Some Musings on Etiquette (Hey what's that) When in Cozumel and Other "Stuff"

[cvchief]

My concern with 'smokers' is not so much that they are killing themselves, but that they are imposing massive parasitic finanacial/medical costs on the rest of society, which are not adequately priced into the street price of their 'smokes', society massively subsidizes their habit, yet another financial burden we ultimately cannot afford!

NOW you make a very salient point. Do we want to price in risk in society? Smoker, motorcycle riders, people who drink and maybe even divers are higher risk and cost more I bet than the average.... Someone just mentioned I think like 12-14k for a chamber ride paid by his medical insurance. That MC rider with massive head injuries from no helmet on medicaid in a facility is $$$. You HAVE cracked the lid on the box! The road to ..... is paved with good intentions!

Ok, really, I apologize. This is getting a little deep. I got caught up in a discussion like this with a guy from Cali at that little bar on the east side of the plaza, southern end. Very polite and at least we had Sol for it.....

 

[cvchief]

Chief, since we're going down that path, why arrest people for smoking pot in the privacy of their own home?

Certainly a reasonable question. Personally, I think that prohibition is on a downhill slide to legalization, right or wrong. I would bet though, you might find people who would agree that smoking should be banned, yet pot legalized. It is interesting that is seems to be two different directions at once. Moving to legalize marihuana which shares all the dangerous chemicals in the smoke plus more before we even consider its 'effect' yet we are going the other way on tobacco.
Of course yet another side is if we prohibit smoking in public, because of the harm, the next logical step is to arrest people who smoke in their own homes around kids or animals or whatever group cant protect themselves. Maybe smoking should be added to those 'domestic abuse' crimes?

Please meet the big "G" and I at the 2 for 1 at Money and we can sort this all out I am sure.....

 

[ggunn]

I would suggest to you that the reason we allow this yet are denying smoking is simply based in majority rule, not your argument on it being the right thing to do. Smokers are representing, THANKFULLY, a smaller and smaller segement, so they no longer carry a majority so we are content to run over them. It is the process of 'gee thats a good idea, lets make a law because we have 50% plus' that gets me. Maybe I am not getting the idea across.

I understand you; I just don't agree. We aren't running over them, we are protecting ourselves from the effects of what they do. It's great that smokers are in the minority and cannot force the rest of us to endure breathing the waste products of their disgusting habit, but were it otherwise it would not make it right. The thing is, I agree with you when it comes to some things, like the gay marriage controversy, for instance, but you cannot paint everything with the same broad brush. I don't ascribe to the mindset that if you do A then logically you must do B when A and B are separate issues. Maybe there should be a law prohibiting serving alcohol to those who may be driving, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of lionfish. It's not a black and white world.

 

[DandyDon]

:blush: I was wrong about my bats. I watched my porch swallows flying today and they fly that way on short trips like across my porch and back. Oops.

My finches & wrens went thru a fortune in tiny black seed this winter, but I guess they're doing okay in the wild now as their consumption has dropped 80%. They still gather at the feeder a lot out of habit I guess, and I like that. I almost never see a hummingbird but it's time to change the sugar water in case one shows up - a weekly thing.

Did I mention I bought a car for the first time in 30+ years?

 

[cvchief]

Did I mention I bought a car for the first time in 30+ years?

Seriously? Or all the rest were trucks? Are you even allowed to buy a car in that part of TX. Was is like an el camino, sort of a truck?

 

[DandyDon]

Seriously? Or all the rest were trucks? Are you even allowed to buy a car in that part of TX. Was is like an el camino, sort of a truck?

My daughter cannot remember me ever owning one. I think she was one last time I did. Yeah, been driving pickups ever since. I usually went shopping only when some kid would pull out in front of me totaling both vehicles (never hurt anyone TG, but it doesn't take much to total one) but I've dodge them better, and my old F-150 is just worn out @ 367K miles. When AAA has to tow you home more that twice a year, it's time to reevaluate.

Well, it was an overdue fuel filter this time; my bad. My old cell phone had died Friday night in Lubbock as I was sending grandson's graduation pics to FB (I have stuck to an old model with a pullup antenna for years, buying working replacements on ebay with spares at home), then found myself in a Plainview convenience store lot Saturday night with a broke phone, broke truck, payphone stealing quarters, and a store phone that had 800-numbers blocked. A nice customer let me use his cell, not knowing how long it takes to give all the info to AAA.

