Posted December 19, 2020 What could possibly go wrong after those words are spoken. Anyway, for what it's worth, my attempt to add some levity. Maybe we can all have some fun. SO, I am celebrating Dec birthdays with several friends and our discussion evolves into "back when". Specifically, how stupid could you get "back in the day" while drinking beer. For me, pretty fucking stupid. Summer of 69. A hot, humid day in southern Ill on the banks of the Mississippi. 4 guys, 4 girls, no body attached, just all good friends. Except, you know, the guys wanted to impress the girls. Ya think?!? We got there about 11:00 am. Started drinking beer and by 4 in the afternoon us guys were feeling pretty good. "Our" spot had the Norman Rockwell tire on a rope, on a tree limb, that you could swing on out into the river and drop off of into the water. FUN!! My good friend also had a boat, well, his mom and dad's boat, and the boat was there with us and part of the fun. Damn did we water ski that day!! Anyway, I get this great idea that I could stand on the bow of the boat and we could make a screaming pass by the tire, I would jump off the boat, as we passed the tire, grab the tire, and yell like Tarzan. What could go wrong? So, we all pop a fresh beer. I hate to admit it but I was drinking Falstaff in a can back than. We go about a quarter mile up river. I climb out onto the bow. One last swig of beer. My friend guns it. We are flying toward the tire. I actually managed to grab the tire when I jumped!!! What I did not count on was the windshield hitting my legs. I still have the scar where the frame of the windshield slammed into the side of my calf. I mean slammed and slashed a nasty cut. I was knocked onto the side of the boat and then into water. I must have swallowed 10 gallons of Mississippi that afternoon. I was completely disoriented for about 5-6 seconds. Of course my buds were laughing their ass off, what else do guys do in a situation like that. The girls were screaming and I was one hurting puppy. I managed to get to shore, with the help of one of the guys who jumped in to help me. We actually sat there and drank another beer before we decided that it might be a good idea to get me to a hospital because we couldn't get the bleeding stopped. Oh, my, the discussions we had on the way the hospital about what happened and how!! Anyway, 9 stiches, bruised ribs and a sick tummy from all the beer later it is a fond memory. I still occasionally get teased by one of the "girls" who was there that afternoon.... Hold my beer and watch this!!! Lets have some fun. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 19, 2020 When I was 16 I was a pretty good skier, used to participate in a lot of club races and could handle all the blacks at top speed. One sunny Saturday at A Basin a bunch of friends and I decided to set up a ski jump since the lift lines were so long, so we spent a couple hours transporting snow and packing up a great jump (you could get away with that stuff at ski areas 50 years ago). Another friend, who had spent his years practicing acrobatics rather than racing did a really cool backflip off of the jump, nailed the landing and pronounced the jump as "perfect for flips." (Can you see it coming yet?) Although I did not have a beer to hold, I said that I would therefore try it, despite a total lack of training or experience. I did pretty good with the downhill run, got lots of speed and height, and managed to get exactly one-half of a back flip accomplished when I ran out of momentum and hit the snow head-first, skiis straight up, from about 10 feet in the air, and managed to crush three vertebrae and injure my shoulder. Being 16, there was no permanent damage, and thanks to a skilled ski patrol there was no nerve or spinal cord injury, but I did have to wear a full rigid body brace for 8 weeks. My mom was so pissed at me that she made me go to school the whole time, and since I couldn't sit down, I had to stand in the back of the classes or lay on the floor during class (with assistance getting down and up). Since that day I have vowed to jump only if I have at least 5,000 feet of clearance (preferably 12,000 feet) before I hit the ground. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 19, 2020 22 minutes ago, BadBoy said: ... Since that day I have vowed to jump only if I have at least 5,000 feet of clearance (preferably 12,000 feet) before I hit the ground. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 20, 2020 4 hours ago, BadBoy said: When I was 16 I was a pretty good skier, used to participate in a lot of club races and could handle all the blacks at top speed. One sunny Saturday at A Basin a bunch of friends and I decided to set up a ski jump since the lift lines were so long, so we spent a couple hours transporting snow and packing up a great jump (you could get away with that stuff at ski areas 50 years ago). Another friend, who had spent his years practicing acrobatics rather than racing did a really cool backflip off of the jump, nailed the landing and pronounced the jump as "perfect for flips." (Can you see it coming yet?) Although I did not have a beer to hold, I said that I would therefore try it, despite a total lack of training or experience. I did pretty good with the downhill run, got lots of speed and height, and managed to get exactly one-half of a back flip accomplished when I ran out of momentum and hit the snow head-first, skiis straight up, from about 10 feet in the air, and managed to crush three vertebrae and injure my shoulder. Being 16, there was no permanent damage, and thanks to a skilled ski patrol there was no nerve or spinal cord injury, but I did have to wear a full rigid body brace for 8 weeks. My mom was so pissed at me that she made me go to school the whole time, and since I couldn't sit down, I had to stand in the back of the classes or lay on the floor during class (with assistance getting down and up). Since that day I have vowed to jump only if I have at least 5,000 feet of clearance (preferably 12,000 feet) before I hit the ground. Absolutely. At 12000 feet what could possibly go wrong? I kid, but I do also wonder about those WWII pilots that got shot down. The fuselage would usually be engulfed in flames, the cockpit, a saturated inferno of lit 100 octane gasoline, and the only mercy, the sea ... way down there. Sometimes I think men were not meant to fly. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 20, 2020 2 minutes ago, Vassago said: Absolutely. At 12000 feet what could possibly go wrong? I kid, but I do also wonder about those WWII pilots that got shot down. The fuselage would usually be engulfed in flames, the cockpit, a saturated inferno of lit 100 octane gasoline, and the only mercy, the sea ... way down there. Sometimes I think men were not meant to fly. I remember my Dad saying that if they jumped over the North Sea, they only had a 15 minute survival window before the cold waters claimed them. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 20, 2020 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Bit Banger said: I remember my Dad saying that if they jumped over the North Sea, they only had a 15 minute survival window before the cold waters claimed them. Men were men, way back when. I watch documentaries. I remember seeing one about how skyscrapers were built. They had footage of these Italian men walking across 6 inch I-beams 90 stories up like they were sidewalks. They ate sandwiches while their legs dangled, kicking their legs back and forth. Not a care in the world, except bringing home the bacon, so to speak. Now, you have to put up a disclaimer of viewer discretion advised when there is a depiction of someone with an eating disorder on a Netflix show. Edited December 20, 2020 by Vassago 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
