skylord

Yep, the fans start up on the motherboard. RAM is seated. Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Swapped the video cards, no luck. This sucks...... Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Let us make it clear that my temporary main computer problem is the only thing I'm having trouble getting up. Judy, submit your application to me for the Man Boogie, and I will evaluate it! My laptop is working overtime, as it has for quite sometime now. Hugs! Skylord Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

All you experts, My NEW computer died, I think. I've had problems with the computer hard locking at times, almost always when the screen saver kicked in but at times just in the middle of working on something. The problems have ALL occured after installing a different video card. When it would lock up, the keyboard lights would shut off, the mouse stopped working, and the only way to fix it was to restart it by shutting off the power. Ctl-ALT-Del did not work. So I came home today, and the screen is black. No screen saver. I figure same problem. But now when I shut off the power, and turn it back on, the monitor LED stays amber, and I don't get that BIOS "beep" or whatever it is. The screen stays black. I can't boot in safe mode or anything, and I am dead in the water. Is it any good to swap out the video cards? I know this is bad news for the computer. If you have any ideas, I'm all ears. Well, actually eyes since I'm reading this. Unless you send an audio file, then I am all ears..... Thanks for the help in advance.... Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Numero Uno, I agree, and I suggest you allow me to screen the dive vixens who want to attend. Your time is too valuable..... Dos Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

You may like it, but your RW fellow flyers won't! I of course speak from my very limited experience. I've done a couple coached jumps where I did linked exits new to me, and I was able to focus on my coach as we left the aircraft. Those went great. But for some reason, I still have trouble looking at the airplane or even up on my exit. I'm not an expert, but I think at least with me it is an unrealistic fear that I'm going splat on something immediately after I let go of the plane, like it is still on the ground or something. It is wierd, but I'm getting over it. In the meantime a good RW exit is the start of a good jump overall. Just relax, and have fun, the skills will come, and I am lucky to be at a DZ where people competing at Nationals on multi way teams come up and ask me to jump with them. NEVER pass on that kind of opportunity. Let us know how it goes! Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

All, I know this is a free for all forum, but I would like to ask for your thoughts, prayers, and vibes for the air traffic controllers working to get families and aircraft out in the face of the approaching hurricane. I was advised tonight that FAA management declared themselves non-essential and ran away 48 hours ago. They declared the controllers "essential", and left them at the facilities. This is cowardice. Trust me, in six months, the FAA will be handing out awards to these same managers who ran away. There are famiilies trapped in these FAA Air Traffic Control facilities that are WAY underrated as to withstanding these kinds of onslaughts. But the controllers are there, working the traffic. For all of you with loved ones in the face of this hurricane, my hopes, thoughts, and prayers. I will let you all know what I find out....... Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

I see. I'm air traffic controller at SoCal TRACON, and my hobby is to wear my jump suit with "FAA" emblazoned on the back. I can even get on full loads, and I'm always right. Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

True, but pads do which are found next to the tampons in Aisle 5 I just told the whole store about. That said, I put a Tampon/"Pad" lock on further discussion of this and redirect all to the Man Forum rules. FGF-2 Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Skymama, Don't EVER let computer problems stop you from drinking beer. By the time you get to five or six, you'll be a hardware engineer. Been there done that!! Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Please, there are rules here. This is the Man Forum. I re post my original rules. I am sorry my negligence has resulted in tampon shopping stories. Now, don't get me wrong. I will shop for tampons with my lady in need. I will have us split up in the store for a more effective search. However, when I find them I will announce to her loudly that the tampons are on aisle 5. Wings, wide wings, regular absorbent, extra absorbent, all that. Frenchy, sorry for the sweety peety nicky wicky stuff. I should have been there to protect you and I was not. Again here are the rules for this thread: FGF-2, Thread Moderator FGF-1, Again, you show your leadership in all things manly. I completely agree, we need our own forum to discuss things like, "If it flies, fucks, or floats, rent." "The Male Yeast Infection" "PMS: Personal Male Syndrome" "Men at Bars: We're There for Innocent Man Support, Until One of the Skank-Hos Comes Up and Gets us Drunk." "Men at Bars: OK That Last was Bullshit, But We Are Not 100% to Blame if Anything Happens." Visionary, Number One, absolutely visionary! Moderators, please set this up. Rules? Only one. No girls in our treehouse. Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Man, how do you do it? That is a TON of wives! Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Well, here is what you are missing: http://www.skydiveelsinore.com/around-the-dz/August.6.2005/August.6.2005-Pages/Image72.html This is how its done at Elsinore. I was so innocent. I had done my A dive the previous weekend, went out to the DZ to work on world peace and hunger, and kablooie, I get it four times in the face. Elsinore wants to revive what many think is a dying tradition. Pie all the time!! The whipped cream went clear up my nose, now I have sinus diabetes. Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Long spot, uh? Well, the upside is I got REALLY good at tracking!! Frenchy, you didn't show up for all the beer I bought! FGF-2 Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

