We all have a haven. A place you can call your own. This digital island has been mine for years and I welcome you to it. I'm a highly driven crazy soul. I like to create, solve problems, and stay as effective as I can. Explore and enjoy all that is me.
I turned 34 this week and had a rather tepid working Birthday. I got to be a little reflective and had more wishes on Facebook than I’ve ever had before. It was pretty special. My celebrations got strung over the week which was fine by me. I had a lunch with my mom, a dinner with friends, and a lunch and movie with an old friend. Then I took my own leave on Thursday to get a few skydives in. It’s been great getting back into it full swing.
Having a fun time with Jarrod Orrel. Our goal was a nice headdown exit, try to stay headdown, and then transition when we lose it. Well it was all pretty sloppy but we had a helluva lot of fun with it.
The last year has been like climbing a mountain. Hard grueling work, long hours, and a helluva lot of effort but it’s all paying off. I have a roster of happy clients, the family is making fantastic headways in chocolate with a shop on the horizon, and a rather happy life with my loved ones. The pace will quicken even further this coming year and while I don’t know what to expect, I suspect it will be amazing.
I’ve been jumping (skydiving) now for 4 years. I am not as far in disciplines (roughly 160 jumps) due to the upheaval financially we’ve all experienced one way or another over the course but I still manage to learn and have fun. I fly with some great people at Skydive Carolina and when Lee and I decided to go up he took his new camera with him and we recorded it.
Here we are leaving at a little over 13,000ft to just have a fun sit-fly. I get to geek out and fail at some neat tricks but all in all it was a blast and I look forward to our next jump together.
“Why does one want to walk wings? Why force one’s body from a plane to make a parachute jump? Why should man want to fly at all? People often ask these questions. But what civilization was not founded on adventure, and how long could one exist without it? Some answer the attainment of knowledge. Some say wealth, or power, is sufficient cause. believe the risks I take are justified by the sheer love of the life I lead.” — Charles Lindbergh
I love it, wish I could do it more, wish I could amp up my abilities to a near competition level if I could. I don’t have time, and like everything time in equals mastery out so you have to work hard at it.
Moments to Perfection
For skydivers, unless they do tunnel time, we learn one (1) minute at a time. Makes you really think about how hard you need to execute, how well you need to plan, how rigorous you must perform to maximize your one minute in the air. Next time you are slacking over an hour think about what you could do in just one minute. Test yourself with your own boundaries and see if you can go farther. It’s one lesson I’m always taking to heart.
Achievements can happen in moments so try not to waste many.
An Excerpt, J101
The following is a little excerpt from my life. It takes place on my 101st jump where I take a Flip Minos around my neck and take some video after a high-pull (meaning to pull your chute directly at altitude out of the plane). I had a nice 8 minute journey back to earth and let my adrenaline speak for itself.
It’s not the best video, I’ll get better when I can mount it on my head (hah). For now though I think it speaks volumes and gives a sneak peak into the view I enjoy so much.
What can you learn from a day intensive on canopy instruction? A freakin ton. Should it be mandatory? You betcha! I learned more than my mind could capture over a 12 hour seminar given by Scott Miller and his [Freedom of Flight](http://freedomofflight.tv/public/index.php?which=canopy) Essentials Canopy course.
Robin and I packed up and went down to [Skydive Carolina](http://www.skydivecarolina.com) on Thursday to save waking up at a horrible hour to make it to my class on Friday at 8:30a. We worked a little on the cabin, grabbed some local chow, and hit the sheets early.
Friday came quick and I was ready as ever. We met with Scott where he informed us that our Cessna was being taken to Clemson and we were going to have to wait for Eric, our pilot, to get back to fly the Twin Otter. Not a big deal. We crammed more of the classroom work in and then got started around 1:30p. I was also lucky enough to have some great people get me a demo of my upcoming parachute the [Performance Designs](http://www.performancedesigns.com/) Sabre2 230 so my lessons would have direct translation.
[Scott](http://freedomofflight.tv/public/index.php?which=aboutUs) created this course because of the absence of the training in the industry. Before the 90’s canopy related fatalities were about 1 a year. In the mid-90’s it rose above 10. The reason, performance canopies were in, experts were jumping them and novices wanted to play too. This brought a lot more people into the landing pattern a lot sooner than it used to be and with more people there are more accidents. Scott is working with the [USPA](http://www.uspa.org/) to find a way of improving their AFF course to include these materials in an effort to make our DZ’s a safer place.
The class is normally broken into an hour of lecture, a jump to work on skill building, then back to the classroom for video review/critique and another lecture. Seeing yourself on video—which shows everything—even things you don’t realize you’re doing, is so very helpful. Then getting wise instruction on how to repair what you’re doing for the next jump is just an enormous aid.
The [essentials course](http://freedomofflight.tv/public/index.php?which=canopy) is the first of two courses for canopies. Our class was broken into the understanding of perfecting the flare and finish, accuracy/precision landings, flat turns, stalls, and handling cross country—long flights. Anything that was to be done near the earth was done repeatedly from 5,000-2,000ft above ground. Doing so builds great confidence and kinesthetic understanding for when you’ll need to react properly in diverse sometimes dangerous situations.
We worked our tails off. After a light variable wind day pushed us down wind for nearly all our landings I think we performed pretty well. If I were to say what three things I enjoyed most it would have been learning the timing of the flare and the idea of a finish to improve landings, the details for planning my jump run more effectively, and my first cross country from 2.5 miles off the DZ sitting on my toggles in 75% brake.
We stayed over night again since I was given the opportunity to continue flying the demo canopy. Over the course of the day I put in three more jumps and Robin recorded them. I stitched it all together for a [youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=426qRU-3aD0) video.
If you want to learn how your canopy really operates and some hard hitting methods to gain even greater control visit Scott in DeLand or keep on the look out for his course coming to a DZ near you. It is practical and should be a requirement for all of us. This sport is a risk, but a calculated one, the more we know the lower that risk ratio gets and the more fun we can all have.
It was a great day out this weekend. Spring is definitely in the air and I was too. Soon after reaching the [Skydive Carolina](http://skydivecarolina.com) dropzone I was on a load to the heavens. As I quickly got my gear, inspected it, and sat on the plane ride in anticipation I reflected on how far I’ve come since last October. My nervous energy is gone, but I still get the last moments anticipation rush of less oxygen and adrenaline. A red light glows by the exit door, and we all grin, it flashes green, the door slides open, the spot is checked, and the teams and low openers jump out with glee. I generally float near the front of the plane (one of the last out), there are no tandems on my loads today just wingsuits and a few other AFF graduates pulling between 4k & 5k. I exited for my 13th jump and worked on many skill-sets Pete my AFF instructor, now coach, has asked me to work on. Cupping air, tracking, more granular leg control. 59 seconds goes by quick and yet slow. Yes, there is dualism present. For the last 3k feet I watched the ground and saw the beginnings of ground rush, when everything pops into realism like popcorn. Pulling at 4,000 ft my trusty student 260 opened on heading and I crabbed along the end of one of the runways till about 1k when I went into final.
For number 14 I got to downsize to a 230 canopy. Exiting the plane I tried to mimic some of our free/sit fliers in a sitting position. It lasted all of 2 seconds before I turned it into a flip and went back to belly down. I think I’ll stick with relative work for now, then work on other disciplines—but it’s fun to try. This jump turned a little sour when a loose strap from my helmet began to beat me in the cheek and neck. You don’t recognize the cold in the air usually, but as my strap beat on me it hurt, and that hurt led me to think of how cold it was because the pain was biting. That distraction really blew my ability to stay focused. Every time I’d capture the zone to do another exercise I’d inevitably be drawn back into this minor but highly annoying issue. I ended up at about 7k just waiting for pull time (5k) and working on slowing my descent due to frustration. Our new packer on the ground and AFF friend Allen packed my 230 and it opened like it should and on heading. I’ll tell you what though, jumping something new makes time slow down even further during that opening process. I would have ran my landing off had it not been for a hole I stepped into as I left the green short grass for thicker bramble. My down-scope angle was a bit off so I misjudged where the final spot would be of my landing. I think it’s to be expected when you change canopy sizes. Don’t let my sourness fool you, I had a good jump, it taught me about distraction and there are some great lessons there I might share on [Nuance Labs](http://blog.nuancelabs.com) soon.
After much hounding for a would be [deal](http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2684404 “DropZone.com Forum Postings”) I decided it was time to lock down my rig. I worked with Gus of [Rigging Solutions](http://www.riggingsolutions.us), our local Master Rigger & shop owner. Between his expertise and Pete we finalized my order of a Performance Designs [Saber2](http://www.performancedesigns.com/sabre2.asp), a PD Reserve 218, and a [Wings](http://www.skydivewings.com/) container with a number of healthy, safe, and comfort options.
All in all a wonderful day. I’ve committed to the sport for a while by my purchase and Robin is getting into the swing by signing up to work at the DZ in manifest over the summer. Can’t beat that kind of support! If your in the area come on down and just watch. Just being in a spot where so many people are having such high-energy fun is exhilarating.
Fun statistic, I’ve currently fallen about 20 miles in about 9 minutes.
around my neck and take some video after a high-pull (meaning to pull your chute directly at altitude out of the plane). I had a nice 8 minute journey back to earth and let my adrenaline speak for itself. 
