Niki1

I've made plans to be cremated. There was a time when I would've wanted the few people at the memorial service to maybe roll a big fat one and put some of me in it. But I haven't done that sort of thing in some time so it wouldn't be the same. I want to go peacefully in my sleep like Grandpa did. Not afraid and screaming like the passengers in his cor.

Spring and summer of 1972. Palatka, Florida. Harold Stewarts C-180 and Bobby Tyers C-180. We had 9 or 10 who could conceiveably get into an "large star." We pretty much all agreed that it was going to be more fun to stay there as a group and all get an SCR together. We were in $400 worth of 6 and 7 man stars. It seemed like some different would take it out or not get in each time. There was no ax. The group couldn't afford to piss anyone off as there was no one to replace them. One Saturday, one of the guys shows up with a Z-Hills Ten Man patch. WTF?? He finally tells us that the previous weekend he went to the Hills and bullshited his way onto a load and docked 4th or 5th on a 12 man out of the L-10E. He was none to popular that weekend and we made him buy beer again for not staying with us. A few more weeks and more 7 mans. We all said, "Fuck it. Let's all go to Z-Hills. We'll have better odds down there." (This was when the time of the concept of Put 16 Piople Out and Hope for a 10 Man) Well, the next Saturday sees us all at the Hills and the Karma Gods must be on the loads. With 12 or 15 people out of the L-10E, we still getting 7s. Oh, Woe is Us. That night we drowned our sorrow as best we could and the next morning was beutiful except for all the noise the butterflies were makeing. Some of our group didn't make the first load. If they had, we might have all gotten our SCRs togther. I left 5th, docked 4th and the rest of the Palatka bunch got in too. I think one of us docked 8th so he got both merit badges at the same time but I forget who it was. Sorry, whoever you are. The two things about that weekend that I remember best are that on that Saturday I got more RW experience than in any month previously. Mainly due to the altitude and being able to miss an approach, get back up and try again, and sometimes again and again. The other thing that stands out in my memory is that when we first got there, THE Jim Hooper showed the Palatka bunch how to line up and exit the L-10E to include the Countdown. For the rest of the weekend, we couldn't get out of the van without doing a lineup and countdown. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

But if you don't call Bullshit Bullshit, somo of your freinds will eventually think some of the smell is comming from you. Good point. I spent a lot of time around the guy this weekend and got to see a little more of what he's all about and it was all good. The guy who got me into skydiving was somthing like this. He was a Drill Sergent at Fort Jackson in '70 and went up to the Charlotte Skydivers on weekends. I went with him a few times and decided I wanted to do that. He trained me for the 1st jump and how to pack the cheapos I would use. I made 5 static lines on a Saturday packing for myself to include rigging the static lines with break cord. The nest morning I made my 1st freefall. No one else was around early on a Sunday so he flew the 182 and jumpmastered me. That's probably why the spot was off and I landed in the trees. Well, this guy was a pilot with severel hundred hours, he said he was a Master Parachute Rigger and even wrote the letters for one or two for people to take their rigging written test. He also claimedto be Special Forces and to have done a tour in RVN. I had notice that some of the things he claimed didn't seem to add up but I let it go due to the fact that he was a very personable guy and he had taught me to jump out of airplanes. Severel weeks later he went before a promotion board, He was a Sergent, E-5 going for Staff Sergent, E-6. Apparently, he was whereing s few decoration that he was not entitled to and he made Specialist 4, E4. The sad part is that I think he could have done everything he said he had done except he just didn't go through the schools. He was a great guy to hang out with and I would like to run into him again. But I'd take anything he said with more than a grain fo salt. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

This may have been one of the eaziest songs to parody ever written. At least it was the most parodied. With the possible exception of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Well, here's my version, written in '72 or '73 by Dave Story and me on the way to Palatka. Oh Lord, won't you buy me a colored PC My freinds all jump one - ones Thet're outdriving me Worked all of my lifetime To get in the peas So oh Lord won't you buy me a colored PC Oh Lord won't you buy me a custom made pig My backbone is weary from this military rig Can't fit in the airplane Cause my gutter is too big So oh Lord, won't you buy me a custom made pig Oh Lord won't you build me a big 8 man star I've only been base for a 4 man so far Worked all of my lifetime For my SCR So oh Lord won't you build me a big 8 man star "Heh, heh, heh. That's all folks" Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Billy I knew I had been wanting to regrade my front yard and move the dirt elsewhere on my property. Fuck it, I went over there and said I want to rent the IHI CL35 front end loader. They had it delivered to my house in 30 minutes! See what it looks like here: http://www.dealquip.com.au/ihicl/ihicl.htm _____________________________________________ Niki I got the wheeled version once. I think the tracks would've made a bigger mess than I had to clean up to start with. __________________________________________ Billy Having never operated a piece of machinery like this big boy weighing 10,000 pounds (give or take) before, I knew it was going to be an interesting experience. _________________________________________ Niki He probably said it was easy. Like we tell a whuffo that packing a parachute is easy. (Of course it is if you know how)

QuoteNP,just for that alone you have earned a "special place in hell" And when he's there, he will get thirsty. He'll look around and there will be a snake on a lever... Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

I think the world has already ended. I happened when skydivers turned into lawn darts. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

