Scubadivemaster

Al, 7 years ago I dislocated my left shoulder badly (not skydiving.) I went the PT route and was able to return to work in a few months. I have had constant minor pain and weakness at full extension, but nothing I couldn't live with. Yesterday the sonofabitch popped right out when I corked off my back onto my belly. My useless arm flopping behind me initiated an immediate and wicked spin. I got my main opened and learned that I can't steer worth a damn with both toggles in one hand, and harness steering the 190 I was jumping is impossible. My shoulder popped back in as I went through 1000 feet, and I was able to flare from half brakes with both hands. Thank God. I'll go see the OS Tuesday and get it fixed right this time. I didn't enjoy that jump at all, and don't want to repeat it. I was planning on pulling at 3500 and that was still some scary shit. If my plan had been to pitch at 2500, I might have gotten to experience a cypres fire, and would have had to land one handed and off-field. My advice is to get it fixed right.

She's up to 27! Evidently she's slowing down as she gets closer to 30. Just like in real life!

Just talked to my wife who is at the DZ with Marlene. Marlene is already up to 20 jumps in the first 3.5 hours! Happy Birthday Marlene! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you.

I am assuming that since I sent it to them with the reserve packed and closed, it will be returned in the same condition at no charge. For that reason, I did NOT pull my handles before sending it off.

I will this year, but 2006 was my first year, and I have just started getting ratings where I can actually make a little money and declare it a legitimate business. Unfortunately, AFF and 150 jumps and 2 rigs each for me and my wife added up really quick during year one. Ah well, money well spent. (But there went my money for a BASE rig and a week in TF).

I kept hoping I would think of some other huge deduction that I had just overlooked. Maybe I could name my rigs and declare them dependents. Or put all of my Skydiving under "Medical Expenses: Psychotherapy" . In the end, I decided I had better just pay.

Thanks, Smartass! (Dear Moderator, this is not a personal attack. Anyone with "demon" in their name is my brother. I'm already sorry. Please don't ban me.) I owe over 5 grand, and wanted to wait until I could pay it. Non-Sufficient funds is another one of those things the IRS loves!

I finally finished my taxes, and the "Turbotax Electronic Filing System is experiencing an unusually high volume of . . ." WELL, NO SHIT! IT'S TAX DAY, ASSHOLE! Now I've got to get dressed, sober up, and drive to the damned post office, because TurboTax thinks I should "try again between 4:00 am and 4:00 pm Pacific time", which I suspect the IRS really won't appreciate. Next year, I let my buddy's pet monkey do my taxes. He can't fuck it up any worse than this.

We miss a couple weekends at the DZ and look what happens! Jesus, sweetheart! Let's put this one up in the trailer.

Amazing. It only took them 8 hours from when I reported it and gave them the item numbers it was previously sold under. My brother suggested I bid on this one again and ask for a frequent buyer's discount.

Simple. Greed. I'm a greedy bastard and hope that I can somehow buy something at auction that no one else realizes the value of. The buyer necessarily thinks he is somehow smarter than the other buyers, who don't realize the value of the item, and the seller, who doesn't realize it either. The seller hopes that the buyer is a uneducated lout, who can be persuaded that the round main and reserve are state-of-the-art, and who will likely get caught up in the frenzy of the auction, and pay too much. The seller, I suspect, is more often right. Here, all you can hope for is a fair deal. Who wants fair?? I wanna STEAL it!

You think that on an canister system you deploy by unscrewing the top? I'm imagining a spring-loaded snake pilot shute.

I have also made successful purchases from Ebay. Very much as you described. Eventually, you get comfortable, and somebody picks your pocket. Think about it, if you get screwed on one rig, you could have bought everything you ever bought from Ebay brand new and still saved money. But my purpose was not to trash Ebay, but rather to point out that THIS particular rig is a certainly a scam. There are a couple of others that look suspiciously familiar as well, but this one I know very, very well.

You just can't trust the feedback, which I learned the hard way. This seller, for example, has had no activity for 5 years. Probably a hijacked account. You also have to watch out for people who have run up their own rating by creating a few accounts and then selling small cheap items between them. In the end, you are much better to buy from a skydiver on dropzone. I know that this pisses the "professional ebayers" off when others say it, but ebay is about as safe as buying and selling shit in an alley. You may get some good deals, but sooner or later, somebody mugs you.

Oops. Thanks!

