Nightingale

I wussed out of my first attempt at AFF 2. I rode the plane down because of fear. same day, I scraped up the guts to do a tandem, because I knew if I gave in to the fear completely, I wouldn't skydive again... give in to it once, its a hundred times harder to overcome it the next time around. It felt weird getting on the plane without my own rig. However, it was the absolute BEST thing I could've done for myself at that moment. A tandem will help you get over your fear and remember why you love skydiving. My tandem instructor actually did the level 2 skydive stuff with me on the tandem, so I was learning something... ask your instructor to do the same with whatever it is you're supposed to work on next. Of course, I still had to do a non-tandem level 2, but it was a lot easier because I knew what to expect, so not so many nerves. If you think a tandem's what you need, do it. It isn't going to hurt, and it'll help a lot with the fear thing. Blue skies!!!! -Kris

this is so cliche... Dec 1, 1996...back seat of a red 66 mustang. five minutes after I turned 18. his name was Mike.

I've had a couple of flu shots... every single time, my reaction to the shot was just as bad if not worse than actually getting the flu. Last time, they stuck me in my right arm... I'm mostly right handed (I can do anything I like left handed, tho, just takes a bit more concentration) and I couldn't move my right arm for almost a month because the muscle was so sore... at the time, I was a teacher and a volleyball coach. It was a royal PITA. After that experience, I'd rather get the flu. Not that I ever actually catch it, but maybe this year, since I now run on 4 hours of sleep per night now. sigh. zzzzz.

hmm.... does he have a birthday coming up...or early holiday gift?? maybe you and your buddies could get together and buy him a gift certificate to take a canopy class... that way he'd have no excuases. and you could always take the class with him.. might be fun.

lol. yes I'm serious. All I do is open the image up in photoshop, click the "image" tab, and select "resize" and plug in the appropriate numbers. Takes 30 seconds. Little longer if I have to crop stuff. Or, if the image is already of an appropriate size, I can adjust the quality of the image... lower quality = smaller file size.

hehe. post it here and I'll shrink it for you this evening.

Riker was the canadian, I think.

unless there are two different light sources, its photoshopped. the shadows on the planes are at different angles. whoever did it did a very nice job, tho.

I'm rather partial to Sam Adams Winter Lager

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Guinness - but only in Ireland... the stuff we get here in the US doesn't taste right, and they confirmed for me at the brewery at St. James Gate that the US does get a different form of Guinness than is served in Ireland. (and contrary to popular belief, most pubs there do serve it cold). Oregon Honey Beer and Corona, if I really have to settle for something.

http://www.mylamewebpage.com/pictures/strongbad/strongbad.html well... here's another guy with a strongbad costume... looks like it'd be pretty easy to copy. you'd need to go with regular red gloves instead of the boxing gloves, tho. maybe red batting gloves or something. you can't pull a cutaway handle wearing a boxing glove.

Galadriel Possessing a rare combination of wisdom and humility, while serenely dominating your environment you selflessly use your powers to care for others. Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

Either way, you're probably going to lose a friend. If he finds out a while from now, he's probably going to find out you knew... if only from the girl trying to defend herself by saying "well, it couldn't be so bad... soandso knew for months now!" If you tell him directly or force her to tell him, she is gonna be PISSED at you. Personally, I'd give her a week to tell him on her own, and if she doesn't, you just tell him "I think you need to talk to about and I'm not going to say any more than that." sure, he'll try to get more out of you, but just say "that's between you and her. I'm staying out of it from now on." and walk away. that way, you've said your piece without actually saying it, and hopefully opened a dialogue between the two of them. no matter which way you look at it, tho, the situation's gonna suck.

yes! relaxing definitely helps!

