Pammi

Ppphhhhttththhhh! I'm still pouting that I didn't even get a nomination! LOL! I can't wait to see the tee's on ya girls...be sure to post the pics! Pammi

That's kind of what I was thinking Grogs...it sounded like a mal that she didn't cut away from. However, since I only have 25 jumps, I wasn't sure if there was the possibility of a canopy collapsing due to high winds..? I've been actually pushed backwards before under a huge ole' Manta, but the only time I've seen a canopy actually collapse was due to thermals when it was really hot. I totally agree, though. One of the best things about skydiving is that it is so individual! WE choose what WE can/want to do. We are ultimately responsible for ourselves and our decisions! Not jumping in high winds is the same as choosing not to jump with a skyboard...I know that it would be incredibly stupid at my level of experience and abilities. I know me better then anyone else does, and it's MY responsibility to say "Sorry man, I just don't think I should jump in this." Is it really worth your life to give in to peer pressure, even if that is what's going on??? Pammi

Woohoo!!!! Congrats Zen!!!!!! BEER! (I'm having one for ya now ) Pammi (LOL @ Lisa!)

Thanks Froggie! Yeah, it was a really good time...I'm glad that even my learning has become more fun then work. It's about friggin time! LOL! Pammi

Congrats Gman!!! Good to hear you are getting it figured out! I think we're both working on the same things..."relax AND arch?!" LOL! It's hard to relax when you want to pass the stupid jump! It's all about learning tho, and what the hey, so you make another jump! It's all a good time! Enjoy yourself first and foremost, the rest will come! Blue skies! Pammi

Hey Lisa...does this mean you're going to be able to get back in the air soon?!?! Pammi

OH! I forgot to say, FFF #2, that I hope to get up there to Wichita soon (when I get licensed)! I want to check it out sometime since it's only an hour from where we live also (same as OSC). So maybe we'll meet soon! Pammi

I read an article about a woman who says she does vRW, vertical RW. Is that basically freeflying? Maybe that's what it is I was doing this weekend...LOL! It was funny watching the video of my two-way with the others...the freeflyers were like "Yeah! See that headdown! You're a freeflyer! Welcome to the dark side!" and the RW people were like "Um, okay...what was THAT?!" LOL! At one point my poor coach was even hanging from my chest strap! Let's just say I funneled the exit pretty badly It was hilarious! But guess what... I'm no longer a floater! It was just as I suspected...when I started just relaxing and having fun, my arch was harder, my spins better (less) and I fell like a rock! Woohoo! Pammi

Hi there 'FFF #2' (I hope you weren't scared off by the 'outbursts' over the name! I'm sure you weren't aware of the previous Triple F

Hmm...sounds like lil' Froggie did some dirt diving to me :)

I understand what you're saying Albatross. If say, for instance, little Froggie was the TM, she'd have to be really good to be able to keep someone much larger then her stable. The size of the woman I'm sure makes some kind of difference. Pammi

Congrats Max! Sounds like a good time (and tiring)! Can't imagine actually coming out ahead after jumping too! Pammi

Boys, boys...now c'mon....why must you choose? Buy her the course and by the time she gets done, a new rig sounds like a perfect 'graduation gift'! (I guess I'm just easy...buy me a jump=sex...buy me an alti=sex...buy me a whole rig=circus sex! LOL! Offer good for Merrick only of course ) Pammi

Zennie, I have to agree with what you are saying. I have always had the dream of being a camera flyer in the future, but I have to say, that after seeing how many accidents occur because of snags on camera helmets, I'm a little leary of it now. I saw an incident on the Quincy 99 video that was similar..the gentleman had snag on the back of his camera helmet and finally managed to get his helmet off his head and the canopy came out just in time (with his camera still hanging from it). Very frightening. I'd like to think there's SOMETHING that can be done to reduce the risk of these things happening. :( Pam

I just read the article about what happened. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends. Pam

Warning: For fellow animal lovers, this is pretty aweful... But it's amazing too....what are the odds!? Goes to show how you never know what can happen, regardless of chances you take! Lethal Pitch Pammi

I just saw something today about state agriculture officials in S.C. saying they are testing for a suspected case of foot-and-mouth there. :/

Okay, I bite...what is the 'shocker'?

