Canadian Buffoon's Back to Front Vacation - Update! 05/18 - Falling Down

[CyndiLouWho]

No. Burned my hand pretty good.
Only 2nd degree though,
so should be fine.

So sorry. Hope you’re on the mend.

 

[pkondz]

Dang! OUCHIE!!

I hope it heals up quickly and nicely! Burns are NOT fun nor to be trifled with.

I took the bandages off last night.
Apart from some blistering on a
couple fingers
(and scarring on all of them)
it's actually doing pretty good.

 

[pkondz]

I love that park, haven’t been in years. Now you’ve given me an idea for a weekend trip this summer.

Oooohh… another vote of confidence.

 

[pkondz]

So sorry. Hope you’re on the mend.

I seem to be.

And...

to the TR!

Nice seeing you again!

 

[pkondz]

A Whale of a Time

I woke up that morning, and...
Already I considered my day a win.
I hadn't been robbed at gun point
during the night.

Heck... not even at knife point.


I wandered into the bathroom
and was immediately glad I hadn't
unpacked the night before.
The counter was covered in water.
I had splashed water on my face
before turning in, the night before.
Silly me. I had forgotten to get some
pliers out of the car to tighten the tap.

Luckily, the only thing on the counter
at the time, was that fun sign,
listing all the prices.
I moved the sign to wipe up the counter
and a cockroach ran out from under it.

Sorry, to bother you, buddy.
Guess he had stayed the night too.
I must have upset him, since he went and joined
the rest of his family, cavorting under the sink.

As I attempted to exit the bathroom,
a tuft of carpeting caught my eye.
Odd I hadn't noticed it before...
I decided that the reason I hadn't noticed
was either I was too tired earlier;
or, since it was actually a spider about
the size of a half dollar, that it had arrived
from elsewhere only recently
(probably from under the bed... or on it)
and was on its way to visit the roach family.

I retreated back into the bathroom to weigh
my options.
I could stay in the bathroom with the roaches
and hope he'd go for them first.
(Whereupon I could possibly make my escape
while he was otherwise occupied in their slaughter.)
Or I could go on the offensive and try to slay
the dragon... so to speak.


I had things to do today, so decided on offense,
which made sense since the hotel amenities had
already offended my sensibilities.


I grabbed my weapon of choice when dealing
with unruly arachnids... a Kleenex.

I approached my foe and with a downward
thrust, attempted to engulf him in tissue.


The spider leapt aside.


I'm not kidding. he was that fast.


It took me completely by surprise
and if I'd had a moment to think about it,
I'm sure I would've beaten a hasty retreat,
offering up some tasty cockroaches
as tribute.
(If I could catch them.)

But reflexes sometimes work faster
than common sense and I stabbed again
at the spider.

And he dodged again!

A third time and I was...
pretty sure I had him.
I wadded up the Kleenex
and tossed it in the toilet.

I may have flushed twice.


Flush with exercise and heady
from the victory of battle...
I headed down the hall
for breakfast.

Breakfast was the usual
hotel fare...
With one notable exception.
They had bacon... sort of.

I snagged a few pieces and...
I have never seen such thin bacon.
Imagine a wet, translucent piece of
wax paper.
That's what it looked like.
I ate three or four slices,
which was:
A. All that was left in the pan. And;
B. About the equivalent of one
normal thin slice of bacon.

I left breakfast feeling like I
needed breakfast.

I returned to my room to brush my teeth
and pack my bags.
I cracked the door an inch and
slowly peeked inside, surveying
the scene for lighting fast arthropods.

Seeing nothing but terrified cockroaches,
I re-entered the scene of battle,
ready to flee in an instant.

I quickly (very quickly) packed up my
belongings and grabbing the first load,
headed down the hall to the rear entrance.
Once there, I noticed two things.
1. There was no access from the outside. And;
2. A sign proclaimed that an alarm would sound
if the door remained ajar for any period of time.

I thought about it for a moment.
Going around to the front and hauling my
stuff to the back would be a pain in the tucus.
After careful consideration, taking into account
the general disrepair and cleanliness
of the establishment, I decided that the likelihood
of an alarm being actually functional, was unlikely.

I exited the building and propped the door open
with some detritus that was littering the alley.

I placed the first load in the car's trunk
and returned to the door.
not surprisingly, no alarm was sounding.
And if it was only sounding at the front desk,
I truly felt that the crackerjack staff would
leap into action only after having weighed
the various pros and cons of getting up off
their collective duffs.

After another trip or two,
I was checked out and on my way
to my day's destination.
(I did not inform them of the
extra guests I'd entertained in
my room.
I assumed they'd charge me extra.)


The day got much better after that.


I drove over to the Georgia Aquarium,
billed as the largest aquarium in the U.S.,
arriving about a quarter to nine.

While it's almost always a good idea
to do rope drop, I found I wasn't
the only one who'd had that thought.

And just like many places now,
everyone had to go through
a metal detector before entering.
Nevertheless, the line moved quickly.

Once inside, I paused to get my bearings.
I had come here to see one thing in particular,
and I spotted the entrance off to my right.
You can just make out part of the words:
"Ocean Voyager" in the photo below.

Like dessert, I wanted to save that for last,
so I went and explored the other sights
on offer at the aquarium.

There were several aquariums...
aquaria? No... aquaria.
But aquariums also works.


Where was I?

Right.

There were several fish tanks.
All holding beautiful displays
of various sea critters.

How would you like to have an aquarium
that size in your house?
It was pretty interesting as it had a wave machine
to simulate surf conditions.


I wandered over to "Cold Water Quest"
to see what was on offer there.

My attention was immediately captured
by a pair of playful Southern Sea Otters.

I stood and watched them for quite a while.

This Weedy Sea Dragon, with its gracefulness
caught my attention.

Funny... they had a Beluga Whale
exhibit as well...
And I didn't even give it a glance.
When you've seen (literally)
thousands of them at a time...
on a daily basis...
One or two don't hold the same appeal.

As I was exiting the area,
a guide pointed out this
spotted ratfish (closely related to sharks)
that was in the process of giving birth.
The photo is blurry, due to it being
enlarged from my phone,
but you can make out the two
egg sacks just below the tail.
(Laying can take 4-6 days.)

I moved on to the River Scout area
and explored a bit.

Do you find this a bit dizzying?

Yes, they had an aquarium housing Gars
on the ceiling; a fact that these young
folks seem to be blissfully unaware of.

It was time to head over to the big tank.
I spotted this on the way there
and had to laugh:

Oooohhh... I wonder if anyone
is able to find Deepo!
(Maybe his friend Nory can!)

Slightly nonplussed, I sashayed into
the entrance to Ocean Voyager.
Holding over 6.3 million gallons of water,
the Ocean Voyager tank is one of the
largest single aquatic exhibits in the world.

Your exploration starts with a walk through
a hundred-foot-long acrylic tunnel.

I stopped dead in my tracks as I first
caught a glimpse of the reason I was here:
A twenty-foot-long whale shark.

(The exhibit is home to four of these
behemoths ranging from 18-22 feet long.)​

Words can't accurately describe what seeing
one of these giants up close feels like.

Awe. Awe is a good word.

The tank also holds four Manta Rays.
Their ten-foot wingspan seems to block
out the light as they glide effortlessly overhead.

Upon exiting the tunnel, you find
yourself facing a massive two-foot thick
glass wall.
The denizens within, flit to and fro
as the whale sharks endlessly glide by
in a stately procession.

There are literally thousands of species
in the tank along with the aforementioned
main attractions.
In the two photos above, you can see King Angels,
Giant Trevally, Blacktip Reef Shark, Sandbar Shark
and a Green Sea Turtle, to name a few.
(A little above the man's silhouette in the 2nd photo.)

I sat down and just... stared... awestruck...
for several minutes.

Eventually, I roused myself and checked the time.
And a good thing!
I had booked a tour and check in time was here!

I sashayed over to the Activities Desk
and reported in.
I soon found out that I was going to be joined
by a family of three.
A husband and wife, probably in their early thirties
or late twenties, and their father (or FIL, depending.)

We were escorted backstage where we had a view
of the Ocean Voyager tank.

We were right on time.
It was feeding time for the Whale Sharks!

The way they do it is quite interesting.
They don't just cast the food into the water.
They put four dinghies in the water,
each with one person aboard.
Each person has a scoop with a long handle
to feed one shark each.
Since the sharks can't stop moving,
they pull themselves along ropes attached to
either end of the tank.
The sharks follow along like puppies after kibble.

Really, really BIG puppies.

How would you feel, feeding a shark
that's twice as long as your boat, hmmm?

Say "ahhh..."

Or is that "AGGGHHHH!!!"

After the puppies... er, sharks were fed,
we turned our attention to the rows
of equipment that lined one wall.

Oh, did I mention that you can go
Scuba diving in the tank?
I wasn't doing that, though.
Ha Ha! I bet you thought I
was crazy enough to do that, right?

Nah.

I was going to do something better.

Continued next post​

 

[pkondz]

Continued from previous post​

A bit of background.

As some of you know, from past TRs,
I've Scuba dived in the Seas at Epcot
a couple of times before.
When I heard you could do the same
at the Georgia Aquarium, I jumped
at the chance.

The price isn't cheap an is non-refundable,
so before I decided, I had to make sure
of my dates.
Eventually, I knew when I'd be there and
could book a spot.
And it was sold out.
There was a second timeslot for later in the afternoon,
but it would mean cancelling a proposed DISmeet,
and I wasn't about to do that.

I was crushed. A bucket-list item
was about to be ticked off and...
I was despondent.

But what's this?
There was another option.
The Aquarium listed a "rebreather" dive.
I had no idea what that meant.
I checked the FAQ page and read:
"we strongly recommend that rebreather participants are
proficient divers who are interested in the technology of
closed-circuit rebreathers and are confident using unfamiliar equipment."

Well... I don't dive very much...
And I'm not too sure about normal gear,
let alone unfamiliar gear...

Sure! Why not?

So I navigated to the sign up page
and tried to register.


"Tried" being the operative word.


I got as far as filling out all the boxes,
but when I clicked "submit", the screen froze.
I refreshed the page and...
"This program is sold out for this date."

I was not happy.
Because of a glitch, I missed my chance!
I considered phoning and complaining,
but... what could they do?
Kick someone out?
(DO IT!!!)

A couple of hours later, it occurred to me
that maybe whoever had taken the last spot,
had changed their mind and not taken it.
More out of desperation than any real hope,
I logged into the site and... yes!
There was availability!
I quickly filled in the form, hit submit and...
The screen froze again.
Undaunted, I changed browsers and tried again.
"This program is sold out for this date."

Hmmmm... I wonder if it's just holding it... for me?
I waited an hour or so and tried again.
"This program is sold out for this date."
I tried again a few minutes later and...
after a few clicks, I was in!


I found out later that the rebreather program
is only offered twice a week (Saturday/Sunday)
and is limited to four guests.
I really had snagged the last ticket.


We were led into a small classroom where,
for the next thirty minutes or so,
we were taught the basics of the rebreather equipment
and what tests we would have to perform
prior to commencing the dive.
If we couldn't do these (relatively simple) tasks,
we would not be allowed to dive.
We were also warned not to touch the fish.

The woman with our group had several
questions and I could tell she was nervous
about the equipment.
The guides/instructors reassured her.

Afterward we were taken back out
onto the tank deck and shown the equipment.

Unlike the more well-known
SCUBA apparatus, this rig
does not have one central tank
containing compressed air.
Instead, it has one small tank
containing oxygen and a second
tank containing air, or nitrogen and oxygen.
The middle cannister is used to scrub CO2
from your exhalations.

The air that you inhale is about 20-percent oxygen,
and the air that you exhale is about 15-percent oxygen,
so only about 5-percent of the volume of air you breathe
is converted to carbon dioxide.

This is why you can breathe "stale air"
for a period of time before needing to
take a breath of "fresh" air.

When I dove in Epcot,
I carried a large tank that held
80 cubic feet of compressed gas.
It took me about 40 minutes to
use up one tank.
(Some people can go longer,
some less. Apparently, one guy
used four tanks in that time span.)

The tank on the rebreather
holds five cubic feet of oxygen.
But the dive time is listed as
twelve hours.
Skipping ahead, we were in the water
for over an hour and I used maybe
ten percent of my supply.

The technology to make this all work
is pretty impressive.
Each rebreather rig has four processors
and a series of tests are undertaken
before each use.

We then went to the change
rooms and put on our wet suits.

We had to do some of the tests
ourselves, prior to diving.
We had to sit and breathe for
a couple of minutes to calibrate
the sensors and do a few other
quick and simple tests.

We also did a dry run of three
of the tests we'd do underwater.
We had to switch a lever from
the raised open setting to
the lowered closed setting.
We had to completely deflate
the air vest (actually called "counterlungs")
by inhaling through the mouth
and exhaling through the nose.
And we had to keep breathing
through an empty counterlung recharge,
which is similar to inhaling and briefly
covering your nose and mouth for
a split second, mid-breath.
Not a big deal if you know it's going to
happen, but disconcerting if you don't.

