Tonight I went to the Red Cross office in Santa Clara to get recertified in First Aid/CPR. I passed! Yeah!

There was a 50 questions written test (I got three wrong :-( ) and then skill demonstration. The examiner made up some scenarios and I had to react: "You enter a room and you see an adult unconscious on the floor. What do you do?". I then had to demonstrate the full rescue protocol three or four different times with different reactions each time from the "patient" (a mannequin). The most difficult for me was the infant patient. For one thing the infant mannequins are more realistic: the adult ones don't have limbs. For another, it's just more difficult to think of infants in distress that you might have to rescue. But I managed nonetheless to adequately demonstrate my skills and thus earn my recertification.

One of the reason I got recertified is that I will need it for the Divemaster certification. But I think there might have been another reason. I first took the First Responder class in 1998. At that time I had just returned to Apple after a rather miserable, but mercifully brief, return to France. I was back at Apple but work at the time was somewhat lackadaisical. As it turns out I find myself in a similar situation these days, although the reasons are different. I suppose I should remember that last time things eventually turned around and became interesting again. It's all part of the ebb and flow of work life. I'm definitely in the ebb part right now. Sigh.

Went down to Monterey yesterday for a dive trip aboard the Escapade. Well, it was overall quite miserable. The visibility was in the 5ft range. There was a current under the surface and quite a bit of surge. I ended up getting cold. Bah. Not much to see either: a few fish and a couple of blue whales. OK, the blue whales were cool. But that's not all.

Back on the surface, we saw a trio of humpback whales this time that kept breaching to the surface. Quite spectacular. Majestic, in a multi-ton kind of way.

The ocean was very calm, with barely a wave on the surface. Unfortunately, those are the perfect condition for me to get motion sickness. I ended up throwing up abundantly and was quite relieved when we finally returned to the port. I'll have to try again when the weather is a bit more rough :-)

I met with some friends today at the Farmer's Market at the Embaracadero. Well... they thought it was the Farmer's Market, but on Sunday it's a much smaller set of vendors. The shops inside the Embarcadero were open and we have a good lunch at a seafood restaurant. We had an interesting discussion about interesting services that could be delivered via mobile technology. It's good for your brain to imagine the world that could be :-)

I took the ferry to Sausalito to visit another friend, then I biked back to the city. It was the first time I was crossing the Golden Gate on bike in this direction. Since I had my camera with me it was a nice opportunity to take some close up shots of my favorite monument.

Last night I bought plane tickets to Cozumel, sealing the fate of my summer vacation. I'll be leaving San Francisco just past midnight Friday July 9th and return Saturday the 31st.

Cozumel is an island slightly smaller than the San Francisco bay area, off the eastern coast of Mexico. It has become a celebrated diving location following a 1961 documentary by Jacques Cousteau. I will be sharing the island with a third of the tourists who come here to dive. However, I have a specific goal in mind: I want to become a Divemaster. To prequalify I will have to renew my First Responder certification, since it has been more than 3 years since I took my exam. I have to start brushing up on my Spanish :-)

I made it to Monterey on time. In fact I was even a bit early, arriving around 7am. Quite amazing considering how much not a morning person I am. I guess with the right motivation... I went diving to McAbee beach in Monterey, a new dive site for me.

McAbee beach was the site in 1905 of the sinking of the Gypsy. For 25 years, the captain of the Gypsy made the run between San Francisco and Monterey, never taking a day off. Then, one day, the captain finally took a vacation and left his boat in the hands of a less experienced mariner. Unfortunately, the combination of foggy weather, the inexperienced captain and some lights for some roadwork near McAbee beach led to the Gypsy being run aground. The salvage laws of the time made the cargo of the ship the property of whoever could put their hands on it. Since the Gypsy transported mostly beer, there was quite a party on the beach that day.

No drinking on the beach for me today, though. Today was the lowest tide in 19 years. Visibility underwater varied between 5 and 15 feet. The kelp forest was thick and as impressive as ever. Four seals near the beach were curious but not interested in playign too much.

The equipment worked fine. The Volo Power fins are a pleasure: powerful and effortless swim. It took a while to get used to the BC with its integrated weigths. I think I still need a bit of time to really get used to it. The integrated octo/inflator worked fine, although it's not as comfortable as the primary regulator. The regular worked great: easy breathing and no jaw fatigue. The only thing that needs tweaking is the mask, which leaked and fogged a bit. Otherwise good field of vision, though.

When things get a bit too stressful at work I do what every good red-blooded American does: a bit of shopping therapy. This time around: scuba equipment. I’ve gotten myself a brand new BC, regulator and fins. It will complement nicely the rest of my equipment: mask, snorkel and (coolest of all) dive computer. The amount of cash I spend is proportional to the level of stress, so that tells you something about how things are going (for those of you who don’t know, diving equipment is very expensive) :-)

I now have almost all the gear I need, except for a suitcase and maybe a wetsuit. I think I might be better off renting the wetsuit, since I need a different one depending on where I dive. We’ll see.

Tomorrow, I’m going to try out my new kit in Monterey. I’m all excited about it, except for the fact I have to be there at 7:30am, which means leaving home at 5:30am. Ugh. The things we do for the pleasure of being fully immersed in frigid waters.