The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Recently, Amigo's Dive Center in Ft White had a six year anniversary. It was GREAT. They had a wonderful deal on air as well as most everything that wasn't nailed down. They even had a "Sale Boat" that was filled with all sorts of specials. Mselenaous and I spent the weekend up there eating Wayne's food, breathing Wayne's air and enjoying diving the caves without the stress of being in a class. To top it off, we were going to swim with the manatees on the way home. Sounds like a plan!
Our first thing was to meet up with MarkSM, a good friend. I had failed to bring a dolly for my sidemount tanks so Mark brought this garden cart made by Rubbermaid. To be sure, I was unimpressed as I loaded it onto the back of my truck. But we were off to Peacock Spring. To say the least it was a great dive with a few pre-dive shenanigans. I ended up putting my bottles on four times, taking them off three to help my buddies. That's OK, I needed the practice (that's my story, anyway). So off to jump in. As I get there, I am suddenly winded. It's been a while since I carried this much weight this far. Maybe I should reconsider Mark's little cart. I finally arrive and had to sit down. It only takes a couple of secs to get my wind back and I stand up. Unfortunately, two side mounters had leaned their tanks up against the seat about ten feet away. The vibration starts the tanks slowly rolling, then falling and one even bounces down the steps and kersplash. I am taking my tanks off one more time as my buddies dive for the tank that splashed. Rly? This is getting to be a lot of work. Unperturbed, I get the tank back up the steps and the other divers have made it back (after hearing the noise) and secure their tanks. I put on my fins mask and one more time I attach my tanks. I waddle down to the water and splash. The rest of the dive is simply fun and awesome. However, when I get back out Mark does not use his cart, so I do. Wait, mselenaous' doubles are here too, so I load them up. I'm thinking I should make two trips, but I'll try this first. WHOA. That's the easiest I have ever had a cart work. Ever. Rly. I'm now impressed with this garden cart. So, we dive a couple more days, party a couple more days and have more fun. I have fallen in love with Mark's little garden cart and Mark says when I am done diving, to just leave it at Amingos. Sounds like a plan, so we stop off in the early afternoon, the day after the party and do just that.
The next morning we are in Crystal River Fl and expecting to meet Mark @ 6:00. Elena's phone develops a sudden need to call me at three in the morning. O Rly? I look at who is calling me and am suddenly worried. I turn over, but Elena's right there. I cancel the call and try to go back to sleep. A few minutes later, my phone rings again. Ya, Rly? It's Elena again, but she hasn't moved an inch. I kill the phone again. On the third call I am thinking "No wai!" I get up, find her phone and turn it off. Now it's 3:30 in the am and I am completely up. I try to read myself to sleep on my tablet's Kindle app. No good. Well, five comes and I hop out of bed and go get the rest of my stuff together. Wet suit, boots, socks, one fin... where the hell is my other fin? Everything in the back of the truck comes out and goes back in a couple of times. Elena and I head to breakfast and Mark shows up. He looks. Elena looks. I look. Only one fin. I make a decision to let the two of them do the dive without me. Heck, the last time I went the Save the Manatee peeps kept pushing me back in, and Elena has never done this. We drive a couple of minutes south and Mark parks his car. I park next to him. I help Elena and Mark get into the water. I wait and read for about an hour and then I head to the hotel to shower and change. I get back and read/wait some more. Finally I see a single snorkel doing a very familiar frog kick come back down the canal. Elena has somehow lost Mark in the herd of manatee but her dry suit has leaked and she is cold. We wait another thirty minutes for Mark to decide he's had enough. They are both stoked about how many manatees and how funny the tourists on the boats were.
Mark then goes to get his key in it's hidey place. It's not there. I check it. It's not there. I get on the ground and look around the wheel as best I can. We can't find his key. I check the bushes, the path to the canal and Mark even asks the local businesses if they had keys turned in: negative. I postulate that the keys may have either been locked in the car or slipped off the tire into the suspension. Since we can't see them sticking out, Mark calls in AAA to send a locksmith. He opens the car only to find absolutely no keys. The rental company wants to charge him $650 to tow the car to Orlando and make a new key. I drive Mark to my hotel room to shower and change. We have emptied the contents of his car into my truck because he thinks the keys may have been stolen. As we pull into the lot I muse, "I wonder if it's still here?" Mark tells me how unfunny that was and he's right. The car is still there. Yay. Mark calls AAA again. The driver comes and pulls the car onto the flatbed. Mark asks the guy to let him look once more and with the car up in the air... yeppers... he spots the key. While we have lost a couple of hours, he is not out any cash and he doesn't have to go to Orlando and back. YAY x100!
It was at this point I realized where my fin was. I bet it was in the garden cart I left at Amingos. I call Wayne and he doesn't even say hello, only "I'm looking at it". "Are you really?" "Yes, I am." "Can you send it to me in Key Largo?" Sure. So a couple of days later I got my fin in the mail... with a few goodies. Here's a pic:
Thanks Wayne! I am indebted to you for this. I even liked your Riddle.
