Snowbird

OR!!! As it turned out, the stop at the dz turned into two jumps! Including my first HAIL jump. Not HALO, HAIL. OUCH! Thought it was just the bottom of the cloud, since the ceiling was 9000 feet and we were just under it. Couldn't see it from the plane, not at all. No big deal, what's a couple hundred feet of hard water? A few seconds and we'd be clear of the bottom edge. Nope. 4000 feet sitting, going 140 through nasty hail. Ouch! The underside of my arms look like I've got the pox, and some of the welts are even bruising. My lip feels bruised (open-faced helmet). OUCH! My jump partner said the hail was bouncing off of his visor, looked plenty odd. And yet, in a weird way, when we were on the ground we grinned and said 'COOL!' Still a great way to end the week! Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Anything chocolate BUT the best ever is homemade mincemeat over good vanilla ice cream. mmmmMMMMmmmm We need a licking lips smiley for this thread... Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Then we're both a little off. I said orange hammer too! The brain is cool... Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Not enough options! I never jumped student gear with a ripcord. BOC from day one, doing IAD progression, not PFF. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Wow, talk about a thread hijack! Back to topic... Have you tried taking up a new discipline? New stuff to learn, new excitement. Might make a difference. Hope you find the passion again. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

A long bike ride this evening, ending at the dz where I hope to enjoy the company of friends, a cooler or two, and some laughs. Yup, sounds like a nice way to end the week.

Figure out the password for our server at work, because our techie who is ON HOLIDAYS!!! left the wrong password! AAAAAHHH! Makes doing any other work kinda tough. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Have fun! So far I've won a mug, gift certificates to Quizno's Subs, a Paul Brandt CD, and tickets to the Great Big Sea concert here 10 days ago. Not much, but always appreciated! I always try and win the bigger stuff, but no luck. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Weird. Spider plants are usually tough to kill. The only time I managed to kill one, it was poisoned. Spider plants are highly efficient air purifiers. If they are near a source of nastiness they will filter all the bad stuff from the air, store it in their roots, and eventually die. (Mine was in my art studio where I used paint thinners and the like) It could also be root-bound. They grow roots like mad, and will fill their pot with them. You could probably remove it from it's pot, cut off 1/4 of the bottom roots, and replant it. Or just put it in a bigger pot. You may also find some other problem if you look at the roots - bugs, mold, rot... Good luck! Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

That news sucks! I know you're not after sympathy, but (((HUGS))) anyway. But you'd better not leave here! And as said above, there are so very many things -skydiving related things and other stuff entirely - that you CAN do, once you recover. How about flying gliders? Those look wicked fun... Be easy on yourself. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Not every weekend, but often! Much fun. Our hit'n'chugs are open to whichever 4 get on the board first. I love 'em even though I suck at 'em! Visual... For some reason that escapes me, I have horrible accuracy on this particular hit'n'chug load. I land way short, and one of the guys jumps in the gator to come fetch me, with his little pooch Bentley along for the ride. (nice guy!) I'm the last one down, so no worries about another jumper landing as we zip across the grass. But I'm a terrible chugger, so the gal timing everyone says I still have to to chug, for the practice. Fine. I crack the can, start chugging... take a breath... chug a bit more, get some up my nose... yep I suck at chugging. I keep trying... until I'm told, 'Damn it Tina! Bentley chugs faster than you!' At which point I laugh and spit ice tea across the gator, narrowly missing people and dog. Yup, I love hit'n'chug! Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Except, they're Canadian. And if it's an example of what marketing can do, then it's also an example of how the public blindly follows marketing and publicity instead of true quality. As it happens, I like some of their stuff, don't like other stuff. Same goes for most artists out there. Only a few can be 'first' with cutting edge stuff. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

I used to write about almost every jump, but now a days only the unique/specialest ones. But this is what I wrote the night after my first jump... DIVING From three thousand feet, all the comfortable elements so familiar on the ground could be children's toys, small and impermanent. The wind from the open door, however, is real and strong and somehow both joyful and terrifying. I reach out the open door of the Cessna, slowly edging out onto the wheel strut, keeping close eye contact with the jumpmaster. The wind pulls at me, wants company in the wide open sky, so blue it feels endless. For a moment I hang there, holding on easily, until the jumpmaster says 'GO!' The carefully learned lesson, finished just an hour ago, disappears into the oblivion of fear. For three endless seconds nothing holds me; the world has deserted me and even gravity has signed a betrayal. A tug at the shoulders reclaims presence of mind, and you count '3000, 4000, 5000, checkthousand, canopy check'. Look up! The parachute is open, a welcome rectangle of white and yellow penetrating the blue. A voice on the radio prompts me to test the controls, and then welcomes me to the world of skydiving. Tony, standing 3000 feet below, watches and coaches me from the radio, and his voice is my mantra. Go left, go right. The world turns below me and I turn above it, we dance. Too soon the earth wants me back, willing to lend me to the sky, but not relinquish me completely. The target - white tarp stretched across green grass - welcomes me and I wait... wait... flare! and I slow, touch the ground, and whoop for the joy of it all. September 15, 2001 *** This thread rocks! Putting a much needed smile on my face.

MORE MORE MORE! You've opened the flood gate here. What a tease! Please please please

I do inside sales of produce, selling potatoes and stuff to grocery stores. I have to deal with the growers every day. They drive me nuts! Some days Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Fresh strawberries, cantaloupe, necatrine, mango, orange juice, strawberry yogurt, and 1 scoop vanilla protein powder. Blend until thick and nummy. *** I tell ya, one simple clean statement, and y'all twist it and shove it into the nearest gutter... Just like hanging around the dz! Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

I jump at a wee Cessna dz, so there aren't many others to pick and choose from. And with only 4 of us on any one load, there are fewer bodies to worry about than at a Otter or King Air dz. That said, two weeks ago I decided that there is one jumper who I will not risk being in the same airspace with again. If he's on the load, I'll pull off. Regardless of any assurances, I won't go there again. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Work, and allergies. June = spring = pollinating grass = my head exploding at unpredictable intervals. THUS I may as well be at work... Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

I'm at work bored. Can I have some of whatever you have? Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Ah, the power! Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Mmmmm, guys with good tushes wearing freefly pants while packing.... MMMmmmmMMm

We were heading straight for a high-speed mal if we'd stayed in that house. Had to cut it away! Besides, it was 15 minutes from the dz. The new one is only 4 minutes away. Much better! Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

*The memory of good skydives. *Good times I spent with my daddy, and the good times I still have to spend with my mom. *Camping with my hubby. Those are such good times! Especially one trip to the Monashee mountains over ten years ago... still a happy spot.