betzilla

The next course at Skydive Chicago is November 1st thru 8th. There is one at the tail end of March as well. For info go to www.para-concepts.com, or call 815-434-6094.

I would LOVE to put my BF on that show . And I would love for those kooky queers to come redo our house, too. My sweetie could use the fashion advice, but our house is a PIT, and we need major help . But the thing that really hooks me to that show, is the sweet romantic stuff the straight guy always does for the girl -- maybe your GF just wants you to dress up a bit and cook her dinner. It's the thought behind it, not the transformation, ya know?

I'll second that. Also, Swoop 2 is pretty damn entertaining.

The USPS not government-run, although their incompetancy and name would make it seem that way. They are no more government run than the USPA is.

Also zero for any one who gives even a tiny shit about the environment.

Nope. USPS is privately owned. So they have no excuse for sucking.

Babykins Sylvan

sounds like you're not too far from SDC either, lady. :) Congrats - you deserve something great to happen!

I have a bajillion photos of Amelia, the Siamese kitten from last year's nationals, around here somewhere. I'll have to find them.

My boyfriend jumped in his walking cast (he called it a juping cast) quite a bit with his broken foot. BUT, he was extremely experienced, and had his landings dialed in. Even then he knew he was taking a huge risk. He was taking AFP students and would say, " there's one extra rule on this jump: if you step on my foot, you fail."

Here's the update on the "broken" Neptune I sent in. it turns out the whole thing was user error. And it could have been easily avoided by simply reading the owners manual. Kathy was gracious about the whole thing, as usual. So of course I will order some more Neptunes to sell in my store

Is that like a love slave?

Oh, what a sweet story! I love my little furballs tot he point where I would spend major $$ on them if they needed it too.

Oops. Sorry about that. I know there are a lot of skydivers who work that type of job out there, too.

UGH! Sorry. Can I edit my poll? Military -- isn't that the same as independantly wealthy? ...

Oh, poor kitty! I have 2 black cats myself (named "Tiny" and "X-Ray"). They're the best. I wish Shadow a speedy recovery and lots of canned food.

I'm curious what you all do that allows you to surf dz.com all day long. I sell skydiving gear, so I can actually get away with doing this at work, in the name of "drunning up business."

Yes, we sell ours as cheaply as possible. But the Cypres 1 is no longer available new, and the Cypres 2 is quite expensive right now. That means, the fair market value for used Cypres 1's is higher than it used to be.

I suck like a Hoover.

Maybe they're just jerks? You can't control the way others behave -- sometimes you can't even understand it. But you can control your own reaction to it. The problem is theirs, not yours. Stick with your groovy nickname, and fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.

CASA -- I love tailgate jumps, and I'm way too lazy to open the door myself

Privacy would be preferable, but I think it can be talked about it public as long as nobody's being a jerk. For that matter, when someone IS being a jerk, yelling and flapping arms, etcetera, most people standing around will realize that something's not quite right. Probably the only one who lost face was the other guy, ESPECIALLY if he was less experienced than you.

That sucks! {{{{{healing rays to bikerbabe}}}}} I broke my leg last season, os here's my advice on how to stay sane through recovery: Enjoy your morphine drip while your in the hospital -- the memory of it will get you through many hard times ahead . go to www.mybrokenleg.com for support. there is a broken leg discussion page and chat page where you can get information, share healing vibes and vent your frustrations. I would've been lost without it. Tell them Betsy sent you

I'll second Skybytch's estimate, but would increase the value of the Cypres. You can't get a new Cypres for less than $1200 in the states, so I'd say any price up to $3200 is fair (as long as the main is in good condition). $3000 would be realy good price.

Static line was great for me -- it all happens in really small steps, so it wasn't AS overwhelming as I think AFF must be. But you might just do better with a program of freefall jumps that is longer than 7 levels -- something like the Integrated Student Program. And/Or take a road trip to a wind tunnel and get in there for a few minutes -- it would probably make a huge difference. IN any case, awareness is something that grows with each jump. With only 5 jumps, you have to expect things to be a little rocky: imagine trying to learn to ride a bike just one minute at a time, once a week. It would have taken you forever! But that's what we do when we learn to jump, and that's probably why people who are able to jump 2 or 3 times per jump day as students, tend to graduate after fewer jumps -- their learning curve is steeper because the repetitions are closer together. Good luck! If you really want it, you'll get the hang of it. Be patient with yourself too. there's an awful lot to learn, so you can't expect to learn it overnight.