arlo

just putting a copy of the update from John Hamilton (hammo), the DZO, in the donations thread. Looks like cash is exactly what they need... arlo ===================================== Skydive Elsinore Fire Update: As posted yesterday morning; Skydive Elsinore’s packing room, video room, gear storage, and instructor room sustained a complete and devastating loss in a fire. The entire drop zones tandem rigs, student rigs, video equipment, radio equipment, etc. went up in flames. Along with drop zones equipment, all of the instructor’s personal equipment including: rigs, helmets, cameras, jumpsuits, camera helmets, computer accessories, and personal items were additionally lost. The outpouring of assistance that came forth via emails and phone calls within hours from across the nation were unparalleled and emotionally moving. I would like to personally thank; Jack Guthrie and Debbie Zimmerman, Larry Pennington, Missy Nelson, Paul Fayard, Jay Stokes, Dan BC, Phil & Debbie Chappel, Derek Thomas, James at Skydive Paradise, and so many others have generously offered student and tandem equipment in an effort to help us keep our student operations up and running. The real gravity and shock set in at approximately 8:00am Sunday morning when all of our instructors and staff came into work. The look in their eyes and emotions of the realization of a total loss, was one that nobody could hide. Everyone’s personal equipment, (tool’s of the trade) that they use to earn a living and support their families were totally lost; this is the real tragedy! The outpouring of offers and generosity from the brotherhood of skydiving to help the instructors get back in the air has been awe-inspiring; we thank each and everyone for your generosity for every jumpsuit, altimeter, rig and helmet donated to keep everyone in the air! I now make a plea to the skydiving industry to help out the instructors! This is what is needed and how you can help! #1- Money: An account has been set up on Pay Pal in which financial donations can be made. 100% of the money in which you donate will go directly and distributed to the instructors in an effort to purchase new equipment. This is what is needed most! Ø Go to http://www.paypal.com and set up an account. Then you make direct donations to the following account # Elsinoreappeal@hotmail.com #2- If you would like to donate gear for the purpose of resale or replacement. Please send equipment and note to: Ground Zero 20701 Cereal Rd. Lake Elsinore, CA. 92530 C/O: Fire Loss #3- Fortunately, the local community has stepped up and have loaned enough equipment that will enable the instructors to get back in the air; therefore, please do not send equipment for loan at this time. Thank you in advance for everyone’s support! John Hamilton Skydive Elsinore

you SHOULD feel the love on your b-day sky...and you know what's behind those wishes, too. we remember and love ya!!! enjoy your day, hun. you sooo deserve. it. plur, tunnelbunny and rem: my post had NOTHING to do with seeing his doo-dads..although el DID have a good eye.

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Ek hoor alles gaan goed, en ek hoop jou reis sal baie lekker vees! arlo

PIMPDADDY!! happy birthday to you... happy birthday TOOOOO youuuuuuuuuuuu. happy BIRTHHH DAYYY dear Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. HAPpy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuu. happy birthday sky. enjoy the rest of your life, brother.

everything has been taken care of with the paypal acct. :) :)

hey guys...just got off the phone with hammo (john hamilton). he's going to try to post an update for everyone tomorrow once things have settled out a bit. this should also answer any questions folks may have about where the money will go, what gear they need, etc. he did want me to pass along skydive elsinore's gratitude for everything everyone is trying to do to help the instuctors out during this time. he is very grateful to everyone for their outpouring of support. we just need to keep in mind that as much as we want to help right now, they really need to logistically get their ducks in a row so they will know what to ask for. then, it's game on. :) BTW, the paypal account is up and running and accepting donations...regardless of size.

you didn't tell me about kendra!!! I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE kendra! now SHE is one cool-ass chica. my back is better...but more thanks to lucie than the doc. it's that old age.... milk chocolate, please. hazelnuts are a BIG plus.

