ntrprnr

Members
  • Content

    2,264
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    0%

Everything posted by ntrprnr

  1. Don't know if anyone uses Paralog, but I'm trying to install it on a Win XP Pro machine, and upon launch, keep getting a "Unable to launch java application" - "Unable to locate the application's main class. The class 'kr' must be public and have a public static void main string y method. (LAX.) I know a lot about computers - but have NO idea what that means. Tried it on both a Win XP Desktop and a laptop - same response both times. Anyone have any idea? Thanks, -Peter _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  2. Hey, all... Anyone have any video they could share of pilot chute pulls? I'm trying to figure something out - right now it's just a swirl in the bowl of tapioca I call my brain... But I'll share my thoughts as I get them clearer - Would love to see some video though, to see if I'm even remotely in the same ballpark. So... Anyone have any video of pilot chute pulls/openings? Thanks! ntrprnr Edited to mention that I found a few on skydivingmovies.com, but nothing that specific. _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  3. A few different hats. First and foremost, I'm an Entrepreneur. (note the name.) I run a Marketing and Public Relations firm in NYC, with clients worldwide. I run a company that allows people to pick their seatmate on their flight before they get onto it (Just launched it a few weeks ago, have high hopes for it - www.airtroductions.com) Sit on the boards of a few different companies. Volunteer a bit for some non-profits/charities in the NYC area. _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  4. Mmmm... Free goo. Milhouse: "Let's go crazy, Broadway style!" "Marge, don't discourage him! Weaseling out of things is what separates us from the animals! Except the Weasel." Homer: "My name is Mr. Burns. I believe you have a letter for me." Post office guy: "OK, Mr. Burns. What's your first name?" Homer: "I don't know." Insurance guy: "And before I pay this claim on your car, this says you were returning from "Moe's." What's Moe's?" Homer's brain: "Don't say it was a bar. Don't say it was a bar." Homer: "It's... a... pornography store... I was... buying... pornography!" _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  5. "You pack your bags, I'll pack your chute." _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  6. I'm certainlyy no expert, and your mileage may vary, but every time I've had the harness/chest strap ride up on me, it meant that I didn't tighten the leg straps enough. Be it on my student rig or the pro shop gear I'm renting until my own gear comes in, every time I've REALLY tightened the leg straps, I never have a problem. If I don't REALLY tighten them down, the second the chute comes out, the chest strap becomes the neck strap. Hope that helps! _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  7. Never had one. Didn't come into my own (i.e., get even remotely cool) until Junior year of college. Made my 10 year HS reunion exceptionally cool, though. _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  8. This is the BEST ADVICE on the subject. You do NOT want to owe Visa or MC on a debt like a new rig. You'll be paying it off forever. Credit cards are built like that. The goal is for you to be paying the interest until the end of time. Don't fall into the trap. Credit card debt hounded me from college until I sold my first company. Now everything is about AmEx and paying it off at the end of the month. You save a FORTUNE when you're not paying interest. Put it on the credit card only if a) you can pay it off within a reasonable time - what's reasonable based on your interest payments is up to you - but don't assume you'll just "come into money." It doesn't work that way, and that debt with be with you forever, like luggage. b) only use one credit card, and make sure you can get points or miles for it. You might as well get something out of it. Good luck! PS: I bought my first rig last month - gave Sonic at The Ranch a hefty deposit, and will give him the rest when I get my gear. I look at it as just grabbing a lot of frequent flier miles for something I'd buy anyway. :) _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  9. Spent two weekends ago in a suite at the Wynn. Wasn't anywhere near as great as it was made out to be. Stick with the Venetian. _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  10. For what it's worth, I'm a skydiver who's real job keeps him in the non-jumping-outable-types of planes to the tune of 150,000 miles per year. I got totally sick of sitting next to not so much fat people, but people who wouldn't shut up, or wouldn't stop drooling, etc... So I built something to hopefully do something about it. Feel free to check it out: www.airtroductions.com :) Cheers, ntrprnr _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  11. Was thinking the lack of jumpsuit caused me to fall faster, causing the hard opening. Don't know about line twists, either... _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  12. Happened yesterday... Seemed stable. Waved off at 4,500, pulled around 4,000. WHAM. Really hard opening. As I was seeing stars, I looked up to check my canopy, realized I couldn't look up because I had line/riser twists. My head physically couldn't lean back, the risers prevented me from it. That was a little scary. First time having them like that. Managed to pull the risers apart and shove my head through them so I could look up. As I did, I noticed the last of the twists correcting itself, I suppose my pulling the risers apart fixed it. Practice flared, all was fine, landed with no problems. Things I noticed: I wasn't wearing a jumpsuit. Is it possible that my speed was much faster than what I was used to with a jumpsuit at pull time? I was using pro-shop rented gear. A sabre 2 230 canopy. Line twists: Really freaked me out when I realized I couldn't look up at the canopy, but it seemed to be flying well. I was at around 3,200 feet by the time I unstowed the brakes and started to head for home. I thought seriously about cutting away if I couldn't get the risers far enough up so I could look up by 2,800 feet - Was that sufficient time/a good amount to look? Oh, and damn - is my neck/shoulders sore today. Any thoughts? Thanks... ntrprnr PS: I didn't pack it myself, but I totally don't blame my packer. He's packed for me before without any problems. Perhaps it was just a freak thing. I dunno. _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  13. 27, still nervous. But I think that's good. It makes me check, check, and recheck myself, my gear, my attitude. It makes me make someone else gear-check me. It makes me stop for a second before forgetting something basic, or forgetting to put on a piece of equipment. Your brain knows what you're doing. And although it knows that everything will work out fine more than likely, it's the logical side of your brain that's saying, "I'm getting nervous because what you're making me do isn't quite normal, and I want you to use that nervous feeling to make sure you're safe." If you weren't nervous, THEN you'd REALLY have something to be nervous about. At least, that's how I justify my nervousness to myself. :) _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  14. That's actually an interesting thought - could you position the headset inside your helmet in such a way that it wouldn't blow off, and actually have the conversation... For that matter, if you could shove it into your jumpsuit in time, you could shoot all 15 seconds of the VZ-8000 Video Phone, and then during canopy, mail it to a friend. :) _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  15. I was trying to explain the entire process to my dad, so I tried remembering my first pull to explain it to him. I didn't send him this, but it's whaat I remember from my IAF Level 4 - my first pull non-tandem. Anyone else have any good ones? OK, here we go. Waveoffwaveoffwaveoff. OK. Reach back, grab, THROW! OK! THROWN! One one thousand. Two one thousand. Three one thoOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOMPH! OK. THERE'S THE TUG. LOOK UP. OK. THE CHUTE IS OPENING. IT'S OPENING. IT'S CATCHING AIR. OK. IT'S OPEN. THE FOUR "S's." REMEMBER THE FOUR S's! IS IT SQUARE? YES. OK. IS IT STABLE? YES. OK. IS THE SLIDER DOWN? YES. OK 4TH "S." IS IT STEERABLE? FIND OUT! OK. UNSTOW THE TOGGLES. MAKE A RIGHT TURN. OK. I TURNED RIGHT. MAKE A LEFT TURN. OK. I TURNED LEFT. OK. CAN YOU FLARE IT? YES. IT FLARES PERFECTLY. OK. YOUR CHUTE IS OPEN!!! YOU'RE THIRTY FIVE HUNDRED FEET ABOVE THE EARTH, AND YOUR CHUTE IS OPEN AND IT WORKS!! IT REALLY WORKS!!! YEEEEEE-HAAAA!!!!! OK. NOW WHERE THE FUCK AM I????????? OK. LOOK FOR THE DROP ZONE. YOU'VE STUDIED IT IN THE PICTURES. OK. FIND THE HUDSON - OK, THERE'S THE HUDSON. OK. NOW FIND THE TWO TINY ISLANDS - THE RACOON EYES. OK. THERE THEY ARE. NOW TURN AROUND AND LOOK - SEE THE DROP ZONE? YES. THAT'S THE DROP ZONE. NO, THAT'S A FUCKING BARN, YOU IDIOT!! THE DROP ZONE IS NEXT TO IT. OK. THERE'S THE DROP ZONE. NOW. GET INTO LANDING PATTERN. LOOK AT YOUR ALTIMETER. MY WHAT? YOUR ALTIMETER! ON YOUR LEFT HAND! OH, YEAH. THAT. OK. I'M AT 2,500 FEET. DOING FINE. OK. KEEP LOOKING. FIND YOUR SPOT. STEER TOWARDS IT... And so on, and so on, and so on. I wish I had a tape recorder. I actually had the entire conversation with myself. Now it's a little easier. "WAVE OFF! ARCH! THROW!! comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon WOO! THANK YOU, MR. CANOPY! _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  16. Anyone ever keep it on vibrate and have it go off under canopy, or worse, during free-fall? Just