BelskyBlueEyes

Brie rocks especially if it has some apricot preserves (or orange marmalade) on top and warmed up just so it gets a little gooey like, then spread onto a baguette. Yummy!!!!!!

I've never met a cheese I didn't like. How many types do you have home in your refrig right now? I have 6: Smoked Gouda, Brie, shredded Cheddar/Monterey Jack, Parmesan, Blue cheese crumbles, Provolone.

I want a juicy rib eye with sauteed mushrooms and then gorgonzola on top of that, put under the broiler so the cheese is all melty. (Or, provolone works too) But it is hard to beat smoked gouda, even all by itself. Comments from a certified cheeseaholic....

Fantastic weekend, I will most certainly be back to the Dublin Boogie! Even though I went there knowing very few, I came back knowing so many! Thanks to all for the friendly advice and the great stories. Good times. Hmmm, wha what else to say.... Thank goodness for warm trailers and kind personalities, and great babysitters. ;) As always, gracious thanks for the compliments about my eyes, it makes my dad proud since I inherited them from him.

I did my first tandem back on Sept 10 and loved it. However, it was my second tandem a month later that made me realize WOW, this is amazing! I was not nervous/scared going into the first one, but did have a bit of sensory overload because I did not know what to expect. Be prepared for it to be "noisy" as the wind rushes by in freefall, a lot cooler in the air then on the ground. At one point I felt like I could not get a good breath in the air but then I realized to close my mouth- the wind was flapping my cheeks around etc, looks funny on the video. Know that there is no reason for you not to be able to breathe- if you feel strange just relax, take a deep breath, and know you are OK! My advice is concentrate on breathing through your nose and dont open your mouth much, it made for a much better experience for me on my jumps after. Before you know it, you are under canopy and enjoy the floating experience, like you are a leaf in the wind. It is totally different then the radical experience of freefall. And as others have written, the tandem instructor must have at least 500 jumps to even be there, and the majority have several thousand. You are in good hands! I love to watch the people go up for their first time, it is so exciting to see the joy in their faces even if they are strangers! I have yet to see anyone walking back in that is not totally amazed and thrilled about what they did!

RE: CSpenceFLY Not every bone heals in the same time frame. So you can not judge it that way. You are not a doctor or orthopaedic surgeon, so please be careful what you say! Because of the location of my fracture, a load bearing area, I have to be non-weight bearing for 6-8 weeks at minimum. Otherwise, any stress on it can potentially make it worse, could displace the fracture which would be awful. That means crutches. Yes, even though I can stand on it and dont feel pain. The doctor had to tell me this several times, I did not want to believe it. It sucks! I researched "fractured tibial plateau" and indeed most people end up with surgery. It has nothing to do with my age, my bones- this is what you have to do when you injure this particular area. I am lucky I did not end up with plates and screws in my leg. Even if a doctor is conservative in treatment, better to be safe then sorry. I would rather wait a few months and be sure then end up not even being able to walk normal ever again. Last thing I have to say, just because your back injury didnt take long to heal doesnt mean everyone out there will have the same fortune. Don't let someone who is injured feel bad about it, it is upsetting enough. Best regards.

I wish the first doctor had taken an x-ray of the knee/tibia area and not the foot, because even I not being a doctor was able to see the line of the fracture on the x-ray. I still am in shock about it, I still cant seem to accept that I need to be using crutches and probably will not be cleared to skydive until Feb or March, yet I am walking fine. The problem I have is the first doctor told me it was just a bruise, even after I questioned it. Why didnt he just take the x-ray? I think because I was not having pain he didnt believe me. So, if this ever happens to anyone, make them do the x-ray! I am lucky I did not do something and displace the fracture which would have required surgery. To the person with the injured tendon- ouch! Delicate nerve endings we have in our feet huh! Feel better and hopes for quick healing. I made good friends with "Icy-Hot" cream, it feels so nice on achy parts. :)

Well very bad news. I have a 'non-displaced fracture of the lateral tibial plateau'. Because it is a load bearing area, I am out for 3 months. I was told I am extremely lucky I do not need surgery and no pain is involved for me. I am only allowed to walk and need to be extra careful they say. I can't believe it. I was already feeling lost confidence, heck I only had 1 jump to reference, and even that one wasn't great. I would like to read or something to help get my mind on track, apparently I didnt 'get it' when I jumped. Any suggestions for books to read or articles that will help me for when I do jump again?

