dkavadikian

Agreed, SRV is a monster! One of my favorite SRV tunes, Lenny, this song too has everything. Oh ya and you'll need another 9 minutes to kill... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFS_4nAfF4k I saw Ronnie Earl in a small club just by chance and I've been moved ever since. This is a Freddie King cover "The Stumble". Not much live video of Ronnie Earl online but if youre ever in the New England area check him out you wont be disappointed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwju9ksnz3A&feature=related Doug

Count me and the wife are in, cant wait to go back!!!

Well I believe "doing it for the media" is just another form of pushing your own limits. Demos are a good example of that, you could make that landing 100 times, but in front of 2000 people it becomes that much more difficult. I think the same rules apply here, if the norm for you is doing it for the media then that is your comfort zone and you will get hurt pushing THAT envelope. Some would say "you WILL get hurt or die if you do it..." not for the media but base jumping at all, whether or not it is for the media, or for you, doing a solo at a spot that only you know about. Doing it for the media may be crossing the line to your friend but 5 years from now your friend may have moved forward in his progression, and doing it for the media maybe the norm for him. Just a thought... I think we all justify our own limits, I do what I do in this sport and in my mind I justify what i do by staying in my comfort zone. These decisions allow me to regulate the amount of risk (real or perceived) I'm willing to accept and this rationalization keeps me skydiving. Reality is I could die every time I exit, but another reality is (I work in a level 1 trauma center in a large city) people end up in the ICU or morgue from walking down the street ALL the time, everyday, NO EXCEPTIONS. So Im in my comfort zone and it works for me, compared to most people I know, Im crazy. According to a lot of skydivers Jeb/your friend is/are crazy. And so the circle of life continues...

This isn't directed towards you particularly you were just last on the lest to reply. I think Jeb, like all of us, go through a progression, I'm not sure if he is pushing the envelope just to grandstand or he is just like every swooper out there. Pushing a new level and then getting in a new comfort zone and then pushing it farther. Who knows. Hes just evolving in a way that seems normal to him. Here is a video of Jeb talking about Westons death, at the end of the vid he talks like 5 feet is ridiculous but apparently that's the norm for him now. That was LESS than 10 years ago. Peoples "norms" change... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xceW5DAMRfg On a side note it is a sad commentary that or sport has become so "see look I told you he was going to go in". We do the same thing with swoopers now, cut the guy some slack, he is doing what he wants, "blazing a trail" if you will. Like Rich said, I get from non skydivers, parents, friends "have you ever flown a squirrel suit? that looks cool." "I wouldn't jump from a plane but that looks like something I would like to do." Thats when I tell them they should try a tandem first, if they stick with it they realize for themselves what actually goes into being good enough to do what someone like Jeb does. I dont know the guy, Ive heard people talk but Ive never met him. Our sport used to be a "brotherhood", I guess that has changed as well. The dude got hurt and I hope he gets better.

As for the bed... We put a temperpedic foam mattress in ours and it was the best decision we made, it absorbed vibrations from things like the generator, people yelling, cars running outside and it reduced the frequency of me waking her up when I would get up or go to bed when she was sleeping. We used our 5th wheel from just weekend trips to the DZ to fulltiming around the US for years at a time. I couldn't believe how much of a difference it made to our RV experience. I go where I'm towed!! Good Times!! Enjoy!!

Thinking about Lee this week and especially today. Certainly not forgotten. Mum I hope you, Mike, and the whole family are finding some peace. Brandy continue to grow, Lee is with you. We're looking forward to seeing you. Lee as soon as Kimberly gets home we will be pouring one out for you. Be rude not to. Doug

We should break this off into a Tebow lovers club.

Expectations, I get what you're saying. But I do think he plays to the cameras, if not then he would be doing that kneel extended prayer thing constantly, in practice, at press conferences, at the bank. I guess I could say if he wasn't doing it they wouldn't be shoving the cameras in his face... I find it obnoxious, not the kneeling thing specifically but the playing to the cameras, btw in professional sports he's not alone. I get that the religious sort feel like he's their boy, being persecuted and they want to come to his defense but from the purely football standpoint I could do without all of the melodramatic theatrics. Speaking of football, its on! Good day. Also, you sound like my brother, definite Tebow man crush, he lives in Z-hills, must be in the water.

That was almost a SC response, Listen I really don't care, I typically don't post in forums I just saw a thread that related to exactly what me and all of my friends were saying via text while watching Thur night football, so no I won't be finding any links and such. I dont HOPE anything for the guy, hes just a player with some sorta fantasy value to me, heck I tried to pick him up on waivers for one of my fantasy teams. As far as I'm concerned he's a race horse and if he"s on my team I expect/hope hell perform. I just get tired, quickly, of the overacting by him, the over-hyping by the commentators, and the overt love and idolization the masses put on someone THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW. And contrary to what you say I don't think there was/is an expectation for him to do well I think prognosticators all said he wouldn't even get drafted much less start or win... Its all just a bit much for me, stop with all the theatrics and just play ball. Also, what did you mean about the commentators, as long as they get results?? What results are they getting? Most commentators are hired as a favor or because they won a couple of championships. Most, not all, but most aren't particularly insightful or knowledgeable they're just there running their mouths giving their opinions. I don't think they have a crush on him they just want to be the one to say "I knew he was great" and "remember when I said hes something special..." It's all good.

