Stuff!

Scariness abounds! Tentatively I’m having both eyes done on 27th. First to be done first thing - 8am (so that’s what, a 5am train??!), and very much subject to check up 6 hours later, the other at 4pm. The hint of a problem, possibility of infection, rejection or eye being slow to adjust and the second eye will be rescheduled.
Chris and I went on an O2 course on Sat and are now qualified to administer oxygen to divers involved in diving incidents. So if you’re a snorkeler involved in a diving incident then tough. Having on a previous course demonstrated that I could do mouth to mouth/nose brilliantly but only just scrape through chest compressions, I managed on Saturday to demonstrate an inability to even locate the mouth, however my chest compressions were much better. Chris, however, was the only person on the course to score a perfect 100%. We could have all got an extra brownie point if any of us had thought to actually call for an ambulance.
On Sunday we went to DiverSE, a BS-AC conference where we fully expected to do a lot of snoring as deadly dull procedures and DO It Right enthusiasts pontificated at length. However, apart from me running out of steam halfway through the afternoon, we spent the whole day bright eyed and bushy tailed as almost all speakers were very entertaining. Highlights…
We had Mike Stevens from BDMLR (the people that rescued the whale from the Thames) who gave an exceptionally entertaining presentation where he translated the media’s attempts at explaining what was going on, into what was *actually* going on. The classic being the ‘laying on of hands’ bit. They were actually keeping their hands warm… I’m serious… honest…
Welsh Nutcase. I mean, Martyn Farr. Who is an expert (whoops! Can’t use that word!) leading cave diver. Short bouncy chap with far too much energy for any day of the week let alone a Sunday. I always thought cave diving was pootling along underwater and finding holes in reefs and cliffs to explore, but no! Well, yes, but also no. These guy go spelunking in places like Wookee(sp?) Hole and walk/climb/slide through cliffs over underground lakes and scaling walls with large quantities of ropes and cylinders so that they can go and dive in the (rather deep) puddles at the bottom of the caves. Or half way up them, or whatever. This includes diving through gaps that are just a couple of feet high. He spent the entire time trying to persuade us he wasn’t nuts, but a bouncy welsh person a Sunday morning really wasn’t going to succeed with that. We did laugh an awful lot though.
And Jack Ingles, expert (damn that word again, not allowed! Something to do with ex = has been + spert = useless drip) leading technical diver. Who tried to persuade us that diving to great depths with many cylinders for a couple of hours really is worth the four hours you have to spend hanging on a trapeze a few metres under the boat staring at the next persons backside. Need a bit more convincing on that one. Especially the bit about needing adult nappies.

There were other speakers who were very entertaining also, but I think I’ve bored you silly enough. Tomorrow I have the LSC thing at which I fully expect to be catching up on sleep.