missy, a pay-pal acct has been set up (thanks soulah) and will be transferred over to john hamilton asap. once this is done, it will be put out on dz.com and people can start sending money. it's workable now, but getting it transferred to hammo is the next step. this should be done in the next hour... you guys rock at sdc. it's all about extending a hand..... a

eric, you did a good job in the tunnel. trust me, i've seen folks with thousands of jumps fly in there for the first time and not do as well.

that's what i was thinking as well. once they get their heads wrapped around what's going on, then he'll be in touch about the paypal info. thanks for the offer of help. right now, i think it's good to get the info out there and do a little brainstorming here. :) a

got this from john hamilton (DZO) this morning and it's been posted here with his okay: ======================= Skydive Elsinore sustains loss. 1/18/04 At approximately 2:30am Sunday; Skydive Elsinore’s school packing room, equipment storage, video dubbing, and instructor room caught fire which resulted in the complete loss of the trailer and all it’s contents. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, and is currently under investigation. The drop zone will remain open for business as usual, as we are forging ahead in an effort to rebuild the school as quickly as possible. Thank you for your support, John Hamilton DZO Jhammo408@skydiveelsinore.com tel: 909-245-9939 www.skydiveelsinore.com ============================ i think setting up a paypal account to help these guys out would be a really good thing to do. i know dick about paypal. they still have to figure out what is lost, but everyone that wants to help but is not sure how, kicking in $5 or $10 to a "fund" would be a great start. i don't know about you guys, but i feel pretty helpless in FL regarding this situation and i have some friends that are on staff out there. anything i can do to help - i'm gonna do. arlo p.s. sorry for starting an additional thread, but i thought this might need one.

andrea, the only reason he said i was his favorite person in florida is because he knows not to diss his connection at the crackhouse. trust me, if it weren't for that, you'd be at the top of the list. too, you out drank him. eric, glad you had such a good time and glad i could be a contributing factor. florida is full of some really cool-ass people and you got a little sample of it this go round. it was very nice meeting you and i look forward to trying to hand you your ass in the tunnel next go-round .

so how much time did you spend in the tunnel? also, if you were not flying stationary in the center of the air, then that can be a humbling experience in itself. if you understand the way the windtunnel works, then you'll realize that you aren't falling as flat and stable as you'd like to think you are. but don't fret - most people are humbled the first time they're in the tunnel. if you were potato-chipping (rocking back/forth/side/side), then you need to relax a bit. sometimes being in that fish bowl can be intimidating. you feel like you're relative to everyone else in the skydive because everyone is compensating for everyone else. not everyone flies to their slot and stays. but don't beat yourself up for it. along the same lines, don't blame the tunnel either. you saw first hand how you fly without input (or help) from other skydivers, so take that experience and learn from it. it's a great tool. i personally think you would be able to learn a hellluva lot more than you think you would in there...you just have to be open to it - and admit that your flying isn't necessarily what you thought it was. this advice applies to you and a wholeeeeeeeee bunch of other people...myself included. there is ALWAYS room for improvement.

this is seriously fucked up. is there anything that can be done to help skys the limit? can the uspa do anything? can individual skydivers do/write something that would help the cause? anyone in a position that would know, please advise.... arlo p.s. please keep up updated.

i am a jackass. I totally misunderstood JPs response to something. for that i'm sorry JP. JT, JP was correct in saying that we don't have the revised/reformatted dvd. that will most likely ship at the same time to those with outstanding orders. i would recommend just buying the dvd from JP/Square 1 because you're on that side of the world, and you would save about 3 or 4 days of shipping if you get it from square 1 instead of TSO-D. it's all about sharing the love. JP....i love you. p.s. as an aside: i have soul flyers in the original format. the 1/2 chopped second line of subtitles doesn't really matter to me one way or the other. you can still read it, it's just not a complete line. hell, it took me watching a few times before i decided to even switch to the subtitles. this is one BAD-ASS video for sure.

