Namowal

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I doubt you will have to re-learn much. Most of what's necessary to successfully jump is sort of "muscle-memory" and thus you don't really lose it. You'll (and should) go to hanger training (EPs etc), some basics (exit (sic!), freefall, canopy ride incl. landing) and will have to jump with an AFF-I and will find out, it's like riding a bike.

Glad to hear this. :)

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I'd suggest Namo jump with an AFF-I (there ought to be 'nuff of 'em willing to help the duck ) - so she should feel confident, feel being looked after and have someone by her side just in case.

Good idea. :)
By the time I'm cleared to jump I won't be 'current' any more so I'll probably have to repeat an AFF style jump to demonstrate that I still know what I'm doing.
The fact that I'll loose my currency (and probably have to relearn a lot of stuff I've learned) bugs me more than the hassle of breaking bones. It's times like this I remind myself to be glad I will have a chance to jump again- as not everyone gets that chance.

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Sometimes the reactions/attitudes of non-skydivers can be extremely surprising, to put it politely. When I arrived at the A&E with a compound humerus fracture and a shattered scapula the "physician" - better butcher - shouted at me: This can't be true! Such an injury because you skydived! Skydiving should be prohibited!

Wow. What a jerk!

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Later I asked for another shot of novocaine or something, the pain was almost unbearable - he again shouted at me: This is completely your fault! You decided to jump out of a plane! Be glad you are still alive!
This asswipe let me wait for the painkiller until I got admitted at the traumatology ward.

I still can't get over how unprofessional that guy was. Geez!

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I later asked him if he also shouts at car drivers, rollerbladers or folks who fall off a ladder. His face turned red and he exclaimed I should be glad to alive and blablabla... He got even more furious when I told him that I intended to jump again. "How can someone with a sound mind..."
If this fartknocker had done his job well I would have forgotten but the operation / treatment got completely wrong, a false joint developed - 3 months of constant pain... "Be glad... It's your fault..." he shouted at me and then I shouted back.

What an incompetent blowhard! I have a hunch he's botched a bunch of medical procedures in his career and has gotten defensive by default.
I'm glad you later found a doctor who knew what he was doing.

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Thank the Lord the surgeon who did the revision operation had a completely different mindset: Well my son, we now and then have skydivers here. Mainly torn ligaments, twisted knees or a broken femur so you are nothing special. We'll get you back into the air within a few months, and right he was.
So yeah, some non-skydiver physicians have questionable attitudes - at least compared to their Hippocratic Oath, but I think/hope most are open-minded. Most "other" non-skydivers I talked to didn't really frown upon me resuming jumping, by the way

That's good. One doesn't have to be a skydiver to be cool about it. :)

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It's a little funny that we're all glad that her drawing arm is OK.... when that's the only limb that's not broken.

She scored 3 out of 4!

I thought she still had a good leg, too, I think on opposite sides. No Twister games for a while.

Glad to hear you're healing well, Jennifer. Looking forward to the cartoon version of this. Hopefully you'll be up and around at least a bit by Chicks Rock so some of your out-of-town fans (like me) can at least say hi (even though we might have to wait a bit to jump with you).

Yep, one good leg and one good arm (better check my incident report comment to make sure I was clear about what did and didn't break.)
I'm hoping to attend Chicks Rock, even if I'm grounded. It's annoying to put everything on hold in the meantime but then again things could have turned out way worse, so there's no use complaining.

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Glad to see that you are well enough to be making your own updates!
I hope you continue to heal quickly and completely.

Thanks, Lisa. :)

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This could be bad

What hand does Namowal use to draw her cartoons with.

Thanks for the kind thoughts and words. :)
I'm still at a hospital for physical therapy but I finally have a computer (and good internet access) so I can swing by and thank everyone.

And if you all think I'll make a cartoon about all this... ...you're right. p.s.. My drawing arm okay.

Nice to see you online again
has this incident, wavered your from continuing your jumping or are looking forward to getting back to it in the future?

Some people in at the rehab hospital think I'm out of my mind, but I plan to jump again. And again and again!

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This could be bad

What hand does Namowal use to draw her cartoons with.

Thanks for the kind thoughts and words. :)
I'm still at a hospital for physical therapy but I finally have a computer (and good internet access) so I can swing by and thank everyone.

And if you all think I'll make a cartoon about all this... ...you're right. p.s.. My drawing arm okay.

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Had it been The Duck operating it, I'm sure the outcome would have been more...interesting.

I can't argue with you there. The video would have gone viral, but not for flattering reasons...

Am I the only one who read the headline this far:
"Maryland Student Hovers 8 Feet High in Human-Powered Helicopter, Smashing-"
-and instantly thought "Oh no, what did he smash?"

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You probably " won" nothing since 25% off is a typical dealer discount from MSRP.

I was wondering about that...

Not long ago I won a 25% discount on a new container (base price, of course, not including extras.) It's good until sometime in November.
I'm a noob (70 or so jumps) who still rents. I always figured I'd start out buying used gear... ...but now there's this temptation.

