Re: Run silent, run deep
Beej and I have decided that our hobbies aren’t expensive enough, so we’re going to get our scuba open water certification this weekend.
I grew up spending a lot of time either on or in the ocean, and my uncle is a very good underwater photographer, so it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.
Scuba gear is very cool looking, and there’s something really appealing swimming around in a skin-tight wet suit wearing a knife strapped to my thigh like Ursula Andress in “Dr. No”. But of course, Scuba diving isn’t all about fashion; it’s a serious sport with serious considerations.
I have a 240-page book I had to read full of information on the care and selection of equipment, skills necessary for scuba, and how being underwater differs from being on land, and how even very simple things can kill you there.
The most important thing to remember when you’re scuba diving is not to hold your breath. If you do, under certain circumstances, your lungs can burst and you die.
Holy crap. And that’s just from holding your breath.
It seems like just about anything can result in “disorientation and death” underwater. There’s a condition called nitrogen narcosis, where the nitrogen that is present in all the air we breathe goes to your head and basically gets you high. This would be cool anywhere but in an environment where if you hold your breath, your lungs explode.
So I’m going to spend a lot of money on 36 hours of instruction to go somewhere where breathing gets you high and not breathing kills you. It’s gonna be awesome.
11:55:45 AM 
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