BASE841

Hey, I got the cold weather gear, but do I really want to upset that deliciously evil number? Ok, ok, you know I want to jump... See you folks this weekend.

My ex has told my children that I'm the "Spawn of Satan." But I didn't really believe it until I got my jump total for the year. And yes, this is real.

My favorite is Numbers 22:28 "Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" And what should be the next verse: "And Balaam replied, "Holy crap, a talking donkey!" A close second, Matthew 4:5 "Then the devil took him (Jesus) to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down." (A nod to HWalter.) Yup, I've been tempted like that. Only was able to fight temptation because of funky winds. Also, makes me wonder what canopy he had.

I paid a big beer debt last night, earned yesterday: 1. First smoke jump, 2. First flag jump, 3. Got #10 accuracy for my Pro, 4. Got published in Parachutist! That's my biggest beer debt. Does that mean I owe beer again?

Spoke with Parachutist this afternoon. They like the shots!

Slow day jumping here in Ohio, so I took some photos: Team Fastrax jumping flags. Enjoy!

Damn, I'll miss him. Photo from one of my last jumps with Sasquatch, a rare overcast day in Belen...

My son Matthew just earned his "A" license! I had the honor of taking him on his check dive, and an attractive young lady at the DZ put his license stamp on a memorable place last night. Congrats, Matthew!

Heck, yeah! Did a paid jump, got two freefalls for one skydive. "Hey, that's a pretty white canopy!"

No question: REBOOT! First computer animated series, memorable characters, solid writing, and the animation quality improved with advances in technology. First aired on ABC and CBC, then to Cartoon Network. Even had a ride somewhere!

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the man who not only wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey but came up with the idea of communication satellites, just died in his home in Sri Lanka. Yeah, he was 90 years old, everyone has to go sometime, and he lived a great life. But damn! I hoped he would last forever. RIP.

I'm working full-time at a DZ in Ohio and my son Matthew will be packing there, too. I've already jumped a bunch of his pack jobs, and I'll jump a bunch more soon.

My first ram air canopy, a GQ Security-made X-210 main, had three line groups. That confused me a bit when I was reading a general packing guide and it got to the "D" line group. "What D lines!? Is there supposed to be something between my Cs and the brake lines?"

Dang it! I wish I had read your note just a few days ago. My son and I were standing in the new releases section of our local video store. In one hand was "King of California," in the other was "3:10 to Yuma." I shrugged and told him it was his choice. We had both heard good reviews of 3:10 but nothing about King. He chose 3:10. Got home, watched it. At the end, I asked him what he thought. "That SUCKED!" he told me, and then he explained why. I agreed with each point. So tonight, I think we're going to rent "King of California." Thanks for the tip.

Thanks!

Anybody remember the name of the DZO there? I'm pretty sure his first name was Brian, but I'm going through my logbooks and I can't find his last name! The DZ closed a few years ago.

As I was packing my Paradactyl, an experienced jumper looked down, shook his head and said, "That'll never open. it's too neat." And no, it wasn't because it was a 'Dac.

Since I'm on my way to Nevada tomorrow (Mesquite Boogie, woo hoo!) I looked at the Skydive Las Vegas site out of morbid curiosity. I clicked on the "staff photos" section and spotted Jay Stokes. http://www.skydivelasvegas.com/gallery_vert/gallery_vert.html Was/is he really on staff there?

FWIW, I did a low (:02 delay) BASE jump the weekend after I had my Lasik and a goggled skydive the weekend after. That was almost ofur years ago. Outside of the expected farsightedness that has no effect on my jumping, I have had no troubles. I LOVE not having fogged glasses and perfect distance vision!

Sorry, I'm at work now and I ain't going to that site while here. Try cutting and pasting. Otherwise I'll see about the link trouble when I get home.

"Don't even care if she gets off?" WTF!? That's the whole point! I get off on my lady getting off. No reciprocation needed, but her happiness and satisfaction is manditory. As the the "six pack" comment, go here: http://www.smellmeand.com/index_2.html Caution: the link is NSFW.

No question, outside video shot by a good flyer kicks handycam's ass every time... except for under canopy stuff, which a camera flyer of course cannot get. Getting a student's reaction right after opening, watching them learn how to fly a canopy, all of that is wonderful and valuable. My favorite tandem vids are a combo. At SD New Mexico, I'd jump my handycam and give the footage to the camera flyer. He'd combine my stuff with his stuff. We didn't charge extra for the additional angle.

Sig-O, son and step-daughter share 30 minutes in the local i-fly tunnel on Christmas Eve. She got me an HD TV with HD-DVD player.

Wingsuit Story http://news.aol.com/story/_a/wing-suit-flying-gains-daring-fans/20071210132109990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001 There's a discussion of this same story elsewhere on DZ.com: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3042987;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

Done. That was quick. Let us know the results, please.