Good Morning!

Thank-you for your Good Luck's and Best Wishes for the exam! We are doing some studying this morning - most of it is common sense too. We have a great class and will miss the fun, but we will get our weeknights back!

Have a great day!

Hi Eileen! I'm so excited for you both - just think, two new divers are born!

From the updates:

September 25, 2002 - Live image and weather updates will be sporadic through at least some time tomorrow due to a lightning strike which damaged the Internet connection on Bonaire used by the WebCams to update this server.

Good luck, Jake. Hope you can straighten this out fast and cheap!

Good morning Eileen and Rusty. I heard from Rtshineto this morning. She and Boo Boo will be arriving on Bon next Wednesday. Annie B.

Johnny Appleseed's 226 Birth Anniversary AKA John Chapman (1775-1847).

Read about Johnny Appleseed:

Johnny Appleseed

and check out these Delicious Apple Recipes:

Get Cookin'

Good Morning, and Good Afternoon my dear BT friends


Let us know how you go on, Eileen, and again Good Luck. I am more than slightly envious of you. I am a novice snorkeler. If you don;t believe me ask Martin or Jake, though I did consider learning to dive just before coming to Bonaire earlier this year.

I was going to take snorkel classes, and havne't done anything about it. And now Kevin is talking of us going to Sri Lanka over Xmas and New Year, where we can snorkel. And then maybe come over to Bon for Martin's wedding in June. So I am suddenly feeling a pressure or is it a guilt? that I should have learned when I came back, like I said I would.

Actually with the pressure from the flats and my new offices I don;t need pressure right now. So I had better stop that, and *calmly* consider whether I want, or have time, to learn to snorkel. Let alone dive.

Heeeeeeeey, here's an important birthday event - us'n being waterbabies and all:

It's Shamu's Birthday!

Hi Rusty. I sure like the look of that cake, AND it is PURPLE.
Don't want to sound like a 'know-nothing' but who is Shamu? A dolphin? A whale?

Jenni! Don't worry about taking the classes right now - it's supposed to be FUN. When you do Sri or Bon just sign up for a one day resort dive - and try it out. They spend the morning teaching you the very basics and in the afternoon take you on a dive wile virtually holding your hand.

You can see the critters and feel safe on a shallow reef with a divemaster by your side. If you did it on Bonaire you could probably find some dive buddies to go along (Bas?) for extra security!

PS Snorkeling is so much fun you don't have to feel guilty about enjoying it!

Shamu is the star of the show at SeaWorld in Orlando (and maybe California? Maybe he commutes?) He does the whole jumping and splashing and kissing the tourists thing a half dozen times a day!

He's an orca or killer whale - closely related to the dolphins. In fact, I think killers are technically the largest porpoises? I could wrong about that. LOL

Good morning ladies! Man, I hope the cams get up and running before my trip. The last time the reefcam was down was during my last visit to Bon

Cynde- I tried my new Twin Jets last night in the dive pool and I'll be returning them. In fairness to Scubapro, I don't think I'd like any very flexible split fin because it creates difficulties while trying to scull and I don't need speed since I like to putz while I dive. There are more rigid split fin designs out there but I think I'll stick with the paddle fins for now.

Have a wonderful day everyone (8 daze).

Morning all!!! Can't believe the cams are down...and Freddie will have no where to pose in her Green hat~!

Jenni, I thought everyone knew who Shamu was. Check this out. I'ts not working at the moment though, maybe later.

http://www.shamu.com/Html/ShamuCam.html

I made enquiries about snorkeling/diving lessons too. They only do the lessons in the evenings which is no good for me as I am at work.

Hi Meryl and Glenn, you must have appeared while I was posting.
Annie B.

Morning Annie....we took our classes at night...and it was fun...it was a good end to the evening....some of the pool sessions were on weekends...

Hi Annie, we're all going to be going through cam withdrawal very soon

It's...
Acorn Squash Day

Now, who thought of the name "squash"? It sounds like what happens when you step on a bug. But, even with that name, acorn squash is a delicious, sweet vegetable. It's also called winter squash - not because it grows in the winter, but because it lasts all winter if it's stored in a cool, dry place. This is because the skin is so much thicker than a summer squash like zucchini.

Glenn, I am already sufferin'. LOL Catch up with ya'll later. It's off to work for me. See ya. Annie B.

Hi Folks.. no cams then.. oh well, let's return to Passaporte Flexing instead!...

Annie.. you can do a weekend open water course. You do the theory in the morning, pool in the afternoon. Then same thing again on the Sunday. If you need more time, you can schedule it to suit you. It's known as the weekender! Go to the PADI site for a list of dive ops that offer this. I'm hoping to finish up my O/W next month.

Eileen Good luck with the exams..

OK, here's a lil something to keep ya'll going..

Sweet dreams are made of these:






Gotta go... be back later..

Thanks for the fantastic photos, Sarah. They brought back lovely memories of Bonaire.

Shamu, of course. I have been to Sea World in Orlando and have seen him do those amazing things. How old is he?
Happy Birthday Shamu


Rusty, you are right. Thanks for reminding me.

Jenni, Still haven't start a snorkel course??? well, you cann't get a better trainer than the two you had But as mentioned before, it has to be fun, otherwise DON"T DO IT!!!

Sarah, great pics, was the one of the Iguana taken at the Plaza??

I don't think I shall ever forget that day, Martin. What a laugh!

And you two were super teachers, and I almost made it down to the reefcam. If I came again I would be SSSSSSSSssOOOOooooooooooo determined. And you thought I was determined last time. :-)

And here's the reefcam photo of Kevin that very day

howdy all...eileen...good luck! glen, guess that's why they make all sorts of fins! I actually had better control and was able to maneuver around the kelp much better with the apollos vs my paddles...i hope freddie got there ok, or maybe she is stuck in an airport somewhere...

Yeah, lets all send good vibes to Freddie and hope she is on island.
Here's a critter quiz shot for y'all.

Whoops, cookie control has snagged me again.

this guy was quick!


This guy was not.

UUUUUUUUUhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, are we having cam problems????


All the cams are at 03:48....

Jenni, here are some more pics

Martin the line was knocked out by the storm over Bonaire so the cams are out Jake has been mailing us on a dialup connection.

Good pics, Martin. And more that bring back happy memories.
Didn't you realise the cams were down?
Having probs getting a flight to Sri Lanka now. How irritating!! At the moment looks like we shall not be going. Where else is good for snorkeling and hot, and if poss, cheap?

Well, I'll be honest to you all. I have to work a lot these days, new function, tranfering my current work to a co-worker, having a bit of a pain in the neck, so not much viewing the cams (and looking at the cams give me mayor PBD!!)

But, only 5 weeks and approx. 2.5 hours....

Oh, Jenni, bon in the 1-st week of november....

Now I see Rusty said something about this in this tread... SORRY guys, I'll start reading when I'm awake...

Oh Martin, Bon in 1st week of November would suit ME just fine. But Kevin is of the old school - he only has 2 weeks holiday [time away from his businesses] per year. I am amazed that he is even considering us going away at Xmas. And then again in June.

Is 1st week in Nov when you and Angela are there?


I forgive you for noticing the cams have been stuck. I am flattered - along with the rest of us nutters that regularly come on this thread - that you didn;t notice the cams and were happily chatting along with us. Thank you.

Jenni, we'll leave october 31-st around 23.30 and arive the next morning around 05.30 on Bon. After only 11 days we have to go back....

I like t0 chat here, 'cause there is allmost no calling names, and a lot of warmth...

THANK YOU ALL for beiing who you are!!

Yes Martin, the iguana was taken at Plaza.

Cynde, Hugh uses Apollo Bio-Fin Pro Fins thingemy bobies too. Phew!

Jenni, have you given Thailand a thought.. I visited Pattaya some years ago.. when I was younge, free and single.. oh OK, I'm still young, but not free/single anymore.. uhummm... got a cheap deal around Nov/Dec time (I think), was rather a nice hotel too. Hot and the snorkelling was pretty good. Just stay away from those bars, that's all......

Geeeez, my spelling is really going to £$%^^&&*!

Cynde-

Based on your strong recommendations, I may just try the Apollos. Something I should have done first. Live and learn I guess. The sculling is definitely different with the split fins but maybe it just requires an adjustment on my part-new finning technique.

Sarah, might it be possible your spelling is still in the bar??

I know mine is still at the office .....

Indeed it might dear Martin.... .. so you're off to BON again soon then... we're gonna be there around Dec 27th for 2.5 weeks (I think)...

Sarah, Indeed, we are going to do some prep. for the wedding. I know it's a lame excuse, but any excuse is good enough for me

It looks like this in Holland now, so its off to bed for me. Goodnight all, CU tomorrow....

Early bath night for Martin then.. G'night Martin, sweet, sweet dreams......

Sarah, I thought your spelling was fantastic. I had, nor have, no idea how to spell [let's have a go then....] thingymabobbies.

Pattaya eh? OK, thanks, I'll give it a try.

Hi Glenn, not long now, huh? A week? Can you wait? You taking a purple hat? or a green one?

Martin, the same reason I keep coming back too.

Night Night Martin, Sleep Tight

Hi Jenni,

Nope, not long now: 8 daze. I'm very, very excited! I can't say I own a purple or green hat. I do have a khaki colored one I use for diving, does that count? I do hope the internet connection for the cams gets fixed or this will make two trips in a row for me while the cams were out. Maybe the cams don't want to take my picture?

Kevin will be here soon, and as I am getting up early to take my middle son, and his pregnant wife to the airport tomorrow, I shall be saying goodbye too.

My son Lee and, his wife, Julie are going to Florida, to Naples, well near there anyway. He is going to be best man at his best friend's wedding in Naples. Julie did not expect to be pregnant until AFTER Mark and Carla's wedding!!!! I am very worried about her flying, but not saying so to her, or him, in case I worry them. Lee is very scared of flying anyway, and usually will not travel across the pond.

Anyway, ages ago someone posted a photo they had taken of a Bonaire sunset and I saved it, cos I thought it was so beautiful. Here it is, lest we forget our Bon

Hey Jenni, when you get time, take a look at this site for some good Thai deals:

http://www.clubairtravel.co.uk/

I'm off now too.. TTFN

Hope they fixed for you too, Glenn. A khaki one would do just fine - you could stick some purple, or green, flowers on it, ...... if you wished.

Thanks, Sarah. Night Night

Oh.... Goodnight Jenni, and sweet, sweet dreams to you too..

LOL Glenn, don't take it personally, huh?

Why, oh, why me? I spent every moment since I was here last trying to get IE to open a page. What a stinker. I used 5.5 and suddenly it froze the PC while I was entering a message here. So I rebooted and got back online and hit IE and as soon as ANY page would start to load - FROZEN SOLID. It would take five minutes to reboot/reconnect and WHAM it would freeze again. So uninstalled and reinstalled 5.5 and same thing. So I ran Norton Everything and even defragged and SAME DANG THING. SO I uninstalled 5.5 and installed 4.0 since it was already on my drive. FROZE.

Can you say "Frustrated?" So I spent 90 minutes downloading 6.0 and VOILA - so far, so good. Cannot imagine what happened in the first place.

Yoohoo! I finally made it to the party and all the nutters are leaving. Phhht. I'll just have to drink alone. *hic*

LOL Rusty! You know what my history with cameras has been lately.

glenn, i did have to alter my kicking technique (or lack of one) a bit. with my paddles, long, hard kicks from the hips, and i often got cramps, legs got tired, and if i tried to go slow, or just "hang", it was work. with the apollos, short (very short in comparison) flutter kicks, and even short quick kicks from the knees were what i ended up with. i started out doing the long hard kicks first, and it definetly doesn't work! hanging was much easier, as you don't have to do much fin movement to maneuver around or keep yourself in place...give em' a try, and if you still don't like them, you can always take em back! and hey, if hugh has em' you know they must be good!

Glen - did you ever figure out the strobe thing? (Do mirrors crack when you look into them? LOL)

lol, rusty...poor glenn...

Hi Rusty, I haven't had time to talk lately - but I do check in periodically and lurk briefly. Denise

Hi Cynde - I was trying to tell you last night (before I froze out and gave up) that I got a kick out of your hump day jokes. Bob the Sea Serpent was pretty funny/silly!

I spent yesterday at my Dad's trying to get his fourth scanner in two months going. I install them one week and by the next week the twain can't be found or a cable may be loose or is the scanner plugged in? Each brand has its own error messages for NOT WORKING! This Canoscan 1265 (I think) is a nice scanner - but I had to do a complete uninstall and reinstall it, and the software isn't the best. Linked him to a program he's already familiar with and he's A-OK (for now!)

I think my Dad has a Scanner *Bermuda Triangle* in his den. Never happens to any other hardware. LOL

Hi Denise! Good to know you still drop by. How's the boy?

Cynde, that's great advice. I'll return the Twin Jets and get Apollo's. Too bad I won't have time before Bon to get them and try them out (will have to order them, no LDS sells them). But I plan on a Feb. trip somewhere and will have to try them before then.

Rusty, I never did figure out my strobe gremlins. It happened the same way 3 times in a row: works before I leave for the dive site, pull strobe out of car at dive site and doesn't work, pull strobe out of car once home and it works again. Weird huh? Keep your fingers crossed for me that it'll play nice on Bon so I get lot's of good pics to share with you all

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, Glenn. We DO want to see your trip pix! Makes us all closer to see where you've been.

Started a new thread in case we wanna chat tonight, buddies!