Our first thing was to meet up with MarkSM, a good friend. I had failed to bring a dolly for my sidemount tanks so Mark brought this garden cart made by Rubbermaid. To be sure, I was unimpressed as I loaded it onto the back of my truck. But we were off to Peacock Spring. To say the least it was a great dive with a few pre-dive shenanigans. I ended up putting my bottles on four times, taking them off three to help my buddies. That's OK, I needed the practice (that's my story, anyway). So off to jump in. As I get there, I am suddenly winded. It's been a while since I carried this much weight this far. Maybe I should reconsider Mark's little cart. I finally arrive and had to sit down. It only takes a couple of secs to get my wind back and I stand up. Unfortunately, two side mounters had leaned their tanks up against the seat about ten feet away. The vibration starts the tanks slowly rolling, then falling and one even bounces down the steps and kersplash. I am taking my tanks off one more time as my buddies dive for the tank that splashed. Rly? This is getting to be a lot of work. Unperturbed, I get the tank back up the steps and the other divers have made it back (after hearing the noise) and secure their tanks. I put on my fins mask and one more time I attach my tanks. I waddle down to the water and splash. The rest of the dive is simply fun and awesome. However, when I get back out Mark does not use his cart, so I do. Wait, mselenaous' doubles are here too, so I load them up. I'm thinking I should make two trips, but I'll try this first. WHOA. That's the easiest I have ever had a cart work. Ever. Rly. I'm now impressed with this garden cart. So, we dive a couple more days, party a couple more days and have more fun. I have fallen in love with Mark's little garden cart and Mark says when I am done diving, to just leave it at Amingos. Sounds like a plan, so we stop off in the early afternoon, the day after the party and do just that.
The next morning we are in Crystal River Fl and expecting to meet Mark @ 6:00. Elena's phone develops a sudden need to call me at three in the morning. O Rly? I look at who is calling me and am suddenly worried. I turn over, but Elena's right there. I cancel the call and try to go back to sleep. A few minutes later, my phone rings again. Ya, Rly? It's Elena again, but she hasn't moved an inch. I kill the phone again. On the third call I am thinking "No wai!" I get up, find her phone and turn it off. Now it's 3:30 in the am and I am completely up. I try to read myself to sleep on my tablet's Kindle app. No good. Well, five comes and I hop out of bed and go get the rest of my stuff together. Wet suit, boots, socks, one fin... where the hell is my other fin? Everything in the back of the truck comes out and goes back in a couple of times. Elena and I head to breakfast and Mark shows up. He looks. Elena looks. I look. Only one fin. I make a decision to let the two of them do the dive without me. Heck, the last time I went the Save the Manatee peeps kept pushing me back in, and Elena has never done this. We drive a couple of minutes south and Mark parks his car. I park next to him. I help Elena and Mark get into the water. I wait and read for about an hour and then I head to the hotel to shower and change. I get back and read/wait some more. Finally I see a single snorkel doing a very familiar frog kick come back down the canal. Elena has somehow lost Mark in the herd of manatee but her dry suit has leaked and she is cold. We wait another thirty minutes for Mark to decide he's had enough. They are both stoked about how many manatees and how funny the tourists on the boats were.
Mark then goes to get his key in it's hidey place. It's not there. I check it. It's not there. I get on the ground and look around the wheel as best I can. We can't find his key. I check the bushes, the path to the canal and Mark even asks the local businesses if they had keys turned in: negative. I postulate that the keys may have either been locked in the car or slipped off the tire into the suspension. Since we can't see them sticking out, Mark calls in AAA to send a locksmith. He opens the car only to find absolutely no keys. The rental company wants to charge him $650 to tow the car to Orlando and make a new key. I drive Mark to my hotel room to shower and change. We have emptied the contents of his car into my truck because he thinks the keys may have been stolen. As we pull into the lot I muse, "I wonder if it's still here?" Mark tells me how unfunny that was and he's right. The car is still there. Yay. Mark calls AAA again. The driver comes and pulls the car onto the flatbed. Mark asks the guy to let him look once more and with the car up in the air... yeppers... he spots the key. While we have lost a couple of hours, he is not out any cash and he doesn't have to go to Orlando and back. YAY x100!
It was at this point I realized where my fin was. I bet it was in the garden cart I left at Amingos. I call Wayne and he doesn't even say hello, only "I'm looking at it". "Are you really?" "Yes, I am." "Can you send it to me in Key Largo?" Sure. So a couple of days later I got my fin in the mail... with a few goodies. Here's a pic:
Thanks Wayne! I am indebted to you for this. I even liked your Riddle.
![3706-D-Platinum-Evergreen[1]1.jpg](http://www2.rubbermaidcommercialproducts.com/mc_images/product/thumbnail/3706-D-Platinum-Evergreen[1]1.jpg)
