BerryBoy

good point. yeah, Atlanta is your obvious choice if you're looking for a large surrounding population, but do they attract as many, less, or more tourists than Nashville? that's the real question you'll need to find the answer to...but you're right, the tourist population will be the key...there are many amazing attractions right here in Nashville that I think are cool, but ironically enough I never drive the measly 15 minutes to go and participate simply because of the mentality that "it'll always be there, I'll get to it eventually." the tourists on the other hand indulge because this may be the only opportunity to participate in the attraction for at least a long period of time and thus the immediate desire/will to participate exists allowing the attraction to make a profit off a slew of fanny-pack sportin' tourists . either way, i can only dream that the final choice is Nashville...!

Definitely Nashville!!! There is a Flyaway tunnel in Pigeon Forge, TN but IMO it sucks. Bringing a REAL tunnel to the Nashville area would also help to draw increased skydiving interest and hopefully mean repeat business for you with new jumpers wanting to improve their freefall skills. I fall into that category right now, so seeing this thread makes me really excited at the possibilities! You've got TONS of local colleges and universities to tap into as well...please, please, please.....I want a REAL wind tunnel to help me improve my freefall right in my own back yard!!!

This is really great news! I live in TN and I remember when I wanted to make my first skydive how horrible it was to figure out where these places listed on hundreds of websites were actually located...only to find out they don't really exist. After calling a dozen of 800 numbers to ask questions, I realized all they wanted me to do was give them my money....NO REALLY. They said, "Oh, you can just use the ticket whenever you want and don't have to make up your mind now. So how about that Visa number?" Then I fortunately found DZ.com and learned about SR's scams. My suspicions were confirmed and I was prevented from being taken on one of those "Skyrides" I would have regretted!

Actually yes. I'm a doctoral student and one of my professors at the university down in Ft. Lauderdale went to the launch. He had some really great pictures with a sweet camera....enjoy! http://www.1nikon.com/public/sts-124/index.html

Some good advice...I have let them get to me already. I've got an insurance company that's been around for years and have no problems with them at all. I'll probably start to get them involved to make sure the other person's insurance company (Progressive) doesn't take advantage of me. This stuff is a mess.

I have a FS series that I bough about 3 years ago. Literally 2 weeks before my warranty was going to expire, my 15 inch widescreen LCD stopped working and just produced black. I was lucky, but 2 of my friends with Dell laptops had their screens go on them too. It seems to be a typical problem with laptops...but remember, they are small and heat is generally an issue so they are often prone to issues. Just a though, but you might want to purchase your laptop on your credit card because most people are unaware that most cards extend the warranty of most products FREE (just read your terms) for at least a year or two. You just repair it, send them your receipt of original purchase, and pay for the repair on your credit card and they will reimburse you. Pretty cool eh?

Ok...so I started calling around and the local BMW dealership highly recommends a certain collision center in the city where they do a lot of body work on BMW's and have many happy customers. I am going to take it there despite of the sneaky insurance lady. So I get on the phone with her and told her what I planned on doing and she said "Ok, but your making a mistake by not going with OUR guys." That's crap. So she puts me on hold for like 5 minutes and says that she can't get a hold of the body shop that I personally wanted and proceeded with pushing on another one of her "preferred" shops AGAIN! I told her I'd call her back and we can try again. This tops it all: I immediately called the body shop after I put down the phone and got someone right away. She said that "Oh, the insurance lady just called us like 5 minutes ago and hung up on us." I'm so freaking mad... I need a punching bag like pronto!

Yeah, so fender bender's suck. I was on my way home from work and some lady rear ended my BMW. She kept wanting to "just write me a check" but I wasn't having any of that and just called the police and the insurance companies right away. What really sucks is that her insurance company, Progressive, is running around in circles trying to get me to go with their affiliates. But for those of you that have foreign cars, especially like BMW's, you know that just anyone can't repair those cars. For mechanical service, I can only take my car to all of four places in all of Nashville! The insurance lady keeps threatening me that I will have to pay any differences if her quote doesn't match the trustworthy collision center that I am wanting to take my BMW to instead of her scamming pal's work-shacks. Why would I want some half-wit shack to screw up my car with after-market cheapo parts when I wasn't the one at fault here??!!!??!!??!! Anyone else out there just HATE dealing with insurance companies that are just out to get out the cheapest they can at YOUR expense?

Of course it's not you...why would anyone admit that they are an idiot! Anyways, I've done my homework and every policy is different so there is no way that anyone of us here can really know for sure about a policy they don't have in front of them. So, we can agree to disagree...at least that's what I'm doing! Oh, and I'm doing my AFF at Skydive Alabama as soon as spring hits next year....totally psyched! Last edit, promise. I found this by searching in the forums...don't know that it's true, but I have heard of this before....the years vary by state: Quote taken from: http://www.dropzone.com/forum/Skydiving_C1/General_Skydiving_Discussions_F18/Life_insurance_for_skydivers_P509674

If only it worked that way Well, actually it does...if policies didn't do this, then I doubt a lot of people would have them. I've confirmed everything, and if you read my first post you'll see that I haven't started jumping and disclosed everything to the insurance company accurately. Just like someone here said, they told me flat-out that if I were jumping now they would increase my rate based on how many times I jump each year. However if I didn't plan on jumping for a year from the time I began the policy, then I would be covered because they rate you based on the time you sign-up for the policy...not years down the road for "unforeseen circumstances". Like I said, I pretty much luck out because I have to wait a year anyway before jumping so my rates are way low because of my age. Hope that helps explain the reasoning behind the facts...

