Vegas

So I promised to keep you posted on my progress...
I'll be quick though... as I have a stack of homework sitting next to me that I'm ignoring just long enough to post!

Have read the TDI books and am 90% through the D-SAT Tec Deep Diver book (I feel this book is about 1000% better than the TDI books - but there's info to gather from all of them, of course).

I've been through my first two classroom sessions.
(going over TDI and IANTD material, plus more)
and...well...
My first training in the pool...um...well, let's just say it was (not unexpectedly) a VERY humbling experience. LOL! OMG. What a mess! anyway...'nuff to say that I've improved considerably, I think. ....and my instructor's comment back on the boat (after training dives in the lake) on Sunday "You're starting to look like a tech diver!" really meant alot to me.

I've really been committed to making the investment of time, energy, and money, ...and have been blessed with an instructor that I have incredible respect for. ...all of it together is really paying off.

My (written) final exam is Friday...right after going over this homework that's sitting next to me waiting to be finished....but then we have several more training dives to do. (I'm lovin' it!)

I'm diving my beautiful pair of Faber LP85's (just right for my size) ...and with my SAC rate it seems I could just stay down for a week! LOL!

So far it's been alot of work - and I'm not even close to halfway there yet...but it's worth every minute of it, worth every penny I've spent (or "charged" - lol!), and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat!

I'm eating it up....can't get enough. ....And when it's tougher than I'd like? I just remember that people with great skill had to DEVELOP great skill - skill is not awarded as a gift. Skill takes work....

but an INCREDIBLE instuctor? Now THAT's a GIFT!

thanks!

__________________
-The power behind me is greater than the task before me.

MgicTwnger

I recently took "intro to tech"- TDI class w/a dive buddy who is a very
exacting teacher. I figure I need about a year to work on skills before I'm ready to go on. Very humbling.

__________________
I am not the one who needs mental help. I just need to vent.

Vegas

Class is going well.

We've completed the written material for D-SAT and TDI,
plus gone over IANTD material as well. Did several pages of homework, and took a killer final (written) exam. I did better than I thought I would!

With the pool session behind us (God I still hate to even think about that! - LOL!) and 3 training dives completed so far - I have to say the difference is amazing.
I'm doing much better now, but I task-load quick, so I know I need ALOT more practice. ....practice practice practice!!!

The plan on our last dive was 120' for 40 minutes. EAN30 back gas, EAN 50 for 28 minutes of deco.
OK....here's the funny part....no matter what I'd read, I still clung to the idea that I COULD NOT get bored under water. guess what?
I was wrong.

18 minutes at 20' is a suprisingly long time.... and I know it's just the beginning. lol!

I finally see the real use in those under-water mp3 players. I think I might look into getting one and uploading some books-on-tape episodes to them. LOL!
....or maybe one of those language classes....know anyone that's learned to speak french during their hang time?
....anyway.....

the more time I spend, fully equipped, down in the deep and dark, the more I LOVE it.

so there's no class this coming weekend, but I'm going do whatever it takes to get myself underwater practicing....
(only recreational profiles for now, of course)
I think going out and doing 3 to 6 LOOOONG, recreational dives this weekend, in full gear, practicing all I want to work on, would add alot to the progress I'm making.

I'll continue to keep you posted on my progress!

(it's funny how, once I started training, the actual # of dives I generally log in a month was so drastically reduced...but the amount of bottom time? Now that's a little different! - lol!)

__________________
-The power behind me is greater than the task before me.

justgroovy

lol @ learning french while you dive. that is some serious multi-tasking!

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Vegas

Ya....I'm really thinking some "books on tape" might be good...maybe like "the Hunt for Red October" or some other under-water novels....the mood will already be set, ya know?



anyone have any other titles to suggest? I know I could find some and download 'em... then I just have to pick up an MP3 player from the LDS.

__________________
-The power behind me is greater than the task before me.

justgroovy

the Latter Day Saints make MP3 players? Who knew?

