Miami

So now I'm posting from the MacBook...it came a day sooner than expected. First impression is very good! The built in iSight is very cool with the photo booth software. It is noticeably faster then my wife's Dell, I didn't have my G4 long enough to get a feel for how fast it was in comparison. I've spent a lot of time today loading and editing pictures in iPhoto...it was very nice to breeze through them as fast as I wanted! Battery life is great...have not actually checked what is says I have left but have been on for hours and it is running strong! The magnetic ac plug is awesome...easy to use and breaks away clean and easy! So, needless to say I am happy so far that I made the swap. This machine should meet my needs for many years to come...at least it better! Miami

I'm surprised I missed this post...thanks for pointing it out Walt. I'll apologize in advance for my poor writing skills...I always find it frustrating to express myself through typing. I was fortunate to be one of the people to know Roo back in San Antonio. She was pretty much the first jumper I met as I waited at the dropzone early in the morning for my first jump course. I was also very lucky to be on many jumps with her...from RW to CRW to just goofing around. I really wish there were a way to express in words what an amazing person she was. I had to go back and look through my logbook at all the jumps we made together..really brought back some memories, and a few tears. One of my favorite jumps was also my most sad...jump number 235, my last jump at SD San Antonio as the military was shipping me off to my next assignment, a kiss pass from Roo. There really is not a good way to put into words how incredible she was...and I've been trying, without real sucess, just typing and deleting as anything I say doesn't really do her justice. I just wish she were still with us. It's kind of ironic that my daughter was born three years, to the day, after Roo left us. Roo, if you are watching us, you will always be remembered. Miami

Sorry, but in this case you really will need to talk with your instructors or a rigger on the dz. They will best be able to explain it to you in person with a rig as a visual. To answer the question, like Chris said, yes, the reserve will work with the main in place. Hope this helps... Miami

That back up system can weaken your own built in system... Keep going without an audible...you will build a great habit of staying altitude aware and you will slowly build an internal clock. Using an audible this early in your jumping career will only work to undermine those things and hurt you in the future. Talk with your instructors about it as well, they should be able to provide some great insight on this. Hope this helps... Miami

Nice...never had one actually pull their cutaway, but had a couple of students similar to that. One in particular that was one of the first students I did tandem progression with (In this case it was 4 tandems then on to a single JM lvl 3 basically). The ripcord on the tandems was in a poor position, about where the cutaway handle was on the student rig...so of course the student went to the cutaway handle at pull time on the first AFF type jump. Fortunately she was very heads up and I was able to redock and redirect her hand before she actually pulled the cutaway, and the rest of the dive (the opening/canopy ride) was uneventful. Student recognized what she did and corrected it on the rest of her jumps. Hard for anyone to say exactly what they would have done in that situation...only other thing I can think of would have been to try and force him to pull, I mean wrap his hand around the handle and help him extract the correct handle. That might help him realize the parachute has been deployed, or it might not...hard to say for a student that unaware. I don't disagree with not letting him jump again, even if he wanted to, until he came to terms with what really happened. I'm not a big fan of taking people up who already know more than I do after their level 1 AFF. In all I think you guys did the right thing...the student is alive and well to go on and tell completely inaccurate stories about his skydive to his golfing buddies! Miami

Hmmm...if I started driving now... Wish I could make it, and of yes...we had lots of fun last time!! Miami

Well so much for shipping on 16 March...just got an email that my MacBook shipped today and should arrive to me in 5 days! Miami

So just got back from the Apple store where I got to play with Aperture for a while. All in all I like it, and am going to get it when the universal version is released. It mirrors a lot of what iPhoto does, but expands a little more on the editing you can do. The big selling points for me were the ease of editing RAW format pictures and the much greater degree of organization I'll be able to acquire with it. They also had a couple of the iMac's with the dual intel 2.0's in them...should I expect my MacBook to run that fast? Cause those things were smokin! The built in iPhoto with Photo booth was pretty damn cool as well. Damn I can't wait to get my Mac! Miami

I know how you feel. My original ship date was 15 Feb...on 14 Feb I get the email about the delay. You must have ordered yours pretty late...they changed my ship date to 28 Feb, and then it changed again when I altered my order to the 2.0 MacBook, but my ship date is still 16 Mar. Quoted from MB38 in the 2nd post in this thread: Seems Brook knows what he's talking about! Miami

I'm not too worried about those kinds of virus'...I'm typically very cautious about opening any types of attachments, even if from people I know. The security built into the Mac's seems to be pretty good...if that changes I might look into some AV software. Miami

I just configured a Dell laptop the same way my MacBook Pro is set up to come...the Dell was $312 more than the Mac, not counting the antivirus needed for the Dell as well. Miami

