Jeff.Donohue

I know of at least three former/recovering alcoholics who skydive. All three of them make all or some of their living from skydiving, so I'm going with the polka theory. (No, I'm not one of them. Though I keep telling myself I should cut back. But that's a different topic.)

Having been involved in skydiving for a couple of years, I've seen a number of fund-raisers and outreaches for skydivers and former skydivers who have been injured in the course of skydiving or who have incurred medical costs outside of skydiving that they can't really afford. It seems to me that a tax deductible not for profit could help encourage people to donate to and support those folks. (It would also people to run raffles that are legal, as an aside.) Is anyone aware of anything like that to support skydivers? If it exists and I don't know about it, please let me know. If not, I'd like to set it up. I don't have the bandwidth or the connections to be able to oversee it or deal with its day to day operations, but I could arrange for it to be set up and take care of the tax filings (in a past life I was a tax lawyer, but I'm not as big of a dork as that implies.... awww... who am I kidding... I am...). I'd probably look to the USPA, folks from my DZ, or folks from here to make it actually run. If something like this exists, I don't want to re-create it, but it seems me as though there are way to many people who need help and not a lot of good structure to help them. Let me know. Or if you think it's a dumb-ass idea, let me know that too. Thanks.

Chris, As has been pointed out, it will depend on the policy, but a lot of policies do cover loss, unless the loss was created as a result of the homeowner's negligence. So, for example, if it was unreasonable to store your rig at the dz, the insurance company may try to weasel out of it. But since a lot of people did this, my guess is that it would be a hard argument for an insurance company to make. I have an old jumpsuit I can donate. PM me with where I should send it. - Jeff

I watched the video. More than the sight of impact, it was the awful sound you made when you made that divot that made me quiver in fear. - Fledgling

2x + 1, where x is the number of jumps I have at the time. I am a newbie in pretty much everything I do, and I prefer it that way. If you're a n00b you're still learning, and that's a good thing.

I like Airtec's slogan: "The sky isn't the limit. The ground is."

Well, you can, but it ends up all over your jumpsuit and rig. Not recommended. Agreed with that from the point of view of it being a cautionary tale (don't drink and jump), but using that line of reasoning, Budweiser couldn't advertise at NASCAR races. (I don't think anyone goes, "Oh, car #7 has a Bud Logo... I bet he's loaded right now!")

For my first jump, I remember feeling only mildly anxious until the door (on a 206) opened up, at which point (at least on the video), my eyes became as wide as saucers. As we exited, I remember seeing a lot of green (the ground) and hearing a lot of noise (the wind), both of which I wasn't really mentally ready for. I guess the short version of the story is that I had mental overload. Have fun. Tell us what you thought about it.

A few ... Has he kept up with skydiving technological advancements, and if he has, how does he think a re-enactment of his jumps from 1959 and 1960 would be different today? (Would he or she swoop at the end? ). What does he think of the concept described here: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/3c082d2daa463110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html Any lingering effects from the de-pressurization on the third jump? I've heard of a cosmonaut (I forget his name) who had a de-pressurization in a glove that had arthritis-like symptoms for years afterward.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3513242&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1 Link goes to a nice video shown on our local Fox affiliate about yesterday's breast cancer fund raiser at Skydive Pepperell in Massachusetts.

Mine is named, "Fucking OPEN!!!!!" Or, at least, that's what I always call it when I first see it during a jump...

SpeedRacer beat me to the joke. Carry on.

First off, by my jump numbers, you can see I'm an utter newbie. However, I've taught other stuff, and I'm really interested in better understanding how people learn. Recently, got my Open Water SCUBA certification. The company I did it through (SSI) taught the class in a really interesting way, and I'm wondering if skydiving could benefit from a similar approach. You would sign up for the class and get a handbook all about SCUBA and a DVD with six half-hour videos all about diving (the gear, what happens to your body underwater, safe SCUBA practice, etc.). You were supposed to read the book and watch the DVD before the first class. The book was divided up in six parts to cover the same subjects as the DVD. There was a written quiz at the end that to prove that you read the book and/or watched the DVD. The classroom sessions cover a lot of the same material in the book and the DVD, but they also cover the subjects more in depth. With the responses to the quizzes, the instructors could figure out what people didn't understand from the book and DVD and really focus on those issues. The instructor's role wasn't so much to introduce the basics of the material, but to make sure people really got it and to really expand on what the students had learned from the video and book. The class room sessions (which is their equivalent to an FJC) lasts two days. I really enjoyed and learned a lot from my FJC and I thought my instructors were all fantastic, so this isn't a knock on anybody, but I wonder if someone like the USPA were to create a DVD like that, which was required watching before a FJC, if it might help training. We (sort of) have a similar book with the SIM, but to my knowledge (very limited) there's no such video. Maybe it's overkill/unnecessary, and feel free to blast the idea. Maybe it would be distracting or create conflicts ("but the video says do X, instructor says do Y..."). I'm curious as to your collective thoughts.

