peregrinerose

I live near Harrisburg, and work in Harrisburg, I'd be willing to give you a ride if the times work with my work schedule. Maytown has an email list, and if you can be specific on dates/times you'd need a ride, I can almost guarantee you'll have it covered

Scott was a hell of a guy, and helped introduce me to the sport of skydiving.... He taught my first jump course. There he was, at the front of the room, shiny new coach rating in hand, introducing himself... "My name is Scott Doyle, I have about 130 skydives..." at which point, I about crawled under my chair in horror... my husband is a jumper, so I knew 130 jumps wasn't a lot... and this new kid was supposed to teach me to save my own life???? WTF???? Years later, after he did a splendid job teaching the course by the way, we shared a good laugh over my initial reaction over a couple of beers in NC, at one of the Thanksgiving boogies. When my husband and I left our previous home DZ for a new one with mixed feelings, it was Scott that emailed me first, making me laugh at the situation and making me realize that everything would be ok in the end. Scott, you are one of the most loved skydivers I've ever met, with a huge heart and infectious smile. I will always think of you teaching my first jump course, and relaying that great story about you with a big orange mallet. You know the one I mean Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

From his wife's blog: Dearest Loved Ones, It is with a heavy heart that I say to you tonight, that Scott has left the building. He passed peacefully this morning, at home, surrounded and loved by those closest to him. Services will be held this Saturday at 10:30 AM at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Potomac, MD. A good ‘ol Irish wake will follow at the Urbana Volunteer Fire Station 23. We hope that you can join us. In lieu of flowers, we hope that you will consider donating instead to the Montgomery County Fire Department Pipes & Drums Band or the Don’t Panic Foundation. Thank you for all of your continued love and support. We love you. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Above 4000 feet, that student's attention better be all mine (maybe with the exception of a quick 'good luck' or 'have fun' from other jumpers). It's my job as AFFI to know what's appropriate for that student... on a cat A, they need to be completely focused on the skydive as well as be relaxed. By cat D, even I'll do a little more joking with the student on the ride up to help with relaxation, but that will depend on the student and their needs, attitude, and previous skydives. Another fun jumper in the plane, or even another instructor that is not working with that student, doesn't need to be butting in at that moment. In your situation, I'd start with a stern look and slight head shake to the flirty fun jumper and go from there if he didn't take the hint. Fortunately, I jump at a small DZ, so this has never been an issue in the plane. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm not really seeing any 'science' in your 'study' at all. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

There's a difference between blaming the victim and identifying a chain of events. The victim was on her way to meet her father ... if she had done what she was supposed to, this would not have happened. Some people invited her over to drink, she agreed... if she didn't join them, this would not have happened. She drank a great deal... if she had not, perhaps this could have been avoided (ie, she may have been sober/conscious enough to get the hell out of there when shit hit the fan) She did not answer her cell when her dad called (did he call during the rape or prior to? If prior, maybe that could have avoided the situation) Did her father go looking for her at the school? If he did not, possibly that action could have avoided the gang rape. There was plenty of security inside the school, but apparently no adult supervision outside the school... enhanced security outside the school could have prevented the situation. This isn't about blaming the victim, but identifying links of the chain that could have been addressed in order to prevent this from happening entirely. I'm sure there are more links, but I have to get ready for work, so don't have time to type them all out. Identifying all the links can help with prevention of future events. As the parent of a 16 year old boy, we had a long talk about this case just last night... how to prevent it, how to react should he come across a situation like this, etc. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

