MWGemini

From the pictures, it looks as though that can be done with any toggle that has a stow on both the top and bottom of the toggle, or am I mistaken? Thanks, Mike

No, Brian is SKYBLADE. Weren't you there for that, or was it just Eric and I? Eric- congrats on the camera and the wingsuit jump. Be careful. And get video . Mike

Eric- thanks for sending me that pic. It's pretty much the only one I have of myself. Brian- I'd be happy to jump with you, anytime. Marion- So I'm officially "Floaty Mike" now? I guess thats better than Mike #2, but not as cool as SKYBLADE . Dawn & John- Thanks again for fixing my helmet for me. It feels a lot more secure now, and I'm no longer worried about it coming off in freefall and impaling a tandem or something. Hispas- did you get video of the tube exit and/or the 7 way that only formed into a 5 way? If so, I'd love ot see them. I'm optimistically hoping to be able to come out Friday morning and jump before I head down to Deland, but I'm not sure how long it will take me to drive, so I may not be able to. We'll see. With a little bit of luck, I MIGHT be able to have 40 jumps by the end of the weekend . Mike

Another fun weekend of jumping and I AM SORE! I'm not sure if it was trying to arch so hard, or the sabre openings (which didn't feel bad at all, actually) that did it, but my back is killing me. Managed to get in 3 great jumps, including my Hispas initiation jump (?) and my first (kinda) freefly (kinda) jump with Marion. I won't be there next weekend (canopy course in Deland- still have room for carpool), but I may be able to get in a jump Friday before I leave and/or Sunday after I get back. We'll see. Thanks to everyone who jumped with me this weekend, especially to Michael for letting me borrow his 15lb weight belt.

I tried to get off early enough to come out and jump today, but to no avail. I'll be jumping as much as I can this weekend though, in preparation for my first (beer?) Scott Miller course next weekend in Deland. Still looking for anyone who wants to carpool with me. I'll be leaving sometime Friday morning-afternoon and coming back Sunday. Hoping to stop by the Mirage factory while I'm down there also. Karen- good to hear that you will be back this weekend. How is Stuart doing? Mike

Happy Birthday, Ellis! How does it feel to be old? Mike

What about freaks to be? P.S. Any luck with the helmet yet (no rush)? Thanks, Mike

I handle my fear in dangerous situations by being prepared for it. I am always playing the "what if" game. What if my pilot chute comes out during exit? What if I'm injured during freefall? What if that canopy cuts me off while I am on final? What if that last cam pulls out when I fall? What if the rapp-master signals he is cutting rope and I'm still 100 feet up? By thinking of a million different things that can go wrong, and carefully analyzing the problem, as well as various potential solutions, I am able to make pre-determined responses to emergencies. It is the knowledge that subconsciously, I KNOW what the right thing to do is, that helps me continue on in spite of fear. It isn't really controlling fear, nor even controlling the factors that fear stems from. Rather, it is making a perfectly rational fear seem irrational, so that I can disregard it and concentrate on the task at hand, and not my fear. I use fear and adrenaline to enhance my performance. There have been several times in my life that I KNEW I was going to die, and the clarity of my mental state caused by that realization is indescribable. The adrenaline, combined with my "what if" game, has saved my life. Fear is a vital component to survival. Mike

Danny Glover, jigsaw killer, two guys chained to pipes in bathroom, macabre mystery. Same one? Mike

As far as I'm concerned, life is too short to not enjoy every second of it. If you aren't happy, you're doing something wrong. My fiancee knows that I'm going to continue to jump, climb, and generally put myself in dangerous situations where I may come out scarred, maimed, or dead. She also knows that if she asks me to stop, we're through. I love her tremendously, more than I know how to say, but I will not Give up things that make me happy just to make her happy. If it came to that, I'll find someone who accepts what I do without question. Luckily, she does, and we'll be getting married skydiving January 1st in Deland. Mike

I have to say that SAW was much better than I feared. Even my fiancee liked it. The acting was a little too forced at times, but the overall plot and story was great. Definitely reminded me of Seven and Cube. Worth seeing in theatres, maybe even worth seeing twice to really catch all the details. I'll definitely rent it when it comes to DVD. Mike

The thing that concerned me from your post is this: If you look at some of my previous posts, I am as guilty of wanting to downsize as anyone, but the most important thing to remember is that WHATEVER canopy you fly, BE SURE you can fly it safely. Personally, I've made up my mind on what container and canopies I want, but I am not yet skilled enough to fly them, so I'm renting gear until I get to a point where I can safely fly what I intend to buy. You should do the same. Talk to your instructors, get canopy coaching, perhaps even go on a few CRW passes (open high and practice canopy control) to learn your canopy. Most people recommend AGAINST buying gear while on student status, or immediately afterwards, because you will learn a lot in a short period of time and quickly outgrow your "student sized" gear. Bottom line: talk to your instructors, and don't fly it or buy it if you can't do it safely. Mike

