Sinkster

Yep, I jump at moss point. I know who Miami is but I don't really know him, he hasn't been around much when I'm at the dz so far.

I hear you ramon. As a newbie I get people telling me all the time how I need to downgrade to a smaller canopy when I don't really have a desire to. I like the security that a larger canopy gives me. Seems to me, no matter how good you are, if you jump a handkerchief and screw up just once you could get really hurt. I doubt I'll ever transition to a small high performance canopy b/c of that but who knows...

excellent article. I'm a newbie about to get my first rig so I will think about these design characteristics when deciding what to get. thanks.

0:2:0 Got jumps 8 and 9 in. Did first barrel roll and for jump 9 I used my first throw out system instead of a rip cord. (I love how fast it responded). Also enjoyed watching the ground rush up starting at about 5k agl. Now if only I can get my own gear so the jumps aren't so expensive!

OMG!!!! That's an awesome pic! I especially love the smiley face and the Papa John's Pizza box (I usually have one or two laying around all the time.). Nice bachelor pad dude. *hats off* (u got me beat lol) lololololol

"Have faith in Allah, but tie your camel" -Arab Proverb

Here is a fun photo when I almost hit the videographer on my 7th jump while doing a front flip! Then he told me I was number one by flipping me off (in good fun) in freefall which was one of the funniest things I have ever seen and I ended up laughing throughout the rest of the dive. He got a kick (no pun intended) out of it too and said that it was a fun dive. (maybe because of that "rush") crazy dude! LOL.

ok, last one

another. lemme know if this is too many. im tring to post small pics so it doesnt hurt the server

one more for your amusement

another pic of me exiting the first time like this. heh

Hey ya'll, I just graduated AFF this weekend. BEER! I got in jumps 3,4,5 on saturday and then 6 on Sunday, but I actually was allowed to combine lvls 6 and 7 since I was doing so well so I graduated in 6 jumps! I have attached a couple pics of my 7th jump which is my first solo jump from 14k! I love this sport! Sinkster

22 and single. In no hurry to find someone else either though I want to eventually. I'm still trying to figure out who I am (and having fun doing it "i.e. let's jump out of a plane!") much less deal with someone else! :-) BTW, I just got The Skydiving Handbook and it says that while 60% of the general population is married only 39% of skydivers are.

me 2 :-) All I can think about is jumping this weekend! The weather looks great! AFF 3-7 here I come.

I've been in the same situation dude. I found a girl who I loved and treater her with respect and love and everything else only to have her do the exact same thing which led to her eventually ditching me. My advice: go ahead and ditch her first. I know it will hurt but you might have a girl on your hands (like I did) who will not be honest with you, will not treat you straight up with respect, and who will generally just dump you because of God knows what. You see, she probably just has you around when she has a need that needs to be met, but otherwise you may just be an annoyance. But since she likes having you around when she wants you, (because she can take advantage of your kindness and goodness of character) she isn't going to tell you that there is no future until you become too much of a hassle for her. (of course I could be wrong) Trust me, nothing you do can change that except maybe ditching her or treating her with no or WAY less respect. She is one of "those" girls of which there are many in this world so beware. Nothing was too good for my girl: I flew weekends to visit her when she was away, bought her gifts and Godiva 'just because', was totally honest, wrote to her, made more money as a student in college than her mechanical engineer brother, am tall, in shape, a senior with 3.85 GPA in computer science, etc. BLAH. Anyways the point is, no matter how good you really are, or think you are, it probably won't matter. You deserve better. Just ditch her, keep jumping, and not worry about it. Someone will come your way eventually that is perfect for you. And worst case, if not, it;s not worth the pain of having an incompatible/rotten relationship (although I realize you have to work at it), so just don't worry about it. Hope it works out all right in the end. Sinkster

