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One Day With A Songfactor


_Laurie_

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This is just a little thought I had, and thought it would be fun to share.....I feel like we've all been friends forever. If you could spend one day with some of your fellow members, what would you do? here's a few of mine to start with.

Ken - Go Scuba Diving with Ken

And I'd be glad to take you. Or all of you. Eventually, you would find yourself bouncing along in an open dive boat, sitting at the front, wetsuit on, not totally zipped up because they tend to get hot. Our gear is at the back of the boat, upright and bungee-corded in place waiting for us. After a while, the boat slows, and our captain and his assistant jockey the boat up to a large float and tie us off to this float. Showtime. Two divers go to the front and begin the process of putting their gear on. *Splash*, they are in. Now it is you and I. To the back we go. They help you into your gear, and you put your weight belt on. You have ten pounds in your belt. Twelve pounds in the quick-release pouches in front of your dive vest. And eight pounds in the back of your dive vest to balance you out. The tank in the back. You open the first stage and your air gauge bounces up to 3500 PSI. You are now securely in your BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), the velcro is velcroed, the buckles are buckled and the snaps are snapped. I've been watching because if something goes wrong, I have to get you out of that, fast. And I hope you are doing the same. Now you stand up, and they assist you with putting your fins on. At this point you look and feel like the clumsiest object on the Planet. You feel incredibly heavy, cumbersome, and awkward. And you put your mask in place and the world goes mildly foggy. The regulator goes into your mouth and you draw your first breath of bottled air. Make the peace sign with your right hand, put your extended fingers against your mask, your thumb against your regulator. Put your left hand against the back of your head and roll backwards off the boat. I won't lie to you, your first time is scary. You hit the water with a muffled splash, and your view is swirled bubbles against a blue / green background. There is a shocking moment where it feels like someone dumped a shotglass of freezing cold water down your back. It passes. And you feel cold water entering your boots, again, the feeling passes surprisingly fast. You pop back up to the surface like a cork, and put your hand on the top of your head like a ballerina dancer, letting those on board the boat know that you are ok. Swim to the front of the boat, I am already there waiting for you. You notice that the awkward, cumbersome feel is *gone*. You feel light, graceful. Because you are. We meet at the front of the boat, I am hanging on to a dripping 1/2" rope tied to the front of the boat and the rope disappears into the water on a 45 degree angle. We lock eyes, and I make the 'ok' sign with my right hand. It is not a statement, I am asking a question. "Are you ok?". You return it. I give you the thumbs down "Let's descend". You pull the dump cord on your vest, you hear air sigh out of your vest, and the water closes over your head. This is your first dive, so I want you in front of me so I can monitor your progress. Every 4 feet or so, you gently pinch your nose closed and blow through your nose to equalize your eardrums against the squeeze they feel. You hear them squeak, and farther down the rope we go. You feel you are totally enveloped in a blue / green world, with 40 feet of visibility. Turn around, hey! I'm right behind you silhouetted by the sun and grinning behind my regulator. Deeper and deeper we go. Keep your eye on your depth gauge. 70 feet, passing through, 80, and 20 feet in front of you a shape emerges. A huge, hulking shape. The rope ends at a concrete block with a plaque on it telling us we are about to see the wreck of the Muskellonge. Hit by lightning back in 1932 it burned merry Hell for a while until the flames reached the 9000 gallons of fuel. Then *blooey* everything went. Miraculously, no one died. This wreck is only a half mile from shore. Close enough that when it went, embers shot onto land and burned down a couple of cottages back then. We squeeze the button on our BCD's and you hear / feel air inflating the vest and keeping you neutrally buoyant down here so you neither float back up nor stay heavy at the bottom. You have easy control over where you want to be in the water. Too much air will send you back up against your wishes, not enough keeps you heavy. Finding the sweet spot is tricky only the first time. Swimming away from the plaque we encounter the bow of the ship sitting upright on the hard clay. Up, up we go to the top and over the other side. What we see now, if on land, would be called a bunch of junk. But it is underwater, so we call it a wreck, and pay good money to see it. You encounter a massive old boiler, steam valves, taps, and old light bulb sockets. Here is an old toilet. A passageway. I am never far from you, turn around, I am right there. I tap you and point to your gauge. You hold up two fingers, close them into a fist, then 1 finger. 2100 PSI, your going through air pretty fast, but this is your first dive, you are anxious, and we are kinda deep. No worries. We spend 20 minutes or so exploring the wreck. There is no fear of being attacked by anything, this is fresh water, there are no predators here. After a while, you notice that your mouth and throat are really frigging dry. Pop the reg out, take a gulp of water. Go on, don't worry, this water is clean and fresh. By now, we have been all over this wreck, and you notice that your comfort level has gone way WAY up. You don't notice any temperature changes, the wetsuit is keeping you comfortable. Again, I tap you on your ankle, and point to my gauge. You look, and hold up 5 fingers, close, then 3. 800 PSI, and time for us to begin our ascent. I hold out both my hands and point with both. "I'll lead, you follow". We make our way back to the cement block. And slowly, as slow as our slowest rising bubbles, make our way back up. You are going, but you don't really want to. You wish you could have stayed longer. We ascend the rope slowly, gently kicking and letting the air we put in our vest down there, out, because the decreasing pressure around us is causing the air in the vest to expand. No worries, we are in control of that and let the expanding air out in little blasts. Almost sounds like you are farting underwater! At 15 feet deep, we are going to just 'hang out' here for 3 minutes. Our 'safety stop'. Watch the fish swim by, and think of ways to tell those we love who don't dive the joy you just experienced. After 3 minutes has gone by, we close the last 15 feet and pop back up to the surface, back into the bright sunshine. Put a blast of air back into your BCD, to keep you positively buoyant, and check your gauge. 500 PSI, just where you want to be. Swim to the back of the boat. Our captain is there, and he asks for your foot, taking your fin off. Then your other. He extends his hand to you, and helps you back on board. He unsnaps you from your BCD, and you step, unencumbered, to the front of the boat, and you wonder if it will ever be that exhilarating again. Wait. in another hour and a half it'll be better than the last dive. But now, we have to put in what's known as a 'surface interval', lose some of the nitrogen we had build up in our bloodstream (you don't notice this at all), and we have a date with some turkey sandwiches on Kaiser rolls, Kosher pickles, and a Coke. And then it's back into wet Neoprene.