of the last 3 flights i've made, two of them had the most well-behaved children i believe ever lived. i actually commented to the parents regarding how well behaved their kids were...and that they were more well-behaved than some of the adults on the flight. one of them, however, had the kids literally running up and down the aisle even after the flight attendant asked the parents to seat the kids. they were beating (not just playing drums) on the seats in front of them as well. Seriously, isn't that the parents responsibility to keep them under some sort of control? is it really fair to all the other people to have to deal with that? i don't really blame the kid as much as i blame the parent for either: 1) not knowing what to do, or 2) being so accustomed to the ruckus that it doesn't phase them at all. i try my best not to affect or disturb those around me when i'm flying. i really do try to be ultra-considerate. i don't think it's asking too much to ask parents to do the same with the wild kids. it doesn't sound like your little girl fits into that category so if i've offended you, i'm sorry. your little girl isn't one of the ones i'm talking about. hell, i think it's great you have a little person that sounds more mature than alot of adults i know. but i truly feel it is unfair to subject an entire plane full of people to the screams and rampages of a few out of control kids. i feel the same about beligerent drunks on there as well... as far as what -I- would suggest?

i get along with most kids...i really do. But, with that being said, i think some parents should be strung up for assuming it's okay that their screaming kids ruin my meal or movie or flight. if i ran up and down the aisles of an airplane screaming and beating the back of someone's seat, i'd be arrested on federal charges. so why don't parents realize that the rest of the folks on the plane don't care to hear that shit. why can't you just give them a valium or something to knock them out for a few hours? why don't parents of infants have a little consideration for their babies when the cabin pressure changes cause them such intense pain that they cry for the entire flight? how humane is that? why get so upset when someone asks the kid if they wanna play with a dry cleaning bag?

you can also check the websites of the phone companies. i took the liberty of doing so with bellsouth and verizon. neither had a job matching your forte. but that doesn't mean anything either. do some searches on www.monster.com or www.careerbuilders.com . enter the criteria and do a search in the area you want to live in. also, since you work for verizon, see if they have any internal jobs listed for florida. usually companies have more jobs for existing employees than they do for "outside" folks. keep in mind too that you don't have to do exactly what you're doing now. your background should allow you to venture out of that a bit. your experience will shine through and that may work as well.... good luck on the job search.

check the new tampa area. zhills is the town of the newlywed and nearly dead. population triples in the winter from all the snowbirds. i know. i lived there for 2 yrs. new tampa is NE of tampa and everything is, well, new. nice new schools, super target, panera, movico, home depot, blah blah blah. new tampa is technically in hillsborough county, though, so the taxes will be higher. if you move to lutz, you'll be living in pasco county and that means lower taxes. wesley chapel is an option. wesley chapel is next to zhills and new tampa. st. pete and clearwater are at least 45 to 1 hr from the dz...AND you have to go past malfunction junction (intersection of I-4 and I-275) to get there. that place sucks ASS during rush hour. hope this helps... a

andi, i hate to say this, but i've 'heard' that he was seen hanging around that 'crackhouse' in orlando earlier in the week....

milk chocolate....lots of milk chocolate... arlo

hey kev! it was outstanding meeting you and cora. she was just as beautiful as you described...but then again, maybe i am a bit biased towards asian chicks....can't imagine why. i give you less than a month and you'll be back. you get sucked in...i'm tellin' ya. the vibe at the hills is the very reason it will always be my home dz. all you have to do is ask, and you've got help or answers to your questions. the people are phenomenal and you guys fit right in. so you got a suit from tony, eh? see what a couple phone calls and holding his daughter hostage will get ya? anyhooo, i'm sure we'll see you two around again sooner than you thought we would. oh yeah, if you wanna capture that on film, brother you'd better have cat-like reflexes or a panoramic viewfinder. one more thing: a belated welcome to zhills. xoxo, arlo

i've danced with the devil on both sides of that fence, kramer. i currently am dancing with 2 left feet on the darker side, though. but damn it's fun. at least i didn't scare jody or martin to death.... a

uh...where the hell were YOU yesterday? maybe you haven't recognized me because i haven't been flying on my belly. dude, i deserve to have you give me a hard time. i think the breaks are over now. :) cya out there next weekend... a