The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful - I did wind up getting three more jumps in on Sunday, culminating in a sunset load that turned out (with clouds and wind rolling in on Monday) to be the last load of the boogie. The Otter did a spectacular fly-by of the landing area, and our group opened a little high to enjoy the sunset and the views on what turned out to be our last canopy ride. (more…)
I feel the need to start to write about Belize lest I forget it. The sights, the sounds, the flavors! Our trip started off well enough, but quickly turned into a bit of a travel hassle. On Friday we flew from SFO to Miami, hopped a shuttle bus to our airport hotel, and had a mediocre dinner at the only restaurant within walking distance. Up the next day, and over to the airport a few hours earlier to make sure we were comfortably at our gate in time for the flight. No issues there - security was quite quick. Settled in at the bar near the gate and texted our friends John and Laura who were coming in from Knoxville. Met up with them and another friend John from Nashville, and caught up and anticipated our trip. (more…)
… is back in town this weekend. Despite an iffy forecast, yesterday’s weather turned out to be pretty good, so I headed up to Skydance. I got 4 jumps in fairly quickly, and spent the last couple hours just hanging out and chatting in the (not-too-cold) sun, drinking a tasty adult beverage (Captain Morgan Silver and Diet Coke) in a nondescript blue cup (since it was still before the “beer light” went on). At the end of the day, I got measured for, and ordered, a new jumpsuit. I’d been hoping to hold off till I reach my goal weight (whatever that may be) but I seem to be in an extended holding pattern at or near this weight, and I’m getting to the point where I’m fighting my old suits since they’re a bit baggier than I need right now. (more…)
Yeah, yeah, I know everyone else is doing it, but I’m home, sick, and bored on New Year’s Day and it’s a new decade, so let’s look back at the last. (more…)
Though I’ve enjoyed my time at the Skydive Arizona Holiday boogies in the past, each one has had some sort of bad memory associated with it. There was giving myself a concussion in 2005. Sean breaking his leg and two friends dying in 2006. Being sick in 2007. (We spent 2008 in ZHills, of course). This year, trying to keep our time away from work to a minimum, we decided to go back to Eloy since it’s easy to get to Arizona without taking any time off work for travel. I was looking forward to a boogie without any bad ju-ju, and I got it, and got the much needed mini-break from work, too. (more…)
… till our mini-vacation in Eloy. We’re heading down Christmas Eve (late in the day) and coming back early on the 29th (the dates are timed so that we could use free Southwest tickets without running afoul of blackout dates). We’ve rented a team room at the dropzone for the 24th-27th, and a hotel near the Phoenix airport for the 28th since our flight leaves very early in the morning. It’ll also save us a day on the rental car. The team rooms are a modest step up from the bunkhouse (where we’ve both stayed before). The one we’ve rented has four bunks and a mini-fridge (but since we’re renting the whole thing out we’ll have all the space to ourselves). We’ll still use the communal showers, but it should offer much more privacy and quiet than the bunkhouse, which tends to be full this time of year. The fridge will allow us to pick up some food for breakfast, lunch, and snacks to save having to eat every meal out.
Even though I had four days last weekend and two this one, I still feel like my weekends are way too short. But that’s not news - I’m sure most people do. (more…)
By next Thursday I will have made three round trips to Southern California in just over a week. Our trip to Elsinore has been planned for a while (Sean’s going for the entire week for the wingsuit bigway event, I’m popping down just for the weekend). The work trips to Burbank (two days this week, four next week) came up afterward. I thought briefly about combining the trips, but since the flight is so short and I don’t have a car in Burbank, the idea of not dragging all of my skydiving gear along on the business trips is more appealing. (more…)
Below is a link to an ad that I did for Performance Designs, which makes my new canopy, the Pulse. It appeared in the October issue of Parachutist magazine, which is sent to all USPA members. ‘Twas a lot of fun to do and it’ll be interesting to see if it pops up in other issues or publications.
PD Pulse ad
(fair warning it is a 2+ MB PDF file in case you’re on a slow connection).
I realize I haven’t blogged in a while, and I think today I diagnosed something of the malaise I’ve been feeling - I feel like right now my life is a little out of balance. Some of it is good, some bad, some just neutral, but things aren’t humming along like they had been and I’ve been feeling it for the last month or so. At any rate, lots to update, so fair warning this’ll be a long post. (more…)