Posts by Steve Egner

30

movie of the week: Open Water

by MegaDude in

a couple surfaces from their scuba dive and the boat is gone.

there is nothing around them but the wide open ocean.

oh, wait.

Steve Egner

Jerry,

Is the diving you're going to be doing later drysuit diving? Do you need a course in using a dry suit if you haven't used one before?

I sure as hell hope it will be. But if the fates won't allow, my wetsuit will be sufficient. The ships are resting upright on the bottom at 100' feet, with the interesting stuff around the deck well above that. No decompression bottom times won't allow us enough time to go hypothermic.

I understand that drysuit courses are recommended. Our local dive shops include an orientation dive with any drysuit purchase, but one of my favorite charter guides offers a two-tank drysuit instruction dive as a PADI specialty course, in case I land one from E-bay.

You can rent a drysuit from the charter we'll use in the San Juans, but I believe they require an orientation dive or specialty cerfication before they rent out the suit. Check out their site, www.divesanjuan.com

Having two gear-intensive hobbies (diving and cycling) pretty well insures I'll be well outfitted for neither.

It looks like our plans for Mexico have disintegrated; Air fares for the family are approaching $3000. We'll look into it again in the spring or summer, I'd love to dive those Cenotes.

I'm looking forward to those Pics,

Steve

10

I have mastered the wireless router!

by Princess in

jw
friends

after months of promising my seven year old son, i have finally set our computer up with dsl.

that isn't such a big deal since we have had broadband cable for at least a couple of years.

the big deal is, i set up a wireless router and connected both computers to a network so we have both computers set up with dsl internet access.. so, after hours of total frustration i gave up.

Steve Egner

It must have been the scotch...

Steve

30

movie of the week: Open Water

by MegaDude in

a couple surfaces from their scuba dive and the boat is gone.

there is nothing around them but the wide open ocean.

oh, wait.

Steve Egner

Hey Jerry,

I just read the reviews in the McPaper (USA Today). They said, "Low budget, but intense."

I'll have to see it.

Have you read "Shadow Divers" yet? I brought it on vacation, read it, and then logged 5 hours of bottom time on the trip. A great read.

I think that accounts like "Open Water" and "Shadow Divers" should be required viewing/reading for anyone involved in the sport. They're quite sobering.

By the way, we had some great diving up at Orcas Island. We'll be going back sometime in the fall or winter to dive the McKenzie and Church, two Canadian naval vessels sunk in the channel off Sydney. Great viz then, Jerry. Sometimes up to 100 feet, they say, at that time of year. But ccccccccold. Wanna go?

Steve

31

Best South Park episode, cast your vote

by DanTheMan in

i have only been watching sp for the past year or so, so i'm sure there's a lot of episodes i haven't seen, and i'm obviously a little late getting on the bandwagon.

but a couple of weekends ago they did a "25 most outrageous episodes" thing, and one of the episodes was where cartman had this j-lo hand puppet where he recorded songs and did some *ahem* other things involving ben affleck.

i don't remember laughing at anything so hard in my life.. oh, and of course the episode with mr. hankey and his drunken, verbally abusive wife.. so what's your fave?

Steve Egner

I love South Park. I have to extend my personal boundaries of offense almost every time I see it.

My favorite, absolutely over the top episode, was the one featuring Christopher Reeve, biting the heads off fetuses, sucking out stem cells for their curative powers (he was no longer a paraplegic).

For pure entertainment value, I give the Mormon episode my number one.

Steve

14

Lance Armstong Spat Upon by Germans. French Government Powerless

by L_A_Big_Dawg in

lance armstrong spit on by german spectators.. where is the french authorities crowd control?.

should all euros be tainted by americans for the actions of a few?

if so, then why, since most euros think all americans are bullies, based on the actions of the president.. any comments?.

Steve Egner

Hey L_A_,

Crowd "participation" in Euro cycling events is the norm, including cheering, jeering, encouraging or obscene gesturing, flag waving, running alongside and in front of, physical contact between fans and cyclists, etc.

One of the race updates I've received said that, while uncommon, spitting on a rider is not unheard of. Given that we're seeing a super dominant rider of historic stature, in a context where nationalistic emotions often flare, I think the incident is being overblown. It certainly seems as though Lance has moved on.

I don't believe the incident reflects the opinion of the majority of riders or European fans, either. Armstrong was congratulated yesterday by none other than Bernard Hinault, France's 5 time Tour de France champion. While I watch the race on OLN, I see huge crowds of folks cheering Lance on, and going berserk after his stage victories. Those can't all be Americans.

While the crowd participation can be shocking to a neophyte (and I'm not saying anyone here is), I think I like it.

Imagine how much more interesting a golf tournament would be, if the crowd could really get into it. Instead, we have "Stepford" spectators, and anyone who steps out of line gets their camera smashed.

