AggieDave

Well, you know how those damn Texans think. Now, if you want to talk STADIUMS...... Don It is on track to be the biggest stadium in he SEC. http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/5/1/4291104/texas-am-football-stadium-expansion-kyle-field --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

And speaking of new era, I was on campus this week and holy shit f'n Kyle Field. It's a monster, it's huge and the jumbotron is reportedly being used to transmit written messages to ISS. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Says you. I always carry the faith! I absolutely loved the coaches' interview after the game. South Carolina got smoked in every regard and they admitted it! --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Yup. Ruptured my left bicep while tackling a burglar at work on May 31st. Had surgery in June to reattach the bicep to the elbow (complete tear and separation). Still in rehab,was in a brace/cast until the end of July. Also makes my first hardware! made it as a competitive swooper without hardware and earned it after I stopped jumping. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

I have a few. I have one that I hang Lowepro lens cases off of and use for my "run-and-gun" photography bag (the Lowepro cases fit in the MOLLE webbing perfectly). I've been carrying another one for a few weeks since I haven't been able to load out my belt and pockets like I normally do due to my non-functional left arm. The large messenger bag is my gym bag.

It's a satchel. "Indiana Jones had one..." --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Maxpedition bag over your shoulder? --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Me too. Looking forward to reading it. Thanks guys! --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

That is a typical way to have a bicep tear and when some of my friends heard about my injury they assumed I did it in the gym or at a competition. People who have an injury like this are typically over the age of 35, are strong and use steroids. Well I'm a shade under 35 (barely) and I do not use steroids. May was a very bad month for me this year, besides the ruptured bicep a couple weeks before that my father passed away suddenly. For every swing low there is a swing up and for every bad day there is always a way to find success. The success is that my editor got the final edit of my novel back to me the second week of June, with the help of another (former) skydiver and fellow photographer we were able to shoot the very complicated cover photo and I got my novel out there for all the world to read. Being stuck at home and using voice-to-text software I was able to focus on really promoting my book, including finishing the website and a bunch of other PR stuff I needed to have ready for the book's launch. All that time also gave me the time to really get started on the follow up book in the series, which I should have out by the first of the year. The only downside is that I wish Dad was alive to hold the finished book in his hands. My first major article with eight photos is being published by the end of the month for the October issue of a very well known photography publication and I wish he could have seen that too. Although he was very proud to know that both of those things were coming this year. Regardless, with the horrible low of May the following months have been long and painful but the recovery process is moving along well and I've had some big successes in my post-skydiving adventures to really help temper it all. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L3GL20M http://www.winchesterundead.com http://www.f8industries.net --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Here's a motor rodeo version of 4-way FS: Outside: http://youtu.be/b1DIqKRFcx4 Inside: http://youtu.be/n8EtaBYEBZY I'm not going to lie, I could do these competitions all the time and just have a blast doing them. Too bad there isn't anything like it in the civilian world. I really don't miss working in over 100F heat on the back of the bike every day! --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Ruptured my bicep tackling a burglar. His shoulder hit the tendon that attaches my left bicep to the elbow just at the right spot at the right time. Felt a hard pop and my left arm went limp to my side. I knew the pain wouldn't hit for a little bit so after my partner ran up to help we got the turd in custody. Twelve days later I had surgery that gave me my first metal in a bone repair and here I am now 8weeks after the surgery still working to curl 2 pounds with out exceptional pain. The bike is a Honda ST1300 and the sound you hear are the two chain driven overhead cams. It's a wicked fast bike that is obviously highly maneuverable. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

So what do they have you doing now? Was it your choice to change? Regular cop stuff now (I wanted a change but some office politics helped that change along for me), well, sort of, ruptured a bicep at work back in May so I'm still recovering and only have partial use of my left arm as of yet (had to have surgery to reattach my bicep to my elbow). Quite frankly I started poking around for a civilian job in the collision reconstruction world since that is my expertise. If fact I'm sitting in a classroom near Austin right now waiting for my class to finish their final exam in the advanced collision investigations course I taught this week. Life's winding path is odd at times but an adventure none the less! --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Damn! Talk about not having much, if any, margin for error in that run. Looks as tight as it can get making those turns without knocking anything over! Turn stop to turn stop on nearly every maneuver. So it takes controlling the throttle and clutch just right while using ever part of your tire to the sidewall. No "chicken strip" on those tires! And yes, years of training and riding to build that skill set, but like skydiving it is years of FUN training and riding. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

I'm no longer a motor, but here is the last competition I attended (one of my practice runs): http://youtu.be/2rfCdckf-OY --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

At my last nationals meet I was 305 out the door. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

1 I've been successful competing in powerlifting, which has been very enjoyable. 2 I took up writing and photography. This is the cover to my novel, which I also designed and shot. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Lead with the belly! --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

My last nationals for CP was in 2010. I was 275-280 before gear and on a Velo 111. I have exited the sport but I started competing in powerlifting after that (and still do). --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

I got out after my second child was born. I could not justify blowing off full weekends to travel and jump to keep my ratings and keep current enough to swoop, my family is more important to me than that. Not for some grandiose idea of safety but simply for the time and resources that my family deserves from me. On the upside I have filled in the "extra time" during naps and after bed time, etc to start up a photography business and publish my first novel. I might come back, I might not, but I'm happy for the memories, the fun I had, the friends gained in the sport and lost due to it. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Damn. Seems like quite a few of us that were the core group of jumpers on dz.com back then have died. Sky will be missed. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

That is 100% incorrect. Was correct in the 1990's So were doc martins with shorts and a flannel shirt...but you know that was 20 years ago. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

That is 100% incorrect. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

I had a spare loop sewn onto the outside of my d-bag with a small band cut in half to stow the rds line outside the bag. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

One of the locals I contacted said that there have been some photographers that were victims of those gangs, with their gear stolen and some minor injuries while shooting the Packard Plant. Personal security is a significant concern for these shoots and has been on the other Texas urban exploration photoshoots I've been on, it is something that the other photographers in my group and I take very seriously. We also take serious steps to provide protection for each other. Regardless, thank you for all the feedback, having made contact with some of the suggested people from the thread I've learned that basically there is no legal access since the property owners really don't care unless they're going to make significant money from a commercial shoot. There aren't any people or organizations providing a fixer service or organizing anything like this, which is too bad since I think that could be a serious side-gig for a local pro-photographer. Well, I guess I'll get back to focusing on access to the Baker Hotel before it gets redeveloped. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Oh I know. A reason why we like buying local grass fed beef and local free range chickens. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."