PERSONAL: Shayna the Wonder Dog Struggles on...

[click photos to enlarge] Not long to go for our dear family dog of 17 years, Shayna Punim the Wonder Dog (Shayna for short; "Shayna Punim" is Yiddish for "Pretty Face"). She gave us a scare yesterday 3/17/2013. We take her out front every day to sniff the lawn and walk on leash around the cul de sac. Sue called me on my cell from this walk to let me know that Shayna just had a seizure and could not even stand, much less walk. I came out there and confirmed what Sue told me, then carried her to the backyard near her doghouse. It seemed that tomorrow would be the day we make the sad trip to the vet. However, she defiantly told us NOT YET! After a few hours of seeming to sink into oblivion, she made a recovery and now seems about the same as before the seizure. 

Anyways, she lives to fight another day! Above is a sweet photo that I took of her after her seisure - she still looks pretty good, but is VERY skinny.

Above: Sue comforting Shayna after her seizure yesterday. Hang in there, baby!

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NATION: King of Lakers' "Showtime" Dies

Longtime owner of my favorite sports team, the Los Angeles Lakers, passed away on Monday, February 18, 2013. The Los Angeles Times has an excellent article on Buss' fascinating rise from poverty to innovative showman. One of the things that I admired most about Dr. Buss was that he always remained humble, attributing his voluminous success to "hard work and luck", as well as to the talent and motivation of his players, coaches, staff and the fans. He always deflected the admiration he received to the Lakers staff and not himself.

As much as I love the Lakers, there is frequently a philosophical theme to my posts (except when they are labeled "Just For Fun!"). In this instance, the theme is to not automatically treat  our favorite entertainers and athletes as role models. My simple reasoning is that there are better role models out there for our children to admire and pattern their lives after. Entertainers (including athletes) receive acclaim for their talent and hard work, and not necessarily for their ethics. We should watch the athletes and entertainers perform, and enjoy their joy and love of their craft, BUT if you don't want to be disappointed, it should end there.

Note that entertainers and athletes CAN be role models, depending on how they live their lives. Alternatively, certain aspects of their lives can be seen as worthy of admiration, while their less admirable characteristics can be dismissed as undesirable and receive no further attention. For instance, in the case of Kobe Bryant, one of my favorite basketball PLAYERS of all time, I admire his immense work ethic and motivation for continuous improvement; I just ignore his person behavior, ranging from a somewhat arrogant personality to occasional moral failings. 

In the case of Dr. Buss, he rose from the poverty which he was born into in Utah, eventually earning a PhD in Chemistry and becoming successful in real estate investment. That success eventually led in 1979 to the purchase of the "Fabulous Forum" in Inglewood, Calif. along with its tenants, the Lakers and the Kings. In this instance, Dr. Buss' story is a classic American tale of a child born to poverty rising above the difficulties of such a position to become successful - a scenario that has become increasingly difficult in California and the nation for a variety of reasons, including lack of education and stifling rules and regulations that limit innovation and competition.

My greatest role models were my grandparents, Bob and Irma Waag, who demonstrated a loving and genuine way to live. They were not perfect, as we are all flawed, but they truly believed in their religion along with the philosophy of "doing the right thing for your fellow man". Their caring nature and gentle approach to life allowed me to see that I am measured by what I give back to others, and not what I have achieved or accumulated for myself.

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SOLD!!! 1996 Fleetwood Angler Camper

It was a great camper for us and our kids, and we will miss it, but it is going to a good home! We hope to move on to an RV travel trailer of about 20 feet in length or less. It will be more comfortable for traditional camping trips as we get older :-)

We bought this slide in camper for our truck in the year 2000 and had a great time with it, along with our 2 kids. Our children are out in the great big world now, and we sold our Ford Bronco and Ford F350 and bought a Dodge Diesel 4x4. We are selling the camper and buying a larger and more comfortable trailer to tow behind us. We hope to be able to escape for longer trips, and a trailer is just the move for us, so its time to sell. We've kept the camper in good shape, and we hope it finds a good home!

• Slide-In Truck Camper made for 8’ Bed. 
• 1,700 Pounds wet, so would work with a half ton pickup. 
• Light weight means better fuel economy (Diesel F350 mpg: 20mpg without camper, and 14mpg with)
• Very good condition - everything works. 
• Always covered - Brand New cover (still in the box). 
• Dimensions: Interior ceiling height 6’ 4”, Outside box width 7’ 2”, box length 9’ 7”, Cabover to box end length 15’ 7”. 
• Capacities: water - 20 gallons, black water 15 gallons, gray water 15 gallons
• 1 Piece Rubber roof. 
• No generator and no microwave. 
• Great Camper with a great layout. 
• Atwood power jacks. 
• Sleeps 4 in 3 beds: Queen cabover, Dinette bed, Bunk above dinette. 
• Large 3 way Fridge. 
• Lots of extra storage. 
• Wet bath with inside & outside shower w/6 gallon Gas water heater. 
• 3 Burner Stove and Oven. 
• Removable carpetting with vinyl flooring underneath. 
• All detectors: Propane, CO2, Fire. 2 Fire Extinguishers. 
• 3-way marine battery charger built-in, with new 750 amp hour deep cycle battery. 
• Maxx Air power vents & circulating fan. 
• Aftermarket Blaupunkt stereo and Advent speakers. 
• 3 Pantry areas, plus Closet with Book Library
• Convert closet to for gear storage, and back again!
• Light and sunny with lots of windows and vents (4 windows open, 3 roof vents open).
• All manuals for all equipment. 
• Must see - many extra features. 
• Can be seen on Craig’s List or RVTrader.com

PERSONAL: Out of Alaska!

Out of Alaska - Blog by Corey (click to go to blog)

Corey just reported on 1/22/2013 that he had completed his blog of the trip out to California, so I moved it to the top. Go check out the info on his visit; it was great to have him in SLO for a few weeks - thanks for the good times, Corey!

Above: Corey gives the Scuba Diver's OK signal before heading out for his first dive in the Pacific Ocean of California - he would end up being a very competent new diver, as he explored the depths of the ocean, diving as deep as 86 and 95 feet on 2 wreck dives at Catalina.

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LOCAL: Hearst Castle Visit with our Guests

(click photos to enlarge). Many SLO locals rarely or never visit our largest tourist attraction - Hearst Castle. But not us! We recently had guests staying from out of town with us (a couple from Southern Calif. and an undergrad student attending the University of Alaska - Fairbanks). Of course, we took them to Hearst Castle. It was a clear and cold day, with great views of the magic castle that William Randolph Hearst envisioned and that architect Julian Morgan designed, and that a horde of builders constructed.

Mr. Hearst camped near the location of Hearst Castle as a boy. It was for this reason that he chose the same location for a much grander purpose: to build "La Cuesta Encantada" or in English, The Enchanted Hill".

The Castle tour bus winds to the top of the hill, where we get off for the start of our "Large Rooms Tour".

The Castle is filled with antique items collected by Mr. Hearst throughout his lifetime, and the rooms serve as display portals for those collections. The "Billiard Room" in the main Castle building hosts some of the oldest antiquities in the Hearst collection. Above is the Billiard Room's ancient ceiling imported from Europe, and below (in the same room) is the oldest tapestry on the Castle grounds: The Hunter and the Stag, that dates from the 1500's.

There are two pools on the gounds: the Neptune Pool (outdoors) and the Roman Pool (indoors). Both are indescribably rich and are magical in their surroundings, as you can see. Sue enjoys the view from a lounge chair beside the Neptune Pool. Below is the golden tiled Roman Pool.

Finally, one of two unique fountains adorn the west facing view of the guest house: La Casa Del Mar, or the House of the Sea. If you have not been to Hearst Castle recently (or at all!), we encourage you to take a step back in time and enjoy a wonderful part of our central coast heritage.

Above: Special photo of my Dad's (Bob's) 1991 Miata. We sold it to a person who lives in Morro Bay, so we went by and took a photo of it. It means much to us that it lives on with somebody else. It was a great car for us, as we owned it for 6 or 7 years, and it was Andrew's car through his days at UCDavis. Thanks!

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NATIONAL: We Need More Journalists to Report the Facts

PROLOGUE: I'm old school and still like to read newspapers every day to "keep up on the news" - a habit that I suspect is dying. Folks have begun to "keep up" with the news (if they bother at all, which I suspect that most people do NOT) via the internet and and its less and less accurate news sources.

Journalism as we used to know it has been dead for many years. News publications that used to send out reporters to investigate and report the news have increasingly relied on the news wire for their reporting, and basically parroting the "reporting" of others.

Evidence: major news sources such as the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times have laid off 100's or 1,000's of reporters in the last decade, and reporters no longer have a "ladder" to climb in their careers at such publications. Being a reporter is now considered to be a low wage job with no possibility for advancement, thus limiting the quality AND quantity of actual news investigation, as opposed to "accumulators" of news resulting from the reporting of others. I found an on-topic blog article that attempts to answer the question: "Is Journalism Dead?" The article identifies the trend towards relying on the "citizen-as-reporter" for our news, rather than trained professional journalists.

We became more highly aware of this "Journalism is Dead" phenomenon when our son was seeking out a college major and a career path. After our son spent a week visiting a cousin who worked as a named reporter at a VERY major newspaper, our eyes became opened to this less-than-obvious trend. The cousin encouraged our son to avoid journalism as a major and as a career, because, as previously stated, journalism was dead.

GETTING TO THE POINT: My personal frustration is with articles that do not report on the FACTS that I am seeking in order to form my OWN OPINION. Let's just get to a few examples:

EXAMPLE 1: Reporting on the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" legislation that was passed recently. Nowhere on the internet or the newspapers could I find a listing of what was actually contained in this legislation.  Note that while writing this article, I found what appears to be a decent article on the impact of the Fiscal Cliff for ordinary taxpayers like me on the CBS news web page dated January 1, 2013.

EXAMPLE 2: Today 1/14/2013 in our local San Luis Obispo newspaper, The Tribune, was an article that Egypt's Mubarak would get a new trial. It turns out that an Egyptian appeals court threw out his life sentence conviction. My problem: it didn't tell the readers WHY the conviction was overturned - the only real news information that I was looking for. In the LAST paragraph of the article, it states:

"The court did not explain its ruling and did not set a new date for the trial."

I want to know more about this last sentence. Is it routine for this Egyptian court to avoid publicly posting its rulings, UNlike here in the United States? Or was this an exception due to the notorious and volatile nature of prosecuting Egypt's dictator for more than 30 years? Who knows? Who cares? Answer: Me.

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CATALINA: Just for Fun!

Our friend Corey from Fairbanks, Alaska, who is a sophomore at University of Alaska - Fairbanks, has been visiting us in San Luis Obispo for the last few weeks. You can view the blog of his trip at coreyupton-travel.blogspot.com.

Well, we were finally were able to go diving in California. It had been difficult to find time AND suitable ocean conditions, but we finally made it! Under excellent winter weather conditions, with light breezes and air temps in the mid to high 60's during the day, water temps in the mid 50's, and sunshine, we had 2 glorious days of diving. Yeah!

Click photos to enlarge.

 Above: Corey and Tim snorkel out to a Catalina dive site.

We leave on the Catalina Express out of Downtown Long Beach on the 6:15AM boat (we had to get up at 4:30am from Tim's brothers house in El Segundo to catch the boat!). We got lost trying to find the Express Terminal and almost didn't make the boat. The early boat allowed us to experience a beautiful sunrise as we left Long Beach Harbor.

Corey views the disappearing city lights at sunrise from the back of the "Starship Express" boat with its twin Jet Cats pumping out ocean water!

We stay at the lovely Hermosa Hotel & Cottages in Avalon, Catalina, Los Angeles County, California, where Tim has been staying since the 1980's.

We do pause for our tourist shots on the way out to the Avalon Dive Park next to the Casino (in the background).

We just happened to be diving on "Cruise Ship Day" - the Avalon and Ensenada 3 day cruise - and had numerous cruise ship gawkers hanging out at the park with us (one of them took a photo for us - below). Thanks to the City of Avalon for operating and maintaining such a fine dive site!

Getting ready for another "harsh winter dive in California"!

Map of the underwater dive park in Avalon.

Corey brought 2 Go-Pro cameras in underwater housings, and captured tons of awesome stills and videos - he'll be doing a lot of editing...

We skipped the night dive (due to cold and wind, and we were just plain old tired!) but did a night hike around the city of Avalon, capturing this pleasant evening scene of the Casino Walk in the abandoned town (after all the cruise-shippers went back to their ship).

While waiting to catch our Express Boat back to Long Beach, we captured this image of the Avalon Harbor Green Pleasure Pier (and surrounding palm trees) shrouded in fog.

Departing from the Catalina Express terminal, a weary Corey poses with a smile (in his mind - if not his face) in front of our massive pile of gear. Yes, we schlepped that all over Avalon - no easy task. 

We planned this dive trip at the last minute, putting it together starting at 3pm on a Monday: we had made reservations for everything and departed SLO at 8:30pm on Monday night, spent the night at Brian and Laura's in Elsie, got up at 4:30am to catch the 6:15am Express Boat, checked into the Hermosa Hotel at 8am, did 2 dives in the park (check-out dive where Corey did great, and wreck of the Sue Jac), then 2 dives the next day (wreck of the Valiant in Descanso Bay between Buoy 45 "Safe Passage" and 46, followed by a final dive in the park), then the Express Boat back to Long Beach, a visit with Matt at M&M Marine in Huntington Beach to do some business, then a drive home where we returned after midnight! 

We executed this last minute Scuba dive trip in 52 hours door-to-door from leaving SLO to returning! It was AWESOME! Thanks Corey for the great times and "Making the Old Feel New Again"!

We took as many chances as we could to fill our bellys, and at "Topless Tacos" on Crescent Street, college-boy Corey met his match!

*****

What's Old is New Again: 

Rediscovering the Excitement of California Diving!

by Tim Waag

[Though I'm not a prodigious writer, I enjoy writing, and have had dozens of Scuba articles published in Diving Magazines, mostly in the 1980's and 1990's. After years - nay decades - of only diving with experienced divers, it was with renewed excited that I spent 2 days diving with the newly certified diver from Alaska, Corey. I am motivated to write an article on this experience with the title above. Once completed, I will submit it to various dive magazines and hope that it gets published and I can deduct the cost of the trip for tax purposes! I will write 2 version of the article - one for this blog at about 1,500 words, and one for dive magazines at about 700 to 900 words - a length that they prefer.]

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