Jeth

Thanks Sunshine!

I was wondering where the weekend numbers thread was. 1 : 10 : 1 Finally some decent weather in Chicago!!! I had a blast jumping with my team on Saturday. We suck, but I know we're gonna get better and we are gonna have so much fun doing it. Some low clouds had us grounded for a bit on Sunday. This weather is really pissing me off because if it's not rainy, it's cloudy. If it's not cloudy, it's really freakin windy! We just can't win! But I did manage to get 5 jumps in on Sunday after the weather hold. And I was pretty happy because I am getting a lot better at flying in stronger winds. I did land off a couple times, but I was able to collapse my canopy fine and didn't get dragged, so that was a wonderful thing.

Yay!! I finally have jump numbers!!!!

That was beautiful. I don't know you or Eric, but I always enjoyed his thoughtful posts. I wish you continued strength in the time ahead, and more happiness than pain. Blue skies. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

"Don't get dead. oh ya, and have fun." "Try not to kill me on this jump." "Don't forget to breathe." (From the early student days ) And some more useful ones... "ALWAYS get a pin check." "Check your 3's -- rings, buckles, handles." "Never stop fighting" "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

I totally have a ritual. At 10k I sit up and put my goggles on and then my helmet. After I put my helmet on I always press on my goggles, and pull on the chip strap to make sure it's locked. (Which of course it is cuz I just put it on LOL But hey, it's my ritual. ) Then I touch my hackey and do my EP's at least twice. Then I ask for a pin check and give my teammates a pin check. Then I give my teammates the 'ol skydiver handshake, and also give it to anyone else in my vicinity. Then right before exit I push on my googles one more time. (I wear contacts and am totally paranoid about too much air getting in there.) I like the whole handshake thing. It's a camraderie thing and reminds us to have fun. It especially makes rookies feel great and helps relax them. (At least it did for me.) "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Congrats on graduating! My numbers... 0 : 8 : 1 Fun times at SDC during Nationals! Chilly weather but gorgeous blue skies so we went for it. Beer owed for my first Caravan jumps. Nice plane, big door. On a few loads with the PD Factory Team - cool. Super nice guys. All in all a good weekend. Getting closer to 200!

Ok, better late than never... I HAD A BLAST AT SDC SUMMERFEST!!! 1 : 10 : 4 Even though the weather didn't cooperate much on Sat and Sun, I had some awesome jumps on Thurs and Fri. Beer owed for my first King Air, first CASA, first raft dive, and first JET JUMP!!!! The Jet was insane! Like being shot out of a cannon. My favorite part was charging down the aisle as they are calling "exit, exit, exit!". What a trip! My team got together and we built our 5-way speed star, woo-hoo!! I had been on the fence about jumping the jet, but I am really glad I did. It is something every jumper must do at least once if given the opportunity. It was worth the $100 bucks. It's an experience that you will never fully appreciate until you do it. I also had a blast chatting with some great people, hanging out at the Tiki Hut, and watching the film fest. Next year I think I'll come a little earlier so I can catch the swoop-n-chug, that looked pretty funny. Even though I didn't get as many jumps in as planned, still an awesome time all around. Lemme shout out to all the cool people I met and jumped with last week. Thanks for the good times!!

I'm not doing so well. But hey - I'm alive, uninjured, and having fun, so I can't complain about that. Mine were.... 1. Do at least 100 jumps. Due to crappy weather and a June vacation I've only done 42 so far this year. But I'm still hoping to get there... 2. Get on a 4-way team to improve skills and have jump buddies. Well we did get a team together, but we haven't been able to get 2 other reliable people. We have not jumped together enough to go to any meets, which is a bummer. But I do think I have improved my skills just consistently doing 4-way or 2-way drill dives, so thats good. But I wish the team would've worked out better. 3. Go to a new dz Not yet. But we are still saying we'll go to Hinckley one weekend this season. 4. Learn to sitfly Not yet. But I think next time my teammates are late I will take the opportunity to go out and do a solo and give it a whirl. I am hoping the weather for the rest of the season cooperates. And I've still got Summerfest to look forward to, woo-hoo!!! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Good job on staying alive.

2 : 12 : 1 Woo-hoo! sweet weekend at SDC!!

2 : 9 : 0 Yea!! Great to have numbers again after 5 weeks!!! Had a great time at SDC on the 4th and this weekend. Got 3 good jumps in on Wed, and 6 more on Sat. My whole team wasn't there so didn't do as many training jumps as I wanted. But still did some good drill dives and had fun jumping with some other people. Didn't get to do any on Sunday due to strong winds. But thats the way it goes sometimes, still a great weekend!!

