Glitch

Someone considered or rated with a 100% physical disability from a recognized medical perspective or government agency such as the VA. Please understand, I'm honestly just interested in finding out who was the first 100% disabled skydiver who earned his D license without any waivers, or their Pro rating without waivers. For 20 years, I've not really given it much thought and just assumed it was my dad. This being said, I've been asked to perhaps consider submitting him (log books, stories, photos, etc) to the USPA for posterity and historical sake. I'm not trying to disrespect or take away from the accomplishments of anyone... on the contrary I think those who deal with and overcome challenges not only in their daily lives but in a sport like skydiving should absoluly be respected and admired. This being said, Dana Bowman lost his legs performing a delta track in 1994 and had his D license prior to his injuries. I don't know about anyone else you've mentioned, but all of the Pieces of Eight folks I've heard about were not 100% disabled prior to earning a non-waivered D license. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

That would be Jay Thompson; B12198, C17009, D9538, Pro90, Pops 1839, Falcon 413, SCS 7109, SCR 21479, and probably a few others I've lost track of during the years. He made his 1st of 50 logged military jumps on 6 May 1957, and his first civilian jump on 16 Nov 1982 at Keystone Fla under 27' Paracommander, and his last one (logged that I can find) on 21 Oct 1990 under a 375' MT1-X. He earned his D on 30 Apr 1985. None of this may seem remarkable, but this, as every award he earned, was earned with no waivers or special considerations given aside from perhaps a door seat in the plane and the occasional push out the door. As you can see in the attached pic, he lost his right leg at the hip. We had to get a custom harness built and TSO'd prior to his first jump. There was an inherent stability issue and an inbuilt right hand turn that he had to learn to deal with... which was over come by the use of a scuba flipper of all things (modified with leather straps and removed after deployment). The attached pic is actually a family portrait of the very first 3 way between my little bro, my dad, and myself. The camera guy was just practicing and learning to shoot pics... so was using black and white film and just happened to get this right as I docked.... *snap* As far as USPA having the info.... how would they "know" if there's no waivers involved? [inline scan0001.jpg] Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

Who was the first 100% disabled D licensed holder? I know of 1, but am looking to see if there are/were others. Thanks in advance... Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

Google Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

My .02 worth.... I'm assume your all growd up and out of diapers, so make a decision. It's not without risk, but as long as your smart about it (land on the opposite foot, slide in your landings, upsize, etc...) I don't really see an increased risk. If you have to typically run out your landings, you might want to think this thru a bit more. Besides, you don't need two working feet to land a parachute safely. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

...and I thought I was having a tuff time. Just goes to prove that no matter what, ya just gotta wait a moment and look left or right to see someone else in a worse situation. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

To All... Sincerely, thanks for the advice, sentiments, and words of encouragement. I'm not close to losing it personally, go off the deep end or dive into a bottle. I've never been much of a drinker (no really...in fact I gave a case of beer to a buddy of mine for running my rig out to the dz this weekend to get repacked. I wasn't gonna drink it, and it had in fact sat in my garage since before Turkey day. This being said, I am a couple of shots lighter out of a bottle of Crown Royal Black ...good stuff. Not a single malt, but its not trying to be.. but anyways...) and I know alcohol doesn't solve problems, it only creates them. For what's its worth, I've spoken to both my kids and the GGMa... took the hard factual route and eased them into the reality of the situation, except I left some hope that she could recover some. They took it better than I thought they would... My wife told me today that the docs aren't convinced that she's really aware of her surroundings, what's happened, or what going on... and for the most part she agrees with them based on a series of yes/no type questions. However... there was an occassion where the mother in law made a gun gesture (like a little kid would do playing cops and robbers), and then pointed to herself. My wife was shocked and had to turn away for a moment.... when she turned back to her mom she noticed a single tear on her face but as she tried to talk to her, it was apparent that her mind a slipped away again.... And I can't be with my wife right now to comfort her! It's odd... but I almost feel like life is trying return to normal in some ways. The barrage of phone calls has diminished and everyone around me seems to be getting back to the routine of their normal lives, except for those directly involved. The kids are f'n off and playing... friends and relatives assumming their daily routines and lives... I know this is normal, but I don't think I'm in for 'normal' for quite some time. No matter how I dice it, I honestly feel like its just a matter of time before my wife invokes the living will and the process of dying continues. The next time you guys/gals find yourselves hucking your asses out of an airplane or hanging under a piece of nylon a mile or so above the planet.... take a second and give thanks for what you have and remember what's really important in life. And perhaps... if your so inclined... toss out a prayer those somehow less fortunate or who may need a little help with this or that... Until next time. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

