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Whilst on vacation, I met up with Dan, a friend of mine from a while back. We met in upstate New York whilst we were visiting Woodstock, and drove to a small field just outside of New Paltz. He had just bought a new parachute and wanted to try it out. That phrase alone makes me shudder, but I guess it's just like anything else, the first time you take a car up to 70 you're putting a whole lot of trust in the guys that made it. Anyhow. I have always put skydiving in a box marked 'things to take really seriously and be really sombre about', but that was not the case, far from it. Picture the scene: a knackered wooden hanger, lots of people sitting around drinking and eating, some throwing a ball to each other, some sunbathing. Then all of a sudden a few of them stand up, put on what appears to be a rucksack and climb into a little plane. 20 minutes later they're dropping out of the sky all around your ears. In my head I had visions of a group of serious guys, covered in safety kit, psyching themselves up and going through their flight plan or whatever. Their nonchalance put me very ill at ease. I guess that familiarity breeds confidence, but for someone new to the sport, it made me want to shout 'can everyone just put down the hotdogs and concentrate, you're about to jump out of a fucking PLANE!'... Luckily I didn't do this, but quietly watched Dan pull on his modified rucksack, (no flight suit or anything, just the combats and T-shirt he drove in) and go jump from a plane. The whole thing shook me up much more than him, and I stayed on the ground.
I've just returned from a lengthy stay in the States and Canada to the normality of life in London. Many things about returning home are nice, my own bed, my full wardrobe, seeing my pet, but over the past three days i've grown increasingly annoyed with BBC news. Now I'm not attempting to defend any part of broadcasting in the U.S., it's clearly terrible, crammed with plastic presenters, awful graphics and adverts adverts adverts, it's the tone of voice which has got to me. We Brits are famous for being miserable, dwelling on the downers, and it's easy to see why. Almost every story on the BBC has been centred around the recession, it's like a catch-all topic. This morning there were two huge pieces on house prices and overseas investment, all hideously gloomy. Last night was the same, recession recession recession, plus a two hour special on why the French are coming out of their recession faster than Britain, THE FRENCH! Of all things, mon dieu, we're doomed i tell you, we're doomed. It's just so depressing. It's like we're obsessed with it. At least in America there were numerous stories on other topics, we know we're in a recession, but there's an awful lot more going on in the world. Moaning about it isn't gonna help.
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