debussyschild

I'm currently doing my AFF training for my A license, and I'd say the only thing that would make me hem and haw at getting over each hurdle of the course is the sheer amount of money that goes into it. College students are poor, there's no question about that. However, I just got cleared to pack student rigs at my home DZ for about $6 a pop (no pun intended) which I can use to finance my AFF progression. They will let me jump and work off my debt by packing rigs. It's great to be eager to get off of student status, but I'm all about taking a conservative approach and making sure my own skills are rock solid before I fly on my own. I applaud those that can do it quickly, but I'd much rather take my time and be damn sure that I won't kill myself or others when I am a full-fledged skydiver. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I have a younger sibling (significantly younger than I am) and if she were around while the after hours shenanigans were taking place, I would not be able to believe what kind of an example I am setting for her. Smaller kids don't know any better, which is why they need parental supervision. I'd say if you aren't going to be able to keep tabs on your kid (which is your responsibility, not anyone else's) perhaps you should hire a babysitter and keep them at home. Running out into the landing area is just flat out dangerous and the parent of that child needs to be talked to. The child could get hurt as could the jumpers if they had to make a low turn to avoid hitting the child in the landing area. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

How could I forget that? Geez, and I'm a COLLEGE student... free beer = excellent. Great dance parties with the fog machine in the hangar are also fun, too. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

This is my second and last post to this thread. My first one was admittedly heavy, but finding humility within myself was by no means a small feat. I think what skydiving has done for me so far is that it has allowed me to let go and to quit trying so hard to dictate every outcome in life. I am a bit of a control freak and lord knows (if you have watched me pack... you will see) a bonafide perfectionist. I tend to drive myself up the wall with my own self-criticism. It begins to wear on you and breaks down your spirit, and ironically, you are the one bringing it upon yourself. Well, skydiving has shown me that no matter what you do or how solid you think your approach is in life, there are no guarantees. One of my instructors said it very well with this, "in skydiving there is only one guarantee: you WILL land." Enough said. There is no possible way you can control everything. In essence, skydiving is to me the epitome of the serenity prayer. Once you let go of that airplane or hop off the tailgate, anything can happen, some of those things are within your control and many others are not. Forgive me for being so philosophical, but each time you jump, are you not making a leap of faith (in yourself)? So, after making at least 24-30 more leaps of faith to get my A-license, I will tell you how much more it has changed me and all for the better.

I am going to go in a different direction with this one... as far as life skills are concerned, my experience thus far (about 2 months or so) with skydiving (yes, only one dive, but lots of time spent packing/observing/asking questions at my home DZ) has taught me a lot about myself and just people in general. For one, if you are not already humble and understand how to be subordinate (i.e. shut up and learn) when times call for it, you will either quickly learn those skills or be just as hastily ousted. Let me tell you, as a person with a lot of pride, I have learned not to let that get in the way between me and an instructor who is GOING to help me save my own life someday. Yes, skydivers are inherently crazy by nature of what it is they are doing (jumping out of a plane is not natural, no matter how you slice it), but they are in no way stupid (just go with me on this one). Above all, I have come to learn that seasoned skydivers are very wary of newcomers: they want to know that you are serious about pursuing it and learning about the sport correctly the first time. They are very excited to have us newbies around, but they are always watching, hoping you will stick around. Clearly, there is not much margin for human error in this sport. An even higher priority when evaluating newcomers (just in my personal experience, as a newcomer that is currently RIGHTLY the subject of lots of supervision and scrutiny...they keep me on my toes, and I like it...that's part of the challenge anyways) is deciding whether or not the newcomer is trustworthy. I have already heard from instructors what they thought about some students who displayed a blatant disregard for sound instruction or any kind of constructive criticism designed to help them along. It was not pretty and they hoped to never see that student return again. This was NOT because the student was annoying per se, but because they more than likely could become a potential danger to themselves and other jumpers. So, I have developed a healthy respect for the process by which you are--dare I say it--initiated into the sport. And I respect the sport and those that are in it a whole lot more for their often brutal, yet well-intentioned scrutiny and criticism. After all, what does not kill really does only make you stronger (or just more likely to survive). Edited for spelling "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I don't get spending a lot of money on dates. As a girl, occasionally getting a little spoiled is nice, but it's a DATE. Odds are, you both are going to end up not liking each other anyways, so why spend a lot of money to figure that out? Being 'cheap' doesn't mean spending less. Being cheap means not being even remotely sincere about the date itself. Save your money, gentlemen. Don't invite her over to watch a movie (that's a booty call if there ever was one), but don't feel like you have to take her to the Ritz Carlton to get a call back. Any lady that asks you to dish out anymore than $30 for a date is looking for a meal ticket. Don't buy in. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