Baby Jesus as he is affectionately referred to in the Gainesville area is full of shit. Aside from the fact that the commentators say things like "this is tebow ball" and "its something magical when hes playing tball" Sometimes its difficult to even understand these commentators they have Tebows genitals so deep down their throats. More annoying is the credit he received AND accepted while at Gainesville. Tebow started behind Phil Trautwein AND the Pouncey twins all three started as rookies in the NFL. One of the Pounceys started for the Steelers who went to the Superbowl. Think about that, he dominated in one of the more dominate defenses in the NFL. Of course Tebow succeeded! Without that OL at FL Tebow would not have walked on water the way he did. So when these reporters would talk to him about "his" accomplishments he would duck his head and say "aw shucks", but never stop them and say actually I owe it ALL to my line. D Bag!! I have NO respect, its his RESPONSIBILITY to speak up and give credit where credit is due. Tebow will have limited success, he is talented and has a skillset, limited as it may be, but eventually he will be exposed and will disappear the same way Dante Culpepper did and Mike Vick is. AND me thinks Baby Jesus is hiding something dark in the closet, its just not normal, he overacts this religious thing. Notice during the thur night game after he scores the TD, he is "Tebowing" on the sideline and his teamates come to pat him on the back and he starts to open his eyes and look up and realises the cameras are still on him and he closes his eyes again and goes back to mouthing some words and contorting his face as if he is invoking the spirit right there on the sidelines. Ridiculous! Somethings up, Thou doth protest too much!

Ill play... Really anything from Kill em All, it defined my teenage years. In 83 I was 13/14 and getting angry :) and this was what I was all about. The Four Horsemen (Mechanix) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4nCy5CITc8 Seek and Destroy w/Dave Mustaine of course http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqMEopDdJhw Battery from Master of Puppets -I remember buying this "tape" from Peaches record store and listening to this first track cranked in the car driving home and thinking about how great this will be in concert. I was 16/17 and had just bought this '68 Mustang, life was good. I wonder where that car is now? i think it was right after that Cliff Burton was killed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNPKsMtpOHc&feature=related Its hard to choose, like most of us I relate music to different times in my life and its sometimes hard to separate the music and the times... Thanks for giving me a reason to get out all of my old Metallica and listen again. College football muted with Metallica playing. Doug

I towed my 35ft 5ver for 3.5 years around the country working. Fl to IL to CO to SoCal to Norcal and just about every combination in between. I started my trip with a Ford F350 Diesel, in the first 7 months of traveling the Ford burned the turbo twice, the heads twice, the egr cooler 3 times, the egr valve and the radiator. Eventually the Ford died for good (while in Denver) and when I towed it in to the dealer they called me and informed me that "Ford has voided your warranty and will no longer be authorizing work on the vehicle". I didnt think they could do that, but thats what happened. I went to Dodge and got a 2500 with the Cummins and have put 80k of hard towing since (including Mojave in the summer), its been trouble free. The towing experience is totally different, the Ford was a V8 and was constantly downshifting when going up and down hills and mountain roads. The Dodge has a big 6 and has more low end torque. I get 16 mpg while towing and 22 hwy while not towing. I dont work otr anymore and my RV is parked at Skydance and I still use my truck to commute and it has still needed nothing but oil change and routine maintenance, (and some body work when someone ran into it in the DZ parking lot). On principal alone I will NEVER buy a Ford again. Im sure I was just unlucky with that truck, but the way Ford treated me and the legal team they presented when I tried to get full credit back on my purchase was unforgivable. My problems were WELL documented and I thought it would have been an open and shut case, it was a horrible experience from beginning to end... Every RV park we would go to when we talked about the trouble we had with the truck "most" fulltimers would direct us to Dodge. Also, talking to the Ford Diesel mechanics which we got used to because it was in the shop 11 times in those first 7 months, would say how bad all but the old 7.3l diesels were, and if you dont have the original 7.3 you WILL have problems if you try to tow heavy loads on a regular basis. BTW I originally bought the Ford because of owner loyalty I have always owned Fords, I was a "ford man" (pretty ridiculous, I know) Good luck and have fun, RV'ing is good times. Doug

other SF things to do/see... Rent bikes and ride across gg bridge and into sausalito and have lunch and then take the ferry back. There is a zip line that goes through the redwoods, its about 1.5 hours north of the city. cool, fun, cant be afraid of heights... There are numerous walking tours through the city, the last one i was on when we had visitors was an architectural tour, enlightened us as to what "popos" were (privately owned public open space). It was only a couple of hours and enjoyable even for the resident. Of course wine tasting/drinking Any photogs in the group? goto the marin headlands, classic shots of the city through the gg bridge (had a rock slide maybe under construction) Lemme know if you want specifics about any of the above. Doug

If i remember correctly, and its been a while, I believe it was the east side of the airport. I seem to remember a field next to a road on the east side. Who knows, it was all a blur... Doug

Right! I did my first aff off the rear deck of a Casa. I had trouble with the speed of the Casa exit and remember thinking when i get back home im gonna getthe hang of these rear deck planes... The next time i jumped a Casa was the following year at the WFFC. I assumed every dz would have a Casa. That was just the beginning of a long list of revelations in skydiving. Doug