That's not the way most companies act... My first thought was that something was wrong with the 1.67 processor, so they had to make the 1.83 the minimum system. Just seemed odd that the day before the systems are scheduled to ship they suddenly change everything and delay shipping by a couple weeks. Oh well...I'm a gadget whore anyway...I canceled my order for the dual 1.67 (now 1.83) MacBook Pro and reordered a dual 2.0 MacBook Pro. I was concerned about not having the best video ram having an effect on how I would be able to process videos and pictures. Plus this way it is a standard system so no sticky situations about trying to return a custom system if I don't like it. On a plus note I'm heading up to NY for a couple days, so I'll be playing in the Apple store in Syracuse for a while this Friday. Miami

Like what? Miami

Well that's cool that I've been upgraded, but not so cool that it's going to be a few more weeks till it ships. Why the sudden change? Miami

Hey...4 jumps is a lot these days...they know everything by their 4th jump now! What about it don't I like...It's not so much that I don't like it, but I don't really feel it accomplishes much. It's kinda like thinking that it would better prepare the student for the future by making them do one of their jumps with no goggles on. Will it prepare them for later? Yes. Is it really necessary on a student jump? No. I feel time could be better spent working other skills or more instability skills where a student is really working the instability. Instead of a little dirty air how about them on their back or side and spinning? Most of the time one (or more) of those drills (backflip, frontflip, or barrel roll) will end up in that situation. Takes the student by surprise and they get to figure it out with an instructor present. Miami

Definitely going to play with it first...the Apple store is kinda far away so who knows when it'll actually happen though. Just want some feedback from people using it. Right now my plan to use it to touch up pictures (mostly skydiving pictures), fix minor imperfections in them (lighten, darken, crop, fix angles, fix colors, etc.), and then print them. Miami

Three things in this thread I would like to coment on... First, from countzero: This sounds like your instructors screwed up. Like Tonto already pointed out any "wind gust" would have affected both you and your instructor, and most likely this screw up was them just not dressing you or themselves properly. Sounds like you reacted to it quite well...good job! Then, from Tonto: I would consider this only as a last resort. Getting under anything in the air...whether an experienced jumper, a tandem, or an aff student...should happen only accidentally. I guess I could see this being used if was really beyond your ability to get back up to a student and you needed to be there to save their life. And last (and definitely most interesting ), from livendive: Dave, don't take this personally...I'm not trying to single you out or anything, as many others here obviously agree with you. I just totally disagree with the idea of randomly screwing with the student in an attempt to make them more confident. The course, whether it be AFF or ISP, has plenty of dives built in to practice instability to build a student's confidence. Ad libbing a push out the door or a burble in freefall seems to me to take away from that experience (what are you doing below the student, anyway? ). If the student displays an inability to become unstable during those drills then material can be added to later dives, or dives can be repeated. A few have commented that they feel it better to learn this skill with an instructor present rather than on some random skydive with whoever may or may not be around. Well that is exactly what they do with back flips, front flips, and barrel rolls. What will a student do different from instability due to a burble from another jumper? If you feel they are not getting enough confidence from those drills why not add more of them instead of getting underneath them? During my little over 2000 AFF/ISP jumps I've never found the need to do that to any of my students, thankfully, so it just doesn't make sense to me that others would need to. Miami

Haha, I thought about that after I posted it. I suppose if I had to look at myself all day though I would probably give myself a headache! Miami

So is anyone using Aperture? I'm thinking I may go with it instead of Photoshop CS2 for a few reasons...a universal version will be released much sooner (before the end of march...anyone's guess when adobe will make a universal CS3), it's less expensive, and I think it would fit my needs nicely where Photoshop would just have a lot of stuff I would never use (I'm a photographer, not a graphic designer). But I would like to hear some feedback from jumpers using it before I commit to anything... Miami

Clicky. Snazy looking camera...do a search in this forum for hard drive cameras and you'll find a good bit of discussion on them. Consensus is they are not made for high alt and they would most likely not hold up to opening shock. Hope this helps... Miami

Damn I wish I could make it...last year was a blast! You guys have fun though! Miami

I've heard white packs up smaller as the fabric is not full of dye. I find light blue to be the most comfortable on the eyes during inspections, but white is not that bad either. I can't stand staring at bright colors that long...gives me a headache. Miami

Pink Mafia info can be found here. Very cool organization. Miami

Yes, tandems count. There is no limit to the number of tandems that can count toward a license, but you still must complete all of the requirements for the license you are applying for. Hope this helps... Miami

I had one where I was on an 8-way...we had just built a round, everyone turned to track, and *boom*...went in. We then all proceeded to get up and brush ourselves off, hoping the dzo didn't see us cause we would all surely get grounded for going in. That one was a long time ago...wish I still had skydiving dreams, they were pretty entertaining. Miami