NWFlyer

When I lived up there I'd regularly take the ferry when returning to Seattle from KPow, especially on Sunday evenings when the traffic would be particularly jacked up. As you said, no time savings, but I appreciated the hour of "down time" to either recline my seat and take a nap in the car, or go upstairs and stare out the window at twinkling city lights. Better than cursing at I-5 traffic for sure! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3338880 Some high numbers in this thread, too. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Ah, overly-sensitive (that wasn't a slam on your jump numbers, just a question since most places want 500+ jumps to go out with a tandem) and snarky and dismissive. You'll do well in this sport.

Do you really have only 126 jumps? If so, you're going to find it extremely difficult (and you should) for a tandem instructor to allow you to join in on the jump. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

August is a big month for the Northern California Skydiving League since we're celebrating our one year (re)birthday! It's been a really exciting year building skills and bringing regular 4-way competition back to Northern California, and as such, we're planning to celebrate at our August events! For our outdoor competition on August 23, we're going back to where it all began, Bay Area Skydiving in Byron. It was at one of last year's scrambles events that the seeds were planted for the resurrection of the NCSL, so what better place to go for our birthday? We'll have a Caravan available for the event, so we'll have plenty of lift capacity to keep people jumping all day. There will be a team competition and skills camp, and we'd love to see everyone who's been a part of the NCSL this past year come out to be a part of it. We'd especially love to have experienced jumpers come out and be a part of the skills camp to help us grow the next generation of 4-way flyers. There's no additional cost for the skills camp other than the cost of your jump tickets. Click here for all the details and registration information. If you want to play indoors, the monthly Tunnel Kicker will be held on August 13 at iFly SFBay. Details and registration information can be found here. For more information, please email norcalskydivingleague [ at ] gmail.com. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

This is critical - to the OP: when considering readiness to come back it's important to explain to your care team (doctors, physical therapists, etc.) what kind of forces you can expect on your body, particularly around landing. Just saying "can I skydive?" usually doesn't give them enough information to help assess. Explain what you need to be able to do and when they believe you can safely do that without increased risk of re-injury (I say increased risk because even if you're 100% healed and back to where you were pre-injury, there's of course always going to be risk of injury). Can you run (to run out a landing)? Can you jump off a reasonable height (say, a table) to the ground and land safely? Can you safely make sharp lateral moves? Can you safely PLF? Are your vertebrae healed well enough to handle a hard opening? That's the physical stuff, then there's the mental. You'll want to do thorough recurrency training given that (if your profile jump numbers are correct) you'll likely be well out of currency for your license level. Upsizing temporarily (or permanently) is probably a good idea. Assuming your injury occurred skydiving, making sure you thoroughly understand what happened in that incident and how you can prevent it again will be very important psychologically to being ready to come back. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Probably want to pre-register, especially if you want an electrical hookup (not sure if there are any left). http://www.meadowpeakskydiving.com/lost-prairie-boogie-2014/pre-registration/ "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Thanks for sharing. I agree, it's a really terrific piece of writing. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

It's so easy to hear the joy and happiness in your written "voice," and it's not just all the emoticons you're using. So glad to hear that you're able to be true to yourself in all aspects of your life, including tandems! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Aerodyne. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I see you went formal. Well, he does appear to be wearing pants. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

As usual, find me at LP and I'll buy a bunch. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I actually tried the low-profile D on the Infinity and found it to be *too* low for my taste, and I could imagine having to try a little harder than I would like to jam my fingers in there. I'm sure it'd be fine, but again in the worst of circumstances, easier is better. I don't have dainty little hands, either. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

First rig (used Wings) came with a low-profile D handle, and I liked the fit/feel in my hand and saw no reason to change it. I've since ordered two custom rigs, and I've gone with a similar style offered by Infinity for both rigs (which they call the "mini hell wedge"). It's smaller than the standard D ring but still "rounded." I like it because it's a bit less of a snag hazard than a full sized D ring, but still big enough that it's super easy for me to hook a single finger or thumb in there. I choose it because if I'm down to my last chance I like the idea that I can pull the handle with just one digit if things have really gone to shit. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Wait, there's really a boogie called the Maple Bacon Beaver Jumpers Boogie? I