You are correct, the doctor said it is a healing fracture. This past weekend was the 4th week. I had been taking care of it, ice/heat, wearing ace bandage, taking Motrin/Aleve, so that is why I did not have much inflammation. I did think this was for a sprain. I still am surprised that you can break a bone and not know it! Goes to show you the body will survive, it takes care of itself. It gave me pain in my foot, so it managed to keep me off bearing weight on my knee too! Innate brain ability, what a blessing.

Yes, I did heed the advice of the earlier posts and I couldnt avoid listening to that little voice that said "not ready to jump yet!". What has me so shocked is I nearly felt ok, thought I would definitely be ok by this coming weekend. Never expected that I had any broken bone because I thought that would hurt more. So good thing I didnt listen to anyone that told me "wrap/tape it up and take some Motrin, you will be fine." Now the question is what it did to my mind, I can't jump for probably another month according to the doc. (assuming she is correct in what she told me about the fracture)

I am really freaked out. I had injured myself on AFF2 on Oct 15 and thought it was a sprained foot, bruised knee. My HMO doc xrayed my foot Oct 16, but did not xray my knee. (I did question it, but he said it was just a bad bruise). I just today went to the Sports Med doc, and she thinks I had a hairline fracture of my tibia. I am totally freaked out because I almost jumped this past weekend and if I had done that I most likely would have made the healing injury blow out because it can't take that kind of force yet . She told me I should be wearing a brace, using crutches, only walking at minimum. I definitely have a bruised MCL, I hope no torn cartilage. She is getting 2nd opinion from the surgeon, just to confirm what she suspects. I can't believe it was something like this, and I didn't know. I know I am pain tolerant, but gee, that much? I cant stop thinking about what if I had jumped. Thank goodness I listened to my intuition. Has this kind of injury ever happened to anyone?

RE: Isnt the goal of your landing to stand it up? Since I have only completed 2 jumps, the 2nd one with injury, attempting stand up landing is intention, but not experience yet. I would most certainly love to believe every one from now on will be text book perfect landing. However, since I am a realist, I will assume every landing will be a PLF and if it turns out I tip toe in on a bed of marshmallows, that's bonus and yay for me!! :) I don't want to ever get over confident and forget that you always need to remember the PLF, it may save your life one day. I'm still VERY new to this whole thing, yea yea, safety conscious. But I think what I wrote above is something everyone should remember no matter how many jumps they have made.

I had a very bad landing a week ago and sprained my foot and bruised my knee badly, possibly damaged cartilage/ligaments because I still have pain. (if it wasnt for the PLF I would have done worse, so am thankful!) I did not jump for a week, the doc said no activity for 2 weeks, probably wait 4 until I skydive again. This weekend would be the 2nd week, and I was hoping I could jump, but probably shouldn't push it. I have been told sprains are worse because they take so long to heal. My problem is the longer I wait, the colder it gets, the harder the ground will be. I'm only on AFF3 for next jump and intend on PLF. Is landing on cold/frozen ground like landing on cement? I am very concerned since I already got injured and hard ground is not going to 'give'. I hate to be all bruised up through the holiday's too. What timing for AFF. Should I just expect it and oh well, such is life when skydiving in the cold/ winter time? Also wondered if wearing boots vs. sneakers is better support for the ankle/foot, and if you put in those foam or gel foot inserts may help absorb some shock from landing? I would think all that landing is bad on the joints in the knees, feet etc.....

I definitely believe strengthening my triceps is the way to go for me. I for some odd reason have always had weak triceps, even trainers over the years had told me so. I need to get back to routine at the gym and I think using the cable pull downs is a good way to practice flares- right? Wouldn't that be the closest thing to the real deal? I did practice flares in the playground area, and even then was struggling to get toggles down, but did accomplish after a few tries. I know I dont have the option of letting up and pulling again when I am in landing, so I need to be SURE I can pull all the way first time. I thought I was pulling in close to my body as mentioned, but the instructor told me my arms were out more to the side. I will have to concentrate better on doing that. I am concerned because the flare took me by surprise, I knew I was coming in fast and I was definitely not in tune with the timing of that. That has scared me. I nearly came in with no flare at all. I think I was trying to flare but I was so low at that point I didnt even have time to follow through. How can my mind be so distracted at such an important time? I did land uphill, so maybe that toyed with my perspective??

