First, good for you wanting to learn more about your equipment and be a better/safer diver.
However, for someone with "a flexible schedule" you certainly have a lot of restrictions on when you are available. Most divers I know would rather dive all day once they've gone to the trouble of gathering up their gear and going out diving, as opposed to your desire to only spend 2-3 hours at a time.
It really sounds like your best bet is to commit the time and spend it with a dive club where, in my opinion, you have the best opportunity to learn from others.
And honestly, it seems rather selfish to want someone else to volunteer their time to help you when you sound like you aren't willing to commit more time.
I also see your posts from 2013 & 2014 about buying new equipment and having just been certified. In the last 3 years you've only done 2 or 3 dives? (how do you not know exactly how many when it is so few I wonder)
Maybe its just me but something smells fishy here.
1) Anyone who lives in GTA knows how horrible traffic is at peek times. If you want to dive by lakeshore and parklawn, meeting up during traffic means you're putting an extra 1 hour + on the commute which can be better spent. As an example.
2) Fogest said it best, do you think I want to sit around because you and your friends want to have a bbq and take your sweet time? I've dove with a club a couple times and I said enough is enough, meet time is 9 AM, I get there early so no one is waiting for me. Then we wait because 9 AM doesn't mean 9 AM, a hour and change after, we get into the water, 3 certification dives and it's break time. From break time we are waiting until an afternoon group arrives for some extra dives. How is this desirable? I'd rather not spend hours in traffic coming back from Barrie because the majority of people like to make this a day trip. I want to practice as much diving as I can, so when I go away I can comfortably swim with the fish and not spend half the time bouncing off the floor.
3) At no point was I suggesting someone come and 'volunteer' their time. There are plenty of new divers getting their OW on a regular that I assumed someone else might be in a similar situation as me and wants to get some more practice locally on a regular. That's the biggest reason why I haven't spent that much time diving over the last few years, diving with clubs is too time consuming when you're busy. Furthermore it doesn't matter if I have to pay for someone to dive with me to get some more experience, I'm strapped for time because I work plenty.
4) Stop making silly conclusions without any evidence. You're not a detective, if you want to know something about me feel free to ask. It's not like I can't scan my log book, or give you my pedi #, or my club number and my license.
5) Was I asking about a blader and back plate? Sort of like the one in the picture I took last night. Was it a steel plate?
https://s21.postimg.io/qujfjcq53/20160901_011026.jpg
Finally, why are you even replying without anything to contribute besides ur opinion and useless advice that I mentioned in my OP i'm not interested in spending all day with a dive club?
I understand the not wanting to wait around. I could get a couple dives in within a couple hours, whereas if I go dive with one of the Toronto clubs you're looking at spending at least 3-4 hours to get in the same amount of diving. Not only is it because they dity dadle more, but they also will dive square profiles off tables and have much more surface time than computers even on conservative modes. When I go out somewhere and spend a couple hours driving, I want to get in my planned dives and get home ASAP so that I can use the rest of my day for other things.
I don't mind chatting while getting ready and gearing up, but I don't care to sit for an hour talking for no real reason. So I can see where he is coming from. This is why I have been avoiding some club dives and more focussing on diving with local groups of people who organize events. No politics and rules that official clubs adhere too.
Also, I would not necessarily say a club is any better to learn from. I have seen some bad practices and old methods being taught. Ex: Give the tanks knob a turn back after opening.
However I do agree that this post is a little fishy.
That's what it comes down to Fogest, I'm fine with committing to spending time for a new hobby. I was doing my navigation dives certifications, I got home at 4 PM after arriving at 8:30 AM in Barrie to just do the dives required for my certification. It's not a reasonably way to acquire proficiency at diving. When I looked at the time vs diving spent, I put it aside because it's not practical. Now I've had this gear for a while and barley any dives, I've realized my reluctance for diving is the time commitment for some basic experience. I don't want to go try some advance dives when I have a handful of dives behind my belt. So I figured I'd give the forms a shot and see if I can find people in a similar situation that want to get some simple practice in before winter arrives. I can PM you my dive log/padi card/divers license if you want to take a look to confirm that I'm not some sort of "shady" person.