Thursday, June 02, 2005
I Am Tired.
I know I haven't hit on anything new here; but I just have to ask. Have you ever been Just Plain Tired? Not a, "I haven't had any sleep" tired, or "I'm in such a rut" tired. I'm talking Just Plain Tired.
My gas light came on this morning & I thought, "Goddamn! I need gas? Again? Can't I get a fucking break?" Like having to put gas in the car isn't something that's inevitable. I think I actually felt slighted for a moment. Like I was the only person that has a car that requires gas. I was so bored with the thought of having to stop at a station & go through all the motions; I was looking for a parking spot & a taxi stand. How sad is that?
_____________________
Miss Scarlett needs a vacation. Yes, she does. Miss Scarlett needs a 5 hour flight in First Class to "Somewhere". Where she can park her ass on a beach with some kind soul bringing her Grand Marnier in a frosty Snifter with a Perrier back. This kind soul will then gear her up in the latest US Diver gear & drop her down to 40 ft. Underwater where she can go into the lotus position & just BREATHE.
I've actually done that before. When I lived in St. Croix. Believe it or not, you can get stressed living in Paradise. I would put on all my gear, swim out about 20 yards & sink. And then I would just sit & breathe until I had about 500 air left. I could be there for an hour & 1/2. It was better than any therapy session.
_____________________
And that reminds me of the most stressful dive I've ever done. St. Croix right before hurricane season; so mostly calm seas. I was doing a high noon dive with two teachers from one of the local private schools. Matt & Damian. They were both somewhat experienced; but Damian was a "scardy-cat" diver. He knew his stuff, but was just plain scared
We took out a hard-bottom Zodiac to the site which was maybe 50 yards off shore. We tied onto a buoy. While we're tying up, he puts his un-gloved hands out to catch the buoy. Barnacles. He cuts his hands. He wants to be first in the water. He starts gearing up & falls into the water before he gets his tank on. Next thing; he's on the surface screaming, "Shark! Shark!". I dropped into the water with just snorkel gear & put my face in. There's a 1 foot remora swimming around. Remora look just like shark as far as shape. They are algae eaters. They suck onto shark & eat stuff off of them. They are very small compared to a shark.
We haul his ass back onto the boat & get him geared up. Eventually, we all drop into the water.
I feel like I should state the obvious at this point. As with any sport; you check your gear. SCUBA is an incredibly safe sport as long as you CHECK YOUR GEAR.
We're in the water for about 20 minutes (60 ft. down) when Damian's regulator just floats away. He's still got the mouthpiece in his mouth. He didn't check the tie before he put his gear on. Now, we're in a bit of current at this point & he just freaks. Doesn't occur to him to just put his spare (octopus) in his mouth. He just starts thrashing around.
Matt grabbed his feet to keep him from kicking up & I stuck his octopus in his mouth. I looked at his gauge & he had just less than 700 air left. Matt & I had 1,500 plus. At this point, we're about 100 yards from shore & about 50 yards from the boat in current. Damian doesn't have the air to swim underwater to either.
Matt & I had to take turns surfacing to swim him to the boat. It was hands-down the most stressful cluster-fuck dive I've ever done.
And his name was DAMIAN.
________________
So there. I told a St. Croix story. Which I hardly ever do.
peace
My gas light came on this morning & I thought, "Goddamn! I need gas? Again? Can't I get a fucking break?" Like having to put gas in the car isn't something that's inevitable. I think I actually felt slighted for a moment. Like I was the only person that has a car that requires gas. I was so bored with the thought of having to stop at a station & go through all the motions; I was looking for a parking spot & a taxi stand. How sad is that?
_____________________
Miss Scarlett needs a vacation. Yes, she does. Miss Scarlett needs a 5 hour flight in First Class to "Somewhere". Where she can park her ass on a beach with some kind soul bringing her Grand Marnier in a frosty Snifter with a Perrier back. This kind soul will then gear her up in the latest US Diver gear & drop her down to 40 ft. Underwater where she can go into the lotus position & just BREATHE.
I've actually done that before. When I lived in St. Croix. Believe it or not, you can get stressed living in Paradise. I would put on all my gear, swim out about 20 yards & sink. And then I would just sit & breathe until I had about 500 air left. I could be there for an hour & 1/2. It was better than any therapy session.