So maybe I have wimpy girl arms or something, but has anyone experienced trouble pulling the toggles all the way down to complete flare? I have only got through AFF 2, and partially because of this trouble ended up hardly flaring, crashing into a hill and sprained my foot. (very fortunate that I did not break anything). So now I am in early stages AFF and can't even jump for a few weeks. My approaches have not been that great yet, but if anything, you need to get that flare down, no questions asked!! Can anyone suggest anything for me? I am a bit nervous about my next jump because I did get slighty injured, but I do know most of it is due to flare problems. What can I do to overcome this??

Actually, the only thing that is any concern for me is the landing process. I was not nervous or scared or anything of jumping, freefall was a little disorienting at first but as soon as I realized "close your mouth and breathe through your nose" I was OK. I loved being under canopy. Like a leaf on the wind, it was awesome and peaceful for me. I'm the kind of person that does research, listens to the rules, asks opinion of others and take that into account when I make the decision that best suits me. I do feel it would be helpful to know how to setup for approach, what it looks like from the sky, not just what I "think" it looks like. Like someone said, it would be a learning tandem, not just a ride, try to gain some canopy skills as much as I can. Also would let me realize what all this 'flare' is about and at point you do that. (Im still reading and learning remember!) Oh and why you dont do a low turn, and what that even means! ;) I still am pondering what I will do. Thanks all for your opinions, it's all good stuff! Carolyn

I have only done 1 tandem in my life, just a few weeks ago. My friend and I are starting AFF level 1 this Sunday. I am trying to decide to do a tandem on Saturday before class, or wait until after and THEN do the tandem. I thought if I waited to do the tandem after, I will have learned more and be able to pay closer attention to things I need to know when I do the AFF jump. Thought it might be wise to learn canopy technique while in tandem so when it does come to the first jump, I have a better idea of what to do, etc. What do you think? Did you go straight into AFF jump, or did you do a few tandems first?

I did my first tandem ever on September 10. I am now signed up next week to start class for getting certified! My jump was awesome, no jerking movements, the straps did not bind me in any painful way or anything. It was incredible! I felt like a leaf floating on the wind when were under canopy. The freefall part was nuts too, in a good way though! It may be a little bit sensory overload, but don't worry, nothing that you can't handle. (it is noisy from the wind, a bit cooler because of the altitude, takes a few seconds for your brain to comprehend "hey, I just jumped out of a plane!!"). Relax and enjoy the ride, it is unlike anything else in life! Carolyn

Is there some sort of documentation or article stating this fact? If so, I would like to see it and read it before I do anything. I have contacted the USPA to find out what is going on, so let's see how long it takes them to contact me back and what they have to tell me. One question I do have then, is every DZ in America a member of the USPA? Is it a requirement, or just a 'good idea'? If it is not a requirement, then I would think my jumps would count anywhere. Another thought if jumps don't count, then why would all those instructors and people with all that experience still be going there? It is rather confusing to hear all this negative stuff about the DZ I chose, and it's not like we have alot of choices for other ones. From what I see, the others are smaller and have 1 plane, so it may take all day to jump even if I was certified. I am doing the research regardless and hopefully can make a wise decision.

I live in Atlanta and when we searched for a DZ the closest was ASC in Cedartown. A group of 17 of us went there, we all did tandems. I found nothing negative about the experience. We all paid when we got there, no 'certificates' or anything. The people there were nice. It was a very busy day for them. So, why is there so much bad talk about ASC? The person who did my tandem had 1200 jumps, another guy had 9200. These were people that are experienced and were safety conscious. I am scheduled to get AFF certified there in a few weeks. I am confused as to why people have said bad things about ASC????

UPDATE- My friend and I made the reservation for AFF level 1 at ASC Cedartown, GA for Oct 8!! I love all the comments, feel free to keep em coming! Just know now I'm not thinking about it, Im doing it! And might as well go out and buy a pretty little new piggy bank huh? ;) OK, a big piggy bank.... Carolyn

I did my first tandem Sep 10 and think I want to get AFF certified. Anyone have any comments, advice, suggestions, random babblings? When it gets to colder weather, does it have much affect on skydiving? And, on average how long will it take to get to Level 7? Last, when you go to a DZ, how many times that day do you usually jump? I am wondering how much $$ should I expect to spend a day once I am certified.