Episode 5 - The Sky's the Limit === Pat: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to English with Pat and Pops. I'm Pat... Pops: I'm Pops... Pat: ...and we're talking to you from Boynton Beach, Florida. Uh, what's the weather like today, Pops? Pops: Uh, another beautiful day in south Florida. 77 degrees or about 25 Celsius. Winds a little strong, 13 miles per hour or about 20 kmph if you're into that. So another beautiful day. Pat: Another good one, yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Yeah. So, um, let's jump into this week's word. The word of the week. Pops: Ah, yes. Audacious. Pat: Oh, that's a good one. Audacious. Pops: Yeah. Showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risk is the meaning. Pat: Yeah. Yeah. Being daring, right? Pops: Daring. Yeah. Yeah. Pat: Yeah. And um, you know, it... it sounds like it might be completely a positive thing, but it has a sort of a double meaning. It's... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: It means that you're daring, you're willing to take risks... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...um, however, there's sort of this aspect of recklessness with it, right? Pops: Yeah, absolutely. Sometimes [00:01:00] you'll hear about somebody who's taken, uh, taken a pretty big chance. They're a very audacious individual. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: They might say, you know, somebody might say something to somebody else that's, you know, maybe considered out of line, and they'll say, oh, the audacity of that person, right? Pops: Mm-hmm. Right. Pat: So yeah, in... in general it's taking risks, but it might not always be for good reasons. Right? Pops: No, yeah. It may be self-satisfying, I guess you could say in some, some ways. Yeah. Audacious. Yeah. Pat: Audacious. Yeah. Pops: Right. Yeah. Pat: So... Pops: A good word. Pat: Yeah. That's, uh, that's the word of the week and it's a fitting one for this week's, uh, episode. Um, we're gonna be talking about skydiving. I actually saw, um, an article recently, um, about eight... eight guys, um, who were over the age of 80... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...who just set a Guinness Book, uh, World Records... um, they set a record for being the oldest group, um, to jump in a formation. So it was eight people over 80 [00:02:00] jumping out of an airplane. And they did it all, like holding hands and... Pops: Wow. Pat: ...it was, it was done right here, a little bit north of Orlando, Florida, which is a few hours from where we live. Pops: Oh, okay. Yeah. It's very close to us. Yeah. I didn't see this article. So... Pat: Yeah. Yeah, it just came up in my feed. I don't think, um, it's getting national or global... Pops: 80 year olds aren't too interesting... Pat: Yeah. Maybe... maybe in the, uh, geriatric, in the, in the 80 plus community, it's getting some play, but... Pops: Retirement home news. Pat: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Um, so, yeah, I saw that and it just reminded me of you and I went... for the, our, our first time and only time we've both went skydiving, right? Pops: Yeah. Pat: We went together. Pops: That... that was an experience. That was a good experience. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: And we're both, I mean, you know, we've done a bit of traveling and I think we're both a little bit of... you know, we like to push the limits a bit, right? Pops: Yeah. I like to take a little risk... like to take a, you know, I've always, you know, not the same... roller coasters, things like that. I've always enjoyed that kind of thrill, so... Pat: Yeah. Get your blood going a little bit. Pops: Yeah. Get a [00:03:00] little excitement in there. Pat: Yeah. So we went... we went skydiving, um, what, roughly five or six years ago? Pops: Five or six years ago we went in the summer and, uh, it was a beautiful day, as I remember. It was very... a very beautiful day. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: It was a really nice day. And, uh, I remember we were both a little bit nervous going into it, right? Pops: Yeah, you know, it kind of, you know, if I was a solo person, if I was solo doing this, I... I don't know that I would've done this. Pat: Yeah, you were comfortable because I was going down with you. Pops: We were going down... we were going down together. Pat: Well... Pops: Which is a sad state. Pat: Yeah, exactly. That, uh, it's funny that something I remember from that day though... I, I remember a few things because, you know, you're sort of in this like state of, you're heightened, you're, you're, you're... Pops: Heightened, uh, sense... Pat: ...concentrating on everything. Yeah. I remember when we got there, they make you watch a mandatory video before you, you do the jump, right? Pops: Yeah. You sign a bunch of documentation that says you're not gonna sue them. You know, things like that, you know... Pat: And I, I remember... I remember in the vi... the instructional video before they... they said there was like this [00:04:00] crazy percent chance of death that really kind of... I mean you know going in it's a dangerous activity... Pops: Right. Pat: ...but like, I re... I can't remember the exact percentage, but it was... it gave me some pause, you know? Pops: Yeah. It... it actually stopped and made you think about it for a second or two. It was kind of like, uh... you know, do I want my money back? Pat: Exactly. Yeah, yeah. Pops: I'm heading for the cashier. Pat: And, uh, another thing I remember before we went... yeah, heading for the cashier. Um, before we actually did the jump, another thing I remember... I don't know if you remember this... is, um, so we were sort of in like the hangar area where you're getting ready. Pops: Yeah. Pat: You're putting on your harness and the parachutes are getting prepared. And I remember, um, as like... I'm... we're all paired off with our instructors. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And there was a young kid, like, you know, an intern or something, sort of folding the other parachutes. And I remember a... the instructor of mine going over and telling him he was doing it wrong. And I was thinking, yeah. I was thinking, you know, what if mine was packed wrong, [00:05:00] like this is before I was getting onto the plane. So, uh... Pops: It's not like you'd know if it's packed wrong. Pat: Yeah, exactly. I wouldn't know. And what if somebody didn't catch him, you know? Pops: Yeah. Right. Pat: But, um... yeah, so then, yeah, we ended up... we all boarded the plane, right? Pops: Yeah. Pat: And I think we jumped from like 10,000 feet or 12,000 feet? Pops: I think it was 10, but it may have been 12. But yeah, I do... do remember the hangar scene, and I just remember sitting there for a long time... I was at a distance watching that process, and I'm sitting there going, you know, uh, I'm just, I'm, you know... at that point in time, I'm feeling a little uncomfortable. Pat: Yeah. Pops: That just... and, but, and part of it was to do with the guys that were the... we went into like an assisted jumping thing. Pat: Yeah. Pops: You jumped with an instructor. Pat: Well, that's... we should, we should say that is... Pops: Yeah. Pat: When you... if anyone... if you haven't been skydiving... before you do so many jumps, let's say... I think it's, it's a, it's a lot of jumps... fifty, a hundred jumps before you could even go on your own. Pops: Right. Pat: But you do it tandem. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: So there's an instructor on your back. Pops: On your back that actually pulls the [00:06:00] chute and guides you a little bit and everything else. Pat: Yeah. Pops: And then, so yeah, I just remember the, because the instructors, they're kind of these, um, wild dudes. Pat: Yeah. Pops: I mean, that's the only thing I can come up with. Or they kind of go... they surf, they, they go all over the world and kind of stuff and... Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah, they're just kind of like hanging out in this hangar and they're just kind of a... a crazy bunch. Pat: It's, uh... Pops: Yeah. Pat: Yeah. It's like a tight-knit club. And if you think that you're audacious and daring, you're not. Pops: Oh, these guys are nuts. Pat: They're... they, you know, they... jump, they've done thousands of jumps out of planes, so this is not even exciting to them. It's just another day at work, right? Pops: It's just money. It's money is what it is, yeah. Pat: And um, so I remember, so we're, we're climbing up in the plane, right? Pops: Right, right. Pat: And a lot of people, before the plane even takes off, I'd say there was probably 10 people total with us jumping in the plane. Pops: Yeah. I'd say 10... Pat: Like 10 people and 10 instructors, right? Pops: Yes. Right. Pat: Something like that. Pops: Yeah, probably right. Yeah. Pat: And, uh, so they're, most of the people are getting briefed, they're getting an explanation from their instructors on what's gonna happen. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Right? Because they... [00:07:00] they don't really, you know, you watch this instructional video, but you know, you need to know exactly what to do when you're hanging out of the plane about to jump. What you do when you're free falling, all this stuff. Pops: Right. Pat: And I remember, you know, half the group, probably... their instructors are telling them what to do. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Uh, my guy, the guy I'm with isn't saying anything. He keeps saying, oh, we'll... we'll get to you when we get in the plane, right? And later I realized he was doing it just to mess with me, because I... I swear we were at 9,000 feet maybe just before jumping... Pops: Jumping. Pat: ...and he told me in 10 seconds what I need to do, you know? And it's like... and he's got you hanging out of the plane. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And, uh... Pops: Yeah. Pat: At that... at that point, you're in his hands anyway, so... Pops: You're at his mercy. Pat: Yeah. But um, so you, you really enjoyed it though, right? Pops: I had a great time. I tell you that one of the most intense, uh, places when you're looking out at the ground and I dunno if you remember this... you're hold... kind of holding on, I think. Pat: Yeah. Pops: He's holding... you're holding on at the very end there and you're just kind of waiting to jump and let the other person clear. Pat: Yeah. Pops: The other group. [00:08:00] And, uh, it just, uh, is just... looking down and then you finally make that jump... and then that's when it becomes really a rush. Pat: Yeah. Pops: I mean, yeah. Pat: Yeah. That's, uh... so you're referring to like right before you jump... the instructor, you're on the instructor's stomach with a harness. Pops: With a harness. Pat: So they're just dangling you out of the plane... Pops: Out of the plane. You're actually... Pat: ...and holding onto the plane themselves, right? Pops: Yeah. Right. Pat: And so that coupled with like the 10 to 15 seconds of free fall before they pull the parachute... Pops: Yeah. Pat: ...is just exhilarating. Pops: Oh, it's just, yeah, you're looking down at the ground. I just remember saying, this is so cool. Pat: Yeah. Pops: This is just so cool. Pat: Yeah, it was cool and then even, you know, we did it in a... actually where, I grew up... where we used to live in New Jersey. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And there's a lot of farmland. It's really beautiful. So even once they pull the parachute, then you have a few minutes, I'd say of... of kind of coming down. Yeah. Pops: Yeah, floating. Pat: And even that was a great experience. I mean, the... the free fall is really what you're after. That's the adrenaline pumping... Pops: Pumping thing. Pat: ...part of it. Pops: You're going, this is, you know, am I... is the chute gonna open? Pat: Yeah, [00:09:00] yeah. Pops: Is... you know... am it gonna be a splat on the ground? You know... Pat: You're seeing like the, you know, 8 by 10 pictures of your life flashing before your eyes. Pops: Yeah. Pat: And, um, but yeah, so I think we... we both really enjoyed it, right? Pops: Oh, yeah. I would, I would... I mean, if... I know, you know, you tell people that you did this, you know, and I'm, I'm older than you, and maybe it's, uh, but people kind of say, you actually did this? You know, you're kind of like, wow. Pat: Yeah. Pops: You know, like, uh, what are you crazy... what did you lose your mind? But, yeah. Pat: Well, yeah. I mean, even the article we talked about in the beginning, no? It shows you any age can do it. You know, you have these guys, eight of them over 80 years old who are... who do it all the time. So it's really not a... Pops: It's not... Pat: There's no... Pops: Matter of fact I... you know, we were talking about this episode and I just was, uh, I forgot, uh, George Bush, I dunno if you remember this, but he used to do it on his birthday every five years he was... Pat: No, I didn't know that. Pops: He... he was a fighter pilot in World War II. Pat: Mmm. Pops: But[00:10:00] every five years he would parachute and he did it until he was 95. Pat: Oh, wow. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Yeah, for anyone who doesn't know, that's the former US President. Pops: George H. W. Bush. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah, um... Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah, yeah. So, yeah. Pat: Well, that's interesting. Pops: He... he, yeah, he'd done it for quite some time, so, yeah. You know, he... he loved that, that thrill of that... and everything else. Yeah. And that's, you know, we actually, at the time we had, uh, deals to go back and do it a second time, but it was just... I don't know why we never... Pat: Well, that's sort of the thing I... I was, I was just thinking about that too... is so you, you come in, you hit the ground and you sort of... the way we landed is they have you slide on your butt, right? Pops: Yeah. Right. Pat: And you just sort of slide into the grass and it's a very calm, easy landing. And then of course, you know, they're operating a business, so they have, as you, you know, stand up, they're immediately trying to sell you to go back up on it for half the price. Pops: Right. Yeah. Pat: And you're on such a high... you have, you know, your, your blood's going, you're pumping... that we both, we bought it. We bought... the return trip. Pops: Yep. Mm-hmm. Pat: [00:11:00] And they kind of prey on that. Pops: Yeah. Pat: That you'll be... and we really would've liked to have gone. Pops: Yeah. Pat: But we never ended up using it. Pops: I don't know why we... we just never ended up getting there and getting the time off together or whatever it was. Pat: Yeah, we were both working full-time jobs. So it's just... Pops: At the time, yeah. Pat: ...it's one of those things you're... at the time, it feels so good. You want to go do it again. I wanted to just... you wanted just hop right on the plane and go again, right? It's like... Pops: Yeah. But, you know, if you could do it immediately like that... like getting on a rollercoaster, you'd probably do the second one pretty quickly. Pat: Yeah. Pops: It's just that you had... there's another group right behind you getting ready to go up in another plane and jump and everything else. Pat: Yeah. Pops: So then it takes another, you know, you're sitting there for a couple hours waiting for the second... Pat: Yeah. Pops: ...second jump I guess, so... yeah, it was, it was something I... at the time I know I definitely would do it... would've done it. I'd probably still do it again, now... Pat: Yeah. I would go again. Pops: ...if I had the opportunity to do it. It was, uh, it was fun. Pat: But the... I would definitely go again, um, but it does make you think like the more jumps you do, like... are you increasing your odds of something happening? Pops: Yeah. Does... does your, uh, chute run out. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Or do you [00:12:00] get the wrong pack-boy? Pat: Well, exactly. Am I eventually gonna run into the guy who doesn't know how to pack my chute? Pops: Pack my chute... you know, hopefully there's an emergency on those. You know? Pat: Yeah. Pops: It is so funny that you talk about that though, is that, uh, the people... the training videos and then them telling you, like, I... one of the things that... in my mind, when you said at the end there, they said, pick up your legs to land. Pat: Mmm.. Pops: I don't remember anybody covering that during the whole thing until the very end. Pat: Yeah. Pops: When you had to do it. That's when I remember the guy saying to me... kick your legs up so you slide in on your butt. Pat: Right, for... well, that, that's funny. For such a seemingly dangerous activity like skydiving... Pops: Right. Pat: ...at least the place we went. Um, I don't know if it's regulation to do it this way, but they were giving us pretty critical instruction at the last moment. Pops: Last moment, yeah. Pat: It was like... that's why, and it, it did add to the thrill of it. Like, I didn't know what I was doing, you know, even climbing up in the plane and then you... Pops: Right. Pat: They tell you what to do and you just jump like... Pops: Right, right. Pat: ...so it added to that. I don't think that was the purpose of it. I think it was just these... it, it was a situation where [00:13:00] these guys are professionals who have done it thousands of times. Pops: Right. Right. Pat: So they're not worried. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: But they don't really care if you're worried, you know? Pops: Yeah. It just didn't seem like they did at all. Pat: Yeah. Pops: You know... Pat: But, um, no, I think we... we would both really recommend it though, right? Pops: I would... I would highly recommend it for... if you have... you like a thrill, you like something different, it's really something good. Pat: Yeah. Pops: It's really something that was very, very awesome and, uh, it, like I said, there's nothing like looking out of a plane and you have no control. Pat: Yeah. Pops: You just did nothing. You're just falling, so... Pat: And how about... have you done any other sort of adrenaline...? Pops: I did something other... that was close to this. It was a hang... a motorized hang-glider. I dunno if you've seen those. Uh, and actually what you do is they get a plane that pulls you up into the air... the hang glider up into the air. Pat: Mm-hmm. Pops: I did this in North Carolina on the beach. Uh, it was not... well, it wasn't... it was close to the beach in North Carolina. Um...I did it with my girlfriend, Diana. But anyway, we did it. We went there one time, we stopped, we saw this, we were [00:14:00] driving back and we saw this place. So we just decided to do it. So you take this, uh, plane, uh, Cessna, whatever it is, pull... pulls the glider up, and then you basically coast for a little bit, but then there's a motor on it. And it has wheels on it and everything else. Pat: Yeah. Pops: And I... I... I remember getting up there. I was, I actually, for a moment, I was more scared than parachuting in this particular case. Pat: More than skydiving. Pops: More than skydiving. Yeah. Uh, and it was because, um, the guy let me steer. Pat: Oh, you had some control. Pops: I had some control of it, whereas the para... para... uh, the skydiving, you really... the other guy does everything. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Pretty much. But well, I just remember he let me control... he says, you want to do this? And for whatever reason, I got into a dive, a kind of a... Pat: Oh, wow. Pops: ...fast dive. A spiral. Pat: Yeah. Pops: And I just... he said, turn it right, turn it right. And I just, for whatever reason, I froze. Pat: Oh, man. Pops: I froze. And he yanked it back away from me and straightened... Pat: Well, thank God. Pops: ...straightened it out. But [00:15:00] I just remember... and then the other thing is, is you actually come in on your belly. You're... he's tandem, like the skydiving. So a guy's sitting above you and a harness. Pat: Mm-hmm. Pops: And you're, you're down... you're laying flat. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Well, you're laying flat and so he's, he's above, but you come in... when you land in this grassy field and there's wheels on the thing and everything else, but you come in pretty fast. You're coming in over these trees. Pat: Yeah. Pops: I just remember thinking if there's a gust of wind, you could be toast. Pat: You're in trouble, yeah. Pops: Yeah. I mean, he knows what he's doing. I'm... Pat: Yeah. Pops: ...sure they, they've faced every kind of condition, but, but I just remember thinking at that particular time when I was in control of that glider, just for that few moments. I... I... I, like, I couldn't break out of it, you know? Pat: Well, I think that, yeah, that's, that, that's why they have to do these things tandem. You have to have instructors, because, you know, if you're skydiving and you're supposed to pull the parachute and you freeze... Pops: Yeah. Yeah. Pat: ...that's, you know, you can't have that happen, so... Pops: Yeah, yeah. Pat: ...no, it makes sense why you're tandem at all of these sports. Pops: Oh, no, it definitely does, because you need experience to do [00:16:00] this for the control aspect of it and everything else. Pat: Yeah. I... I've never done anything but skydiving, but do you remember how much the... that was, how much that cost? The tandem... around? Pops: Oh gosh. I think it was about a... a hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars, I think it was. Pat: Okay, yeah. Pops: Probably closer to a hundred. I don't think it was a hundred and fifty. I think it was closer to a hundred to do that. To go up... per person. Pat: Yeah. Pops: That's per person. So yeah, it was that. And plus they ask for a tip. But I mean, that's usually, that's usually pretty common, but... Pat: Yeah, I mean, that's what we paid for skydiving. We paid, I think, a little below 200 each. So, just to give anyone a... an idea of what it costs, if you're thinking about doing it and you haven't. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: It's not, it's not a cheap thing to do. Pops: Oh no, it's, it's... Pat: You really can't afford to do it all the time but as a one time experience, it's pretty cool if you can... Pops: As a... if you have a free day and... Pat: If you're an audacious person. Pops: Audacious, yeah, very audacious. Yeah. But, uh, if you have a free day and it's beautiful weather, uh, I would highly recommend it cuz the views from 10,000 feet, one, are just spectacular. Pat: Yeah. Pops: I mean, you get a [00:17:00] whole new perspective on, uh, the Earth. Pat: Yeah. Pops: And, uh, it's just... it's just... it's just great. It's just, uh, something, the wind... the wind rushing, you know, down and everything else. It just makes you, yeah. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Cool. Well, yeah, maybe, maybe you and I'll do it again and we can post a video about it. Pops: Yeah, that'd be cool. That'd be, that'd be something, uh, different. That'd be, that'd be a really cool video. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Actually, didn't they do a video? Didn't they have a video package? We didn't do it. Pat: Yeah, you can... Pops: I think they did, yeah. Pat: Yeah. Yeah, you can, you can pay to add that on... have a GoPro on you or something, but... Pops: Yeah. Yeah. Pat: Um, well, yeah. Anything else? Or that's... Pops: No, that's pretty much it. Pat: Yeah. Pops: You know, that's... that's... that's probably my major dangerous things I've done, I guess. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Or somewhat dangerous, you know, I guess, you know. Pat: Yeah. Alright. Well, um, let's move on to today's idiom. Pops: Ah, yes. Today's idiom. Pat: Yeah. Do you have that one in front of you? Pops: Um, I'm looking it up right now. The sky's the limit. Pat: The sky's the limit. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Yeah and what does that mean? Pops: [00:18:00] Uh, it means, uh, anything is possible. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Yeah, anything's possible. Pops: Yeah. Pat: The sky is the limit. Pops: Yeah and you could do just about anything. So, yeah. Pat: Yeah. So if we role play that one, uh, let's say we are coworkers. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And we're working on planning a office Christmas party. Pops: Okay. Pat: Fitting for this time of year. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And, um, so if I say, um, hey, uh, what do you think about booking a band to play at the party? Pops: Hey, sounds like a great idea to me. Pat: Oh, yeah? Pops: Yeah. Pat: You don't think it's... might be a little too much... a little too expensive? Pops: No, the budget's 5,000 for the party, so the sky's the limit. Pat: Oh, alright. I'll go ahead and book it then. Pops: Do it. Let's get it done. We'll have a good time. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Alright, looking forward to it. Pat: Yeah, so that's it. It's, um, yeah, just a way to say there's, there's no ceiling. Anything's possible. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: You know, kind of... go for it. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Right? Pops: Do... yeah. Go for it. And it's, you know, it's gonna be a good time. Pat: Yeah. And, um, so I'd say that that one's [00:19:00] fairly common. Um, you hear it pretty frequently. Pops: Yeah. Pat: But again, it's a very specific meaning. It's, it's used, you know, a lot of times people will use it even, um, after say... someone graduates from college or something, they'll say... hey, you know, follow your dreams, the sky's the limit. Pops: The sky's the limit. You have... all the opportunity rests with you. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Basically it's, you know, it's up to you... get, you know, you've got a great potential future. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Yeah. So, um, as always, um, follow us on social media if you can. We appreciate it. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. Um, send any of your questions, comments, episode ideas to info@patandpops.com. Pops: Yes. Pat: Or visit our website, patandpops.com. And, um, we wanna thank you for listening and... and we'll, uh, we're gonna throw the word of the week up on, on our social media, so if you wanna review it there... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...you can go there to check it out. Pops: Sounds good. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Alright. Pat: All right. Yeah. Pops: Well, thanks everyone. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Catch you again. Pat: Bye. Pops: Bye.