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A guy is walking past an insane asylum when he hears the residents inside chanting, "Thirteen! Thirteen! Thirteen!" Curious, he finds a hole in the wall and looks in. Immediately he's poked in the eye, then everyone inside starts chanting, "Fourteen! Fourteen! Fourteen!" _______________________________ Three men wait at the gates of heaven on Christmas Eve. They're told they have to present a Christmas gift to get in. The first man checks his pockets and finds pine needles from his family's tree. He's allowed in. The second hands over a bow and some ribbon. He's allowed in. The third man pulls out a pair of panties. "How do those represent Christmas?" St. Peter asks him. "Oh," the man replies, "they're Carol's." _______________________________ A man thinks he is a dog, so he goes to see a psychiatrist. "It's terrible," says the man. "I walk around on all fours, I keep barking in the middle of the night, and I can't go past a lamppost anymore." "Okay," says the psychiatrist. "Get on the couch." The man replies, "I'm not allowed on the couch." _______________________________ What did the elephant say to the naked guy? "Fine, but can it pick up peanuts?" _______________________________ A woman asked her grandmother how her grandfather had died. "He had a heart attack while we were making love one Sunday morning," Granny said. Horrified, the granddaughter told her that two people that old having sex would surely be asking for trouble. "Oh, no," said Granny. "Many years ago we realized that ringing church bells provided the perfect rhythm: in on the ding and out on the dong." She paused, wiped away a tear, and continued, "But then the ice-cream truck came along." _______________________________ "Two drivers climb out of their cars after colliding at an intersection. One pulls a flask from his pocket and says, "Here, have a nip of whiskey to calm your nerves." "Thanks," says the other driver, taking a swig. "Here, you have one, too." "Nah, I'd rather not — the police will be here soon." _______________________________

I'm in my 40s, and I relate right now, lol. I think it's really normal to get to college, where we thought as a kid everything would be amazing, and then feel, "shit. Is this it?" I also think there's an expectation that you are supposed to have your life's path figured out at age 18, and progress linearly toward your Life's Purpose. That's pretty unfair. Your brain isn't even finished developing until your mid 20's. You will change your mind about... EVERYTHING hundreds of times over the course of your life, and that is completely normal. Change your major. Take a year off to travel or work. Study something you love, AND something mundane that can earn you a living. Graduate (or don't!), then go back to school for something completely different, or learn a trade and work with your hands. We're all just guessing, really, and that's the thing we have in common. Nobody (really) has it figured out, and it's a shame so many people pretend that they do. Because if we were all a little more honest, you might not feel so alone. If you jump at Skydive Chicago, maybe I'll see you there next season. I'd be happy to chat with you about what it's like to reinvent many times in one lifetime, and still be like, "oh... it's like this now?" Lol. It's just a process. We are all here to help.

I called bullshit on the fake news you repeated, not your opinion. Spewing Russian propaganda isn't an opinion, it's a disinformation tactic of war. It's working. The cold war failed because Russia went broke thanks to Chernobyl, they have since found a more effective approach. How patriotic. Jebus is busy next Wednesday, no horsemen, no nothing other than a criminal indictment of presidential misbehavior. Merry Christmas to the USA. It's hopefully the start of reversing the damage the current administration has inflicted on the nation.

The "predicted calamity" is actually a series of effects, some unknown, some more sure that will happen over the next decades. In the meantime glaciers are melting, seas are rising, and oceans are warming. These predicted and observable measurable effects are and will continue. No matter how shrill you get in denying the facts.

Compared to the present day R party, yes he was.

Thanks a lot for the feedback man, really helps!

I suggest going to Lake Elsinore. Smaller than Perris and lots of friendly people-As I discovered when I went there as a newbie with 40 jumps.

I had a fusion, L4-S1, in 2001 at 36 years old. Was back in the air after a year of recovery. I did have a good surgeon though, who understood and thought I'd be okay jumping again. He was right. Don't retire if you still feel the need to be in the air. Just adjust your skydiving to reduce the risk of additional injury. I'd suggest upsizing a bit and possibly changing to a less aggressive canopy but that's just me. I'm 54 and jump a Spectre with dacron lines at a low wingloading. Super soft openings, easy landings. It's not a sports car, but I'm less likely to get hurt flying it than with any other canopy I've flown, especially if I don't stay current. If you prefer a 9 cell, there are a few out there that have a reputation for soft openings. <standard disclaimer> I am not a doctor </standard disclaimer> Check with your surgeon to be sure it's had enough time to heal. If the answer is yes, well, you know what to do

To put some numbers to this: The fatality rate in skydiving is between about .25 and 1 fatality per 100,000 jumps; we'll take .5 as an average. Let's compare the risks of a working skydiver to some common occupations. The most dangerous occupation out there is commercial fishing - 99 fatalities out of 100,000 workers every year. A working skydiver who averages 10 jumps a weekend (which is on the low side for someone at say Eloy, a bit high for Pepperell) will see a 252 out of 100,000 odds of getting killed. Let's say you are twice as safe as your average skydiver because you are so current. Now you are at 126 out of 100,000. So a working skydiver will see a higher risk of being killed than someone in the most dangerous (tracked) profession in the US. "But it's more dangerous to drive to the DZ!" Nope. Driving deaths happen at 1.25 per 100 million miles driven. Let's say your average skydiver drives 100 miles to and from the DZ to make 10 jumps. Odds of dying while driving: .125 out of 100,000. Odds of dying while skydiving: 5 out of 100,000. 40 times more likely to be killed skydiving. "But I don't jump that much" you say. OK, then your risk is a lot lower. But then you have to compare it to other things you do at that low rate - AND you are uncurrent, which increases your odds of getting killed. So skydiving: 1 in 200,000 odds of getting killed per jump. Bungee jumping: 1 in 500,000 per jump. Scuba diving is similar to skydiving; 1 in 200,000 per dive. Now, if you BASE jump or free climb, congratulations; you have found something that is actually more dangerous than skydiving. But for the vast majority of people, skydiving is far more dangerous (using real odds) than anything they normally do.