livendive

AAS - Hazardous Materials Management Currently 3 classes shy of BS in Environmental Quality. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

CCR? Really? Why? They're classic... They sound too much like country to me, all twangy. The Eagles kind of did it too, but not to the same extent. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Main - Somewhere in the 700-800 feet range Reserve - Probably about 1300' (no altimeter on that jump) Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

You should direct your questions to your instructors, not some online forum where people may not have much more experience than you. Additionally, if you want to try a new approach that you read about here, you should clear it with your instructors before doing so. I'm not trying to come across as a hardass, but I've watched some of my students give bad advice to other students of mine, and I've seen bad advice given out here before. Good luck, have fun, and listen to your instructors. ;-) Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I've made plenty of jumps on a Triathlon loaded at a little over 1.8:1. It flew fine, if a little quicker than the average Tri. I've done CRW with a Lightning loaded a hair over 1.7 and it too flew fine. I've also made and watched solo jumps on Icarus tandem canopies at less than 0.7:1, and they are much easier to fly than their (larger) square counterparts. Nothing on any of these jumps suggested that the shape of the wing compromised safety at those loadings. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I've made a few of those loads at LP. It is a great way to end the day. I remember one time the planes flew in formation under us, then did a flyby over the runway, still in formation. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I can't limit my answer to one song/band! Band types - pop, country, "hip hop", but especially boyband thingamajigs like nsync Specific bands - CCR, nsync, boys2men Worst song - "There's a tear in my beer" The depth to which I hate that song cannot be described in mere words. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Are you trying to say my 15 pieces of flair aren't sufficient self-expression?

A couple I heard on Bob and Tom this morning, that probably started out as blonde jokes: What did the Spice Girl say when she woke up under a cow? "What are you guys still doing here?" What's the difference between a corn farmer with epilepsy and a Spice Girl with diarrhea? The corn farmer shucks between fits... "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Many times. The only bad one was when I did a mid-day demo, forgot I was supposed to be at work, and did an interview with the TV crew that was shown during the 5:00 news. Luckily I didn't hear about it from management, just co-workers. I've been late to work after early morning jumps, have taken a couple extended lunch breaks that included full altitude, have told the girlfriend "I'm going to Home Depot" without mentioning where else I was going, etc, etc. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Like this one? We have two dogs, two cats, two indoor rabbits, and a bird (our other bird died last month), and everyone has something wierd about them, but Lilli (our stray persian, pictured in the attachment with our boxer, Ally) takes the cake. For starters, she has such an underbite that she can't completely close her mouth and her tongue is always sticking out a little. And yes, she has trouble eating as a result. We have to smash all her food, as she can't even eat small chunks. She's also deaf...because of a haircut! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Wow! Here in WA, typical is around $38/carton and $4.50/pack at the store ($6 or so at bars). 10 years ago I was paying 90 cents a pack buying from sea stores in Alaska. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Well, I hinted around about one yesterday, so I'll tell a different one. I was doing remote work with some EXTREMELY radioactive capsules. This entails using a couple "robotic" (not really but close enough) arms to manipulate things that you are separated from by 4 feet of concrete & 4 foot thick oil filled windows. Well, the arms are a little tricky to operate, and I ended up dropping one of the capsules off the table in front of me. Understanding that the table butted up against the other side of the wall from me (level with the bottom of the window), the capsule was no longer visible. So I grabbed a tubular shaped video camera designed to operate in a high radiation field (for longer than most do). With one arm locked in place holding the camera pointing at the ground, I found myself staring at a TV screen and trying to grab the capsule with the other arm. This was complicated by the fact that the capsule had rolled partially under the table. After a good hour and a half of concentrating intensely on the screen while trying to grab this thing, I was shocked when all of the sudden the floor rushed up and hit me, and my world went black. I jumped, and realized a split second later that the camera had slipped out of the other hand and smashed itself to pieces on the floor. So now I need to find another camera, go through the process of getting it into the cell (difficult with that capsule on the floor rather than in any kind of shielding), hook it up to the cable that is currently hooked to the broken camera (30 feet away from where I can put the camera in the cell), and then I can start trying again to recover the capsule. I think I finally got the damn thing back on the table and started doing my original task a little over 48 hours after I dropped it. I've also gotten a forklift stuck in a halfway over position on a soft gravel bank (required a crane to come in to retrieve it), and made a mistake setting longline fishing gear that ended up causing a knot that was so big we had to crane it aboard and just dropped it off in port and paid a couple local guys to untie it...I think it took them like 4 full days. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Current means you've met the proficiency requirements set forth by USPA. There is alot more involved in obtaining and keeping current an AFF rating than sending inyour money, although some folks that don't or can't meet those requirements will tell you different. But what if you've met all the requirements, but haven't sent in your money? You'll be a proficient, safe, unrated instructor. Remember I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I send in my dues each year solely because I enjoy teaching students and feel that a current date on my little piece of paper is less likely to invite a lawsuit in the event a student of mine is ever injured while under my supervision. That date doesn't make me a safer instructor, but an expired date would probably be interpreted poorly, and I don't need that kind of trouble regardless of how misguided it might be. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Ugghh...the thought of looking up while planed up with most of the folks I've done CRW with is just "plane nasty"! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

By current, are you referring to currency (i.e. X number of jumps per year) or how recently you paid money to get a new date typed on some piece of paper. If the latter, what does that have to do with safety? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I sometimes wear an altimeter, and almost never look at it. I do usually carry an audible, but it's usually in my shorts pocket just to log the jump. I always wear a rig, and usually some clothes, but that's often times it. If doing something simple like a hop & pop, putting on a jumpsuit/helmet/altimeter/audible/goggles/gloves/whatever else seems like more trouble than it's worth. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I've always had both uppers hooked up before the plane even starts to taxi. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

[Devil's advocate mode] So what about guys who earned their AFF ratings and then let their USPA membership lapse over one beef or another? They are unrated, but does that mean they are lesser instructors than the ones who continue to pay USPA dues each year? [/Devil's advocate mode] Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Well, I don't know if I'd call this "high performance" CRW, but it's me hanging upside down in a dragplane with my Diablo 150 (1.7:1). A few of us have talked a few times about doing some EXTreme CRW, but so far it's been all talk and no action. Since there's only one moderately loaded FX being jumped regularly at our DZ right now, it's likely it'll stay that way. Presumably you both had (at a minimum) your RSL's disconnected and hookknives within easy reach? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

34:26 "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I was waiting for someone to post a non-skydiving screensaver. My current screensaver is from here http://www.adamsandler.com/09_downloads/downloads.html and shows Adam Sandler's bulldog "Meatball" snoring...with sound. It's funny everytime I walk in my office in the morning, having just woken up to our snoring bulldog, and here my computer's making the same exact sound. Makes me want to take a nap. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Digital service is not available everywhere. My daughter lives 150 miles from me, and everytime I drive to get her for the weekend, I go through about 110 miles (each way) in which analog is the only signal I can get. Having a phone that can handle analog when digital isn't available is important for those of us who don't spend all our time in major cities, regardless of whether it is an outdated technology. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

LOL - I guess I had that coming, even if it was true. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Well, to be honest, we were trying to do this 15 feet above the floor and 10 feet away from us, in a dark room on the other side of a cloudy, 4 foot thick window filled with mineral oil, using 2 broken "robotic" arms, one of which was less useful than a broomstick. It's worth laughing about now, but at the time it sucked! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)