kallend 2,106 #51 October 8, 2012 Quote Quote All of my work colleagues are engineering or physics professors. Most of them are weirder than me. Any chance your colleagues go by names like Sheldon, Leonard or Raj? How did you know? ... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,106 #52 October 8, 2012 Quote And for the record, I don't think skydiving really is "out there". Those who think it is generally haven't tried it and don't know enough about it to realise it's not the extreme sport people make it out to be. How many sports do you know that have a "Fatalities" report in the magazine every month?... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cocheese 0 #53 October 8, 2012 "Walking" magazine probably has more deaths per month than we do. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrewEckhardt 0 #54 October 8, 2012 Quote Agree with this as well. And really, I should have edited my post to add that tandem students (ie: 1-time jumpers) are also frequently guilty of spreading the perception that skydiving is "extreme"... They don't actually understand what they are talking about and again, just want to feel special... It's all relative. Anything too scary to do personally or do only once is "extreme." Anything you're willing to do on a regular basis is not. One time I was drinking with skydivers and we were joined by some rodeo guys. All of the rodeo guys who thought nothing of tying a rope around an angry 1000 pound bull and riding until it threw them off thought that what they did was pretty normal and skydiving extreme. The skydivers held the opposite view. OTOH my mother is too scared to take a commercial plane flight by herself. The general population is more like my mother than the rodeo guys. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #55 October 8, 2012 QuoteQuote And for the record, I don't think skydiving really is "out there". Those who think it is generally haven't tried it and don't know enough about it to realise it's not the extreme sport people make it out to be. How many sports do you know that have a "Fatalities" report in the magazine every month? Good point. Hmmmmm.....My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nataly 38 #56 October 8, 2012 QuoteQuoteQuote And for the record, I don't think skydiving really is "out there". Those who think it is generally haven't tried it and don't know enough about it to realise it's not the extreme sport people make it out to be. How many sports do you know that have a "Fatalities" report in the magazine every month? Good point. Hmmmmm..... It's a small sport and therefore a fatality is meaningful to the community. One person dies in a tiny village and EVERYONE talks about it for years... One person dies in NY and no one speaks about it. Think about it - the parachutist magazine also publishes all the names of everyone who gets their licence... Does a motorcycle magazine do that? And yet MANY bikers die every year (those stats are also not published). Not saying there is no risk, but I do hold the view that the perception of the sport is hugely exaggerated and that many skydivers actively encourage this view."There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #57 October 9, 2012 Quote Quote Quote All of my work colleagues are engineering or physics professors. Most of them are weirder than me. When I was in Uni it was the chemistry profs you had to watch out for. I had one come into the storeroom one time and ask to borrow one of our sand buckets. I asked if there was a fire someplace and he said 'no, just setting up an experiment and need it as a precaution.' They were out in the parking lot setting off thermite. Wimps, I set it off in an auditorium! (Had sand bucket handy, though). Classroom sort of got the fire dept involved nothing serious but the principal was not amused, the kids however thought is was fantasticYou are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #58 October 9, 2012 Quote Not saying there is no risk, but I do hold the view that the perception of the sport is hugely exaggerated and that many skydivers actively encourage this view. Stop making sensible posts, apparently when you do I agree with you.This sport is all about perceived risk, especially the Tandem side of it.You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldwomanc6 60 #59 October 9, 2012 Oh, my, such back and forth: Normal? not Normal! You can slice it and dice it however you want, but jumping into the great big noisy blue is NOT NORMAL. If it was, more than ~1% of the population would do it every weekend. They don't, which leaves the great majority behind on the ground. Lets face it, most people will never do anything of note. They will never do anything that will put them into that small percentage of people who have done something unusual. If you don't believe this, go and chat up someone at a gas station, bar, or the local grocery store. Chances are they have never even gone to a Disney location (unless they live w/i 100 mi), never done a significant road trip (let alone driven across the Nation, or anything else of note). Going to Disney is on people's bucket list for crying out loud (so sad, but true). There is nothing wrong with being "normal", but don't sell yourselves short, people. There are a lot of things I have never done, but there are a lot of things I have done, that the average Joe will never do, or even consider doing. If you're posting here, chances are you fit the "not normal" label, too.lisa WSCR 594 FB 1023 CBDB 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coreece 190 #60 October 9, 2012 Gretchen: You're weird. Donnie Darko: Sorry. Gretchen: No, that was a compliment actually.Your secrets are the true reflection of who you really are... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldwomanc6 60 #61 October 9, 2012 Quote Gretchen: You're weird. Donnie Darko: Sorry. Gretchen: No, that was a compliment actually. lisa WSCR 594 FB 1023 CBDB 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,436 #62 October 9, 2012 Hi Lisa, +1 All around. Especially this: If you're posting here, chances are you fit the "not normal" label, too. I remember having this 'normal' discussion with some other jumping pals back in the '60's. We weren't normal then either. Re: Lets face it, most people will never do anything of note. Here is a photo of me on top of Mt. Hood in '84; the tallest mountain in Oregon. I did it then before I got too old to do it. Ya just gotta git out & have some fun, JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shah269 0 #63 October 9, 2012 Well I am awesome! And I’m ok with that! Compared to the chalupas and the stinky engineers. I look better, I dress better and I sure as shit smell better! And I lead a more awesome life deserving of an awesome person such as myself! I never over analyze anything with does not lead to me being more awesome or getting laid. And I truly and honestly feel it’s my god given duty as gods gift to man kind to freak the hell out of all the dull people in the world! Any questions? So keep being awesome and one day you too can be as awesome!Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay. The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 7 #64 October 9, 2012 I never over analyze anything with does not lead to me being more awesome or getting laid. Quote Proofreading isn't 'over analyzing' ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shah269 0 #65 October 9, 2012 Quote I never over analyze anything with does not lead to me being more awesome or getting laid. Quote Proofreading isn't 'over analyzing' At my inception at the center of the universe where a neutron star and a super massive black hole got jiggy with it. I was given a choice! Be really really ridiculously good looking! Or be able to spell properly. Being omnipotent and awesome even before I was hurled out of the center of the universe I knew spell check was just around the corner. I think I made the right choice! And when I am the ruler of the not so free world, the makers of such shit shows as “hunny WTF is this fucking boo boo” shall be hung by their toes and fed to flesh eating ants with laser beams!Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay. The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nataly 38 #66 October 9, 2012 QuoteOh, my, such back and forth: Normal? not Normal! You can slice it and dice it however you want, but jumping into the great big noisy blue is NOT NORMAL. If it was, more than ~1% of the population would do it every weekend. They don't, which leaves the great majority behind on the ground. Lets face it, most people will never do anything of note. They will never do anything that will put them into that small percentage of people who have done something unusual. [...] OK, I get what you are saying... But IMO, if overall you do "normal" things, skydiving alone does not ipso facto make you "not normal". If you engage in many risky sports, the compound effect does make you "not normal". If you skydive for a living, that makes you "not normal" - again, with the compound effect. To illustrate what I mean: most people don't have a PhD - are people with a PhD "not normal" (overall)? Most people don't knit. Are people who knit "not normal"? Most people don't understand HTML language. Are HTML-literate people "not normal"? Et cetera, et cetera. One unusual thing about you does not necessarily make you some kind of freak... And I think the average skydiver is... well... average. Wuffos who can't conceive of jumping out of a plane believe the hype that skydiving is super-duper-extreme... Skydivers who can't conceive of spending their time knitting believe the hype that it's a super-duper-boring old-lady's-hobby..."There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coreece 190 #67 October 9, 2012 QuoteWell I am awesome! And I’m ok with that! I lead a more awesome life deserving of an awesome person such as myself! Yep, that pretty much sums up the mentality of this thread. Be proud, be bold, make love to yourself and embrace the Shah within you...because y'all are awesome - more awesome than most of the pathetic pukes living in this shit world that's lucky enough to be graced with your presence. Even the oceans ebb and flow as if reaching out to touch your glorious majesty...Your secrets are the true reflection of who you really are... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #68 October 9, 2012 Quote There are a lot of things I have never done, but there are a lot of things I have done, that the average Joe will never do, or even consider doing. If you're posting here, chances are you fit the "not normal" label, too. Although I feel Vskydiver and I are pretty normal, I joke that my wife, who jumps out of planes and shoots bull's eyes at the gun range, is pretty much cooler than any of the guys I work with. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shah269 0 #69 October 9, 2012 Quote Be proud, be bold, make love to yourself and embrace the Shah within you...because y'all are awesome - more awesome than most of the pathetic pukes living in this shit world that's lucky enough to be graced with your presence. Even the oceans ebb and flow as if reaching out to touch your glorious majesty... Yes…yes…YES! And this is why I swim in the nude! So when I walk in I am tea bagging the sea! But only if the water is warm…my trunk and two potatoes do not like the cold! I don’t know…honestly? I don’t think you guys are too strange? Most of you are pretty darn normal to me?Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay. The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 7 #70 October 9, 2012 Quote Quote There are a lot of things I have never done, but there are a lot of things I have done, that the average Joe will never do, or even consider doing. If you're posting here, chances are you fit the "not normal" label, too. Although I feel Vskydiver and I are pretty normal, I joke that my wife, who jumps out of planes and shoots bull's eyes at the gun range, is pretty much cooler than any of the guys I work with. I dunno brother, when I saw that picture of you & your lovely wife flyin' a two-stack into the back yard it brought a smile to MY face! Not only isn't that anywhere NEAR 'normal' in any social circle, including ours...it's also pretty fuckin' COOL! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 37 #71 October 9, 2012 Every time I read this thread, I'm reminded of this song. She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coreece 190 #72 October 9, 2012 QuoteI don’t know…honestly? I don’t think you guys are too strange? Most of you are pretty darn normal to me? Blasphemous! When these solipsists go for a jog, the niggards of the neighborhood clod hop behind in a desperate attempt to be blessed by their sweat...Your secrets are the true reflection of who you really are... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #73 October 9, 2012 Quote I dunno brother, when I saw that picture of you & your lovely wife flyin' a two-stack into the back yard it brought a smile to MY face! Not only isn't that anywhere NEAR 'normal' in any social circle, including ours...it's also pretty fuckin' COOL! Aww, thanks, Twardo. Very high praise coming from you. Yeah, back in the F-111 days we got pretty proficient at slamming together a two stack after a regular jump, then Vskydiver would pilot it in. She even put us in the peas some of the time. Kind of miss doing that but not gonna try with my Stiletto and her Fusion. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davjohns 1 #74 October 9, 2012 You guys are my collective hero.I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet.. But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #75 October 9, 2012 Well thanks, but we're nothing compared to people in the service like you. We just like to skydive and we love our jumping friends. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
