MrFreefall383

You had to rub it in. Now I think I'm going to have to shove you in a ditch and steal your weapons. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

I was going to offer the same thing as far as shooting, but the only option here would be an XDm 40 and eventually an AR15 or Remmy 700. Good deal riding on a motorcycle, that does sound like fun. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Happy Birthday indeed! I hope it's filled with mischief and shennanigans. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

That's fucking hilarious. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

You won't catch me dead in a kilt. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

I like where this is going, Naughty Thoughts Day is a good thing to recognize. That's still everyday for me too, but oh well. Today just feels special now. My head being in the gutter seems almost authorized and accounted for, as if it actually holds some kind of value. Although I must admit, the shock value of my naughty thoughts would probably drive a few of you straight to a padded cell. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Rare indeed, I've been searching for her for 26 years as of tomorrow, and still haven't found her. Soul mates are an overrated concept. I'm not saying they don't exist, but most people don't find their "soul mate" they just find a mate, and they get used to living with each other. Or they don't, and get divorced after having 3 kids and fuck them all up. I'm nearly convinced after all this time that I'm not going to find a soul mate, but maybe that's a sign she's going to drop into my lap when I least expect it. There's really no way of knowing, and it's too frustrating to even focus on. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Weekend plans are that I'm running a 10k in Richmond, coming back, and relaxing a day before going out and bumping up to 10 miles for the first time in my life. Never run above 7, so we'll see what happens. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

It's a tough thing to have true respect for life and your fellow man. It's even more difficult to just do good things because you hear your conscience clearly enough saying it's the right thing to do. Most people can't hear their conscience that clearly. The fact is though, if you have that respect for life, then you'll do the right thing in an emergency situation. I only had one rescue in four years of being a lifeguard, while other guards had at least half a dozen in the same time. I just cared more about doing the job right. The more on top of my shit I was, the better off the public would be. And when I noticed a serious situation, I responded properly. This little black girl jumps off the low board, about 20 yards from my chair, and the moment she surfaces, she goes right back under, and I blasted my whistle and was jumping in a fraction of a second, and had her at the ladder within 5-10 seconds. You don't know when things like that are going to happen, but if you're a good person, you're probably going to respond properly, or you're at least going to respond, even if you kind of jack it up. At least you'll respond. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Exhausting is a good word for it. Takes a special type of patience to avoid pulling your hair out. Not that I would know firsthand, but if my parents are any indication, raising kids properly takes a pretty good chunk out of your sanity. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Yeah, I've heard stories like that too. Being a career lifesaving professional, I'll probably see it firsthand more times than I'd care to count. If you're going to help, then help. Don't make any assumptions about when enough is enough. Enough is enough when someone tells you, "There's nothing else you can do, nothing's going to change the ending of this story." "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Remember though, being a good samaritan is more than just those forced acts of kindness that we all feel we have to do every once in a while to keep from getting the damnation express. Let me give you an example. My dad was coming home from a long day at the hospital, lots of things going wrong, he was just ready to go home, have a good dinner and sit back and watch The Daily Show. As he's getting off the train and crossing the tracks on the footbridge, he notices a guy sitting on the bottom step hunched over a little bit. Nobody really notices, but my dad had the feeling something was wrong, and was going to see if he was alright when he reached the bottom of the stairs. As my dad gets about halfway down the stairs, the guy just perks up, rolls to his side and starts having a seizure right on the concrete. Tons of people walking by him, you think anyone stopped to try and help the guy? No way, they all just rush by him because "It's not my problem." My dad pushes some people out of the way, reaches the man in trouble, and notices it's one of our neighbors. Now it's personal, the emotions could get in the way, but he's the only person helping. So he yells at some lady running away and says, "You, not another step, call 911 right now!" She has no choice, she's been called out, so she calls, gives information to the dispatcher, EMS comes to pick the guy up, and he turns out to be alright. So why didn't anyone stop to help the guy out? Wouldn't that be a good samaritan thing to do? Wouldn't that secure your place among the angels? People don't do that though. It's all those occasional forced acts of kindness that everyone thinks equate to being a good samaritan. Remember that if you see someone in trouble and it catches you off guard, helping then is being a good samaritan too, even if you have no idea what you're doing. If nothing else works, scream out for help, and maybe you'll get some. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Always a pleasure. What I didn't post were pictures in my Trops, but those are PM only. More ODU pictures to come in a week and a half or so once we get on the boats again. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

No way, just that the friend who was taking the picture stands a frighteningly tall 5'4". I'm a nice comfortable 5'9". Much taller and I'd start hitting my head on door frames, much shorter and I'd have trouble reaching the cookie jar. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

