Nightingale

clicky http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3340136,00.html

no jumps for me...was gonna do lev 5 on sunday. cloud cover was too thick. Perris did mainly hop n pops only. couple of tandems went up, but that was bout it.

I didn't jump on my first try at AFF 2. Rode the plane down. Felt like shit. Trying it again was the hardest thing I've ever done.

happy sky-b-day! wondering... do you count from your first AFF/SL or first tandem?

No... if A PERSON is posing an immediate and direct threat to ANOTHER PERSON... get it? the other person could be me, you, or whoever.

killing someone who is posing an immediate and direct threat to another person is justifiable. I feel that is the ONLY circumstance in which it is justifiable.

prolly a repost (but I'm sure Ivan will tell me for sure ) 1. Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter? = Eskimo Pi 2. 2000 pounds of Chinese soup? = Won ton 3. 1 millionth of a mouthwash? =1 microscope 4. Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement? = 1 bananosecond 5. Weight an evangelist carries with God? =1 billigram 6. Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour? = Knot furlong 7. 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone? = 1 Rod Serling 8. Half of a large intestine? = 1 semicolon 9. 1,000,000 aches? = 1 megahurtz 10. Basic unit of laryngitis? = 1 hoarsepower 11. Shortest distance between two jokes? = A straight line 12. 453.6 graham crackers? = 1 pound cake 13. 1 million-million microphones? = 1 megaphone 14. 1 million bicycles? = 2 megacycles.. 15. 365.25 days? = 1 unicycle 16. 2000 mockingbirds? = 2 kilomockingbirds 17. 10 cards? = 1 decacards 18. 1 kilogram of falling figs? = 1 Fig Newton 19. 1000 milliliters of wet socks? = 1 literhosen.. 20. 1 millionth of a fish? = 1 microfiche 21. 1 trillion pins? = 1 terrapin 22. 10 rations? = 1 decoration 23. 100 rations? = 1 C-ration 24. 2 monograms? = 1 diagram 25. 8 nickels? = 2 paradigms 26. 2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital? = 1 I.V. League 27. 100 Senators? = Not 1 decision

learn when your instructors tell you to learn. At Perris, its pretty standard to learn once you finish AFF and are jumping rented gear, because pack jobs aren't included in the rental fee, and at $6 a pop, they can get expensive quick. 10 pack jobs = 3 jump tickets! I was very worried about the chute packing thing til I talked one of the instructors into taking one apart and showing me the insides and how it all came together. I then looked up the science behind parachutes... the thing is, a parachute WANTS to open. the way its built, the principles of physics make the parachute do what it does best...open. I've seen some people jump some REALLY sloppy pack jobs, heard of people having "speed packing" contests where even their buddies are looking at them going "you're actually gonna jump THAT?!" and seen them open fine... and I've seen people cutaway from what were probably excellent pack jobs. You can have the most perfect pack job and still have a problem, and you can have a sloppy pack job and have a great opening... although the better the pack job, the better the odds (or so it was explained to me). From what I've observed, packing isn't difficult, just tedious and time consuming. Student rigs must be packed by a rigger, a person under the direct supervision of a rigger, or the person intending to use the rig. Think about it... if the DZ had incompetent people packing your chute, they wouldn't stay in business very long. I have seven jumps now, and I would trust ANY of the perris valley skydiving school instructrs or riggers to pack my canopy. one of them said to me "I'd never hand a student a rig I wouldn't hand to my own mother."

another suggestion from my bro: put the cash you'd normally spend on ciggies into a jar. Make a deposit into the jar every day you'd normally buy a pack. When you feel the urge to smoke, go count your cash instead and think of all the cool stuff you're going to do with the extra money. Gives you something to do with your hands, as well as a distraction. My bro's goal was some new seats for his 66 mustang... think about all the jump tickets (or new gear!) that cash can buy!

don't worry about the snacking... for the next few weeks, eat whatever the hell you want. You've got enough to worry about staying away from the cigs, if a candy bar will help you do that, then do it. so what if you put on a few pounds... you can lose it a bit down the road, and you'll be smoke free!

