livendive

Glad I got all that junk out of my front yard before that picture! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

This is an obvious case of mistaken identity...you've got the wrong guy! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

A whole new can of whup-ass. Mess with the bull, you get the horns. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I dare you. Don't you dare me!!! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

This thread has me seriously considering doing it again. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Yep. It seems like he OUGHT to be visible. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

My understanding is that it's basically depression followed by mania (thus the "manic-depressive" nickname for it), but you probably knew that too. Most people know the signs of depression, e.g. social withdrawal, poor self-esteem, lack of hope, loss of (or excessive) appetite, and possibly suicidal thoughts. The manic symptoms include irresponsible spending, excessive drug use, risky sex, insomnia, etc...basically going full bore, consequences be damned. I think in the worst cases, the manic phases get to the point of psychosis, but I don't really know. Just my uneducated 0.5 cents. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Even though I know why, something just looks fundamentally wrong with that cora picture! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Rhodesian ridgebacks are great dogs. Quiet, intelligent, protective, playful, strong, and good looking, they're probably my second favorite breed of dog (next to boxers). I've seriously considered one before, but couldn't handle the prey drive (had two cats, two rabbits, and two birds in the house). Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'd have thought the leather mask, ball gag, and french-canadian accent would have ruled that out anyhow. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm guessing I've got about 20 jumps on company time, where I returned to work after a skydive...plenty more where I left work early to skydive and didn't return. I've been on the local news a few times now playing during the workday (jumping or at a bar). Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Fucking safety nazis! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

There's a reason I keep my participation in the General and Safety & Training forums of this site to a minimum. They're usually not worth the headache to me. A couple people have the appropriate answers for the truly novice jumpers, and it seems that most of the rest of the jumpers are either looking for someone to give them a specific answer they're fishing for, or they're looking for someone to criticize. If they're wrong, they're wrong. Dismiss 'em and move on. Edit to add: Oh yeah, I have also "assisted" an exit or two. The best one was a friend making his 1000th jump. We'd intended to do a formation load but the pilots couldn't get their shit together so it was just our 206 jumping (our TwinBo landed full of jumpers). That mis-communication had us "spotting" for about a minute and a half, so I knew exactly where we were, that there were no traffic issues, and that while my friend was just kneeling in the door, he was also ready to skydive (albeit with no particular plan). The assistance myself and another jumper provided him afforded us the perfect look on the guy's face as he fell away realizing we'd just forced him into a solo on his 1000th...with a bad spot to boot. A second later the rest of us piled out of the airplane, dove down and joined him, everybody smiled, and everybody made it back. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Suddenly this party sounds like it turned out better than I expected! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Stalker! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I don't think any of us knows everything that will make us happy, and perhaps learning new things that make us happy is better than having the things that make us happy, but I've got a wierd thought bouncing around my head (shocker! ) Imagine you could have everything you want in life, even the things you don't know you want, but only for some short period of time. Everything would be exactly what makes you most happy in every aspect of your life, including work (or the lack thereof), family, romance, recreation, etc. The thing is that you'd only be able to have that life for awhile...let's say one year. After that year was up, you could never have it all again. Would you want to know what you're missing? Would the pleasure of that one year be worth spending the rest of your life knowing you'll never be that happy again? Is ignorance bliss or would the memories be worth the sense of loss? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I think Bush's number one accomplishment has been proving that his campaign speech about being a "uniter, not a divider" was more than empty rhetoric. He's really brought the extremes closer together and dramatically reduced partisan posturing. I think that's a great accomplishment. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Plus it's more fun to answer the door naked and sporting an erection anyhow. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Vast majority? There must be statistics out there I'm not aware of. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

You know there's a checkbox when creating a poll to allow multiple answers. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Awwww..... "John and Valinda, sittin' in a tree..." Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I've probably got the necessary skydiving skills, but it would suck for some monstrous stunt cock to step in for all the fun parts!! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Next time I'll have to actually jump!!! Damn, beat me to it. I was gonna say "Gia? Jump at a boogie? Pshaw!!" Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I can do it every time. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That works for me too. There was a fatality maybe 5 years ago or so that really stuck in my head. One of the most beautiful women I've met in skydiving forgot to thread her chest strap before a freefly skydive. She came out of the rig quite high (during the skydive, well above deployment altitude). Imagining the last 30+ seconds of her life was enough to turn me into a chest-strap freak. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)