Baksteen

I'm 27 as well, and I know the feeling.. I have been doing volunteers work with children for different organisations, for quite a while now. In fact, I had a fifteen-year jubilee with one of the foundations recently. In everyday life it all comes down to sixteen year olds whom I've never seen before running up to me all the time and with a big smile starting to talk about that time when I was their leader. Or one mother giving me a withering look when I asked her how her son was doing. As it turned out I had been standing right next to the offspring in question the entire afternoon. And finding yourself in a pub staring uncomfortably at your feet, surrounded by 18 year old girls who are drinking beer - and are legally allowed to, girls whom you remember needing help going to the toilet. ETA: Thanks, I'm really depressed now... And I'm sure this post will get longer as the day advances, and I remember more stuff. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Know what I'm talking about? Really small things that you can take a lot of satisfaction out of nonetheless? Just now, I was wrestling a 500 pound liquid nitrogen container to the cargo lift. The cargo lift turned out to be full of pesky freshman students, looking at me with a collective cow-like expression, as if they expected me to use the stairwell. Then suddenly approximately 150 cm of student, with a mouth nearly as big, asked me what was in that container. "Liquid nitrogen? haha! COUGH COUGH COUGH" I smiled, and then sweetly told him that nitrogen didn't make you cough, as the atmosphere at sea level is made up of nearly 80% nitrogen anyway. It's an inert gas, I told them, but as you know hot air rises up, and therefore the cold nitrogen in this barrel would displace the relatively hot normal air if it were to evaporate. Then instead of coughing, the first thing that would happen would be a sort of feeling of contentment or sleepiness. However, you would not notice this, as your judgment would fail simultaneously. Next, you'd start yawing, and the drowsiness would increase until you simply could not keep your eyes open anymore. Next, you might have violent epileptic seizures, but you'd not know, as (and here I dropped my voice to a whisper) you'd simply not wake up anymore... Then, as if by magic me and my nitrogen vessel fit easily into the lift, as I suddenly had the cargo lift all to myself... "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Even Shakespeare got burned occasionally. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

1)People trying to get on the train/subway before the other people have finished exiting it. Old ladies are the worst, for some reason. 2) Traffic jams after an accident are understandable, but I really resent it that people on the other side of the road cause a traffic jam because of slowing down to look. 3) When I start up my PC at work, it takes 8, yes, EIGHT minutes to do so. The helpdesk found it necessary to end the startup script with a personal message: "Logon has finished! Good morning {..}" Solutions: 1a) When I need to exit the train, I give the people standing in the way a good and solid thump, then look at them wide eyed and say "sorry" in a shocked voice. Works every time. 1b) When I am waiting to board, I usually make some very rude and just too loud comments. This will someday bite me, I know. 2) Kill the sensationalists - slowly. 3) A button in addition to the one saying "OK" that reads "F*ck off". Until that time I simply nver turn my PC off between Monday morning and Friday evening. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Why do all the guys I have dated call me a battle-axe? "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Lessee... Pisces and supercallifragilisticexpealladocious, I think. My problem is with necessary neccesary necesary or neccessary, and for some reason with "wcih" instead of "which". In the latter case it's probably the double H that does it. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Email sent

Look son, that's what smoking pot will do to you "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

I just got my annual prostate checkup "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Bald pussies digust me. I think they are creepy. I'd rather look at a pussy that has a lot of hair, growing all over the place. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Dammit.. yet again too slow. Caption: When I was a baby, the only way to make me stop crying was putting a large boob in my mouth. As it happens, this is still true. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

What's a "wascally wabbit" anyway? "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Drat! Too slow! Caption: AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGH "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse.. Next stop: Taxidermnist's office "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

I even had to sell the colthes on my back to afford that 100th jump ticket... "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Pull the middle one, it's got balls on. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Caption: Turn that frown upside down! "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

If I measure in micrometers instead of inches, it sounds rather impressive.. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Slightly off topic, I had to look really hard what your avatar was, and now wish I hadn't. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Personally, if I am not happy with what i see or feel overhead, I ask myself, "can I land this?" If the answer is "probably", reserve time it is. If the answer is "absolutely", then I'll land it, but I'll be expecting to PLF if I have to, flare issues or no. But that's just me. Based on what you posted, I think I would have cut away, but YOU were there, and only YOU can decide at that moment whether the canopy can be landed or not. So what did your instructors tell you in the debrief? "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

At jump #55 I had a dumbass high speed "mal" - couldn't locate my ripcord, something I am still frustrated about. The rc wasn't in any kind of weird place or anything, so why I couldn't find it after approximately 30 freefalls? The plan was to pull at 3K. Wave off, grab.. grab again... ok this is it.. alti, legs, look, grab, look, pull, grab, pull. However, I suppose jumping with rc "drilled" me into hanging on to things, so I was fumbling with my cutaway handle a second or two before I pulled the silver. The first alti I am consciously aware of is 1000 ft, so I didn't have time to learn to fly the reserve properly. I flared the canopy twice, and that's it. The rest of the time I was busy trying to select a field, but due to the relatively high winds I found myself heading for a ditch at very low altitude. I tried to do a minor correction, to little effect, and I decided that I'd rather take my chances in the ditch than risk hooking any canopy, much less an unfamiliar one. Splash. Ouch. Torn ankle ligament. No jumping for a month. (I was very, very lucky) The first jump since the incident. I was scared shitless during the ride up, had to close my eyes before exit and take several deep breaths. I exited stiff like a plank, but here comes the point of this entire story: Not ONCE did I consider not jumping again, or riding the plane down. And once I was out of the door again, I found myself arching. Within two seconds I was stable and I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulder. I smiled and I sighed. I was BACK. For the rest of the freefall from 13k to 4k I have been doing dummy pull after dummy pull "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

I must say, I'm mightily curious now.. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Dr.Schumacher was right! Being sandblasted DOES make me prettier "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

It was a dark and stormy night.... "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Relax sweetheart, it's not the shoes we're looking at. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom