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GiaKrembs

Happy Sky Birthday Livendive

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HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, Sky Birthday baby!!!! B| 10 years!!!! :)
Have fun with the tandems tonight! ;)

xoxoxoxo, g

Raddest ho this side of Jersey #1 - rest in peace brother
Beth lost her cherry and I missed it
.... you want access to it, but you don't want to break it.

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This one's for real, right? I'm not gonna wish him a happy (sky) birthday only to hear "but wait, it's not for months!"

Yeah, I guess I trust this since Frenchy didn't start it.

Have a great one, Dave!
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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Oh, are there night jumps tonight?



No, the sun doesn't set up there till late.... so they get the luxury of jumping into the evening! :)
g

Raddest ho this side of Jersey #1 - rest in peace brother
Beth lost her cherry and I missed it
.... you want access to it, but you don't want to break it.

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This one's for real, right? I'm not gonna wish him a happy (sky) birthday only to hear "but wait, it's not for months!"

Yeah, I guess I trust this since Frenchy didn't start it.

Have a great one, Dave!



I don't believe it but I'll wish him a happy SBD anyway!

:D

--------------

(Do not, I repeat DO NOT, take my posts seriously.)

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It's true. 10 years ago today I showed up at a dropzone alone. Not a family member or friend knew I was there, so if I chickened out nobody would be the wiser. Having sat through a few hours of classroom training (from D-1312) with one other guy the night before, I was ready for practical exercises. Dave Kron was my jumpmaster, and he put me through the PLF and hanging harness regimen. I geared up in an SOS Strong rig set up for pilot-chute assist S/L, with a Mighty Mack main, 26' LoPo reserve, and Sentinel AAD. We climbed to 3,000 feet in our trusty C-206 and I was fortunate enough to be the second out. Once the other guy had gone, backing out was no longer an option. I got in the door (poised exit from cargo door) and couldn't believe how close the ground looked. I was terrified. "Farther out...farther out...now I want to see a good hard arch....relax.......................and go" I left my senses in the airplane. I didn't black out, but I definitely greyed out. My body screamed "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING??!" Vision returned and I could see the plane, "That's a good thing" I thought, then I realized my feet were blocking part of the view of it. "Shit! Arch!" and just as I thought that & started to act on it, I was flipped over by my opening main and found myself hanging right side up. "Holy shit it opened! OK, line twists - yep, closed end cells - yep, slider stuck part way up - yep....I've got three of the four "minor" things they told me about and I don't care...it opened!" I found it impossible to get drunk that afternoon and repeatedly noticed that I was jumping up and down in the middle of a bar.

A week or two later I went back for my 2nd jump. I actually pulled over onto the shoulder of the freeway on my way there and asked myself why I was going back. I told myself that I'd wanted to jump, I'd done it, and I'd survived. If I did it again, I'd be doubling the chances of my dying skydiving. Tempting fate was one thing, and I'd done it...now I was just playing the odds. I couldn't figure out why I was going back, but I merged back into traffic and continued to the DZ to make my second jump. I don't think I did my first freefall until my 8th jump, and it took me like 3 years to make my first 50 jumps. Skydiving scared the hell out of me, and the hook just wasn't set. I couldn't figure out what I liked about it other than it being TOTALLY out of the ordinary. Then, on a 5-way with 3 other newbies and one old-timer, on jump 58 or so, I realized I could fly. Up, down, forward, back, turning, sliding...in that case, up, forward, and sliding sideways all at the same time. I realized, in freefall, that it was like being a kid playing airplane, but for real. If I could put the planet in the back of my mind for a few seconds until it was a more pressing concern, I could relax and enjoy the moment....while flying. That skydive went to hell, and I realized there was no way we were all going to get together. I snuck up on my friend Lora from behind and grabbed her wrist. She looked over at me quickly, not having seen me coming. I shook my head at the rest of the group and swung out in front of her. Her and I had been working on a 2-way (round, open, compressed, open, round, etc) so I figured we'd spend the rest of the freefall just doing that. Mind you I realize now how stupid that was (doing our own thing in the middle of a load that expects us to do something else), but when I went from the round to the open, she realized what I wanted to do, and I actually heard (in addition to seeing) her laugh. We took it too low and she couldn't make it back. I could, but instead I went down and landed in between the sage brush with her so she'd have company walking back. Flying? Laughing when the planet is coming up at 120 mph? Hey, this was something I could get into!