I hope you liked that as much as I liked writing it.

Love to all.

Ken.

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No, but I have done this descent.jpg . I like doing things and I am not anything exceptional. I don't want to be like my Father in law, a retired police officer who likes to do nothing more than sit in his basement and bitch and moan about the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has 4 kids and thus far missed 3 of the kid's weddings, complaining of not having enough money or being too afraid to fly. Never been anywhere. Don't wanna end up like my brother-in-law, and the eternal pursuit of equipment that is effective in nothing more than keeping his ass screwed to his computer desk. That's all fine if that's what does it for you. Me? It's a big world. I wanna see things, do things. That way, when I am lying on my deathbed, my list of "woulda coulda, shoulda's" wont be real long. But there will still be some there.

Gonna ride my bike all the way to Californina, too. Because someone told me I shouldn't.

Ken.

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Let me think....

I'd get Sammy all whacked out and swipe half his cds.

I'd go to Elvy's house and watch the baby. She'd have 72 hours to cut loose. (I'd set aside bail money)

Ken and I would track down a KISS convention, run a scam so we could pick a few pockets, max out a few credit cards, then high-tail it out of there.

I'd take Katie and my kids to see KISS. (it's a must for any fan).

I'd stand on the corner outside Lincoln Financial Field in Philly, eating soft pretzels with Unc, and laugh at the idiots coming out of an Eagles game.

I'd go with CeeCee and break into her old house and get all her stuff.

I'd fly out to San Diego, grab Bluesy, then we'd steal cars and rob banks and just generally cut one hell of a path of destruction as we made our way across the country.

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One day...

First Elvish, and I would take rahdi to a cards game, then we would meet Shawna, Laurie, Rachel, Angel at the Landing for a party!!

Peaches and Amy would have to come with me on a float dow the Meremac, then visit the Wineries, and blues clubs high on the cliffs.

Sammy and edna and I would hang out, making brownies, tea, and other assorted, goodies, while listening to the stones or watching videos.

Ken would have to go cave diving. I would fix him up with a realtive...he knows where to go.

Jr I would take to Gateway International Speedway. Not the greatest, but you ought to see it when all the Wallace boys are there!

Let's see Ron would like the Guitar Emporium, where the craftsmen make guitars for eric clapton, eddie van halen, sting, and more. Good place to get pictures and autographs!!

Diggs I'd just introduce to my scouse, then giggle at how they talk to one another! Maybe another party, but no warm beer!

Batman I'd just introduce to my sons, we'd party together!

I'll have to think about the others. :crazy:

And we'll all(but most especially bluesy) have to go to Fast Eddies Bon Air...the best eats and blues-rock music either side of the Mississipi!! :)

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I'd get UncleJoe on the next plane over to the UK, then a train for 6 hours from London to Cornwall. After a proper Cornish welcome with a traditional cream tea, we would head for Gwithian Beach, where we would admire the spectacular views and chat long into the evening.

gwithian_beach.jpg

We'd watch the sunset and make our way back to the town for a slap-up meal, with music, and laughter.

gwithian079314-main.jpg

Ken and I would head for Newlyn Harbour. Catch fresh fish along the coastline, or from one of the small fishing boats, and then head further out on the regular dive routes.

Newlyn20dawn.jpg

johnnyguitar, S2V and I would head for the Minack Theatre, and watch one of the productions at this spectacular theatre which is carved out of stone into the side of a cliff (the handy work of a lone woman, many years ago).

Minack.jpg

Marc and I would head to Smokey Joes, a trucker and biker stop, for one of their trademark breakfasts, of course for this I'd need to hire a big Harley to look the part!!

Bike_Custom.jpg

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