teach1400

1. I was a competition waterskiier at the age of 14 2. I tought myself to spin fire because I got bored of glowsticks and clubs.

--------------------------------------------------------- In order to dodge the proverbial rock of which you speak I would need to know when it was being thrown. I'd also like to know when it was coming, how large it was, from what direction it came, etc. Find that in the PDB if you can - it's not there Bill. --------------------------------------------------------- No but open your eyes and look for it. don't just say, well it wasn't actionable so I how could I stop it? The administration not only failed to stop the attacks, and I am not saying that they could have stopped them, but Bush has not accepted ANY responsibility for government failure even after the evidence that he knew that Bin Laden was intending to attack us. In his statement the other night he was asked a direct question relating to Clarke's public apology and if he was willing to offer a similar apology. In his response he NEVER ONCE mentioned the words Clarke or apology. He completly dodged the question. Another similiar situation was with Condi Rice. She stated in font of the commision that she received a memo from Clarke that stated that there were probably sleeper cells in the US. It didn't contain their names and addresses, so are you aserting that a statement like that would be considered "unactionable" and it just be disregarded? When the sleeper cells become active and do cause death and destruction will CLarkes memo have become a "Historical Document" added - I just found out abotu Bush's apology today. I think that it was rather weak, too little too late, and didn't touch on several of the major issues that should be apologized for. -"During last night's nationally-televised presidential news conference, Mr. Bush said he was unprepared for questions about his mistakes in office" How can you be unprepared after all this time? Russ #2

I know there are alot of posts on this thread already but I am going to throw in my two cents anyway. I would just like to relay a conversation that I had over dinner a few weeks ago. There were about 35 skydivers, some of the best in the country and in the world having sushi, and at my table this is a paraphrase of what was said. A gentelmen with 2500 jumps was telling me that I should train for all circumstances, and that he has 11 intentional cutaways. When my reserve is ready for a repack get down to 1000' and chop. Make sure that I can do it. Train for the worst. To me that is not training for the worst, that is putting yourself in the worst. His rational was that he wants to be prepared for whetever is thrown at him, and that if it's his time, then there is nothing he is going to do about it. I saw that is a load of bulls&*t. If I have a good canopy over head, I am keeping it there. My point is that we do what we can to be safe. I jump with a cypres, an RSL, and I make sure that I pull at a safe altitude. I know the people I jump with and I make sure that I am comfortable wiuth the winds and the DZ that I am at. Your safety is primarily in your hands. If you have concerns about getting hurt, stay away from hook turns and other risky maneuvers if you don't have proper training. I only have about 90 jumps, but I know that one day I will have 9000. If most of the fatality reports and other incident reports said things like "total equipment mal" or "could NOT have been prevented" then I would probably reconsider the sport. But almost all, I try not to say never, always, none, or all, the reports say that there was some kind of human judgment error which could have been prevented, or a sfety device that could have prevented the incident. Anyway, I know that you already said your sticking with it, and I am glad to hear it, I hope you enjoy a long skydiving career or whatever you call it. Blue Skies Russ

For $100 million, without even a second thought. As it stands I rely on it as soley a backup, but for lotsa duckets, count me in. I'd probably do it for $1,000,000. But, I am single no kids, and that makes a huge difference.

If you plan it they will come (well at least I will)

My condolences Blue Skies Russ

I just did my level 7 this past Sunday (I posted my level 8 grad dive at http://www.580fifth.com/skydive not that anyone cares, but I AM EXCITED) Anyway, I did the exact same thing as you on level 7 - Poised solo exit, and didn't know which way was up, just started tumbling. But, all I did was relax and relized that I was on my back, Crossed my heart & rolled out of bed. athen moved on to the loop and did the same thing, ended up on my back. Fixed that just by staying calm and doing what I was taught. The rest of the dive went great and when I got to the ground I was afraid that I had failed because the exit and the loop were sooo sloppy. Anyway, my instructor pretty much told me that it isn't necessarily how good the exit or the loop is, it's weather you can stay calm and recover from an instability. Well, I passed every level of AFF on 1 try. Just stay calm do what your taught, and enjoy it.

9:0

My story is nothing remarkable, but it goes like this - About 6 years ago I did my first tandem and loved it, immediatly wanted to do my AFF. I was only 18 at the time and couldn't really afford it, and none of my friends would go with me either. So I gave up. A few weeks ago, I was in Vegas for the 4th of July, and 1 of my friends wanted to do a tandem. So a couple of us went and when I got back to the ground I knew that I couldn't wait any longer. I got home from Vegas, started my AFF 2 sunday's ago and this past sunday graduated and jumped my first solo. I wish I hadn't lost those 6 years :)