Cepheus

I probably need to do the same... But since I won't be in that area for a very long time, I'll just need to truck on. My problem is that I was so tense... A problem I've been working on (positive affirmations go a long way -- "I will be loose in freefall, I will enjoy myself first, and concentrate on dive flow next." I'll get to see how I do this coming weekend.

Ooooh, that is SOOO mean!

Jeeze, what fun is that? I loved those little jokes when I was doing my first tandem... It added to the experience. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Oh that's evil Very nice work.

That's true. It simply isn't physically possible for me to jump every minute of my life. Too bad, too. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

When I did my first jump, I was the only first-time jumper on the load. Everyone else had 500+ jumps, if I remember correctly... As a result, I had a pretty fun time listening to all their little 'get the first-timer nervous' jokes.

I get that too... I'm still taking AFF right now, and my 'door fear' goes away while I'm climbing out and preparing for the exit count. I think it's the routine that helps dispell the fear. That, and the wind and noise helps. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

And here I am, with horrible bruises on my legs from the student rig legstraps, thinking 'Ok so next time I won't tighten them as much...' So much for that theory... -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

It'd certainly be a more interesting place... -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Thanks a bunch for the ideas everyone.

Hell, I already can't remember... -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

I have this friend who's interested in jumping. He went to the DZ with me when I made my first tandem, and rode up on the plane with me. Turns out, his ride down was pretty painful... For 3 days after, his sinuses were still messed up, and he couldn't hear out his left ear, from the pressure. He didn't have a cold or any other sinus trouble at the time. He wants to jump, but this is keeping him from trying. I usually don't have this problem. I can almost always regulate my sinus pressure at will, without having to do anything special. He's tried chewing gum, yawning, stretching his jaw, swallowing hard, blowing while closing his nose... Nothing works, he says. I do know how he feels, though. Last Saturday, I was on a load after having a week-long series of colds. Before the jump I thought I was fine... Long story short, I had to ride the plane down, and despite the fact that the pilot took it slow for me, well... I know why my friend thinks this will keep him from jumping... Oww... Does anyone out there have any ideas that might help? He's willing to try anything... Thanks in advance guys.

Hell just THINKING about the smell of aircraft exhaust gets me excited, and I just started... -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Correction duly noted, and humble appology graciously accepted. For those of you who are curious, Cepheus is the name of a constellation, and refers to 'Cepheus the King.' I didn't choose the name on this basis, though. I saw it, thought it was cool, so I picked it, THEN decided I needed to know what it meant. That 'The King' business is just an extra bonus. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Erm, I'm a 'He.' Thanks for the welcome though! Hehe -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Huhuhuh I like the 'Hidden Settings.' -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Maybe I'll ask my instructor about that. It does sound like a good idea. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Thanks for the help and support everyone.

Fear isn't the problem, I think. I'm fine once I get to the door, and start the exit count. By then I'm pretty much committed to the jump (in my mind anyway), and besides, the way the wind hits me gets me going, hehe >shakes head

Why, thank you! It was really a spur of the moment kinda thing... I tend to do a lot of that, lately.

Ok, so I'm pretty much a skydive newbie. 7 jumps, 4 of which were tandems. In those 3 AFF jumps, I've managed to screw up 2 of them (both level 4). In both of them, I exit fine, go into my PRCTs fine, check altitude, and immediately start into an uncontrollable right spin... Everything I try to correct it seems to fail... So my JM for my most recent jump (yesterday) tells me that if all else fails, just relax. Easier said than done, right? So how do you (or did you) get to the point where you can 'just relax'? I had this point fully on my mind during yesterday's jump, and still I was extremely stressed. Though I do have one thing to be proud of, yesterday... I stood up my first landing

I'm still doing my AFF training. My first 4 jumps were tandems, which were pretty easy because I was attached to another person that I trusted (3 of 4 of those tandems were with the same guy). On my first AFF jump (level 3), I was pretty scared, but relatively OK because I knew I'd have jumpmasters with me. That, and I'd jumped just the weekend before... Then I had to wait two weeks before my next jump. The anxiety I felt while in that plane was the WORST I had ever felt in my entire life. The ENTIRE ride up was fraught with 'I can't do this, what was I thinking? Yes I can, hell, I've done this 5 times before. No, I'm nuts, call it off. Shut up, yeh you can, don't wuss out. No YOU shut up, I'm riding down with this plane. No you're not! Yes I am! No you're NOT.' Then Tinya asks "Are you ready to skydive?" Before I could think, I yelled, "Hell yes!" Then went back to the tennis match in my head... It was only after I got out onto the door that I started calming down. I was doing something, I had something to concentrate on rather than the nervousness. Course, once I was out the door I was fine. Well, except for that right spin... sigh. -- Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

Always the ones with the deceptively innocent-looking icons, isn't it? And thanks for the welcome

>>snaps to attention