krispy

Friday was the day. The forecast called for clear, warm, sunny weather. The kind of weather that's worth the exorbitant taxes, outrageous living expenses, and snooty luxury-car-boob-job attitudes out here in San Diego. And I was ready. I was actually ready the day before. But landing in 20-25 knot winds was a bit much for my gimpness. Yeah, I'm shameless enough that I'll whine about weather. I was *really* ready for this two weeks ago, when Mom Nature stepped in and saturated the skyscape with a wonderfully thick blanket of rain-heavy cloud cover. Needless to say, we had our words... Less than an hour's drive from my new-found home in North County, and I'd be there. All the sounds and smells and sensations I've been dreaming about over the last three months. Three months of visualization and preparation. Three months of talking people's ears off about how wonderful it is, how much I *needed* to get back. Three months of healing. Everything went by in an instant -- harness room, gear, ride. I was engulfed in wind, clutching the ever familiar float bar before I realized where I was. And I smiled. I turned back to Brett, the lucky winner of my currency-jump-lotto draw, and gave him a ready check. He smiled and mouthed, "O-K," before I faced back into the wind. A quick exit count later, I was in a slow, graceful back flip, watching the otter drift dizzily off into the sun. It was about damn time! Dock, maneuvers, track, pull... everything flowed like a well-rehearsed show. Even the Spectre snivel, like clockwork. Control check, then time to play. Then came the oh-shit. When we took off, there was a steady 7-9 knot wind that was just perfect for a feather-soft landing. On approach, however, the sock was as limp as a viagra-starved hugh hefner. This wasn't gonna be pretty. I figured that I should avoid the semi-crowded grass area and try to land beside it. Targeting a small flag in the dirt nearby, I S-turned and played with the risers a bit, then turned on final. "Watch the flare response," I told myself; that's where I got in trouble last time, and I wasn't about to let it happen again. At about 8-10 feet, I initiated my flare. With the ground still rushing up fast however, my soon-to-be slow, smooth flare quickly became a stab. I popped up a bit, and seeing that my no-wind forward speed was a tad high for me to gimpily run out, I went for the PLF. Man, would those black hats be proud. I mean t-e-x-t-b-o-o-k. Popped right back on my feet, reaching over to unwrap a few lines from around the flagpole. Current, with another accuracy to boot.

YEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!! Saw my ortho guru today, and he CLEARED ME TO JUMP!!! I'll be hittin' manifest on Sunday! WOO-HOO! Slappie, man, it'll go by quick. You hang in there, and hope yer freezin' yer arse off at 15k soon! Steve

good gentle sis, tempt not a desperate man. *searching for some mistletoe* damnit! shoulda thought about turning on the protrack for stats! next time, i s'pose. believe me, we considered it! that one, tho, risked reinjury and more healing time. NOT gonna happen! happy holidays, y'all. i'm off to start xmas shopping! steve

Great video, man. I can almost see the look on your face on that AFF6 exit! (I know it well...) Steve

hehe, yeah milk is this weird, pasty green color, and some food really starts glowing in the pan when done. It helps when cleaning up, tho; the mess lights up like a luminol-drenched crime scene! So how do you like your eggs? Oh, the other airborne freak in the pics is Craig, my roommate/landlord (it's his condo, after all). TOTAL troublemaker. We've been struggling to get our other roommate to start AFF so he can join in on the madness, but he's only gone as far as a tandem to date. We'll soon see... Steve

If I told you we were both completely sober, would you promise not to send the authorities over? This might scare you even more: the kitchen lighting is permanently replaced with black lights, and three HUGE bean bags are pretty much the only furniture in the living room, besides a piecemeal music studio. I think that's why the idea just clicked... beanbags, breakfastbar, beanbags, breakfastbar... I'm telling you, there's something wrong with this picture, despite our inability to recognize it! Thankfully, the neighbor downstairs, who has visited us (not the hi-can-i-borrow-some-sugar sort of visit!) a whopping four times in the two weeks since we moved in, didn't make his routine stop at our door to discuss noise propagation. The bean bags took care of that! Steve

OK, it's been sooooo long that the breakfast bar's been looking MIGHTY inviting... S_Floating_Exit.jpg S_Arch_1.jpg S_Arch_2.jpg C_Arch_1.jpg C_Arch_2.jpg C_Tracking.jpg S&C_Floating_Exit.jpg S&C_FreeFly_1.jpg S&C_FreeFly_2.jpg S&C_FreeFly_3.jpg S&C_FreeFly_4.jpg If those links don't work, try http://photos.yahoo.com/airwhores/ (click the Kitchen Diving link). And yes, we *did* have that damn Sonique track on repeat the whole time! Are these signs of a diagnosable/treatable condition??? Steve

despite whatever dns issues may be going on, the server isn't responding to ping nor to http requests made directly to the ip address you posted. short of running a port scan from the outside, i'd surmise your firewall is blocking (port filtering?) such access... maybe worth while to double-check the config. hth, steve

um, er... (see attachment, rename to .html) very nice movies there, btw... steve

Hey all, Just found that Stefano's putting together a web site for that craaaaaaaaaazy 16F9 flick he showed at the Flyboyz Film Festival this year. It's got a brief trailer that touches you in some dark places... http://www.16f9.com/ Steve

We *do* have something like that here: The Flyboyz Film Festival at Perris. The films were incredible! The Bastard... waaaaaayy badass! The Bastard: So how much is that? Manifest Hottie: About a dollar and nineteen cents. (smirks) The Bastard: How high will that get me? Manifest Hottie: Um, about 400 feet. The Bastard: (turns and looks into camera) I'LL TAKE IT! ROCK!!! And that 16F9 psychedelic acid trip thingy... those images lingered in my dreams for the better part of a month! Pure genius! Then the afterparty... dj-a-spinnin', drunken-a-dancin', and effiagy-a-burnin'... Black Rock City style! Only that it was oriented head down, of course... Those of you who missed it should really try to make it out next year. It's something you'll kick yourself for missing again! Steve