_____________________
And that reminds me of the most stressful dive I've ever done. St. Croix right before hurricane season; so mostly calm seas. I was doing a high noon dive with two teachers from one of the local private schools. Matt & Damian. They were both somewhat experienced; but Damian was a "scardy-cat" diver. He knew his stuff, but was just plain scared
We took out a hard-bottom Zodiac to the site which was maybe 50 yards off shore. We tied onto a buoy. While we're tying up, he puts his un-gloved hands out to catch the buoy. Barnacles. He cuts his hands. He wants to be first in the water. He starts gearing up & falls into the water before he gets his tank on. Next thing; he's on the surface screaming, "Shark! Shark!". I dropped into the water with just snorkel gear & put my face in. There's a 1 foot remora swimming around. Remora look just like shark as far as shape. They are algae eaters. They suck onto shark & eat stuff off of them. They are very small compared to a shark.
We haul his ass back onto the boat & get him geared up. Eventually, we all drop into the water.
I feel like I should state the obvious at this point. As with any sport; you check your gear. SCUBA is an incredibly safe sport as long as you CHECK YOUR GEAR.
We're in the water for about 20 minutes (60 ft. down) when Damian's regulator just floats away. He's still got the mouthpiece in his mouth. He didn't check the tie before he put his gear on. Now, we're in a bit of current at this point & he just freaks. Doesn't occur to him to just put his spare (octopus) in his mouth. He just starts thrashing around.
Matt grabbed his feet to keep him from kicking up & I stuck his octopus in his mouth. I looked at his gauge & he had just less than 700 air left. Matt & I had 1,500 plus. At this point, we're about 100 yards from shore & about 50 yards from the boat in current. Damian doesn't have the air to swim underwater to either.
Matt & I had to take turns surfacing to swim him to the boat. It was hands-down the most stressful cluster-fuck dive I've ever done.
And his name was DAMIAN.
________________
So there. I told a St. Croix story. Which I hardly ever do.
peace
Comments:
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Wow. I feel like I'm in some Twilight Zone bizarro-world. Bear with me. I have a point, but it might take me a second to get there.
In my 33 years, I have only ever met one person named Damian. I met him about 18 months ago as a friend of a friend whose wife passed away at a very very early age. Anyway, Damian isn't so much a friend as an aquaintance. I see him about once every four or five months. That's it. Tonight while I was working, I saw some guy I thought was him, called out his name and it turned out to be someone else. Oddly, two hours later, the real Damian showed up, making that kind of ironic. That was strange enough that there were two separate Damian incedents. Especially considering that I never think about the guy other than the rare times that I run into him.
Then you come at us with your story about another Damian.
I liked your story, by the way.
In my 33 years, I have only ever met one person named Damian. I met him about 18 months ago as a friend of a friend whose wife passed away at a very very early age. Anyway, Damian isn't so much a friend as an aquaintance. I see him about once every four or five months. That's it. Tonight while I was working, I saw some guy I thought was him, called out his name and it turned out to be someone else. Oddly, two hours later, the real Damian showed up, making that kind of ironic. That was strange enough that there were two separate Damian incedents. Especially considering that I never think about the guy other than the rare times that I run into him.
Then you come at us with your story about another Damian.
I liked your story, by the way.
Thanks for sharing the St. Croix story. I hear you about the vacation too. We just went on on for 5 days, but vacationing with your kids doesn't count in my book. Whiny kids, crabby hubby, lots of "Get in the car and be quiet!" BTW, my nephew is named Damian. What was mt SIL thinking! Hope you get a chance to rest.
Jesus H Christ! This guy sounds like an idiot. My uncle, when he was 17, was scuba diving in a lake close to our home. They were looking at a submerged car when he panicked and got disoriented. Because the lake was an old rock quarry there was alot of sand and it caused the water to get really mirky as he thrashed about. He drowned... and his friends never knew that he was only about 10 feet from where they were looking. I was 3 when that happened and because of that, I've always been terrified of scuba diving, but I'd love the be able to do it. I know that his death was caused by carelessness and because they were goofing off, but I guess that fear just cemented itself in my brain.
I can tell by how detailed your post is that you're quite knowledgable, and I suspect that dealing with people like him ruin the fun for you.
I can tell by how detailed your post is that you're quite knowledgable, and I suspect that dealing with people like him ruin the fun for you.
# posted by 
: 12:50 AM
: 12:50 AM
Don't you hate it when you're in a very relaxing setting and someone goes and f#@$'s it up for you.
You're not alone, we all have people we know that do that.
And yes, I know how it feels to just be tired.
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You're not alone, we all have people we know that do that.
And yes, I know how it feels to just be tired.
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