craichead

He wears it on all jumps. He's also got a Pro-Track in his helmet and a Suunto on his left wrist, but he doesn't really look at the Suunto much. Most of his jumps are camera jumps, and the Neptune is primarily for canopy. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Andy wears his Neptune on, as he likes to put it, an "Old-Skool-Style (tm)" chest strap mounted pillow wedge. He picked up the idea from Brian Germain. We also saw JP's Bonehead altimount, but he didn't like the idea that the inflexible carbon fiber wouldn't give during his more interesting landing techniques. When he takes off his rig, he ties a knot in the chest strap so that the wedge doesn't slide off. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

ARGH!!! Get your shoulder fixed!! Not only are you increasingly endangering your own life, but you could be putting your fellow jumpers in danger, as well. I fail to understand why people shrug this kind of a thing off. I hope eeneR will come back and try to pound some sense into you, too. I first dislocated my shoulder in October 2002, on AFF Level 3 while flaring (I thought I was the only one who's done it on flare!). Then dislocated it a second time (same motion: flare) in May 2004, I kept myself grounded through the rest of that season because I KNEW that it would come out again if I jumped. Then I had surgery in October 2004, and healed/rehabbed over the winter. I was back jumping in late May 2005. Yes, having surgery and being out for at least 4-6 months SUCKS. However, knowing that my shoulder has MUCH less chance of popping out in freefall, on flare, when I need to practice my emergency procedures, etc. far outweighs the loss of jumping for several months. The sky will always be there! Get your shoulder fixed!!! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

A belated Happy Birthday to you, Mike! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

And just a few more that make me laugh...you can determine which ones belong in the "Hall of Shame." _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

YAY! I can't say it enough, CONGRATULATIONS!!! We're so happy for you, and we're so happy we could be there. We love you guys and would do anything we could for you! Here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure. This is just a sampling--Andy will be putting up all the pictures we took from the weekend on his web site. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

That's exactly what happened to my friend this past week! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

I don't really understand this--what's the problem with being married and not having kids for a few years? _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Darn, I guess that means "99 bottles of beer" is out of the question. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Hehe...when we got ours, I didn't think it would make that much of a difference, either. We have a 2" thick foam topper with a comforter-like cover for added cushion. It actually does relieve pressure points, feels soft and squishy, and you're still supported. When we have overnight guests, we take it off of our bed and put it on the sleeper sofa--it makes a HUGE difference there. In our trailer, we have a 3" thick foam topper on top of an okay spring mattress--definitely an improvement. You remember how comfy and squishy the mattress felt when you guys raided our trailer that night? _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

It's a USPA achievement award: http://www.uspa.org/publications/SIM/2005SIM/section8.htm#82 _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Congratulations! That's awesome! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

You know this as a fact because you've had first-hand experience with the Canadian health care system? Did you live there as a landed immigrant? _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Yes, read his book--it's extremely helpful for all skydivers, no matter what level they're at! Andy and I have a couple extra copies, and soarfree should have one from the course, too. LOL about Brian being "deep." He's zen, that's for sure. You remember meeting and talking with him during Spring Expo, right? _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

YAY!!! You're a quick healer! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

If you scroll down on the main DZComic page, you'll see Steve's message regarding the cartoon: __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

I agree with you! As a student, I was always given the "flare when your feet touch the corn" advice, and this weekend, it did NOT work for me. This technique only seems to work reasonably well with the big, fat, "detuned" student canopies. For me on my Sabre2 190 loaded at 1.1--I plowed through about 3 rows of corn and face-planted myself into the landing area. I've got a nasty bruise over my left eyebrow from my helmet digging into my head, and a sore neck from my head smacking the ground. A chain of mistakes: I didn't turn on to my final soon enough, so I saw that I was coming up short. I went to rear risers for a bit, then realized that I was going to be right on the edge of the corn and the landing area. Went back to full flight, and then I got fixated on the corn. When my feet hit the corn, I attempted to stab out the flare. Going through the corn, I pitched forward, and whatever level I pulled my toggeles to was not enough to level out the canopy because the angle of attack was still pretty steep according to the DZO who was watching me. I was lucky to walk away with just a bruise and a sore neck! If I find myself landing in tall corn again, I'll be sure to follow billvon's advice instead. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

I know, I know. It just seems like I have these temporary setbacks almost every week! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Woohoo! Nice job, Mike! I'm down a pound this week, as well.