I love cycling, and I love watching this event. And I believe that Lance Armstrong is the best American Ambassador we've got. I'll be up at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow to watch the final time trial before we split for Orcas Island. If Lance takes it at 6:30, my screams should be sufficient to wake the kids, and we'll be on our way.

Steve

35

Believe It or Not!

by Steve Egner in

driving home after a long bike ride last sunday, i turned onto my street, just a couple of blocks from my home.

clad only in lycra bike shorts and jersey, i had my window down, my shades on, and a nice endorphin buzz from a great outing.

without warning, a large, dense, golf ball sized pine cone from one of our towering neighborhood evergreens careened through my window like a meteor, and nailed me right on my left testicle.

Steve Egner

xenawarrior Many, many sincere apologies for not replying sooner... I'm glad you enjoyed the story. jst2laws' comments compounded the humor for me, too.

shutterbug It can be difficult to see the humor in testicular tribulations. Especially when they happen to you, or someone close. It seems appropriate to add here, though, the experience of a friend of mine in Michigan. He lost his right testicle in a motorcycle accident while still a teenager... After that, everyone called him "Lefty."

Believe It or Not!

Steve

35

Believe It or Not!

by Steve Egner in

driving home after a long bike ride last sunday, i turned onto my street, just a couple of blocks from my home.

clad only in lycra bike shorts and jersey, i had my window down, my shades on, and a nice endorphin buzz from a great outing.

without warning, a large, dense, golf ball sized pine cone from one of our towering neighborhood evergreens careened through my window like a meteor, and nailed me right on my left testicle.

Steve Egner

Confusedjw

LOL LOL LOL

True accounts are always the funniest.

Mulan

Ouch!!

"Ouch!" is right!

RR

Hmmm.... does that mean you now have three balls?

Nope. But the left one is still somewhat larger than the right. In fact, I'm listing to port. Corvin

Believe it or not, I was up in a tree with a box full of pine cones when I saw this guy coming down the road in lycra shorts. knowing that lycra offers very little protection against projectile pine cones, and detesting lycra shorts with a passion as I do, I hurled one of the pine cones down with tremendous force and it went right through his window nailing him right in the testicles! The poor guy nearly crashed.

Well, there you go, people. Proof positive of the parallel universe theory. jst2laws, Corvin, and I must have momentarily converged at the vortex of the space-time continuum! Believe It or Not! Steve

35

Believe It or Not!

by Steve Egner in

driving home after a long bike ride last sunday, i turned onto my street, just a couple of blocks from my home.

clad only in lycra bike shorts and jersey, i had my window down, my shades on, and a nice endorphin buzz from a great outing.

without warning, a large, dense, golf ball sized pine cone from one of our towering neighborhood evergreens careened through my window like a meteor, and nailed me right on my left testicle.

Steve Egner

Happy Dad

My feet got tangled in the blanket and I fell straight into the dresser and got the worst black eye ever.

OUCH! Hey, is that a bike on the back of your truck? xjw_b12

Any serious outdoor enthusiast/sportsman/adventurer knows you should wear a "cup" all the time to protect the family jewels.

I'm wearing one right now! Sage advice.

Maverick

Had one girl friend walking up to my front door as another was walking out the front door and believe it or not my left testice is still intact! Mav

Good thing there were no pine cones lying around... FMZ Glad you enjoyed the story, Keith. Truly, I owed you one after the "hole" thread. shotgun We may have to move this thread over to "beliefs." There is some discussion over the possibility that jst2laws may have been led by the Holy Spirit. How else can one explain such accuracy? Believe It or Not! Steve

35

Believe It or Not!

by Steve Egner in

driving home after a long bike ride last sunday, i turned onto my street, just a couple of blocks from my home.

clad only in lycra bike shorts and jersey, i had my window down, my shades on, and a nice endorphin buzz from a great outing.

without warning, a large, dense, golf ball sized pine cone from one of our towering neighborhood evergreens careened through my window like a meteor, and nailed me right on my left testicle.

Steve Egner

orbison11

somehow the door was closed, hhmm, i thought, i never close the door, especially when alone
then i start with the pc, and the speakers are not only on, they are loud ok, so what is that about???:)

I'm not sure I have an explanation for you, Wendy. But I were you, I'd go ask jst2laws. He seems to be everywhere these days. Just a hunch.

Steve

35

Believe It or Not!

by Steve Egner in

driving home after a long bike ride last sunday, i turned onto my street, just a couple of blocks from my home.

clad only in lycra bike shorts and jersey, i had my window down, my shades on, and a nice endorphin buzz from a great outing.

without warning, a large, dense, golf ball sized pine cone from one of our towering neighborhood evergreens careened through my window like a meteor, and nailed me right on my left testicle.

Steve Egner

Mac Thanks for the chuckles, Mac. And thanks for recalling a fine old Willie Nelson tune, as well.

Steve