Skydiving

So I did it.  I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane yesterday.  My mom and sister are in town this week and we went skydiving on the North Shore yesterday morning.  It was a beautiful day for it when we left in the morning.  We already had advanced reservations (which I recommend doing because it is both cheaper and you won't wait very long).  We watched a bunch of people come down before it was our turn and that helped alleviate any anxiety I had over the whole "speeding toward the ground" thing.

We got up in the plane, harnesses on, and were ready to jump when the pilot got a call from the ground saying that it started raining.  This was a problem because hitting rain at 120mph hurts like a bitch.  Yes, you fly to the ground at 120mph.  Anyway, we circled around for a while until it cleared, but it never did.  No one wanted to land, though, so we made the decision to just jump.

It was surprisingly not that bad.  There was an initial feeling of falling (like when you drop in a roller coaster and your stomach jumps in your throat), but once you hit terminal velocity, it's just windy.  The worst part was definitely the rain, though.  It really stings like a bitch.  That was the only time I knew I was really moving quickly through the air.

then we landed.

Headnote of the Week

That no straight thinking person would believe that a skin cream would actually rejuvenate the skin as advertised would not eliminate element of deception in the advertising, since the act prohibiting false advertising was not made for the protection of experts but for the general public which includes the ignorant, the unthinking, and the credulous.
Charles of the Ritz Distributors Corp. v. Fed. Trade Comm'n, 143 F.2d 676 (2d Cir. 1944)

Aaaand we're back!

Yes, I know.  It's been nearly a month since my last blog post and you're dying for an update.  Where have you been?  How's the pineapple?  How's the triathlon training?  Did you jump out of a plane yet?  Done anything cool lately?

Well, I have the answers to all those questions and more.  My absence was primarily due to being on vacation for 14 days on the mainland.  I was home for a few days and then went to Myrtle Beach, SC for 8 straight days of golf with my dad and some of his buddies.  It's an annual trip where we play a handicap-based tournament for a green jacket.  It's called the "Hack Master's" tournament in honor of the green jacket awarded at the actual Master's tournament.  I really thought I had a shot this year, but alas, I suck.  I played like garbage the entire week and was out of the running by the 3rd or 4th day.  Overall, though, it was a lot of fun.  We rent a condo for the week and do a lot of golfing, a lot of card playing, and a lot of drinking.  It was a good vacation.

Then I spent a few days at home before flying back to Hawaii.  One thing I experienced while on vacation may have ruined me for life.  I flew first class on my direct flight to New York.  It was an 11 hour flight and they gave me the option to upgrade so I took it.  I've decided that on long flights, it's the only way to travel.  I got a pretty good dinner (shrimp cocktail, pork chop, and ice cream sundae) along with all the booze you can drink. you also get to check 2 bags for free, which I needed because I had my golf clubs, etc.  Anyway, I stretched out completely, had my own tv screen, and a plug for my computer.  I ate dinner, got "sleepy" on a few drinks, put in a movie on my laptop and slept for a solid 6-7 hours.  It was the most enjoyable 11 hour flight I've ever had.

So now I'm back and have less than two months left in Hawaii.  I can't believe it's already July!  In a separate post I will describe my 4th of July weekend, but for the most part nothing exciting has really been happening here.  I am mostly doing the same stuff as before.  I have 24 days until the Honolulu Tinman Triathlon so I've spent the last 4-5 days getting swimming lessons to improve my stroke efficiency and to work on my endurance.  I still think I'm going to drown, but I am slowly improving, which is a good thing I guess.

My next couple months are going to be quite busy, though.  My mom and sister are coming for an 8-day visit at the end of the month, I am going to visit friends on Maui for a few days in mid-July, I have to pack up and ship all my stuff to Chicago before I leave for South America at the end of August, and at some point I should probably do some actual work.