Thursday, April 1, 2010

I Need Your Vote

In a previous posting, I talked about a new non-profit organization, H2O 70, that I am now involved with. The organization is starting to take form and we are now at the point where we need to begin raising funds. To do that, we need your help.

We have submitted a project to the Pepsi Refresh Project. This is a program that recognizes various activities and publishes these activities for voting by the public. All we need is your vote to tell Pepsi that you believe in our efforts. Your votes could help us win a $25,000 grant to help get our efforts started and attain our goal of teaching at least 15 students this year.

To read about our goal and to cast your vote, please go to http://www.refresheverything.com/h2o70

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Dive the Bahamas for a Cause

Some of you already know this, some of you don't. Back in December, I was asked to serve on the board of directors for a new non-profit organization, H2O 70. This organization was established to teach underpriviliged youth about water conservation and awareness through scuba diving. We have officially announced the start of our organization, have become an officially recognized SDI Dive Center, and we are "hitting the water swimming"!

Our next challenge is to begin raising funds for our programs. One way we are doing is by coordinating a dive trip to the Bahamas. Since you are all divers, I thought I would see if you had any interest in this trip. It is a week long live aboard trip July 17th - 23rd with Blackbeard Cruises in the Bahamas. The trip is $899 (does not include airfare). We currently have 5 spaces left.

If you are interested in the trip, or even interested in learning about our organization, please check out http://h2o70.org. You can even sign up for our newsletter to be kept up to date on our activities.

Monday, February 8, 2010

February Blizzard

Well, we finally a good one. Here are some pictures from digging out of the February blizzard. Reports I heard said we got anywhere from 24 - 28 inches. Yuck!







Saturday, January 23, 2010

Danny Boy - Done Muppet Style

I love the Muppets and I thought this was pretty funny. Thought I would share it...


Saturday, January 2, 2010

First New Years Day Dive

Barclay, Chris and I went for my first annual New Years Day dive! We headed up to Bainbridge Quarry and joined a number of other divers for this celebratory event.

The first dive didn't go so well. It seems like everytime I get in the water, I'm in a different setup. I rarely seem to hit the water in the same suit twice in a row. This was my first time in the water with my new steel tank. After talking with the guys, we figured that 16 pounds of lead should be enough. Well, we got out into the lagoon and I couldn't get my body below the water at all.

Round 2 - I got out and decided to add another 4 pounds of lead. This should be the amount I had last time I dove this dry suit. I headed back in the water and tried again. STILL couldn't get below the water. Then it dawned on me, I also had an additional layer of fleece on that I didn't have before.

Round 3 - I'm already exhausted. I put the last 8 pounds of lead that I owned into the belt. Between the 28 pounds in the weight pockets and 3 pounds of ankle weights, I have a total of an extra 31 pounds I'm carrying. I head back into the water and I finally got below the surface.

We headed out to the quarry. To get there, you have to go over "the road" which brings you up to a depth of 5 feet. Well, my body surfaced and I couldn't get down again on the other side. In addition, both of my legs decided to start cramping on me. Something isn't right. I aborted and told Barclay and Chris to go ahead. I headed back into the shallow lagoon to figure out what was going on. I think I found an issue with the way I had the valve oriented on my dry suit. Once I realized that, things got better. I played around for a bit and things were working better.

Barclay and Chris finally joined me back at the tables. Chris was a little on the chilly side. He showed us all up by actually diving in a wet suit. So after we were sure he was warm again, Barclay and I did a quick trip out to the bulldozer at 65 feet and came back. All in all, it was a good day of diving!








Sunday, December 20, 2009

The Day After the Storm

The day after the first snow, and the cleanup begins. I didn't put a ruler in the snow (because I didn't REALLY want to know), but I'm guessing we got around 18 inches. Now where did I park that car?






Saturday, December 19, 2009

The First Snow Storm of the Season

Well, it finally happened. First snow of the season. And boy was it a good one. I'm not sure exactly how much we got, but I'd say it's at least 1 - 1 1/2 feet deep in certain areas. It made for a good day to stay in and goof off. For some reason, when it snows like this, I get an urge to start cooking. The apple bread didn't turn out so well, but the slow cooked chicken and prosciutto ham wrapped asparagus was fantastic!

So I guess tomorrow is going to mean A LOT of shoveling. UUGH!