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Mike, this guy is Jeff Johnson. The guy who is spreading the bad infromation
on hwat hapoened is Steve Meadows, a buddy of McGuirre's. The bottom line of
all of this is that we handled the problem, and all of our permits were
subsequently rolled over ad infinitum, despite the best efforts of wipes like
Johnson to cause us problems with this.
Guys like Jeff know better than us, have it all figured out, and should be
there instead of us, in thier opinion. In my opinion, things are the way they
are for obvious reasons.
Let me tell you what I learned from that experience with you, since you are
now talking about it: it is in Exley's book, Blueprint for Survival - don't let
somebody dive who has been drving all night to get there. But then I already
knew that, but did not know you had been driving 22 hours. I also was not
running the dive ititially, and you got inbetween the cracks on the change of
shift. Brent and Keith were running it while JJ and I were in town meeting with
DEP. I took over and did not know you had already done three hours duty with a
wetsuit on the habitat as you surfced right when I then had a scooter break and
went to the van to replace it when you took my place on that dive - an odd
circumstance. We now use the big scoreboad to track divers per Chluski's
advice, but then Keith and Vinney had been doing that with the clipboard.
We had too many people there, and that makes it my fault for giving everyone
a chance to play. I still will do that, but then i expect the "communtiyt" to
understand that it will be by my rules only, and if they do not like that, they
can fuck off. They are rieal good at critcism of what they do not understand,
and real short on doing anything, expecialy pukes like Johnson. - G
On Wed, 5 Mar 1997, Tennantm@ao*.co* wrote:
>To spineless
>
>OK asshole, you crossed the line. Step up to the plate and show us the balls
>you don't have. We have already seen the fake ones you got for Christmas.
> First of all let's get to the bottom of this: you are way off base and your
>posts clearly show how fucked up you are. You were not there, so you do not
>know what happened or the events even leading up to it (you can only
>speculate at best). If you really want to know, then you should ask someone
>who was involved. This whole fucking thing has been around before and it
>doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out, obviously if a half-wit
>like you can do it. What happened was the direct result of several mistakes
>made on MY part. It had nothing to do with George, JJ, or any of the other
>guys. BUT, THEY are the very reason why I am alive. If I had been diving
>with someone like you, I'd be dead. Was I a stroke? I don't think the word
>accuratley describes it...........I think STUPID DUMB FUCK would be more
>appropriate, although I can think of many more adjetives that could be used
>to describe my actions on that day.
>
>Yes, "I" was a dumb fuck. First, I had my head up my ass and thought I was
>invinceable..............which was the wrong attitude to have as nobody is
>invinceable (we can not breath water). Second, to me it was a routine dive
>(no big deal) in one of the easiest caverns in the world with absolutely
>increadible vis.......How could anyone screw that up.....(well I sure did).
> Aside from thinking I was "bulletproof", I was very
>comfortable.............too comfortable, over confident, etc. Walk in the
>park, I have done several dives in much worse conditions....like just about
>every dive I had done up to that point was in worse conditions than this and
>was much more intense. I mean this was a no brainer...............Yeah,
>right. Then, there were several mistakes I made in the water......not just
>one. I was intent on doing something that would not immediatley fix the
>situation (turning on a light). I was too clamn when I knew I was fucked,
>(don't panic, got plenty of time).
>
>So tell me "know it all", what happened. You don't have a clue, so let me
>give you a double shot from the clue bar so you can atleast get it straight.
>
>
>I had surfaced after doing a support shift and ran into JJ on the surface.
> He ASKED if I would LIKE to run in some remaining deco bottles with him
>(read it again "ASKED IF I would LIKE", never forced, lured, or otherwise).
> Sure, why not I thought. I checked my gauge and figured I had enough gas,
>as it was a "short routine no-brainer" and wouldn't take much (obviously I
>did not have enough). We clipped the bottles on and took off. Keep in mind,
>that though JJ was my instructor in a PREVIOUS class, this was not a class
>and had nothing to do with instruction. It had to do with helping out at an
>exploration site that my previous instructor was diving at. Furthermore, on
>this dive he was my dive partner, NOT my instructor. Jarrod is an excellent
>instructor, but this was not instruction, it was a set up for exploration
>which is totally seperate from instruction. Anyhow, we took off. We had
>three bottles a piece to drop. He towed me in on his scooter (I held onto
>his ankle). I was looking around in awe of the absolute vastness of this
>increadible cavern, and reached for my light to turn it on. That is when
>everything happened. I needed to use two hands to twist on the bezel, so I
>let go of JJ. I was slightly negative, so I inflated my wings, and ran out
>of air in the middle of all of this. Not sure if JJ could see me to be able
>to tell what was wrong, and not wanting to just yank his reg out of his
>mouth, and wanting to make sure he knew I was out of air, I continued to turn
>on my light. I never got it on. I placed importance on the wrong thing,
>letting him know something that was quite obvious. I had three bottles on me
>and should have just grabbed one of those.....that would be too easy (DUH).
