shop in Bangkok. I was there within 20 minutes and approached him and made friends. Turns out he was on transit in Bangkok for 3 days and knew no one so we ended up hanging out for those days (so surreal!). He left and a few days later my friend found these articles in online gossip mags talking about how he had found a new love in Bangkok and how we were spotted all over each other bla bla (my name was thrown in too). I got a bunch of hate mail from his fans etc even though none of it was actually true. Now he's a huge Bollywood actor dating a super hot actress.

Do you think that with dive exits the fact that you can see where you're going made it easier and more enjoyable for you? See the thing for me is I'm a hesitator. I will get into position, do my exit count but before the go part my brain will say.. I don't know if I'm actually really ready.. and I'll freeze. I know I'm probably overthinking this but if I don't overanalyze and come to peace with every fear and anxiety I have before Saturday, it will all happen on the ride up and that will suck.

Thanks for all the awesome advice everybody!! Well after 2 weeks of weather detainments, I went and did level 6 again. I have been at the DZ a few times just at the mock up door by myself doing the exit over and over again to try to get letting go ingrained in my muscle memory. So I got on the plane (XL as I had been practicing for) and after about 10 seconds, the plane had a flat tyre so we had to swap to the Skyvan. I got really excited because it seems impossible to not let go in the skyvan. So as soon as we got on the new plane I was so much happier and excited and calmed down heaps. Time for the exit- walked to the door, got in position, and then froze. Really. I looked at the JM standing infront of me and said 'please push me'. So he did. And it was fine, awesome jump. During de-briefing he decided that there was no point continually failing me because of the exit since I had the freefall stuff down pat so I got progressed to level 7 and told that we would keep working on the exit. Now level 7 is a dive exit.. We got in the XL (was repaired) ready to go. My stomach was in knots. As we started climbing to altitude, the plane was ridiculously turbulent. I am already deathly petrified of small planes so I was flipping out. There were clouds from about 12000 to 8000. I was being thrown around the plane seriously about to cry. The JM told me there was no way he was going to take me out (he didnt want me tracking in the clouds) and so I ended up riding down with the plane which is the best thing that could've happened that day. I'm at the mindframe where I am tempted to keep putting it off but I've decided that if I want to do that, I may as well quit (which I really don't want to do). So now I have to tackle the diving exit on Saturday. Ahhh. Any words of wisdom? I'm beginning to wonder if this door fear is just a construction of my brain. I wish I had a 100 jumps. It's so frustrating because I do everything I can but as soon as I get up there, I freeze. Ahhhhhh.

May I be please ask (not directed at hookitt specifically but anyone that can answer really) : You have a rig that is not freefly friendly (like say the Vector II without mods) but is deemed fine for belly flying. You don't actually intend to freefly just yet so it suits your purpose. Sometimes though, on exit, you tumble out of the plane. When you are tumbling (maybe a flip or 2, just for 10 seconds or so) you are not in a belly down position. Is this equivalent to involuntary freeflying? In this instance, does the non-freefly friendly rig pose a danger? Or does it only pose a danger when you are freeflying specifically? Why? Thanks!

Wow. Good story. Glad that you are okay!

I've been a little motorbike curious recently too and have considered getting a bike. After speaking to a couple of people who ride, I am now a little less keen about the idea. This is why - living in the middle of a big city automatically puts you at risk. Even if I was the most conservative rider, it is the other people on the road that pose a risk. Being on a bike will make me more prone to injury than if I was in the car. I'm really not keen on dying.. at the end of the day, statistics may say driving a bike is more or less dangerous than jumping but doing both increases your risk of injury/ death. This thread has been really informative as well. A lot of readily available information tends to glamourize riding a bike but I think hearing real stories from real people is a lot more informative. Thanks! So for the moment I think I'll stick to public transport.

After doing a bit of preliminary research, I'm finding it really hard to find case studies and academic texts to support my theory. There isn't anything written about how to report extreme sports. So now I'm thinking that I have to change my approach totally. I am thinking about discussing the Shayna Richardson story - taking what the press wrote (skydiver survived despite both chutes malfunctioning) and contrasting that to what actually happened (wrong WL, inappropriate responses to small malfunctions etc) and maybe trying to explore why the media would choose to report the story the way they did even with these facts readily available. I guess in doing so I will have to somehow bring in philosophers and somehow tie in their philosophy to the reporting of this story... Any thoughts?

