ChadFlorian

Thanks for the feedback everyone.... I'm headed out tomorrow hopefully... I think I just need to make sure I get out more often. Even if it's just to do solo's. Blue skies! -Chad

I'd like some opinions on something... Due to an essentially busy life, I have not been able to make it out to the dropzone as frequently as I would like. I find myself going months at a time without a jump lately... I feel that maybe this sport is too dangerous to be doing so infrequently. I've only been jumping a short time and I feel completely out of touch with the sport compared to when I started. I think maybe I've also lost a bit of the excitement I used to have for jumping which is why maybe I don't make the effort to get out as much... So... How frequently should one be jumping to really be safe? I know for B license holders, it's 90 days, yada yada, but I'm curious if there are other jumpers out there who don't get out regularly but still continue jumping... Thoughts?

Okay!!! Finally jumped yesterday!!! Went very well! I ended up not upsizing since I was already upsizing by the 25 pounds I lost since October... Was 200, now 175... Did 2 jumps. Both with very nice landings! Good to be back!

It might be the following Saturday... Forgot I have the kids 2 weekends in a row and promised I would take them to the state fair... Oh well... One more week...

Well, after breaking my ankle, it was time to just fess up... I screwed up and had to come clean about it.

Yea... That's basically what I figured... Just go do it!

Okay... getting ready to make my first jump since Oct 22 when I broke my ankle on landing. Obviously I'm a bit nervous about that first jump. Here's what happened on Oct22. I've had a bit of time to think it over and as much as I'd like to have something to blame, I've had to admit to myself it was completely MY fault... Some background on the day is required to set this up. I used to use my remote work days to work from the DZ and make a few jumps in lieu of coffee breaks. The DZ has wi-fi so it's just as good as working from home. I had done this probably a dozen times. Well, this day the network was down. So, I was about to pack it in and drive home to work from there. But at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to make up a story for work about my DSL being down at home and use a vacaion day. I couldn't get ahold of my boss, so I relayed through a coworker. So... it's a beautiful day in sunny Florida and now I have all day to jump! But in the back of my mind, I'm worried about pissing my boss off taking a last minue unapproved vacation day. In retrospect, this took me totally off my game and my head wasn't in the jump 100%. Perfect day. Light winds. Normal uneventful approach for landing. But I wasn't quite all there and I think I was looking down at the ground and before I knew it, I was flaring too late. I flared in time to plane out low but instead of putting my legs out in front for a but slide or PLF'ing, I had my knees up to my chest and feet under / slightly in front. My right foot contacted the ground first and popped right under me, breaking my fibula. Like a dumb ass, my first thought was, "Maybe it's just sprained. Who saw that shitty landing? Can I limp back without anyone noticing?" Ha. I tried to stand up and it just made this nice crunching sound as my disconnected foot settled back into the joint as I put weight on it. Anyway... a freind took me to the hospital (thanks, Lori!) and a plate, 5 screws and 4 months later... My ankle feels good. I'm running on it with no pain or plroblems, and I can jump off a chair and PLF. So I droped off my rig for a reserve repack and gonna go bak up in about a week. Yes, I did tell my surgeon... When I dropped off my rig, I watched some landings. I'm quite nervous about that first landing. Even though I feel I know what I did wrong (I should NOT have been jumping with other things on my mind!) And I will separate work and play from now on... One good thing this has done is slow me down. Before, I wanted to jump as many times as possible as fast as possible. Now, I just want to take my time and enjoy each jump. I also now have absolutely no desire to downsize. I'm currently at 1.1 on a Sabre2-170. And I'll be upsizing to a 190 for a while till I get my feet wet again... So... any suggestions about how to overcome those nerves about that first jump? TIA Blue Skies! -Chad

The "Firm" in my case is Primax and it came in an envelope from my insurance company.

Yeah... I just figure no matter how vague I am, the location of the injury (z-hills) will give it away. I'm sure the DZ has it's ass covered with the million waivers I signed, but I'll be sure to give TK a heads up anyway.

Mine was $20K for my 14 hour visit (surgery).. That didn't even include the surgeon, doctors, xrays, etc! INcredible! Does your insurance company know you did it skydiving? I've been purposefully vague when saying what happened in case there was any issue. I just say "I fell". I don't say that I fell 13,000 feet! But now I just got a form to fill out from a firm representing the insurance company wanting to know how, where, etc... So guess I'll have to divulge the details...

While I have nothing of value to add to this dicussion yet (I'll be testing my titanium ankle repair in Jan)... How the hell does one fall asleep riding a bike?

I told my therapist that I'm walking on it. While she wasn't real happy about it, she didn't strongly object. I only walk short distances, around the apt, etc. Most of the time I'm on my crutches. BTW, if you are on crutches for a while, you should check out www.crutchcozies.com. They make it a bit more comfy. Skydivers With A-something Titanium SWAT... Just gotta figure out the A-something...

Now accepting auditioners... I got plenty of tape!

I also just recently joined the skydiving hardware club. Fractured my fibula on Oct 22 and Z-Hills. I got a plate and 5 screws. I can feel the screw head that's on the ankle. Kinda weird. I'm walking in a boot now even though I'm supposed to be non weight bearing. Actually feels great. I have no pain at all. The therapy tweaks it a bit but not too bad. Surgeon did a great job! I hope to be jumping in Jan! But man! It sure has been a long couple of months!

In know a thing or two about bad weather... Try 4 hurricanes! Just hang in there. The good weather will come.