mfrese

Nice one, Matt! Aren't chainsaws great? At least it sounds like it wasn't running at the time. Unfortunately, I had a little incident with a running one many years ago...took about 40 stitches inside and out to close it up. But for future reference, it tends to mangle blood vessels so badly that they don't bleed all that much. Kinda neat seeing what color your muscles actually are, but it's probably more fun to see someone else's... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Sorry to hear about your ding, Sunny, and hope you heal quick. Had to get my wife out of that field a few years ago after she broke her back from a bad landing, but at least it wasn't muddy then. It was kinda fun having her in a body cast for 8 weeks, but I can't say I recommend it to people who don't have current SOs...anyway, good luck and heal fast. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I don't have tme to catalogue ALL of them...but trust me, you ain't alone. I'm 47 dude, and believe me, there is no more appropriate phrase I've heard in the last 5 years than "getting old ain't for pussies"... When I was twenty, I used to buy Advil in the 24-tablet bottle...when I was thirty, I bought the 50 Gelcap bottle...after forty, I want to the 200 Liquigel size, and I'm starting to wish Costco sold Advil in the same size as the "family sized drum o' pretzels".

I'm not familiar with your DZ, but one thing you may want to talk over with an instructor is whether you would have been better off doing a brief downwind run to get to a better landing area. I've watched people in high winds time after time just hang pointing into the wind from about 2000' on down and land in ditches, fields, rocks, etc., when a quick downwind run with plenty of time to turn back into the wind would get them to a clear area. I remember Marty (current or former S&TA at Byron) coming up to scream at me when I did this back when I had about 100 jumps...after we talked, he decided that where I landed (next to the loading area) was probably a better choice than where I would have landed (in a 7 foot ditch with 2 feet of water) if I hadn't taken a downwind run, so he decided I was OK after all... If you do this, make sure you're comfortable with your canopy control in high winds, make sure you do it with enough altitude that you aren't having to make a low turn to get back into the wind, and DO flare unless your descent rate is soft enough to allow you to land on your ass without injury. Why on your ass? When doing tandems in really high winds, I generally don't even attempt to land standing up anymore, catchers or not...one launch with a 160 guy landing in my lap was enough to convince me that getting dragged (but only for a few feet, since I also follow AD's advice and disconnect the RSL when it's that windy, so I can chop if I have to) is way better than getting launched and landing 15 feet away, then getting dragged. Either way, sounds like you did pretty well under the circumstances...hell, you're ready for Byron in the summertime! Come on out to Cali! Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I have never let a student help me land. Heard too many horror stories about big guys doing great up top and them locking up at the last second. I make every effort to let them control the canopy from opening down to about 1000 feet, depending on their attitude and ability, as it really does seem to help prevent nausea if they're "in control", and also helps me save my strength on a busy day. It really does help to weight train if you're doing tandems IMHO, and the "TM workout" AggieDave posted is a pretty good one to follow if you're interested in training. It'll certainly help during what I hope will be a busy summer. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I always disconnect, loosen, and reconnect the laterals. Gives you plenty of maneuvering room, but keeps things out of the way. I always have a hard time finding the D-rings on the front of the Sigma harness, so it's easier to reconnect to the rig. Doesn't the Sigma harness rock! I bought one just to be able to quit dicking around with the legstraps on larger students. It's kind of funny the way some TMs are practically afraid of the damn things, though...just looks like too many straps, and the top hooks are in the wrong position. The ease of adjustment and the increased comfort for the student don't seem to be important enough to justify the expense, I guess... As for telling the students, I ALWAYS tell them during the briefing that I'm going to disconnect the laterals. I've found that, generally, the more you treat them like students instead of sheep, the better they respond. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Hey, not only do you rock for the great job running Gravity Gear, you are also the queen of the Byron Boogie, too! So you definitely rock...and Jett's pretty cute, too, so that doesn't hurt. Sorry, I've only met Lisa via the phone (when she was still at Square One), I've never met Arlo (even though I've bought stuff at TSO...), but you guys seriously rock as well! Keep it up, and hold on to some stuff for when we get to Florida later in the year, huh? Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Well, the easy answer is: if you have to ask...probably. But since you were skipping to get beer when you're happy about a new lens...for a skydiver, that's about as butch as you can get. If you were skipping to make a fresh Cosmopolitan while checking out the latest apricot facial scrub you got at Macy's...then yes, definitely gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Whew! Thanks for collecting all this data, as Dave said, great information for new and experienced TMs as well. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

