texascavers Digest 27 May 2010 15:03:21 -0000 Issue 1060
Topics (messages 14882 through 14899):
Re: 52 Ways to Die in a Cave
14882 by: Mark.Alman.l-3com.com
14883 by: Ed Goff
52 ways to die...
14884 by: Jim Kennedy
14885 by: Fritz Holt
14887 by: Don Cooper
14888 by: Fritz Holt
Paging Michael Sisson
14886 by: Mark.Alman.l-3com.com
caving this wkend in high guads OK
14889 by: Karen Perry
East Texas Caver's Cookout - Report 4
14890 by: David
14891 by: Mark.Alman.l-3com.com
14892 by: Stephen Fleming
14893 by: Fritz Holt
Re: dumb list
14894 by: John P. Brooks
Cookout Report # 5
14895 by: David
Cookout Report # 6
14896 by: David
14898 by: Mark.Alman.l-3com.com
14899 by: Stefan Creaser
Re: 2010 NSS Convention-Cave Vermont!
14897 by: David
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Begin Message ---
Ahh, a Kinks reference.
Great song!
Mark
----- Original Message ----
From: Diana Tomchick <diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu>
To: Cave Tex <texascavers@texascavers.com>
Sent: Tue, May 25, 2010 4:38:09 PM
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] 52 Ways to Die in a Cave
61. Rock paranoia, will destroy ya...
Diana
On May 25, 2010, at 4:13 PM, ryan monjaras wrote:
> 60. touching a live wire for lights (thankfully it was low voltage
> and i only got shocked)
>
> "Semper Exploro"
> Ryan Monjaras
> Maverick Grotto
> Cowtown Grotto
> DFW Grotto
> (832)754-5778
>
>
>
>
> From: pitboun...@gmail.com
> Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 14:31:40 -0500
> To: brewskyj...@rgv.rr.com
> CC: diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu; a...@oztotl.com;
texascavers@texascavers.com
> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] 52 Ways to Die in a Cave
>
> 59. heart attack from carrying too many rocks in your cave pack
>
> On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 2:00 PM, Bruce Anderson
<brewskyj...@rgv.rr.com
> > wrote:
> #58 Getting flat rocked by someone in the group.
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Diana Tomchick"
<diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu
> >
> To: "Allan B. Cobb" <a...@oztotl.com>
> Cc: <texascavers@texascavers.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 1:59 PM
> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] 52 Ways to Die in a Cave
>
>
>
> How about
>
> 57. Getting "Puppied" at the shaft entrance of Honey Creek.
>
> Diana
>
> On May 25, 2010, at 11:45 AM, Allan B. Cobb wrote:
>
> The "52 Ways" list is here:
>
> http://www.scribd.com/doc/31358060/52-Ways-to-Die-in-a-Cave
>
> I can think of many more ways. Caving here in Belize I can add:
>
> 53. Getting eaten by a jaguar
> 54. Being ripped apart by a gibnut (or tepescuintle) in a crawlway
> 55. Interupting looters while they are looting Maya artifacts
>
> (I've been close to these.)
>
> There are other ways too.
>
> 56. Being blugeoned to death by your fellow cavers with rappel
> racks. (I've contemplated that a few times.)
>
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 8.5.437 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2895 - Release Date:
> 05/25/10 06:26:00
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>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> Diana R. Tomchick
> Associate Professor
> University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
> Department of Biochemistry
> 5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
> Rm. ND10.214B Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A. Email:
diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu
> 214-645-6383 (phone)
> 214-645-6353 (fax)
>
>
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> Hotmail is redefining busy with tools for the New Busy. Get more
> from your inbox. See how.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
Email: diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
62. The most common cause of death on TexasCavers: Armchair Compression
Syndrome
Sorry Terri. Next up: 52 ways to let this thread die?
Ed
On May 25, 2010, at 4:38 PM, Diana Tomchick wrote:
> 61. Rock paranoia, will destroy ya...
>
> Diana
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
#63: Getting killed by an irate wife for planning a big event in the
middle of East Texas, and then writing about how miserable she made you.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Let's hope that she and her mother do not use the computer.
Do you know why men die before their wives? -- Because they want to.
F.
________________________________
From: Jim Kennedy [mailto:jkenn...@batcon.org]
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 9:40 AM
To: CaveTex
Subject: [Texascavers] 52 ways to die...
#63: Getting killed by an irate wife for planning a big event in the middle of
East Texas, and then writing about how miserable she made you.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Ok, NOW I have to wonder who the first arrival was. Who was the "scary guy"
hiding in the dark woods who David only knew from the internet?
Sorry - I'm sure it wasn't too funny for David and his wife, but outrageous
scenes seem nearly to be a nearly predictable offshoot of events.
But - that's Locklear. I'm happy that his event was a success and nothing
bad happened!
-DC
On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 9:40 AM, Fritz Holt <fh...@townandcountryins.com>wrote:
> Let’s hope that she and her mother do not use the computer.
>
>
>
> Do you know why men die before their wives? -- Because they want to.
>
>
>
> F.
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Jim Kennedy [mailto:jkenn...@batcon.org]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 26, 2010 9:40 AM
> *To:* CaveTex
> *Subject:* [Texascavers] 52 ways to die...
>
>
>
> #63: Getting killed by an irate wife for planning a big event in the
> middle of East Texas, and then writing about how miserable she made you.
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
By this time David was probably wishing it was the grim reaper.
F.
________________________________
From: Don Cooper [mailto:wavyca...@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 11:44 AM
To: Fritz Holt
Cc: Jim Kennedy; CaveTex
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] RE: 52 ways to die...
Ok, NOW I have to wonder who the first arrival was. Who was the "scary guy"
hiding in the dark woods who David only knew from the internet?
Sorry - I'm sure it wasn't too funny for David and his wife, but outrageous
scenes seem nearly to be a nearly predictable offshoot of events.
But - that's Locklear. I'm happy that his event was a success and nothing bad
happened!
-DC
On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 9:40 AM, Fritz Holt
<fh...@townandcountryins.com<mailto:fh...@townandcountryins.com>> wrote:
Let's hope that she and her mother do not use the computer.
Do you know why men die before their wives? -- Because they want to.
F.
________________________________
From: Jim Kennedy [mailto:jkenn...@batcon.org<mailto:jkenn...@batcon.org>]
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 9:40 AM
To: CaveTex
Subject: [Texascavers] 52 ways to die...
#63: Getting killed by an irate wife for planning a big event in the middle of
East Texas, and then writing about how miserable she made you.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Mike or someone here, could you send me your current email address?
We recently had a server/email "improvement" and I have lost your most
recent address.
Thanks!
Mark
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Roger over at the District Office just now told me y'all are a go and that it
is Ok to come. He did however suggest a quick call Friday morning to double
make sure, just in case we happen to have a weather change & a hot spot flares
up again.
Would love to say HI while y'all are here.... so give a buzz when you hit town.
Work # is 575-885-7727 & the new home # is 575-725-5730. I am off Sat Sun & Mon.
Cave soft,
Karen
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Correction: My last post should have been Report 3
and I was not in a mini-van, but in my tiny Honda Fit, which
restricted me from bringing out some of the large boxes and
bicycles from storage.
Friday night before going to bed, I put the Blue Bell ice cream
and 4 sacks of ice in the camp's deep freeze. The freezer was cool,
but didn't seem to be as cold as I thought it should be, and presumed
the old crappy thing just didn't work as good as the manager
had told me it did.
Saturday morning, the 1st planned activity was a group breakfast.
I had provided various cereals, fruit bars, and pop-tarts.
I also had items kept overnight in the fridge, so they were cold:
cranberry juice, apple juice, fresh local blackberries and a gallon
can of canned mandarin's.
No orange juice, milk or toast or bagels showed up. And only one
other person besides
us was there, and he had an early breakfast. So that idea failed. My
wife had to drive all the way back to town to get milk, and she got lost
and was gone for nearly 2 hours it seemed. Somebody, probably my
mother-in-law, made coffee.
I checked the deep freeze and all the ice had melted and all the ice
cream was liquid. I had too many things on my list of things to do
so chose not to diagnose the problem. It seemed odd, because the
freezer had icy walls before I started cleaning it.
Meanwhile my family went to the pool, alone I think.
I went to get the U-haul truck. This turned out to be an ordeal.
I had it reserved and figured it would take only a few minutes to get
it. But I waited there nearly an hour, for the clerk to process the
line of people in front of me, and for her to talk about her niece's neighbor
that was getting married and taking a honeymoon to San Diego, but
she wasn't sure if that was the town or if it was San Fransisco.
In hindsight, it was an error to not get the truck on Friday. I was trying
not to spend money unnecessarily.
I arrived at the storage unit, which is a 10 x 20, loaded full of cooking
equipment, tables, chairs, bicycles, and canned food, enough to host
a huge event. I looked at the clock, and it was after lunch, so my plans
of having a group lunch were busted. My wife called to tell me that
there were now about 5 people at the camp, and she had no idea what
to tell them about the Cookout.
I loaded as much stuff as quickly as I could into the U-haul truck. It was
90 degrees, and I was not having fun in the hot storage building. My lower
back was screaming. I dropped a big glass jar of picante sauce, and the
sauce and glass went everywhere. I had no way or time of cleaning up
the mess. I decided to leave the tables, and the barbecue pit, and the large
cooking pots behind and not bring them.
I stopped along the way back to camp and got a few more sacks of ice, but
I knew we needed lots more ice. I was trying not to spend money.
I got back to camp and started greeting people, and unloading things, and
setting up things.
I opened up the box containing the new dual burner camp stove, and it
came in lots more pieces requiring assembly than I had predicted. The
instructions seemed worthless. At this point, I just said to myself,
"f*ck it." My brain was overloaded, and there was no way I was putting
that stove together. We had a nice fire pit, and we would just cook on it.
I went to jump in the pool. That was the first chance I had had to relax in
about 4 days, as I had been going non-stop, nearly killing myself trying to
get things done.
I returned to camp, and my wife had made everybody delicious tuna sandwiches,
but by then it was around 2 or 3, and we were all filling up on snacks. I had
2 big jars of pickles, but could not find them. I like pickles on my
tuna sandwich.
We cut open the watermelon, which was sort of the official opening of
the Cookout.
By then there were about 10 people sitting around camp and relaxing. The
watermelon was cold and juicy. Ron Ralph taught me a better way to
cut a watermelon. I think my knife was dull?
Missy Singleton brought out the deviled eggs. I am a big fan of deviled eggs.
I ate as many of them as I could.
By that time, people were relaxing and being social and getting to know one
another. That is not easy to do when you have a group of strangers assembled
together. I think there were 3 non-cavers there that I invited
that I contacted
on a MeetUP web-site, so I don't know how that worked out as I was off
doing things.
My wife started to raise a huge fuss in private with me about the
dinner plans and
what meat we would be cooking. I told her everybody was full, from
snacking and
nobody was interested in cooking anything. She called me several nasty names
in Spanish, and drove off back to town to get some taco meat. She
returned even
more angry with me that she had to buy food for my stupid campout. I tried to
tell her she was over-reacting, but it was pointless.
At some point, Mandy Holt showed up with the avocados and began making home-made
guacamole. She brought her friend Mark.
We broke open a cold bottle of bubbly grape juice, but there was wine
for anybody that wanted
it. And did a toast to the 1st Annual East Texas Caver's Cookout. Whoop!!!
I had plenty of wine and a 1/2 gallon of Scotch whiskey stashed in a
box in the U-Haul
had it been requested. Unfortunately, the wine was not from the
winery down the road
as I had originally planned.
I think there was no beer. In hindsight, I should have put some beer
in the ice chest, but
I had no idea what the landowner would do if he showed up and saw a
bunch of people
sitting around drinking beer. [ It doesn't look like that will be an
issue next year, and I
will ask him if I can bring a keg ]
To be continued...
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Wow, David!
I thought my tales of woe and TEXAS CAVER related homicidal fantasies at
the Post Office were bad.