The car guy in me has to come out every so often, and this poll helps that process, so thanks to the threadstarter. I like a car that, as the TS so ably put, "turns corners like it's on rails." My own car doesn't do that yet, but once I get to my next unit and get settled in, I'm going to start upgrading it toward that goal. The best experience I ever had was a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 on a twisty local parkway. The parkway headed northbound in this location takes two sharp 90-degree corners over a bridge spanning a set of railroad tracks. First one to the left, second one to the right about 150-175 yds later, not much room for error, especially if you're moving at a speed higher than about 35-40. The turn is labeled 30 MPH. Well, this good friend's little brother got the Evo, spent some time breaking it in, and then took us for a ride. His brother was in front, I was in the back right, and one other friend was in the back left. We had been going reasonably fast to this point, and I was impressed with the car already. As we approached the bridge, I figured, "Oh yeah, he's going to have to slow down, no way he's taking this any faster than 50." Well, I was wrong, and he slammed down the throttle and took the bridge at a blistering 85. Not only did he not crash and kill us all, but the car didn't even squeal a tire. That is the most impressed I've ever been with any car. Going to take a lot to beat that experience. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

For jumpingjunkie's benefit, here's my contribution to the greater good. First one is me in the barracks at a distance. Second is going to be a closeup with Jonesy in the background being the squishy-faced retard he usually is. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmb383/3370682651/in/set-72157615601911869/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmb383/3371512698/in/set-72157615601911869/#/edit "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Respect is an interesting word. One of the first three words/phrases we were taught in Coast Guard Basic Training, the other two being Honor and Devotion to Duty. Duty can be left alone here, but honor and respect are the two keys to real success. Honor, as they taught us, is a contract you make with yourself to uphold the highest standards of conduct, appearance, professionalism, etc. You want to be that guy who nobody can say anything bad about. Respect is a contract you make with your shipmates, or in the case of this thread your other half. That said, I find respect extremely important. If a girl respects me, it means that she knows I work hard, and isn't going to try to change me for her own selfish benefit. If I'm dating someone, I do the same, I always try to give them as much respect as is possible, and as much as they deserve. More or less is dependant on how deserving they are of it, but as a general rule of thumb I try not to respect anyone less than I would want in return. Relationships are supposed to be mutual compromises, so if I respect her and she doesn't respect me, she's not putting in her share and it's not worth my time or emotions wasted over it. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

In the Coast Guard, going to be a Boatswain's Mate in about a month. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

What's with this shit? It seems most girls like a guy in uniform, yet as a man in uniform who is athletic and reasonably good looking, I can't seem to cash in on that at all. Anyone looking for a man in uniform in northwestern Oregon? "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

It's in the mid-50's here in Yorktown, and I just got back from a 10k run in the rain with a female shipmate. Finished in just over 52 minutes, which is about average. Taking a short break, warming up a little bit, then going over to the pool for a lap session. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Hmmm, pet peeves, good idea. I've got a few. First and foremost as a servicemember, people who wear military insignia, apparel, or something otherwise designating military service when it's very clear the thought of boot camp never even crossed their mind. Example: I once saw this kid with scruffy hair, a thick beard, three or four earrings on his left ear, wearing a Navy foul weather coat with a petty officer's insignia on the sleeve. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Oh, and this is a big one. People who party all the time complaining about how tired they are. Give me a fucking break. Go die and leave me your air supply. Douchefags. If you go out and party till you blackout and come back tired, maybe it's because you wanted it that way, so you have no right to bitch. Summer hours at the small boat station, I was lucky if I got 4 hours of continuous sleep every night, and not by choice. Get a life. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

I was hoping someone would say something like that. I think I'm going to enjoy Oregon a great deal. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Roger that, all systems operating within normal parameters. Thankfully it paid off this time. Next time I'm worried I'll get truly fucked. But next time I'm going to know ahead of time that this is possible and likely, so I'm going to be ready for it ahead of time with Plans B thru Z. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

So, after a series of major fuck-ups resulting in the loss of my assignment to Kodiak, the school chief pulled off a miracle on my behalf and got me Astoria. So it looks like I might not have to give up life outside the Coast Guard after all. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

I first saw the thread and thought, "Oh yeah, definitely a typo, I know what SCBA means, and that can't be right." Glad I was wrong, because I've always wanted to know how an SCBA unit would function submerged. Being in the Coast Guard, that's the only way to fight fires at sea onboard our vessels, and what happens if someone falls overboard in SCBA gear? I bet very few people have ever thought about that, but it can certainly happen. Good to know it'll still function and won't kill you right away. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche