bill2

Try laughing and smiling on the way down - you'll be amazed what it will do. I took 13 dives to pass AFF, but once I started laughing or grinning I was much more relaxed.

Thanks to the three of you for your replies.

Motorcycling - BMW R1150 GS Shooting - competitive pistol and rifle shooting snow skiing hiking reading

Due to a back injury (not skydiving related) and then getting laid off this year, I have not jumped since May of 2002. I have 31 jumps and only had two things left to get my A license: catch the instructor after jumping out after him and the hop 'n pop. I finally got a job, but the med insurance won't kick in until Dec 1, and by that time skiing will have started so I probably will start jumping again March or so next year. I'm wondering what I will have to do to get current, and what is the best way to go about it. Will I have to retake part of AFF, start over, what? Would one of those tunnel camps help, or is that too advanced? I live in the bay area CA, and think the nearest tunnel camp is in Perris. How about skydive university? Would it be a good thing to just go down to a big jump center like Perris or Elsenore and stay there for several days and try to jump as much as possible? My home DZ is Byron, but when the wind kicks up the students are grounded. I imagine it would be easier to do the hop 'n pop at a big center where there are more studens doing that all the time? Am I right? I may go out to the Byron Boogie just to watch. I haven't been out there since I last jumped, since it would make me crazy to to just stand there and watch other people having fun. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

I wouldn't jump without medical insurance, even something simple like a broken ankle could cost you thousands. I was laid off from my job in Feb of this year, and finally got a job in August. Unfortunately, medical insurance coverage won't start until December 1 of this year. So I won't be jumping or taking motorcycle trips anywhere until it does. I checked into COBRA, but it would have cost my wife and me $687/month! Then I applied for Blue Cross and Kaiser (here in No CAL) and got rejected by both because of back pain last year, even though I wasn't hurting anymore. Both of them would have cost, again for me and my wife, about $580/mo for Blue Cross and $387/mo for Kaiser. Medical insurance by yourself is incredibly expensive, and in many cases hard to get. Good luck.

What the hell is a psycho pack? Does it hurt? Is it easier than the regular packing routine (over the shoulder, etc.). I'm asking because I have the worst time packing, or trying to pack.