I searched high and low, read my ENTIRE policy (sad yes, but also smart), and disclosed my skydiving accurately. I've even bookmarked and highlighted the pages in the policy for my family in the event of my death so that they are aware of everything they are entitle to in such a circumstance. In fact, even my insurance agent scuba dives (pictures on his wall to prove it) and said he had the same concerns but showed me where the policy doesn't exclude skydiving. But yes, in general most people just sign and without evidence or lie...and that's where you run into trouble. Insurance is a tricky business...

Check with your local Farmer's Bureau for your state. If you want a hefty policy, they are usually the cheapest around and you get fantastic face-to-face time with your insurance agent that you usually can't get elsewhere....they shoot it straight for the most part. I'm young, 24, and with no pre-existing medical conditions I was able to get a great rate. I pay less than $30 a month for what you quoted, but just as an individual policy since I'm not married (yet). They only asked me if I actively participate in skydiving or plan to in the next 12 months, which I don't....but in 13 months I do . It couldn't have worked more perfectly in my situation. I'm still in post-grad school and can't skydive until next year, so I'm locking in all of my insurance and disability plans NOW before the I get gouged by the plan rates because I'm considered "high risk".

YIKES! Good thing I switched insurance plans this year! My new deductible is $300, then 20% until it reaches $1,500. My old deductible was $2,000, then 20% up to $10,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel much better after hearing all of this!

All I know is this sport is expensive...even BEFORE you start jumping! I am not able to jump until about 11 more months because of post-grad school, but I've managed to save up $4500 so far towards a rig and training. I still need another 2K to safely cover everything including gear. Even then I will have the monthly expenses associated with jump costs and weekends at the DZ....ayeyeiyei!! But it'll be SO worth it!!!

I also pay $25 a cut...until I found out today that my lawn guy lost his business in my area and has to drop me because of gas prices. Now I have to find another service...

No, but it would make a great research study (ahem..excuse) for someone in the psychology field. edit... So I lied...here's the abstract I came across. I have access to numerous scholarly databases because I'm currently a doctoral student...finally I can be of real help on this forum. Even if the research topic is not on target with what you are looking for, there are some great facts to be found in their study. It's tough to find meaningful studies out there on skydiving, but that just goes to show that it is an area that can benefit from new research. I'll PM just you the full source, as I doubt the authors would like me distributing their published work freely as a forum attachment. Emotional Changes in Skydivers in Relation to Experience (Abstract) by Claire Bundesen and Ian R. Price "The nature of the change in emotional experience from before to after a skydiving jump is examined in relation to the experience of the skydiver. The relationship between emotional experience, personality variables, and an addiction construct, is also examined. The results indicate an experience based shift in the change of emotion from pre-jump to post-jump. Novice skydivers (N = 29) experience much greater emotional contrast from pre-jump to post-jump than more experienced skydivers (N = 34) who are much more stable. Skydivers with intermediate experience (N = 42) lie between these extremes. Greater “addiction” to skydiving is strongly associated with greater experience and is uniquely predicted from a lower level of anxiety before the impending jump. Results are discussed in relation to the findings of Celsi, Rose, and Leigh (1993)."

I have earned my master's and am now working on my doctorate. I didn't want to re-post, but my 2 cents can be found in a similar topic (link below). If you're logged into DZ.com the link will jump you right to my post. If you want the short story, then here's the condensed version: "...let me share with you one thing that I have learned: A degree is only useful and worthwhile if you use it. That sums it up." http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3103009;search_string=degree;#3103009

As for clouds...from my own personal opinion (please note, I have one jump), when I did my tandem I ended up going through a cloud in freefall. Sure, I was ecstatic after the fact and thought it was cool...but honestly that experience should have been saved for way down the road. As a first-time jumper, I cannot say that my experiance was "heightened" by passing through a cloud. Besides the sensory overload you go through, your brain uses the cloud as a "reference" to how fast you are actually falling...and anyone with common sense should know that probably isn't a good idea, especially for first-timer's. Watching my tandem video, I can see my face go flush as soon as I see the cloud and my brain registers how fast I am really falling! I'm sure I would have been more aware of my freefall experience had I not gone through a cloud. Anyways...that's my 1 cent.

You either love them or hate them... If you are one of the "converts" that have came to love your new ergo keyboard, you'll never go back. I resisted for years, then forced myself to try it. After several weeks, it grew on me...another month or two later, I couldn't stand to touch standard keyboards anymore. Where I work now, they wouldn't buy me an ergo, so I spent $70 and bought my own The only thing better than an ergo keyboard is a wireless ergo keyboard

Hmmm...there might be hope!

Perhaps both... I would be planning a jump weekend right now if it weren't for the fact that I had to write a slew of papers this weekend. Man oh man, if I could find a way to get away with writing research on skydiving for my post-graduate modules! Information Systems is the subject area...ideas are welcomed, if subject area exists

Hahaha!! That was hilarious dude! Too funny!

Yeah...I'm across time zones right now in Florida for classes. This means, not only do I lose an hour from the time change, but I lose another hour tomorrow because of the stupid time change. Oh, and did I forget to mention I'm getting up an hour earlier than usual....NOT happy.

That's so true. Hats off to our military folks. They deserve so much, yet get so little in return for their huge sacrifices both they AND their families make daily. The very LEAST we can do for them is support and honor them ...

Don't even get me started on Vista. I can tell you this though...first quarter of this year, M$ will be releasing Service Pack 1 for Vista. They CLAIM that there will be a lot of fixes with driver incompatibility issues (among a slew of others) that may help resolve your problem. It's already out in beta, but hold your horses for a month or two and you'll want to install it....hey, it's not like it could get any worse!