kmfenaughty

Exactly ! Enjoy every day like it's you're last ... cause it just might be Think about that when you're on the way to work and see a beautiful sunrise …. and you keep going cause you’re caught up in the day-to-day BS, if you knew this was you’re last sunrise would you pull off the road and just enjoy it? And for all of you that jump at “The Ranch” just think about coming down Storm King Mountain on 9W headed towards West Point … with some fresh fallen snow covering the dark of winter as the sun slowly rises in the sky. The dark and turbulent Hudson River set against a background of fresh fallen snow as you look towards Garrison … how many of us have ever pulled off the road just to watch the absolute beauty. Kinda like the feeling of stepping out the door at FL135 for the first time and looking out at the horizon in total awe … knowing it could kill you. I think we all know the answer … don’t we

Yea .. that was going to be my question ... what do you consider to be an older gentleman I'm 52 also ... and I'm nobody's "Daddy" and don't ever plan on being. They have a solution for the "grey Hair" these days too. Btw ... I'm in the middle of my AFF class and two weeks after I started jumping my 26 yr old daughter started also. I would be done now except for a screwed up landing Your comments impressed me .. it's not as easy doing this at 52 as it would have been at 25. I have to work harder because I'm less flexiable and being honest a little Advil in the morning helps that out too. What truly impresses me .. is Skydivers with Disabilities I watched as an "older guy" boarded the plane behind me and the instructor that was with me. He ended up doing a HnP but I was stunned when he folded up his cane .. tucked it away in his jump suit .... smiled and rolled out. I truly felt honored to jump with him even before I found out who he was

Well then they are testing it .. I think under the new licensing agreement w/ RWS 99% of the people on this earth are sheep ... dare to be different

I am not a certified rigger nor am I an experienced skydiver … the replies below are simply answers I have received from research I have done to purchase my first rig. This information is offered only as FYI. Check all of this info out with a MASTER rigger and the original MANUFACTURER I'm an unusual type of person .. for me the research to purchase something is kinda like foreplay .. it's almost as much fun as actuall buying that first rig. There are no naive or stupid questions .. only naive and stupid people and you don't sound like either. CALL the MANUFACTURER … look at the sizing sheets but the 230 -> 190 is a BIG gap. It depends on the actual canopy you are wanting to use and the container itself .. not all 210's at the same ! DO NOT GUESS .. your life depends on it 99% of the people on this earth are sheep ... dare to be different

I love that pic I was reading this thread beacuse I'm recovering from a Tibia Plateau Fracture 5 weeks ago. I am concerned that when I do get back up (Dr say's 6 months) I may need some kind of brace. It's really good to hear that this is not going to be a issue. Never mind the ankle ... how did you keep from freezing ur ass off, what was the air temp on exit ? blue skies and hopefully warm ones here in Orlando Edited by slotperfect at the user's request 99% of the people on this earth are sheep ... dare to be different

Skydive University has a book and video called Skydive 150 "Basic Canopy Flight" and I have another called "Fly like a Pro" and "Pack like a Pro". Some very famous names in Fly like a Pro ... it's stars John LeBlanc -Vice President & Lead Designer for Performance Design http://www.performancedesigns.com/pdstaff.asp Mike "Maddog" Maguire - Relative Workshop www.relativeworkshop.com A great resource is Tom Buchanan aka:tombuch http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?username=tombuch; ... author of JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0071410686 If you can't find the Skydive University video .. let me know and I see if I can help out. Blue Skies kevin 99% of the people on this earth are sheep ... dare to be different

adventurechick is absloutley on the money, I'm in a similiar position but not anywhere as bad as you described but I went to Skydive University located @ Dropzone DeLand and we used the tunnel in Orlando. My coach was "Yuki" and she was absloutley FANTASTIC. My 26 yr old daughter is also going through the AFF program and she has the same problem .... and Yuki is making great progress with her too. In my 15 minute session (15 one minute) we covered turns, tracking and up -down in the tunnel, I passed my next three levels with no problems. I also worked with another instructor @ Skydive DeLand and we did another seperate jump (w 2 instructors) that was a no preasure jump designed to get out the door, correct belly down position, altitude awareness and successful PC deployment. http://www.skydiveu.com/ Deland Campus Director - Yuki Tsuji yukisdu@aol.com If you are committed to this sport and want to get through this issue .. She will definitley help you Not sure where you are located but it's the "off season" in Orlando and you should be able to find reasonable air travel to Orlando or Daytona ... Good luck .... I know what you are going through

Did the tell you what the COBRA rates would have been ? http://www.calstate.edu/Benefits/healthcare/cobra.rates.shtml A friend of mine was between job's and the COBRA very expensive ... $600 + /month for a family coverge if I remember correctly. Most of us can't afford anything like that when were out-of-work I broke my leg (Tibia Plateau Fracture) 3 weeks ago and the hospitial alone was $19K, the insurance "contract price" was $8k .. and that does not include the cost of the surgery to put 5 screws in my leg 99% of the people on this earth are sheep ... dare to be different

