Posted by TDI_2 on August 02, 2002 at 14:00:30:
In Reply to: Best/Worst Stories posted by Ken Kurtis on August 02, 2002 at 11:43:50:
Issue #1, Peeing in Our Wetsuits
I do not pee in my wetsuit. I have never pee-ed in my wetsuit. And I will never pee in my wetsuit.
I normally only wear a wetsuit when freediving anyway. My technical diving instructor-trainer forced me to get a trilaminate shell drysuit a year ago before beginning any technical dives. I thought that was unreasonably inflexible at the time. Now I realize how absolutely unreasonably stubborn I myself can be at times.
Thats called a "blind spot" in psychoanalytical transactional analysis, where you cant see something about yourself that is obvious to others around you.
Issue #2 Pissing All Over Each Other
The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech to everyone. Everyone may say anything they wish, except "FIRE" in a crowded theatre.
The California Civil Code imposes severe financial penalties on anyone for making any statement about anyone else that is false, fraudulent, slanderous, libelous, or defamatory. Defamation lawsuits are normally processed and heard in California Superior Court at the County level.
Basically, we live in an era of Trial By Jury. Up until Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton over statements made by Hamilton about Burr during a presidential campaign, they lived in an era of Trial By Ordeal, also known as duelling.
I am always amazed when people with impeccable credentials rip into each other. Its sort of like being at a brawl or a bar fight, in that it is amusing when it all flares up and gets rolling, but once the punches start to blow and the blood starts to flow, you have to feel sorry for everyone, and whatever relevance the original issue for throwing down the gauntlet was is quickly forgotten.
imˇpecˇcaˇble [im pékb'l ] adjective
1. perfect: so perfect or flawless as to be beyond criticism she had impeccable taste
2. RELIGION free from sin: so perfect in character as to be incapable of sinning
[Mid-16th century. From Latin impeccabilis , literally "not liable to sin," from peccare "to sin."]
Issue #3, Best Dive
Bluefish Cove, Point Lobos State Reserve, Carmel California. Depth 165 fsw. Vis unlimited. Temp cold. Bottom time 20 mins. Total dive time 60 mins. Indigenous sealife: mature male sheepshead, ling cod in the ling-zilla class, blue/gray rockfish [not sure their real name], sea anemonaes of every color of the visible spectrum, California sea lions, sea nettles, sun stars and bat stars packed on every reef, all in one place.
Issue #4, Worst Dive
Major concussion on exit at North Monastery Beach, Carmel California, total amnesia for about 30 mins, splitting headache for about 1 week while home sick, loss of major recent memories for about 6 months, total loss of recall of the dive itself. Dive #9 as a returning newby after a 20 year hiatus from scuba diving, demonstrating that the first 12 or so dives are the most exposed for a new or almost new diver.