Skolem45

Software development team leader.

Yep :) Instant youth.

Being a good person is all that matters. Don't let anyone make you think you're somehow bad because you don't fit their standards. They are they, and you are you.

http://www.izpitera.ru/lj/tetka.swf ...But you can help her! (With the mouse)

Aw, Jeee-zus! Why did I have to click that? Why?!!

So this was useful. Sounds like the thing to do is: have the goggles really tight + use eyedrops to rewet the eyes before the jump. Also sounds like the majority of recommendations are for the FlexZ goggles. Also, found a few related older posts for those that may be interested, particularly http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=664621 and http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=123432. Thanks!

Wow, that situation is what I'm concerned about... How bad is your vision? I have -6.5 on both eyes, so landing without contacts would be... interesting.

So a couple of jumps ago, on exit, one of my contacts pops out! Thought that was weird, but didn't pay it much attention. Then the next jump, at the same moment, the contact comes out again from the same eye. That got me kind of apprehensive, since if both of them came out, I would be in a really nasty spot - can't see much without them. Now I think I know what the problem was - I had loosened my goggle strap a few days before, to the point that it would sit in place, but not really push into my skin. I tightened it back again, so that now it's quite snug, and hopefully that should do it - I've been jumping with these gogles for a while before with no problems. But that got me thinking - how often does that happen? Should I be using different goggles? One recommendation that I got was to tape the little vent holes, but that would probably make them fog up pretty quick, and that would kind of suck too... Ideas? Comments?

That's what the Egyptians get for blindly following Bush into invading Iraq! Oh wait... they didn't do that. Face it people, "Let's stop doing whatever it is they don't like and they will leave us alone" is not a viable policy.

Hi all, Does anybody know of good canopy control courses in Northern California? At this point I am interested in really basic stuff - accuracy, primarily.

No.

Usually easier said than done. I stand by what I said, with fallingchip's correction in.

Get help.

I'm a total newbie, but for what it's worth, the tunnel proved to be enormously helpful in my case. I did it after jump 7 or 8, and I so wish I had done it earlier! Also, why don't you ask the instructors at your DZ if they think some tunnel time would be helpful?

I kept going into a flat spin until about jump 9 or 10. Then I went to Perris and had 10 minutes of tunnel time. That made all the difference!

Vices I admire: arrogance (sometimes, when it's in the form of "Fuck you, world!") Virtues I despise... I don't know, driving the speed limit?

No, it doesn't. Terrorism means, among other things, specifically targeting civilians. As applied to the post-civil war situation in US, lynchings can probably be considered terrorism. But the war itself cannot. Well, either it is your country, or it isn't. If you have legally seceded from it, it isn't. Example: if Ukraine attacks Russia right now, it will not be treason, just war. Well, the word past is the key here, isn't it? One was 150 years ago, the other is now.

Um... How does the Confederacy embody terrorism? And treason? That doesn't make sense to me either - they seceded, exercising their right to self-determination; then the two resulting nations had a war. Sorry, honestly don't understand what you are talking about.

So all is well, then. The offensive symbol has been removed from the public building, and on private property they can fly whatever flag they want. And there is still a sea of difference between flying the Confederate flag on private property, and openly pronouncing from the pulpit, with tacit government approval, that terrorists ("martyrs", whatever) go to heaven. But what's more important, the "reasons" that on the list that started this thread are all about Americans not condeming things that happened 150 years ago. The Muslim authority figures do not condemn terrorism that happens right NOW. World of difference.

Private property, bro. Freedom of speech, ever heard of it? Wake me up when crys for violence are mainstream, as they are in a lot of Muslim countries.

Are you kidding me? Most poll samples are about 1000 people. As polls go, this is huge.

Yeah... You'll notice though, that the first and last letters of all words are in their rightful places. Compare: Ro ti oudwl eb cumh ahrred to datsrneudn. and Or it wluod be mcuh hredar to ustenrndad.

I also had problems with uncontrollable turn in freefall. In fact, my AFF jump #4 was, up to a point, very similar to yours: turned left OK, then, when turning right, went into a spin, faster and faster, got scared, dearched, lost stability, flipped to my back. (This is where it gets different, as I was able to pull, albeit in an upside-down position...) Anyway, I've been having problems with my spin for sever jumps after that, and what helped me was the wind tunnel. I got 10 minutes of tunnel time in Perris, and it made all the difference. You are saying that you did have some tunnel time; how much? Did you have a coach in the tunnel with you?

Ok, here's mine: My first jump after AFF. Reasonable exit. Got into a spin fairly early on, followed the "5 second rule", - pulled. High. As in, 9k ft. Now the upper winds turned out to be pretty stiff. After a few minutes it was pretty obvious I wasn't going to make it to the dropzone. Was dreading landiing in some wooded hills for a few minutes. Fortunately, lower winds were more manageable (duh, they wouldn't let me jjump otherwise.) Made it to the town between the DZ and the hills. Found an empty lot of land. Up till the very last moment thought I would land with the fence between my legs (would be nasty, as the fence turned out to have barbed wirre.) Lay there for 10 seconds or so just to feel the ground and to be thankful for being alive and well. Hey, if all it takes to walk off from landing is cliimbing some barbed wire fence, it;s not so bad