I'm a jump whore now. Went up with a member of Gravity for a two way last weekend, wow! There I am in the air playing follow the leader with a member of an advanced 4 way Team. I love it! Come out and play!!!!! I miss you!!! From Guam, Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Sorry mods, last hijack. Here's a link to the video that came out about the hilarious translation of that game, that will clue everyone else in on some of these posts..... http://frogstar.com/aybabtu/aa-video.asp Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Just relax, your instructors will tell you everything you need to know. The flips will get you used to instability, which is important. My first 5 exits were good, but my AFF-6 jump I was outside all by myself with my instructor diving out after me. I folded up and went ass over tea kettle for about 5 seconds. Scared the crap out of me. After that, I just wanted to always be stable. Belly to earth, rock solid. The front flips and back flips aren't to earn style points, they get you used to being unstable and in all sorts of different body positions. Believe it or not, you really get used to it fairly quickly, and it gets to be fun. That helps with the door anxiety, too, since no matter how unstable your exit is, you have the confidence to get stable right away, even still on the hill. Have fun!! I did it, so can you!! Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

There's a few of us that jump at San Diego, Perris, and/or Elsinore that live in North County. Where do you jump? Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Congratulations! AFF moves along pretty quick, and I remember feeling overwhelmed, but it really is a dynamic program. When it moved too fast for me, it was self correcting: I didn't get the tasks done so I did another jump on a couple levels. Nice write up! Keep us all posted on how it goes! Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

I love that sig line, too! Or is it zig line?? Somebody set up us the dust devil. Otter 14, make your time. Thread hijack over. Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

There was a HUGE one last weekend at Elsinore, right next to the student landing area, as mentioned. There was a solo in the pattern, who seemed oblivious to what was obvious to us on the ground. When he landed I talked to him about the experience. It was an eye opener for me. He stated he never saw it. After thinking about that for a few seconds it dawned on me that he was telling the truth. From below, we have a blue background to see the dirt flying around. From above, you are looking into a background that is the same as the debris flying around, so it would be in many cases MUCH harder to spot. It was enlightening, an instructor asked him if he tasted dirt in his mouth at 2,800 feet. He answered, yeah, I thought that was a bit strange. So if you taste earth at 3,000 feet, you're in a dust devil. Plus he got sucked back up into the sky several hundred feet. They spook me, I don't like them, but I'm glad I'm at a DZ where they happen, I can learn, and be safe. Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

The grips? My bad, I was busy getting tossed like a rag doll through the atmosphere. And yes, you did hint at instability and I wondered what you were going to have me do! Thanks again for the ride, see you this weekend! Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

