BikerBabe

bumping, in case anyone wants to join us for the scrambles this weekend!! Should be a good time. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

That's tough for me to answer, since our training plan is one weekend (20 jumps) some months, and 4 days (40 jumps) other months. We do a long camp every three months, then one weekend each of the other months. We pay for our camera flyer's slot, but since he's still learning along with us, he isn't paid extra yet. We also pay for packers, especially this time of year. There is no way I personally could function well if I had to pack in the AZ heat AND do 10 jumps a day. Just a personal preference. SDAZ gives us a $2 discount per jump, so that helps. Sooo....a typical weekend for me is: Roundtrip airfare from ABQ to Phoenix: ~$100 (cheaper to fly than anything else) Jumps: $320-$400 depending on how many we do Packing: $80-$100 Coaching: $137.50 - $150 depending on who we have and circumstances. So not including food and unforseen circumstances (reserve rides, etc), a typical month for me (where we only train one weekend) would be: $637.50 - $750 Pretty much double that for the longer camps. Of course if you stay at home and train, you won't need to add in airfare. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Wow, someone likes to exaggerate. Do I know you? Do you know me? I can recall ONE thread where we discussed the 2002 intermediate results, and I don't recall, on here or at Nationals, being alone in my opinion (I guess I'm not entitled to it) that the gold-medalists could have/should have been in Advanced. I guess out of a couple hundred posts on DZ.com, one or two posts constitutes "all over this site" Excuse me for rooting for and defending my alma mater. Actually, the more I think about it, the less I understand what you are trying to imply with this jab. Are you saying I'm sandbagging? HA! No one on my team has over 1000 jumps or any previous 4-way experience. We couldn't sandbag this year if we tried. Are you saying I'm picking on Skymonkey2 because his team is sponsored, and that it's ironic because AF Blue was "sponsored"? If so, you obviously didn't read my post. I just don't like to come on here and read "nyah nyah nyah, my team kicks ass we have a PC and we're going to beat you all at Nationals". The whole "because we're sponsored" part is secondary. I guess I didn't read the posts as having a "sense of humor and irony". Sue me for not having a sense of humor. I'm sure you're a more experienced skydiver and 4-way competitor than I am, whoever you are. Hell, just about everyone is. Is my team going to medal in the Advanced class this year? Nope. Am I upset? Nope. Do I care that we don't have matching rigs? No way. If we get last f$%&ing place at Nationals this year, that's OK. I'm just happy that I found a team that I like, have fun with, learn with, and can compete with. I feel like it's been money well-spent. Looking forward to finishing behind you this year, Andi Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

LOL...really. If the world were perfect, they'd let me fire the M-16, since I shot expert in that in basic training. And all the enemies would be little man shaped targets. Yeah, in our class of 14, 3 people had cracked slides. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

HEY!! Thanks everyone...I had no problems qualifying...30/36 on the little man-shaped target. I can now go on my trip if they decide to send me. Yay! And I'm actually in that SkyVenture ad twice. See if you can find me again.... It helps to know the person who designs the ads... Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

I leave in a half hour to attempt to qualify on the M9. That's spend all day shooting a 9-mm Beretta in order to pass a timed test for the military. I'm not a gun person, and I haven't shot since Basic Training, where I just barely qualified. The gun is large, I have small hands, and it is a bitch for me to handle and fire properly. Certainly NOT a gun I would buy if I were so inclined. However, I need to qualify in order to go on a trip that I want/need to go on. I need good luck and vibes to calm my nerves... Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Thank you, Jason, for that post. While my team won't win any medals, we're doing it all ourselves, too. Hard to get sponsorship when you start with 4 unknowns. At least we got a discount on team jumpsuits. I'll be selling t-shirts soon, too. And raffle tickets. No free Javelins for us. Just a great team vibe and the desire for a challenge. See you in advanced...we'll be near the bottom, but that's OK. It's better to be the tail of the lion than the head of the fox. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Started in 1994, and had ~300 by the beginning of 2002. Now I have ~750. I LOOOOVE being current! Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Lou thinks I don't count. I'm hurt. And I liked Go Fast before he was sponsored...that's why we went to them in the first place! Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Ahh, but Lou, have you tried it with Parrot Bay? Or Bacardi O? Yummy. It's an awesome mixer. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

See, the thing with Go Fast is you don't have to acquire a taste for it. You're hooked after the first one. Gowd, I'm so lucky I get free cases of it...or maybe I'm not lucky. *runs to get a go fast* Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Red Bull = BLECH Go Fast = MMMMMMMM MMMMM good. Go Fast and Parrot Bay. Go Fast and Bacardi O Go Fast and Vodka All MUCH better-tasting than the red bull crap. order some. www.gofastsports.com You will not regret it. I swear. (Yes, I'm biased, my hubby is sponsored) Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Well, I never signed a waiver for my first jump (it was military), and I had about 150 jumps before I ever jumped at a civilian DZ, so I chose the last choice. Especially now, since I'm 1/7th of a DZO, I pretty much know what is going to be in a waiver, and anything that seems extra or strange will jump out at me, and I'll skim that paragraph. Here in NM, waivers are not necessarily binding, either, according to some recent court decisions. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

noice! That is one cool-looking formation. George is a genius that way! So I'm guessing that "in-outs" was the theme this year? Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Lessee... Otter C-182 C-206 C-207 (!) King Air Queen Air (bleh) Caravan C-130 Balloon Not a huge list, but I defintely enjoyed the c-130! What really gets me is the AN-2 biplane that is sitting at our DZ's airprt, just itching to be jumped, but the FAA considers it an "experimental" aircraft, so we can't jump out of it! ARGH! That's what it was made for! We even talked to the owner and he said he'd be glad to fly us. Oh well, no "AN-2 boogie" coming anytime soon... Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Dear Lord. I was in Colorado at a boogie when DJan told me about this, and I've had all of yesterday and a six-hour drive home to absorb the news. I only met Roger once, at Nationals last year. But he made an impression on me, because he asked me for feedback about how the meet was going, things the DZ could do better for the competitors, etc. He didn't know me from Adam, but the fact that he was asking people for feedback really impressed me. I'm also very glad that he was never afraid to boldy speak his Christian beliefs. Missy and Rook, you are in my prayers. God bless you both, and God bless you, Roger. BSBD, Andi Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Funny, I don't think mine are worried so much about my safety as they are about me "wasting my life and money" on something so frivolous. I could really scare the bejeezuz out of them by telling them I want to quit working and "using my brain" and become a full-time/professional skydiver. That would be worse than death. Actually, they've seen me jump before, and they came to Nationals last year. They actually really enjoyed nationals and the competition aspect of it, and I think they finally began to understand me a little better. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Well, our first step is going to be to fill out the form the TSA has for claiming lost items. However, I'm sure it's in the trash can because some idiot thought it was gasoline or flammable or something and didn't bother to check. Hell, most people don't even know what a two-stroke engine is, anyway. Hopefully he'll be able to race and it won't be a problem, it's just the principle of it. How do we fight something like this, you know? I am sworn to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. What do I do when the enemy to the constitution is my own government? Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

I'm curious...where does a civilian go to get a chamber ride? I've only done it in the military. Just wondering! Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[rant] ARGH! How in the hell can we live in America in the 21st century and be forced to surrender our rights to this Gestapo-like organization? How is it that a government agency has the right to take something out of a checked bag and not even leave an explanation or call the owner of that bag back to security to tell them? My husband has a race in Wisconsin this weekend. He packed some two-stroke motor oil in his bag. He had to fly to Ft. Walton Beach first for a business trip. It got there fine. However, when he opened his bag in Wisconsin, the 3 quarts of oil were gone. No note, no explanation, and no page at the Ft Walton Beach airport requesting him to come back to talk about it. Nothing. IMHO, that is flat out stealing. We have a government agency that has the right to steal whatever they want out of your stuff without your knowledge and without any explanation! Also, we have a government agency that apparently doesn't know how to consistently enforce its own rules, since obviously motor oil is fine in Albuquerque, but for some reason not fine in Ft. Walton Beach. Funny, I don't see motor oil anywhere on their list as of June 2nd: http://www.tsa.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/tsa_ppitems_06-02-2003.pdf So the oil is only about ~$20 worth. However, because my hubby is now OUT of two-stroke oil, if he can't find some to buy from another racer, he's wasted a weekend in Wisconsin. I'd put the total cost to him if he doesn't get to race at ~$1500, including entry fees, travel, lodging, and projected winnings. Moral of the story: keep everything that is truly valuable to you with you at all times, and carry it on the pane with you if at all possible. I will NEVER check my rig EVER again because of this. [/rant] Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Very nice. Looks like fun. I never knew Rob, but one of my friends was a good friend of his, and has nothing but good things to say about him. Here's the link to the boogie website: [/url]http://www.mercurygrafix.com/robharris/index.html[url] Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

tee hee. Well, you know what the problem is...it's all those different-colored jumpsuits! Sheesh, you big way people. How is the poor Knight supposed to know where to go when no one else is wearing a black suit? Cut him some slack. He's not used to being blinded by wild and garish colors... Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

WOOHOO! I'm definitely going for the helicopter after the women's record is done! Can't wait...I'll be heading up Friday after work. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

I just watched Eric win at PPIR this weekend! Kawasaki had a great weekend there...but it is a twisty track that favors smaller bikes. Anyway, a lot of those guys have major carpal-tunnel from riding so much. My husband is also developing it, as well. PPIR was supposed to be a 29-lap race for him, and his hand was starting to go numb in practice at around lap 22. erk. Luckily, it was shortened to 20 laps. As for the MSF...riding around on their little 125s or 250s is the way to learn, I didn't feel at all bad about the possibility of dumping the bike. Now my husband is trying to get me to take a road racing school, as well as the American Supercamp (the one on dirtbikes). He did do a tandem, I feel like I should at least get out on the track once to make it up to him! Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

YAY...I decided to come to the scrambles meet! woohoo! And gee, free help from Airspeed...does it get any better? Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!