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A few days ago I sent out a message saying that a post supposedly made by me about a triple stage in manatee (catfish to manatee) was fake. During that post I made a JOKE where I said "I would never dive with John Heimann or Jim Wei because it's a violation of rule #1, :-)". The ":-)" is a "Smiley face". It is meant to convey sarcasm, humour, whatever. I know John Heimann didn't take it seriously because I spoke to him before sending it out. Jim Wei however did take it seriously because some people apparently thought I was serious and that I don't dive with Wei or Heimann anymore. This is bullshit. Hell, I spent last week in Marianna with Jim Wei and Ed Drannbauer diving Jackson Blue and Hole in the Wall. If I felt that Jim Wei was a stroke I doubt I would have done a 4000' penetration at Jackson for our first dive there ever. If you EVER see a message from me that has a ":-)" or a ":)" or a "<g>" or a ";-)" then that means the statement that symbol is associated with is meant to be sarcastic or a joke. It's amazing to me how many people said "I see it took you a triple stage to get from Manatee to Catfish" (which for the uninformed is a distance of less then 700'), and how many people have sent email saying "How many scooters did it take" (sorry, it takes less then 200psi from an aluminum 80 to drift from catfish to manatee and lasts about 6 minutes), and how many people have gone around saying that I think Heimann and Wei are strokes. There's a reason I unsubscribed from this list. It's primarily because the amount of gossip and bullshit generated from these lists is ridiculous. There are too many people who take this list seriously (I am not one of them) and run around saying "did you read this on the internet" etc. etc. It amazes me how many people take the garbage they read on this list seriously and personally. Hell, there's a guy who works for Ginnie that is still pissed at me because I made a reference to him being a stroke when because of a printout he passed around at Ginnie Springs from the cavers list when I ran it it nearly cost me my job. My god, I was pissed off at the time about the trouble that printout got me in, and I never mentioned him by name, but he still holds a grudge. And, I apologize for calling him a stroke; you know who you are. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who are still running around whining because other people have called them "strokes", "idiots", "gooberheads", "whiners", "weenies" or whatever. Yet, I'm also equally sure that each and every one of those people who were offended are "tuning in" to see what the next line of garbage will bring. So, let me go ahead and make the following things clear. First: Heimann and Wei - Every diver I've met who is a part of the WKPP is so far beyond the abilities of other divers I've seen, well, I can't even describe it. When each of these guys can carry a stage bottle 3000' back in a cave at a depth of 100' and NEVER HIT THIRDS..Awesome is the only word that comes to mind. Second: Everyone who reads these lists and goes running around saying "did you read this on the internet" or "did you read that on the internet" needs to get a life. It amazes me that so many people take the internet postings seriously that some guy named "Nick" decided to carve an obscene message to "George" (one can only assume George Irvine) in the floor at Devil's Ear 1800' back. Third: Catfish to Manatee, it's a nice traverse. I think it was my first cave dive ever. It took me a lot of air back then because I tried to do it from Manatee to Catfish and I was dumb and swam against the current the whole time. It's a distance of about 680', max depth is 95'. It does not take a double stage or a triple stage to complete the dive. And definatly not a scooter. Ken
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