Because it's not the first time she has ruined expensive electronics, and every other woman I've ever known has been pretty much clueless when it comes to tech stuff. I also figured it would get more clicks, and thus, more replies. Planning on re-assembling it tomorrow (which will take forever- damn laptops) and hoping for the best. I believe the chip in question controls the lan ports, so maybe I can get it working, just without wired network capability. She can still do wireless though (assuming I can get it to POST and work normally afterwards). Mike

I KNEW I heard something. I mean.... yeah, seen that before. You'd be surprised how quiet some of those birds can be. Wasn't that filmed at JRTC somewhere in one of the maneuver areas? Mike

Dawn- no, I'm not sick of you guys. I'm sure it will take at least another weekend or two for that Seriously, you guys are all really cool, I'm just usually not very talkative. Marion- being that I'm too poor to afford a new one, and too new to fly like you guys do, stay away from my suit . Of course, I guess I COULD take my fiancee up on her offer to make me one, but I'm not too sure how that would turn out.... Eric- I'd like to see that video also, as well as the bridge day footage if/when you have it. Mike

Tried taking several pictures, but because the chip is relatively small (1/4 inch square or so), I cannot get it to focus well enough to see the corrosion, sorry. Mike

Well, I tried the distilled water and got almost all the corrosion off, with the exception of a half dozen or so connectors on the one larger chip. So I tried the isopropyl and was able to get a little bit more off (and then cleaned it with distilled thoroughly) and it is now drying, but there is still some corrosion on some of the connection. Should I try to rebuild it tomorrow as it is, or is there something else I can do to clean it? Thanks, Mike

Marion- sorry to hear about your car, I hope the insurance covers it and you are able to get it fixed soon. Also, stay away from my suit! Joe- hope you are feeling well. Being sick sucks. Is the DZ doing anything special for Halloween this weekend? Mike

That would be nice, if it works as you say and I can get some. Do they have any at the DZ I could use this weekend? To the person who suggested the power washer- water is what CAUSED the problem. I don't want to corrode the ENTIRE motherboard . Thanks, Mike

Hrm- toothbrush. Hadn't thought of that. I'll have to find a small one. I think I still have a few that are designed for cleaning small parts of rifles laying around somewhere. Thanks for the tip. Mike

Already tried, the corrosion is dried to the board and will require cleaning. Smiles- you are an exception to the rule, then. My fiancee is not Mike

She says that it was on during the night, and she used it that morning, everything was working fine. She turned it off, took it to work, and it would not turn back on. I did not see any signs of electrical burns or damage, just the corrosion, and it doesn't appear to be that bad (some of it wiped off with my finger by barely touching it). The corrosion is not so much on the wafer, but on a chip (that I cannot figure out what it controls by close inspection of the board layout), it's connections to the wafer itself, and some neighboring transistors (I think- they are very small, less than 1/8th an inch wide). Due to the tight confines on the corroded area, I can't really get a cloth in there, hence my q-tip idea, but I'm afraid the cotton may snag and cause more problems than it is worth. Is there something better that I can use? She'll be bringing some distilled/de-ionized water home from work tomorrow, so I'll be working on it tomorrow night. Thanks, Mike

Last week my fiancee tells me that her laptop "stopped working" and that she took it to the tech people at her lab to have it looked at. To make a long story short, she left a glass of water next to it that the cats knocked over sometime during the night. She got it back today with a really half assed synopsis of the problem from them, basically "it won't turn on". No shit, that's why she took it to you in the first place! Idiots. So, after doing some power checks, I decide to take it apart (HP uses a LOT of screws on their laptops- took me 30 minutes just unscrewing them all) and was able to find a small section of the motherboard that is slightly corroded (whitish stuff on the board, you know what I mean if you've seen it). Best idea I can come up with is to try to clean it with some distilled water and a q-tip, but I was wondering if anyone here has had a similar problem and has any suggestions on how to fix it. If nothing else, her dead laptop could serve as the basis my next project- making a wireless dumb terminal for my KVM. Thanks, Mike

I was told of a prank someone pulled with a spare pilot chute and bridle. Two people involved, the "prankee" in the center on a CASA exit, all facing the line of flight. Person on the right holds up the pilot chute, person on the left holds the bridle, so it looks like it's attached to the center person's rig. As the person in the center realizes what it is, the person on the right smiles big and chucks it out the door. Apparently the people who did this got it on video and the guy in the center just crouched and braced for the pull, but it never came. Sounded hilarious when told to me, I'd love to see the video. Mike

My fiancee and I did our first two jumps together (I bought her first jump for valentine's day- she bought me a tattoo) but she has not jumped since then (over a year and a half ago). She has decided to go along with the skydiving wedding idea, however, so that will be her 3rd if she doesn't do any more before then. I'm trying to get her hooked, but it's not easy. Mike Edit: grammatical error