It can be fun can't it?? I think the confidence a skydiver has, particularly women, scares some other women who envy it. It REALLY scares some men if they are scared of the idea of skydiving and, gee, this WOMAN does it! *gasp* We actually talked about it once before on here, and I discussed with a friend at the DZ a couple weeks ago how funny it can be when a new student (guy usually) comes in all pumped and starts going on and on to you about his jump, then ends with "Do you think you'll ever do it?" and you show him your rig or tell him your number of jumps. LOL! We women can be evil huh? Letting the men hang themselves with their own ropes :) Pammi

What an inspiration Skymama! Congratulations to you for having the courage to continue fighting for your dreams! One wise man told me a long time ago that you have to make YOU happy first and the rest will fall into place. He was so right. Pammi

That's part of the progression in IAD Speed. You move up in altitude and the amount of time you freefall after you pass each level. For instance, I screwed up my first pull after my two practice pulls, redid practice pulls then did it again. Then went to 10 sec freefall, then to 15, screwed up the second one (my low-pull), did another hop & pop, then back up again to 15-20 secs, etc. I didn't friggin get freefall til about 6 jumps ago from altitude! (only 10,000 at our dz). I honestly wished I'd have done AFF, but oh well, hindsight! Gman, as you can see from above, I've had a time of it also on my progression. Stick with it! I have had a bitch of a time with spinning also :/ I've had them taped twice just to try to narrow down what the problem was, which was in the beginning feet-up-a$$-syndrome, then not pointing my toes, etc, etc....the REAL problem it turns out is I get so worried about starting another spin (which doesn't bother me anymore but pisses me off) that I don't relax enough! I'm so flat and stiff that the slightest thing with my legs and there I go! Check this out...they finally said (only a few jumps ago!) "forget that for now...we're going to do a diving exit (kick ass bud!) and you're gonna do flips. We'll get those out of the way." Guess what?? After that front flip (didn't ever get over backwards...kept throwing my head back, it was hilarious, but never made it over..hehe...didn't bring legs in enough ) but after the front flip I was so friggin stable and not spinning at all!! It was so fun I just relaxed right back into it rock steady! Now that I've felt it, I feel so much better about it and I know that will help me not spin next time. The thing is, the more frustrated you get and the more you want to get over doing something wrong, the harder you try and the worse you do cuz you ARE worried about it :/ They even make me 'close my eyes and try to sleep' on the way up to altitude cuz they say they can just SEE me thinking too much! Sorry, this was long, but I feel for you...I really, really do!! You'll get it! (just don't pull a dummy like me and low-pull trying to stop the spin...when you're spinning the altitude seems to disappear sssooo fast!) Blue skies! Pammi

I agree with Dutchboy...I'm sure you'd hear about it if you were slow or fast. I tend to fall very slowly and my JM wore a huge baggy suit and still had to work to stay with me! When Merrick and I ordered our suits, I ordered mine tighter (no spandex for me tho, thank you very much..lol) and he ordered one a bit baggier with 'swoop cords' since we intend on jumping together a lot and he falls so much faster in hopes of equalling things out a bit. His material is a little thicker also then mine to catch air a bit more. Hope that helps a little :) Pammi

I have to say that I LOVE my booties. I wasn't sure about getting them because of the fact that I already spin and thought it might just make my spins faster, but it actually helps me 'feel' my legs better. Pammi

LMAO! That's hilarious Tee! I haven't figured out if I'm desparate enough yet to pack for jumps...those student rigs are a bi*** to pack! I barely feel comfortable packing my own, it'd be frightening to let someone else jump one of mine! Besides...I worry that if I started packing that I'd end up working my a** off and not getting to jump like always seems to happen to the poor pack monkey we got now (self-named..lol!). I might be willing to do just about anything by the time summer gets here tho! It sucks and I can't still bartend on the weekends...that was good cash, but that would defeat the purpose! Pammi

Always around Froggie :) At least while at work...this place bores the h*** outta me. My job takes absolutely no thought, so I do a 100 things at once to keep entertained and hopefully make the week go faster :) At least it's not going to be another 5 months like I did before...that was so stupid. LOL! Summer is coming and I'm gonna be a jumping freak! I can't wait! Pammi