Below is a speech by a federal judge who was in Iraq just a short time ago. It's worth reading. I personally think we did a good thing by going into Iraq. Much of the opposition to us in the UN came from people who had economic (France & Russia)and military reasons (Russia)for doing so, not moral. The post below is from http://globalspecops.com/view.html __________________________________ PREFACE Last Wednesday night, I attended a lecture by Judge Don Walters, a federal judge from Shreveport, LA., who was asked to serve as part of a 12 man team in Iraq to evaluate their justice system. It was most interesting, and afterwards, I asked if he had a book or a recording of any of his lectures. Since he did not, he was generous enough to give me his notes from the evening. For those of you interested, I will give you a slightly abridged version of his lecture which I found difficult to cut down due to its wealth of information. THE LECTURE: I really am not into public speaking as I am sure you are about to find out. But my adventures in Iraq taught me something that I would very much like to share with you. I have been fortunate over the past 5 or 6 years to get to such exotic places as Bosnia, Jakarta, Indonesia, and Morocco. But, Iraq is my swan song. First, I am too old for such adventures, and second, Charlotte (my wife) won't let me. In mid-April, I got a call from DoJ asking if I would be willing to go to Iraq for up to 3 months to evaluate the justice system and make recommendations. When I went home, Charlotte said without a pause, "how could I possibly tell you, no?" Let me begin with a disclaimer, I was in Iraq for fewer than 40 days, I was in Baghdad for a little over three weeks and in the three provinces of the far south for two weeks. I am limited in what I saw and heard. Needless to say, the opinions are my own. I want to make it clear that, initially, I vehemently opposed the war. The team of 12 that went to Iraq was to access the judiciary and to make recommendations for the future. We were sent too soon and without sufficient planning and forethought. Accordingly we were forced to play our part by ear. Ultimately, we were successful. No thanks to the civil authorities in Washington or Iraq. We were divided into 4 teams. We were the southern team: Mike Farhang, an AUSA from Los Angeles, Harvard Summa Undergraduate, Harvard Law Review, Linguist, 5 languages including Arabic; Rich Coughlin, Federal Public Defender from New Jersey, who abandoned his wife and 23 month old daughter to volunteer for this; and me. We were accompanied by an interpreter and protected by what I called our "minders," four Iraqis well-armed with 9mm hand guns and AK47's. During the first two weeks, we talked to a few hundred Iraqis and interviewed about 60 judges. Our help came from our Danish colleagues and the First Armored Division (UK), not from the civil authorities - OPCA, Office of the Provisional Coalition Authority, (formerly ORHA), Ambassador Brenner's group. Despite my initial opposition to the war, I am now convinced, whether we find any weapons of mass destruction or prove Saddam sheltered and financed terrorists, absolutely, we should have overthrown the Baathists, indeed, we should have done it sooner. What changed my mind? When we left mid June, 57 mass graves had been found, one with the bodies of 1200 children. There have been credible reports of murder, brutality and torture of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Iraqi citizens. There is poverty on a monumental scale and fear on a larger one. That fear is still palpable. I have seen the machines and places of torture. I will tell you one story told to me by the Chief of Pediatrics at the Medical College in Basra. It was one of the most shocking to me, but I heard worse. One of Saddam's security agents was sent to question a Shiite in his home. The interrogation took place in the living room in the presence of the man's wife, who held their three month old child. A question was asked and the thug did not like the answer; he asked it again, same answer. He grabbed the baby from its mother and plucked its eye out. And then repeated his question. Worse things happened with the knowledge, indeed with the participation, of Saddam, his family and the Baathist regime. Thousands suffered while we were messing about with France and Russia and Germany and the UN. Every one of them knew what was going on there, but France and the UN were making millions administering the food for oil program. We cannot, I know, remake the world, nor do I believe we should. We cannot stamp out evil, I know. But this time we were morally right and our economic and strategic interests were involved. I submit that just because we can't do everything doesn't mean that we should do nothing. We must have the moral courage to see this through, to do whatever it takes to secure responsible government for the Iraqi people. Having decided to topple Saddam, we cannot abandon those who trust us. I fear we will quit as the horrors of war come into our living rooms. Look at the stories you are getting from the media today. The steady drip, drip, drip of bad news may destroy our will to fulfill the obligations we have assumed. WE ARE NOT GETTING THE WHOLE TRUTH FROM THE NEWS MEDIA. The news you watch, listen to and read is highly selective. Good news doesn't sell. 90% of the damage you see on tv was caused by Iraqis, not by US. All the damage you see to schools, hospitals, power generation facilities, refineries, pipelines and water supplies, as well as shops, museums, and semi-public buildings (like hotels) was caused either by the Iraqi army in its death throes or Iraqi civilians looting and rioting. The day after the war was over, there was nearly 0 power being generated in Iraq. 45 days later, 1/3 of the total national potential of 8000 MW is up and running. Downed power lines are being repaired and were about 70% complete when I left. There is water purification where little or none existed before...this time to everyone. Oil is 95% of the Iraqi GNP. In order for Iraq to survive, it must sell oil. All the damage to the oil fields was done by the Iraqi army or looters. The 14 story office building of the Southern Iraq Oil Company in Basra was torched by Baathist, destroying all of the books, records and computers of the company. Today, the refinery at Bayji is at 75% of capacity. The crude pipeline between Kirkuk and Bayji has been repaired, though the Baathist keep trying to disrupt it. If we are doing all this for the people, why are they shooting us? The general population isn't. By my sample, 90% are glad we came and the majority doesn't want us to leave for some time to come, but there are still plenty of bad guys, the Baathists who lived well under Saddam. The thugs of the old regime still hope to return to power, and there are plenty of them, mostly