hajnalka

Good thing you have multiple personalities, huh? (just remember the scary man in the scary picture and you'll be fine .....) Or - hell, just look at my rigging tools .

Since Darin is now a free man, he needs a new nickname desperately. Anyone have suggestions? Someone came up with "D-lo" and I tried this out on him, but it only seemed to (inexplicably) hurt his feelings ... . You guys probably already know this but Darin has postponed the 9/11 jump for a few weekends. The Scott Miller class tied some people up, and he wants Randy and Refro involved again as well. For those of you who haven't seen the video from last year that was edited by Floaty, .... you really need to see it. Very touching and emotional. Darin - let us know when you plan to do this. We should get Garret involved as well. Marion, Whit and Tess: let's do dinner soon. (pssst - Marion - have you bought it yet???) Bolas - ROCK! - just be respectful and behave, and you should be OK . Evil grin, -Me.

Lynn - Well, at least running the Gauley was a lot safer than: jumping a REFLEX. (Sorry; couldn't resist!!!) You know we love both you and your rig, girlfriend. Both of you are welcome here anytime! Would love to see more of you - next time you're in town, stop in the loft and monopolize my time, please

Speedy, you are a marvel ... truly. HA! (I can tell you what to eat .) About the whitewater stuff above: Dave Brown (pilot and TDM instructor in case you don't know which "Dave" I mean) is organizing a trip to raft the Gauley this fall. Will be ~2-4 days, when the dam is released and the river is high. Camping, rafting, drinking, great cookouts and great times. Meant mainly for staff, but anyone is welcome. He's talking about leaving a sign-up sheet outside the loft, but if anyone's interested, lemme know. Dave's done the Gauley 6 times. This is THE BEST, most extreme whitewater experience available in the East. Semi-smart Marine: congratulations on the end of your duty!!! Miss you, Darin. I'm looking forward to our 2nd annual 9/11 memorial ... thanks for keeping this thing alive. Best, D

Lyman decided today he is going to the tunnel - yay!! Want to remind and/or let you know that Sunday is Kendall's last day working at CSS (or maybe Monday, actually) but my point is she wants to be really, really hungover on Sunday - what're they gonna do, fire her? So let's see what we can do to help her out.

Thanks, Mom

Listen up - Jack gets out of the hospital tomorrow

Joe - MISS YOU! Will see you at the library on Weds, for sure, with a fun new friend! Love, D (Edited because I forgot how to spell "friend.")

PM sent. Hey everyone - this is precious: Lyman got TOTALLY CLOCKED IN THE FACE, BAD!! by a level 7 student on Wednesday. He's OK - obviously. He does have a huge gash in his cheek, which has more or less stopped bleeding, unless he's at altitude, when it still oozes. (Of course he needed stitches - but would he go to the hospital? NOOOO.)And he has a huge left-eye shiner. So, everyone make sure and give him a full ration of shit this weekend . It really looks worse than it is ... I think! I'm really not cruel and evil. I'm impressed with how tough Lyman is - I always have been. But then, we have a tough household. Anyone who remembers my broken cheekbone and shiner from Bones's rig a few years ago may understand . Best, Dawn

Darin - Let me know what you want/need for release bags. They are pretty labor intensive . So the sooner I know, the better - thanks. Jack walked over 20 feet with a walker yesterday. --- yeah!! His recovery has been amazing - he is so strong, and is very determined to walk out of that hospital on his own two legs. K&M - we were talking yesterday about how great you are. You 2 rock. Best, D

Melissa et al. - Yes, Jack changed rooms again, sorry for my delayed response. He's in the rehab hosp, which is the 2-story wing that's right across from visitor parking - to the right of the main visitor's entrance. He's in room 2D22 (second floor D wing, room 22.) It's a huge relief that now he's with docs, nurses and physical therapists who deal with spinal cord injuries every day, and know just what a T12 burst fracture is all about. The staff is wonderful. In fact, everyone is happy + amazed at Jack's level of movement, and what he can do for himself, given his injury and surgery. They are very positive about his recovery. Jack definitely has his work cut out for him and his days aren't exactly fun, but he has a great attitude. He has therapy sessions every day until about 3 pm. He can have visitors anytime, but it's best to go after his sessions are done. I'd really like to encourage everyone/anyone who cares about Jack to visit him this week. He's been through a lot and it would mean a lot to him to see some of you guys. I know our lives are all really busy, but just a quick 5-10 min. stop to say "hi" on your way to or from the DZ, etc. would ROCK - thank you! As ever, call or PM if you want more specific news. Best, D

Congratulations, Fokkers!!

