SoCal potential GUE fundies people this year!

[Clammy]

Hi,

I know a lot of you know and dive with me and I know a lot of you know that I'm heading over to the dark side, taking a sip of the kool-aid so to speak.

That being said, I'm looking for anyone that wants to or plans to take fundies sometime this year (with Karim)! I'm basically looking for a team to dive with so that I can maybe go into a fundies class with an already familiar team! I'm probably going to shoot for November to take the class.

If you are looking to possibly embrace the power of the dark side and take fundies soon, let me know and maybe we can dive together!

P.S. that doesn't mean I'm going to stop diving with all you other great buddies I've had the pleasure to dive with!! So keep calling me anytime for a dive!!

 

[ligersandtions]

Sorry, Brian, I'm taking Essentials in August. However, if you ever want to get together and dive (in a dark side, kool-aid kinda way), let me know! Unfortunately, my schedule's a little crazy till mid-September....but that's plenty of time before your class!

I figure the more time you/I spend in the water with like-minded buddies, the better prepared we will be for these classes. I can't wait!

 

[Clammy]

Yeah, I heard that your class got pushed to August. What was your dive schedule like again?

 

[diverrex]

Good luck to you Brian. Karim is a great guy, Hollywood Divers is my LDS. But I'm staying away from the dark side and just enjoying the diving. If you ever want to make one of those dives let me know.

 

[ligersandtions]

Yeah, I heard that your class got pushed to August. What was your dive schedule like again?

Dive schedule for the class?? We do classroom sessions on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings, then we'll be diving Saturday and Sunday (we're doing an in-shore boat charter....I'm very happy about that as I didn't want to spend the money to go to Catalina and get a hotel and food and all the other associated costs).

It was originally supposed to be mid-July, but got moved to August. I was bummed about that, but oh well....I'm just looking forward to taking the class!

 

[Clammy]

Oh! actually I was asking about when you dive regularly!

 

[ligersandtions]

Oh! actually I was asking about when you dive regularly!

haha, I'm a dork!

I normally try to get out for a night dive every other week or so, generally on Thursdays. Then I usually get out at least once a weekend for a couple dives.

Unfortunately, I'm going to be out of town this weekend, the weekend of August 8th, the weekend of August 22nd, Essentials will take up the weekend of August 29th, and will not be able to dive the weekend of September 12th.

Man, way to have a bunch of out of town weddings ruin my summer!

Hit me up if you want to go any weekend that's not listed....I'll be around and itching to dive I'm sure

 

[Gombessa]

Clammy, you're going to love Fundies, congrats on making the decision to take the class!

By the way, I'm sure the "kool-aid" talk was meant in jest, but the entire premise of Fundies is all about being in a position to have more fun on every dive. There was never any "you must be interested in tech diving GUE-style, so you must do things this way" attitude; instead all the lectures and skills are taught with the goal of becoming so proficient in the basic "fundamentals" and mechanics of diving that you no longer have to worry about them, and as a result your attention can be focused more on the dive and less on the diving.

It's a bit of a shame that DIR has this "kool-aid" reputation, because I think that even divers who will never adopt a DIR/GUE philosophy/style can still benefit greatly from Fundies.

 

[Clammy]

Clammy, you're going to love Fundies, congrats on making the decision to take the class!

By the way, I'm sure it was meant in jest, but the entire premise of Fundies is all about being in a position to have more fun on every dive. There was never any "you must be interested in tech diving GUE-style, so you must do things this way" attitude; instead all the lectures and skills are taught with the goal of becoming so proficient in the basic "fundamentals" and mechanics of diving that you no longer have to worry about them, and as a result your attention can be focused more on the dive and less on the diving.

It's a bit of a shame that DIR has this "kool-aid" reputation, because I think that even divers who will never adopt a DIR/GUE philosophy/style can still benefit greatly from Fundies.

It was kind of in jest. I know that there isn't a "you must be interested in tech diving GUE-style, so you must do things this way" attitude. But others may not and I don't want anyone thinking that I won't dive with them because I'm going this route. The kool-aid and darkside thing well... it sorta is but it's mostly just poking fun!

 

[ligersandtions]

It's a bit of a shame that DIR has this "kool-aid" reputation, because I think that even divers who will never adopt a DIR/GUE philosophy/style can still benefit greatly from Fundies.

It really is too bad that DIR/GUE/UTD seems to be shunned by a lot of people. I think if most people saw divers with amazing control, superb buddy skills and situational awareness, and how a cohesive team and dive can be achieved, they would be interested....it's too bad that people seem to think that DIR implies that everyone else is doing everything wrong when there is so much one can gain from it, even on purely recreational dives.

FWIW, I think "going over to the dark side" and "enjoying diving" are not at all on opposite ends of the spectrum....in fact, for me, it's quite the opposite. Moving toward the DIR philosophy has done nothing but increase my diving enjoyment.