Originally posted by Dafydd
Hello to all,
Texas Mike found me at another site and directed me here. I looked through past postings and then posted a question in BC's. Texas Mike found me again. Since last time he steered me straight, I'm following his advice again and leaving an into to myself here. It would seem this is a good place to get good scuba info and make friends. I'm looking forward to getting to know you.
I'm brand spanking knew to scuba. It has been on my want to do list for, hmm, well for a long time. Last spring I was at a local high school pool with my family and there was a guy there fooling around with his scuba gear. I approached him and asked him about it. It turned out that he was an instructor without a school. I asked what he would charge to certify my wife, son and myself. When I got home I did a little checking on prices and his were good with one big advantage, he would come to my house for all the book work. The diving would be done at the high school. He required a minimum of four people in order to run the class. I talked my Assistant Scout Master into joining us. Yep, that's me Scout Master. My son was Senior Patrol Leader at that time. So on a side note I really believe in Boy Scouting. Any how the lessons went great. Then my instructor took his Spring scuba trip. When he got back other friends took him on anther trip. When he got back from that trip he got ill. Then he had personal problems that meant finding a new home. We fell out of contact for much too long. But in the end he turned out to be a good man and kept his part of the bargain. My wife had trouble getting comfortable with the gear and did not finish the lessons. My son, Assistant Scout Master and myself will be doing our open dive right after Thanksgiving, if all goes well.
During this long ordeal to get open water certified I just got more and more excited about diving. I've been buying and reading what ever magazines I could find. My thoughts in getting scuba certified were to do some diving in CA when I vist family there. But now that I'm a little more aware of the opportunities I want my own gear. I'm certainly jumping the gun. But around my house we only buy expensive gifts or toys on Christmas and Birthdays. So it means now or May. It will probably be May. But come May I want to know what I want. To this end I have been to all the local dive shops, and was surprised at how many there are here in the land locked Rocky Mountains! It turns out that there is a shop not more than a few minutes from my home, and I have bought a few things and rented a few things from them. Complete mask, snorkel, boots and fins for the three of us. And I rented a shorty wet suit for my wife hoping it would help her feel more comfortable in the pool (marginal success).
The name I use on the web is Dafydd, this is just the Welsh version of David and it is pronounced close enough to David for most uses (Day-fid). My heritage is half Welsh. Some day I think I would like to officially change the spelling of my name to the Welsh version. What do you think?
Well I've run on a bit and didn't manage to say much. Take note, as a teacher it is what I'm good at. That could mean long rambling responses in the future. In any case, I'm glad to be here and to have made a friend in Texas Mike. If you know any thing about the HUB, please respond to my request in the BC section.
Eternity has begun,
What are you doing with yours?
Dafydd