> I chose to signal I was out of air, as I had plenty of time......(so I kept
>telling myself). "Why didn't JJ try to give you his reg", someone asked me.
> He did. Several times. But he couldn't get it into my mouth as my main reg
>and back up reg were in the way (my main reg was in my mouth, and head was
>tilted down). "Well, why the fuck didn't you just get those regs out of the
>way and take the one being offered", I have been asked. At that point I
>couldn't grab anything, I tried. I had become so back logged on my gas that
>I was in major O2 debt and was very dizzy from the CO2 buildup and started
>fading out to blackness. I had wasted too much time calmly trying to turn on
>my light, instead of doing the most logical thing and just reaching down and
>grabbing a reg from the bottles I was carrying. Boy did I fuck up. Yes, YES
>"I" fucked up........no-one else...........Everyone else did it right. I was
>lucky that I was diving with the best of the best, as THEY pulled my dead ass
>out. If they had been a spinelss fuck like you (Joe), I'd still be dead. I
>would have been left, or just sent up to the surface on my own by some weenie
>too afraid of getting bent. But no, people with true balls put their ass on
>the line for me, and to them I will always be grateful.
>
>What does this show. Number one, it shows we are human and make mistakes,
>that for the most part is how we learn (although, I suggest you make every
>effort to learn from my mistakes on this one). Two, it shows you why you do
>NOT EVER VIOLATE RULE NUMBER ONE!! Shit happens sometimes (for whatever
>reason) and you want a buddy that can deal with it incase you (for what ever
>reason) can not. Is this an excuse for not being self
>sufficient..........HELL NO, that is bullshit. Most of my dives are
>solo.......this one was a walk in the park............Which brings me to.....
>Three, you can DIE on any dive....5 feet or 500 feet (you can not breath
>water). Attitude can be one of your biggest enemies, and this clearly points
>that out. And Four, it shows what a TEAM is all about, you do what it takes
>to get the job done, and if someone fucks up, you do what it takes to bring
>their ass home and keep them alive. This whole thing does nothing more than
>demonstrate the excellence of the WKPP as they handled MY fuckup very
>effectively.
>
>It would have been too easy for me to call it quits after that, and it blew
>my wife's mind when I got back in the water the next day. I had to. I knew
>"I" fucked up, this was my doing. I could sulk, pout, and feel like a real
>ass, or make the best of a bad situation, learn from my mistakes, and STILL
>feel like a real ass. Since I would feel like a real ass no matter what I
>did, I chose the later as NOT diving is NOT an option for me.
>
>What many people fail to see is that this was the result of MY mistakes,
>nobody else's. These guys are the reason why I am alive, NOT the reason why
>I drown. I was there to learn, and that I did. Fortunately, out of the
>casket. Yet, spineless fucking morons try to find fault with those who put
>their ass on the line to save mine...............What is wrong with this
>picture!!! If you have something to say to me, then stand up and say it to
>my face. Don't be a spineless piece of shit that hides behind the mask of
>anonymity. Someone as spinless as you (Joe) told me that anonymity promotes
>honesty.....this is only true if you are totally ball-less. If you have a
>problem with me or something I say.....then let's hear it. But don't hide
>and lie and take totally cheap shots at those who actually DID IT RIGHT
>(WKPP). I was the one that fucked up, flame me. But have the balls to stand
>up and do it face to face.
>
>For those of you who want to learn from this, take it and learn what you can.
> BUT for those of you who wish to point the finger and create problems for
>others........... Go fuck yourself!!
>
>Sincerely
>
>Mike
>
>PS BTW, there is no tunnel, and there is no white light; unless this was an
>indication of where I was headed. ;-)
>
>PSS Yes, there is a source of bad water somplace in the system G-, either
>that or spring water is just not what it is cracked up to be.
>
>
>
>A person lacking in some major anatomical parts wrote:
>
>George,
>
>I really appreciate you helping out a new diver like this. All this
>air management stuff is so complicated. I had heard that cave divers
>turn at thirds, and should be self sufficient, but now I know this is
>ridiculous! I mean, how could you guys go as far into caves as you do
>if you only breathed one third of the air in your tanks on the way in!
> JJ clearly teaches you to "do it right" -- if your air hits zero, you
>need to be able to depend on a well-trained buddy to haul you out of
>the water and give you CPR. This must have been Ed Suarez's mistake -
>not having a well trained buddy. I can see that if I want to be a
>record setting cave diver, I should get both me and my dive buddies
>trained by JJ.
>
>
--
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