Photo Meme for ladyelleth

[dawn_felagund]

Since I had to return my rental gear to the dive shop today, I photographed it all per the request of ladyelleth. The others are on their way within the next few days!

Taking the lead from sirielle, I have Photoshopped in comments indicating what you're looking at (since dive gear can look pretty mysterious to a non-diver) and explaining what's what for anyone who is interested. The only thing I couldn't photograph were the air tanks, which we returned yesterday. But that's one of the more boring items anyway.

Oh, and if you see strange numbers painted on the stuff...it's rental equipment! The wetsuits, BCD, gloves, hood, and regulator are all rental gear.

Comments

[tarion-anarore.livejournal.com]

I have come to the conclusion that it's not a worthwile activity if it doesn't involve awkward footwear! ;)

My show riding boots are rather strange to walk in, but oooohhhh so comfortable to ride in! Marching shoes, dog show shoes (yes, I have a pair of "dog show shoes")...They all involve special shoes!!

And your bathroom looks almost exactly the same as mine (though mine got "remodeled" so now we have green walls and different hardware, but I definitely used to have that same hardware on the faucets and stuff before!), only mirror-imaged. Crazy.

[dawn_felagund]

Well, being a freestyle rollerskater too, I understand awkward footwear! :^D

A person is not supposed to walk in fins, but sometimes, it is inevitable. Yesterday, we floated in the water to put on our fins, which was much easier than trying to climb over slippery rocks in clown shoes. :^P

Other odd footwear: I have cook's clogs designed specifically for working in the kitchen. However, they are some of the most comfortable shoes I own! (Though they have so much food on them...yech. They look like a biology experiment!)

I had marching band shoes too! Actually, I think I still do...somewhere.

Scuba diving involves special boots and fins, so that's twice the awkward footwear!

The only footwear required for writing is fluffy purple socks to keep my feetsies warm (since husbands never want to put on the heat until there's icicles on my nose!)

[tarion-anarore.livejournal.com]

Ski boots are also another thing not designed for walking. I felt like I was limping, but favoring both sides! (Until I rubbed off a chunk of my foot, thanks to the ill-fit).

My dog show shoes are rather comfortable. Their trick is that they have to be nice-ish looking AND you have to be able to run all over the place in them.

I am not sure if I still have my marching shoes...At one point I had two pairs, but I know I donated the black pair, since I never wore them (they were the ones for college band; my high school ones were white).

The heater is already on in my room. I hate central heating. I do however, have many pairs of fuzzy socks for writing!

[tarion-anarore.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you always have to root against My Teams don't you? ;P

_{(Ok, so I'm not that much of a Dallas fan, but whatever.)}

[dawn_felagund]

Yeah, I've never been too much of Dallas fan, for no reason really.

Now, though, I have reason: Terrell Owens.

Last summer, a certain Baltimore Ravens was looking to get a really good wide receiver to hopefully open up stupid Boller's passing game. TO was up for grabs, so they signed him but *cue whining* "He wanted to go play with Donovan McNabb! Wahwahwah!" *end whining*

The Ravens let him out of his contract...and well, we see how well it worked out with Donovan McNabb.

The guy's an asshole, and I will support no team that he plays for. And I'll support most any team that he dumps, so once he inevitably screws things up for the Cowboys like he's screwed the 49ers, Ravens, and Eagles, then maybe I'll like them more. ;)

[tarion-anarore.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah he is a dickhead. I've actually been anti-Cowboys for the oh-so-mature reason of spiting my brother. :P

[sinneahtes.livejournal.com]

Ooh, those are some slick fins! Though they're bringing back "fond" memories of whenever I'd accidentally put my head down too far to look at a fish, my snorkel would fill up, I'd freak out just enough to try to stand up, and forget I had these big extensions on my feet that just made me trip forward again. It's fun being graceful in the water until you get an annoying reminder you were born a terrestrial mammal! ;)

Heehee, I love those notes like "random towel" and "(bling bling)" :D

[dawn_felagund]

They're supposedly the most efficient fins available on the market, which is good for me because when we snorkeled at the continental shelf, I spent a lot of time fighting my fins and getting leg cramps. Bleh.

You'd like my snorkel too 'cause it's easily purged. ;)

[vana-tuivana.livejournal.com]

You and I have the same kind of hand soap. Also, that is one enormous watch. o.O

[dawn_felagund]

Hehe, it's a dive computer, so I could wear it as a watch but wouldn't. It's much too large! It also calculates all sorts of crazy things, and I suspect that it is so large to make it easier to read while underwater and hampered by a ton of equipment. :^P

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

KEWL!!!!!!!

You guys and my brother would have a total conversation while I sat and appeared confused.

[dawn_felagund]

Is your brother a diver, I assume? :^D

It's not as complicated as it all appears. I am the most tech-inept person I know, but it didn't take long for me to catch on.

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

Brother is a firefighter/paramedic/lifeflight/underwater rescue guy, so yes, he's a diver... I be so proud of him!

[dawn_felagund]

That is so awesome! You should be proud of him! That's quite an accomplishment.

I hope to take Rescue Diving someday, but even that's just the beginning to do what he does. I know that I would never have the fortitude for it.

[ssotknapsack.livejournal.com]

You should get those gloves back to MI-5 (British CIA) before they miss them and come after you. :-P

Love the photos and the descriptions ("random towel" and "bling bling" especially). Very cool!

[dawn_felagund]

You should get those gloves back to MI-5 (British CIA) before they miss them and come after you.

Hee! Good thing I've got a hubby in tight with the intell community! :^D

Love the photos and the descriptions ("random towel" and "bling bling" especially). Very cool!

Thanks! I wasted a great chunk of time doing them, but it was tremendous fun to play in Photoshop! 8^B

[ssotknapsack.livejournal.com]

I envy your Photoshop skills; I'm still stuck using MS Paint (seriously). Did you use PS to make the graphics and banners on the Nautilus's LJ user-info page? They are lovely. *Drools*

[dawn_felagund]

Yes, I did! Though it took hours to figure out how to do it!

(Hey, are you bringing your laptop when you come over? If so, I can yoink dad's open license copy of PS and Illustrator. I can always have a convenient data loss.... >:^D)

[ssotknapsack.livejournal.com]

I'm not, actually (we didn't really see a reason, and with all the security stuff it would just be an extra headache, especially if I suddenly couldn't carry it as hand luggage). Can you burn it onto a CD/DVD instead, maybe? I loooove to have PS. *Big ole grin*

[atanwende.livejournal.com]

Haha. I love your comments. Evil ouchies, though.

I think I would never feel comfortable doing scuba diving. I mean, it sounds fascinating, but all that technical stuff would freak me out, I fear. ;)

[dawn_felagund]

Evil ouchies, though.

Indeed! An being blood-injury phobic, I have trouble looking at my own knuckles. *shakes head at self*

I think I would never feel comfortable doing scuba diving. I mean, it sounds fascinating, but all that technical stuff would freak me out, I fear. ;)

I am probably the most mechanically inept person around. Honestly, the first time I tried to put gas in my car by myself, I messed it up and the attendant had to come out and reset the machine. *facepalm* As further evidence of this fact, all but the last time I had to do it, I put my regulator on my scuba tank backwards. Luckily, that is easy to notice since, when you turn on the tank, you can hear the air leaking. *facepalm again*

So despite the fact that it does sound very mechanical and scary, most of the stuff has been constructed to be idiot-proof. Not that I'm saying that you're an idiot, but some of us are. *points to self* ;) And it's one of those things like driving a car that seems so hard at first but gets easier each time after until it's automatic. Though I've had two divemasters now console me "not to worry about my buoyancy too much because it takes 20 to 30 dives to master that." Yeah, I've got a long way to go!

[atanwende.livejournal.com]

Honestly, the first time I tried to put gas in my car by myself, I messed it up and the attendant had to come out and reset the machine. *facepalm*

Oh, that's nothing really. Only recently I got confused about the side the gas goes in in my mother's car and had to haul the tube all around the truck. Not before I've asked a police-men who've commited apparently the same fault about the fact if the thing was long enough, though. ;-P

[ladyelleth.livejournal.com]

Sorry I took so long to comment! *hangs head in shame* - But... you deserve a BIG FAT THANK YOU! For taking photos of everything! I'm just so blown away by how much equipment there actually is... I have fins and know how weird it is to walk in them, but the rest... neoprene suits I know of, but the rest... wow. Of course there was bound to be some technical stuff, but stupid little me wouldn't have believed how much. I thought about taking a diving class at University (which was the first reason for asking to see pictures of your stuff), but I think I just changed my mind! Equipment there would be provided, but... no. I'm a technophobe, for the most part, and I'd be so scared to break any of it...

[ladyelleth.livejournal.com]

And this probably was the least intelligent comment you ever got. Well... shows how blown away I am. ;)

[dawn_felagund]

Nah, it was completely coherent. ;)

Oh, and to give you an idea: It would take about ten minutes to get completely geared up to dive in the pool, including putting on the half-wetsuit. That's not bad at all!

[dawn_felagund]

Sorry I took so long to comment! *hangs head in shame*

No head-hanging! *makes hott Elves walk by until you look up again* ;)

I had so much fun with this post; please don't worry about taking a few days to comment. I don't expect people to be online every day *cough* like me *coughcough*

But... you deserve a BIG FAT THANK YOU! For taking photos of everything!

You're more than welcome! I really had fun with it. :)

I'm just so blown away by how much equipment there actually is...

Yes, there's a lot! Most of it is small stuff, though, and a lot of it is optional in certain situations. Like I would not be wearing two wetsuits in warm water! I might also leave off the gloves and hood. There are BCDs that hold weights, so the weight belt isn't always required either.

I thought about taking a diving class at University (which was the first reason for asking to see pictures of your stuff), but I think I just changed my mind! Equipment there would be provided, but... no. I'm a technophobe, for the most part, and I'd be so scared to break any of it...

One day, we were at practice at the pool, and I was trying unsuccessfully to attach my tank to my BCD inflator. There's a little switch that you push to connect the two, and I could not get mine to connect. The divemaster came over to help me and did it in a jiffy. "You have to push really hard," he said, and I said that I was afraid of breaking it, and he told me, "Eh. Don't worry about that. You can be as rough as you need to be with this stuff."

And it's true! It is all very heavy-duty, and things are made now so that if they break, they aren't likely to be dangerous if it happens while you're underwater.

So, if the equipment is really all that daunts you, I would say to go for it! You'll be taught how to use all of the equipment, and it is really, really hard to mess it up. It looks a lot more complex in the pictures than when you get to hold the gear in your hands and learn what each little thing does (aside from my silly descriptions, of course!) I am terrible with mechanical stuff, and--aside from putting my regulator on the tank backwards every time except once--I found it all a breeze to learn. :) And the PADI system has you practicing and practicing before you get into the open water.

And once you're in the water, you forget that you have most of it on at all. It becomes really light and the awkwardness of the fins goes away.

So, yes, take diving if you can! If you love the water, you'll love it!