Isn't that supposed to change this weekend? _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

And it was even better when we were drunk off our asses watching it at the DZ on a bad weather day! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

No problem, m'dear! The Trib can be a bit weird that way... I also found an interesting follow-up to the featured skydiving articles on the Red Eye web site, too. _Pm If 'only' I chose the correct word By Jimmy Greenfield RedEye July 15, 2005 Kathee Clifford's e-mail arrived in my in-box at 2:34 p.m. Tuesday, roughly 32 hours after an article I wrote about skydiving hit the street. She took exception to only one word in the article. The one word was "only." In the article, I wrote that "there were only 21 fatalities in the U.S. last year, according to the USPA." "I just had to say something," Clifford wrote to me. "It just did not sound right." In 1988, Bernie Clifford, Kathee's older brother, died in a skydiving accident at the old Skydive Sandwich site in Sandwich. He was 22. Technically, the word "only" was the right word. The 21 deaths was the lowest total in the U.S. in 12 years. But it was insensitive, and I'm not going to quibble. When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. "In those 21 deaths, there's 21 stories behind that of how it affected a family, and the impact it had on a family," she told me in a phone conversation Thursday morning. Statistics can be cold and heartless, and even if they help in telling a story, they never tell the human story, which is why I asked Kathee to share something about Bernie. "He was a big Marine, and he loved his country, and he loved his music," she said. "He was a good guy. I think he was a little lost, but he definitely found himself in skydiving." During a routine jump at Skydive Sandwich, which has since reopened as Skydive Chicago, his parachute accidentally became tangled with that of another man, Scott Kuhlmann, who also was killed. Kathee has thought about driving out to Sandwich to read the police report about her brother's death. But she hasn't yet, and she's not sure why. There is a conflict here for Kathee, and it has nothing to do with the circumstances surrounding her brother's death. It's that she knows he died doing something he loved. There are pictures of Bernie all over her Oak Lawn home, including one of him skydiving. "I'll be honest, I'll take the picture down every now and then and be mad," said Kathee, who works at Sluggers in Wrigleyville. "And when I hear people are going skydiving, I get mad. I've had friends who I've asked to stop talking about it. One of the girls at Sluggers actually went, and I asked her very nicely, 'Can you not talk about it when I'm here.' "He loved it so much, so you have to try and be understanding, but then you're mad as hell at him for loving it so much. It's conflicting. "People say you get to feel you died doing something you love. I mean, is that really something to be that proud of? I don't know." Skydivers will tell you that driving is more dangerous than skydiving, and statistically they may be right. But Kathee doesn't buy it. "It just seems more extreme to me for some reason," she said. "An accident in a sport and not a vehicle, I just find that different." Even with her pain and her doubts, Kathee doesn't try to blame anybody for Bernie's death. Sometimes she sees a commercial that glorifies skydiving, and that bugs her. But she doesn't like to tell people what to do, except maybe once in awhile a writer who uses the wrong word. "The last Cubs' homestand I worked [at Slugger's], there were actually a group of guys from Boston talking about going," she said. "They asked me about Skydive Chicago, if I knew anything about it. And I just said I know something about it. I didn't tell them about my brother, I just gave them the information. "And I said be very, very careful." E-mail Jimmy Greenfield at jgreenfield@tribune.com __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

We missed the week 10 weigh-in because we were on vacation last week... Current: 188 Gain: +3 in the last two weeks (EEK!) Vacations aren't very good for diets. On another note...is it a bad thing that I don't want to lose any more weight because I like my wingloading? _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Hiya Squeak, Here is my Rx: OD: Sphere -2.00, Cylinder -4.75, Axis 180 OS: Sphere -0.50, Cylinder -5.50, Axis 175 I'll definitely let you know what my eye doc says! I hope it's feasible with these goggles...no more big boxy OTG goggles for me.

I got mine a couple weeks ago, and I had a similar reaction to yours (durability of foam, wide bridge on the frame insert). Another concern of mine was the way the polycarbonate lenses snap in. The black tab in the middle that you turn to secure them seems like it could pop out or break pretty easily, but I guess the tabs on the sides of the lenses help. Also, the arms are kind of lame, but I didn't really plan on using those, anyway--just the goggles strap. Oh well, we shall see what happens! I haven't taken them to my eye doctor but will probably do that next week. Thanks for the update...I almost forgot about writing a review! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)