Finally it was time to get in the water.
We were again told not to touch the fish
and then, one at a time, starting with
myself, we had to stand, walk over to
a ladder, turn and climb down.

The rig weighs about 50 lbs.
Moving on dry land is not easy.


I got in the water and wondered
how I was going to get my flippers on.
This outfit doesn't exactly lend itself
to flexibility.

They had already figured that out.
The guide was in the water and
put my flippers on for me.
"Jeeves, fetch my slippers... flippers."
I could get used to this kind of service!


Once I was suitably shod,
I was told to move to the side and wait.
As I waited for the other three,
I glanced to my left and witnessed
a massive tail fin lazily sweeping past.
It was about a foot away from me.
Close enough that I could've touched it
without extending my elbow
away from my body.


I did not soil myself.
Which kinda surprised me, actually.


When we were all in the water,
we were motioned to deflate our
counterlungs and I sank to the bottom,
about twenty feet below.

Three of us arrived with no issues,
but the woman with us was struggling
and couldn't descend.
Our guide started us on our tests.
Take the mouthpiece out and clear it,
flood the mask and clear it, turn the
switch from open to closed and
do that slight pause on the inhale.
We did that and returned to the surface.

Our guide told us that since one of our group
was having issues, we could wait or go for
a short tour of the (relatively) shallow portion
of the tank. We did so.

When we were joined by our fourth member,
we set out in earnest.
The tank has a maximum depth of thirty feet.
We would swim a ways and settle on the bottom
at brief intervals.

At one point, this yellow French Grunt
swam up to me.

You can see him approaching me
in the photo below:

The diver on the left was our guide.
Two things to note:
1. she wore a spotted hat with a pom-pom.
That made her easy to identify.
2. Notice the long stick she's carrying?
We were told that the Giant Groupers
could be aggressive. I presume the stick
was to fend them off.

Anyways, as you can see in the above photo,
I am kneeling on the bottom and this
little guy swims up to me.

One other difference between the
rebreather and "normal" SCUBA,
is the lack of bubbles.
SCUBA has a stream of bubbles with
every exhalation.
With the rebreather system there are none.
As a result, we were told that the fish
would get much closer to us.

So this little yellow fish swims up to me,
comes right up to my mask and...

<tock!>

He pecks my mask!

<tock!> <tock!tock!tock!>

I burst out laughing.
I glanced over at our guide and she
pointed to me, then the fish, and then
made a heart symbol with her hands.
I nodded happily in agreement.

If you look closely, you can see
that I have a wrist computer
strapped to my left wrist.
If you didn't look at it every few
minutes or so, a red warning light
would flash on your regulator.

We swam around and got fairly close
to the larger species as well.

Like this shark...

… or this Manta Ray.

Having these massive rays
glide over you was amazing.

At one point, I was keeling on the bottom
when a Manta Ray "flew" directly at me.
He passed over me so closely
that if I'd tilted my head to the side,
I would've bumped his underside
with my mask.

Truly amazing.

These photos might make it look like there weren't
too many fish in the tank, but rest assured,
there were plenty!

In the above photo, I'm doing one
of the things I love most about these
tank dives... interacting with guests.
Not too many opportunities left in this
world where you can make kids smile
and laugh.
It warms my heart when a child gets excited
when he/she sees a diver waving at them.

One thing that took some getting used to...
With "normal" SCUBA, you have an air vest
(BCV: Buoyancy Compensator Vest)
that you can add a bit of air to as needed
to get yourself neutrally buoyant.
If you need to rise, you can take a deeper breath
or to descend, you can exhale a bit more.

But with the rebreather rig,
every time you inhaled, the counterlungs
would deflate. And every time you exhaled,
the counterlungs would inflate!
So you had to work a little harder to
rise or descend.
It wasn't hard... but it did take getting used to.
I know I didn't figure out what was happening
for quite a while.


After being in the water
for about an hour, it was time
to return to the surface.
I reluctantly did so.
The dive was over.

It was exorbitantly expensive,
but I'd do it again in a hot second.

Once everyone was showered
(ahhh… hot water...)
and dressed, we were escorted
back out into the public areas.
I felt like running up to strangers
and telling them:
"I was swimming with the Whale Sharks!!"

I didn't.
Wanted to... but didn't.

I took in the dolphin show
(no photos allowed)
which was entertaining enough,
but... it paled in comparison
to the experience I'd just had.

Soon it was time to leave...
I had a hot dinner date
to get ready for!!



In case you didn't see it:

Did you see it in this chapter?

Coming up... Pot roast and pool.

Chapter 11. Paradise Lost​

 

[juniorbugman]

Haven't commented lately but I will comment on this chapter - wow just wow. I couldn't do it but it looked like fun. Do they take lots of photos and you buy what you want or is it a package of photos & video that you can buy?

 

[LeiaIsAPrincess2]

I am so jealous of your dive experience! A bucket list item for me

 

[pkondz]

Haven't commented lately but I will comment on this chapter - wow just wow.

Hi again Judy!

I think "wow" sums it up
just right.

I couldn't do it but it looked like fun.

I had a blast!
I'm really not sure what
I liked the best.
The new equipment,
the interaction with the fish
or interacting with the guests.

Hmmm... I think, on this one,
I'd have to say the fish.

Do they take lots of photos and you buy what you want or is it a package of photos & video that you can buy?

They actually only took two photos.
I posted one (of the four of us
doing our testing on dry land),
and another of each of us,
waving at the camera.
I didn't care for that one
so didn't bother posting it.
All the rest are screen grabs
from the video that they gave us.
It's part of the cost of the dive,
so no extra cost for it.

 

[pkondz]

I am so jealous of your dive experience! A bucket list item for me

Well, hi there again!
It was a bucket list item for me...
And kinda is again.
I'd love to do it once more.

Also saw that you have your TR up.
I just posted a quick placeholder note
and will be back to read later.

 

[thumper*]

Funny... they had a Beluga Whale
exhibit as well...
And I didn't even give it a glance.
When you've seen (literally)
thousands of them at a time...
on a daily basis...

wow how lucky are you

 

[mustinjourney]

I had a frying pan in a 450 degree oven.
I took it out and removed the chicken.
I was doing a bunch of other stuff
(chicken, cedar plank salmon, roast
cauliflower, carrots and potatoes)
and grabbed the pan handle with my
bare hand to rinse off the pan.
I pretty much never put frying pans
in the oven, but this one had a metal
handle so I could.

You're giving me a run for my money with my cut off finger tip!

 

[mustinjourney]

Luckily, the only thing on the counter
at the time, was that fun sign,
listing all the prices.
I moved the sign to wipe up the counter
and a cockroach ran out from under it.

As I attempted to exit the bathroom,
a tuft of carpeting caught my eye.
Odd I hadn't noticed it before...
I decided that the reason I hadn't noticed
was either I was too tired earlier;
or, since it was actually a spider about
the size of a half dollar, that it had arrived
from elsewhere only recently
(probably from under the bed... or on it)
and was on its way to visit the roach family.

Or I could go on the offensive and try to slay
the dragon... so to speak.

I grabbed my weapon of choice when dealing
with unruly arachnids... a Kleenex.

But reflexes sometimes work faster
than common sense and I stabbed again
at the spider.

And he dodged again!

I may have flushed twice.

courtesy flush -- nice work.

Flush with exercise and heady
from the victory of battle...
I headed down the hall
for breakfast.

No way in hell I'd be eating at this establishment.

2. A sign proclaimed that an alarm would sound
if the door remained ajar for any period of time.

After another trip or two,
I was checked out and on my way
to my day's destination.
(I did not inform them of the
extra guests I'd entertained in
my room.
I assumed they'd charge me extra.)

Aren't you glad you didn't steal that mattress? God knows what was on it or under it.

The day got much better after that.

Not sure how it could get much grosser.

My attention was immediately captured
by a pair of playful Southern Sea Otters.

I bet Kay would have loved those. They're like mini-water-faring capybaras.

Do you find this a bit dizzying?

yes. yes I do.

It was time to head over to the big tank.
I spotted this on the way there
and had to laugh:

That's a bold move for the largest aquarium in the country. I'm guessing they didn't pass that by any of their trademark/copyright attorneys.

(The exhibit is home two four of these
behemoths ranging from 18-22 feet long.)

grammar fail or am I missing a joke?

Upon exiting the tunnel, you find
yourself facing a massive two feet thick
glass wall.

Since I know you're a grammar person -- I think this is supposed to be "a massive two-foot thick glass wall." Since it is part of the compound adjective.

"As a rule of thumb, if the measurement comes before the noun, it should be counted as an adjective and should not be used in its plural form."
https://newsok.com/article/2823617/foot-versus-feet-yields-grammar-fit

How would you feel, feeding a shark
that's twice as long as your boat, hmmm?