That was going to be my suggestion if it's not in place already. I'm coming from it from the perspective of someone who does standard patterns, but who also appreciates and respects swooping. I greatly appreciate the dropzones where the landing patterns are well-established and well-separated because it helps me to know what to look for and where. For example this weekend at Skydance we had three teams training - two FS 4-way teams (all 10 of whom typically do a standard pattern) and a 2-way VFS team (all three of whom do high performance landings). We were often all on the same load. The two 4-way teams would stack up in the regular pattern with natural separation from wingloading and exit order. Because of their higher wingloadings but later exit order, the VFS team ended up coming in to land around the same time as the rest of us, but since we have fully separate patterns for standard and high-performance and have divided the landing area with a "line of death," it meant that I knew precisely where to look for them, where to expect their setups, and where I needed to stay to make sure I gave the all the room they needed. That's the way it should be ... mixing up different types of landings in one pattern doesn't help anyone. So if the DZO is going from a fully mixed pattern to getting rid of high-performance landings altogether, this would be a good interim step to propose that keeps traffic safer for all types of landings. But, from the OP, it sounds like the DZO may just be in a "tired of watching people pound themselves into the ground" mode which may make it harder to impact the decision, because the pounding can still happen even if you solve for the traffic issue. That's a harder nut to crack. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Craig's tool is excellent for planning and learning (it's called Skydiving Draw on Android) for not only 4-way but pretty much all of the competitive formation disciplines (FS, VFS, CRW) of all sizes. The formation drawings for 4-way and 8-way include the standard B&W USPA version as well as the more "coaching-oriented" color coded Airplay versions with cheats and recommended block moves - terrific for learning/refreshing/drilling yourself. The app also can create draws for different classes. It has a timer function in there as well for scoring your dives. What it doesn't do is the tracking & analysis that the OP is looking for - the Rhythm spreadsheets are a good tool for that kind of tracking. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Sounds pretty normal and like he's doing just fine. He just needs to get used to it and realize it's his place. My boys adjusted pretty easily. Franklin I've had since he was a kitten, so he adjusted quickly at that age. He and Daisy grew up together till she passed away from kidney disease at age 2, then Franklin was an only cat for another 3+ years. Franklin's also moved with me twice - once into a temporary apartment for a month when I first moved to California, then to the apartment where I've lived since then. Both times, the move itself was pretty much a non-issue; the worst part was the car ride between locations. He spent a few minutes checking out the new space, found his stuff, and was pretty much fine after that. When I brought Pin in about 2 years ago (he was about 4 at the time), Franklin was pretty "meh" about it for a while, and actually let Pin do his thing and get comfortable without harassing him at all. For the first 3-4 days, "his thing" was to hide behind the couch, or under the beds, or in the closet, pretty much all the time. I knew he was eating and using the box, though, because there was an increase in both consumption and "deposits." But gradually he'd start spending more and more time out and about, and pretty soon he was spending pretty much all of his time out in the world. He's the biggest cuddler there is, a total attention whore, and loves to follow me all around the apartment. He still likes to hide from time to time, but usually it's only when something like fireworks or a vacuum cleaner has scared him. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Yep, just let him explore and hide at his own pace. As long as his food and litter box are in obvious places, he'll find them when he needs them. And he's a cat... he'll approach you when he damn well feels like it. This will not change for as long as you are his staff. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

This is great advice. I'd add that one way to get public speaking training and experience is to join a Toastmasters club. They're a very low cost way to get practical experience in different types of speaking scenarios, as well as at meeting management (which comes in handy in just about every job!). http://toastmasters.org/ "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

that's cool, but also a bummer--nobody is ashamed to be on the cover of a magazine or in a tv commercial jumping from their planes or covered in their logos, but others are ashamed or unwilling to say they WON'T do so because they don't want to lend legitimacy to a country that has such human rights baggage. I have no idea how this person feels about it; I heard through the grapevine that the offer had been turned down and why, so it wasn't kept secret. But at the same time, how people act about politics and social issues varies. Some people are very willing to become the poster child for a cause, and others are more quiet in their statements. To each their own, but to say the person is "ashamed and unwilling" is jumping pretty far in assigning motive, don't you think? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I do, but since it's third hand info I won't post names as I've never independently verified the info. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

What do you mean by "in the same boat" in this context? Did she also break her femur and injure a spectator? Otherwise, your question doesn't quite make sense. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Looks like you had a lovely day for her sendoff. And peltheads, too! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Hanging out with monkycndo last weekend at the ranch where I source my beef & pork (they sell at my neighborhood farmers' market) for their ranch dinner (wine, beer, multi-course gourmet meal featuring their meats, of course!), and a tour of the ranch. We even got to meet some of the animals. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke