guineapiggie101

I do have AAA too, and it has helped me a few times when I was in a jam. I think I will probably drive up halfway, stay overnight, and finish the drive in the morning. It makes for a happier and more alert me. :)

Glad to see you are doing well. Can't wait to see your next cartoon :)

That's true. Don't need car problems late at night (although my car is only a year old). Maybe it is better to spend a night halfway then drive up the rest of the way early in the morning.

Planning on doing a bit of tunnel at iFly SF during the few days I am out there. My hotel is very close to the tunnel (found that out recently). Still on the fencepost about how to drive up there. Part of me wants to save on one night of hotel by doing all night driving, but I don't have the same stamina as I did 10 years ago (when I used to do late night drives from IL to WI.) Will be attending a guinea pig related event on Sat, hanging out with my guinea pig buddies on Sat night, and sightseeing the rest of the days I am there. I like driving because I can stop at places on my way back.

I have to be in San Francisco on Sat by 11 AM. In the interest of saving money, I am thinking of driving up late Friday night (all night) and getting there in the early hours of the morning. It will be a 10 hr drive for me. I love doing long road trips, but I wonder if I am pushing it by driving all night. I will be out at a party on Friday night already so I will be awake. I plan to stay in the San Francisco area for a few days for sightseeing and hanging out with some friends that I rarely see. If you guys were me, would you drive up Friday night (halfway) and get a motel room, and then finish up the drive early on Sat? Or would you push it and do an all-night driving session on Friday night?

I finally got my jumpsuit last week. Yay!!!! Did a tandem with it and will start my tunnel stuff within the next month or so. Very excited.

Why do you say it is "too safe" already? Look at the incidents record, people are still getting seriously hurt in landing accidents, or hurting others. I know people find thrill in stretching the limits. That is part of the allure of skydiving. But, if it was made safer, less people could/would get hurt or killed

Yes, because then I could jump solo again without fear of hurting myself or anybody else. But, I do agree, it would take a bit of the "thrill" out of the sport.

I do understand why people are given the bowling speech. It is for their own good and such. Sometimes, those who are given the bowling speech, end up going elsewhere and completing their license there. Others, go and find new sports and hobbies to get involved with. What about those who have been given the bowling speech, but cannot find another DZ that will work with them (due to physical limitations)? How does one deal with that, especially if they REALLY want to solo jump again, and would do anything to be given another chance.

those look cool. :)

Dyson vacuums work well even with carpets like that. They also have good suction.

Does anybody know how to effectively copy over an entilre iPhoto library into Dropbox, so that I can view my complete iPhoto library on another comp? I've tried to copy it over, but it showed a bunch of empty files. I also need to do that with iTunes too. Goal is to backup my iMac using Dropbox as the backup place, and also being able to access my iMac files via my MacBook Pro.

Quade, thanks for your post. I love solo play. Never could get really into the group playing aspect of WoW, but I had friends who loved it and would encourage me to go on "raids" with them. I might just splurge and spend the $$$ on it. I have seen the previews for it, and the storyline is something I like.

I know Diablo 3 just came out. I've played the original Diablo many, many moons ago (so I don't really remember what it was like). For those of you who are playing Diablo 3, would you say it is comparable to WoW? Same type of storyline and gameplay?

I should be at the event this year (although I am not jumping). I live in San Diego, and I probably could give you a ride. Where in San Diego are you going to?

Again, congrats to you for getting your "A". It was nice seeing that stamp on your forehead. Sorry that someone gave you grief about your "A". Do jump with people and get involved with the EXCEL camps. It will give you good training. Also, you will have more fun jumping with others, than by yourself (at least that is what I've been told). Look forward to seeing you around the DZ again soon.

Just curious, for someone who is a "skydiver" in some ways, but not TRULY a skydiver because he/she doesn't jump anymore (except for tandems), how do people view that group? As "wannabees"?

IMO you aren't, maybe thats what the DZ told you to make you feel good about your tandem. Yes, you made a skydive, not a skydiver. If you only ride in a plane, would you say you are a pilot or passenger? To be a skydiver, one needs to have earned it, as in getting their "A" license IMO Just curious then, what about someone like me? I've done 24 AFF jumps, a few solos, and numerous tandems. I can't get my "A" license at this time. So, in your eyes, and the eyes of many jumpers, I am NOT a skydiver

You become a skydiver the minute you do a jump (at least that was what I was told) It's not hard to get acclimated and absorbed into the DZ culture. Talk to people, ask questions, be nice. Most jumpers are willing to talk to and give advice to the newbie. How is your attitude when you approach new people, will determine how people react to you. Be open to stuff, talk to people, be friendly. Come out of your shell a bit. I do understand how you feel. When I first started jumping, I did my weekly AFF jump and would leave the DZ after I was done. I am very shy and have a hard time opening up. I ended up being curious about stuff and when I saw how other skydivers were willing to help me with advice, and were suportive of my struggles with AFF, I was like "hey, skydivers are cool people". I don't solo jump anymore, only do tandems (hurt myself last year), but people are still friendly and accepting to me, and a few of my friends even come on my tandem jumps and form "rounds" on me At first, since you are the newbie, you might have to take initiative and ASK people if you can come on jumps with them. If they are not busy training or doing a particular dive with their friends, most jumpers are willing to take in the new guy. At the end of the day, but some beer and share with your new jumper friends. THat helps. Otherwise, most jumpers are cool. They know what iit is like to be the "newbie" since we all were once that "newbie".

Thanks y'all for replying. It was just a curiosity question. When I did my AFF I was doing it on a ripcord rig (the dz took a student rig and modified it to a ripcord rig for me to learn on). I was told that when I finally did get my own rig, I would have had to transition to a BOC. Was just curious to see if a BOC deployment method is necessary for licensing. If I ever did come back to jumping, I'd rather jump a ripcord rig since it was easier for me

This is more of a curiosity question, but in order to get an "A" license, is it required that the person be jumping on a BOC equipped rig? Or would a ripcord rig suffice?

Shop at Trader Joe's. They have good food for reasonable prices. I find that some of their frozen food is tasty, cheap and not too fattening. And there are vegetarian choices as well for those who tend that way.

I just realized tonight, that I DO know how to flirt, BUT with people I know well. For example, I was having a text conversation with my best friend (I've know him for over 10 years and we're pretty close friends). I can joke with him and flirt with him in person and texting, BUT I can't seem to flirt with guys I am interested in. Maybe, it's my fear of rejection.

Ah, I made a booboo already. I was kinda nervous around him, so I had my arms crossed in front of me :( . Better luck next time ;) . Ok then, next time I see him (which will hopefully be the weekend), I will try to joke with him and lightly touch his arm. BTW, he is a skydiver and the few times we've chatted, it's been about skydiving, about his jumps, etc. I like listening to him talk about himself and about his jumps etc., so that is what I ask about. Skymama, I wish you could help me too . I'm so bad at this.

Hey GP, ask him for sex, you don't want to waste anytime on him if he's a dud in the sack hahaha!!!! :)