Hey ya'll! I made my second jump this weekend, it was AFF level 2. My first jump was 3 weeks ago. Here's the story: I showed up to the DZ Saturday morning despite heavy cloud cover and 50% chance of rain b/c "dadgummit I was gonna jump!" Anyways they put about 3 loads up that day jumping between the clouds (It didn't rain) but I wasn't able to get on a load b/c of the stringent AFF weather reqs. At this point I was obviously disappointed but I was just going to try the next day b/c "dadgummit I was gonna jump!" Because of the 2.5 hour drive the DZO suggested I stay the night because they have showers and toiletries and a couple couches in a lounge/video area outside. So I ended up sleeping on one of the couches. BTW, there were a few people that also slept over and some of the locals and them made a bonfire at the DZ and I bought my FIRST BEER! (We drank Heineken and Budweiser (I thought I was a beer snob but boy did that Bud taste good yum yum hehe.)) So I got to listen to people tell stories about their first cutways, why/when they first jumped, philosophize a little about skydiving, and just goof off in general. I thought it was amusing how one dude fell off a stump and got hurt (momentarily) when he'd been falling from thousands of feet without any problems hehe. I think the DZ drunken bonfire can probably claim a fair amount of injuries compared to the landing zone lol. Anyways, so I woke up the next morning and just waited again all day but right after I ate dinner around 4, I got in on a jump (although I might have had to ride down.) and we rode up and someone farted (First smell of fart in plane! lol) I hope it wasnt me but I dont think it was unless the pressure change can somehow suck farts out of you hehe. This time was less scary than the first because I was ready but I exited a tad de-arched but we still slid down the "hill" of air the right way cuz I arched quick and then did 2 PRCP's and then a right turn and a left and forward movement. The turns were not too great because I was too hasty and I was surprized at how much pressure it took to move my arms like that and turn in free fall. I have to remember to be more aggressive next time and make sure my arms stay in a plane. But the forward movement was great and I can remember looking down moving forward and seeing the difference in movement because of the patchy clouds below! I was done with all this by about 8 or 9k, like I said I was too hurried to try to do the turns and forward movement (which led to me messing the turns up a little instead of taking some time to focus on them more) and then I just decided to try to relax and feel the wind and enjoy the free fall, although we started turning somehow (i think a leg moved) but I reacted and straightened it out or I think I did unless the JM's did something. But here's the nugget of wisdom for all first jump ppl out there. Despite not relaxing enough and having my brain work about 100 times faster than my body could keep up, the second jump was so much better than the first as far as consciousness and awareness. I was able to enjoy the view better and now I feel confident that this is a sport that I will REALLY!!!!!!!!! enjoy and can do. At this point I don't even care about messing up any AFF jumps nor the bill--they have me by the wallet like a big dog and I love them for it. hehehe I just want to jump! So if you haven't made that second jump, go do it. You will notice that things get a lot more clear. I am still so happy about that jump it was worth waiting the whole weekend for just that and I will be back next weekend for more! Oh yeah, I also got to fly through a cloud under canopy between 3 and 4k (the clouds were moving so fast I didn't have a choice) and I was surprized at the turbulence and temperature drop in there but it was really cool. =) Also flared a hair late and landed a little crosswind so I ended up "running" the landing out--it was fun though--I didn't know my legs could move that fast! I didn't look at the ground like you guys said I just looked ahead like landing a plane and it helped so I will nail it next time. Sinkster

well, we can read license plate numbers from space and identify faces so your guess wasn't unreasonable

yikes I just checked the weather there myself. T-showers all day. :-( That's not what the weather channel said yesturday but u know how that is. Dangit. Might not work out after all. "The greatest risk in life is to risk nothing; The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing."

I still have to do level 2! To be honest I am more scared than my first jump. Is this normal? It's hard to motivate but I really want to do it! It was awesome to say the least the first time. hehe Wish me luck and nerves of steel. "The greatest risk in life is to risk nothing; The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing."

yup i'm about to drive out to the DZ myself! it's 2.5 hours so I gotta get up early if im gonna make more than one AFF jump "The greatest risk in life is to risk nothing; The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing."

Just make sure you document everything that happens so when the incalcuble (from both cost and functionality) data loss occurs he gets the blame. "The greatest risk in life is to risk nothing; The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing."

Death Valley = Tiger Stadium = LSU "The greatest risk in life is to risk nothing; The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing."

Re: "GEAUX TIGERS!!" lol, heck yeah! Death Valley is going to be the place to tailgate this fall! "The greatest risk in life is to risk nothing; The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing."

Just so you know, they moved from gonzales (which would be like 10 min drive from baton rouge) to Jeanerette which is 30 miles south of Lafayette. They might have moved because of the bad publicity from that 20 yr old LSU student that was killed when she didnt thread her chest strap correctly and fell out on opening but I don't know. "The greatest risk in life is to risk nothing; The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing."

"Uh, no. If we raise fuel efficiency standards so our needs could be met by our own supply and by "friendly" countries (i.e. Venezuela) then they will either keep prices low or go out of business. Capitalism in action." Do you really think that after 15 years of growth a mere increase from 27mpg to 36mpg fleet average (which is what the bill specified roughly) is going to make that much of a difference? We would have to do some serious tapping in the gulf and alaska to get even close to that. Other than that, the rest of your points are valid. However, I still think the government tries to stick its nose into far too many things these days. Sinkster "The greatest risk in life is to risk nothing; The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing."