Donna

Yes. I'm sorry. I am evil.

Just be careful to watch out for slider rebound. Skies, D

Hey Jeji, Yup. I've been there before. There are times when I've forced myself to jump and I've been happy I did afterwards but there was one time when I didn't push myself. I don't even know why I didn't want to jump but my head just wasn't in it. (You can read about it here.) I was so upset with myself after and really nervous it would keep happening but the next weekend I was fine. I think you have to look deep inside yourself and know when it is time to push yourself and when it is time to give yourself a break. Good luck. I know you'll do fine next time. Believe in yourself. As one old skydiver once told me, "Skydiving is all about confidence." You can do it! Remember to smile! Skies, D

Herv - That would be fine. Skies, D

I did read your whole post, Herv because I like to read other people's views and I actually give them some thought as long as they make some sense which yours does. The one thing I can't help but comment on (even though my common sense tells me it will be a mistake and I should just shut up)

Marc... Did you read the article on the url I posted? I don't think most people don't want retribution and justice. They just want to make sure it happens to the people who deserve it and so it WILL make a difference in the long run. For myself, I want every one of those fucking terrorists and their supporters to pay with their lives but I don't want to just start bombing countries with it not really doing much good except to make the American people feel like they are doing something. Skies, D

I don't think they are idiots at all. They are entitled to their own opinion. They may not be right but I think they make some good points. I also fear for people of Middle East backgrounds who live in the US. They are being the targets of hate crimes. Did you see the little boy on the special last night talking about how his friends are telling him it was his fault? One story I heard was about a little 3 year old girl who lost her eye after a brick was thrown threw her living room window. Here is an article I found interesting. Click here. *********************************** some other thoughts from a thoughtful person The images on television have been heartbreaking. People on fire leaping to their deaths from a hundred stories up. People in panic and fear racing from the scene in clouds of dust and smoke. We knew that there must be thousands of human beings buried alive, but soon dead under a mountain of debris. We can only imagine the terror among the passengers of the hijacked planes as they contemplated the crash, the fire, the end. Those scenes horrified and sickened me. Then our political leaders came on television, and I was horrified and sickened again. They spoke of retaliation, of vengeance, of punishment. We are at war, they said. And I thought: they have learned nothing, absolutely nothing, from the history of the twentieth century, from a hundred years of retaliation, vengeance, war, a hundred years of terrorism and counter-terrorism, of violence met with violence in an unending cycle of stupidity. We can all feel a terrible anger at whoever, in their insane idea that this would help their cause, killed thousands of innocent people. But what do we do with that anger? Do we react with panic, strike out violently and blindly just to show how tough we are? "We shall make no distinction," the President proclaimed, "between terrorists and countries that harbor terrorists." Will we now bomb Afghanistan, and inevitably kill innocent people, because it is in the nature of bombing to be indiscriminate, to "make no distinction"? Will we then be committing terrorism in order to "send a message" to terrorists? We have done that before. It is the old way of thinking, the old way of acting. It has never worked. Reagan bombed Libya, and Bush made war on Iraq, and Clinton bombed Afghanistan and also a pharmaceutical plant in the Sudan, to "send a message" to terrorists. And then comes this horror in New York and Washington. Isn't it clear by now that sending a message to terrorists through violence doesn't work, only leads to more terrorism? Haven't we learned anything from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Car bombs planted by Palestinians bring air attacks and tanks by the Israeli government. That has been going on for years. It doesn't work. And innocent people die on both sides. Yes, it is an old way of thinking, and we need new ways. We need to think about the resentment all over the world felt by people who have been the victims of American military action. In Vietnam, where we carried out terrorizing bombing attacks, using napalm and cluster bombs,on peasant villages. In Latin America, where we supported dictators and death squads in Chile and El Salvador and other countries. In Iraq, where a million people have died as a result of our economic sanctions, And, perhaps most important for understanding the current situation, in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza, where a million and more Palestinians live under a cruel military occupation, while our government supplies Israel with high-tech weapons. We need to imagine that the awful scenes of death and suffering we are now witnessing on our television screens have been going on in other parts of the world for a long time, and only now can we begin to know what people have gone through, often as a result of our policies. We need to understand how some of those people will go beyond quiet anger to acts of terrorism. We need new ways of thinking. A $300 billion dollar military budget has not given us security. Military bases all over the world, our warships on every ocean, have not given us security. Land mines and a "missile defense shield" will not give us security. We need to rethink our position in the world. We need to stop sending weapons to countries that oppress other people or their own people. We need to decide that we will not go to war, whatever reason is conjured up by the politicians of the media, because war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children. War is terrorism, magnified a hundred times. Our security can only come by using our national wealth, not for guns, planes, bombs, but for the health and welfare of our people - for free medical care for everyone, education and housing guaranteed decent wages and a clean environment for all. We can not be secure by limiting our liberties, as some of our political leaders are demanding, but only by expanding them. We should take our example not from our military and political leaders shouting "retaliate" and "war" but from the doctors and nurses and medical students and firemen and policemen who have been saving lives in the midst of mayhem, whose first thoughts are not violence, but healing, not vengeance but compassion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Howard Zinn I don't know what the right answer is but I think we should think about it carefully before we just start bombing countries. Justice must be served for this horrible crime but let's make sure we do it right. Flame away. Skies, D

Congratulations Justin and Jenn!!! How about Xaos for a name?? That will describe your life for the next 18 years and if you forget how old the kid is you can just think back to when that new canopy came out!