well, I wasn't gonna post any more of my AFF adventures, but since a couple of folks asked, here's my weblog for today. ~~~ Well, its Monday. And I did make it to the dropzone today. Got an email from John this morning saying it was his and Shelly's day off, so they wouldn't be there. Made me a little nervous, but when I got to the dropzone, I was able to request Raoul, so that was cool. We take some time and go over the usual emergency procedures and harness room stuff, and he asks me if I've been reading any website stuff that I shouldn't be (like statistics!!!) I've been good. Been staying off those parts of the web. So, much less in the way of nerves today, since we solved most of the nerves issues last jump. So, we go over the dive. Basically, you turn in freefall by banking your shoulders, just like a plane banks when it turns. Cool. Move shoulders only, no hips, no bending at waist. I can handle that. So, I have a bit of lag time, during which I watch a recent grad of AFF work on his packing requirement for his A License. I learn a bit about how exactly that big old parachute fits into that itty bitty bag. Plus, its a distraction. And when you're about to throw yourself out of an airplane at a little over two miles off the ground, distractions are GOOD things. So, its time to get into jumpsuits and gear. Hmm... this rig feels a little different... not bad different, just different. Legstraps feel odd. I fuss with them a bit, and they're a little better. Then, we get on the plane. Twin Otter, same as last two AFF jumps. I like the Otter. I'm feeling a little jittery, but no major nerves like last time. Plane takes off. After a while, the fuel fumes get a little overwhelming. Raoul asks them to open the door. Guess they were bothering him too. Door open. Air. Air is good. I point out the three important altitudes on my altimeter as we reach them. So, people start bailing out of the plane. And then its my turn. My head's still a little fuzzy from the fumes, plus, I'm now MORE than a little jittery. Raoul told me it was okay to take my time on exit, so I take that advice. I grab on to the bar and stay there for a few seconds, just breathing the fresh air. My head clears. Deep breath. Calm. I look at Raoul. "Am I ok?" Deep breath. Thumbs up. "OK!" So, we lean out, in, and out, and ARCH. One practice ripcord touch. I find it no problem. After assuring myself that my ripcord is still approximately where its supposed to be, I do my circle of awareness. Look at Raoul. Thumbs up. No corrections. Doing well. Vinnie, the second JM (Who's a dead ringer for Ned Flanders from the Simpsons) gives me a thumbs up as well. Altitude check. 11,000 feet. Ok. I guess I must be pretty stable, because Vinnie lets go and drifts off to my left somewhere. Now its time to turn left and go look at Vinnie. Bank... and turn. Wow! That was easier than I thought! Altitude check. 9,000 feet. Ok... turn back... Vinnie follows me, so I'm looking straight at him. Altitude check. Thumbs up from Raoul. Left turn signal from Vinnie. Ok... turning left again. 7,000 feet. Ok... done playing now. Just enjoying freefall. Oh my god... its 5,000 now... time to pull! Found the ripcord just fine this time, and 6,5,4,3,2,1, perfect canopy. At this point I realize I forgot to wave off before I pulled. Note to self: fix that next time. Ok, good, solid canopy, no twists, broken lines, or damage. Raoul wants me to do my control check with the risers first... ok. I grab the rear risers. Turn left... discover that risers are a heck of a lot harder to steer with than toggles. This is taking some muscle. But I turned left. Now I turn right with the risers... and flare. Control check is fine. I unstow the toggles. Now, control check with toggles. Checks out fine. Hmm... I'm a little more west of the dropzone than I like to be... lets fly over there, shall we? Now, I'm hovering over the swoop pond. I'm figuring out why those legstraps didn't feel right... now, they freakin HURT. I fidget a bit, not sure exactly how much I can play with the harness... decide to err on the side of caution and put up with it. Do some turns to burn some altitude. Wheeeee! Ok... 1000 feet. time to start landing pattern. Radio gives me a few corrections... but they're not going to tell me when to flare. I'm supposed to flare at 8-10 feet off the ground. I can handle this...I think. That's the height of the top of the wind flags. Hmm...flared a bit too early...oopsie. I unflare and flare again, but I don't know if I flared completely. It was definitely NOT my best landing. Note to self: landing on face = bad. Landing on one's feet is a much better alternative in that situation. sigh. I really need to work on my landings. Ground hurts! After I get back to the school, Raoul does a bit of a debriefing. He said it was a good, solid skydive, and I passed level 3!!!! YAY!!!! He told me that when I took those extra moments in the door that he thought for a second I wasn't going to jump. I knew when I got on the plane that I was gonna go out the door. If I was gonna call it off, I'd have done it before standing IN the doorway ready to go. If I manage to get my butt off the seat and over to the door, my butt is going out the door, end of story. I just needed a few moments to breathe and center and find that little calm happy place, ya know? I think I'm more comfortable jumping last or almost last, so if I need another moment or two to collect my courage, I'm not delaying a whole planefull of people... Raoul's comments in my logbook: Very nice exit and circle of awareness Very nice turns: 90 degrees x 3 Good altitude awareness 6000' lock on and pull at 5000 Signal next time Good canopy control - GET WEIGHTS to help flare. I will try to hit the gym this week. Gotta work on that upper body strength so I can get a more solid flare. So, landing and icky legstraps aside, it was a great dive! Raoul suggested I do level four immediately, and I wish I could have, but I had school tonight, so I had to rush off. School went well, though, but we all know that my mind was way up at 13,000 feet instead of back in the classroom where it belonged. Hopefully, AFF 4, and maybe 5 on Saturday or Sunday. I can't wait! Its weird... the longer I go between jumps, the more nervous I get. If I'd done level 4 today, I wouldn't have been nervous at all, but next weekend, I'll probably be a little scared again. The thing is, being scared is half the fun, ya know... If I wasn't at least a little afraid, at least at first, I don't think it would mean quite as much as it does now. I'm going to request Raoul and/or Shelly on my next jump... its nice to have instructors who already know that I have issues getting myself out the door, so I don't have to explain it all over again. The physical portions of the skydive seem to be going quite well for me at this point. Its the mental aspect I find challenging. Getting yourself into the right headspace to jump out of an airplane isn't always easy, but its getting easier, and, of course, as soon as I'm actually out of the plane, life is wonderful... and life IS wonderful... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -N-

