chaz720.net - journal

March 09, 2004

All my bags are packed, I�m ready to go. I�m standin� here outside your door, I hate to wake you up to say goodbye. But the dawn is breakin�, it�s early morn. The taxi�s waitin�, he�s blowin� his horn. Already I�m so lonesome I could die. So kiss me and smile for me. Tell me that you�ll wait for me. Hold me like you�ll never let me go. Cause I�m leavin� on a jet plane, don�t know when I�ll be back again. Oh babe, I hate to go. There�s so many times I�ve let you down, so many times I�ve played around. I tell you now, they don�t mean a thing. Ev�ry place I go, I�ll think of you. Ev�ry song I sing, I�ll sing for you. When I come back, I�ll bring your wedding ring. So kiss me and smile for me. Tell me that you�ll wait for me. Hold me like you�ll never let me go. Cause I�m leavin� on a jet plane, don�t know when I�ll be back again. Oh babe, I hate to go. Now the time has come to leave you. One more time, let me kiss you. Then close your eyes, I�ll be on my way. Dream about the days to come, when I won�t have to leave alone. About the times, I won�t have to say.

Just a couple more months, and things even feel like they're starting to smooth out a bit as the semester goes on. I'm at that point in the semester where I'm doing pretty well in all my classes, and the work isn't going to get any harder, so if I just kinda maintain the rest of the way I'll be all set. CS257 continues to be the most awful class ever, but I've adapted to its vile ways and am managing to do alright. Its conclusion will be quite the personal victory.

I took the GRE last Friday and did well enough. I also had my transcript sent to USC and I'm waiting on details of what all else I need to send in with my application. Once that's taken care of I'll be done with all my Northrop Grumman stuff and all that will be left is finding a place in L.A. and settling in. I don't think I'll find much of the work involved with moving to be too bad a chore because I'm excited about getting out there and having my own place.

Woo! the Caravan (bigger plane) is back at Archway, my Cypres is back and in my rig, and the t-shirts came out great. So that all picking back up again has made me feel better. I made six jumps last Saturday, and I'll share my two favorite moments of the day here.

I was on a four way and I was wearing my weights. Apparently I just don't need them any more, I guess I've gained a couple pounds, or gotten a little more flexible or both, but I was having the hardest time slowing myself down to stay with the group. Anyway, I kept sliding down underneath the formation whenever I'd approach it, and on the third time I got my fingers on the grippers but was falling away to fast to hang on. The guy flying camera on the jump follows me in frame as I fall away and gets me on video shaking my fists and yelling "god damnit!" Argh! Frustration you simply cannot believe. Everyone got a pretty good laugh about that when we got back on the ground.

On the last load of the day, with the sun setting in the background, we did the four-way jump again. This time (minus the weights) it went great. There was no wind on the ground when I was landing so I had a lot of forward speed and was able to drag my foot the length of the pea-pit (5m diameter accuracy target) right through the middle of it. Ahh... that jump felt awesome.

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