I can't describe the feeling, if I try, I'll not do it justice. This is a demanding sport, and harder than almost anything else I've done in my life. Words fail me, as I sit here and try to explain. Rather than a complete recounting of my whole AFF adventure (you can get that if you want by doing a post search on my user name), let me just hit some of the highlights. I would NEVER have made it had it not been for the support and training I got at Elsinore. That is not unique to them, but they are my birth DZ, and always will be. I never had to deal with attitude, sky gods, impatient instructors, or anything like that. As a matter of fact, everyone I EVER met was nothing less than completely supportive and helpful. I got to jump with skydivers who are known around the sport, and who spent time with me as if I was the most important person in the world. Wow. I did a mid week coach jump with Shark, hoping to get my A check dive done next, but since the Air Force cancelled out, they shut the school down for the rest of the day. Undaunted, I went to Bill, one of their packers, for my refresher packing class. He made that jumble of fabric and lines easy for me to read once again. It took me four tries, and finally over an hour and a half on my last try, but I packed that bitch. It helps if you call the canopy a bitch going into the bag, but when it is coming out of the bag later on, call it honey, sweetie, sugar plum. If the canopy asks if the bag makes it look fat once you have it in there, the answer is NOOOOOO! You look hot!!!!! That is just the way it works. I finished up, dizzy from the sweat I lost in the 100+ temps in an un-airconditioned packing room. As I stowed the pilot chute, and turned the rig over to do one final go over, Bill looked at me. I looked back at him. "What do you think?" So I thought. Set brakes, walk the lines up, steering lines clear, flake nose one through nine, a lines one through five, b lines one through five, slider, little guy, big guy, tail, tail, tail, c lines set, d lines, fold, other side same thing, slider in the middle, grab the tail, check slider and set, roll, lay on floor. Press the air out, wrap, s fold once, s fold again, call canopy "bitch", and then tell canopy you love it after two stows. I told Bill I was confident to jump it. He said that was good, he felt the same way. Wow. That feeling was amazing. Here was my pack job, waiting for me to come back on Sunday morning. Bill told me to put the rig against the wall, and put a note on it so no one else would jump it. I did. I wrote, "Skylord packed this parachute and will jump it on Sunday." That sure as hell kept everyone away, and explains why I found NTSB business cards stuck in the flaps when I showed up on Sunday. I preflighted the rig, and got on a load. I drew the Shark. This is my A check dive. A big deal to me, and I am nervous. I hook up with Shark, and as we start the oral quiz stuff, he walks off, and suddenly motions me over to the student landing area. A HUGE dust devil is there, and he tells me he is pulling us off the load. That was a GREAT call, and one I would have made too. The debris funnel was at least 1,500 feet high. So I chill for a few more hours. The temps drop, the winds seem good, and Shark asks me if I'm ready. Yes I am. Let's go. On to the next load. We rehearse the dive, it is identical to the last dive I did with him earlier in the week. I'm set, I'm ready. In the plane, and it is a hop 'n pop, a two way, and then us. The hop 'n pop goes out, and one of the tandems asks, "Where'd he go?" to me. I said he's gone, out of there, bye bye. Great video for their lifetime memory. I'm answering her question while soiling my jumpsuit. To altitude. Door open, and it tries to hook me again. I refuse to fear it. Refuse. I respect it, but I will never fear you again. I'm a skydiver, door, and I belong here. Am I here because of you, or are YOU there because of ME???? The door cringes in fear and asks for its mommy. Shark positions himself, and I position myself. I nod OK, and the count. Out, in go............. Mmmmmmm. Freefall. I arch, relax, and there's Shark. Legs out. Out harder. Fly toward him, arms back a bit. I make forward progress, and we dock. I start to back up a bit for my 360, but get motioned back to the dock position. Hmmm. Did I screw it up? Next thing I know, I am grabbed by my risers, and I am FLIPPED over and around the sky! I saw the devilish grin on Shark's face as I flew away, arched hard, and recovered, while laughing my ass off. Check altitude, wave, turn 180, and track. Pull at 4,000. As I reach and pull, it occurs to me, this is my pack job!!!!!!! Why didn't I pull at 12,400?????? PPPPlllleeeeaaaasse OPEN! I love you canopy! I didn't mean to call you a bitch and slut! Have you lost weight? Boy you look good! The canopy opens, softly and sweetly, control checks are good. Oh man, was I worried, though. I land, and start walking to the packing area. I felt like I did OK, but you never, ever really know. As I come into the infield area, I hear the PA system click on. Shark has the mike. I am welcomed back, as long as I already brought the beer, as the most recently licensed skydiver at Elsinore. The cheers go up from the whole DZ. Not for my accomplishment but because I already had free beer. What a day, I will remember it forever. So, I had lied about already having free beer. My good friend Ryan was there when I got down. We headed over to a local store, got beer, and then decided to do a jump together. Wow, my first two way. I was very apprehensive. We get on the sunset load. We coordinate, dirt dive, and gear up. Up to altitude. Wow, I'm doing what I've watched so many of you all do. Ryan watches the group go, he's outside, I'm inside. Into position, and I take grips on him. He asks, "Ready?" I nod yes, worried I'll screw up. The count is great, and we exit. Wow!!! I fall much faster than most realize, and we rotate about 180 degrees. Then I completely screwed up the dive. I forgot completely about my body position, and keeping legs out. I let go of Ryan about 10 seconds into the jump, and from there on in it is solo for me, and where the hell is Ryan??? My legs were so far in, I am surprised we even saw each other again. For some reason, I tend to get overloaded on a new type jump and revert to old habits. I sucked. So, what I learned was that I.........suck. Not bad or irrecoverable suck. The search and rescue jump wasn't bad, I just need more jumps with people like Ryan who are young mentors even to us old farts. Thank you Ryan, for my first two way. You are a class act, and a great jump partner. I'll do better next time. So, to close, my undying gratitude to Darcy, Rosa, Frenchy, Dom, Doug, Jake, Rich, Marie, Lob, Betsy, LaDonna, Lou, Mel, Erin, Tom, Robert, JP, and Shauna as well for all of your support and help. Special thanks to my good friend Mark the Shark whom helped me through so much. I would not be where I'm at without all of you. So, I am releasing an interactive DVD called, "The Door Opens, and I Must Barf". $49.95. I teach how to throw up into your own shoe. Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

Congratulations! I just got mine last Sunday! How'd you get your number so fast? I'm still waiting..... Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

No kidding! Thanks, man!! Bob Bob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman