Over a year ago, I went to Thailand. Remember that?
One of the things we did there, was snorkel. It was a most amazing experience because there were so many fish. I was frustrated by the fact that the fish could swim down, and I couldn't. I wanted to see where they were going, and the undisturbed places under rocks.
A couple months ago, when I was thinking... what do *I* want to do? I decided to get certified to scuba dive.
Today, I finished my Advanced Open Water diver certification.
I got my Open Water a couple months ago, but that only resulted in a couple dives, and not necessarily confidence. Its taken a long time to do the AOW dives because of my travel schedule and circumstances.
We did the following specialties: underwater naturalist, deep dive, night dive, peak-performance buoyancy, and navigation. We tried to do the navigation last week, but the waves were too rough, so finished that up today at the Casino Point dive park on Catalina Island.
I've been diving at Casino Point once before, but today was great!
We saw a 4 foot Sheephead called Oscar, a baby bat ray, tons of Garibaldi, bass, and gobi's... and two fricking HUGE black seabass... these things must have been over 6 feet long, and weighing over 300 pounds each... HUGE!
The most amazing thing about today, is I finally got to a place where I knew what to do, I knew I knew, and it all came naturally. I felt like a diver, not a student. I went up, down, I looked up, I looked down, I hovered around... my buddy kept playing jokes... banging into me like a cat, playing peekaboo around kelp, and we were just being silly.
It is such a feeling of freedom. A fantasy realized.
Bring on the WARM WATER!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
I know you've been wondering...
Now that I have an iPhone, and since I've had a Blackberry for about 6 years, I know you've been wondering what I think of them in comparison to each other.
I have had a "blueberry", 8700, and I've had a Curve 8300 for over 2 years now.
I have never used the phone function on the Blackberry because I've not wanted two phones. So I've always used my personal cell as my mobile contact for work and personal calls. I added my personal email to my Blackberry a couple years ago, and I have the AIM and Y!Messenger applications on the Blackberry. A couple weeks ago, my company switched over to Microsoft Exchange so I added my work email to my iPhone. I decided to compare the two by leaving one behind for a day and just working off of the other. Here's my conclusion.
The iPhone is more fun. The Google maps is quicker and triangulates better so that it shows me where I actually am. The BB is often off a couple hundred feet. The applications on the iPhone are addictive and I would choose it any day for my personal life.
The Blackberry is a better tool. The email, IM, and SMS are all in the same view so you don't need to switch between applications to stay in touch. There is no delay when accessing your contact list to send a message - in any format (mail, IM, or SMS). These are the two most frustrating things about the iPhone - switching between applications and the way it hangs up because it needs to connect through the Internet to the exchange server for my work contacts. If you exit the IM applications, they are no longer running, and therefore, you are not available unless you are actively in a chat. Yes, the applications I loaded said they "push"; but they push to email... and if you are in mail and get an IM, you have to close mail, navigate to the IM app, and load it. My Blackberry shows me my email, Y! and AIM chats, and Blackberry messenger chats all in the same view.
These limitations make the iPhone frustrating to use as a work tool. Perhaps if I only had the iPhone I wouldn't notice the differences in a way that matters. Since I have the Blackberry, I will have to say, that I would chose to stick with it for work.
Even though I was really hoping to give up one of these devices so that I didn't have to walk around all day with both, I can't do it. I guess I just have to make sure I have a big enough purse and two back pockets.
I have had a "blueberry", 8700, and I've had a Curve 8300 for over 2 years now.
I have never used the phone function on the Blackberry because I've not wanted two phones. So I've always used my personal cell as my mobile contact for work and personal calls. I added my personal email to my Blackberry a couple years ago, and I have the AIM and Y!Messenger applications on the Blackberry. A couple weeks ago, my company switched over to Microsoft Exchange so I added my work email to my iPhone. I decided to compare the two by leaving one behind for a day and just working off of the other. Here's my conclusion.
The iPhone is more fun. The Google maps is quicker and triangulates better so that it shows me where I actually am. The BB is often off a couple hundred feet. The applications on the iPhone are addictive and I would choose it any day for my personal life.
The Blackberry is a better tool. The email, IM, and SMS are all in the same view so you don't need to switch between applications to stay in touch. There is no delay when accessing your contact list to send a message - in any format (mail, IM, or SMS). These are the two most frustrating things about the iPhone - switching between applications and the way it hangs up because it needs to connect through the Internet to the exchange server for my work contacts. If you exit the IM applications, they are no longer running, and therefore, you are not available unless you are actively in a chat. Yes, the applications I loaded said they "push"; but they push to email... and if you are in mail and get an IM, you have to close mail, navigate to the IM app, and load it. My Blackberry shows me my email, Y! and AIM chats, and Blackberry messenger chats all in the same view.
These limitations make the iPhone frustrating to use as a work tool. Perhaps if I only had the iPhone I wouldn't notice the differences in a way that matters. Since I have the Blackberry, I will have to say, that I would chose to stick with it for work.
Even though I was really hoping to give up one of these devices so that I didn't have to walk around all day with both, I can't do it. I guess I just have to make sure I have a big enough purse and two back pockets.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
The Checklist
I have figured out that the Biological Clock has a checklist, and as you get older, things start getting checked off.
After 20: hair turns grey - check
After 25: gain weight from air - check
After 30: forget things - check
After 40: lose focus on things that are close...... this one is now a "check"
So, I got some glasses.
I am not ashamed to say that I am a total copycat.
My friend Meg came over with a pair of Prodesign and I just thought they were super cool.
I found a place close by that carries them and got my own pair!
They are two-tone.... can you see the the blue on the inside?
Its the color of my favorite eyes.
After 20: hair turns grey - check
After 25: gain weight from air - check
After 30: forget things - check
After 40: lose focus on things that are close...... this one is now a "check"
So, I got some glasses.
I am not ashamed to say that I am a total copycat.
My friend Meg came over with a pair of Prodesign and I just thought they were super cool.
I found a place close by that carries them and got my own pair!
They are two-tone.... can you see the the blue on the inside?
Its the color of my favorite eyes.
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