This post is as much a vent as it is a search for guidance... I know this is the bonfire, but I'd kindly like the asshats to please contain themselves. TIA. Since Thanksgiving, my wife has lost her father and my kids their only grandfather. The company I work for has decided to close up shop. I'm not sure if it's because I'm the biggest asshat in the engineering office or if it's because I essentially told my boss to let me go first *if he had to let someone go because I'm confident that I would have a job almost immediately...* but sure as shit I was told 3 days ago that I'm in the first round of cuts and my last day of employment with the company is Jan 17 with another company. Oh... and no severance for anyone either. +8 years with the company and not so much as a F'you very much. That's ok though, I'm already 5 phone intervies with 3 companies, a face to face multiple panel interview, and am/was slated for another face to face on the 17th. I've even had a customer of ours contact me asking me for a resume... I'm not saying my shit don't stink or that I'm that good but, well... Anyways, I've had to defer the interview on the 17th for a while. I've explained the situation to the company and they're cool about it... told me when I'm ready to let them know and they will interview me then. No problem, family comes first and they understand that. The situation is as follows... The mother in law had a massive stroke and was found, literally, while I was interviewing for a job. Her prognosis is basically the worst case scenerio. Her left side of her brain is done. dead. According to the docs and tests... no hope of recovery. She can't swallow effectively. Totally paralyzed on her right side. Can't talk or communicate. Nobody is certain if she aware, cognizant, or can make a rational decisions for herself. At times she's unresponsive... distant... zoned out... Not really there as far as they can tell. She'll need 24/7 care, for the rest of her life.... which may not be long. She has a living will, which will be likely be invoked once she's gone thru rehab (read that she's too stable for the hospital, and has gone 3 days with no improvement in the rehab facility and is being sent to her home/nusing facilty/etc) for the rest of her days. I guess the questions I have is... How do I tell my mother in laws Mother (my kids great grand mother) that her daughter is essentially a vegetable with no hope of recovery and that her grandson and granddaughter will likely invoke the living will? How do I keep a 92 yr old Angel from losing it and die'n of a broken heart over her daughter? (She know her daughter has had a stroke, but we haven't told her everything, or how sever it is, or the grim prognosis...). How do I tell my kids? How do keep my wife from losing it and going off the deep end? How do I sell a business in a depressed market? Run the business and maintain my families financial well being? I forgot to mention that my rig is out of date and my shower started leaking so I've got it ripped out and demo'd down to the studs and subfloor in prep for tiling. I always felt that 'things happen for a reason, whether we see / understand / agree with the reason or not. This being said... Come on! Enuff already! I mean seriously.... really... Please STOP. I want to get off this fucking ride already. /rant. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

Whether you quit or not is entirely up to you! If you've gone this long, what's another day? ....and another? ...then another? You're stronger than you realize. Just know that you never, ever have to light up another one. Ever. I quit 2 yrs ago last May 20, after >25 years of that nasty ass habit. The first week is the hardest. You've got that under your belt. Just be careful substituting eating and/or sweets for smoking. I chunked up about 30 lbs! I've lost 20 of it...and am still still working the rest off little by little.... I'd wish you luck, but you don't need it. Just resolve yourself to NOT ever light up another one, not matter what half assed excuse you might have.... Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

Downplane. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

Really? Did they change the number of terms the POTUS can serve recently? Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

I wonder what Bill has to say.... Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

I think we just have to look at our history, (think Hitler or Stalin) to see how was this episode would play out.... Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

Start at the front door.... Get thru that, and take it one step at a time. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

I can't help but think you 'mis-read' the article... ...this coming from a dad of a 15 yr old. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

I would rather see a passive check of medications perscribed to an individual... much like a check they do on you when you buy Sudafed because of meth-heads. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

yep.... this topic has been hashed thru a few times already. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

...so just when is it that you suppose our kids "get" their Constitutional rights? Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

I deal w/moderate L1/L2, L2/L3, L3/L4 and severe L5/S1 buldged discs.... For me, I have more of a problem bending over for packing and sitting on my arse for the ride to altitude than I do opening shock. I actually had velcro/foam pads made to put in my suits so that I sit on the pads (thus taking pressure off the spinal column) during the ride up. A 1/4" thick or so, 2"x3" pad on each side of my tail bone does the trick! In freefall, you're ideally in a belly to earth position at pull time. As you deploy, your chute decelerates and you can think of yourself as falling away from it. As it decelerates, your body position is changed from 'belly to earth' to 'standing or feet to earth' attitude. The opening shock is distributed thru your harness this way... with your crotch feeling the brunt of it. How fast your chute opens and how well your harness/container fits your body type are prolly the biggest variables to how much you feel the opening, but there are others.... If you can manage those two, you'll be ahead of the game. And finally, take everything you read/hear off the innerwebby and run it by your instructors. And then take their advice. YMMV. The sky will always be there... listen to your body...

...perhaps you should of paid the extra $20 for the 'open on heading' option. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

I'm wondering what the reprocussions would be if the homeowner, exercising their 2nd Amendment rights and/or castle doctrine... were to shoot dead the intruder. Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

But... but.... how are we supposed to 'get the red out' quickly??? Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

NO. ..already had this conversation with the wifey. We agreed that I'll quit jumping when I can no longer jump safely, when I decide not to, or when she allows me a matching set of live in asian concubines. I even tried to sweeten the deal by pointing out that they would do all the cooking and cleaning. ...I'm still jumping! :-P Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

Lets start with mandatory birth control. Want your gubberment cheese? ...get the shot first. Male and female... it makes no nevermind to me. Hell.. offer em a few bucks to get spayed or neutered at the gubberments expense. Im thinking it will take a generation, but it will eventually break the generational cycle.... Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...