As long as they don't burn my tongue......or add any odd, metallic flavors...or, again, remind me in any way of baloney...then it's all good. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Nope...but the nipple clamps come in standard sizes, so I measured those. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Nah...my vision sucks though...I have to get REAL close... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Hmmm...the best nipples are the kind whose owners are willing to let you play with them... But as for physical characteristics...IMHO, the best nipple has an areola about 1.5 inches across, pinkish-brown in color, with a nipple that hardens with gentle attention to about 1/2 inch around and about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch high. The areola should darken and crinkle up tightly while this is happening... and it should never, ever look anything like baloney at any time. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Actually, I talked to several people at MY DZ Seriously, it is pretty rare, and the hang glider pilots who land close to the fence are generally the more experienced pilots of the guys that fly here. My only concern is that they seem to be getting more people in the air all the time, and (as hookitt pointed out) they seem to be spending more time flying around the water trough in the middle of our LZ that students and low-timers use as a marker to line up base and final approach legs. AFF students are probably going to be a little freaked to see ANYTHING below them beside parachutes, and it just opens up possibilities for problems that we haven't had here yet. I may talk to the DZO and get him to discuss a few things with the hang glider operation just to make sure we don't run into any problems. Thanks everyone for their feedback. Mike Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

OK, been avoiding this thread, but I must comment on this one... Many years ago, my ex-wifes roommate had her boobs done, and almost immediately after the, ahem, swelling went down, she started asking me to feel them to see if they felt "real". Since I was the only guy around the house, she kept after me about it for like four days, at which point my ex finally told me to go for it just to shut her up. So, I felt them. Thoroughly. Repeatedly. Both, and with both hands. (Guys, try this sometime with someone you barely know with your wife or SO looking on...tons of fun.) I finally told her they felt great, perfectly natural, couldn't be better. (Several years later, my friends couldn't figure out why the almost identical scene in that John Candy movie "Summer Rental" had me literally ROTFLMAO...) I lied. They felt like what they were: rather large bags of silicone gel with a layer of boobie over the top. Not that there's anything wrong with that...but I still prefer the unaltered article, of any size. Besides, breasts are not important...now nipples...nipples are very important.

Are there any other DZs that have hang glider operations in their vicinity? If so, do you have any special rules of operation you use to prevent any incursion issues? I ask this because Hollister happens to share their LZ with a hang gliding operation. I've never come close to any of them in the air until last Saturday, when I was flying above and around a hang glider who was trying to land close to the fence where our jumpers normally land. No real problem, but it did give me a little extra stress (in the middle of my 10th jump on a 2.1:1 loaded Velocity) in the pattern. I'm just wondering how this is addressed anywhere else (if at all). Thanks, Mike Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

All three DZs I've jumped at PRO pack their Icarus mains. At Hollister, I think they've only had one chop in the last 8 months or so, and if I recall, that one was due to, yes, a stepthrough (NOT packed by our regular packers). Good packers can PRO pack these canopies very effectively, and I've never once come close to having a mal on any of them (looking around for wood to knock on...). They can occasionally open so slowly that I've started yanking toggles to get it to open, but no mals. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Just for the record, I'd argue that getting a stepthrough invalidates the "100% top notch" statement. Can't think of a more fundamental mistake that proves a packer didn't do their job right... But back to the thread...had 1 chop in almost 500 tandems, due to line twists. Icarus 365 main, wound up in about 7 twists, and those Vectran lines just wouldn't move. Worked it for about 1000 feet, then said see ya. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

WTF is a sprack?! Edited to add: You tea-drinkin', post-whorin' wuss! Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Actually, Texas still looks pretty normal next to California, podna...if we have a "most embarassing state" contest, we're gonna win hands down. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Must have been the "condom" part that embarassed them...maybe they're Catholic. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Yes...but not about your coffee drinking. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Depends on the conditions and the time of year. During the winter, we do it for the warmth and the likelihood of landing on slightly muddy ground. During the summer, the same ground has little bits of dry grass and 11 varieties of weeds with shit that sticks to you, and is hard as concrete, so we MAY put them in suits depending on the conditions. Plus, we got these really cool German Air Force jumpsuits from a surplus place, so they get to look like Luftwaffe pilots or something. Ugly as hell, but most people like them, damned if I can figure out why. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Sweet stuff, Mike. Good thing that didn't happen to either arm, there's no way you'd be able to carry your beer in one hand and the Don Julio in the other... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Can't wait to see it, Tim...still glad you guys are OK, still owe you both beer on demand, John dropped in to H-town on Saturday, and was telling us some of the stories of stuff you guys have done in the past...so I was right, you do do shit like this all the time. He mentioned something about a sheet, the roof, and the two of you deciding to skydive for the first time... Take it easy, hope to see ya soon. Mike Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash