kryos

That's one of the best I've heard in a while. I guess what would qualified as one of the stupidist, if not funniest, comments was one that, sadly, I made during my first jump. For background, you have to realize that I had never been aboard a small aircraft before. I didn't honestly realize how small they could be. So ... four of us are boarding a Cessna 182. Me, my tandem instructor and a freefall student and his instructor. I'm the first to climb in because I'm supposed to sit with my back against the pilot's seat. I was still marveling at how small this plane was, and wondering how the hell four of us were gonna fit into it. As I begin hoisting myself in, I notice the pilot sitting at the controls. He's wearing a parachute. "Wow! He gets to jump too?" I turn and ask of my tandem instructor, who was crawling into the plane right behind me. At least my instructor had the decency to keep a straight face. The other student, just climbing onto the step, actually fell off and onto the ground. He was doubled over in laughter. This airplane was so tiny that I honestly thought it could be landed by remote control. Sad, huh? :) Blue skies ... --rita

That's an easy problem to solve. Get your wife involved in the sport too. If she doesn't care to jump, fine ... get her involved in the dz lifestyle. She'll make her own friends, find her niche, and perhaps come to love the sport as much as you do. Blue skies and enjoy your time in them! --rita

Sorry to say, that be you, my friend. When you choose to pay a packer (as I usually did), you don't absolve yourself of the responsibility for the pack job. If something goes wrong, as it obviously did in your case, it's the same as if you packed the mal. I feel your pain, believe me. Same thing happened to me, and I never got the main back either. I wound up having to spend about $1,300 to replace everything ... at this was at a time when I really didn't have an extra $1,300 to spare. In my case, though, I packed my own mal ... and a good one at that. All the lines were twisted up ... nice big tension knot. There was no way I could land it, so I had to chop. My bad luck was that it happened late on a Sunday afternoon. Most of the jumpers had already left the dz. Thus, there were only a handful left who could take off to go look for the main. Sadly, they were too late. Someone traveling along the roadway obviously saw it coming down and snagged it. No other explanation is possible. A 220 square foot pink and aqua canopy simply doesn't vanish into thin air. Blue skies, and sorry about your loss ... --rita

Actually just a little bit further ... the rec.dot boogie where I got all "sloppy" on the landing field. :) How is Pudge, by the way? Blue skies! --rita

Thank you for your patience, and for educating me a bit about how dropzone.com works. I appreciate the referral to the Classified ads, and I have since posted my information there. Again, I apologize for my violation of the rules, and appreciate your understanding. Blue skies ... --rita

I guess I don't consider it advertising because it introduces me. The book is my story ... the story of my long student progression ... and progression that involved many of my fellow skydivers ... many who appear in the pages of the book. They were the ones who cheered me on, they were the ones who commiserated with me so often at the bonfire when nothing I tried ... and no matter how hard I tried it ... seemed to work. It took a long time, and only one person had that magic key that got through to me ... made me forget my fear of instability and allowed me to fly like a bird. He's the one who finally was able to sign me off student status ... after two long years of trying to get there. So, this is why I don't consider my post strictly an advertisement. That term as applied to it seems so cold. Many have asked me repeatedly in emails when my book was going to be available. You see, I took just as long with it as I did with my student progression. I began writing it in the evenings, as I sat in my wheelchair at the kitchen table, recovering from my injury back in 1999. I spent four months in that wheelchair and got the first draft done during that time. Then it sat on the shelf because I didn't think it was any good. I sent manuscript copies to a few friends ... trusted ones ... who told me to publish it. It wasn't until about two years later that a publishing industry friend told me that I should take the manuscript off the shelf, get a professional editor, and go the self-publishing route. That was a year ago. This book is a piece of my life, and it involves so many of my friends. That's why I don't consider my post strictly advertising. But if the classifieds section is where you want me to put it, then that is what I will do. I'm sorry if I've offended you or violated a rule of this board. I promise I won't do it again. Blue skies ... --rita

Hi, I've hung out over on wreck.dot for some time, but never really spent much time here. I am a currently inactive jumper ... busted myself up about four years ago on a botched landing ... then went to law school, developed new career interests, got fat, and just never got back to jumping. But, there's always the future and law school is almost over. For those who know me, I have a sordid student progression ... long and drawn out ... but, the bottom line is that I hung in there and I eventually graduated and had some really fantastic jumps in the process. I wrote a book about my experiences ... it was promised long ago to many of my good friends on wreck.dot, and I finally delivered. It's called "Falling Into Place," and it's my first book. I had some wonderful people, both in and out of skydiving, help me with it. Early reactions to it have been very positive. It's my story ... the story of what has probably been the longest skydiving student progression in the history of the sport ... close to 50 jumps. The names are changed to protect the guilty, but "insiders" will quickly figure out just who is who. If you are interested in learning more about it, you can pm me for the information. (edited by skymama). This is the only post I plan to make about the book, and please consider it informational, rather than advertising, in nature. Blue skies! --rita