Chris, take my advice. Seriously. Dive with Firefyter at any chance you get. Thomas is one cool cucumber in the water. He doesn't use air. He puts air in the tank.
I wish this were true...LOL. The fact is, I'm a perpetual student. I try to learn something from every person I dive with, and I dive with some outstanding divers.
When I first got back into diving several years ago, I had the extreme good fortune to meet up with two guys from the board that I affectionately call "The Qualuude Brothers". Texass and Truckdiver were good enough to kind of take me under their wings and lead by example. I did a lot of dives with them, and I watched every move they made and tried my best to emulate them. They taught me to move very slow and deliberate under water. This helped me perfect my buoyancy, greatly lowered my air consumption rate, and taught me to see things that I had been flying by in the past. They also taught me excellent buddy skills, as we did a lot of diving in near zero vis and they never let me get lost. Those two guys had a profound impact on the way I dive, and I learned to watch other people and learn what I could from them. I continue learning to this day.
texdiveguy is one of the most solid divers in the water anywhere around, and is excellent about pointing out things that will help you in a very constructive manner. Superb mentor.
Timeliner is always cool and collected, and is very skilled in the water. I wish I could learn to love cold water the way he does, but I've given up on that one.
ZZZKing is very skilled, and is an outstanding buddy anytime, anywhere. He really has his act together.
richerso is probably the best navigator I've ever laid eyes on. Solid in the water and most excellent compass skills. I only wish I could keep up with that guy and his compass.
There are others that I have the pleasure of diving with on occasion that teach by example, but I won't name them as they are instructors and divemasters for shops, and I'm sure that when they're not working a class that they just want to dive, without feeling like they're having to watch over students. However, if they offer to dive with you, don't pass it up. It's definitely worth your time, they're good people and fun to be around.
The point of all my rambling is that a lot of us started out just like you, Chris. I still watch and learn, and although some people accuse me of being cocky(cough), I hope that I never get too cocky to learn from other people that I dive with. Even the most inexperienced diver can teach me things, or at least make me think about why I do things the way I do, and it's always a joy to watch them learn along the way.
Come dive with us. I think you'll be glad you did.