The last thing any religious organization wants or needs is for its followers to think for themselves... Yeah. That's my point. So now, let's all think for ourselves and say goodbye to religion and all its crap that it says the followers are supposed to think. Not exactly on point, my theory of Skydiver Peaceful Coexistance: Skydivers are of a personality type that gives us a great potential to be assholes. We coexist because I put up with you even though you're an asshole because you put up with me even though I'm an asshole. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Amen. (Just to borrow a phrase) To the original premus of the thread, isn't it impossible to prove a negative? Wheather there is a God, Suprime Power, Original Force, the Almighty or whatever your concept is, that is what it is. Your personal concept. The aurguments start when "Religion" is brought into the discussion. Riligion should have very little to do with YOUR personal concept of "God", Religion (which ever one) gives you THEIR concept (and rules). Right and Wrong, Good and Evil, These things you can figure out for yourself. Out of the entire Bible, (don't get me started) ithe the best thing, the really important thing is, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." That's really all we need to do to make this a better world. That's just what I think, I'm not trying to tell anybody else how to live their life. That would make it a religion. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

I don't have your problems but then I don't get you paycheck either.

I don't have your problems but then I don't get you paycheck either.

Like SarahCO7 said, a local CC will probably have a course. I took one but the instructor wasn't very good. A few years later I obtained a copy of AutoCAD 2002 and bought a textbook for it. The one I got was "AutoCAD and its applications, Comprehensive" It includes 2D in the first half and 3D in the second. I just read the whole thing and did all the exercises and question at the end of each chapter. I've seen other textbooks but this is the best one in my opinion. It worked for me. I got a side job doing drawings for a machine shop when I lived in Fla. and later in NC doing shop drawing for fabrication. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

These shots are a really good example of Relative Wind. Show them to your instructors and have a talk about what relative wind is and you'll be able to look this good every time. After you understand relative wind, start thinking about WHAT to do instead of HOW to do. By now you should be able to control your heading, move forward, and stop your movement. That's really all there is to skydiving. It's just mobility in a different medium. You don't think about HOW to walk to the cooler and get a beer, you just think, "I'm thirsty" and you go get it. Lebron James doesn't think about HOW to dribble the ball. He just sees where he want to go. There are only 3 places you can be on this planet. On the ground, in the water, or in the air. It took you about 6 calender months to learn to walk. In that time, I guess you spent a total of 500 hours (the equivalent of 3 weeks) actually trying and practicing. When you were older, you learned to swim. That took you about 3 weeks of calender time of which you practiced maybe 20 hours. Now you're learning to skydive and at about 18 minutes you gained the mobility in this medium that took much, much longer to learn in the other 2. Skydiving is about the easiest thing you've ever learned to do. So have fun, be safe. (Also, smileing makes everything easier.) Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

I voted "Other" so I'll explain. When your grandmother (grandfather) slips yor the tounge.

Jim, That's not Dana. That girl's name is (I think) Cheryl (sp). I'm having a "senior moment" and can't recall her name. She was on "Snoots Are For Toots" and a real good skydiver. She married a guy from Ala., maybe one of the "Alabama Boys", who was a militaty pilot, maybe Army helicoters. She became a nurse. That memory must have been in some of those brain cells that were lost back in the daze. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Would you intentionally femur him in? I wonder if you gould rig him for BASE? In the early '80s, someone had something like this at the Z-Hills Turkey Boogie. I didn't like them. They had a fairly high malfunction rate and one of these streamering in 50 yards away looked just like the real thing at a 1/2 mile. Even after I knew what was going on it still bothered me. Cool technology, though. I wonder if the stuff is good enough now so that we could just throw students out of the plane and do it all by remote control.

Pffft. Greatly overrated. That may be. I'm not in a postion to evaluate. Where did you get your PhF? What field? I'm really not trying to start a pissing contes. Your responce just seemed much more negative than constructive. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Try this web site. You may have heard the radio show. They're funny but they both have PhDs for MIT and run an auto repair shop in Boston. http://cartalk.com/ Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

None. The light shines within us all.

Next night, we are sitting at the back of the building (looked out at the scene, about 40-50 yds away) and a Norwegian strolled over there, lit up a doobie, and layed down in the crater and looked at the stars. Another chick flyer sitting there said "what is he doing ?" (she didn't know about the crater) so we told her and she says "That's sick !!!" and we said "maybe, but I bet he never bounces...." and he never has...... The words, "that's sick" always brings to mind my favorite Herd story. It's probably already in this thread or forum but sitting here at the keyboard is easier than going out to do the yard work. I wasn't there but heard it from Jon Ladd (of the Ladd family, Mike & Rachel). At the '75 Z-Hills Turkey Meet, the Herd was staying at a motel in town and on the way to the DZ one morning they saw a little dog get hit by a car. They figured the dog might not have had a very happy life so they wanted to make his last day at least seem pleasent. When thay got to the DZ, they put him under the van by the door with a water dish and every now and then they would move hin a little so that people would think he was still alive. A while later, a little old lady spectator comes walking up the path and looks at the dog. She says to Jon, who's just going by, "I think that dog's sick." Jon replies, "No, lady. The team's sick. The dog's DEAD." Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

"Out of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Maybe cause it's country? No, it's not country music. If you compare "Mainstream Country" woth the Rock & Roll of the late 50's (the Devils' Music), Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and all the rest would seem like a church chior. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Easy. Right. But a dead guy in the left seat, the wife and 2 kids in the back might have raised the stress level a bit don't you think? Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Say this really fast. How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could Chuck Norris. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Now where have we heard that before? Yeah, I remember reading about something like this in an old book. The project was given up when everyone started to speak different languages for some reason. We already speak different languages so what could possibly go wrong? Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?