With a student like your girlfriend, I will not let her jump with just the same instructor... I see this more with girl students than guys, but some girl students will feel safer and more comfortable with one instructor, they trust in the instructor rather than trusting in themselves. Skydiving is all about depending on yourself to save your own ass, believing in your own skills. At our DZ, we very actively ensure that students are not jumping with only one instructor for this reason. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You are working on the blatantly false assumption that foster parents will do something about the obesity. Our son has been obese his entire life. For the first time, he's a normal weight. He's lost about 25 lbs since moving in with us, solely due to football and we don't eat crap, don't even let it in the house. Many foster parents feed junk to the kids... it's quick, cheap, and easy. Not all foster parents are good ones. The psych ramifications on the children due to displacement is also pretty significant. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Well, skydivingchad and I met on match.com and got married 4 months after we met, it's been nearly 7 years, and we are very happy together. We both handled it the same way... we were very blunt... this is who I am, this is what I want, if you want to know more, great, if not, good luck in your search. There was no fluff, no pretenses, we both showed the good, the bad, and the ugly of ourselves. Both of our pictures were just one photo each, something simple. I'd say it was well worth the money :-) Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

There are good DZs across the US, and everyone on here will tell you that their home DZ or the place they jump often or the place that they trained is 'the best'. Exactly what was the scenario that you faced on your fourth jump that was the problem? Did you bring it up with the instructor or DZO? How was the problem resolved? Even once you get through AFF, where do you plan to jump? How do you plan to get from AFF to an A license if you are travelling to a distant dropzone for AFF? You say that you want an instructor that will spend an extra few minutes dealing with your nerves... that tells me that you need a personality match with you and makes me wonder if a personality conflict was the issue at your previous DZ. You come across in your post as very high maintanence, so you might want to do a little introspection as well. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Hutch is a great guy too, and you're in the best of hands with Griff. I'm glad Bill's getting some AFF going up there. It's a beautiful place for a DZ. Next time you're up there, tell Griff, Hutch and Bill that Chad and Jen Galbraith said 'hi'. We both think highly of everyone up there! Have fun and keep jumping

Dan, have fun up there. The owner, Bill is a great guy. I'm guessing Griff did your jump... he's a phenominal AFF instructor. I wouldn't have the AFF rating myself if it wasn't for Griff working with me! Have fun!!!! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Well, the rolling it up mostly in the container system seems to work, especially when you put a pilot chute on the system that will actually pull a pin unassisted (my first two jumps were a little too interesting from that stance ... many thanks to Dewolf for saving the day with a new pilot chute for me!

The orthopedic doc that did my wrist surgery had a sign in his office. It said something like: We give every patient all the time they need. Sometimes, that puts us behind. Someday, that patient may be you. I hate being behind for patients, but 100% of the reason I'm behind isn't laziness or anything else. It's because of one of two factors: First, I give every patient the time required to answer every single one of their questions, and explain their eye conditions to them. Sometimes I have a patient with a LOT of problems or questions, it puts me temporarily behind. Second... if a patient calls in, concerned enough about an eye problem that they want to be seen that day, I see them that day. Sometimes worming patients in like that shifts the whole schedule behind. If I'm more than 15 mins behind, I personally apologize to the patients that are waiting and let them know how long I'll be. That 30 seconds almost always keeps the peace and buys be another 20 minutes on the rare event I need it. If I'm the one waiting on the doc... if it's my family doc, I'll wait all day if necessary as I know he has the same patient care philosophy that I do. He's worth the wait. If it's a doc I don't know and it's non urgent, I'll ask the staff how long he'll be. Sometimes I reschedule, sometimes I wait, depends on their demeanor and my own schedule. Once, I switched doctors because of poor staff explaination of wait time. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Woohoo, I'm number one on the student list Hooked my new-to-me Lightning to my new-to-me rig last night. Someone just needs to show me how to pack the thing!

