screamingeagle

I have gone sub 100MPH without trying. I am very skinny and I have long arms and legs. If I let my arms completely relax and go wide a bit, I will be under 100MPH no problem in a normal suit. If I wear my free fly suit doing belly jumps, I barely get above 100 unless I really try. Note: Just because I have a freefly suit, it does not mean I am free flying.

In general, once we are past around 3K, my biggest concern when the door is open might sound silly... having my glasses blow out the door. Obviously, keeping my goggles on would solve that problem. When it's time to go to the door, it is a sense of relief. The climb to altitude on a slow plane during my first jump of the day is a bit stressful.

Curiously enough, I picked up jogging/running recently, and I have gotten hurt a lot more while running than while skydiving. I am not saying that skydiving is safer, but so far, it has been less painful... Doing my 4-5 mile runs I have managed to hurt almost everything from the waste down (note: I am pushing to improve my times, which of course is not helping matters). And when I go running at night (like last night), I certainly wonder about the sanity of doing that.

I made her a jewelry box out of craft sticks, similar to one I made for her when I was a kid(same kind of defects too). Inside I am placing a rock crystal Swarovski rock crystal Water Lily and the lyrics to the song The Wind Beneath My Wings.

One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen or experienced in skydiving was the opportunity to fly above a cloud while seeing my shadow on top of the clouds and a glory around it. It was incredible. It should be noted however, that the shadow of a skydiver can easily be confused with a real skydiver when it is first caught out the corner of your eye. And while I was in the clouds I was singing George of the Jungle's "Watch out for that tree song" since visibility is severely limited. I have had to track around clouds a few times, with some success. Falling thorough a cloud definitely adds extra excitement to a jump. Lastly, goggles can get more than foggy, they can outright end up with water inside. It's hard to see when that happens , even if you are out of the clouds. Lastly, I rather avoid them in free fall, and if I have had to jump more than once through clouds in a day, I reconsider continuing jumping.

I have been dying to try my new Rig. I am planning on doing 1 jump from altitude (and open high) and probably lots of hop and pops. Unfortunately the weather has not been helping out, so this morning on the way to work I thought this up and wrote it when I got to the office. Dear Mother Nature: I have been a big fan of yours for the longest time. I have always enjoyed your spectacular displays of might and wonder. I have been a follower of you and your children for a very long time. I have very good relationships with Hurricanes, and really enjoy Lightning and Thunder. I have yet to meet Tornado, even though I set up an appointment, it didn’t work out since I went East and he went South. Is Volcano your child too, well, nevermind that. I have defended your honor when people trash you, or when they are afraid of you and call you or your children names (you should hear what they call you right after some of your more interesting displays, perhaps it is better that you don’t, Earthquake might get upset). Oh, BTW, tell Snow I miss her. Today, I have a small request. You see, this Sunday is really special, and I could use a little bit of a specific Weather pattern in a small area. No, I don’t mean in Miami, as far as I am concerned you can have one of your more spectacular displays there (you will beat out any pre game ceremonies). Well, the last couple of weeks I have enjoyed your displays of Wind and Rain, however if you could give me this small gift for my Birth Day, I would appreciate it. I don’t need it to be perfect, I would be happy, if Cloud only shows up in about 50% of the sky, and if Wind stays moving around 5-10 MPH. Do make sure that Wind shows up, as it would be a great loss. Oh, and let Wind know that coming from the hangar area would be great. Please let Sun know, that if he could keep things a bit warm for me, I would appreciate it. I am not asking for much, maybe something in the 50s, I know he has done much better before (more than double that). Tell Rain, that most of the time I like to see her, but instead of having her show up in the morning, how about she shows up around 6PM? Oh, silly me, I know you know everything, but just in case, there is this piece of you we call Rockmart, GA, Rain and Wind know it well lately, if you could just deliver your present there, I would appreciate it. I hope that you have a wonderful Rotation today, and a great Orbit. Your Fan, Jose PS. Good job with the ice and sleet this morning