It set in my driveway overnight, then started the next day after the grundge in the filter settled down some, but I knew I couldn't expect many more starts so I was grounded the rest of the holiday weekend until Tuesday but local mechanics couldn't get to it until Wednesday. The filter was $8 back in Plainview, $13 in this hick farm town, so I spent a little more here so my neighbor and I could take it under the truck for a fitting. After 10 minutes, I punted to Wednesday and paid a local pro $32 to see him put it on. Thursday I fianlly found my Plainview mechanic who would have done it for $12 but you do what you can.

During all this frustration, I decided it was time to give in, get new wheels that I could count on as sometimes you just have to go someplace now - like when my niece's house got totaled by the Alabama tornado last month. It was headed right for her, then did a shot hop over her, :shocked2: but the trees falling and turbulence still totaled it. My brother and his wife grabbed power tools and drove thru the night to get there and help. No way I could rise to such a need so I shopped.

And I decided I no longer needed a gas guzzling pickup. I was clueless on what to shop for in used cars and how but learned a lot in my downtime as to what was available in Lubbock and Plainview, who had them and once I got mobile enough to go look - how they were selling them. Narrowed it down to a 2L or a 3.5L at a lot ran by an old coot who has been in business over 50 years. I tried to be happy in the smaller car, but it wasn't happening so I got the Impala. Hey, it was the right color too, and I increased my fuel economy from 15 to 25 mpg if not 30 with the smaller one. Besides, after totaling a number cars over the decades (some others my fault), there is a lot to be said for extra protection...!

 

[BTravlin]

Certainly a reasonable question. Personally, I think that prohibition is on a downhill slide to legalization, right or wrong. I would bet though, you might find people who would agree that smoking should be banned, yet pot legalized. It is interesting that is seems to be two different directions at once. Moving to legalize marihuana which shares all the dangerous chemicals in the smoke plus more before we even consider its 'effect' yet we are going the other way on tobacco.
Of course yet another side is if we prohibit smoking in public, because of the harm, the next logical step is to arrest people who smoke in their own homes around kids or animals or whatever group cant protect themselves. Maybe smoking should be added to those 'domestic abuse' crimes?

Please meet the big "G" and I at the 2 for 1 at Money and we can sort this all out I am sure.....

I agree with restrictions on smoking no matter what substance you choose but disagree with prohibition as it just does not work. I'd love to hash it out over drinks but you chose the wrong dates so you must be avoiding me.

 

[cvchief]

I agree with restrictions on smoking no matter what substance you choose but disagree with prohibition as it just does not work. I'd love to hash it out over drinks but you chose the wrong dates so you must be avoiding me.

Leave the money on the bar with my name, I'll drink it when I get there!

Sharp little Impala there Don!

 

[DandyDon]

Leave the money on the bar with my name, I'll drink it when I get there!

Sharp little Impala there Don!

There were some 2.2L and 2.4L cars around but not many to chose from. The 70+ year old dealer said he thinks that a lot of dealers from flood and tornado ravaged areas are coming to Dallas to buy auction cars as he has for years. Dallas is a great place to shop if you want to buy from an individual as they are into new cars so much there, trading frequently, and don't have the swamp and gulf damage like Houston cars, plus pickups there never have had Farm Tags - but I didn't even want to shop Lubbock if I didn't have to. One salesman had a Lubbock Pontiac brought in for me to look at, even tho it's an orphan - company no longer in business, but she messed up when she promised me a 3.0L but showed up with 2.4L I think. A 3.0L would have been fine with me, but this 3.5L is going to be okay. I'm reading the manual and learning.

I was swayed by the color some, but if I am going to drive this for 10 years - I wanted red.

 

[Aigtbootbp]

Why not ban europeans? after all they don't tip and they are so rude......
I am a non smoker but I agree they have the right to smoke. If I don't like smoke at a restaurant I will eat elsewhere. Eventually the restaurant owner will figure it out not a single law should be needed. Maybe ban diving since so many people have been hurt/killed and there is no "need" for it anyway...

Anyway, other things to remember is do not hang out by the ladder unless you are helping others in or out of the boat. Keep all your gear in two places, your dive bag or on you. Fins are the exception but please keep them out of the way. If you see someone struggling with their gear help them out. I have never gotten upset when someone would push a strap over my shoulder or lift my tank while donning my bc.
Be careful when moving around. There ain't much room on a boat and getting hit with a tank can hurt. If you are sitting up front where the bags are stowed and someone needs something offer to hand it to them. Having folk staggering about trying to get their whatever it is they are trying to get can be annoying (especially if they should have already had it out and ready to go. If you are sitting by the mask or camera bucket offer to pull stuff out for your fellow divers, once again if they don't have to stand up and stagger over it is easier for everyone.