Andy9o8

Oh, yeah.... 4. Brits who use the word "wanker". Actually, it doesn't piss me off, it makes me LMAO!!! (Along with the rest of North America. OK, maybe not Mexico, which technically is in geographic North America. Of course, most non-Hispanics consider Mexico just part of Latin America. Why do they call it "Latin" if Latin is a dead language? Sanskrit is a dead language. So is Aramaic. The ancient Palestinians & Israelites used to speak Aramaic. Now they just toss bombs at each other. When the beer light is on, I like to get get bombed. I like to bomb out the door of the plane. Plane rhymes with Spain. Empuria is in Spain. So this is really about skydiving.) 5. Yanks with ADD who are easily self-distracted and lose track of what the thread is about.

I think we fall somewhere between "den of thieves" and "congregation of worshippers".

For the butterflies in the stomach feeling, I often eat little or nothing in the morning when I’m going to the DZ. It’s a carry-over from my student days: no food in there, nothing to barf! (I do the same thing when I go to amusement parks, in case I go on the rides.) One caveat to this, especially in warmer weather: dehydration can make you feel nauseous, so keep yourself well-hydrated at the DZ. I often drink just regular soda (for the sugar) or sport drink (for the carbs) in the morning to give myself some fuel if I don’t want to eat solid stuff, “just in case”. (I recommend you not drink cola or any other caffeinated drink; caffeine just adds to the jitters.) Re: your “chute”, ain’t no pots & pans in there! Learn to pack your rig yourself ASAP; it’s a great way to give you that in-control feeling. So is knowing how to do a good PLF.

I think you can probably find the answer to your problem right here: http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/paranoia.jsp Best of luck.

1. Ranch dressing. 2. The expression "just my $0.02" 3. Brits who say "whilst" instedda "while"

As someone who worked in the Property/Casualty industry for 4 years....Yes, do this. I agree with this, too. One caveat, though, re: "replacement cost": read your policy carefully, or have someone knowledgable (an insurance professional or attorney) do so. Check whether you're insured for "replacement value" (which gets you more money) or "depreciated value" (which gets you less money). Can sometimes be a BIG difference.

Total number of jumps has a lot to do with it, but so does currency. If it's been at least a week or 2 since my last jump, I almost always feel a little bit of butterflies in the stomach on the drive over to the DZ, and a bit on the ride up on the 1st jump of the day. The rest of the day I usually don't notice it much. The more time since my last jump, the more the jitters return, and the longer they last. When I was a student, a couple times I'd arrive at the DZ, casually walk out of sight behind one of the hangars, discreetly barf a little, and then I'd be good to go the rest of the day. So you're in good company, and you'll be fine.

I don't like to jump with contacts in. I used to just wear my regular prescription sunglasses with a sport strap holding them. Now I wear the prescription basketball/raquetball type sport glasses, with the elastic band around them. I have one pair tinted, the other pair clear. Most any optometrist should have them. Very comfortable. I have heard The SportX are good, too. I tried on a friend's pair (didn't jump them), and they're quite comfortable, too.

Exactly right, like being part of a community. And remember, he's not just threatening official sanctions & legal action, he's actually making public accusations that particular people are attemtping to murder him by sabotaging his gear. What does that say about perception and judgment? Frankly I don't blame someone on the receiving end of that kind of accusation from being a little pissy in response.

We thought you were going to do it.

Thanks for the image, bro. I was eating something when I read that.

Yeah, just remember to buy them a case of beer. Start a new tradition in the dry cleaning industry!

To those who replied "why are you on the list?", I thought it's called sadomasochism to blame yourself if someone abuses you. And that you endorse death games says a lot about you. If you're being harrassed (your word) simply because you're a little different, that's unfortunate. If you're on the list because you do things to endanger yourself, you should consider the message and maybe modify your conduct so as to change others' opinons of you as a jumper I don't need to explain myself. True enough. But perception is reality, and if you're perceived as being a dangerous jumper...well, see above. I removed my name from the death list and explicitly demanded the "organizer" (money collector) that she never puts it back. She refused, and put my name back, with an embarrassing nickname. So let me rephrase my question - and add more: - Is it legal to harrass someone by putting his name on a death list and collecting money, if that person explicitly demanded to stop? Probably, unless you can convince a prosecutor that you're being targeted for death. Do you really, REALLY think that? - Is it legal for "players" to play the game which may solicit tampering with the equipment (or, for example, cutoff on landing) to win the game or to get the revenge? I'm guessing gambling is illegal in New York. But most cops won't care if it's at such a small level it's like the neighborhood poker game. Then again, deliberate tampering with someone's parachute could be considered attempted murder. Is that really, REALLY what you're trying to say -- that there's a consipracy at that DZ to murder you? That's quite an accusation. Please consider the implications and consequences. - What action can I take to stop this fucking sick shit? Depends on what it is and what caused it. If it's just people bugging you, you can either try to get along better; or if you're sure it's "them" and not "you", I guess you just decide whether to jump there anymore. Do you really want to sic a lawyer on them? To do what? force them to be nice to you? - I have a suspicion that my equipment was attempted to tamper with after the argument - specifically, one side of the slider was half collapsed after I uncollapsed the slider and left my parachute unattended, which could have lead to hard opening or a malfunction. How can I protect myself? Again, I urge you to consider the implications of what you're saying. Are you really willing to take the step of accusing people of conspiracy to murder you? Are you willing to smear the reputation of that DZ in a public forum like this with that kind of accusation? P.S. Those who think such a harrassment is a normal thing, leave this thread alone. How you view it is your choice. You can view it as harrassment. Some people at some DZs are a little rough at people who are a little different. Did you ever ask anyone why you're on the list? If the answer is because you're simply unliked, go jump somewhere else. If it's because you're thought of as unsafe, how about keeping an open mind and trying to make yourself a safer jumper? P.P.S. I have the official rules of the game, but I'm too lazy to type them in. P.P.P.S. I can't believe this is happening at the Ranch, one of the best good vibe DZs in the world! Again, I urge you to seriously (re-)consider the implications and consequences of what you're saying.

