Living the Dream

The dive count is rising; I'm now up to 77 logged dives. I made 4 dives on Saturday with Larry (the course director at Aaron's Dive Shop). He was taking me out to check out my dive skills and assess what sort of a diver I am. I've been to Shark's Cove in the past, but I never imagined that either of us could fit through such narrow caves and crevices. I would seriously be following him, see him go over a ledge, and then when I came to the ledge there would be no sign of him but a tiny hole in the rocks where he must have gone through. Although it sometimes took me off guard, I was thrilled he went everywhere he (of all people) did because otherwise I would think that those spaces were too small to get into.

On Sunday I went diving on the West side with a friend Sonny. I know him because he's a member of Conor's squadron (Meg is my cousin and Conor is her husband who's in the Marines). We went to a dive site called Electric Beach where the electric company uses sea water to cool their systems then puts the warm (but otherwise unchanged) salt water back into the ocean. The warm water attracts a multitude of marine life. There are so many fish there that I may have just as well been swimming in an aquarium. After a couple dives there we went to Turtle Shell where we saw a half dozen turtles. Of the group (what's a group of turtles called?), one particularly large one (maybe over 4ft long) had a significant chunk taken out of the back of its shell near its rear foot. I thought about worrying about sharks but then decided to just forget about it. After all, there was nothing I could do about it anyway.

On Monday I spent most of the day (8-6) in the dive shop in training. They're trying me out to see if I have what they're looking for. I think I did a great job for a beginner but only time and a hopefully happy phone call will tell. I'm expecting to hear from them very soon.

The final update is my ridiculous computer situation. I ordered a Dell laptop on May 28th and have been waiting for it ever since. I got a call this morning saying that I can either cancel the order or take the computer ... in pink. As much as I like being colorful, I was pretty set on my midnight blue laptop and decided to change the order. After more than an hour on the phone, I got a laptop re-made for me with considerable upgrades as well as a 100 dollar gift card. I suppose it pays off to live with Meg and get tips on how to get your way. The only downside is that I have to now wait until the 17th of July before I get it: almost 2 months since I ordered one. Dude, I'm getting a Dell...but not anytime soon.

Wow, this is going to be the first time since I arrived that I will be in bed after midnight.

Oh, one last thing: USA beat the #1 ranked Spanish team in the Confederations Cup semifinal!!!