It's amazing that you managed to pull this off at all and didn't say,
"Intercourse it! I'm going home."
I know it would have crossed my mind.
My hat is off of my bald head to you for single-handedly pulling this
off!
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: David [mailto:dlocklea...@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 1:14 PM
To: Cavers Texas
Subject: [Texascavers] East Texas Caver's Cookout - Reports
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
When you look in Encyclopædia Britannica, the entry for David Locklear has
this....
Locklear, David (see Joe Btfsplk)
http://www.portillas.com/images/JoeBtfsplk.jpg
On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 12:13, David <dlocklea...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I checked the deep freeze and all the ice had melted and all the ice cream
> was liquid.
>
> I went to get the U-haul truck. I waited there nearly an hour, for the
> clerk to process the line of people in front of me
>
> I dropped a big glass jar of picante sauce, and the sauce and glass went
> everywhere.
>
> I opened up the box containing the new dual burner camp stove, and it came
> in lots more pieces requiring assembly than I had predicted. At this point,
> I just said to myself, "f*ck it."
>
> She called me several nasty names in Spanish, and drove off back to town to
> get some taco meat. She returned even more angry with me that she had to buy
> food for my stupid campout. I tried to tell her she was over-reacting, but
> it was pointless.
>
> --
____________________________________________
Stephen Fleming
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Poor New Mexico! So far from Heaven; so close to Texas.
Manuel Armijo
Governor of the Department of New Mexico
1827-29, 1837-44, 1845-46
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
David,
I wish I could have attended the cookout instead of a UT graduation in Austin.
Maybe I could have helped alleviate some of your frustration.
A tip for next year to save you time, trouble and possibly money.
DON'T BOTHER WITH A KEG. Most will be happy with beer in the can and that's
much easier. It appears that the first annual was a success and next year's
will be even better. I may be able to help out.
Fritz
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
After 30 years of active caving...and very few incidents to report from
vertical caving; I recently found myself in this predicament.
My t shirt was pulled into my rack...through to about the second bar. My
first impulse was to try to cut it loose...but fortunately did not have a
knife. As it was a short ³nuisance² drop; I had thought ³why bother² putting
on climbing gear....²its just a short drop². But then found my self about 6¹
feet from the top. And 50 feet or so from the bottom with my shirt being
torn from my body.....which didn¹t really bother me...but seeing my rack
becoming jammed was alarming.
I thought about waiting for help. And while a couple of cavers at the top of
the drop looked for a free hand line....I made a ³loop² of rope, from below
me, with my foot on the bottom of the loop and my right (strong) hand
grasping the loop AND the climbing rope. I ³stood² up on the loop to take a
little bit of tension off of my rack...and with my left hand pulled my
shredded t shirt free.
It was a good reminder to always be vigilant.
On 5/25/10 9:53 PM, "Rod Goke" <rod.g...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Unfortunately, this kind of rope cutting is more than just a hypothetical
> possibility. A very serious accident of this type actually happen to a caver
> in the Colorado Grotto during the time that I was a member there before moving
> to Austin. He was rappelling down a cliff during a ropework practice and
> training session with a group of cavers, when his rain poncho got caught in
> his rack. He attempted to cut the poncho free with a knife, accidently cut his
> rope instead, and took a long fall onto the rocks below. The accident was not
> fatal, but it easily could have been if he had landed differently or if the
> falling distance had been a little longer. He did receive multiple fractures
> in the leg and hip and, even after many months of recovery, had to use a cane
> when walking.
>
> Like most of the serious accidents involving cavers I have known, this one did
> not happen to some novice caver who didn't know what he was doing. Instead, it
> happened to a very experienced caver who fully understood what he was doing.
> In fact this caver had been involved many times with teaching vertical
> techniques to new cavers, including the standard warnings about not using
> knives or other sharp objects near the climbing rope. Some people even
> recalled one or more earlier training sessions when this caver had done rope
> cutting demonstrations to show new cavers how easily a rope could be cut when
> it was under tension. He clearly understood the potential risk, but apparently
> was overly confident about his ability to cut only what he intended to cut
> while doing what he and other experienced cavers routinely warned new cavers
> not to do.
>
> In retrospect, it was easy to see multiple ways that this accident could have
> been avoided. If he had used an extra ascender or rappel safety device above
> his rack to temporarily relieve rope tension in the rack, then he probably
> could have removed the poncho from the rack with no cutting. If he did not
> have the equipment with him to do this, then other cavers nearby could have
> lowered extra equipment to him on another rope. If no equipment of this type
> had been available, they could have lowered a second rope to him, so that he
> could have attached the second rope to his harness like a belay to relieve
> tension on the rack. In fact, there was already a second climbing rope rigged
> near the one this caver was using, so, if necessary, another caver could have
> gone to his aid on the second rope. Of course, a poncho is not the best type
> of clothing to wear while rappelling, either, even if it is raining.
>
> The primary lesson from this incident is not so much that cavers need the
> equipment and knowhow to do things safely (which, of course, they do), but
> rather that they need to be diligent about actually using the safety equipment
> and knowledge they have instead of letting overconfidence tempt them into
> risky shortcuts.
>
> Rod
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Geary Schindel
>> Sent: May 25, 2010 2:23 PM
>> To: Charles Goldsmith
>> Cc: Mixon Bill , Cavers Texas
>> Subject: RE: [Texascavers] dumb list
>>
>> If you respond by cutting your hair out of a rack with a knife, then it is a
>> very real possibility of cutting the rope and that gets you back on the list
>> of 52 ways to die in a cave.
>>
>> The times when I knife is a solution to a problem in vertical caving is very
>> rare. You can almost always find a technical solution using the tools you
>> have on you most importantly your experience and your brain.
>>
>> Geary
>>
>>
>> From: Charles Goldsmith [mailto:wo...@justfamily.org]
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 2:19 PM
>> To: Geary Schindel
>> Cc: Mixon Bill; Cavers Texas
>> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] dumb list
>>
>> Depends on how much hair as well.. a few strands, would sting... a whole
>> pony tail worth of hair would be very painful
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Geary Schindel
>> <gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org> wrote:
>> Remember, what doesn't kill you usually hurts like Hell. Getting your hair
>> caught in a rack usually ranks right up there in the "hurts like Hell"
>> category.
>>
>> Geary
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mixon Bill [mailto:bmixon...@austin.rr.com]
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 2:08 PM
>> To: Cavers Texas
>> Subject: [Texascavers] dumb list
>>
>> That's a pretty silly list of 52 ways to die in a cave. Getting hair
>> caught in a rack isn't likely to be fatal. Ditto for a lot of the
>> others. Then of course the list actually only goes up to 47.... -- Mixon
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit
>> our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail:
>> texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail:
>> texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Saturday evening we finally got the new stove working. It took 4
cavers to figure it out.
A group of people started cooking things outdoors on it, and on a Coleman stove.
My mother-in-law cooked rice. Somebody roasted corn over the
campfire. I didn't get one, but they said it was
delicious. We had over a gallon of cold applesauce served, but it
got thrown away. My wife and her friends that
she invited grilled the taco meat ( in a skillet over the burner, I think ).
2 buffet tables were covered in white table cloth with a flower
arrangement. An antique crystal vase made in
Germany contained a cluster of black-eyed susan's picked along Happy
Hollow Road by 3 young girls at the
camp: Dalena ( Cavepearl ), Maya, and Cayenne.
There was desert, and various food items set out. Food was also
passed around.
Tacos were served, along with grilled squash. The green squash, I
purchased along the side of the road from
a nearby farmer, who also sold to me the blackberries and the
watermelon, and a big tomato.
I had a gallon can of cold apricots in a elegant glass bowl, which
also did not get eaten and was thrown away.
The idea was to make the tables at this event as formal as possible,
and that is what I wish to do at this
event in the coming years. The glasses at the table where the ones
from our wedding, and was only the
2nd time they had ever been used. I had enough large
stainless-steel plates for anybody that wanted
one.
In the fridge I had a gallon can each of peaches, fruit cocktail,
mandarin oranges that never got opened,
along with a gallon of cold apple juice and a gallon of cold cranberry juice.
Outside in a big ice-chest I had sodas, and a variety of canned
tropical juices. Also, red wine was served.
Several prominent cavers showed up just in time for dinner, but one
had to leave before the food was
served.
( About $ 100 worth of canned vegetables never left the storage unit. )
The weather was nice, and about 40 people ate.
Most attendees had to skadoodle right after eating, as we ate around 8 p.m.
Several others socialized into the night, and then went home late.
Meanwhile, I set up camp for a new person named Claudette who brought
her 6 year old daughter.
She was a non-caver and an internet stranger that I invited to the
event. I rolled out the red carpet as best
I could to make her feel welcome. Not sure yet if that was a good
idea, but I had good intentions.
My doing that royally p*ss*d off my wife. My wife went completely
psycho on me, once we were away from
everybody. My wife is "regiomontana." They are world famous for
being "codo," which in English means stingy.
I think everyone there saw Claudette's daughter and my daughter having
fun playing in the hammock with another
girl and singing camp songs. ( I was concerned my daughter would be
bored at the camp alone, and I didn't
know the other girl was coming, so I took a big chance and invited
Claudette.) It is also a known
fact, that "latinas," react more violently when jealous than other
women, and my wife was over-reacting about that.
I spent most of the midnite hour in the pool, and that was the best
experience I have had since being with
the naked Russian girls in the hot-tub at ICS, except without the
girls part.
Life has been all stress ever since then, and it was great to relax
and sense the warm fuzzy feeling of
accomplishing something that was important to me.
I spent the night in my hammock. No problem with mosquitos, but
there were ants all over the ground.
To be continued.....
David Locklear
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
About 2 in the morning on Sunday, I was sound asleep in my hammock,
when I was suddenly
awoke by the scream of my daughter. She was about 100 feet away in
the cabin.
She was screaming like somebody was stabbing her with a needle. I have only
heard her scream like that during 2 other psychotic episodes that she had for
no reason whatsoever.
So I went in the cabin, and tried to calm her, but that was like
throwing fuel on the
fire. She wanted to go home right that minute and she wanted her bed. She
seemed to be in a sleepwalking state, and not her real self.
Fortunately, there is a cure for this illness that works in about 5
seconds. It is
called a portable DVD player. Within seconds she was back to her
jovial self,
and in about 15 minutes was sound asleep, and stayed that way till about 10 a.m.
I stumbled back to my hammock in the dark, thoroughly exhausted. Upon sitting
in my hammock, I did a back-flip and hit the dirt with the back of my
neck and shoulders
with a 280 pound thud. I layed there in the dirt and the ants for
about 3 seconds, too
exhausted to get up. I realized I was lucky that I didn't break my
neck, and got up
and safely entered the hammock and went back to sleep.
Sunday morning, we had a nice group breakfast, and much better than what I had
envisioned for the planned group breakfast on Saturday. I hadn't
given any thought
in the planning as to what would happen for Sunday as far as food goes.
One thought that crossed my mind, was that the camp manager would show up early
Sunday morning with some sort of Lutheran ritual, and invite all the
attendees to join
him in it. But we had the camp to ourselves all day.
We had our planned group family bike ride. That went very well
thanks to Colin, but
also Houston cavers, Frank Grimes and Joanna Hajdik.
Frank and Joanna immediately left, and the rest of us ate lunch using
the leftovers from
the dinner the night before.
Colin headed back to Houston to run in a 5 K.
My family and 2 families that were friends of my wife, swam in the
pool the entire day.
Their husbands helped me disassemble the pool.
My wife took me to Brenham to drop off our mini-van at the U-haul
store, and then
drove me back to camp.
Then she and the 2 families caravaned 1 1/2 hours back to where we live.
That left me alone at the camp Sunday night. I spent the night in my hammock
with the entire 60 acres of forest to myself. I didn't think
Sasquatch was around,
but the thought did cross my mind that a coyote could sneak up on me while I was
asleep.
