JoeG

Melatonin helps with my insomnia. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

Ahh that makes perfect sense. Thanks! _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

Can you expound on this? Is it a mechanical or a chemical bond? How does it affect the fabric? _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

Yeah, I think its going to be my girlfriends first canopy when she does AFF this spring/summer. Ain't I a good boyfriend? _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

One jumper to another: "Is that guy being attacked by a giant blob of bubblegum?!?!?" "Nah, thats Joe gathering up his chute" _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

HaHa! Well you see...the DZ is a 3 hr drive for me and I remembered about an hour into the drive. No way I was going to add 3 hours to my trip to get it. Wish I had though. Ah well - it'll be fully in my possession soon hopefully. Can't wait to jump that big pink monstrosity. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

I hear all of you on the pink color - I really couldn't care less - the way I figure it - I get to jump MY canopy on MY rig on every jump. No more waiting on student gear to be available or jumping different stuff all the time. Plus I think I got a smoking good deal. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

Well it looks like I am the proud owner of a new to me rig. I searched, or more like browsed the classifieds here for a few months to find one that sounded good to me, had it sent to Mike Gruwell at Chuting Star to have him check it out/act as an escrow for the purchase. My main goal in this purchase was to inexpensively and safely get the basics for my first post A license jumps. The rig is a Vector 2 with a Safire 189 and a PD 193 Reserve. The rig needs a few small repairs such as replacing steering lines (worn cat eyes) repairing two small holes that are developing in the corners of the main tray and a single broken stitch on one MLW. The current (I guess previous now ) owner did not know the number of jumps on the canopy when he bought it and he put about 100 jumps on it. I was a bit nervous about it being umm well jumped, but, Mike (Chuting Star) said it has the original lineset on it and probably has around 300 jumps total. Again, . The reserve has one deployment and has been packed 14 times. I drove down to Skydive the Farm today to check it out firsthand and make sure that the rig fit me adequately. The laterals are a hair short(er than a custom would be) but otherwise it fits me about as perfectly as a non custom rig would. I think it was made for a thinner and taller person than me, but not by much. The container is not freefly friendly, but heh, at this point, neither am I. So I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I have a decent container, an excellent main and reserve for only $900 plus less than $180 in repairs (including new brake lines) and I feel like a real skydiver now. The bad news is the Safire 189..........................is solid pink. Ah well, I can't have everything my way can I? I forgot my camera today but I will post pics later. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

I need to upload a video of my first post AFF jumps this week. On one of them I smashed my coach in the mouth with my altimeter and knocked him for a backflip coming out of the plane! As we tumbled through the sky, I thought..."oh, so thats what a funnelled exit looks like" The only bad thing he wrote in my logbook was, be a little less agressive on exit. I still cringe every time I think about it _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

I think this bears repeating. Worry about good, fast comes with practice. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

My parents were used to my shinanigans and actually thought this sounds safer than a lot of my previous umm pasttimes. My mom does call me on Saturday evenings to see if I've been jumping and to make sure I'm still ok _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

I never wanted kids of my own. I never expected to love children and pretty much lived a pretty hedonistic lifestyle. Two years ago I met an absolutely wonderful girl who spun my world. She is a divorcee who has four children. I have come to love her kids like I never thought I would love children before and find complete joy in her family. I am in love with being part of her family. She and I both skydive; I have just completed my AFF and a few solo and coach dives and she has a couple of tandems but wants to do her AFF this spring. We have discussed at length whether or not we are comfortable skydiving (and scubadiving) with so many children who are reliant on us. I love being part of (our) family and her children are my joy. We vacation together several times a year, we spend every other weekend together (the kids are with their dad's every other weekend), and I feel like the kdis love me as much as I love them. Once upon a time I was selfish, and I did as I chose, but I am far happier now as part of a family than I have ever been before. Because of my experience with this family I am finally closer to my parents and brother. I am a family man and I am finally fulfilled....and I am happy... _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

annexation/imminent domain? Many states require a vote of the general assemby; I don't know the rules of that state, but its definitely a possibility. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

Spot on (for me)... Relax!!! and as others said toe taps help you realize whether your feet are level or not - also, turn (reach) in the OPPOSITE direction of your turn. I had a predilection to reach in the direction of my turn... _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

Its like watching american wrestling tuned to ghosts. Without a doubt the silliest imflamitory "ghost" show I've ever seen. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

During AFF I think the fight or flight was running to strong to allow anything as trivial as barfing....now I mainly do solo's and sit by the door. Barring easy access to the door, I'll puke in my jumpsuit and get out ASAP. Regarding puking on someone's gear - I personally woudn't mind mind once it was cleaned and repacked, but I understand how some might not feel right about their gear after being puked upon. Bottom line, jumpsuits contain it better than anything else, then move towards the door friend. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

