Posted by finfan on November 01, 2002 at 12:48:40:
In Reply to: Re: That's rich! posted by Brad on November 01, 2002 at 10:31:56:
Even though I think you are so one sided in your thinking and more importantly your willingness to even consider others rights or opinions, I'll be happy to share with you my background.
I have been diving since I was 9 years old and even before Naui would certify at that age. My uncle use to fill us tanks at the fire station. My basic certification came at 14 and my Naui advanced card is one of the old paper ones laminated on both sides. I was certified as advanced at 16. I owned a 23 foot Mako center console before I owned my first car or truck. I studied Marine Biology at Long Beach State University and worked 8 years for Arco in marine engineering before I realized where the money was at.
I have been diving off the Southern California coast, both from the shore and from boat since I was certifed, both recreationally and commercially. I have known the costa mesa, laguna and dana point coastline well before the development has changed its face forever. I have dove off of most of the best well known dive boats off the coast even serving as a safety diver for the Golden Doubloon so long ago. I've been to every island in SO Cal and the offshore banks (Tanner, Cortez) multiple times. I've lived and dived through the best of times and the worst.
I am now only a recreational diver. I do no tech diving, but I love deep diving and cave diving. I am an avid free diver and spearfishermen. I love to hunt the bugs and live for bug season opener. I'm an old diver who doesn't own any of the new fangeled computers, who believes in knowing the tables and ones limits. I dive solo or in buddy teams doesn't matter. I enjoy diving on a charter as much as from my own boat. My only internet dive experience is the research I had to do to figure out what "DIR" was all about (I'm a traditionalist that doesn't keep up with the industry. I was enjoying the ocean just fine under the old ways and only on air).
I own two underwater cameras, but my wife does most of the camera work. I met my wife on an opening bug trip and 12 years later we both are still active divers. I get in maybe 30 -40 days of diving a year (not as much as I like, but I have to earn a living sometime). I have a 21 foot deep-v center console that I chase the fish and dive from currently (it goes anywhere in the SCB area), along with a 16 ft inflatable for off the beach up north and most of Baja. I make between 1 and 3 trips south of Ensanada each year that inlcude diving and/or fishing.
To sum it up 35 years of on and in water experience, 98% of which is in the SCB area. I haven't seen it all, but I still got a number of years in me to see what's left.
My beef with you has never been about whether you were right or wrong about the situation. It's your approach of fairness and value. If you noticed I never questioned or challenged your experience or the value of your input based on the experience. Nor did I ever boast of mine, it's irrelevent. The solution lies in accepting each persons right to the resource and coming to a consensus on what's best for the resource. Not in rewarding the non-consumptions of the world or dis-regarding every scientific report just because it didn't agree with our opinion.
Did I at times divert to levels unconstructive, you bet! That was the fun part, especially with extremists like yourself. H*ll, your so far to the right that your damn lucky the world isn't flat. You would have fallen off years ago.
My experience doesn't validate my opinion any more than your experience validates your opinion. Neither does it invalidate my right to an opinion. If you want to argue and counter point argue all day with me great, but if you start to base it an absolutes and comments that won't even allow for consideration of other points of view than prepare for the barrage. I make a living now exploiting weakness's in others arguments.
This also started with you accusing me of being against the reserve for my own self interests. I'll bet you today, you still don't really know if I am for or against. DO YOU? That's only a 50/50 chance to be wrong. A tougher question is, whether for or against, can you even guess correctly why I'm for or against. I'll help you out, it isn't for my self interests. And if you doubt that I'll tell you why - If the reserves stay the way they are outlined and drawn up, I very rarely fish and/or dive those designated areas anymore. Only the one on the frontside of CAPA even begins to conflict with were I hunt or fish, or dive that much anymore for that matter.