Snowbird

Glad you're all right. Thanks for the visual, that sounds priceless. No video? Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Welcome! With a nickname like that, you've got to fess up the story! Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Life is a grindstone... whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on you. L. Thomas Holdcroft Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Did I get a gear check? Yes. Pin check? Yes. Handle check, try to visualise really having to pull them and doing it right. Then I think about the jump itself; the exit, the jump, the winds, my landing pattern. Okay, relax now. Enjoy the view (unless we are over the garbage dump) Am I stupid? Why am I doing this again? I don't have to prove anything, I could stop, why am I spending so much money to keep doing this? Oh yeah, because I love it too much to stop. As soon as the door opens I'll remember why. Handle check. Oh oh, I gotta pee. Distract my bladder by visualising the jump again. Time to get ready! Goggles, helmet, everything zipped, handles are still there. Hoot and holler. Door! Hello wind! Spot is good, yahoo! *** HEY! I'm an Old Hand now! When did that happen?

Congratulations! Woohoo! It's such a great feeling, to have your license, your rig, and an endless sky just waiting... and to know that the adventure is just beginning. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

From all newbies, Thank You! I've had two coach jumps with bonus video (read free) one of the whole jump, another of the exit, and it is fabulous to see oneself at that stage. I learned tonnes more from watching the jump, than the jump itself - fixed my door dive once I saw for myself what I was doing wrong. Wish I could get more, but there are only two jumpers who do video at the local dz. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Congratulations! So, are you hooked yet? While I'm here... 30:0:0 30 minutes spent holding the 16 day old son of one of the local jumpers. What a doll! I'm so spoiled living only 5 minutes from the dz. Now that it's closed I'll have to gasp! drive to a different dz! gasp! Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Lee, I'm so new to skydiving that I'm still in the 'never stop thinking about it' group. BUT I can relate in another way. I write. I used to write a lot, every day, and was miserable if something kept me from it. And then I started jiu-jitsu, and my writing waned off. I felt guilty, but at the same time I didn't really miss it, and I felt bad about that. And then, about a year or 18 months later, a loud clammering in my head began and all my characters were demanding that I sit down and write again. So I did, and I finished the rough draft of my novel. I was obsessed again, and wrote every day, whenever I had ten spare minutes. I finished the rough draft in April of this year, and started jumping in May. I've had almost no desire to write since. A couple poems and essays, all about skydiving, that's it. The thing is, I know it will come around. I'm as passionate about writing as I am about skydiving, and I can't keep it burried for long. So I'm not sweating it, I know it's just a matter of time and that my brain is processing it all, and when I sit down to write seriously again, it will be excellent. All I'm trying to say here, is that the right time will come, and then you will want to be back in the air. Don't sweat it. my .02 worth (USD .016) Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Sure, rub it in... Think of all us sad, land-bound sorts while your living it up Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

I just read this one last night. "If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment." -- Marcus Aurelius Also like -He(She) never flies too high, who flies with his(her) own wings. -Chance favours the prepared mind. -Life is uncertain, eat dessert first! Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Now that I've been lurking/posting here for almost a year, yes I'd pay for access. BUT I would never have signed on in the first place, if there had been a fee. Also, would it be possible to seperate the registered users who do use the forums regularly from the people who only ever use the classifieds and read the occasional article? The gal I bought my gear from never - as far as I'm aware - used the forums, but I'm sure glad she had access to the ads! If there was a fee, a lot of the variety and breadth of input to the site would be lost. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

You missed, 'Want to be, tried to be, but couldn't get the capital to do it.' It just didn't happen, and I couldn't finance my own unemployment any longer. Especially since spring came and I wanted to skydive. But one day, it will happen. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Sadly, I imagine this does happen. I experienced the exact opposite though, so Meunkel don't think it's always that way. I've had so much support and encouragement from the other jumpers who watched me as a student and know what my challenges have been. It's a great feeling to have these new friends who are 'watching my back', so to speak. Also, the dropzone you'll jump at regularly deserves your student $'s (and student beer). They need students to keep the place running. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Mutilated Red Riding Hood. And Vallerina, that costume is called 'Lady Godiva' Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

When you fall in love with the right person, you never 'get over it'. Nine years, and we're still like newlyweds I started jumping last fall. He started three weeks ago. It's the beginning of a wonderful thing... nothing like a shared addiction. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Good to know I'm not the only one New stuff needs to be broken in. Yeah, that's my story... Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

It works for me... try again, I was editing the size for a few minutes. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

The sweet thing about living so close is that on bad weather days, I can stay home and get things done, and still head down if the weather clears. Actually, I have huge admiration for everyone who drives for hours to jump. Only a handful of the regular jumpers here live in town. Almost everyone drives for 1/2 to 2 hours to come jump. I know that if I had to cover that distance, I wouldn't have been at the dz nearly as often. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Does this count? I'd just bought new gloves, and finished sewing my jumpsuit the same day. I just had to try it all out! And of course, my hubby just had to take a picture... Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Yeah, I hear ya! Now that I've gotten a bunch of the usual 'firsts' over and done with, my hubby does his FJC and gets hooked. Now we have all of his beer debt to pay... 0:0:0 0 = number of days that the dz was open, naturally resulting in the last two numbers. (sigh) Week one of a long, bleak winter. Good news of the weekend is that the dojo I used to train at should be re-opening, so I can train hard all winter. If I'm really sore from that, I won't miss jumping near as much. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

I like to think that somewhere, right now, someone is getting air-time. Feeling the wind, stepping out that door, dancing in the sky. Not me, or you, but someone. Makes me feel better about winter setting in and ten long weeks before Eloy... Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

I have lots of other things to do, I just choose to spend most weekends skydiving. I will admit that, since this was my first season of jumping, and I was bit hard by the bug, I've been very obsessed. Gladly though! I want to learn as much as possible about this sport, and I love the atmosphere. Why not be at the dz most weekends? My learning curve is much steeper the more I jump. The gear I bought has been put to good use, and I'm starting to understand (in my newbie way) how to fly her, which wouldn't be happening on rented gear used a few times a month. And by cultivating friendships at the dz, I've gained a whole slew of new friends who enjoy helping me out as I learn. As a newbie needing coach jumps and continuous advice/help, being well known at the dz makes it much simpler to get that kind of help. And as someone else pointed out, there are five other days in the week! Volunteering, social stuff, excercising/hiking/swimming, writing, cooking, and housework all fits quite nicely into those five days. I'd hazard to say that, if once every now and then is enough for you, you just haven't been bitten nearly as hard as some other people! Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

5 minutes I can watch jumprun from my front yard. Doesn't matter though. It's closed now. To add insult to injury, I had to turn down a trip to Pitt because of other commitments. No, I'm not impressed. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Michele, thank you again for your writing! You are awesome. You had me hanging on every word. When I read the beginning I was gaping in desbelief. What? You just got your canopy! You can't quit! But I just knew it wouldn't happen, so I kept reading in good faith... and I'm so very happy for you! LMAO And I see at the end that you selling your canopy is not even a question now. I love that! Not even a consideration by the end of the day. I think this one is worth HH adding to your earlier pieces. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

You know your total jump numbers and how many were of each discipline, for each year you've been jumping, but have to stop and think about how old you are. This happened on Sunday with one of my instructors... Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein