November 2009

Thanks to Jim Lima for hosting the October potluck. I was unable to attend due to my Whittier duties. Lisa said the Caribbean Shrimp was great.

Well, I haven’t been diving for about 5 weeks now. On our last excursion to Seward I pulled my low back out. The next weekend I exacerbated it by helping Lisa with a class in Whittier. I have been down and out ever since. Lisa has been driving my Miata most of the time since I have been under the weather. I could get in it, but couldn’t get out. She sure looked cute driving it. Today I took it up to the garage at John & Joyce’s house and parked it for the winter. I will visit it several times between now and spring!

This bout with my back has sure opened my eyes to aging in America. My regular Osteopath refused to help me because I am now on Medicare. Even though I have primary insurance through Lisa’s company doctors still have to bill at the Medicare rate by Federal mandate. I spent two weeks trying to find another Osteopath or Chiropractor who would help me. None of them will do Medicare patients. Finally a friend in Whittier referred me to Dr. Henderson, a chiropractor right across the street from Sunshine Sports. Although he no longer accepts new Medicare patients he agreed to help me out. He has been great. My back is finally healing and hopefully I will be back in the water soon. It has been a long 5 weeks. The moral of the story is: Don’t get old in America, especially if the new health care plan makes it into law. After 65 you are obsolete!

Since I have nothing about diving to report I will turn this over to Lisa. She is still young and actively diving! Until next time Dive Safe, Dive often and whatever you do Dive In Beautiful Alaska!!!!!

Lisa’s

      Corner

Greetings fellow divers and friends. It has indeed been a difficult 5 weeks for Jerry and his back. He has had many days of pain and suffering not being able to drive the Miata! I, on the other hand, have done my best to keep the little red car from being lonely and got rather used to cruising around town in it. Fortunately Jerry recovered enough to drive it a few days before we put it up for the winter.

I have to thank Jerry from the bottom of my heart for helping with the class when he was not really well and then setting himself back weeks in his recovery. I had 6 students and except for Terry Drake, who is still a Dive Master candidate, no help. Jerry stepped in and paid the price. This has really driven home for me how lacking we are in certified Dive Masters and Instructors who are available to participate regularly. Colin Rust is a fantastic Dive Master and friend. He is always ready and willing to lend a hand, but as many of you know he and Gail have been sidelined with the illness of Gail’s son Michael who is suffering with cancer. Not having Colin with me in the pool and open water is like not having my right arm. I hope you will all join us in willing them your good wishes and prayers.

Carla Bassler is starting to get more active using her Instructor skills and is working with me when she can. I love Carla and having her on board is fantastic. But with Colin being sidelined and no other active Dive Masters I really see where we are lacking and hope that I can count on a bit more involvement out of our other Dive Masters and maybe a few more candidates that are interested in joining he program.

A few weeks back Lou  & Carla Bassler along with Mike Hurst joined me for a few dives. I was finishing up Lauren Magiera’s class. Lauren and I had set out for her certification the weekend before, but that Typhoon that blew in from Japan played havoc with the visibility and we had just a few feet on Saturday which along with Colin on one side of her and I on the other we dived. But on Sunday it was even worse so we postponed.

Lauren was just thrilled with the beautiful critters and stuff she saw that following week. She is all ready to continue diving and with her skills I would just love to see that.

Honestly if you have not been diving in the cove lately you should. I think Lou and Mike (who have not dived in several months) will attest to the increase in critters, both in species and amount of fish. The artificial reef is really bringing in so much more life.

My last two classes at Sunshine Sports have really had some excellent divers that embraced the sport and look like they will continue to dive here. In fact Scott Ihrig from our October class is coming down to fun dive this weekend and I must say he is most excited about it. His wife is going to certify after the first of the year and then they are doing their Advanced. I have 7 in my current class and 6 are going to open water. This next class, which starts the 17th and finishes Dec. 20, is filling up. It’s the time of year for warm water vacations and divers itching to learn!

Our Christmas potluck is at Lou & Carla Bassler’s home and will be December 9. We will have the annual Chinese Auction so start thinking about those scuba related gifts in the 20-dollar range. We are going to be looking for host houses for January, February and March dinners so if you would like to volunteer please let me know.

In the meantime our next potluck is being hosted by John Bush. I did a private class for John about 2 years ago now and he had the potluck about a year back. He has an awesome house overlooking Potter Marsh and the inlet and sure knows how to throw a dinner. His buddy and now roommate and also a former private student Orion Harger will be co-hosting. It will be Wednesday November 18 starting anytime after 5:30. As always bring a dish, friends or family and come on over and swap stories.

Well that is all my news for now. Hope you all have had a great month and hope to see you soon both above and below the water - Lisa