 

[buzzrelly]

I have to go back and read your update, but I wanted to comment on this…

I had a frying pan in a 450 degree oven.
I took it out and removed the chicken.
I was doing a bunch of other stuff
(chicken, cedar plank salmon, roast
cauliflower, carrots and potatoes)
and grabbed the pan handle with my
bare hand to rinse off the pan.
I pretty much never put frying pans
in the oven, but this one had a metal
handle so I could.

OUCH! I did the EXACT same thing for the EXACT same reason! It hurt like a BLEEP! I slept holding onto an ice pack the whole night. I think I was doing a steak and trying to finish it off in the oven with my fancy new pans with the metal handles. Funny thing about those metal handles, they look the SAME whether they are hot or cold and my mind just didn't say, "stay away from that," or something. I had taken it out of the oven, put it back on the stovetop and 2 seconds later, grabbed the handle to move it with my bare hand. I haven't put it in the oven since.

I hope you're feeling better soon!

Here's my hand a couple days AFTER it happened…I was texting it to the charge nurse when I had to call out of work. You can see all the blisters...

I literally feel your pain and hope you heal soon!

 

[rdkeim]

Hope your next motel experience is better - yuck! I would never have the nerve to do a dive like that but it sure was fun reading about it!

 

[pkondz]

wow how lucky are you

Living up North had it's disadvantages...
But wow did it ever make up for it
during the (short) spring and summer!

 

[pkondz]

You're giving me a run for my money with my cut off finger tip!

Tag! You're it!

Heebie Jeebies.

Yes.

Coulda used one of those...

Then again, it would've set
the carpet on fire.

Hmmm... might've been
and improvement.

courtesy flush -- nice work.

No way in hell I'd be eating at this establishment.

Funny.
That thought only occurred to me
after I'd been gone for a day or two.

I always think of that old riddle:
"When is a door not a door?
When it's ajar."

Aren't you glad you didn't steal that mattress? God knows what was on it or under it.

This has already been pointed out to me.

Not sure how it could get much grosser.

Nope. 'nuff said.

I bet Kay would have loved those. There like mini-water-faring capybaras.

I remember thinking just that.

That's a bold move for the largest aquarium in the country. I'm guessing they didn't pass that by any of their trademark/copyright attorneys.

grammar fail or am I missing a joke?

One hand typing and auto-correct fail.
Then missed it in the editing/correcting.

Since I know you're a grammar person -- I think this is supposed to be "a massive two-foot thick glass wall." Since it is part of the compound adjective.

"As a rule of thumb, if the measurement comes before the noun, it should be counted as an adjective and should not be used in its plural form."
https://newsok.com/article/2823617/foot-versus-feet-yields-grammar-fit

That's interesting.
I read the article, too.

I think I was thinking more:
"The glass was a massive two feet thick"
when I wrote it.

I've gone back and corrected both of them.
Thanks!

So that's a "No" then?

 

[pkondz]

I have to go back and read your update, but I wanted to comment on this…



OUCH! I did the EXACT same thing for the EXACT same reason! It hurt like a BLEEP! I slept holding onto an ice pack the whole night. I think I was doing a steak and trying to finish it off in the oven with my fancy new pans with the metal handles. Funny thing about those metal handles, they look the SAME whether they are hot or cold and my mind just didn't say, "stay away from that," or something. I had taken it out of the oven, put it back on the stovetop and 2 seconds later, grabbed the handle to move it with my bare hand. I haven't put it in the oven since.

I hope you're feeling better soon!

Here's my hand a couple days AFTER it happened…I was texting it to the charge nurse when I had to call out of work. You can see all the blisters...

I literally feel your pain and hope you heal soon!

Wow... that is... almost eerie.

Both the photo and the story
of how it happened.

I first saw that and thought
"Did I post a photo of my hand?"
I know I texted or PMd a photo
to someone...
And the similarity is striking.

Palm and four fingers.
Except mine is blistering now.
Did yours?

 

[pkondz]

Hope your next motel experience is better - yuck!

Thankfully, that was the worst
of the bunch.
It's all uphill from here!

I would never have the nerve to do a dive like that but it sure was fun reading about it!

Funny thing is... I'm afraid of water.
It takes a lot for me to go in Ocean water.
I won't wade in it.

But put a mask on me
(and sight of the bottom)
and I'm okay.

 

[mustinjourney]

I bet Kay would have loved those. There like mini-water-faring capybaras.

and then I have a grammar fail.