[Texascavers] Hole News photo credit
Regarding the latest Hole News photo credits: Stephen Fleming tells me he did not take the picture of mirror Bilbo and me. Not Kel's fault--I told him that. I gave my camera to a South West Region _someone_ to take the picture; if anyone knows who it was, or will admit to taking it, we will gladly give credit. Let me know... Jacqui - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] Re: ICS Amazing Backpack Stories
Nico said: He's not the only pack rocker out there. But probably the most famous Only in Texas. In TAG there are other prolific rockers, like Marion Smith. Here's one story from Marion that rivals Bill's rocking of Frank Binney at the ICS. Heather Levy went on a trip with Marion and others that involved a hike along railroad tracks. At some point Marion managed to slip two heavy pieces of iron into her pack. Soon after that trip Heather moved from Tennessee to Virginia. She didn't discover Marion's gift until she got out the pack for her first trip from her new home. An inter-state rocking! Mark Minton
texascavers Digest 2 Aug 2009 19:56:22 -0000 Issue 817
texascavers Digest 2 Aug 2009 19:56:22 - Issue 817 Topics (messages 11583 through 11600): Re: ICS related 11583 by: vivbone.att.net 11584 by: Denise P 11590 by: Charles Goldsmith 11594 by: Linda Palit 11597 by: Nancy Weaver 11599 by: Don Arburn BlackBerries and this list 11585 by: J. LaRue Thomas Re: Speaking of batteries 11586 by: Gill Edigar Facebook related 11587 by: David 11588 by: Bill Bentley Re: ICS Amazing Backpack Stories 11589 by: mark gee 11600 by: Mark Minton Re: Weighting down Bill Steele's pack 11591 by: mark gee Re: Bill Steele: hero or human tugboat? 11592 by: mark gee ICS 11593 by: Ernest Garza 11596 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com The August 2009 issue of The Hole News is now on the web 11595 by: Bill Bentley Hole News photo credit 11598 by: J. LaRue Thomas Administrivia: To subscribe to the digest, e-mail: texascavers-digest-subscr...@texascavers.com To unsubscribe from the digest, e-mail: texascavers-digest-unsubscr...@texascavers.com To post to the list, e-mail: texascavers@texascavers.com -- ---BeginMessage--- Steve'smargin of error was actually .02 inches. Way less than 2 cm. He brought his own equipment from Nevada, and spenta lot of time on it. It is greatly appreciated. I'll be doing awrite up on the results. It's not often we get a chance to compare severalsurvey team's (seven to be exact) data to a well defined correct survey like this. -Vivian 10 My good friend Steve Deveny proofed the survey course to i wanna say 2cm and is a professional surveyor. I don't really have any input there just wanted to throw kudos where I could. ---End Message--- ---BeginMessage--- I did not forsake pay, but as vacation time is more precious to me than money (I'd take time off without pay if I could), I'd say donating 1/3 of my annual vacation time to ICS was no small deal to me. Painful in fact... -Denise List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 03:54:49 -0500 From: wavyca...@gmail.com To: Texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] ICS Related I would be interested in knowing how many volunteers at ICS took time off of their jobs with no vacation compensation (they forsake income) to attend ICS? Unemployment does not count. -WaV _ Get free photo software from Windows Live http://www.windowslive.com/online/photos?ocid=PID23393::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:SI_PH_software:082009---End Message--- ---BeginMessage--- The same for me Denise, but I took off 7 days out of my 10 that I get a year (2 weeks = 10 working days) of vacation, so it was a big sacrifice for me as well. It was a paid vacation, but I get so little of it... Very painful On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 8:36 AM, Denise Ppepabe...@hotmail.com wrote: I did not forsake pay, but as vacation time is more precious to me than money (I'd take time off without pay if I could), I'd say donating 1/3 of my annual vacation time to ICS was no small deal to me. Painful in fact... -Denise Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 03:54:49 -0500 From: wavyca...@gmail.com To: Texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] ICS Related I would be interested in knowing how many volunteers at ICS took time off of their jobs with no vacation compensation (they forsake income) to attend ICS? Unemployment does not count. -WaV ---End Message--- ---BeginMessage--- Vacation is more precious than money TRUE for many, I think. It is hard to get enough vacation, even if you are willing to do w/o pay. I am very fortunate to finally be self employed so that I make more of those decisions. Many places will not let one take time off without pay. From: Denise P [mailto:pepabe...@hotmail.com] Sent: Saturday, August 01, 2009 8:37 AM To: TexasCavers Subject: RE: [Texascavers] ICS Related I did not forsake pay, but as vacation time is more precious to me than money (I'd take time off without pay if I could), I'd say donating 1/3 of my annual vacation time to ICS was no small deal to me. Painful in fact... -Denise _ List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 03:54:49 -0500 From: wavyca...@gmail.com To: Texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] ICS Related I would be interested in knowing how many volunteers at ICS took time off of their jobs with no vacation compensation (they forsake income) to attend ICS? Unemployment does not count. -WaV _ Get free photo software from Windows Live Click here. http://www.windowslive.com/online/photos?ocid=PID23393::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en- US:SI_PH_software:082009 ---End Message--- ---BeginMessage--- Vacation is more precious than money Many places will not let one take time
[Texascavers] ICS shot of Geoff
Does anyone have a good shot of Geoff riding the mechanical bull. I'd love a copy. Thanks
Re: [Texascavers] ICS Related
Charles - do you have an option to take leave (unpaid time off) rather than vacation? If not - would you have made that choice instead? -DC On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Charles Goldsmith wo...@justfamily.orgwrote: The same for me Denise, but I took off 7 days out of my 10 that I get a year (2 weeks = 10 working days) of vacation, so it was a big sacrifice for me as well. It was a paid vacation, but I get so little of it... Very painful On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 8:36 AM, Denise Ppepabe...@hotmail.com wrote: I did not forsake pay, but as vacation time is more precious to me than money (I'd take time off without pay if I could), I'd say donating 1/3 of my annual vacation time to ICS was no small deal to me. Painful in fact... -Denise Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 03:54:49 -0500 From: wavyca...@gmail.com To: Texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] ICS Related I would be interested in knowing how many volunteers at ICS took time off of their jobs with no vacation compensation (they forsake income) to attend ICS? Unemployment does not count. -WaV - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
RE: [Texascavers] ICS Related
Vacation is more precious than money Many places will not let one take time off without pay. Maybe the question is - whose life is this anyway and what am I willing to trade for it? Nnacy
Re: [Texascavers] ICS Related
Yes I do, and I did consider it, but I decided not to, I didn't want to dig into my savings for this trip, I spent enough as it was, dang vendors :) Charles On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 4:07 AM, Don Cooperwavyca...@gmail.com wrote: Charles - do you have an option to take leave (unpaid time off) rather than vacation? If not - would you have made that choice instead? -DC On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Charles Goldsmith wo...@justfamily.org wrote: The same for me Denise, but I took off 7 days out of my 10 that I get a year (2 weeks = 10 working days) of vacation, so it was a big sacrifice for me as well. It was a paid vacation, but I get so little of it... Very painful On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 8:36 AM, Denise Ppepabe...@hotmail.com wrote: I did not forsake pay, but as vacation time is more precious to me than money (I'd take time off without pay if I could), I'd say donating 1/3 of my annual vacation time to ICS was no small deal to me. Painful in fact... -Denise Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 03:54:49 -0500 From: wavyca...@gmail.com To: Texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] ICS Related I would be interested in knowing how many volunteers at ICS took time off of their jobs with no vacation compensation (they forsake income) to attend ICS? Unemployment does not count. -WaV
Re: [Texascavers] ICS Related
Live to work Or Work to live. Don's iPhone. On Aug 2, 2009, at 8:39 AM, Nancy Weaver nan...@io.com wrote: Vacation is more precious than money Many places will not let one take time off without pay. Maybe the question is - whose life is this anyway and what am I willing to trade for it? Nnacy
[Texascavers] Tom Bemis retiring from Carlsbad Caverns :