Jack's new room #: 6C16 Translated - 6th floor, C wing, room 16 at Wake med. -D Edited to add: Thanks, Whitney. You absolutely ROCK, grrrrl!

Jack update - He's doing better and will wecome visitors now! (Yeah, now that it's the weekend plus everyone's going to Raeford ... I told him his timing sucks.) He got a few tubes taken out and will possibly be moving out of intensive care tomorrow; going to a regular med/surg floor. His vitals are a lot more stable, although his blood counts are down again and they were talking about more transfusions as I was leaving today (he lost a lot of blood during surgery, and has been receiving a lot of blood products.) He's using less morphine and is more "with it." He got a brace, and could sit up with the brace on, but he can't actually wear it until he gets his chest tube taken out, which will possibly be tomorrow as well. His neuro status is unchanged. He can move his right foot but not his left. His doctor explained today that he probably still has quite a bit of swelling in his spinal cord, so it's a bit of a waiting game. That's about it. As ever, PM or call if anyone has any questions. (Right now I know a lot more than Jack does, which is one reason it's been important to me to be there with him as much as possible.) Good luck tomorrow, all you teams! -D

That was a great picture! Marion: I miss you too. The stitch picker thing was a joke ... I think I've observed/helped David with enough repacks that I can consider him my "rigger bitch," don't you? Damn, another bitch. I gots me a STABLE! Jack is somewhat better today but he still doesn't want visitors (his nurses don't want him to have them, either.) He's a lot more "sick" than he was before surgery and he needs rest and calm. Probably people could visit tomorrow, when he might get his NG and chest tubes out. He's still kind of out of it because of all the drugs, etc. Just keep in mind that he's been through a lot and he's in SICU for good reason. If you do visit and he's sleeping, please please just let him sleep. Thank you!! Love ya, Tess. We're still on for tomorrow night at Guido's. Just maybe give me a call from Raeford and lemme know your ETA so I know when to leave the hospital - thanks. -D

Oh my god, David. You don't miss us, do you??? If you do manage to make it back (good luck with that - seriously,) bring a sweater. The heat index is only supposed to get up to about 104 tomorrow .... wouldn't want you to catch a chill . Oh, and along with your cold grilled beer bear or whatever, please pick up a stitch-picker at some WalMart along the way - thanks in advance. Love ya, D

I just got back from the hospital. Jack has had his surgery and is back in SICU. Keep in mind this was very MAJOR surgery. They went in through his chest to get to his back, so now he has a chest tube to keep his lung reinflated/help with drainage, arterial line, etc. and he's being aggressively monitored as far as hemodynamics, labs, blood replacement, fluid levels and pressures, etc. So far he's only letting me and Frank (his friend from Atlanta, who is awesome) in to see him. If you are planning on visiting Thurs, you might want to call the SICU nurses station or the ICU waiting rooms to see if he's accepting visitors so you don't waste a trip, if not. Possibly he'll feel better and will welcome everyone, I just don't know. I'll be there but can't talk on my cell in the unit - it "interferes with their monitors" . (Oh yeah - did I mention that no one is allowed to bring cell phones into the loft? They "interfere with all of the Cypreses" ) At one point tonight Jack told me: "Don't tell anyone anything." So I'll leave it at that, except to say that we did talk with his neurosurgeon, who is satisfied with how the surgery went. I'll try to give a fuller update when Jack allows. Thanks to everyone for their well-wishes, and THANKS Emily for keeping me company - you rock! (Sorry you couldn't see him.) -Dawn

Jack's doing a lot better today. His pain is under control, and he can finally eat (they weren't letting him eat or drink since they kept thinking surgery was imminent, he was having MRIs and CT scans, etc.) He's in SICU at WakeMed. He's having surgery tomorrow (Wed) a.m. to remove his fractured vertebra, decompress his spinal cord and rebuild that area of his spine. We'll know more about his road to recovery after the surgery. I'll be there tomorrow from about 2 p.m. on, and will have my cell if anyone wants to call for an update. PM if you want my #. Oh yeah - if you do go to visit him today, don't touch his legs!! He's having some neurogenic pain in his thighs/calves. -D

