murphyka

Thanks for the advice - I am going to the Tunnel at Perris in late April. We have two hours of tunnel time plus 10 jumps scheduled over 3 days. If I don't get started now, I'm sure that I will be hurtin for some advil!!! Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

All of you are an inspiration!!! I have been trying to get over that first committment hump in the past week to kick off some weight loss. Back in college I had gained way more than the "freshman 15" and finally got with the program. I did the Body-for-Life program and lost 30 lbs. I remember how great I felt. Slowly but surely, I have gained the majority of that weight back over the past 5 years and I'm ready to feel that way again. Thanks for the inspiration and keep up the good work!!

WHOOP!!! Yep, we are everywhere!!!! Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

Dave's right, Aggieland is one of a kind. You won't find a better mix of people in that town. Make sure to stop by "The Chicken" to play some bones and then go next door and chow down on a "Monster" (burrito) at Freebirds while you're at it. I really miss that place!!! If you can't make it out to Aggieland, be sure to come to Spaceland and we'll make sure to show you a good time. Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

It has nothing to do with whining.....I has everything to do with you being an ass to the guy. You could have gotten your point across in a better way than you did. I'd hate to sit next to you in a plane not because "you" smell like ass, it's your damn attitude! Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

Way to go, Elf. My thoughts exactly!! Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

I am however emotionally scarred from being forced to wear a bumper suit for an entire day . I got a chance to watch the video of that jump on Sunday after the meet. Yoshi, you are definitely a trooper for hanging on that long, especially after seeing the strain on Conway's face looking back at you. I know that whole situation would have scared the piss out of me. I think as a reward, us bellyfliers might just have to arrange an SCR jump for you! Cory, I think you got off so easy on the bumper suit. Although it looked nice, I still think you could have found one much more colorful!! We'll work on that one for your next day of fun and adventure! And by the way, you flew awesome for a freeflyer....tunnel rat!!!! Conway, you did all you could to make things easier for Yoshi. I'd be more than gracious for your efforts. Very worthy of a beer afterwards. I agree that jump #5 sucked!!!! Here's hopin' for some blue in the sky for the weekend!! Kim Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

Pretty much all skill levels are welcome. I don't want to put a jump number requirement on it. I think most people know if they are qualified to participate. Last year we had a person with only 70 jumps on the winning team, so it is hard to say. -OK We just had an impromtu 4-way scramble at Spaceland with a 10 team turnout. My team came in first with me as the newbie (57 jumps). I would recommend all newbie jumpers to take advantage of a GREAT learning experience! It's a blast! Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

Oh my!! Eeeewwww!!!! I'm so confused about what I just saw That can't be normal? Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

Trent - you have way too much time on your hands! Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

AAAAaaaahhhh ha ha ha!!!!! That was a good one! Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

You sure about that? Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

I totally agree having seen your landing first hand. Had the ground not been in the condition that it was, I think you would probably be getting x-rays. I know that you have been really patient about getting off of your injury, but I would wait until you are 100% before getting back in the air. I would think that depending on a PLF landing isn't the way to go. Be safe, not sorry.... Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

I hate mouth noises in general. They just make my skin crawl. It's especially bad when it's really quiet in the room and someone is sitting there hoggin' down some chow like nobody's listening. Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

At Texas A&M we have something called Car Pool, its an organization that hangs out at all the bars in town and gives folks a ride home for free. Its helped a LOT. There's 45,000 student here, so yup, I understand! Hey, I took that a time or two while I was there. And the best thing was that it was free!!! Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

I agree. It takes 20 jumps to graduate the STP program at Spaceland. I would usually do 4 or 5 jumps in a weekend. After that first jump, your nerves bother you a little less and you are able to concentrate better on what your body in doing in the air. Plus, you get to evaluate that jump and do it again if you need to. Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

I just got over a severe sinus infection where I had started using afrin because I thought that I was suffocating at night. The doctor told me that using Afrin is one of the worst things that you can do. It is highly addictive and can damage the membranes in your nose. He said that once your mucus membranes in your nose are damaged, you will need to use it all the time to be able to breathe normally. He gave me a prescription for Allegra-D and it helps with the congestion. You might want to try that. Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

I know exactly what you mean about being a little nervous now that you have had a reserve ride. I had my first this past weekend on jump 50. I too have gotten some comments from people with really high jump numbers that I had plenty of time to work on my problem, but at the time, you just make that decision. I also got rid of my handles and was thinking, "you dumbass, you're supposed to keep them!" as I watched them disappear to the ground. Then I didn't care because it hit me that I had just cut away. Hopefully I will have my new handles in so that I can get back in the air as quick as possible and get rid of those jitters as well. I have to admit that I am going to be nervous. Here's to Blue Skies for the Superbowl! Kim Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

Think about how far up the line the loop is for stowing your brake. Now think about how far you have to pull down one toggle to get your canopy to turn. It's not that much of a difference. Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

Quote"I grabbed my rear risers to prepare to kick out the line twist" Can anyone tell me why it's necessary to grab onto one's rear risers before kicking out of a twist? Also, I keep seeing posts where jumpers go into a spin after deployment, due to one break being unstowed. Why should this be? Surely when breaks are unstowed, they just hang loose, not tight, thus there shouldn't be any flare on that particular side of the canopy? Quote Think about the position that your toggles are in when you make a turn...one is up and the other down. That is the situation when you have a brake release...one toggle is still stowed and is in tension (as if you were pulling down on it) and the other is released (as if you were letting it fly). The longer the toggles stay in that position, the faster you spin. I was taught that when you had a line twist, hold on to your rear risers and kick your legs in the opposite direction of the twist. I think that holding on to your risers gives you a little more stability and resistence to kick in the opposite direction. I don't know for sure that it is a necessity to hold onto them. Maybe someone else can shed some light on that one. Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

One thing that I keep in mind is what an instructor told me on a marginally windy day..."If the wind sock has a hard-on, someone is going to get screwed!" I have NO PROBLEM sitting out in high winds. It only takes watching one incident to convince me of that! Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

[*** There is a huge difference between being supportive and re-enforcing improper procedures or actions. A buddy will tell you if your doing something wrong even if it hurts your feelings or pisses you off. I understand completely. There were many experienced jumpers watching from the ground that offered tips and alternatives of what to do in the situation that I was in. Hopefully, after a little more experience and learning more and more about the performance of my canopy, if I run into this situation again I won't be so quick to chop. AND hopefully I won't be in as much of a panic mode and be a little more aware. Thanks for the tips, they are appreciated. Blue Skies, Kim Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

Had I thought that I had "tons" of time, I probably would have tried to unstow my other toggle to try to fix the spiral. I am just getting to the point where I can comfortably complete 2 - 180 spiral turns and feel like I have total control over what I am doing. I know that recovery from a spiral does not happen instantaneously. The spiral that I was experiencing was much faster than anything that I had attempted or necessarily want to attempt. Again, I am stressing to you that I am inexperienced and still learning about EVERYTHING from flying my body to flying my canopy. I wouldn't say that the way that I handled this was perfect, or the way that others like yourself would have, but I wouldn't say that deciding to cut when I did was a mistake either. The mistake that I will definitely admit to is dropping the handles that are costing me to replace! Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

Thanks Jim, I have really enjoyed all of the jumps that I have made with you guys. I feel like I learn so much every time. Thank you so much for taking the time to be such a great teacher. It's people like you that keep me coming back every weekend! See you this weekend! Kim- Blue Skies!!! Kimmy

Hmmm...very interesting. I know that there were a couple of things that I could have done to fix the problem. I did think to unstow my brakes and try to get out of the spin, BUT I didn't feel at that split second that I had enough time. Maybe that will come with experience. Keep in mind that you have over 3,000 jumps and I only have 50. I would think that you would realize that if you are put in that situation with very low jump numbers that you would be a little less likely to work on the problem than to just focus on saving your life. I was already approaching my hard deck altitude and did not know for sure how much altitude fixing the problem would have taken. You also have to keep in mind that I was over a field that is nothing but trees and brush as well power lines. I wanted to be under a functional canopy at a safe altitude to be able to make it back to the dropzone. Last time anyone landed there, the outcome ended in a fatality. I'm sorry that you think that it might be shallow for me to post about having survived a very scary situation for me. I was not fishing for pats on the back. My post was merely to inform newbies of an experience that could happen to them and maybe fish for some advice from more experienced jumpers of what I could have done to prevent or fix the malfunction. You did just that. Too bad you had to be an ass about it. Thanks any way. Blue Skies, Kim Blue Skies!!! Kimmy