I spent the entire day at the camp, cleaning and packing up stuff and
loading the
U-haul truck. I moved the deep freeze back to the kitchen, and
that is when I
realized what the problem was. The electrical outlet had a loose
connection and
the plug loosely fit into it. I would have noticed that, had I had
time to diagnose
the problem, or had I had a lighted extension cord. In hindsight, I
wasted a lot
of valuable time dealing with the deep freeze, when I would have been better off
to leave it alone. I was trying to save money and not buy ice.
I went back to town and unloaded the U-Haul into the storage unit, and
then turned
in the truck and drove back to camp for the final load into our mini-van.
The camp manager met me late Monday evening just after dark and walked the
camp with me. I turned in the keys and we talked for a little while.
I hadn't seen him in 3 1/2 days, but he seemed glad to see me go. He said he
would mail me a refund on the deposit. I should get most of it
back. I offered
to donate some of it to him to fix the faulty electrical outlet. He
said he would
not charge me for Monday.
I drove down the road for an hour too sleepy to be behind the wheel.
So I spent the night at my parents, who live around there. The next morning
I went to work. So I was sort of away from home for 4 1/2 days,
just to take care
of the things I had to do on my end to do the Cookout the way I wanted to do it.
David Locklear
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Night terrors, David.
This used to happen to my younger son and seems to occur when kids are 5
to 8 years old, or so.
It about gave my late wife and me a heart attack the first time it
happened.
They wake up yelling and screaming, but, their eyes aren't focused on
you. Then, just as abruptly, he would lay down and go back to sleep.
Like nothing happened and he wouldn't remember anything the next day.
Thank goodness for good ol' Dr. Spock's book that explained this and
other childhood problems and issues.
Glad to hear that the weekend was successful and that you're still
married!
Thanks for the blow-by-blow reports and have a safe and RELAXING
Memorial Day weekend, David, and y'all.
If you have an American flag, FLY IT!
Later,
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: David [mailto:dlocklea...@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 12:00 AM
To: Cavers Texas
Subject: [Texascavers] Cookout Report # 6
She seemed to be in a sleepwalking state, and not her real self.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I have a friend who still did this well into his twenties. We would be
woken up, in a caving hut, at 3am to him screaming something like "DON'T
PRESS THE MAGIC BUTTON!". He would then pass back out whilst the rest of
us tried to get our heart rates back to normal in the next 30mins. He
never remembered these episodes in the morning.
:-)
Cheers,
Stefan
-----Original Message-----
From: mark.al...@l-3com.com [mailto:mark.al...@l-3com.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 7:16 AM
To: David; Cavers Texas
Subject: RE: [Texascavers] Cookout Report # 6
Night terrors, David.
This used to happen to my younger son and seems to occur when kids are 5
to 8 years old, or so.
It about gave my late wife and me a heart attack the first time it
happened.
They wake up yelling and screaming, but, their eyes aren't focused on
you. Then, just as abruptly, he would lay down and go back to sleep.
Like nothing happened and he wouldn't remember anything the next day.
Thank goodness for good ol' Dr. Spock's book that explained this and
other childhood problems and issues.
Glad to hear that the weekend was successful and that you're still
married!
Thanks for the blow-by-blow reports and have a safe and RELAXING
Memorial Day weekend, David, and y'all.
If you have an American flag, FLY IT!
Later,
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: David [mailto:dlocklea...@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 12:00 AM
To: Cavers Texas
Subject: [Texascavers] Cookout Report # 6
She seemed to be in a sleepwalking state, and not her real self.
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--- Begin Message ---
I just checked Continental flights out of Houston, and it is around $ 400 to go.
There was a $ 328 ticket, if you are willing to leave out Wednesday July 28, and
skip the banquet and have a 4 hour layover.
So if you want to stay for the banquet and fly out on Saturday or Sunday, that
will add an extra $ 125 or more to the cost of your flight.
Ref.:
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/booking/flight/searchResultDates.aspx
I am pretty sure I need to sit this one out this year. I may never
have a reason
to go to Vermont if I don't go to this convention.
http://www.nss2010.com/default.php
--- End Message ---