If everything works out right, the stars bode well, it stops raining, and the cusp of Jupiter is aligned with the House of Libra, I just might be ... jumping my new Safire 2! (Hey! Did you guys hear that Icarus is coming out with --- OK, never mind.) Queen: I have some grills, and I have meat . Let me know what I can do to help make this 4th boogie rock. My main reason for posting, though: WHO won the ping-pong tourney Sunday?? I'm still amazed that I beat Edina in round 1. Not surprised that I was absolutely slayed by Eric and Peter in rounds 2. Zoli was kicking ass, but Todd seemed to be giving him some serious compo. Sorry I had to leave before it was over. SO who won - who's going to lord it over me when I come into work Wed or Thu? Since none of the Hungarians post on here, I'm counting on you, Eric. We have some serious talent around here - it's fun to watch. (Dave - I'll meet you in the loser's bracket. We just need some table time, man. Let's play every chance we get.) Best, D

Kevin - those Fokkers have that ultimately fun, yet-kinda-serious-in a way-thing going on. We're all very proud of them

Notice to all you techies: We now have T1 wireless Internet connection at CSS. (I have NO idea what this means, just that everyone is really excited and the borrowed laptop I used today was way way much faster, Internet-wise. Cool, since the old wireless we had was about as fast as the redneck dial-up I have at home ) Thought I'd share the news. Also - Any ping-pong aficionados out there? Come see me or Zoli next time you're out

You boys seriously need to stop this and "play nice." (Justin, let me clue you in here. Shaved legs on a guy can be EXTREMELY sexy .) Emily - your idea about Rob is one of the best ideas to come out of CSS in a LOOOONG time. Many people don't realize that he may spend 16 hours a day at CSS, but he only gets paid for 8. Usually when he is looking for cutaway canopies, and freebags and res. PCs, he's doing this on his own time. Whenever we have an event/band/etc, he HAS to stay until he can lock down all of the buildings. Many times that's at 3 a.m. and he's been up since 6 a.m. and REALLY wants to get home to his cats. He has to keep both male and female shower rooms in the best shape that he can keep them - I think he does an amazing job. His ability to find off-jumpers and cutaway canopies is - to me - absolutely uncanny. Sometimes I wonder what would happen to CSS if Rob wasn't there. Sometimes I wonder - like Emily - if people truly appreciate his talents at finding you all when you land off, or finding your cutaway mains and your reserve freebags/PCs. Count me in, not only for $ but for logistics and planning. He SO deserves this, more than I could ever say. Em, I'll get w/you tomorrow. Are we gonna get him a date?? Happy day, Jon. I'm glad you've been here - you've been a real asset. Sorry our goals diverged tonight - I LOVE having you around - have a GREAT BD!! (Watch out for the Jack. I REALLY don't want to pack student rigs in the a.m. ... but I will if you need that. Much love to everyone. Esp. to the friends who've helped my out during this difficult week: Marion, David, Eric and Nick. You guys absolutely rock. Don't go too far away . -D

Thanks for the update! It was great to see some awesome, welcome faces when I walked in towards the end of the day, after being gone for awhile. In order: Greg Erwin, Matt & Allison Norris, and J Porter! The best part was your hug, Eric. No, I'm not turning into a gossip columnist - it's just too cool to see Matt & Allison back. Might even have to break out the hoola-hoops. I AM looking forward to a great weekend here though - on several levels. Everyone should come & jump the CASA on Sat. Sun's looking pretty iffy. Tess - will you REALLY be out??? I'll have to give you the story of my "glamour shot" that you saw at Guido's ... which was probably taken before you were born . -D p.s. "SINE PARI" - miss you, G

Just wanted to give a huge public "THANK YOU" to Marion, Nick and especially Floaty Mike (aka "Loft Bitch") for your help last weekend, allowing me to get out of there on Sunday to score some much-needed steroids. And to everyone who's helping out in the store this weekend. You guys rock! Also thanks to Guido, for taking care of me like no one else can. Hey, you didn't expect me to suffer all alone, did you?? -Dawn

Oh My God, Kevin ... what can I say? Guido's a grown man, and I'm sure your ass is very cute (not that I've ever seen it or clicked on an attatchment .... really I swear! "What happened in Dublin STAYS in Dublin.") Stop it, you 2. Or, just throw down and work things out and we can all be friends