I just got back from a great dive trip to St. Maarten. Video of a shark feeding dive I went on is linked here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDfTEbMP5Tw Link goes to guy wearing chainmail feeding Coral Reef Sharks at 60'.

I will admit to doing this on my first transition from ripcord to PC. I "pulled" the PC, held it, created a momentary PC in tow, went "Oh yeah!", and threw it. My instructor was displeased with my stupidity (for good reason). Thankfully, I lived (I think) and learned (I hope).

Huh. Well, I don't eat red meat and I'm married. So I guess it doesn't change anything that I just found out about this now...

I know that Brandeis requires two semesters of PE and MIT requires four (had a discussion about this with a friend of mine the other day, strangely enough). On top of the semester long courses, both schools have a swim test requirement (basically, don't drown for 10 minutes). Not a lot of good arguments for it, other than it justifies the cost of facilities improvements (a.k.a., shiny new gymnasiums). Kind of a silly argument though (you don't need the gym if you don't have the requirements). I took karate and fencing. Wanted to take marksmanship but was closed out. (Marksmanship also didn't use the gym, so that cuts against my explanation). Good luck.

Something used, and some sort of cruiser. Beyond that, I'm just hunting through listings on Craigslist. Any suggestions for a noob?

Yes, yes, yes... But you seem to be missing the point. I'm going to do what I want to do; I'm going to get the bike. That was never the issue. What I was struggling for was a way to maybe make these people feel somewhat better, given that they were stressed out about it. Sure, I could be a self-centered prick and say, "It's my life and I don't give a crap about how you feel, parents/wife/kid", but that would make me, well, a self-centered prick. So I was hoping that I would be able to say, "see, you're OK with skydiving, and motorcycles are less risky, so don't worry..." But it looks as though from what I've read here that I really can't use that argument, so, in short, I won't make that argument. I'll keep doing what I'm doing, and they'll just be stressed. I guess that's life.

The point wasn't "get some balls, get the bike", as I said, I've already signed up for the class and am getting the bike. However, in interacting with people, I like to say more than "STFU"; I like to be able to give a good explanation for my position. So if I could have shown statistically it was safer, I would have liked to.

So I went out for dinner with my parents (and wife and kid) tonight, and we got onto the subject of motorcycles. I don't ride, but want to; I've signed up for a motorcycle riding class in mid-April. My parents were utterly aghast. They couldn't believe it. They begged me not to do it... As you can see from my profile, I'm a low numbers jumper, but they have no issue with me skydiving. In fact, my dad has done a tandem. However, they claim that motorcycling is riskier than skydiving, and my wife agrees. Now, I'd love to prove with concrete statistics that skydiving is actually riskier than motorcycling (if they are OK with skydiving and it's riskier, why should they complain about motorcycles). However, I have no access to actuarial tables or anything like that to prove it. So, let's hear the theories -- am I right? Are they? I'm sure the answer will be something to the effect of "X skydives is as risky as driving Y miles on a bike", but I don't know what either X or Y are. (I realize this is sort of the opposite of what is usually posted here -- usually, we're arguing that skydiving is comparably safe compared to various activities, but I'm doing my mid life crisis in reverse...) Thanks for all of your input. -JPD

Apologies if this has been posted before. A good friend of mine just sent me this video, which shows a guy riding bullet trains in Germany from the outside -- in other words, he's clipped on to the back and watching the world fly by at 320 km per hour (just under 200 mph). According to the video, he was dying (and has since died) of leukemia. Although it's not skydiving, in a way, I think it's a thing that we all might understand. And I don't just mean from the point of view of saving train fare.

Interesting -- I did the same thing on behalf of a friend who is doing a small scale study on heart beat intervals in response to stress. My sitting beat rate is high (which is weird, because I run a lot), but it definitely peaked right around deployment (I think I sort of figured out it was right after canopy check/looking around for other traffic/stowing my slider). No idea at the fat burning associated with it. Apparently, my Qt (the interval variance, if I understand correctly, but I'm not a doc) was fairly typical (within a standard deviation of what she'd found so far and what the literature said it would be).

I've had good luck with AdAware SE (freeware from Lavasoft), http://sue.sentientdesign.co.uk/personal.php. If that doesn't do it, you will want to be thorough about it, and follow the steps here: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407 And then, as someone else suggested, run Firefox, Flock or Opera (which are not 100% malware proof either, by the way). Hope this helps.

You might not now, but you might someday... You could end up with future earnings garnished, future assets (including your shiny new rig) attached... Spend a few minutes and make a decent waiver.