Me, too!

Very nice weekend for me. 1 : 9 : 1 Even though we're still a 3-woman 4-way team, we did some good training jumps this weekend. Had a great sub, thanks Rick! We had some fall rate issues but improved with each dive so that was great. It was definitely a slow day at SDC cuz next thing I know we're doing a dancing spider with Mike Wittenburg! Of course we didn't quite pull it off, but it was sure fun. Loved docking on Mike while he was on his back! I'm sure if we do it about 10 more times we'll nail it. The winds were kinda funky but I had some great landings on most of my dives, so that felt good. Now we just need to find a 4th!! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Ya, I would say that's a beerable offense. Congrats! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Welcome back!

Glad you were able to learn an important lesson without injury or death, but I am curious about something – Given your jump numbers and time in the sport, it was not all that long ago that you were under the supervision of instructors and coaches. Where did you learn that it is okay to not receive a pin check before exit? I am curious because if they are doing their job, Instructors and Coaches should be teaching the importance of pin checks, yet, there are so many skydivers who do not get them. So where is this learned from? - I did not learn that from my instructors. I was taught to always get a pin check. But I agree that many jumpers don't. I know many "old-timers" myself who never get a pin check, so I suspect that when newbies look around the plane and don't see others asking for checks, they decide they don't want to ask a stranger for one. That was the reason in my case. I was jumping with a new group and I didn't see anyone else ask, so I didn't. (Now I get one every time.) BTW, you and I had a few discussions about this and other topics when this happened, back in September of 2005. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Totally my fault. Didn't get a pin check in the plane before exit and my bridle had gotten caught on something so as I was exiting a 6-way, my container was coming open. Started out as a horseshoe and ended up as a twisted up baglock over my head at 11 grand. Needless to say, that mess had to go bye-bye = first chop. Lesson learned: GET A PIN CHECK IN THE PLANE! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

I wear contacts and have never had a problem. Mine are the 30-day ones. I am paranoid about making sure my goggles are tight, though. They do have the air vents, and that much air is fine for my eyes. But I make sure they are on very securely before every exit. I'm sure I'd be nearly blind if they came up or off and my contacts got instantly dried out. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

0 : 4 : 1 Beautiful weekend at SDC!

I didn't seem to have a problem closing it. Alright Sunshine, now that's just cruel. You know I can never be as good as you!! I paid you didn't I? That means you were supposed to keep our little secret. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

1 : 2 : 1 Woo-hoo!!!! FINALLY the season has started!! We had gorgeous weather in Chicago this weekend and I finally got my ass back in the air! Only got 2 jumps in cuz we were backed up with tandems and I had to leave early, but that's okay. Did a fun 3-way to get reacquainted with RW. Funneled the exit (of course) but managed to stay together. Beer owed for the virgin jump on my NEW WINGS!! She's a bitch to get closed, but looks pretty damn cool and is comfy in the air.

Wow. I am surprised how many people are so against this. You can count me as one who is looking foward to it. Just like Matt said, there are so many things I could do on a dz's web site if they had the capability. Forums, fund jump acct, see jump log, update gear info, etc. The way I see it, if I can fund my acct in a bored moment at work on a Wednesday afternoon, that is time saved when I get to the dz on Saturday, which means I get my ass on the plane faster. I also agree that it should benefit the dz as well because the manifest girl can spend more time manifesting because she doesn't have to process that update to my acct. I realize these benefits are more for the realDropzone software than the skydivesecure. But I do see the value in having one registration that works for multiple sites. It's kinda like when you set up a profile on Avis.com with your personal info, credit card, car preference, etc. Then when you get to the airport, you can just go right thru and pick up your car. If all your info is in your skydivesecure profile, you should see equal time savings at the dz like at Avis. I guess I'm one of those people that loves the instant access to information that the web provides. The security and privacy issues are far outweighed by the convenience for me. Out of all the web sites my info is on, it hasn't "gotten out" yet. My two cents. Beth

Hey Tory, speak for yourself! Oh wait, I like Corona, too, never mind.... Seriously, I jump at SDC too and it is a great place. Come on down. Even if you don't jump there will be tons of nice people in the hangar to chat with. And don't forget the Corona to enjoy later at the bonfire. Beth

Down by 2 at the half... "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site