located in Sunni areas. Then too, Saddam, in the Ramadan amnesty, let every murderer, butcher, rapist and violent criminal loose on his own people. There are interests, including organized crime, with a desire for anarchy and profit. There are disruptive forces from Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria. We saw poverty on a scale that I have never witnessed except in pictures of Haiti. I saw one little girl: she was slender, very pretty, about 5 or 6 years old, in a tattered dress with a broad red hem, part of which was torn and dragging in the dirt. She would touch her heart and make hungry gestures. She was duplicated a thousand times during the journey. The poverty in Iraq is a sharp contrast to the lives of Saddam and his sons. Saddam alone, not counting Ouday and Qusay and the leading Baathists, had 43 palaces. We are using several for civilian government. The one where OPCA is located is the main republican palace occupying over 2000 acres. It is a monument to narcissism, four 25 foot tall heads of Saddam decorate the front of the palace, and his portraits and statues are everywhere. We went to a second palace by the airport. It is surrounded by a lake which was created by diverting the Euphrates water which limited agricultural irrigation downstream. His palace in Basra was used by him only once I am told. Basra functions fairly well except for the power. There are 6 lines into the city, but it does not have a standard power grid. Saddam used power and other essentials as a method of punishing a city of 3 million! He would cut power for days to punish them. When I tell you the temperatures there, you will understand how bad that was. I am told that in high summer, it will hit 155 degrees, even 160! He has made no investments in this area which is overwhelmingly Shiite. He has few friends there. Consequently, it is easier for the Brits to govern, unlike Baghdad. And they are doing a good job of it.They are doing it at the moment by using pre- war personnel, perhaps contrary to Brenner's de-Baathification order. The problem with Brenner's policy is that it removes almost all of the people who ran the country. The Brits have been pragmatic: they have largely left the judges and police in place and are removing them as they see the need and they are able to train and replace the bad ones. That was our problem in Haiti, we trained a police force but did not put the judiciary in place so that the jails just filled up and then overcrowding forced criminals out. And the Haitian police have largely quit. (Ouday had a solution to overcrowding, when he received a complaint of overcrowding, he went to the prison and personally shot every 3rd prisoner.) We want to keep Iraq a secular state, and that will present some difficulties as there is no real concept of separation of church and state in Islam. Attaturk was a true revolutionary where this was concerned. The tribal and sahria (religious) courts are functioning, and if we don't get a move on, they will replace the civil and criminal courts. I find it difficult to explain how differently they think. I remember telling Mike, "I don't think we are on the same page with this fellow." Mike said, "Don, I am not sure we are in the same library." For a large percentage of the Iraqi people, and they are most adamant, family and tribe are everything, religion and state are one and the same. That they don't understand us is our biggest problem in the middle east. They perceive our way of life as a threat to theirs,...and it is. They fear the modern world is about to run over them, destroying family life as they know it, educating and freeing their women, forbidding honor killing...coca colas, jeans, lack of parental respect and respect for the old ways and religion. And to defend their way of life and their religion, they will die with the same fervor with which the Christians marched to the lions. In their fear of western life, some will fight and kill us; but I remain convinced that the majority want a secular society and the best that the west has to offer. We are not hated by everyone. Of the hundreds I talked to, the overwhelming majority thanked us for being there. Hundreds of adults and children on the roads waved and smiled as we passed by. We went to the law school with about 300 students, about ten of whom were female. There we were, three Americans and they wanted us to fix their school and they thought we could. They thought Americans could do anything. They were like children expecting the genie from the bottle to immediately gratify their needs. The law students were the finest example of hope that I encountered. They told me that the future was theirs and that they needed and wanted our help. I believe we should be paying more attention and giving greater effort to restoring higher education. These law students are the immediate future. When we met with them a week later, they had formed a protective association, a bus for transportation, found a disused grammar school for classes, and got their assistant dean to round up some professors who were teaching them. Still they need help and I am trying to get some help for them from our law schools. LSU has refused, Seton Hall and Rutgers have promised to help; I have not contacted Tulane, Loyola or Southern yet. Upon returning to Baghdad, I went to the Ministry of Justice to review the situation in the south. I took advantage of the situation and said the following: "I have read a little of your history. I know you are a proud people who have risen from the ashes in the past, so I must tell you that I am saddened and disappointed. I have talked to hundreds of you over the past five weeks, almost everyone educated and privileged. What I have heard is what you want from us, how the Americans have to fix this and give you money and equipment, protect you from you own. The only adults planning on the future were those law students in Basra who had lost everything - their books, their desks, their records, their school. And they were doing something about it on their own. You need to do some of these things for yourselves. If you are depending on us to do everything, you are going to be sadly disappointed." I got a few nods from the judges, but the translator said to me: "Thank you. I have been waiting for someone to tell them that." Our soldiers, God love them and keep them; they smiled every time I got a chance to talk to them. They want to come home, but I did not hear one word of complaint nor a question as to why they were there. This is boring, HOT, dirty, and dangerous work. They stand in 120 plus degrees in full body armor. They are amazing. Their entertainment was largely self-generated; boredom doesn't stop when they stand down. Write a letter, send a note or email; send a book, cd, tape, or magazine; do something. Thank you. Submitted by: Barbara Bessent

