I wonder if moderation is naturally selected for

Of all the True Things ever said about me, I still like Packer's the best. (You can ask him about that.) However, I think perhaps we might all agree that moderation was never my strongest point.

I, as is my nature, have signed on for rarely taken (but often talked about in revered, hushed tones) technical trimix (breathing a mix of helium, nitrogen, and oxygen) dive training. It is so cool. You actually use gases that would kill you if you breathed them on the surface. In normal recreational diving, the manuals always tell you (truthfully) that even if you do something horribly wrong, you'll likely live happily ever after. In my tech manual, practically every other word is "death." Yeah, and in between "death," they like to insert "permanent injury." Sweet. Sounds like a proper challenge.

The standard depth limit for normal human** diving is 40 meters/130'. With trimix, I'll be able to go to 75 meters/250' (that's approximately the roof of a twenty five floor building, in the opposite direction). There's some amazing things to see down there. In the Pacific, there's a sunken Japanese WWII carrier with planes and tanks *still on the deck*. She lies in 67 meters/220' of water. I am so all over that. At those depths, there are things that very few other humans have ever seen [and lived to tell about it]. Clearly, I totally have to go there. Yup, I suck at moderation.


It's been a while since my last missive. I left the Palau ship when the season ended in June and returned to Thailand to work on my teaching chops. (If any of you want to learn to dive, I'm a relatively slick instructor now. Well, relative to before, at least.) Teaching, while rewarding, is somewhat consistent and uneventful. Mildly unworthy of an adventure note, which is my excuse for the egregious lack of recent front line reporting. I know, lame excuse. I did teach the Captain of a US Navy rescue and deep salvage ship how to dive. I felt pretty good about myself that day. Go forth and save some lives sir.


I miss you all terribly, and I know I keep promising and bailing, but I will actually make it back to the States at some point for a visit. In the meantime, next time you climb to the 25th floor of a building, look out the window and think of me.


**I think the standard depth limit for normal chicken diving is something like 500 meters/1650', but I can't be sure. I believe it varies depending on whether it's fresh or frozen. And don't even start about feathers.