Sapphire

YAY! I'm wishing for you the best of weather; blue skies and calm winds - this way you can go have some fun in the sky, you have definitely earned it! "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

Sitting here surrounded by 1+ feet of snow, anxiously awaiting to hear about this solo jump! The suspense is killing me, heh!

So sorry! It's never easy but it is somewhat comforting to know Herc's running and playing again just like when he was a puppy - no pain, no suffering... just endless play days. :) "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

So very excited for you ... have fun - you SO earned it! "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

You're exactly right! People aren't as loyal! "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

That made my eyes fill up with tears! Your poor friend - took me right back to when I had to have my poor baby Keenu... well, yanno. Her's wasn't quite so peaceful, though... Good vibes sent to your friend and his family! "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

What does it matter if the cat was free, cost $35, or $3500? The choice you made by bringing the cat home was to take care of it - it's now a member of your family and has been for 9 years. I don't see a dilema. It doesn't sound like money would be an issue as you said just use the money on skydiving gear... so before you have this poor kitty doomed with a major injury/issue... pay the 'maybe' couple hundred dollars for a vet bill and find out what actually is wrong first. Could be something a simple shot (and NO, I don't mean final) may cure or some medicine. Your kids were free, remember... and you didn't pick them - yet would you put out a poll to see what you should do if one of them were limping? Good luck and I hope the kitty feels better soon!! "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

That was beautiful! I'm so glad you were able to allow your brother to finally fly free...

That's the same guy that was trying to sell the other Mirage a few weeks back... I wonder how many user names he has! He always has the same story, but he now is using a different rig. Why won't he just go the F away! I guess if it sounds too good to be true... "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

I guess I may be stupid here - but for CAT F - aren't we supposed to do full gear checks? If everyone is turning them down, how are we supposed to do these and learn to do these effectively? "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

Cute! ;) "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

Yeah, he had the Royal blue Mirage G4 for sale last week or so under heapyb or something... today he had the black mirage (it's sitting on a black leather chair, that's also referenced within this thread) up for sale... he has a new user name on here (though I forget what it was though I believe the first and last name began with 'M') and he's listed as living in UK. I reported his listing as a scam... so I hope nobody fell for it. He apparently doesn't seem to be going away - so please be careful folks! "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

My first solo's were just getting comfortable with barrel rolls and front and back flips. I did 'em over and over grinning from ear to ear at how much fun I was having. I stopped a little early on one to just look around and enjoy the scenery... it was friggin beautiful!

The gear section isn't exactly up-to-date. I guess the next not so nice suggestion to the OP would be to do a search... Hopefully someone will chime in with some experience as I would like to know what were the factors in people choosing one over the other, too. I'm probably going to be making a purchase in the near future as well, if the rig I buy doesn't come with one, so I've been reading about the Cypres, Vigil, and Argus as well. "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

Well I for one am sorry you felt the need to delete your post. I am glad I got to read it before you did; it was well written and it possibly could've been useful to maybe make even one person rethink their treatment of others. There are many posts on here I don't choose to respond to for various reasons; one of them being if I don't have anything nice to say, or type... well, you know the rest. But, what do I know... "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

I was worried about doing them... I wanted them to be perfect - I'm sorta weird like that! However, after I tried the first one, that was FAR from perfect btw, I realized how FUN they are... and when that happened - they suddenly got better! Moral of the story: Don't stress 'em - RELAX - have fun - listen to your instructor - have FUN - RELAX!

Yeah - he emailed me after his ad suddenly disappeared - LOL! Asking for Western Union payment has certainly given himself away... and now I found this thread. It really is a nice looking rig - whomever owns it... LMAO! "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

YAY Lauren - welcome back! I've been wondering how you've been and if you were continuing on with your progression! Glad to see the last tandem helped... we all have 'issues' at some point, but as you know, when you love to do something you work through them! Can't wait to hear how it goes for you... ~J "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

Of course you can! The only person I ever truly loved (and will always love) I first met online. I think far too many people only think there is more then what really is - but yes, something amazing can develop in non-conventional ways if it's meant to happen.

Dude - take some time for YOU! You won't be of any use to anyone if you don't! Heal fast and best of luck to you!

+1 Everything Jennifer said is pretty great advice... I'll repeat (as this is really important) it's all about you. You may be naturally awesome at this, or it may take you longer... don't compare yourself to others. You may see students pass you by that started before/at the same time/after you... don't get discouraged. Take the time YOU need to learn to be a safe and proficient skydiver. In the end, it doesn't matter how many times it takes you to move on from a specific level/category... all that matters is that you listen to your instructors, learn as much as you can from them, NOT what you've read on the internet, and do it all safely. Oh, and remember... this shit is friggin FUN! Relax, breathe, smile... they sound easy enough - but are actually harder to do (though you think you are)... once you do (they tell me anyway) it gets much easier! Enjoy!

Wow... you caught right on up to me - heh! Your level 4 (my Cat C2) are just messing us both up, course you won't have to repeat as many times as me I'm sure. I'm so glad you got as far as you did this past weekend AND learned that you really can do this! I've not had the same spinning issue, but I certainly have some sort of mental block standing in my way that I hope 30 minutes of tunnel time will sort out. Do you know when you will be going back? Anyway, congrats again! ~J "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

I just have to say... What a beautiful tribute to an amazing young lady! I don't normally even look in here, but I am so glad I did. "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

LOL! I tried it once for shits n giggles - tis not optimal, but good for making you go "WTF am I doing?!" ... feels good to know you can correct it immediately though without prompting from your instructors! "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

But just think of how amazing it's going to feel when you finally do get to take that step out the door and arch!