I went skydiving again on Friday. That was sooo fun, and soo worth the $100 for the second jump. I didn't get a video this time for obvious monetary reasons (a.k.a. I'll be broke by the end of the year thanks to Stanford :P ), but that's OK. Last time I was just so nervous/shocked/scared about falling and looking at the cameraman that I didn't really have time to enjoy freefall -- this time, I was relatively calm (lol) so I was able to fully realize what the hell I was doing. ;) The guy was also showing me a few things about skydiving, like how you can control which way you spin and stuff, and he even let me steer the parachute for a short bit. It's really cool -- if you pull really hard down on one side of the parachute, you get going into a fast downward spin that kind of makes you dizzy.

I went with Brad (my roommate from last year), and two other dormmates from last year, Jon and Michelle. It was Jon and Michelle's first time, so I'm sure that was as much of a really awesome experience for them as it was for me when I first went skydiving.

For the uninitiated/curious, I asked the video guy who took Jon's video about where he stands just before you jump out -- apparently, there's a bar above the door, and they hold on to that while putting their foot in the corner of the doorway, so that's how they get that cool shot right below of you just falling out of the plane (to see my video again, people who have lots of money to burn on broadband, go here, and people who are too much of cheapskates to pay for broadband, go here -- or you can always just come over to my dorm room and ask to see the full-quality DVD version).

I'm really tempted to go and do the skydiving training at the Parachute Center, which includes 10 solo jumps (3 paratrooper style where there's a line attached to the plane that automatically deploys your parachute at the right moment, and 7 true solo jumps) for only $500. You basically go there early in the morning and stay there through the day, getting training on how to pack your parachute correctly, and all the other things you need. By the time you're through, you'll have your skydiver's license. :) The only problem is that that $500 is going to be needed to buy my books for school. :P

Needless to say, skydiving is one of those things that everybody should experience at least once in their life.

(By the way, our landing the second time wasn't that much better than the first. :\ )