TWARS (This Week at Reef Seekers) - September 12-19

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Ken Kurtis

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Location
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9/12, Zoom Seekers with The Chairman, TODAY show, and more
(please scroll down for details)

A somber weekend to some degree . . .

I MISS THE SPIRIT OF 9/12 - Obviously, the focus this weekend was on 9/11. (FTR, I thought George Bush's speech Saturday in Shanksville, PA, was phenomenal, hitting all the right notes.) I'm happy to be thought of as an idealist, a dreamer, an optimist, or even a Pollyanna. But I really miss that sense on unity we had on 9/12/2001. This is not a feeling unique to me. I've seen other written pieces echoing the same thought and wanted to add my voice. On 9/12, we were Americans. We weren't Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, or whatever. We were united in our grief and horror at what had transpired the day before. But it really showed what a great nation we were, able to set aside petty differences to stand as one, to comfort each other, and to resolve to move forward. Where we are now in this country is a far cry from that spirit of unity. We are too partisan, too convinced that ours in the only "right" viewpoint, too unwilling to allow for dissent and even consider that there may be merit in an opposing view. If you think of yourself as a patriotic American (and I would assume most of you have that self-view), I hope you'll give some thought going forward to how we can end the toxic ways we deal with others who we perceive as different from ourselves, and perhaps point ourselves in the direction of that halcyon view, as Ronald Reagan put it, of America as "a shining city of a hill," an exceptional and exemplary nation for the world to admire and emulate.

TO MY CONSERVATIVE FRIENDS - Hopefully you didn't just have a heart attack hearing me praise George Bush and quote Ronald Reagan. (But if you did, know that I'm rooting for your speedy recovery, which is likely covered by Obamacare.)

ZOOM SEEKERS THIS TUESDAY - We have what I think will be a terrific Zoom Seekers for you this Tuesday evening, starting at 7:30PM PDT. Our guest speaker will be Pete "NetDoc" Murray who is the owner, guru, The Chairman, and driving force behind ScubaBoard, one of the largest scuba-based chat boards, certainly in the U.S. and likely the world. Many of you may already be familiar with ScubaBoard but if you're not, they've got dozens and dozens of sub-forums where people post opinions, pose and answer questions, talk about travel, equipment, accidents, and many other topics. There's even a specific sub-forum that deals with Southern California diving. You don't have to join if you just want to lurk and read what others are saying, and if you want to join the conversation, you create a free account and off you go. It can really be a useful resource. Pete, who lives in Florida, will talk to us about how ScubaBoard got started, give you some ideas about how to best use the site, and will tell you about some improvements and tweaks that they're working on. And there will be time for Q&A once he's done with the main talk. Hope you can join us. Here's the link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84964815200?pwd=YTFEWG9uMGNVaWRjL0hIRTBSdUQxZz09

MISSING GIANT SEA BASS RECEIVER
- From Alyssa Clevenstine at CSULB: "I wanted to let everyone know that one of our Giant Sea Bass listening receivers at Goat Harbor has gone missing. There was quite a bit of data collected on this particular receiver, so we'd really like to get it back, no questions asked. Receivers are negatively buoyant and, as such, attached to a line with two orange floats. Each receiver has contact information should it be found, including Dr. Chris Lowe's email address and phone number at CSULB. This particular receiver seems to have disappeared from the float line it was attached to at Goat Harbor." If you know of its whereabouts, please contact Dr. Chris Lowe at CSULB: 562/985-4918 or chris.lowe@csulb.edu.

DOLPHINS SAVE MAN LOST IN THE OCEAN - You know how much I love a feel-good story and this is right up that alley. A man in Ireland, who had been stranded in the ocean for 12 hours, was saved when rescuers spotted the pod of dolphins that had surrounded him. Read about it here: DOLPHINS TO THE RESCUE.

QUICK REMINDER - Our Avalon trip for this month will be on Monday, September 27 instead of the 29th.

QUICK REMINDER #2 - We have ONE spot left in the co-ed triple for our presumed-to-be-fabulous-again Socorro trip March 11-20. Contact us if you're interested in snagging the final spot for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST - Our other feel-good story of the week concerns a local woman (and a Reef Seekers diver). Renee Capozzola was named "Underwater Photographer of the Year" recently (one of many awards she's received) and was featured last week in a TODAY show segment. (Renee will also be our Zoom Seekers speaker on November 9.) Here's a link to the segment (which starts with a 0:30 commercial that you can't skip): RENEE CAPOZZOLA ON TODAY.

And that'll do it for now. Hope you have a great week, and let's go diving soon!!!

- Ken
 

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