too bad it's not in northern CA right now. it sounds like a great movie.

Born in the bay area, moved from Oakland to Berkeley to Piedmont, then moved to Maryland, then Michigan then finished up high school in New Jersey. Spent a year in Denver at college before joining the Army and spent 3 years in Germany, got to almost all countries in Western Europe (including East Berlin back when it was East Berlin). Finished up the Army at Ft Ord, CA, got out and tried to be a ski bum in Colorado, came back to bay area in CA to go to night school and work and then finished up college in San Diego. Moved back to the bay area in 1982 and have been here ever since. Except for vacations in Canada (also been to Canada when I was much younger), Mexico, and the island of Martinique. A passport is definitely a good thing to have, and to use.

I've been grounded for over a year. Last June, 2003, I hurt my back (I've had a back back for a long time) and by the time it got better through physical therapy and the doctor cleared me was December of 2003. Then I got laid off in Feb of this year and just found another job. Unfortunately, my med insurance for this job doesn't kick in until December and by then Byron will probably be fogged in. Since I only had two things left to do for my A license (hop 'n pop & catch the instructor out of the plane) I was going to start up in next spring. Since Byron is so windy, I was thinking of going down to Perris for 5 days or so and getting current. Any idea of what I would have to do? Any suggestions as to the best way to go about it and get my license?

Benelli M1 tactical 12 ga. shotgun HK .45 USP Armalite .223 with match trigger Smith & Wesson .357 mag pistol Smith & Wesson .22 revolver 2 old 22 bolt action rifles (so old you have to pull back a cocking device on the end of the bolt to shoot) Baker 12 ga shotgun, about 90 years old, very ornate ingraving.

I'm thinking anti-lock brakes might be more effective. Like on my Bimmer.... (Caution flamers: Sangiro rides BMW with anti-lockTongue) Plus there's that whole power and handling thing without having to spend a zillion dollars on the aftermarket. _____________________________ Yup, those ABS do come in handy, I've got a Bimmer too, R1150 GS. Decent power and great handling.

My sled: 87 FXLR, boyce Pro Street engine offset kit and wide swingarm, currently running a 190 out back, 10,000 pound Tsubaki racing chain cause I ain't no poseur with a fat tire and a skinny belt. _________________________________ Chuck, I don't think anyone here thinks you're a poseur. Although I have been to a number of Harley rallies awhile ago, and there were plenty there.

The great part is, I set car alarms off in parking lots all the time now! _____________________ and piss people off who hate bikes which encourages them to vote for all manner of stupid laws on motorcycles - such as trying to ban all motorcycles in part of downtown chicago a couple of years ago. It didn't last but only because a road that went through it was federal highway and therefor that was not allowed. also, since the number one situation for motorcycle accidents that involved cars was a car turning left in front of a bike, and loud pipes will not save you at all.

Quote Well for me, and many other people, this disdain for things french have been around longer than the current political spat Dont worry man... Americains tourists have always been loved ... BAWAAAHAAAAA!!!!!!! Remster Muff 914 ______________________________ Wel of course, that goes without saying!