Bemis retiring after 30 years at Carlsbad Caverns N.P. By Valerie Cranston Current-Argus Staff Writer Posted: 08/01/2009 09:17:09 PM MDT CARLSBAD — Tom Boomer Bemis is retiring from the Carlsbad Caverns National Park while he's still having fun. His retirement roasting party is set for 6 p.m. today at the Stevens Inn and his last full day of work is Monday. Bemis, a.k.a. The Legend, has spent 30 years working for the National Parks Service at the caverns. He worked a decade in interpretation, a decade in maintenance and another decade in resource management. I figured I better leave now - next would be administration or protection and they would never issue me a gun, Bemis said. I'm thinking the roasting will probably turn into a cremation, he added, noting there will be no mercy shown him from those attending. When he started out at the caverns, those he worked with began calling him Bemis. That quickly evolved into Beemer and before he knew it he was dubbed Boomer. If my phone rang and someone asked for Boomer, I knew it was pretty much work-related because no one in town calls me that, he said. The Legend reference came about before he began working for the NPS. He worked on and off for five years for Cavern Supply at the Caverns. It was 1976 when Ron Kerbo was reworking the lighting in the cave. Kerbo got wind that Bemis was a caver so he got him to wriggle his small frame in a tiny crevice to help with the lighting. That's how it started and I've done enough crazy things over the years that it stuck, Bemis said, adding that one of those crazy things was whitewater rafting down a flooded Walnut Canyon with Kerbo just for fun. Bemis had been on the job about a month when, in July 1979, gunmen took over the underground lunchroom and took hostages. Bemis had not been there long enough for his uniforms to come in or the gunmen would have taken him also, he explained. He remembers elevator operator Cecilia Valdez and seasonal ranger Linda Phillips were taken as hostages. The gunmen demanded to talk to the newspaper, so publisher Ned Cantwell went underground to the lunchroom to interview the gunmen per their request. The standoff lasted some 3 to 4 hours. After it was over, they found out I was a photographer, and I ended up taking photographs of evidence for the FBI, Bemis said. The best part of his decade working in interpretation was dealing with the public. After all, who wouldn't like standing around visiting with people, talking about the cave and getting paid for it, he said. His decade in maintenance was a bit more challenging. When they realized he knew electronics, he was assigned to maintain the radio system in the cave after the company who installed it went bankrupt. He maintained it and then replaced it with other systems over the years. I designed the surface repeater system and then designed an underground repeater system that sat around for a decade before it was put into use, Bemis said. The decade spent in resource management was right up his alley and coincided with what he loved and began doing 39 years ago - caving. That's what I went there for and I waited 20 years to do it. I was doing what I loved and paying back to the cave, he said. I finally ended up in a job to oversee some correcting of damage that had been done to the cave. The cave has been host to visitors for more than 100 years. A light bulb in the cave can't even be changed with out getting off the trail. Each time an employee gets off trail, a little more damage is done, he explained. Bemis was in charge of 12 caves, all of which are open to the public with stipulations. In addition to the caverns, he's been responsible for Spider and Slaughter Canyon Cave and nine other recreational caves. Eight of those caves require permits to enter. The ninth is Ogle, a vertical cave that not only requires a permit but also the company of a park employee. Bemis also served as search and rescue coordinator for the park. Although there was not a great deal of search and rescue at the park through the years, it took a lot of time and work to maintain a viable team for when they were needed. My first rescue was back in college. It was a good friend of mine who had long hair and was hanging literally by his hair from a rope about 50-60 feet off the ground, Bemis said, adding this friend, who lives in Carlsbad, is now a member of search and rescue and shall remain nameless for now. Bemis, 55, is only retiring from the Caverns. His next job is adjunct instructor teaching search and rescue at the Permian Basin Regional Training Center. The job will start out as part-time but will more than likely work into a full time job. I'll be developing bridges between the parks, city, county, Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, Bemis said, adding that any other interested entity can join the search and rescue bridge building. Bemis needed to retire
