A peeve but an important one - 20m is NOT 60ft!

[Hoomi]

All very true, I knew that reference wouldn't last long without it being pointed out, but whaddya gonna do? I'm bored.

Also, thought about sub service, but I know some of the guys who build those things so I went Air Force. And ended up a crewmember in a plane with no parachutes. Maybe I should've gone Navy after all.

When I was a kid, I wanted to join the Navy and go into the Sub service, mostly because I loved the TV show Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and thought that ALL submarines had big picture windows in the front.

Boy, was I bummed when I learned they didn't. The Navy didn't stand a chance of recruiting me after that let-down. I joined the Air Force and learned electronic maintenance and repair. At least airplanes have windows in the front.

 

[Guba]

My four year old granddaughter recently attended a "fish rodeo" in which children win prizes for the biggest fish, etc...(which are promptly released). She was so excited! She WON a tacklebox (which she immediately renamed a "treasure box") and a minnow net (now a "butterfly net").

The point? In order to make them sound more impressive, the fish were measured in millimeters...hers was a whopping 138 mm, and I'm certain that sounded a lot better to her than "about five inches".

I thought her exuberance when telling me the results was charming...but then, I'm a totally biased grandfather.

 

[Kingpatzer]

20 meters = 833.3 mon

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I am amazed when I discuss lawn herbicide sprays with friends, suggesting a 1-2% mix of 43% Glyphosate on bare ground or dormant grass with winter weeds, or a 1-2% mix of other chemicals (I start with farm strength on 2-4-D but dilute it to about 8% before I dive it to them) and they ask: "So how much do I mix in a gallon? A pint?" Now I just give them a 2 ounce measure and tell them to use that.

... that probably explains how I managed to kill my lawn this past year ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TMHeimer]

Knowing which system you're in is very important. Not like all those Americans who think 100kmh is 100 Kanadian Miles per Hour. On a serious note, when I was small and said to mom that 3 minutes wasn't very long she always said "It is if you're hanging by your neck".

 

[DandyDon]

Not like all those Americans who think 100kmh is 100 Kanadian Miles per Hour.

I did that once west of Montreal headed for Thousands Islands - nice hiway, 70 mph, wondering why I was passing so many, wondering what 90 kph was in American, then finally got my speedometer changed to kph. :shocked2:

But south of Playa del Carmen, the kph signs are just suggestions. I was getting passed by everyone until I blew off the signs.

Coming back into PDC, they run cop cars with flashing lights as they know that everyone is ignoring the signs but they really need drivers to slow down before they get into town.

 

[RJP]

As an aside to the whole "metric vs imperial" thing, I'll provide this little anecdote:

Last year I had occasion to spend back-to-back weeks on the Truk Odyssey, so on the first day of Week 2 I was already on board as the other passengers boarded. Everyone was setting up their gear and such, and I was regarded as "the experienced guy" so everyone was asking me questions about this and that.

One guy - a German fellow - was setting his regs up and asked me what kind of fills were typical.

Me: "Pretty good, I never got a fill below 3000PSI."
He: "Oh, uh, um, my computer is in BAR."
Me: "That's 206+ then...
He: "Thanks."
Me: "But you know...the guy sitting there last week was American, so those tanks are full of PSI. You should drain them and make sure the crew refills them with BAR."

Well I guess an off-handed joke, in another language, from someone you believe to be "the voice of experience" just goes over some folks heads. Because this guy diligently drained a set of double-80's all the way down, and then mentioned to the crew that they needed to be re-filled with BAR. And he was diligent. I mean, he watched the crew guy hook up the whip and fill the tanks. And when they were filled he immediately put his regs on the tank and checked the reading. And was quite happy to find that - based on his computer's LCD display - the tanks were now indeed filled with BAR.

Took until about the third day for him to stop pestering whichever crew member was filling his tanks, gently reminding them "Bitte, Bitte! BAR. BAR. Danke!"

 

[spectrum]

Not to mention the effect of high or low sea salinity on the water density and hence pressure at that depth

You really are kidding, right?

 

[RJP]

I don't mind so much the depth rounding but whenever I go to the Caribbean and ask for Y KG and they give me 2 x Y LB that just doesn't work! :depressed:

Wait... You ask for what, 3kgs and expect 6.6lbs?

2 3's then shave the rest from a block of lead?

I'm glad you find it so amusing but I know my weighting spot on for each configuration I dive so rounding down definitely doesn't work.

Reminds me of the time I was diving on a boat in the Channel Islands. After our first dive I happened to overhear an instructor telling his student and the dive boat crew that he needed to change lead out in order to reduce his ballast. He was pretty ticked they didn't have any one pound weights on the boat, because "it's critical to really dial your buoyancy in precisely."

The student was in awe, and asked his Jedi-like instructor how he was able to determine his needs with such specificity..."you can really feel the difference of a single pound?"

Obi Wan's response?

"Well, of course. With enough experience you can really go by feel; you can just sense it. Now, you probably didn't notice when we made our initial descent... but I crashed into the bottom much harder than usual..."


:shocked2:

 

[DandyDon]

Has anyone ever seen a boat with one pound weights? If any ever had any, I doubt that they lasted long. I've always carried a couple on trips, but now that I lost my Elite status with Continental - will be cutting back.