Saturday, March 10, 2012

Safety Day 2012

Me and Christy, picture by Linny
I know some of my blogging buddies wonder how I can jump out of perfectly good airplanes on a regular basis. Well, I don't do it nearly as often as I once did, so now it's kind of important for me to attend Safety Day at my local Drop Zone. In the old days, I made more than 200 jumps every year, sometimes as many as 400. These days, I'm lucky to get fifty in, so Safety Day is made for jumpers like me: getting ready to get back into the swing of things, but feeling pretty rusty after not having made a skydive since October.
I am not alone in my desire to get current and ready for the upcoming season. Today was USPA (United States Parachute Association) Safety Day at Drop Zones around the country. Skydive Snohomish provides seminars and free food for the entire day to encourage people to attend. Here you can see that the attendance was pretty darn good: around 120 people showed up on a rainy, dreary Pacific Northwest kind of day to attend seminars and get refreshers about how to be safe.
If a person attended all six sessions and got signed off by the instructor, you were then eligible to enter a raffle that gave over $9,000 in prizes. If your name was called. I've attended this before, and although I didn't win anything, I enjoyed myself tremendously and if your name was drawn (mine wasn't), you got to choose your prize. I learned way more than I expected. My favorite session was with Dieter, who is a rocket scientist five days a week and flies the Cessna 182 for the Drop Zone on weekends. I was fascinated by him when he told us what he does during the week:
Here is Dieter explaining about a Mars lander that he helped to design, describing how the Phoenix lander used a parachute to slow its descent, much the same as skydivers do, except with the thin atmosphere of Mars, it was going a LOT faster than we are going when we deploy our parachutes. It was very interesting to see the parallels. (If you enlarge the picture you can read the text.)

Now I am safe at home, but I'll be losing an hour of sleep tonight as we change our clocks over to Daylight Saving Time here in the Pacific, but tomorrow, I am pleased to note that the sun will set after 7:00pm. More time for skydives once the rain disappears. Isn't it funny what a simple change of clock time can do for a person's disposition?
:-)

25 comments:

  1. good for you for getting a good refresher - although i'd certainly consider you a pro at leaving an airplane! :)

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  2. It is rocket science! ;-)
    That looked like a good way to spend a rainy day, preparing for having fun when it isn't raining.

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  3. ah longer days...what a beautiful thing that is going to be...smiles...and nice on the refresher too...a mars lander, that is cool too...too bad on not winning the $9000 on stuff but...smiles...

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  4. Congrats for getting out there and keeping current in a very stimulating activity.

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  5. Wow! It looked crowded there. Lots of plane jumping enthusiasts! Including my favorite. ;) Glad to see you gearing up for a new season. You are such an adventurer!! And you look great by the way. Have a happy Sunday! :)

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  6. Oh dear, we're on opposite sides of the time change but let's don't get political about it. I love the dark days of winter,a and closing the house up at 4:30 p.m. For a long winter evening. From now until fall there'll be too much daylight for me.

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  7. DJan... You are the most amazing lady that I know! Truthfully.

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  8. I am also not a fan of daylight saving. And we have a few weeks to go here until it ends.
    I love that you attend safety sessions and how amazing to be taught by a real rocket scientist.
    Your new haircut looks amazing.

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  9. I would never get used to sky diving. It's too nerve wracking. Good that you took the course in safety.

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  10. Oh what a good picture of you ! Um yuh, no jumping out of airplanes for me, I'll stick to the mud :}

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  11. Brilliant that you had the "Pro" as you and the large crowd preparing for the upcoming season. Always great to be refreshed in the things we enjoy in life. + a bonus when you get inspired in safety by a knowledgeable fella, and a scientist at that. Must have been most refreshing way to spend the day. Sounded real interesting - nice photos - enjoyed another new tidbit from you DJan. Thanks

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  12. Your activities are so inspiring. I will cheer for you from my armchair. Sorry you didn't win the prize, but if you're still alive after jumping from a plane, I would consider that adequate.

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  13. You always blow me away. I can not imagine jumping from a plane.. ever. I'm glad you did the refresher, though I suspect you hardly need it with all of your jumping experience. And interesting post, as always.

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  14. I have never met a rocket scientist before..I bet he was interesting.
    Yes if you are going to jump out of perfectly good airplanes please be safe about it! :)

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  15. You do live an interesting life, DJan, and meet a variety of people.

    Some of the people I am around during the week started talking about the time change mid week, anticipating the loss of an hour.

    For me, I chose to ignore it this year, wake up and see the time on my computer and then change the clocks in the house without focusing on any type of "loss", just accepting the change and getting on with my day.

    It was misty this morning, but after a few days of high winds the light rain is calming.

    Hope your day is full of fun and love and all good things.

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  16. Wow! What don't you do? I'm all for daylight savings too! Enjoy your dives...be Safe :D

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  17. TrishGreat post! Can't wait to see the sky diving pics!

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  18. That sounds like a great way to spend one of our, hopefully, last dreary days of the winter. The talk Dieter gave sounds very interesting, I would love to have heard the whole thing.

    I'm looking forward to the longer evenings which give us more time outside after hubby gets home from work.

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  19. Safety first for sure....smart guy's got himself a smart girl....no margin for mistake when jumping out of a plane! Looks like a fun gathering.

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  20. Holy Moly--that's an impressive crowd !!
    In my youth, I ALWAYS wanted to jump out a plane!! Now--not so much. (Guess I never got hooked on the rush, eh?) lol

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  21. That is a great idea to get a safety refresher. Anything to keep you safe, DJan. Hawaii does not change our times. It makes it loads easier although it makes me goof when I call the mainland.

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  22. I wouldn't get any farther than safety day! I hope all of your jumps are safe ones DJan.

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  23. Dear DJan,
    Your day at the refresher course sounds like a lot of fun and also--reading your other blog--a day filled with good memories of your history with sky diving and being safe.

    It's so true that daylight saving time creates in us an openenness to new things. I went to the movies yesterday for the first time in almost a year.

    I saw "We Bought a Zoo." A delightful film with one of my two favorite actors--Matt Damon. I try to see all the films that he and Tom Hanks star in. This week I also hope to see the 9/11 one that Hanks stars in.

    Peace.

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  24. Ummmmmmmmm, :::choking back surprise:::::: you used to jump as many as 400 times a year sometimes? Whoa...girl you are amazing. Heck, just doing it once in my life would be enough for me I'm sure. What an exciting life you live.

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  25. I'm with you DJan on daylight savings... You sure do hang around with some interesting people... take Dieter for example

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