Hmm, books on tape with underwater themes... I don't know that I have any recommendations. Hunt for Red October would be awesome though. ooooo How 'bout some of the Clive Cussler books? I think Dirk Pitt winds up underwater for at least a few chapters of each book.

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Vegas

LDS=Local Dive Shop... LOL!
...
I've read a bit of Clive Cussler...just enough to decide that I just don't care for Dirk Pitt as much as I thought I would - hahaha - oh well...who knows? I might like him better if he was being narrated to me at 20'. LOL!

I think If I am able to get one of those MP3 players...down the road when I'm trained and have some experience, where entertainment would be just that (rather than a distraction) ... I'll have no trouble poking around the library and finding plenty of things that I'd enjoy listening to.

__________________
-The power behind me is greater than the task before me.

Vegas

so my fellow student is out of the country this weekend (and the next also, I think) so I've no training dives scheduled.....

however, one of my buddies and I went out to our favorite near-by shore diving spot and did a few dives this weekend.

We did a couple of deep dives yesterday (max depth 118' for the day) and enjoyed the nice vis we get in Lake Mead this time of year.

We also set aside time today to do one dive primarily for me to work on some of my skills.

The more I dive in my doubles the better I feel in them...I have really fallen completely in love with my whole tech set-up.....the bp/w & harness, long hose, you know...all of it!!...and actually feel a bit naked without a deco bottle under my arm these days (now that's funny!)....

As for skills...I'm really comfortable handling my lift bag, and my great big DSMB (this generally shot with a finger spool). Valve shutdowns without losing my position in the water column are getting better too. I'm still needing to practice gas switching on my computer...it seems like my computer is a bit of a PIA for this - but really it's much more likely that I just need to practice more, until it becomes easy.
hmmmm....what else?

I've been told that my frog-kicks look really good (I have a lot of practice there)...but I believe I have a lot of work to do on "reverse" - lol! I can manage a little, but in my mind I imagine that I must look a bit like I'm going into an Ox-tox convulsion when I'm doing it, and my results leave alot to be desired at this point.

I can remove and replace my deco bottle "on the fly" without screwing up my buoyancy, in a single fluid motion MOST of the time now (not every time, but MOST of the time) ....

and what else? Just doing alot of practicing holding my position - just hovering - without moving a fin or a finger...and staying put...at 40', 30', 20', and 10' ....

I figure the more solid I can get on the basics the better off I'll be in class....when the gremlins come out....

you know...the gremlins that run off with your slate that has your deco schedule on it (better have those back ups!) ...the gremlins that come up and tell you it's time to give up your mask! (don't you have a spare in your pocket? ), the gremlins that may come and tell you in so much sign language...sorry, honey,...the bladder in your wing is not going to work for you now....find another answer! LOL!

yup...want to be solid in my basics....because it's been made clear to me that my instructor (who I swear ALWAYS seems to have a blacked-out mask with him EVERYWHERE we go...and is ALWAYS ready to trade one of us that mask for the one we're wearing) is going to make sure I earn my certs.

Other tech instructors in the area have said things to me (sounding much like a warning) such as " You KNOW he's going to work you VERY VERY hard, don't you?...VERY VERY hard!"..... I just smiled, and said thank you...all the while thinking "and THAT is EXACTLY why I chose HIM." (and why I feel SO LUCKY that he was willing to take me as a student.)

So thanks for reading my looong looooong posts! - LOL! I hope someone is enjoying the play by play of "the training of Vegas"! ....

__________________
-The power behind me is greater than the task before me.

justgroovy

I love the play by play! Maybe you can some how tape a video camera on your head so I can see some of this stuff for myself!

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Vegas

probably won't have any video any time soon
unless my instructor has been filming us without our noticing! LOL! I do know that he took a couple of pictures of us in the water (from the boat) on our first training dives out at the lake....I hope I don't look as nervous as I felt right at that moment - lol!

I am loving my training...and I am hoping to get a picture of me in my doubles soon....I'd love to post it so you all can see me!

__________________
-The power behind me is greater than the task before me.