Blue light is damaging to the retina/macula and has been linked to macular degeneration. It increases glare due to the increased scatter in blue/violet wavelenths compared to other colors. It decreases contrast sensitivity and alters colors. Red tints will significantly impair color vision although may help somewhat with glare. If you want a functional sunlens, get a polarized amber if you are glare sensitive or polarized gray if you want a little bit darker tint. Ideally go with clear so that other jumpers can see where you're looking and can thus communicate with you far more effectively in freefall. You block off a large hunk of how other jumpers can read you in freefall by blocking their ability to see your eyes. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Once you do find someplace, let me know... I have tons of good bison recipes. I have this buffalo chili recipe that is absolutely phenominal, and not nearly as tasty with beef. And a buffalo meatloaf recipe with such wonderful flavor! Just remember not to cook steaks or roasts more than med rare, or they are gross. To those that didn't like their buffalo burgers, they were probably over-done. Cooked the right way, buffalo has a much better flavor than beef and is a lot healthier for you, much leaner. We get 1/2 cow every year too (amazing how much the men in this house can eat), but we cook cow vs. buffalo differently. Oh, if you're really up for an adventure, request some Rocky Mountain Oysters Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Find a local bison farm and get it fresh. We get about 1/4 bison a year. Yummmmm. And way cheaper than the mail order places. I pay about $5/lb. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm concerned about your 'safety rules' about deploying in clouds. What if the cloud base was at 2000 ft? Would you have waited until under 2K to pull? What do you find unsafe about pulling in a cloud? Remember, your priorities of the skydive are: 1. Pull 2. PULL AT THE CORRECT ALTITUDE 3. Pull while stable. Knowingly violating rule number 2 does not seem like a particularly wise maneuver. In your other post, you talk about waiting til stable to pull instead of pulling on your back... that's a blatant violation of these priorities as well. Please talk pull altitudes over with your instructors. Your priorities seem to be very backwards when it comes to whether it's more important to pull on time or pull while stable. I enjoy reading your posts and want you to continue to survive skydives so that you can continue to fill us in on your progress. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

From an eye doctor.. stay the hell away from blue lenses. Blue wavelengths scatter the most and cause the most glare in the eye, so your vision won't be nearly as good. Second, blue wavelengths cause the most damage to the eye of all the visible light wavelengths and have been linked to macular degeneration, so from a health standpoint they aren't good for you. Personally, I hate jumping with people that wear tinted goggles because I can't see their eyes or where they are looking, and that's a huge loss of communication from them. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I was a packer for 3 years, and in that time, 2 people on the DZ while I was there had bag locks. Both were tube stows. I personally won't use 'em. I keep spare rubber bands in pockets of my jump suits and the back pad of my rig, so it's not a big deal to switch 'em out as needed, which for me is once every maybe 20 pack jobs. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'll tell you what, send it to me, and I'll give it a good home I've sold 2 complete rigs on here, both racers. Both sold within 1/2 hour of posting the ad, both got the full price that I asked for the rigs. Both were late 90s racers. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

How about make a road trip up to Maytown Oct 2-4 and do the CRW camp? :-) It's only $50, plus cost of jumps, and for complete CRW newbies like me. CRW canopies will be provided. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

This is posted in the CRW forum, but figured that those not all that into CRW (YET!!!) might be reading here and be interested. I'll be there... Terry Ross forced me to do my first CRW jump with him a few weeks ago, and I still grin like an idiot when I talk about it, so come and play in the sky with me!!! I'm willing to give a place to crash to any out of towners. I live an hour from the DZ, but willing to drive you too. Jen Where: Maytown Sport Parachute Club; www.skydivemspc.com; about 25 miles SE of Harrisburg, PA When: October 2-4, 2009 Friday, 10/2/2009 @ 7pm: Class room & gear-up. Saturday, 10/3/2009: 1 on 1 coaching & larger formations in the afternoon (experience permitting). Sunday, 10/4/2009: Larger formations (experience permitting) Instructors: We have 7 signed up, including several world record holders. Fee: $50 for pups. We'll have Storms & Lightnings available. Aircraft: Multiple C-182s. If you've never been to Maytown, it's beautiful Lancaster County farmland all around. We're about 1 hour north of Baltimore & 1.5 hours west of Philly. If you're interested send Terry Ross an e-mail([email protected]) or PM me with your name, jump numbers, current canopy/size and exit weight. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm pretty sure that that rig does not have the protector ribbon on it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda