I’m sick! I think it’s a head cold that could turn into a sinus infection if I’m not careful. Unfortunately, this means I can’t dive while I’m ill.
I’ve met plenty of divers who still go out when they’re feeling under the weather– and they’ve been fine– but the potential for complications and injury are high when you’re sick in certain ways. Anything involving your sinuses or inner ear could more easily lead to an injury that ends your diving career.
A traumatized sinus will eventually heal, but it will take a long time and it might be too sensitive in the future to handle the kind of pressure changes that happen during scuba. A blown-out eardrum on the other hand doesn’t heal or repair itself, so a diver will need surgery. Even then they probably won’t be able to dive in the future.
Don’t dive sick! It sucks to lose your deposit, and its a pain to change your plans, but in the end it’s worth it not to suffer through a major injury that could stop you from diving forever.
Yep, I got scammed trying to buy scuba equipment. It was a really interesting experience, and while I’m happy to say I got my money back, I never want to go through that again! I also got my money back in a rather unexpected way.
Here’s a breakdown of what happened:
I bought a BioSeal Neck Gaiter listed for $20USD, but when I was charged through PayPal, it said I had been charged $300USD.
Then, when I checked my actual PayPal account, the total was 45k Japanese Yen. That’s about $285USD.
Then it gets weirder! The amount charged was increased to 51k yen.
And then… when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, I got a notification that my package had been delivered… in the past! It was the 25th of December (what an awful Christmas present, am I right???) when the scam happened, but the package was instantly delivered on the 9th of December to an address that’s not mine. Christmas Magic!?
I immediately reported the seller and started a claim through PayPal, and once the holidays were over I called my bank for advice. The seller didn’t get access to my banking information because I didn’t put in my card/bank info when making the purchase– I used PayPal as a proxy– and I think that saved me a LOT of trouble.
Unfortunately, the PayPal claim was ruled to be not in my favor! They determined that the charges had not been made fraudulently. Er, so what about the magical, instantaneous delivery and the unauthorized price increase? Or the fact that $20 somehow turned into $300?
Fortunately, the seller refunded my money! I submitted a ton of screenshots to PayPal and described exactly what happened, and made a fraud report to the Federal Trade Commission:
All of that was shared with the seller. Maybe they got scared and decided I wasn’t worth the trouble. My next step would have been to call my bank and all to dispute the charge, but I didn’t need to do that.
So, buyer beware! Be careful when purchasing stuff, especially when it seems too good to be true. Also if something bad does happen, act immediately, don’t panic, and don’t back down.
Here are some links that have good info on online scams:
I had the good fortune to be able to visit some good friends, and they took me to the aquarium! While I didn’t actually scuba, I did get to see some cool creatures and learn some new animal facts.
I had been to this aquarium once before with a different friend, several years ago when the second half of the aquarium was still under construction. Its very well done, with lots of great-looking habitats and interesting critters.
I hadn’t been able to see the Northern Fur Seals the last time, and I fell in love with Flaherty at first sight on this second visit. He looks like a disaster, with scraggly hair and bloodshot eyes… but he’s perfectly alright. I think fur seals just look like that.
I spotted a nudibranch! The water in the Seattle Aquarium comes in through the Puget Sound, so little creatures will get sucked into some of the tanks and often make their new homes in the exhibits. Nudibranches are often seen in one area of the octopus tank, and I made it my life’s mission to find one… and amazingly, I did. They are absolutely tiny. The picture below of the nudibranch is probably twice as big as the real thing.
How fabulous! I know very little about these guys but I think this is an Opalescent Nudibranch. You can check my work using this handy guide from Emerald Divers!
Guitar Sharks, aka Guitar Rays or Guitar Fish, are absolutely fascinating creatures. I’ve seen a couple on dives in Cabo San Lucas, though they were much smaller than the behemoth at the aquarium!
We were told they are very, very rare and many people go their whole lives without spotting one. I feel lucky having seen two or three in my lifetime out in the wild!
I get questions from friends, family, and sometimes even other divers I meet on excursions. I was sharing these comics with friends, and asked if they had any questions for me… and I got quite a few!
I could probably talk about scuba all day and all night, so it’s a lot of fun to test my knowledge and see what more I need to learn and where there are gaps in my knowledge. The best way to test that is through teaching/explaining concepts to others!
Open Water Saga 