cruzit

I usually completely ignore the ardent student's advances. Not play dumb, just look at them as if they are another species, and not a bright one at that. As another poster brought up, it's hard to feel romantic with a stern math teacher. Believe it or not, that approach will work on about 90%. Of course, there are always the ones that take that as a challenge. But since I work in a male prison, I'm not afraid to look a guy in the eye and tell him I'm not interested. If either of those things fails to do the trick, then it is time to pass the student off, because they definitely are not concentrating on the skydive and they are a menace to themselves, you, and any other skydiver. (edited to correct spelling)

We are obligated to have insurance if we finance a home, but the first time you have a legitimate claim, the insurance company penalizes you by jacking up your rates, or canceling your insurance, regardless of how long you have been paying premiums without a claim. Can you say shill game, boys and girls.

I would say it is relavent. It tells me you are still disassociating on exit. Or in other words, you exit and your brain doesn't follow immediately. This is extremely common and nothing to beat yourself up over. As I have said many times, 4 or 5 minutes of actual air time is a very short time to become proficient at a skill. Tunnel time is a great way to learn your basic skills, but there's nothing for training your brain about how to overcome that initial fear response (in your case kicking) like doing. Here is a link to a book I recommend for training the brain (it's written by Arno Ilgner for climbers, but the techniques translate very well for skydivers) Good luck, keep us posted.

Here fishy, fishy..... You make two posts, both about a dropzone "near" you. If you really suspect there is a substance abuse problem at your DZ, why in the world would you discuss it on a message board. You enter a state with your profile, which limits the DZs it could be. Do you have it in for the DZO???? Sounds like a serious trolling attempt....back to our regularly scheduled thread.

Yep, they're awesome. It's all that dead air. I've missed a couple of balloon opportunities. The last time, I blew a sinus the day before, so my husband made a balloon jump with John Hoover instead of me. They landed in a field with a mad cow and mad farmer. Both of them ended up running away from the deranged duo. Hysterical story.

It is not an AFF jump. You are a licensed jumper who needs a currency jump. Yes, that means you'll have to take an a jumpmaster with you. Its been awhile since I read the SIM, you may be able to take a coach...but I won't swear to it. They'll no doubt ask you to pay for the JMs time (for the pre- and post-jump briefings) and the JMs slot but I sincerely doubt that it will cost you the same as an AFF jump. If it does, you need to find another dropzone. Have your JM really go over the landing (my experience is this is where most students have the most apprehension) Take some deep breaths. Laying off did not turn your brains to mush and make you incapable of skydiving. You'll have a blast and wonder why you got yourself so worked up over it. Skydiving is very similar to riding a bike. When you haven't been in the air for a while, you may feel a little loose and shakey, but you recover quickly. When I run a student for a recurrency jump, I have them do a couple of practice touches and maybe a 90 degree turn or two. I don't ask my recurrency students to do much of anything else (except pull) unless they really want to work on something. That way, there is no pressure. You can always go back up with a coach or buddy to work on stuff after you have your head back in it. PM me if you have any questions. J

Brad and Terri moved to Jackson, Ms several years ago. I think Brad's son Jason has his ticket, but I have no idea how to get ahold of him. Best bet is to call someone at Oklahoma Skydiving Center in Cushing and see if they can recomend anyone. Hubby has his ticket but only packs reserves under duress, and he's climbing in Colorado this weekend. Good luck. J

Exactly.

I've done 4 night jumps. Did my first night jump somewhere between 200 and 300 jumps. Two of the four jumps were some of the most memorable jumps I've ever made. I jumped out at Skydive Dallas in December. The entire Dallas Metroplex was lit. Absolutely stunning. Another night jump was a completed 20 way. Really cool seeing all those glow sticks headed in. I was as ready as I ever was going to be when I made my jump. I have depth perception problems normally, so I borrowed a larger rig (just in case I misjudged my flare). I didn't, but I wanted that extra security blanket. My husband almost landed in a pond on the 20 way....yipes! J

The x-ray my ortho did 3 weeks ago clearly showed my torn tendons/ligaments. Not only was he able to show me where the majority of the damage to my ankle was this time, he was able to point out where I had previously damaged tendons/ligaments on the opposite side of the ankle.

Well not that I am experienced at the level of an Everest climber...but I'll add my two cents anyway. When you are climbing at the altitude of Everest, it takes everything you have to get from point a to b. It is not possible to rescue someone who is incapable of walking out him/herself. All of the people, Hillary included, who say...I wouldn't walk by...are not on the mountain. We can speculate all day as to what actually happened. But as in a skydiving incident, if you don't personally see what happened, you are left to figuring out cause. It is impossible in either circumstances to analyze motivation. If the climbers are on the way down when they saw the downed climber, it is likely they were running short on oxygen. I've no doubt they rendered the aid they could given the circumstances. Who knows, the downed climber may have told them to move on. Everest climbers accept a higher level of risk than average mountaineers, because they cannot be rescued under normal circumstances. There is a reason that there have been some 190 climbers die since the initial summit by Hillary. I don't fault the climbers on the mountain, they have an obligation to survive themselves.