OK .. maybe I'm confused here .. HE is on Level 3 and HE is going back and forth about continuing and HE says that he has a wife and kids ... Who is concerned about him continuing in the Sport .. you or HE ? If HE is concerned about his wife and kids then HE should buy Medical Insurance and Life Insurance to protect the finianical security of his wife and kids ... If you are concerned about his wife and kids then you need to sit down and talk this out with HE. Understand that you will never know when this is your last jump or your last car ride or your last swim ... enjoy each day like it will be your last day on earth because it just may be. If you love something let it go free. If it doesn't come back, you never had it. If it comes back, love it forever. Quote by Doug Horton Btw ... two weeks after I started jumping by 26 yr old daughter started AFF training also .. and yea it hard because I know the risks .... but I live what I preach. Just my opinion .... kmfenaughty - Orlando FL 99% of the people on this earth are sheep ... dare to be different

I don't know if you are on a regular route or if you drive cross-country .... once you get you "A" license you could end up jumping at hundreds of different DZ'z. I'm new to this sport too .. it took me 52 years to get started but now I'm totally hooked ... My dream would be to visit as many DZ's across this great country as possible and see each one in a different season. I grew up in the North East and I'm looking foreward to getting home and making a few jumps at "The Ranch" in NY. I can't imagine how beautiful it will be seeing that part of the country in autum

I want to make everyone aware that if you ever need a surgeon to perform any orthopaedic traumatology work, we have some of the finest surgeons available here in Orlando, FL located at Florida Hospital Orthopaedic Institute Fracture Care Center. These doctors have actually written the book on a minimally invasive approach to the treatment of orthopaedic traumas. http://www.fracturecarecenter.com/about/index.asp J. DEAN COLE, M.D., Medical Director and his associate Steve V. Nguyen, M.D. have pioneered the minimally invasive approach for the treatment of orthopaedic traumas. As a "student" I recently hade the unfortunate experience of a screwed up landing .. I know it's not the first time but it was my first real hard landing. After the landing .. I hobbled back to the truck and back to the gear room ... debriefed the landing and painfully headed home, disappointed that @ 10:30 Sunday morning with Levels 6&7 still ahead I was done for the day. I headed home to keep my leg elevated and iced for 24 hrs but on Monday morning it was clearly time to head for the ER. I chose to drive to Florida Hospital in downtown Orlando because of the care I have received there previously. After going through the ER room protocol and seeing the attending physician (who was a pilot btw, he understood a screwed up landing) .. we were pretty much convinced it was a relatively minor injury but just to be safe he ordered x-rays. When the x-rays were back .. he asked if I wanted the good news or the bad .... the bad news was that I had a "tibia plateau fracture". He showed me the x-ray and there it was clear as day, the tibia plateau is actually the top of the outside bone in the bottom part of your leg, this section of the tibia actually forms the bottom of the knee joint itself, the fracture would need to be evaluated using at CT scan. When the CT Scan was ready ... we discussed the fracture .. he showed me that the fracture extended vertically from the joint self down into the bone and clearly surgery was indicated. We discussed what would need to be done and who would perform the surgery .... I like to be an informed consumer and this was happening way to fast for me, but when he mentioned that Dr Cole or his associate Dr Nguyen would perform the surgery I was greatly relieved, I knew of Dr Cole's reputation from a previous surgery (that turned out to be non malignant). I was admitted that evening and taken into surgery the next morning. Dr Nguyen inserted 5 screws into my left knee .... I left the hospital for home the following day. No cast .... just an "immobilizer" or temp cast that I needed to use to walk with. I was amazed to see 5 small spots where Dr Nguyen had inserted the screws and the 4 spots where they had immobilized the bone during surgery. I was instructed NOT to place more then 20 lbs on the broken leg, to keep up with the 5 or 6 exercises I needed to perform every day as physical therapy. This is 2 weeks post surgery ... and I no longer need the "immobilizer" .. the x-rays indicate everything is healing perfectly. I have significant flexibility in the joint already and I'm cleared to return to the pool to swim. He estimates that I will be off the crutches in 6 weeks and back in the sky very soon Anybody who has experienced this type of injury knows how long the recovery is AFTER the cast comes off ... and how much flexibility you usually loose in the joint .. permantly ! If you ever find yourself in need .. get yourself to Florida Hospital or at least have your surgeon consult with one of these Dr's before the surgery ... it can make the difference between being back in the sky .... or walking with a limp the rest of your life. Kevin Fenaughty Orlando, FL 99% of the people on this earth are sheep ... dare to be different

As a former EMT ...certification long since expired ... If you have ANY kind of medical condition that you need to convey to a health care professional in the event that you are unable to ALWAYS wear a MEDIC-ALERT, they even offer a new style http://www.medicalert.org/E-Health/ Back on topic .. here in the USA we have HIPAA regulation (as somebody already mentioned) that attempt to control who has access to your private medical information. If you provide this info to your local DZO ... I am not sure that they are any requirment to keep that info private ... if I recall the wavers are usually stored in a file cabnet that allows anybody who works there will have access to it. If you are concerned about an medical condition you have ... ALL emergency medical care personnel are trained to check for the braclet or perhaps now the more advanced versions. This method works 100% of the time and it also relieves the DZO of the burden of sharing that info with the EMS, let alone the legal implications if PRIVATE medical information is inadvertenly disclosed. Just my opinion .... 99% of the people on this earth are sheep ... dare to be different