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DON'T CALL. just read your disclosures. Skydiving will be listed under "exclusions" if its listed at all. If you injure yourself with a sprain or something, just tell the doc you fell (just don't say it was from 13,000 feet!). You don't want your insurance to know you skydive if they don't cover skydiving injuries. Now, if you have a major injury, you're SOL, but for those little sprains, strains, and breaks, you can usually CYA by just saying you fell on it. I had insurance that excluded martial arts related injuries (since have acquired new insurance). I broke two ribs when my friend got a little overenthusiastic during a demonstration... I told the doctor "my friend elbowed me in the ribs!" I just didn't say that it was while we were doing martial arts. Truth, just not the whole truth. as much as I hate lying (or misleading) sometimes its necessary.

there's a vid guy at Perris who handed my friend his shoe! they passed the shoe back and forth a time or two. Its on video, and my friend got a huge kick out of it. It was his second tandem, tho, so he knew what to expect.

that's almost as bad as the guy who tried to steal a van from a travelling judo club.

My TM didn't tell me he was going to loosen stuff after we got under canopy. All I heard was "lemme make you more comfortable." and then click and I slipped a few inches. Scared the shit outa me!

hehe... what works really well on cars is saran wrap... rolls and rolls of it... wrap the car from the front bumper all the way around, covering all four doors... hehehe... they have to cut their way in. I've never gone toilet papering, but put the fear of god into a few kids who tried to TP my house a few years back.... the folks were out of town, so I was home alone. Heard noises from the front yard. got a little freaked. Grabbed a sword off my weapons rack and went downstairs. Peeked out the window and saw what was going on, and decided to have a bit of my own fun. My bro had a Bill Clinton mask lying around, so I put it on, and went running outside weilding the katana (ninja sword) and screaming like a banshee. Their faces literally went white as sheets, and they ran down the block so freakin fast. My neighbor, who'd also heard the ruckus and came out to check, was laughing his ass off from his front porch. Nobody on that street's gotten TPed since... the kids know better....

Yep... bathrooms have the best acoustics in the house! All that tile and glass makes the sound echo. I have a decent singing voice, so its a fun way to relax.

no smoke out there at all... onshore breeze cleared it all out! most of us in LA, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties can breathe again!

I run ad aware once a week

there's a difference between someone saying "please be careful up there...I'll be afraid for you til you're back safe on the ground." and saying "don't go! It makes me worry!" its when they use their "worry" to control you and tell you not to go do something you love...that's when it becomes a problem.

I have. I was unimpressed.

I got regular kazaa from kazaa.com...? dunno bout lite, tho

martial arts isn't something I can compromise on. period. I compete on the international level. That requires a lot of skill, and a lot of training to stay on top of my game. I can't blow off something I've worked for for almost 15 years because it makes a significant other uncomfortable. If they don't give me the freedom to be who I am, buh-bye. There are many things I will bend on. martial arts isnt' one. skydiving isn't one. if someone is asking you to compromise something that is a HUGE part of who you are, then they don't respect you as much as they should. I have always believed that I am better off alone than with the wrong person. the people I date don't have to be martial artists (or skydivers)...they just have to accept that I am. They don't have to come to the studio with me (but showing up at the international championships is nice, but yet again, not required), they just have to give me the freedom to go, and understand that I always go out of my way to make time for the relationship too.

In a healthy relationship, people have the freedom to be who they are and do what makes them happy. I have dated many guys who have had serious issues with me doing martial arts. First they're afraid for me... then, once they see me fight, they're a little insecure... and usually at some point have an issue with the physical contact that takes place in a karate studio (can't seem to grasp the difference between HITTING someone and HITTING ON someone! LOL). They then do everything in their power to keep me out of the studio. And that's when I pull the little red handle (no silver... I usually don't jump right out of one relationship into another) Because if someone doesn't want to give me the freedom to be who I am and take whatever risks I find accpetable, then they're not the right person for me. There's a difference between someone saying "Skydiving isn't my thing, but I recognize that you love it, so I'll stay here and watch football with my buddies, and we'll catch a movie when you get home" and "Please don't go skydiving... I WORRY!!!!!" The first example is a partner being understanding... the second example is a partner trying to control you.

quilting thread, or upolstery thread. quilting thread's easier to work with tho, and almost as strong.