Damn...now I really feel old Of course, nobody's as old as Shermier! Hopefully, I'll get some more air time between now and then as well. Just getting in the air was great. As I said...if we had fun, it was a great skydive. And as Spanky rolled in late Sat. afternoon, that would explain why I didn't see him. Alan and I left for the house at 5:00 pm. Sucks to have to work on Sunday.

I did not see him. But I could have missed him as I didn't have much down time.

Unfortunately, it was not successful. We planned a 12-way which built to 9. There was a great disparity in the experience level on the load, several of the jumpers had never been on anything bigger than an 8-way and most all of us were rusty. All said and done, we still had a good time and enjoyed the jump. I hope the younger jumpers look at it as a learning experience and that we have better luck next time. J

5 to 6 miles, and I usually can finish under an hour. But then, I'm getting old. I run with my 1-year old lab, who spends the entire run looking at me with this..."is this the best you can do?" look.

The 9-way Pops record has been topped many times at OSC. Just never officially. I'm in serious denial anyway. J

My first monthly salary check as a PFC in the Army in 1979 was $314. I thought I was rich. There is no question that the compensation offered is not nearly enough for what the men and women of our combined services provide.

Alan and I plan on being there...at least on Saturday. I would assume the usual suspects. They sent us a card in the mail a couple of weeks ago.

How about if you ended marrying the guy later on the line. True story. SSG Schira (my ex) SSG Smith (Smitty)

Take a deep breath. 9 weeks is still a baby. The rule of thumb is puppies can usually hold their water (or poop) 1 hour for every month they are old. A crate is a great idea for the pup to sleep in, but you'll want to keep her leashed in the house with you until she is well house trained. The crate at night gives you some respite and since most dogs won't mess their den, she'll wake you by crying when she wants to go out. Get some "Simple Solution" from your local pet store to get rid of the urine and poop smell if she has gone on the carpet (it also will discourage her from using the same place over and over). I agree with some of the others, you need to take puppy out every hour or so. When you do, tell your pup what you want her to do. We use the phrase, "get busy." But something similar will work. Praise when she goes. Its very important to remember, scolding only works if you catch her in the act. Dogs live very much in the moment. If she went potty ten minutes ago, it does you no good to scold for it, she won't connect the two. If you do catch her in the act, a firm no and touch to break her concentration should stop her and then you can take her outside and remind her with your phrase what you want her to do. Vigilance is your best defense. She's a baby and will have accidents. Fortunately, it doesn't last long. Our pure bred lab is one year old this month. He hasn't had an accident in the house since he was about 3 months old. He is well mannered and sleeps on his bed in our room (we transitioned him from his crate at 10 months). Every morning he fetches my paper:) I highly recommend you picking up Cesar Milan's Dog Whisperer DVD. His training methods work very well. Hang in there...this phase doesn't last long. J

Couple of years ago I had a moderate cold and was scheduled to teach the FJC to 20 or so students. I went ahead JMed the students as they were IADs and I wouldn't be going out over 3,500'. All but the last load were turn arounds when I decided to take the fast way down. BIG MISTAKE. One of my nasal sinus ruptered. I felt the pop in free fall. Very very painful and one of those can't be good for you feelings. Fortunately the only repercussion was two weeks later when I was riding to altitude and had to blow my nose...bloody nastiness. Rule of thumb, if you are unable to open your sinuses with a good decongestion, don't jump. It is foolish to risk permanent hearing loss for a hop and pop. J

I had a lot of trouble as a student and as a young skydiver. I spent my entire ride to altitude thinking all these really dire thoughts. It took a horseshoe mal at 82 jumps to really enable me to work it all out. After talking to other jumpers and reading about the malfunction, I figured if I could properly deal with it, I most likely could deal with any other malfunction. Just as an aside, you may want to look up a book by Arno Ilgner called the Rock Warrior's Way The book's primary function is to deal with working through fear when rock climbing. However, since I do both, I found the book very insightful. It explains why we fear as much as anything else. I highly recommend it to anyone working through fear in a high risk sport. J

Fat Tire Sunshine Both New Belgian Brews

Unfricking believable. Drove home to Oklahoma City from Mississippi today via Memphis. Miles and miles of I-40 medians and sides have fire damage. Coming into OKC the sun was actually obscured from all the smoke. There is a distinct bonfire smell in the air. Weather reports say no rain for at least two weeks.

My maternal grandmother always had either a "big" Thanksgiving or Christmas. My Mom was one of seven so when I say big...sometimes there was 50 people there. But sadly, my grandmother who I really thought would live forever passed away in February of 2004 My mom has been gone since 92 and my dad who lives 12 miles from me hasn't been to my house in a year (he's always been that way). Sadly, I can already see those connections fading, not just for the holidays. My job requires holiday work so....I was tagged for Christmas this year. Not so bad now that the kids are grown and have their own families/relationships. My sister's B-day is X-mas eve, she and I always get together. So...I guess my answer of other is correct. J