jason at skydive the point... he's awesome

Shake that bear.... oooooh... shake that bear www.shakethatbear.com viewer be forewarned: does involved cruelty to animals... in more ways than one. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Ahhhh the flatulence inducing powers of Jager... my instructor had A LOT of Jager the night before my first AFF jump (as did I, but I didn't have any problems like HE did). Needless to say it smelled pretty damn foul on the way to altitude after he dropped a bomb at about 6,000'. But I love my instructor... he made instructor of the month in October's Parachutist... check him out! "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

holy craps someone needs to get you a drinlk you talking all smart and shit , its friuday night .... fuck handel messiah, well nots literally To quote Handel: "HALLELUJAH!" I am resigning from my post at the fucking math emporium for the evening and will resolve to not log onto dropzone when I get back to m apartment. My stomach is roaring and my eyes are crossing. I'll resume this later. Thanks for the fun commentary. Peace "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I have a best friend who's a redhead. She's a physics major. And also frequently more well spoken than I am... own up! "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Well done. Crisis averted. In the meantime, I have written two more sentences for my lousy paper on Handel's Messiah. Thank you kindly for the inspiration "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Wouldn't it put it past her. I'm blonde, but let's not go into that. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

VT skydive club has a listserve. It's like a mass emailing thing, so when you send something to the 'listserve' it gets sent out to everyone whose email is on the roster for that listserve. So if you're sending out drunk emails, everyone's gonna get it. Extra fun when you start sending funny jokes and youtube clips over the listserve! I've since been told to keep the content of my emails business-related. Two words: party poopers. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

whats cooler then drunk posting, my karokee machine broked so Im stuck on dz.com for drunk fun, plus i starts jumping again soonish, although my dz closed down, wtf is up with that Drunk emailing the skydive listserve and then getting your messages... ummm... screened... hahahaha... for potentially un-listserve-worthy content i.e. "why the hell aren't you guys at the drop zone yet!?" That's definitely got some interesting high notes to go with it the next day, primarily a talking-to by some higher ups. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Personal Attack yourself....smart move, get banned & get something done! That's definitely irrefutable. Hahahaha "but she posted an ad hominim attack against... herself. She's gotta go!" "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Apparently they've got 'cooler' things to do on a Friday night... I find that hard to believe. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

wow ... huh? I saw math emporium something blah blah blah difficult And NOW I can't access the website I was using to look at the databases to get research to support my paper. Or my gmail. WTF? I should be drinking. It's not normal to be writing a paper at midnight, Friday night. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

You first. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I'm stuck at the math emporium (at VT) and I'M STUCKKKKK on the frickin paper. Serious writer's block. But posting is distracting me from the fact that I feel like a dumbass, because this paper isn't meant to be that difficult... "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Might I ask all of you wonderful skydiving folk to oblige a very modest request? .... Yell at my stupid ass and tell me to do my work, because right now the forums on dropzone are steadfastly maintaining death grips on my rather sparse gray matter... which would be better off fully exerting itself in a last ditch effort to finish a paper. Yes, I'm asking you to flame...err...nag me. If you don't jump (yes, the pun is definitely INTENDED) at this opportunity, I will be in utter disappointment and shame. - A newbie that's jonesing... HARD Edit - define 'flame' "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I'm a new member of the club, was on campus for the whole 4/16 shoot out, and I knew EXACTLY who you were talking about. But, Jamie's got the grades. He was (not knowing it at the time) just saving his ass that day. All the VT Skydivers are awesome people. I'm so glad that none of them were taken away prematurely that day, otherwise I may never have gotten the chance to meet them. God Bless. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Nope, but you should totally check out this design, S'pea. I think you'd be oh-so-stylin in it... Don't steal my design now... I know it's hot, but it's just an example. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Morbid hilarity ensues... bwahahahahaha "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I just got sick to my stomach and nearly threw up my lunch after reading that idiot's blog. As a beginner, even I know not to put your nose where it doesn't belong. What a fucking retard. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."