lifewithoutanet

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash7.htm I haven't seen news of this elsewhere, yet. So far, just Drudge. I'm curious what others think of Time's disclosure of the VP's batcave, if this is in fact, true. Vote away, -C.

No shit...really? I didn't know that. I foresee a lot of "working from home" in my near future. -C.

For canopy piloting, Out of The Blue. For BASE and wingsuit, Soul Flyers. -C.

Ummmm...we got that, too, in the Bombshelter. -C.

Aye, Perris has that, too. -C.

Sounds a lot like Perris, to me. Except maybe the public video editing. -C.

How far off is your 200th? 10 jumps? Okay...see you next weekend for certain. So, so wrong. -C.

Edit: *107* skydives and not one w/ you! That's my survival strategy! Kidding, man. See ya Thursday and maybe we'll get a jump in after my canopy course. -C.

Yeah, it was a blast. Wish you were there. HEAL FAST! The 13th came in at the round. The 14th fell out and tracked off about the time I fell through. You got it, Rosa. And I'll be sure to practice up so that I won't be watching your dive from below. :-) Because then the ladies of Perris would have seen two disappointing naked men in one weekend. That and something about a petition they were threatening to circulate to stop me from doing it. -C.

Thanks, Laurel. I'll get it next time, or the next time, or the next time... Well, I really wasn't tense, but if only I could give you insight into the confidence I had that I WASN'T going to sink... Well, you'd think to yourself, "Yeah...definitely a newbie." Nate, bring your rig to McGarry's wedding and we can either get some jumps up north or head down to Perris before or after they get hitched. There's also the bachelor party in August. Think Dan'd be up for a skydive? -C.

Can you imagine having to sit through safety briefings on each load? Or swoopers being required to take their seats along as flotation devices? I also heard (and yes, we all know how that goes) that the seats have to be left in, as is. Someone at the Bombshelter was saying the other night how cool it would be to get a picture looking down the aisle w/ everyone in rigs and helmets. -C.

Oh, man...I know how you feel. I did very little relative work from the start, right off AFF. Lots of solos and a few coach jumps to get my A...and then I moved to SoCal and started jumping at Perris. There, I started to do a few RW jumps w/ LOs and other jumpers, but was still focused on FF. I noticed after switching back and forth that I seemed to enjoy my solo jumps more than the RW jumps. Here's why it was like that, for me, at least. I was always so caught up in the "don't F up someone else's skydive" that I wouldn't relax and I would give myself a lot of shit for under-performing. Experienced jumpers would repeatedly tell me "smile, relax, and quit being so hard on yourself." So, I had experienced jumpers telling me that, as well as the reinforcement of jumpers at my relative level of experience that we were all still learning. The difference (to me) is that in FF (at least at my level), there's not much that I'm trying to do other than match fall rates, have fun and fly in awe of the experienced FF'er that's w/ me. RW is a little different because if I'm out of position I'm not where someone else needs me to be. And therein lies *MY* problem. If I don't relax and chill out a bit, I'll ruin the experience for all. It's a matter of attitude. So, as I was told again and again (and continue to be told, everyonce in a while)..."Relax, smile, have fun." Skydiving is a lot more fun to me when I'm focusing on that and chilling out. If it doesn't work out as planned, you can always go back up again. -C.

Heard from Brenda that a lot of it also has to do w/ the FAA requiring that it be registered as an airline. You know more or can you elaborate on this JP? -C.

Awesome! Congratulations. Had to wonder about packing your own for your first jump, but then saw that you became a packer a while ago. Again, congrats to you and here's to many more skydives! -C.

139 101-150 Bullshit artist. Well, I am in sales... -C.

0:10:2 10 jumps, mix of FF, tracking and RW including 15-way for my 100th. I was last out, flew by it and got to watch it from below. Beer paid for 100th and new Tony Suit. -C.

