Moving On...
Warning, this post has drama in it... Hey everybody,
the time for me has come to move on. I will be spending my energy on other things. These forums have been a great help for me and I met many great friends through it.
I have recently received some PMs and emails from different people asking for BASE related advice. Given that I only have 63 jumps, I hesitate to give advice and prefer to forward them to more experienced jumpers. I realize these emails are probably prompted by my writing style which occasionally suggests that I know what I am talking about.
I do not. I'm lucky to be alive still.
Changing my writing style is not an option. Lurking or occasional posting is not possible either. There is too much bullshit -not all of it bad- on these forums to be able to remain passive. So I'm going cold turkey. I've done this before in other online communities. I join the group, frantically post-whore for a while and then move on to other things in life.
Thanks everybody. I had a great time here, and I hope that other students like myself will be able to learn as much from these forums as I did.
To all of you; please drop me an email if you're ever in the neigbourhood. I always have a place to stay for anybody, and if you bring a rig I'll have some objects too.
And remember; the risk in BASE is not the object nor the ground. The real risk is your mind. This sport is not about whether or not a particular jump is safe. This sport is about whether or not a particular jump is within your comfort zone. If that means sub-150ft freefalls, go for it! Make sure you really understand your comfort zone, and don't let your friends pressure you into growing it. Then, have the BASE knowledge and experience to asses a jump and classify it as a go; or no go.
So goodbye to bits and bytes. See you all in real life. Safe jumps!
Jaap
p.s. I won't be reading this thread or checking PMs. I can be reached on base@jaapsuter.com.