If I take the bait and get a something new, I'll have, well, something new and something that fits me well. On the other hand, it will still cost more (I'm pretty sure) and I'll eventually outgrow it. (I jump a 190 now, and a container that holds that size could also hold a 170 but not much smaller).

So what would you do, if you were in this situation.

(Throwing in the disclaimer that yes, I recognize that advice from "the internet" isn't always reliable, so I may not follow the consensus if instructors and/or coaches suggest I do otherwise. )

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Hmmmm.......72 jumps before you started swearing. You're doing much better than I did.
I really enjoy the strips.......thank you.

Thanks and you're welcome. :)

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They remind me of my own progression years ago. There's nothing like the excitement of learning this crazy game.
Don

I agree.

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I think it's time you add a Whorse to your cast of characters.

Actually I've heard three variations of that at the DZ:

1. "I want to see a cartoon with me in it"
2. "Don't you dare put me in the cartoon..."
3. "That was me? You draw that? I didn't know that was you..."

One of the greats.

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Lack of awareness that 'normal' people can go learn to skydive (my reason before I was a jumper)

This was me too. I'd been under the impression that skydivers were the "watch me ride this bicycle off roof and into the pool" types. And one of my officemates is still convinced we have some kind of brain defect where we don't understand (or fear) risk...

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I also don't know why, but my landings also improved greatly when I went down to a 190 from a 210. Now I'm under a 170 that I just LOVE!!

Interesting. I wonder if there's other people out there with similar experiences?

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So the question is, what you think improved your landings on the 190 vs the 210. Just a better canopy? More energy so more time in the flare to adjust it? Easier to get it to swing forward in the flare?

Maybe that's for the other thread you had, where you asked about that downsizing move.

I'm no expert at this, but I'm guessing my weight counteracts some of the forward speed when the canopy is "planing out" after half brakes. The smaller canopy can't fly me forward as fast. That being said, it won't surprise me if more experienced people have other opinions...

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Here's the latest installment.Crash 'n' Bash

Re:

"Half brakes, tug, tug tug... full breaks.
The breaks were sloppy, yet, the landings were gentle."

"BRAKES", not "breaks". You got it right once out of three.

D'oh! I know better than that. Geez.

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I just found out I'm 45, not 44. My Birthday was in Feb., but apparently I forgot to add a year when people ask me how old I am. For over 6 months I've been wrong about my age and had to do the math in disbelief. I must be getting old.
Have any of you done this?

Yes. Lucky for me it was the other way around- I thought I was 44 for most of this year, until I did the math and learned I was "only" 43.

Here's the latest installment.Crash 'n' Bash

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If the slider sits on top of links at the top of the risers, and there is a tube protecting the lines and links at that point, it can be a tight fit for the steering line to pass through all that. And then when you get to half brakes you hit the "cat's eye" finger-trapped in the brake line, though which you pass the toggle to stow the brakes when packing. That thick lump at the cat's eye can bump up against all that stuff up there with the grommet, slider bumper tube, lines, etc.

That's more or less what it looked like when I was looking up at it.

Yesterday I downsized from a 210 to a 190 (rental) and noticed something I've never noticed before. Whenever I tried to flare (or more specifically, do the "half" flare followed by the full one,) I could only go about half way when the lines seemed to get caught or hung up somehow. It took a crude brute-force tug to yank them beyond that point and finish the flare.
I looked up to see if I could figure out what was going on*. It seemed the hang-up part happened when a slightly thicker part of the steering line crossed the slider grommets, but I wasn't sure.
I always practice flaring quite high and had plenty of time to experiment with it, but the end result was it wasn't possible to time the full flare for a pretty landing.
I asked around, but nobody was sure what was going on. The rental shop person speculated that maybe the lines were a bit two long for me.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas as to what was going on? (I'm aware this is the internet and I can't really follow any advice and suggestions, but I'd still like to know if this has happened to anyone else...)

*when I was up high, not as I was coming in for a landing.

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They're visualizing - mentally running through the points on the skydives.

Even I do this. My motive was to keep the tasks fresh in my head, but it does seem to fall into the visualization category.

For as long as I can remember, visualization (that is, imagining yourself achieving goal X) had been trotted out as a valuable tool. To what extent do you think this is, in fact, the case?
One on hand, it's well known that humans can trick themselves (for good or bad) with self fulfilling prophecies (and while we're at it, placebos.)
On the other hand, there has to be limits. For example, even if I took singing lessons 7 days a week and visualized myself as a talented, top billed opera singer... ...I'd be very surprised if I ended up performing at the MET.
Or perhaps it's a matter of what you visualize? In the opera singer example, perhaps it would be more helpful visualizing yourself doing the more mundane stuff- skills, auditions etc.. to prep your mind for the practice and work required- instead of, say, picturing yourself performing to a packed audience?
What do you think?

edited to fix formatting

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That show was a staple of my childhood.

Same here.