I don't know about everyone who has quit the sport, but I can tell you how I feel about it. I am on a sort of hiatus right now. I had back problems last year summer, I only had two more things to do for my A license, and by the time the doctor and physical therapist ok'ed me to resume jumping it was in December. At that point my job was going bad, I was laid off in February of this year and am still looking for work. so right now I have not jumped since late May of 2002. I want to get back into it, as soon as I have a job, but I also realize that I am going to have to go back through a lot of training (I'm not sure exactly what yet). But I also realize that I will have to make the committment to go back out to the DZ everyweekend to do all the retraining, and many times money and schedules don't let that happen. Given the dangerous nature of this sport, you have to stay current to jump safely (as opposed to something like racquetball where you can just pick up any time you feel like it), and make the time and cash committment. This does make it tough to stay in the sport, because as exciting and scary as those first few jumps were, after awhile it can boring - maybe routine is a better description - if you don't make the effort to try new things and new types of jumps, and even then maybe it will get boring. It may be like all those guys out there buying Harleys, who have this image of themselves as bad ass bikers, but after awhile realize it's more work to ride correctly than they realized and not as exciting as they thought (maybe too exciting if they can't ride well), so they sell the Harley and the leathers after a year or two. As for the politics, I've never jumped anywhere but Byron, here in the bay area in CA, and have not noticed any politics, but I also am not that emeshed in the daily goings on of Byron. Everyone at Byron has been very friendly and helpful. Just my 2 cents on the subject.

Everybody has been going at it over this issue for awhile now. I think the only way to settle it, or at least attempt to settle it, is to have a face to face debate among all the dz.com'ers. We'll have to meet at some drop zone big enough for everybody, pass out large amounts of beer, and have at it over all the hotly debated issues. My suggestions for debate topics: 1) gun control - is it worthwhile or should the term just be used as a way to say you're hitting what you aim at? 2) is the US the best country in the world? 3) implants or real ones - what's best? 4) following # 3, how big is too big? 5) following # 4 - what uses can they be put to? 5) canopy nazi's - good or bad? 6) and finally, how the hell do so many of you post so much while having jobs?

I'm proud of many things in America: 1) the freedom we enjoy - it does produce various moments of chaos, but overall and in the long run it's better than less freedom and more control. 2) the economy and all the amazing inventions that have helped fuel the economy. 3) while not perfect, the US has taken in huge numbers of immigrants from all over the world and very different cultures and made it work. 4) all the people who have sacrificed, military/police/various volunteers/etc., to make this place better.

1) Dead Aim: a novel, by Thomas Perr. It's about a murder mystery at a gun school. I'm about to start reading it. 2) any of the Jack Reacher novels, by Lee Childs. About an ex Army military policeman who's just roaming the country, getting in to various situations.

Hey Deuce, What the hell is a Tanita Body Fat Monitor scale? a set of those calipers and software to measure different parts of your body, or what? Where did you get it?