Good things come to those who wait..... and those who wait find the best deals _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

On my AFF 5 jump, I was unstable for probably 10 seconds until I arched like crazy. I had to say it in my head, ARCH (expletive deleted) ARCH!! After that it was a good jump. Besides that, if you can, jump more often. I agree with other posts here that you need to aclimate yourself to the freefall environment. C'mon now! its just falling out of a plane! Also, don't think of it as you "failed" your AFF 5 jump. You learned on that jump, right? You are just doing it again to perfect your technique. Let us know how your AFF5.5 jump goes. I am sure you will do well. Heck, if I could pass AFF anybody can. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

I am slightly scared of heights also, but when you are looking down from the door at the ground, its so far away it almost looks fake to me. Also, there is no falling feeling like there is on a roller coaster. Roller coasters are designed to pull you down at a tighter trajectory than you normally would, giving you that feeling. Skydiving is nothing like a roller coaster. As far as making your trip more enjoyable? Remember that the second jump is better than the first I have 12 jumps now, and each one has been an order of magnitude more fun! Have fun up there, and come back and let us know what you thought. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

I remember when a buddy was doing his AFF 4 jump, the radio guy on the ground thought a different jumper was him and had him steering for a landing in the pond. Remember I have very few jumps, but my advice would be to be heads up, on the lookout for other canopies at all times, and you are responsible for your own safety. Listen to the person on the radio, but if you see they are steering you into a bad spot, you have to make that call and save your ass. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

Yeah I saw that. I need to get those vids copied over to dvd though so I can show the fam my l33t skydiving skills It rocked jumping with other people. I had been out with three other people one time on my AFF1 jump (two instructors and a camera flyer), but it was really cool with everyone zooming around and being able to see them. Skydives are really becoming a whole lot more fun now that I am aware of whats going on around me instead of it being like I am looking through a paper towel tube. I remember on my AFF1 jump, I didnt ever see the camera flyer until he was right in front of my face. We will have to jump again, and especially once I have my A. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

MarkS: Thanks for the offer man. I surely will take you up on it. I think I did pretty good in figuring out how to slow up my fall rate though. I would definitely appreciate learning how to make it happen faster as it took me a good 6000 feet to make the dock on that first jump. Each jump keeps getting better and better. I am completely stoked right now. Now I need to see about getting my own gear. Being that I am a common height/weight, there are lots of times when I have to wait for gear to be available, which makes it tough getting as many jumps in as I would like. Ah well, a bit at a time. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

So this weekend I made my first "solo" jumps now that I graduated from AFF. The first jump was made on Saturday afternoon and I made a true solo jump to celebrate being cleared to self JM. I was really suprised at how long a skydive lasts when you aren't saddled with a bunch of "tasks" that need to be done. I got out at about 14 and after getting good and stable did a back and front loop followed by a few 360's. I was shocked to realize I was still at 12k feet! What a blast that was. It seemed like it lasted 10 minutes. The second skydive of the weekend for me was three other people; Keith, who has his coaches rating was kind enough to jump with me, and we picked up a couple of other jumpers (Brian and Chad) who were planning solos on the busride over. We planned an exit with Keith, Brian and Chad floating and me diving out after and coming in for a dock (for my A card). Keith was to give the count. Well, thats great and all, but here I come. I was so excited about the exit that I ran into them as they were letting go of the plane, busting Keith in the mouth with my altimeter in the process. doh! I ended up busting through the formation like a bowling ball knocking everyone apart and ended up I guess 70 feet lower than and 100 feet from them as they rejoined. I dearched a bit and got big as I could and finally ended up getting the dock by about 6500-7000 feet. I gave Keith the "aw hell im sorry man" look and turned and tracked at 5k. I stood up that landing (woohoo!). Later that day we tried it again, with the same number of jumpers, except we had Eric instead of Brian on that jump. We did the same exit as before with me diving out after. I waited a fraction of a second after they let go this time (mentally "going" on the second go of this "ready, set, go, GO) and ended up slightly above and about 100 feet away this time. I came in for the dock, and since we had enough altitude, went for the frontloop, backloop, and barrel roll within 60 degrees for my A card. I felt much better about that jump, especially since I didn't injure anyone Anyway, sorry about the long rambling post, but I am so excited about skydiving. I really appreciate Keith coaching me and being cool about me busting him in the mouth (still cringe everytime I think of it), Chad shooting video of me, and Brian and Eric for braving being in the same sky at the same time. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

As a network administrator I like the idea of charging for the base software and then allowing the purchase of modules to fit your specific needs. Not all dropzones will want/need the same options. You might want to consider that. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"

At least an A license unless you are with all instructors and coaches, AFAIK. _________________________________________ "Knowledge is Power!"