:Six Feet Under… and then some.

Attn: People.  Particulary those who post pics.
Re: Pics

Please.  For the love of all that’s good and decent.  Rotate your pics properly before posting.  This usually means that feet go toward the bottom of the screen, and heads toward the top part.  Simple.  For PC users, it can be as simple as right-clicking on the picture and rotating it.  I’ll have to get back to you Mac users, but I’m sure iLife’s got something to do that (and I’m sure it does it better too)

Thanks.  Just a friendly reminder…
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DIY update:  Have done absolutely nothing for my light, although I have built a snazzy finger spool.  M4 keeps acting up, but will stick with it (Sorry Mark, No JG yet).

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Sanjaya got voted off on AI.  Considering his performance the previous night, I’m not surprised.
I am surprised that I even watched AI last night.  This batch doesn’t seem to have the oomph of the previous batch.  There’s no Chris or Kat to root for (Taylor who?). 
And why do they let the person voted off sing the same song that got them voted off in the first place?  What gives?  Why can’t they perform the best song they had in their repertoire?
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DIY update:  have not yet started on my light. Bought the basics though.  Gonna base it on existing designs using MR16 light heads.  50 watts was bright, but way too hot for the plastic around it, so I’ve gone to a less-bright 20 watt lamp.  Gonna work on my finger spool first.

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I’m going to study tonight.  Something along the lines of organ transplantation, and other factors regarding rejection and immunosuppression.  Ought to be fun.

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Lemons float.
This innocuous statement was the answer to a seemingly innocuous question in my head
from a few months back.  While going through several posts on Scubaboard, I came across one that said that lemons make great underwater toys because they remain neutrally buoyant and would simply float in front of you if you let go of it underwater.  Several dive trips after that, I finally remembered to bring a lemon.  Anyway, this wasn’t to be as harmless as I thought.  Through a confluence of several factors, the universe conspired to make me regret bringing that lemon (well, not really….). These factors were:

1.  I shifted from a regular stab jacket BCD to a wing.  As such, I had no pockets with me.
2.  Seeing as my Pelican Sabrelight (my one good underwater light) had weak batteries, I also remembered to buy new batteries for it.  Thus, after replacing the batteries, I evidently did not secure it properly to the harness of my wing.
3.  Having no pockets meant that I would have to hold onto the lemon for the dive.
4.  When we arrived at the dive site (Beatrice), there was a slight current, so Ernest decided that we should backroll off the boat by threes while holding a line.
5. Thus, while holding onto the line and lemon with my left hand, while keeping my right hand over my mask and regulator to keep it in place, we all rolled into the water.
Anyway, after descending to the reef, I started playing with my lemon, tossing it down like a yo-yo (it would float up slowly back to me).  It was only later on that I discovered that my flashlight had detatched itself and was now hidden treasure waiting for someone to pick it up.
So there.  If any of you find yourself in Beatrice, and if you happen to find a pocket sabrelight with a clearly marked dive sticker with my name, well, you know where to find me.  Send me a message.
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Other lessons I learned that day included the use of the up-until-then mysterious "wheel" - which is a step above the regular recreational dive planner,  This elegant device allows one to plan multi-level dives (without the use of a computer).  I hadn’t encountered it previously because my 5 dives for AOW cert were Deep, PPB, Nav, Night, and the not-too-great Fish ID (just get a book…)  Anyway, through Chris Chan’s marvelous instruction, the how-to’s of the wheel were finally revealed.
The other question in my head that was answered to a certain degree was a rather weird one:  If a person farts underwater while wearing a wetsuit, would his buoyancy change?  Now, I’ve always contended that it probably wouldn’t, because the air was just shifting from one compartment to another.  However, over lunch (well, after lunch) Daniel explained that in theory, it probably would change buoyancy (although relatively imperceptibly), because after all, the gas is compressed inside the body, but expands afterwards - sorta like from a SCUBA tank.  That made better sense to me, so now I’m changing my stand.  If anyone begs to differ, call the Mythbusters to run an experiment or something.
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Anyway, back to my Sabrelight.  Its not a total loss.  Its loss gives me an excuse to start work on my next DIY project - a light cannon.  On the trip back from Anilao, Chris and I were discussing the possible things that could be done.  This discussion continued in Ernest’s car, so now I’ve got several ideas (great suggestions and input guys!) brewing.  I’m giving myself one week to make it, and a budget of 500 bucks (after all, what’s the point of DIY if you can’t make it cheap?)

But still, at least now I know that lemons float.

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Consciousness can be descibed as being in tune with your surroundings.  While looking at some stuff here at the ruins in BF with Mark, this guy with a camera walks past accompanied by a girl that could probably be best described as a "commercial model."  Anyway, after watching them walk by, I turned toward Mark and said:
   "Pare, nakita mo yan?  Ang ganda ng camera niya ah.  Canon EOS 1D"  (with a stock
     50mm f/1.4 prime lens)
I didn’t get quite a good look at the girl.  but really, it was a nice camera.

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Things that were on my to-do list today:

1. Install auxilliary cooling fan into Anton’s car. - done

2. Re-build switch for Civic’s car alarm - done

3.  Buy batteries for underwater flashlight - done

4. buy lemons (for underwater toys) - done

5. Clean room and check gear - will do that after this…

Hmmm… when I list it this way, I’m apparently not as busy as I thought!

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Let me admit something.  My car uses R-12.  Y’know, the ozone-busting refrigerant.  That’ll have to change soon, because all registered vehicles have to use HFC134a starting this year.  That, and there seems to be a dearth of R-12 around.  So there.   Its the middle of summer, and the only time that my  car’s airconditioning system has any "bite" is when:
1.  I’m driving fast enough to cool  the condenser
2.  I’m driving underneath the Skyway (preferably fast enough to cool the condenser)
3.  I’m driving at night (And I can now drive a little slower…)

Otherwise, its like being in my own personal sauna.  At least it makes the surrounding outside air that much cooler when I step out of the car.

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I’ve been keeping myself occupied with the fine art of doing… nothing.  Having completed such odd tasks such as making my own wing (hey, it worked!) as well as modifying my M4 (see one of last year’s posts for a picture of what it used to look like…)  Oh heck, here it is:

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Evidently, the old photo is on the left.  Big difference.

Then again, there would be a degree of bias to these photos.  After all, the one on the left is a collage of 3 different photos taken with a 0.3MP camera, while the one on the right was taken with 8MP.  but still, for anyone out there wanting to do their own modifications, I’ve got only one bit of advice:  Bosny Flat Black Epoxy Laquer.

Oh yeah, as to that other project - my wing, I was able to test it out in Anilao at the end of last month.  Oh sure there were a few small bubbles (most of which have been resolved… most) coming out from here and there, but in the unlikely event of getting swept out to sea, then I’d just have to stay up to blow more air into it every 12 hours or so.  Of course, in a situation like that, that would be one of the least of my worries.  Anyway, thanks to the wonder of products like Aquaseal (TM), and Vulcaseal (as well as superglue), I’ve decided not to bring a spare regulator and BCD for this Sunday’s day trip.

It does, however, take some getting used to - especially on the surface.  That’ll come in time.
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So for this weekend, I was almost given a choice:  To go to another airsoft game, in the heat, to get shot at etc, or to head for the beach…

I’ll leave you to guess which choice I took.

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