Just FYI. This thing has been "sold" more times than a retired hooker, and is about as real as Anna Nicole's boobies. Don't be taken advantage of. (As a side note, it seems that more and more of the skydiving gear on Ebay is a scam.) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180107844294

This is the reason I don't drink out of returnable bottles.

Hmmm. While I am sure all that works, I think the question was really "How to get laid [without fooling with all that emotional baggage and crap, preferably without paying for it, or having body parts rot off afterwords]." We're looking for the "Penthouse Letters" answer, not the "Cosmo" answer.

I'm amused by the different opinions on this. Our dropzone has many of the "old-time, make-your- surplus-round-more-sporty-with-a-hot-knife" jumpers. They still think 2000 is high. We also teach static line progression, a dying art. Static lines START at 3200 feet, so that isn't going to seem very low to someone who has jumped static line. I've jumped at 2200 due to low cloud cover. This low you should make it a true "Hop and Pop", meaning no delay to get stable, you LEAVE the AC stable and pitch. Even jumping a spectre, I'm open in plenty of time to still go to reserve if I have a problem. No big deal. Of course the forward airspeed helps a lot. In an emergency, if the pilot were dead sticking it and telling us to get out really low, I would just pop the reserve. Why watch my spectre snivel through 1000 feet wishing I had pulled the reserve right out the door, and wondering if you can hear the cypress cutter fire?

"Place hands here. Do not stand up until the ride has come to a complete stop."

This has been very productive up until this point. Lets try to keep it that way.

Again, though you emphasize INSTRUCTOR, it seems that the role you describe being more of attendant. (Not trying to be argumentative when I say that). If I am not hijacking the thread, can some of you tunnel instructors tell us what you feel your "job" is as an "instructor" who is paid to be in the tunnel or antechamber during our tunnel time? Perhaps if we get a feel for what it is that you instructors believe your role to be, we will know that you are going above and beyond. I really think that there is a misunderstanding here as to what that role is. I'd also be interested in hearing what the tunnel owners/managers believe their instructors roles to be. Do the owners think that they are paying the instructors to be teachers or lifeguards? Again, please, I am making an honest effort to unravel what I think is a serious misunderstanding, not trying to be a jackass. From the responses generated by this thread, I think the instructors would like us to know this, and I think I would feel much more comfortable knowing exactly what to expect out of the instructors. I know what to expect from the coaches, as they tell me exactly when I make my deal with them. Jewels, if I am leading this too far away, tell me, and I will move it to another thread.

King Air (90?) that gets you to altitude pretty quickly. Generally generous on altitude. Cool people who make you feel at home. The DZO is a tandem master, AFF instructor, swooper, and BASE jumper who obviously loves what he does. Very organized for something related to skydiving. Room to pack on the carpet in the hangar. They even know a guy who will come get your main or free bag out of the trees for a nominal fee. All that said, you should also consider Greene County Sport Parachute Center in Bardstown, KY. We've got a Beaver that you can hang everyone in the plane off of, and a really laid back atmosphere. My wife and I have been adopted like family there, and just have a hard time going anywhere else unless we can take everyone with us. (I shouldn't neglect the 182, we have one of those, too, for days the Beaver can't keep up). Lot of good places to land off if you spot poorly. How close it is depends on which side of Nashville you are on, but we have other Nashvillians that make the trip to Bardstown every weekend. Oh, and Mullins is going to have the "Super" King Air in Tullahoma, TN the weekend of March 31-April 1. Never miss an opportunity to jump out of it. See ya in one place or the other!

I said all that and didn't say I was agreeing with you? Damn it, all those years of schooling and still can't communicate worth a damn. Like the lifeguard analogy, your use of the word "attendant" just rang true with me, highlighting the different concepts of the roles of those employees that the customers may have. Not trying to argue at all. Just the opposite.

I think your use of the term "attendant" highlights the confusion and disagreement about tipping tunnel employees. If the tunnel employee who is assigned to our session is indeed assigned as an "attendant", I expect him to do the job of an attendant, and no more. He or she can spot for us as we enter the tunnel, make the decision whether to give us more air if we ask for it, and jump in to rescue us if we are in danger of hurting ourselves. I expect basic verbal instruction on the rules of the tunnel, and how not to hurt myself. That is all part of the job, and I'm not tipping for that any more than I tip the cashier at a restaurant. Anything additional that employee does, when he could just be standing in the door watching, will begin to earn him brownie points with me, redeemable for tips or beer later.