Pyke, I cannot sum up how much YOU ROCK! Great story. 20 minutes to get a pant leg on... finding a comfy position... how that resonates in ever so recent memory! My fateful encounter with mother earth was just a couple of months ago, during which a chunk of tibia decided to take a leisurely stroll further down into my foot. Not as bad as a mangled femur, I s'pose, but it did me in quite nicely just the same. When I got to see the orthoguru a couple days later, I asked him if we could try setting/reducing it without surgery (lest he be forced to cut me unanaesthetized), and he begrudgingly gave it a shot. And, to his surprise, it worked! Subsequent pictures showed near-perfect position, and I got to learn la maze techniques (hee-hee-hoooooo) in the process! So there I was, growing roots into the couch (quickly becoming my closest friend), whimpering every now and again (OK, more like all the time), missing tons of work (needed a break), having family take care of me (helpless?), soooo wishing I hadn't been so stubborn about getting a manual-shift (yeppers, left ankle), finally deciding to leave the job outright to launch a startup (some good *does* come from these things), and actually starting to enjoy tv shows (*ick*). And what was most on my mind? GETTING BACK INTO THE AIR, BABY! YEEEEAH!!! http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ kept me going, too. I've prolly seen those clips as many times over as I've seen M*A*S*H reruns in the last few weeks!

yes! the sludge that is the tommy burger rocks da house!!! must down 10 or more of the yellow peppers with it for best results... hope you have fun during your visit, and if i can stop limping enough to jump on thursday, i'll see ya there! steve this man wants to clean your clothes

Jason, A good place to start would be to pick up an LA Weekly. You can find everything from fairs to clubs to restaurants in that handy little rag -- ask a local convenience store where you can find one. As for Disneyland... bah. Go for Magic Mountain (Six Flags). Or Knott's Berry Farm... Supreme Scream is a blast! Also, there's fresh snow in the mountains (1-2 hr drive out), and clear skies forecasted til Thursday... might be worth a day trip to hit the slopes. Hmm... my cast came off almost three weeks ago, and I'm about five days off the crutches... I *might* be able to join ya!

http://www.cnet.com/Ads/Media/Images/quantum_336x280_06.gif for some reason, i got a real kick out of this. dig those gloves! steve

my father emailed me this link today: http://www.aircombatusa.com/main.html (sound of toilet flushing) steve, looking into a diet consisting entirely of cup o' noodles

12 hrs? jeez, we used to (SOP) *deploy* in mopp 2 there, for weeks at a time! we became one with the soot... i mean, it had a point; north of freedom bridge wasn't the safest of areas in the land-of-the-morning-stink back then. but it always amazed me when we were still hawkin' chunks of the stuff, days after returning to the rear. sick! steve

heyyyy, it's not like i was drinking the water or anything like that! Steve

oh, no dear. i was simply there for a day on business. and food. oh yeah... MANY apologies for bleeding all over that safire. really, i didn't mean it! steve

totally agree. i love the look on people's faces when they ask, "so, are you gonna do it again?" and i give them that what-the-f**k-do-you-think glare... hehehe so i'm not alone! [grin] maybe we should start a support group, hmmm? and yes, visualization is key right now. whether awake or sleeping, i'm in the air! Steve

*giggle*, do downloaded skydiving videos count? good idea, though. methinks i should study some! twas a shame; i was supposed to take my B test that afternoon... jump 48!!! Steve

In a crowded movie theater, on the other side of the silver screen... Movie screens are just that, screens, with lots of holes in them. When you're behind the screen, you can see clearly out into the audience, looking at them looking at you. But all *they* see is the film. Yes, kinky... niiiiiiiiiiiiiice... Makes for some great memories, I must say, especially during those moments when the soundtrack goes quiet -- you'll swear they all know! Steve

I hated TV. Haven't even owned one in years. So why is it that now, sitting up way too late in a hotel room in Biloxi, Mississippi (???), I'm cursing the fact that FX and E! are not on the channel list, and that I've missed channel flipping between Ally and Howard? Well, the cast came off yesterday. Seven weeks and three days of invaluable instruction in the lesson of flaring. Yep, flaring. You bet that in the future, if that new canopy I've just started flying doesn't look like it's gonna start planing out a few feet off the ground with the toggle input I'm givin', yer damn straight I'm gonna pull harder on them toggles... immediately. No more of that tuck-your-knees-up-and-apply-gentle-input-whilst-skimming-the-ground stuff. Nope. Nuh-uh. Ass whoopin' well-taken. I figure I'll be watching more TV, even now. The damn leg is osteoporatic given its holiday in Immobileland, plus the injury gave me the impetus to join the ranks of the not-so-employed. Recipe for more free time, eh? Now, after months of lurking on these boards, telling myself not to start posting lest it eat huge chunks of my time, all the while spending hours upon hours reading/giggling (post whores, you know who you are! ), I can't help but join in the decadence! But to keep this new habit in check, a couple of friends and I have decided to put together a startup in this oh-so-inviting economic climate (hence the displaced Californian in Mississippi). That's just so I don't go overboard and shoot for pooh-bah in a week, heh. And with that, I introduce myself to the family. Hiiiiidey-ho! And for those of you who already know me, can you believe I've given up DONUTS for the entirety of my altitude-deprivation?!?!?! I seriously *need* to get back in the air soon... Steve

(delurk... BIG TIME)