As in, the big 1-0h-0h. Did my 100th this weekend; 15-way w/ camera. I was last out, would join the formation and then as it went to a round, fly into the middle and dump high to watch everyone else fall away. "Don't go low." "Dude, don't go low." "Don't F this up." "Slow down early so you don't fall out." I must have heard those all about 50 times and I was determined to make the formation. So, I exit and I'm flying down to my slot. "I'm not going to go low. I'm not going to go low. Holy, shit...I'm really not going to... Shit!" I looked back up and could see people shaking their heads at me. They looked like they were having fun. And yes, I can tell you the precise location of the pool. Thought I was going to escape it, but that night in the Bombshelter, Paul (who'd gone swimming hours before for his 300th), suddenly remembered my 100th. I stalled w/ a protest of "Let me set down my wallet and phone and I promise I won't fight," and then promptly booked for the door. They caught me outside. I went swimming. In any case, it was a blast and well worth the laughter and joking I received when it was all over. Thanks to Bill, Mark, Ryan, Justin, Steve, Chuck, Katy, Lori (on camera) and the others, who's names I can't recall who were involved on the dive. Other than the 100th: coach sit-fly w/ Dave G (dude can fly); sit-fly 5-way, 4-way, 2-way (all in one jump...that's just how it funnelled) w/ Dave G, Ryan, Justin and Steve; 2-way FF w/ Brandy (she fcukin' rocks); 2-way RW w/ Bill; 2-way sit w/ Rochelle (we'll keep it together next time); two tracking dives (one for Alex's 5000th) and a few other RW jumps. All in all, a great weekend and now I'm stuck in the office until Thursday when I get to jump again. -C.

Screw you... Damn, Steve...that's rough. So sorry to hear about this, Rosa, but as someone else said above, don't base your expectations on what the doc's say, just in case it turns out to be a little longer. Stay positive and you'll be back in the air in no time. And just think of all the money you'll save in the meantime! -C.

Kick-ass, Rochelle! And here you used to mock me and make fun of my half-assed attempts at freefly when we first met. Whatcha got to say NOW!?! -C. PS Teach me...my sit is still shit.

I'd just like to add that I've jumped w/ a lot of experienced jumpers and I've found them just as willing to give it a try w/ no concern about wasting a slot on a jump that might not work out. -C.

Christ in a sidecar! We agree on something! -C.

It's an interesting read and I liked the overall/closing message of this excerpt. Don't be scared by the title if you never agreed w/ his politics. President Reagan Changed Me. -C.

Aerodyne Research 12649 Race Track Road Tampa, FL 33626 Phone: 813.891.6300 Fax: 813.891.6315 [email protected] Enjoy, -C.

Kill 'em all and let the chef sort them out. -C.

Hey, Unformed. The "I don't think we've met" was my knee-jerk reaction to your "you'll agree it'll be stepping over the line" and a feeling that someone was trying to put words in my mouth. That, and a poor attempt at humor. If we ever do meet, whoever has the most recent "first" buys the beer. Deal? I agree with a lot of what you're saying in concept. A lot of what we're faced with is alarmist, partisan politics and sensationalist media. I'm still at a loss to decide who I dislike most, politicians or the press. We can blame ourselves for our elected officials, but any schmuck who can afford to go to Columbia can get a degree in journalism and become an editor (yes, that was a blanket-generalization and stereotype of journalists, apologies to any newsies who might also be skydivers). That national "mood ring" of terrorist activity still trips me up and the marijuana link to terrorism was a stretch (on the link terrorism has to heroin). The fact remains, that in a country that was founded on the basis of pure and complete freedom exist people--our own citizens as well as foreigners--who seek to exploit our principles and hide among them safely until they strike. Something must be done about that and I'd prefer a proactive approach to a reactive one. Yes, I've seen the Patriot Act and no, I'm not in full support of it. I believe that at the heart of it lie good intentions, even if those good intentions were not intended by the people who sponsored it. The ramifications of the abuses it could lead to are frightening. Still, in as much as I believe that the media and government use scare-tactics to push their agenda and sell newspapers, I worry that the opponents of government push the boundaries and are guilty of the same scare-tactics when taken to the extreme. There's a lot of bullshit to sift through and these days it's coming from every angle. Look out, you probably see some of my opinions as BS, too. In any case, we can agree to disagree on this, but if we ever meet, I'm going to insist that each of you tell me your names. -C.