Post by SeaRat on Jan 11, 2020 22:12:28 GMT -8
Yesterday I was at the pool, trying out masks and using my Dolfin monofin for the first time in several yesrs. I found out the reason I hadn't used the monofin for awhile too; it's not comfortable on my feet. More on this later, but this isn't why I'm writing. While I was swimming, I noticed several other swimmers in the pool in an area reserved for rentals. I had done a lot of breath-holding, and so needed to head for the head, if you know what I mean (breath-holding is a diuretic, you know). While there, I heard these guys talking about physical tests, sounding like what I had gone through in the USAF Pararescue training. I went back to the pool to complete my workout. As I was finishing, one of the guys I had gotten to know told my these guys were USAF JROTC guys pre-training for PJ and CC schools. I wanted to talk with them, but they had left the pool. I asked the front desk about them, but the guy behind the desk didn't have any contact info. So I simply waited for my wife to get out. As Chris came out of the dressing room, the fellow behind the desk told me the USAF guys were in the pool observation area. I told Chris to wait just a minute, and went up to talk with them. I told them I was a PJ from 1967-71 and 1972-77, and they asked if I had any advise? I very quickly told them "Don't quit." I then talked to their mentor, and gave him contact info. I don't know if anything will come from it, but I did want to try.
A couple of years ago, my LDS gave me a SeaHawk-TR Video Housing, and a Sony light. Last year I decided that my GoPro needed a light, and that the Sony light could be it. So I went to Batteries Plus, and ordered an expensive battery for the light. The first one that came in was the wrong one, so they sent it back. The second one was the right one, and the light worked, for about 30 seconds. I went back, and the guy said it probably needed charging. But, there was no charger for that old-style NiMH battery. So I was stuck. No operable light.
It stayed that way for months, with no charger available. Then, I went to Goodwill last week, and I actually found what I thought was a charger for that battery. But it was with a Panasonic video camera, for only $19.95. It had several batteries too! But I needed to know that it would work, so I left to go do some more chores, then went home to get the battery, as I wanted to be sure the charger worked. Back to Goodwill I went to check it out for a final time. But the camera was gone! I couldn't believe it. I had that charger in my hand, but it was no where in sight. I was stunned, and told Laurie at the LDS the story. She told me that if I found something, I needed to buy it right then. She said that she was selling some tanks once, a lot of them, and a guy came in to buy all of them. Another guy came in 15 minutes later and bought the last few tanks she had. He was lucky, as the first guy actually wanted them all. She said zi needed to buy it while I had the chance.
The next day, I took the set of my doubles back to be filled, then went back to Goodwill, just in case. What do you know? That camera, with the charger, was there! I had an intuition that something may had happened and I needed to know that the charger was really gone; it wasn't, and I bought it. What had apparently happened is that a part for that charger had been found, and was put onto the charger. It was an adapter plate for other batteries. Well, I brought it home, took the charger out and tried to figure how to get the adapter plate off. I tried prying it off, and it wouldn't budge. I tried manipulating it, and couldn't budge it. I knew it came off, as I had photographed the charger when I first saw it, without tHe adapter plate. Finally, I used my Leatherman's knife blade in the crease, and the plate popped off. The battery I had bought fit, so I put it on the charger. I also found the manual for the charger in the camera's case. It took almost 12 hours for the final green light to show, but today it did, and I put the battery into the light; the light works! I now have a video light for my GoPro!
What I told the USAF JROTC students, about not quitting, pays off in a number of situations. Persistence pays!
What is your best find, and the story behind it? This thread is about those finds, thise stories, that don't usually get told.
John
A couple of years ago, my LDS gave me a SeaHawk-TR Video Housing, and a Sony light. Last year I decided that my GoPro needed a light, and that the Sony light could be it. So I went to Batteries Plus, and ordered an expensive battery for the light. The first one that came in was the wrong one, so they sent it back. The second one was the right one, and the light worked, for about 30 seconds. I went back, and the guy said it probably needed charging. But, there was no charger for that old-style NiMH battery. So I was stuck. No operable light.
It stayed that way for months, with no charger available. Then, I went to Goodwill last week, and I actually found what I thought was a charger for that battery. But it was with a Panasonic video camera, for only $19.95. It had several batteries too! But I needed to know that it would work, so I left to go do some more chores, then went home to get the battery, as I wanted to be sure the charger worked. Back to Goodwill I went to check it out for a final time. But the camera was gone! I couldn't believe it. I had that charger in my hand, but it was no where in sight. I was stunned, and told Laurie at the LDS the story. She told me that if I found something, I needed to buy it right then. She said that she was selling some tanks once, a lot of them, and a guy came in to buy all of them. Another guy came in 15 minutes later and bought the last few tanks she had. He was lucky, as the first guy actually wanted them all. She said zi needed to buy it while I had the chance.
The next day, I took the set of my doubles back to be filled, then went back to Goodwill, just in case. What do you know? That camera, with the charger, was there! I had an intuition that something may had happened and I needed to know that the charger was really gone; it wasn't, and I bought it. What had apparently happened is that a part for that charger had been found, and was put onto the charger. It was an adapter plate for other batteries. Well, I brought it home, took the charger out and tried to figure how to get the adapter plate off. I tried prying it off, and it wouldn't budge. I tried manipulating it, and couldn't budge it. I knew it came off, as I had photographed the charger when I first saw it, without tHe adapter plate. Finally, I used my Leatherman's knife blade in the crease, and the plate popped off. The battery I had bought fit, so I put it on the charger. I also found the manual for the charger in the camera's case. It took almost 12 hours for the final green light to show, but today it did, and I put the battery into the light; the light works! I now have a video light for my GoPro!
What I told the USAF JROTC students, about not quitting, pays off in a number of situations. Persistence pays!
What is your best find, and the story behind it? This thread is about those finds, thise stories, that don't usually get told.
John