curious as to how the under canopy conversation would go. :) And no, I don't recommend having a cell phone conversation while under canopy OR in free-fall. _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  17. So, for the past 3 months, I've been parking my car in the "Student" parking lot of Skydive The Ranch. The next time I go, however, I get to park in the "Members" section. I got my "A" license yesterday. WOO!!! Thank you, Pete, Randy, Bobby, T, Sonic, Jonathan, Michelle, Theresa, and everyone else at the Ranch - From the second I walked in, you made me feel welcome, safe, and cared for - you taught me what to do, what not to do, and most importantly, not to say the "F" word. Of course, my learning of that came not only after buying you 8 or so cases of beer, but the damn FRIDGE. I also learned to take an hour between my last jump of the day and my drive home, lest I get stopped for doing 85 in a 50. Regardless, it was well, well, well worth it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. :) Woo-hoo! I'm a skydivier!! :) _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  18. He gave me a free sticker for graduating and getting my "A" license - plus, he just seems like he a) knows his stuff, and b) won't try and screw you on it. That goes a long, long way in my book. _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  19. Tuesday... Went to the drop zone. Was so happy. Gorgeous day. Gorgeous first jump. Everything felt great. Second jump. Still happy. Get on plane. Take off. Get to altitude. Ask for a gear check. "Um, dude... Your Cypres isn't on." It was my first (Yes, I know, beer.) and longest descent on a plane I've EVER had. So not pleased. But I guarantee I'll never not arm it again. Don't know how I missed it - I did a whole gear check. I don't know how I missed it. Anyhow, like I said... I'll never do it again. Er, or I'll do it every time. Aw, hell. You know what I mean. Damn it. Can't wait to go to the DZ on Saturday. I'm sure I won't get hazed TOO much or anything. Sigh. Someone tell me I'm not the only one to have ever done that. Edited to mention that my cypres was on during my first jump. It was student gear, so I switched to another rig for my second jump - and forgot to arm it. So my first jump had it. _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  20. Winding up alone _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  21. BTW, now would be a good time to tell them you're gay. HA! Too funny. I've gotten that more times than I'd care to admit. But no, straight. Makes it even worse that I have good fashion sense. :) _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  22. Wow - Geat replies! Thanks all, so much. So good to know it's not only my parents. :) OK - to answer a few of the questions... I'm jumping at Skydive The Ranch, that's where I've been training. About 85 or so miles outside the city. It's not so much that I fear mom and dad, or worry about their wrath or anything, I just don't need them worrying about me all the time - I'd prefer there to be a way to get them to chill - hopefully, if I can bring them up to the Ranch at some point, they can see what I'm doing and understand how I do it, that I take all the precautions I can, that I'm not reckless, etc. Hopefully, they'll get it. The guilt factor - My mom is like the obi-wan of the guilt factor. Again, thanks much for all the answers - yes - I owe a case of beer. If there are gatherings, and I assume there are, I shall bring. ntrprnr _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  23. And by the way - Hi... First post. Glad to be here. Thanks for having me. :) _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."
  24. sigh... It had to happen sooner or later. I'm a 32 year old guy, living in New York City. Single, 2 cats. Discovered skydiving. 2 moe jumps left in my IAF course. Totally and completely in love with it. Deliberately didn't tell mom and dad - didn't need the insanity of mom and dad finding out their only child is jumping out of a plane. Well, they found out today. A reporter is doing a story on what CEO's do in their spare time. I'm a CEO. I told the reporter I was learning to skydive. Dumbass reporter left a message on my parent's machine asking how they felt about it. So not pleased. I was going to tell them eventually, just not this way. They freaked beyond all possible belief. So, I ask you - How do you let you parents know that it's not the end of the world? That you're probably safer jumping than you are crossing the street in NYC? That it's a wonderful, addictive, truly spectacular sport that I've found, and that nothing they say is going to stop me from doing it? Basically, how do you get them to stop worrying? Thanks, all. ntrprnr _______________ "Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?" "Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."