well, coming from someone who's had something like a million martial arts or dance injuries, this is my rule of thumb: see your doc if it hurts for more than 3 days. less than 3 days, you probably just tweaked a muscle. more than 3 days, you could've torn/sprained/dislocated something. for now, try some anti-inflammatory medication like advil or aleve. Aspirin is always a good standby. Tiger Liniment or Tiger Balm helps loosen up stiff muscles, too. I think the liniment works better than the balm, but they're both good. Best wishes! -N- who has had so many x-rays (and requested copies of them) that her mother's science class has managed to build an x-ray of her whole body except the left hand by putting all the individual x-rays together. her students keep hoping I'm gonna break that one sooner or later. They enjoy searching the films to figure out what exactly I'd broken that time.

1800 skydive has a map of the US with all the 1800 skydive sites on it. I found it helpful when I found Perris for my first jump.

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make little changes. If you make a HUGE lifestyle change all at once, its harder to stick to. Worry about the smoking for the next few weeks and do whatever you need to do to avoid starting up again. My brother swore by crunching on carrot sticks and pretzels and the like, but do whatever works for you. If you make other changes right now, dietary, exercise, etc, you're putting stress on yourself and your body. when you're stressed, you're going to want nicotine. when you're sure you're completely nicotine free, THEN worry about making another change. -N- **the above advice is from my bro, from his personal experience. he wishes you best of luck too!**

there are a few on my website, in the personal section. http://www.nightingalesnest.net/index2.html There's a pic under the "about me" section, and one under the "kenpo karate" section.

My family member left the church after over A DECADE of trying to change it from within. He finally accepted that it wasn't possible and moved on, with the full support of the entire family after they heard his story. Regarding the homosexuality issue: of the men I spoke with, there were several from the Jesuits, who run the college I went to. The Order of Friar Servants of Mary runs the high school I went to for drama class. Got to be friends with a priest there. I asked questions. He answered honestly. The carmelite priest works at a university with my aunt. I told him what I'd been told by the folks from the other orders, and he confirmed it, both for his own order, and the priesthood in general. Finally, getting real curious, I asked the pastor of the church I attended growing up. Same answers. Same answers from PRIESTS WHO DIDN'T KNOW EACH OTHER. and with regards to the survival of your church: that's your concern. It has nothing to do with me. I have no interest in either the survival or destruction of the Catholic Church. I simply choose not to participate in its hypocracy any longer. The day I find a religion where the majority of church leaders and followers actually practice what they proclaim is the day I will re-evaluate my views on organized religion. Until then, you walk your path, and I'll walk mine.

hehe. thanks.

I keep a jump diary on my website, www.nightingalesnest.net. feel free to check there too. got pics up and stuff. -N-

I found that the book had one very dangerous undertone - that if you communicate and understand how that communication works, that you will work things out. People can understand what the other is saying and still not agree. Thought the book sucked. Thing is... the premise of the book is that you already care about the person. It points out that you don't always have to agree, you just have to understand and try to accept that your partner isn't going to agree with you on everything. Understanding where the other person is coming from won't always save a relationship, but it can solve a lot of problems within a relationship.