Chazzjoh:
You know you're a beginner when you get so excited about going diving on a saturday morning that wake up at the crack of dawn and scurry out the door on the way to the dive shop to meet your buddies leaving all your carefully packed gear at home in your living room still in the bin you use to stow it.... man was I embarrassed. And NEVER will I tease someone about forgetting a mask/fins/ anything.
I know I'm new because I am so meticulous with my loading. I vacuum and clean the car BEFORE the trip. I put everything in the night before, checking my list as I gather gear, as I haul it downstairs, again as I load it, again after I load it, again the next morning, and yet again if for any reason I am stopped ont he way to the site (picking up dive buddy, gas, bathroom break, etc.) I lay in bed thinking "mask. snorkel....notthatitmatters....fins? both of them? I'll go check! ok, bothof those. wetsuit? Hm, I think so. regs? toolkit? did I put the voltmeter back in there yet? bc! Oh wait, got that. light? hm, three of those. what about an emergency strobe? ah, it's a spring dive, probably won't need it. computer? dive table
s (I have three of them)?? Kitchen sink...now where did I put that?"
I'm sure in another year, I won't be meticulously loading bins, I won't care if the tank isn't positioned perfectly. There will be no more checklist. I will sleep just fine thenight before. Heck, I probably will switch and wash the car when I get home, not when I'm leaving. And the parents willb e happy, I'll also stop taking the sink out of the kitchen with me on every dive. What can I say, works great to anchor a line to descend on!
(poke poke) 