Stay away from that bike - it will kill you. The best thing to do is before you buy a bike is to take the Motorcycle Safety foundation beginner class - you get to practice on their bikes, and if you crash you're not out any money. All you need to do is get a helmet, over the ankle boots, and long sleeves and pants. Also after you have at least 6 months riding or 3000 miles, you can take the MSF experienced rider course, on your bike. From there, take Reg Pridemore's course - it's on a track and allows you to practice while getting good feedback from his instructors. He has classes all over the country. As for buying a bike - don't get a sport bike. I know some people here have said get a 600 cc sport bike which is a good beginner's bike. They're not - you can go over 120 mph and get yourself into trouble so easily you won't believe it. Start out with a used bike, not a new one so you won't spend too much money and can decide if you really like riding. Want ads are full of low mileage hot sport bikes -usually because they scared the shit out of their owners who didn't realize what they were getting into. Suzuki SV650, as mentioned elsewhere here, is a good one. So is a Kawisaki EX500, or a Honda 750 nighthawk. Yes, they're not cool, and people won't be shooting you admiring glances as you ride down main street but they're a much better way to learn. You can actually push these bikes closer to their limits and learn what's it like to do that, then you can with a CBR 600 or Ninja 600. After a couple of track courses, like Reg Pridemore, and lots of miles on the road, then go get a hot bike. I've got a BMW R1150 GS,"only" 85 horsepower but it will go 120 miles an hour and is fine for me. I started riding in the 70's in Europe, stopped for awhile and took it up again in 96. Bought a used Honda Shadow 1100 (another good bike to learn on) and then got the Bimmer in 2000. Unlike skydiving, there way fewer restrictions on the equipment and how you ride when it comes to motorcycles. Be careful out there so you can actually enjoy riding, because it is a great experience. Two more things - dirt riding is a great way to enhance your riding skills, the MSF now has a dirt riding course; check it out. And two, someone brought up that tired old thing about ER doctors and donorcycles. It's a bullshit statement since the doctor only knows that the corpse in front of him rode a motorcycle, nothing else. Just like in skydiving, this guy could have an idiot with no brains and even less common sense. He could have been drinking, he could have not had a license (you'd be amazed at how many accidents happen to unlicensed motorcyclists), he could have been riding above his ability and not stopped due to pride and wanting to keep up. The doctor has no idea why this accident happened. People who have trained themselves, who don't drink or do drugs lower the odds way down. I have about 50,000 miles on bikes and have never gone down; my brother has been riding since '67, has over 300,000 miles and has only gone down once with minor injuries. This brings me to my last point on this rather long winded rant - if you ride with a group, ride at your pace not the leaders. You might be with a group of riders that have a wide variety of skill levels. the leader may have decades of experience and numerous track schools behind him. Trying to keep with him can put you in a situation that your limited skills won't get you out of. Oh, and always wear the amount of equipment you feel is necessary to prevent the injuries you wouldn't want to experience. If you really like riding without a helmet, be prepared to accept the potential of brain damage/death. go ahead and ride, it's a hell of a lot of fun. and like skydiving you'll meet a lot of great people.

I have a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and taught it full time when I was younger but gave it up due to back problems. Also boxed for awhile in college and fought in one golden gloves tournament (novice class) - once was enough since I found that I was better than my opponent at bleeding profusely. you wouldn't believe how heavy 16 ounces of foam rubber can weigh at during the third of three rounds. Also took judo when I was a kid and studied a Japanese martial art in Germany when I was there with the Army in the 70's; can't remember what it was called.

Somewhere in this story is a joke about going up and going down at the same time.

I got certified in "78 while in the Army, but not as an Army diver. I dove a lot for the next several years, including working as a diver in San Diego while going to college. but haven't dove since about '94. It's fun but not the adrenaline rush of jumping.

Perhaps we should combine the sports, bungee out of a balloon @ altitude then cutaway from the bungee into freefall that would rock! _______________________ That has been done, somewhere in central CA in the early 90's. I did several bungee jumps back then with the guys who did the Rebok commercial (showing two bungee jumpers going off a bridge and only the guy with Reboks coming back up - it was pulled of course because some people were concerned with someone trying it and getting hurt). Any way, these two guys did a bungee jump out of a balloon around 7K or so, with 500 ft bungee cords which then stretched to 1000 feet. Once the bungees stopped jerking around, they then cut the cords and skydived down to about 3K and then pulled. It was in a story in Outside magazine. When I did my bungee jumping it was illegal (early 90's) and we did it off of bridges in Sonora and Angels Camp in the Sierra foothills. 100 ft jumps, nothing big. We were going to do the Golden Gate bridge with these guys but they got busted by the FBI (since it was national landmark) and were threatened with serious consequences. They stopped that. I only recall one injury with the group that ran our jumps and that was a broken arm due to one guy no paying attention to how he was told to jump. Later on, lots of people started running bugee jumping trips and didn't know what the were doing which is when the death/injury rates started going up. Bungee jumping was fun but no where near the adrenaline rush you get from skydiving and no where the skill involved.