I'm not sure how you could be so sure of that unless you tried the course! Sounds like you haven't had any formal canopy course yet from which to make that judgment. You're not the only novice jumper who has started this kind of thread. Presumably your purpose in doing so is either (a) you really don't want to quit, so you're trying to prompt others to (predictably) encourage you not to quit, or (b) you already have made up your mind to quit, but you're giving yourself a guilt trip about it, so you want to to get others to validate your choice to stop jumping. Only you can decide what your own purpose (i.e., agenda) is. One last thought, for whatever it's worth. (And this is only a last resort, if you take a canopy course but still have a mental block with the landings. And this also presupposes that you don't really want to quit.) Way Back When, there used to be a time when only very experienced skydivers jumped ram-air canopies, and everyone else jumped rounds. Back then, skydiving was all about the freefall, and the canopy ride was just a means to survive it. Now I'm not for an instant suggesting that you jump a round canopy. But if you love the freefall part of skydiving, but fear of landing the canopy is pushing you out of the sport, what's to prevent you from just sticking with the very large, docile student canopies? It's not the best option, and I still think you should take a good canopy course; but if that doesn't get you to where you want to be, maybe making the canopy landing far less part of the equation by using a student canopy for a while - so you can reduce the fear factor of the landings - might be worth a shot. Now that's an unconventional approach, to which many people would (rightly) say "No!! that just avoids the need to learn to fly a canopy properly." But hey, it's better than quitting completely -- that is, assuming you don't really want to quit. (But first try a good canopy course!!)

Yeah. Kind of like sex.

Nick is correct. In the "red logbook days", it started at 2,500 & went up at 1,000 ft increments.

Yeah, but still, having mediocre guaranteed health care coverage is better than having none at all. It’s an abomination that in a country as affluent as the U.S. so many people and families have no health insurance because they’re not in a job that provides health insurance as a benefit, and private health insurance for a family is prohibitively expensive. And so they just “jump without a reserve”, as it were, hoping that nobody in the family gets into a car accident on the way to the store, or the kid breaks a leg playing soccer, or needs an operation, etc. And it’s not just the poor, it’s many, many people in the middle class. You work for a company and get laid off, you lose your health care if you can’t pay an extra $900/month, even with COBRA. We’re supposed to be a country that promotes small-business entrepreneurs. Well, if you’re self-employed, or you’re an independent contractor (and LOTS more people are independent contractors now than ever before), etc., nobody’s going to pay your family’s health insurance but you; and if it’s a choice between making the mortgage or rent each month, or paying ransom for health insurance, guess what you’re going to choose? Meanwhile, the govt (regardless of which party's in power at any given time) squanders billions of bucks giving sweetheart no-bid contracts to political cronies. You know how much health insurance could be funded with that kind of money? The system is badly broken. Something must be done. Purely socialized medicine may not be the answer, but neither is the status quo.

Parsing words must always be done in context. Rules are not drafted in a vacuum; they are intended to reflect a particular policy. The obvious purpose of the BSR is to have an operating AAD on a student's rig. Do you really think that when the authors of that BSR inartfully used the word "functionAL" rather than "functioniING" they really mean that they didn't care whether the AAD on a student rig was turned on, as long as it was just there? Or, do you really think that argument will win the day for the DZO if he's cited for neglecting to have a student jumper's AAD armed? In either case: I don't think so.

Pssst! You're gonna need extra-thick soles on your left shoes from now on. Why? He's pulling your leg!! And you fell for it. Doh!!! ------------------ By the way, it does kinda look like a Beaver. Whatever.

Be careful... Took the words right out of my mouth, Frenchy, the moment I saw that phrase. Cool headgear, extra-cool video shot angles, cool-looking hackey handles, a cool-colored cutaway handle, cool looking mini-rings, etc., etc. In skydiving, coolness can sometimes (more often than you think) be incompatible with safety. Sorry if that sounds uncool...

For some perspective on choosing jump clothes wisely (so as not to make your hackey inaccessible), see this thread by Sangiro: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=242477;search_string=hackey;#242477

Local "brewpub" beer craft-brewed on-site is usually superb. Hey, you never know how long the place will last. When the brewpub near my house closed, I wanted to cry in my beer; but of course, I had no beer. And besides, life is short, ya know? You can always skip a meal or run a mile. I say: Go to the pub!

I'm sure it was just the wind. Oh wait, she was wearing goggles.

Note that "wine" rhymes with "whine". Not a coincidence, IMHO. Pass me a Sam Adams, please.

Papers, please.