Wow, Cameramonkey!! Those are some awesome pictures!! Great job! Thanks for sharing them!! Skies, D

Well ALFs never send viruses and I resent being accused of it. Skies, D

Ummmmm I thought it was destroyed by a virus? Skies, D

I want to change my picture. I found another picture, made sure it was 65x75 and a jpg, uploaded it following all directions, got a url to post in my basic profile but then I get an error message saying, "Improper picture type. " I've tried it about 4 times now using different pictures and different programs to make it the correct size but always get the same message. I didn't have any trouble putting up my original one. Anyone know what might be wrong??? thanks Skies, D

Skyborn! I like that! I was skyborn at Skydive Hutchinson in Minnesota and have also jumped at Daytona and Pepperell but there's no place like home.... Jumptown in Orange, MA. Skies, D

Nice idea. Thanks, Pammi! Skies, D

Sounds like a lot of BEER to me!

It does to me. Private is private. Skies, D

ooops I thought they were real PMs that he sent you. Sorry. Skies, D

Private messages are suppose to be just that... private Skies, D

Back. Here is one post I found that sounded sensible: ******************************************************************** Post donation: The volume of your blood is returned to normal within 24hrs, but not the constituant parts of the blood, ie Hb. This is what is required to transport O2. The $64,000 is how long does this take to return to normal, or when can I jump. There is no exact answer to this. It depends on a multitude of things. For example: The bigger you are, the fitter you are, the quicker you will recover. Chaps recover quicker than Girls. Also depends on what height you are going to, height of DZ above sealevel, a number of things. Because they variability and the risks involved no-one will officially say "you can jump x days after donating" so they say don't donate. BUT. I think that 10-14 days should cover most normal people easily, as being able to jump you need to be semi fit. But if you feel bad on the 14th day obviously don't jump, wait a little longer, also if you get to 'tude and feel shit, go down with the plane. another thing to consider is plasmaphoresis. leave 2 days post plasmaphoresis then you should be fine to jump. Obviously if you aren't normal shape and size(esp small women) you might want to leave it longer, or not donate at all. ***************************************************************** I found many different articles and they varied greatly in their advice from being fine in 24 hours to waiting 4 months to not donating at all if you skydive. My opinion is know your own body and how it's reacted to other things in the past. Use common sense. Know the signs to be aware of. After reading a lot last spring I had decided not to give during the summer when I would be more apt to be skydiving. I figured I could give a few times during the colder months. This, of course, is a special circumstance and I'll definitely give and I'll probably just wait at least 3-4 days and then pay extra attention to how I feel on the way to altitude. Good luck! Skies, D

Last spring I had read something about that you aren't suppose to donate blood if you skydive in Britian and I often donate so I got concerned and asked around about it. I had also asked on rec. There were quite a lot of responses, some medical reports from doctors on it. Unfortunately I have a new computer now and don't have any of the e-mails any more. I will do a search on deja and see if I can find anything there. I do remember that in some studies some people could be much more affected than others. Women seemed to be more prone to side effects. I know there was talk of waiting about 3 weeks to be on the safe side, though there were many personal accounts of people donating with no problem that they had noticed. If I find any of the articles I will come back and post them. Skies, D

Macauley.... I know just the person for you. His name is Povl. He hangs out at wreck occasionally, unfortunately. Why don't you two go start your own country. Show some decency and respect for others, will ya? Skies, D

Right now is NOT the time to be fighting over some stupid, shitty, petty, little stuff. Please stop. Try thinking of all you have to be thankful for and find some love and understanding in your heart. After today I would think you'd know what really matters in life. Skies, D

Yes, Viking. Be aware of the added risks of jumping with a tandem. I had also heard the 500 number as what one of the tandem manufacturer recommends but I don't think there is an actual set number of jumps required. I think it varies from dz to dz and also depends on the TM. Please read incident #48 on the Fatalities Page. I'm not trying to discourage you, I just wanted you to be aware of the added risks. We had a guy at our dz with around 100 jumps who jumped with his friend on a tandem and it went great and they had a blast but you do need to be extra careful. Skies, D

Good luck, D!!! Hope you get the weather! Let us know how it goes! Skies, D

Now why didn't you do that at Jumptown so I could have seen it???? j/k Glad everything worked out in the end and that you are ok, Carl! Congrats on a good job!! Skies, D