More Cowbell!!!

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This was so cool I had to share!

This site MoreCowBell.dj is awesome! You upload an MP3 and it will add cowbell to it at the right times. I love it!!

TMI? Naw...

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My Super-Badass Log Pages!

Over the course of several classes, folks have been asking where I got my log pages. See, these are a LOT better than the usual PADI or NAUI standard log pages you’ll find at your LDS. Some might think its too much information, but I believe you can never have too much info!

So where did these pages come from? Well, I sat down and made them. It was a time-consuming project but the end result was worth it. The original idea came from ReefMongoose on ScubaBoard. He had a pretty nice looking page he was designing, but I needed to make a number of modifications. So I ended up just redoing the whole thing using ZeusDraw on my Mac.

That being said, here it is! Its a PDF that you have to print on both sides, and then cut in the middle to fit in your typical logbook. Enjoy!

Click HERE to download

A Very Wet Weekend!

Gave my first class tonight

It was a busy weekend, thats for sure. Between SCUBA tune-up and discovery dive sessions, I feel like I’ve been rode hard and put away wet.

I taught my first SCUBA tune-up class this weekend. It was only two people - thank God - but I was still pretty nervous. See, I’ve never taught anything really, so I wasn’t sure how I was going to go about this.

The class started on Saturday. Glancing at my cheat-sheet from time to time, I was able to get though the classroom portion of the course pretty well. We went over dive tables, which everyone just loves to work with. After that we talked some about the dangers of diving, and went into some of the physics. I’d say the classroom portion took about 45 minutes, and then we were headed to the pool. However, there was a power outage at the pool so we ended up postponing the pool session until today.

Looking back, I’d say there was some things I could have done better. I have a tendency to rush things, and that really doesn’t work well when you are working with others. I don’t know if my two students noticed it, but I definitely caught myself rushing several times. Also, I think I could have done a better job of making one of the more nervous divers more comfortable. I guess I need to work on my “people skills.”

Once we got into the water, things went smoother. I probably could have done a better job of explaining the basic skill drills that we were doing, but they seemed to pick it up really well. At the end of the day, all were happy and had a good time. It seemed like they possessed the confidence in themselves that they lacked before the class, so I’d call that a success.

Fear and Loathing at Ski Liberty

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Its Friday evening when Trey has the crazy idea that we should drive directly to Ski Liberty. Being that I spent most of my life in Texas, I never learned how to ski, and although there is a fun bar on the premises, this deficiency tends to make Ski Liberty less than a 100% balls-out shred-fest for me.

This time will be different though. I’m informed that Trey’s sister Alexis will be joining us, and she also doesn’t ski well. Hey! That means I won’t have to be the only donkey falling on my ass all day! Sure, sign me up! So all 3 of us pack lightly and head on down the dusty trail.

Next stop: snow country!
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No More Shark Fin Soup!

Well, it seems to have worked. The outcry of all the folks on ScubaBoard, along with everyone else who sent in an email, has prompted the Venetian to remove Shark Fin Soup from their menu. Here is their response to an email I sent:

Thank you for your email. We appreciate your feedback and want you to know we have removed shark fin soup from our menu.

Erin Robbins
Executive Secretary to Pete Boyd, Vice President of Food & Beverage
Phone: 702.414.0323 | Fax: 702.414.1301
erin.robbins@venetian.com

So that’s good news. Looks like thats the email response that everyone has been getting. It would be nice if we could get some kind of verification of this.... Anyone?