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Yes, age has alot to do with it - as does the underlying condition. Seeing as I received mine at age 20 it is a different scenario, and I'm lead to believe the person in question is also of a younger age as her parents are involved in the decision - there are many many factors that come into play. I think TM need to look at all of them. Arianna Frances

Congratulations! A good presonal trainer is worth its weight in gold. I've gone through 4 of them in the last 2 years and I finally found a keeper - he's great. I worked with him last summer and when I got pregnant I was in top shape. I stopped working with him until after I delivered and now I"m only 12 lbs. away from my pre-pregnancy weight - which I owe completely to him. Of course, all last week I couldn't walk normally because last week was a very humiliating 'legs' week Guess what we're doing again tonight? Congrats again, I hope you find lots of clients! Jen Arianna Frances

While many will agree with you, this is a personal decision - my reply was only to provide a TM with as much information as possible regarding what they will have to deal with having a passenger with a pacer/icd. If she decides to jump, great - if not, thats great too; but the decision to allow her to jump because of her pacer shouldn't be left up to the mechanics of having the device alone. Trust me, those devices are much more resilient than you think - they are made of titanium after all She will have difficulty getting a signed doctors note - most are very leary of signing their name to something as dangerous as this. I've heard of doctors not allowing patients with icd's go on amusement park rides, which is ridiculous. You get the device to let you live life as normal as possible - not in a bubble. Jen Arianna Frances

Yep, 3 jumps total for AFF. Tunnel time rocks Jen Arianna Frances

I've already mentioned this to ksd - but I'll put it here for other TMs to read. From a TM point a view, a passenger with a pacemaker will make no difference. Depending on build and where the device is located you will barely know it was there. Most devices are located in the clavical/upper chest area so the harness straps will go right over it - other possible locations include the abdomen and under arm area (the former used in children/adolescents and the latter used in female patients worried about disfigurement). Personally, I've never had any problems and never felt an abnormal amount of pull in that area. If the passenger can wear a backpack without problems then the straps will not be a problem. My device manufacturer (medtronic) told me that the only concern from a device standpoint was lead dislodgement or chest contusion (blow to the chest). Lead dislodgement isn't a concern if you've had your leads (the wires that go into the heart) for more than 2 years. At that point they would have had enough time to embed into the heart wall and it would require major laser surgery to get them out - no hard opening or rough landing is going to hurt them. Chest contusion could be a real concern as it can damage the caps (where the leads connect to the device), but I've seen lots of tandems and done 5 myself, and never seen someone go face first - so as long as you don't tumble forward with great speed its not a problem. My landings were/are horrible and I've frequently tumbled forward without any trouble. So in short, there is no concern from a mechanical point of view after two years (and seriously, if her doctor tries to tell her that there is, well... he's dead wrong. Talk to someone else). The real concern is the underlying condition that requires a pacer/defib. Every place I did a tandem at required a letter from my cardiologist/electrophysiologist stating that he felt there was no medical reason why I shouldn't do a tandem skydive. My doctor is such a cool dude he went to bat for me when I was getting my license. It was very difficult finding a DZ to let me do my license requirements at but at least he was supportive. There is almost nothing different you should have to do for a patient with a pacer - the real concern is the underlying condition for the device which is why it is imperitive to require a letter from her doctor stating it is safe for her to participate. Jen Arianna Frances

eek - I like my windows programming, thankyouverymuch. I haven't touched binary/hex manipulation since my second semester in school... Good luck with that Jen Arianna Frances

.net programmer here... haven't done a TON of vb.net, I do mostly c#, but I have done some... Arianna Frances

I have a pacemaker/ICD. PM sent. Jen Arianna Frances

But of course If I had to choose between any of the DZs in New England I'd pick JTown hands down (heck, I drive 1.5 hours to get there so it must be good ), but since that wasn't an option I could only speak for Pepperell - haven't made the 4.5 hour drive up to SNE yet... If you are looking for a place to go through AFF, JTown will be your better bet. You'll have more coaches and instructors there than any other New England DZ - no lie. Even with the folks NOT on staff there is always someone to jump with if your done with your levels and just need to get your license. I did my training in FL at Sebastian (Hi Wendy!), and it was fantastic but I still wish I could have done it at JTown because of the variety of experienced folks there. I believe you will have a better overall learning experience at JTown - thier standards for students are exceptionally high for skydiving in general, not just new england. In my talks with people in the area the other dropzones will be exceptional to go to after you are licensed - they're lots of fun (SNE has some WILD parties I've heard), but as far as instruction you will probably have a better experience at JTown because the vibe is 'different' and very supportive of newbie jumpers. I have yet to hear about people having a bad learning experience at JTown, where as thats not the case for the other new england DZs (and it could have been just some folks with a chip on their shoulder but its what I've heard). Best of luck where ever you go - if you get a chance, be sure to check out JTown too. The new facilities (which I finally get to see for myself tomorrow) are getting rave reviews, and I can vouch that the people there are second to none. I love them all and miss them greatly... Jen Arianna Frances

Both of them are great - really. I did a tandem at Pepperell (my first) and it was fabulous. I haven't been to SNE yet but I hear its fabulous also. Check out Pepperell this weekend, I think the boogie is this weekend and they'll have a CASA. Jen Arianna Frances

Hey JP, That is very cool - I'm jealous in a bunch of ways. We've lived beyond our means for a while now but so far this year we've paid off $17k in debt. By the end of the year the only debt we'll have our cars (not counting the house we move into in a few weeks). I can't wait until the day I can say I'm debt free - congratulations. In today's world its a big step Now when you coming up this way to play in the tunnel - I hear you're closer now Jen Arianna Frances

Lots of books and arts and crafts stuff. No television if we can help it (although I'm guilty of putting on baby einstein DVDs for Ari) - but I'm not opposed to video games as long as they are non violent - they require more thought process than sitting in front of the 'boob tube' and I know for a fact that playing lots of tetris and pacman helped me get out of glasses faster and helped with my hand eye coordination - not to mention my love of game programming Jen Arianna Frances

Agreed! It's refreshing to hear bands that have some originality - most of this EMO punk crap makes my ears bleed, I can't stand most of the popular music out now - YYY are good for the ears Jen Arianna Frances

I'm just like you! I love throwing out stuff! Its almost liberating. We're moving in a few weeks and I can't wait to start packing! We've been in this house for 5 years and I hope to trash half of the 'junk' we have! Seeing a room cluttered with stuff stresses me out. I think I"m a strange form of the minimalist movement Jen Arianna Frances

Please don't misunderstand me - I'm all for people doing what is right for them. I'm not preaching that jumping while pregnant is bad - I chose not to do it but alot of it had to do my experience level and personal feeling - its different for everyone. I took exception with the previous posters assumption that because she spent more time with her kids while at a DZ meant that she loved her children more than I love mine - in reality, you are not spending time with your children. You are doing something for YOU that does not necessarily involve them. She was using that rationality so as to say she was a good/better mother, and that is not necessarily so. I don't knock moms who skydive, I hope to be able to do it myself some day. Jen Arianna Frances

I highly doubt that. I hope you don't consider skydiving as spending time with your kids considering kids can't skydive. Yes, they can be at the DZ but most of the time you would be relying on other people to keep an eye on your child(ren). This is not spending quality time with them - don't fool yourself. Jen Arianna Frances

I stopped jumping as soon as I found out I was pregnant (at 5 weeks), had a trip planned to CA for Jump for the Cause that same week. I spent that week in the trailer feeling pretty worthless and slightly ill with morning sickness. I made the decision not to jump because my husband asked me to. Considering I passed out after a session with my personal trainer, while in line at the video store, the decision to not jump was pretty much made for me. (And it happens frequently in the first trimester to many pregnant women, for any one wanting to know) It was easy for me to say before I was pregnant that I would jump and be more cautious than usual. But, as you know, now that she is here I can't be cautious enough even in the shower. My decision to jump again is on hold - we're purchasing a house and need to get life insurance, with all those things we won't have money for 'extra curricular' activities and probably wouldn't really want to participate in them anyway. Playing with our daughter and watching her smile are the best ways we can spend our time right now. People who don't have kids or aren't pregnant (and even then the parental instict hasn't really kicked in) aren't provided with the proper perspective. The commercial is correct: 'Having a baby changes everything' - you can't understand until it happens to you. I, personally, couldn't have imagined loving anything so much; and my 'previous life' seems very unfullfilled. Your right in that your perspective really changes. On the bright side, Ari has 15 jumps. Jen Arianna Frances

Congratulations! I knew you'd love JTown... Jen... who is missing it and all the great people immensely Arianna Frances

I was shocked the last time we were in Fresno - its gotten so much bigger than just 7 years ago when I first visited. My mother-in-law can sell her house for more than double what she paid for it in '97 - its crazy! Regarding the new vs. old debate... in New England new construction is so rare that the only new construction that seems to go up goes for over a million dollars. We're in the process of buying a house and we're looking for houses less than 20 years old or older homes that have had major renovations. We just had a deal fall through on an older home (1910) that had tons of renovations when we found out during the inspection that Powder Post Beetle had eaten the entire wood sill on the foundation and the house was in danger of collapsing... that inspection was the best $400 I ever spent Jen Arianna Frances

You have to see the rockettes christmas show - its fantastic. Don't fly into Islip - its FAR away Most of the advertised ones are in the metro (better) parts of the area I think - I've never stayed in one that wasn't in a 'good area' or that gave me fast access to the subway - which gets you anywhere/everywhere. Jen Arianna Frances

Haven't given this year, but plan to later in the sumer/fall. I'm A+ Jen Arianna Frances

I think its Cross Keys... about 45 min. if I remember correctly. Jen Arianna Frances

ya - he's got a great mix of back up musicians on this one too. Hope to hear more soon - its a great type of music for work

Today is my first day back at work after my maternity leave, and its been hard (for a number of reasons)... ...but its made better by the Fort Minor CD (The Rising Tide) I picked up last week. I love grooving at work I'm not a rap fan, but rap/rock (aka Linkin Park) I can do. Anybody else heard it? Jen Arianna Frances

True... but for purposes of your credit score its usually a debt to available credit ratio. Lets say you have $10k spread out over 5 cards with combined credit available of $40k. One of those cards ($10k of available credit) is a zero balance - so you close the account. Your new debt to available credit ratio is now: 10/30 or 1/3 of your available credit used up, where as if you left the other acount open it would be 10/40 or 1/4 of your available credit. Personally, I don't use credit cards anymore. Hubby and I paid them off this year and by the end of the year the only debt we will have is my car (2006 toyota). Once you have an established credit history, getting something like a home loan can be done easily without having to have credit cards. Jen Arianna Frances