I have to write a researched reflection for an ethics in journalism class.. this reflection can be on pretty much anything in relation to the consideration of ethical issues whilst reporting.. I was thinking about doing my piece on sports reporting. Although I haven't been in this sport very long, I've picked up that the media is often quick to sensationalize when reporting on skydiving/ BASE jumping incidents. Often this brings harsh repercussions to the community. I'm curious to hear anything and everything that you guys as jumpers have to say about this. Is this actually a media ethics issue? Are they not being ethical in presenting the factual information or can this not be helped? How often do mis-representations happen? How can they be prevented? Can you think of any good examples where the sport has suffered because of bad reporting? Does this happen in any other sport? Can you think of some examples? I was a bit apprehensive to post this in Speakers Corner but I thought that maybe it will spark a discussion. I'm just really interested in teasing out the issue to see what I can learn from you guys. So come on, speak to me!

I thought I would post just because the last time I was having issues I did and you guys gave me awesome advice. Today I went to do level 5. I had a JM I've never had before and he was really upbeat and got me really pumped and confident. I told him that I generally am hesitant to leave the plane and the JM always has to use a bit of force to pull me. We did the climb out and did my count and I let go when I was supposed to. So I'm falling and I suddenly realize no one is holding me. I turn around and my JM is a fair distance away so I get myself stable and fly towards him. Basically had the best jump ever, had heaps of fun and even a stand up landing. Turns out my JM didn't expect me to let go and when I did he just let me fall to see what I'd do and I did fine. As soon as I landed, he took me up on the very next load to do the same jump, but with a solo exit- level 6. So I haven't had time to think much about the jump, I get up there, do my climbout (on an XL), did my exit count, tried to let go.. but one hand retained grip so I kinda got a bit swung back onto the plane. So I stood there, tried again, but just couldn't let go. Now everyone on the plane is waiting, I turned to my JM and asked him to please just jump with me. He told me to go again and gave me a push. It was fine, apparently I did a tumble but it was fine, I got stable myself, flew to him and did fine. I failed the jump though because of the exit. I'm going back to try again tomorrow.. any wise words? I feel it's all ok, I can visualize it in my head, but I can't let go. I just can't when I'm up there.. AGHHH.

I have to do an assignment for a networks class and I've been a bit slack about keeping up.. now I'm a little screwed. I'm stuck on these 2 questions.. maybe someone can help me out???? Thanks in advance!!! 1) You have two 802.5 Token Ring LANS connected by a bridge. A station on the left segment sends a frame to a station on the right segment The bridge participates as a station in both left and right segments. a) Should the bridge, after forwarding a copy to the right segment, pretend that it has received the frame by setting the address-recognized and frame-copied bits and then send the frame to the next station in the left segment or should it ignore this issue? Explain. b) If we connect two Ethernet LANS, do we face the same issue? 2) End systems A and B are on the same 10Mbps Ethernet segment, the propagation delay between them is 250 bit times. Suppose A begins transmitting a frame, and before it finishes, B begins transmitting a frame. Can A finish transmitting before it detects that B has transmitted? Why or why not?

Use Colgate for shiny white teeth!

I did it. I killed him. I got away with it.

I had similar issues a few months ago and asked almost the same question. I got heaps of awesome advice you might find useful. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1958369;search_string=placate%20the%20parents;#1958369 What worked for me was taking the initiative and showing I was responsible rather than just talking about being responsible. I compiled a whole folder filled with statistics and technical gear information along with a 3 page letter about the importance of skydiving to me and I gave that to my dad. I also went out and got my first ever job to pay for it myself. My dad started at "there's no way in hell I'm ever going to let you do that", now he's come to accept that it matters to me. They'll never actively encourage you to do it but the best you can hope for is that they'll understand what it means to you and appreciate that it makes you happy. Good luck!

Nick a lot of us here who have never jumped are utterly fascinated by BASE and try to learn and understand as much as we can through the resources we have - and the forum is a huge one. Often when we ask questions like "why don't you guys do this or that" it isn't because we think we are smarter than you, it's because we don't have the experience to draw upon and genuinely don't know the answer. To us it seems like a valid question and we are simply seekly to become more informed. That said, I do understand that this is not always the case.

My mom is awesome about it. She knows me too well and she knows that if I want to do something, I'll go out and curb my curiousity regardless. I was chatting with her a few jumps ago and telling her about my door fear and she was actually talking me through the fear and telling me how I will eventually overcome it... I showed both her and my sister some of my DVDs last week and she loved it. My sister on the other hand, after watching the exit says 'where's the rope'? I tell her there's no rope.. and she was like 'what??? so you jump without being attached to anything???'. She just finds it amusing and thinks I'm nuts. My dad was completely against it at the start. I tried to inform him about all the gear, my reasons for doing it and went and got a job so I could show him I was serious and pay for it. He isn't interested in talking about it or watching the DVDs but it's not a taboo subject. He doesn't discourage me but he doesn't encourage me in any way either. It's a pretty dramatic turn around. I initially thought I would have to lie and hide that I'm jumping but I'm so much happier and more comfortable with the fact that they know..

AFF level 1. The TA who was radio-ing me down confused me with a tandem canopy and so thought I was doing OK and didn't talk to me.. until the tandem landed and he realized it wasn't me. I ended up landing in a paddock by myself guessing when I was supposed to flare etc.. it was a good story

Me too! No matter how much I have convinced myself that my fear of the door has gone, every time it opens I still hate it! I especially hate going first! And I tell my instructors and always make it a point that as soon as the door is open I turn away from it so I don't have to see other people jump.. But I find that if there are tandems on the plane watching me, I put on this brave cool act and it actually makes me less nervous! So you're not alone.. & good luck!!!

At the TA who is signalling the flare with batons.. and secretly worrying cos the ground is coming at me really fast. -- Thanks for all the replies so far.. I have another question in addition to all the original ones. If the container is a D3 sized for a 190 main and 170 reserve (and have been told by Mike Fury that it is ok to go one size either way) - would I be able to comfortably pack the Raven II as a reserve if I get a 170 main? Does it work so that the main and reserve compartments complement each other in size (ie. if you go smaller in one, you can go bigger in the other?)? Edited to add - yes I will definitely speak to my instructors.. I am overseas at the moment so am just trying to build my understanding via the forum instead.

my bad sorry.. was just going with info from conversations rather than actual research. on a different note, do you reckon if you run both operating systems together (ie. the parallel) you are losing a significant amount of processing speed than if you ran one or the other? i guess after experiencing the nightmare of trying to run virtual pc on my ibook, i can't quite comprehend that it is now seemingly possible to run them both together seamlessly. i want one of those laptops!

Well on 2-3 of the jumps it was because it was hard for the TA to signal the flare due to the wind so I was flared too early and had to PLR. I haven't really been told much about my landings.. only that I should be ready to PLR on every jump and that my PLR skills need much improvement. 7 cell - aren't all reserves 7 cell? I guess I am totally swayed towards jumping a reserve as a main b/c I can't afford the few extra 100 bucks to get a main. A few months ago I was bent on skydiving for base but ever since I actually started jumping, I've thrown that thought away. If it happens, it happens.

I've been doing research on gear options & I would like some advice... Background info - I am just under 60 kgs (130ish lbs) and 5'5" tall. I have 10 jumps so far.. most on a 260, 1 on a 240. I really couldn't tell the difference between the canopies at all. My landings are pretty bad.. I've stood up 1 so far. I guess I'm afraid that I am going to break my leg if I try to stand up the landing and the flare is wrong(a fear I know is totally in my head since I am being radio'd and TA'd down)- working on it. When under the canopy, I often find that it's a little hard for me to pull the toggles all the way down- especially using my left hand - I assumed it's cos I'm weak. I have no interest in swooping or flying fast canopies and actually really like just flying slowly under the canopy and hanging out in the air. I'm also on a uni student budget which means I'd like to have gear by the time I'm licensed so I don't have to pay for rentals - but I don't have all that much money to spend on this gear. The solution I came up with was - why not get an old reserve that has the bridle attachment point and jump it as a main? I've found a really good deal on a Raven II (218 sq. ft.) which fits this description and it works out so much cheaper than buying a main. I have gathered that 0.8 - 1.0 is a good wingloading for a first canopy. However, if I do get this, my wingloading will be 0.71 - 0.73 (gear weight 25-30lbs). Is this too light? Will I have problems? And if so, what kind of problems? The container I've got is a Dolphin D3. According to the manufacturer's specs it is sized for a 190 main. I assume the Raven II will fit fine since it's a 7 cell and packs smaller. Is this wrong? Also, from reading old threads in the women's forum I have found that a few people had the same problems as I do with regards to having trouble pulling the toggles. The conclusion there was that the reason was that the canopy was too big for the jumper. Is this accurate? I'd also like to add that I figure an added bonus with regards to my jumping a large 7-cell is that I will have the adequate canopy training incase I decide to venture into BASE in the future (it's somewhere at the back of my mind). I would like to hear all your comments, suggestions or flames... Thanks in advance!

1 ride.. jump 10, have 10 jumps

I'm a bit of a computer nerd and I've used both Apples and PCs extensively.. Had an iBook for a few years. It runs seamlessly and is ridiculously user-friendly and very multimedia-oriented. I had to make the swap to Windows because I have to use certain software for which there is no Mac version (I have an HP pavilion.. it's decent). When I had the iBook I did try to use the windows emulation software (Virtual PC) but it was totally useless cos it was insanely slow. I would totally suggest you to go for the Apple that will run both systems! Even though it's true that you have to re-boot every time you want to swap operating systems, it's not really that big of a deal. Think of it as being able to have 2 computers - an Apple and a PC. The only catch is that you can't use both at the same time. So what if you have to reboot - at least you've got them both. And it's not like you're going to need to use them both simultaneously. I reckon go for the Apple, use OSX as your primary system and just shift to windows when you need to do something the Mac can't do.