Off to enjoy some diving

This is not a rant or a political post but rather a simple rumination on the joys of diving in the Caribbean. We go to the Cayman Islands every August for the month (to be accurate; most of the month.) We shore dive because to boat dive is inexpressibly expensive and, to a large extent, boring. The Captain's job is to speed you out to a deep dive that lasts for about 20-30 minutes, bring you back aboard, dawdle off to a shallower spot (the time allows for full decompression) and then let you dive in 40-60 feet. Up you go and back to the dock, your two tank dive for $100 is over.

When we dive we get up ata civilized hour, have a light breakfast and then cogitate on where we want to go that day. We will be in the water around 1130 to 1200, dive to 50-60 feet, explore the reefs closely and an hour or so later surface. Off to lunch and then laze about the beach until Happy Hour.

If we want to we can wander over to a beach bar and join in with those 1 week types who are forcing gaiety and wearing the expensive shirts advertising their package dive tours with "STAFF" emblazoned on a sleeve.

Or better yet go and visit the divemasters and gals in the real spots. Drink Red Stripe and talk abut the big dives. Compare equipment and see if they have found any new areas or where they haven't been because of the weather. Much more fun.

Of course we also have a number of friends we can visit but they tend to look askance at us after a while so we don't press them too hard. Except to invite them to enjoy a dive or two with us or off to a nice restaurant. One of our friends usually knows where there is a wine tasting or two. Nice evening that.

And the end of August comes too quickly, but there is always next year.

Prez & the Lobbyists

I want to quote from Rich Galen's Mullings  column dated Friday, August 7th. The New York Times had an amazing front page story yesterday which I would have thought would have jumped to the top of every cable news cycle except for the Senate's confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The headline of the story was: "White House Affirms Deal on Drug Cost" by David Kirkpatrick. I want you to read the lead paragraph very slowly: Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion. Whoa! Check Please! How can the words "industry lobbyists" and "White House" be in the same sentence? We have been told - to the point of needing Compazine (an anti-nausea drug) - that this administration was, is, and will always be a lobbyist-free zone. And so it goes.  Every day, it would appear, we are seeing more and more of this man whom we elected without knowing a thing about him.  And what we are seeing is not what we want in a president.