Re: RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] More youthful wetsub experiences

[tmsmalley@usinternet.com]

I for one, enjoy reading tales from someone who has led a much more interesting life than I have!

Tim "Fritz" Smalley



>
>From: Alec Smyth <Asmyth@changepoint.com>
>Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 16:13:18 -0500
>To: "'personal_submersibles@psubs.org'" <personal_submersibles@psubs.org>
>Subject: RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] More youthful wetsub experiences
>Absolutely. My dad's partner was a Belgian who was in the resistance until
>captured with about 30 others. Half of them were executed on the spot, the
>other half sent to a camp. While there, he happened to walk out of their hut
>to go to the bathroom when an allied bomb fell on it and wiped out the rest,
>so he was the only survivor of the original 30. When liberated at the end of
>the war, his lungs were in really bad shape and the doctors told him to go
>somewhere with a warmer climate, so that's how he ended up in Argentina. He
>married and went on his honeymoon to Bariloche, a mountainous part of the
>country with Swiss and German architecture and traditions. Guess what, he
>started running into his former jailers on the street, and cut his honeymoon
>short 'cause it wasn't much fun. That said, there are also lots of great
>Germans down there who have no such record. In fact, the owners of the pool
>were German and were my closest friends. Please read no grudge into the
>story, it belongs to another time altogether. You're all getting me off
>topic! I don't mean to waste everyone's time. 
>
>More on topic, this morning my sub project became like a Gruyere, with lots
>of holes in the hull. Tomorrow it gets all the inserts welded in, and within
>the next two days it should get the endcap on the stern and the dome seat on
>the bow. Pictures soon.
>
>- Alec
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Gregory Snyder [mailto:gsnyder@mn.rr.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 3:47 PM
>To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
>Subject: RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] More youthful wetsub experiences
>
>
>Growing Up in Argentina, you could probably find some real Nazi's.
>Didn't a lot of them flee to South america?
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
>[mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of Alec Smyth
>Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 2:42 PM
>To: 'personal_submersibles@psubs.org'
>Subject: RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] More youthful wetsub experiences
>
>We were limited in depth by the length of the hose, since we'd leave the
>tank floating along the surface. If I remember right, it was about 4-5
>feet
>long. Which is probably just as well since we had no idea one had to
>exhale
>upon surfacing. It was a friend's pool, hence no lifeguards. But my
>friend's
>mom was a real disciplinarian. That's because when she was young she'd
>been
>a bit of a nut herself... once she was pulled over by a motorcycle cop
>for
>speeding, and while he was writing the ticket she rode off on his
>Harley. 
>
>It was fun growing up in a place (Argentina) where liability lawsuits
>were
>unheard of and cops were too busy fighting terrorists to worry about
>crazy
>kids. I find safety nazis depressing.
>
>Damn, I'm rambling. Better get back to work.
>
>- Alec
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Michael Holt [mailto:mholt@richmond.edu]
>Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 3:19 PM
>To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
>Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] More youthful wetsub experiences
>
>
>Alec Smyth wrote:
>> 
>> One can get away from some amazingly unhealthy things as a teenager. I
>once
>> got hold of an insecticide tank of the kind gardeners wear on their
>backs,
>> with a little hand pump for pressurizing it. After a rinse... presto,
>scuba
>> gear for the swimming pool. We'd just stick the nozzle in our mouth
>and
>pull
>> the trigger for each breath of air. It actually worked!
>
>Any idea how much pressure there was?
>
>And did the lifeguards at the pool stop you?
>
>
>
>Mike
>