Since that day, I've seen and done many things I'd never have suspected. My first 2-stack, a dragplane, an 8-stack, flying, laughing with, and yelling at friends...and hitting Bozo a little aggresively in Lodi :P. In RW, I remember many, many jumps...playing with the organizers at Perris by acting clueless, 40 some-odd ways in Lodi and Nevada, a sunset 30 way to start a season at my home DZ that held for what seemed like an eternity (and hearing the laughs and "YEAH!"s that carried clearly through the burble above it), and staring about 20' up at the one empty slot in an otherwise perfect sunset jewel :$. Kiss passes, flip-offs, naked jumps, and funnels galore, and FUN. What else? Hybrids with Tony D., Omar, Steve C. and several others over a bay in Mexico during what had to be the most relaxing week of my life, courtesy of my friend Mike Moore. A few weeks later a bugler played "Taps" during my set-up and landing, as I jumped Mike's rig into his funeral. I remember being torn between laughter and tears as Bozo, George, Kelly and I dumped Jan and her father's ashes on the same jump. I remember numerous night jumps, demo's, and a few "not specifically condoned" jumps. I remember the sit-fly jump that prompted my first real stint on the DL for a shoulder surgery, and the botched hook that benched me for my second surgery (FYI - a 99 at 2.4:1 flies differently than a 500 at 0.5:1 flies differently than a 26' LoPo). Tracking dives, horny gorillas, wingsuit jumps, raft dives, zoo loads, hula hoops, and a very painful 10-way tube in Star, ID. Jumping from a balloon, a helicopter, a glider, and a fair number of different "regular" jumpships. Getting each of my ratings (especially the AFF), fantastic students, bad students, prior students making me proud, prior students trying to kill themselves and nearly succeeding. Hanging on to my ratings even when I was depressed, so I could make that one jump I looked forward to with my daughter. It was worth it. :)
Mostly though, I'm happy about the friends I've made skydiving. I'm sure if I chosen a different hobby, I'd have made friends there too, but somehow I suspect they just wouldn't be as close. Many people would laugh at my phone calls with one skydiver friend...we're like an old married couple, finishing each other's sentences or using just one or two words to convey something much more complex, because we know the other "gets it". There was one recently, after we hadn't talked in a few weeks. My phone rang, I saw who it was and answered "'Sup bitch?" He said "Did you see that?!", I said "Yeah, that was fucking awesome!". "Cool, well that's all I called for...later", "See ya" . :D I'm not going to name them/you all, you know who you are and I don't want to forget anyone. They've seen my at my most obnoxious self and still tolerated me (I read through my first logbook Wednesday night Roy...you're right, I was a pompous, know-it-all prick back then too! :D). They've been there when I was going through rough times and matched me drink for drink. They've let me feel important by turning to/confiding in me in their own rough times. We've laughed, worried, played, talked, and in some cases cried together, and I've appreciated every one of those things.

I'm a pretty happy guy. Skydiving and the people I've met through skydiving have played a big role in my current state of happiness. So thanks, to everyone who's taught me something about skydiving, to everyone else who's taught me something about enjoying life and who's made my life better solely by my knowing you, and to everyone, in advance, who will continue to teach me things about skydiving and life over the next 10 years.

Blues,
Dave
"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

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YAY!!! Dave is officially not a "tourist"!



You haven't seen me fly...I still might be considered a "tourist" :D

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Have fun with the tandems tonight! ;)



Oh, are there night jumps tonight? Gia loves those. Have fun, Dave! :)


Not night jumps, but fun nonetheless. Me and another TM are taking a couple up on a sunset load and the guy's going to propose to the woman in the plane.

Blues,
Dave
"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

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Is there a digest version of this post available anywhere?:|
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...to everyone who's taught me something about skydiving...


It was my pleasure. You would have done the same for me.:)

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

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Dave, when I first glanced at your long-ass post, I thought to myself, "Is there a Cliff Notes version?" (I thought that my posts were too long!)
Now that I've read the post, I wanted to say that I love what you wrote. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. It made my day to read something written from the heart. :)

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Is there a digest version of this post available anywhere?:|

Just read it all... it's a great post. Thanks for sharing Dave :)


Holy shit Dave do your fingers hurt from all that typing?? Awsome descriptive essay.:P

Now where do I fall? good student or bad student??B|

Have fun tonight and be safe. I will drink a beer in your honor tonight at davenport. Happy Sky Birthday!!!:)
Some day I will have the best staff in the world!!!

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Great post, Dave. We'll raise a glass next Friday. I might even buy it in your honor. (Patron, perhaps? ;))
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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Now where do I fall? good student or bad student??B|



Awesome student, borderline bad newbie (for being disrespectful) :P

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Have fun tonight and be safe. I will drink a beer in your honor tonight at davenport. Happy Sky Birthday!!!:)



I might make it up there tonight myself. Got a new trailer and want to take it somewhere this weekend. Call me on my cell today (before you go).

Blues,
Dave
"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

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[replyAwesome student, borderline bad newbie (for being disrespectful) :P
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B|B|B|B|B|B|B|B|B|

I cant help it if she has good Genes. Hows that is that better.;)

I'll give you a buz around 3:00. I am jealous you bought a new prarie camper.

Some day I will have the best staff in the world!!!

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GREAT story Dave!!!! :)
xoxoxoxo, g


SUcking up to him is not going to to sway him away from Roy the Boy Toy. Nice try though...:|

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

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Ya, I am pretty nervous about Roy.... I hear he is well endowed~ Damn I can't compete with that! :P

g

Raddest ho this side of Jersey #1 - rest in peace brother
Beth lost her cherry and I missed it
.... you want access to it, but you don't want to break it.

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SUcking up to him is not going to to sway him away from Roy the Boy Toy. Nice try though...:|



You're the one who's had phone sex with the bastard. :| I haven't even gotten to first base with him. :S

Blues,
Dave
"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

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