There is no standard set of rules that will determine if a nominee is named a ‘Hoss’.  There is also no reason we can’t have 2 ‘Hosses’ in one week, and while I think about it there is no reason why someone can’t be the ‘Hoss’ for consecutive weeks.

Some past events that would have likely earned the title ‘Hoss of the Week’

1.  Cuppy Cup sends flowers to the same person that he dedicated a hatred website to a week earlier.

2.  Mr. Ebonite walks out of Brookside becasue his teammate was carrying too much crap.

3.  Frank Penta coins the terms “Soft 8′ and ‘Lefty Reverse 9′

4.  Risking life and limb, KP retrieves BB’s 8 iron from the woods.

On Labor Day weekend, we took a trip to Dutch Springs, my new favorite weekend trip for scuba.  Karen and I made a dive in the morning and Watson met us in the afternoon.

We took Watson to the Aqua Park.  The water in the park is about 50 feet deep - enough to make any first time swimmer a bit uneasy, but I will say that Mr. Watson handled it like a pro.  Short of looking like a ‘fish out of water’… in the water, he did fine.  He even tried swimming ‘freestyle’.  We’re still working on that part.

GW mustered up the courage to climb the iceberg and jump off, and it may not have been graceful…. but he did it.  In the picture below I’m sure Watson is saying “I swim, I’m a swimmer, I’m swimming…”

And now my first ever guest entry from Mr. Watson himself.

“I met up with Keith and Karen at the Lehigh Valley Dive Center. The young lady who helped us betrayed some apprehension when I announced my height and weight as 6’4” and 160 pounds, but she was able to scare up a suitable suit. Thus armed, we headed back to Dutch Springs and I set to the task of suiting up. After allowing the image of my wetsuited self to be recorded for posterity on the digital camera, I summoned up every ounce of manly courage, fixed a careless smile on my face, and plunged into 50 feet of water. And what do you know? As advertised, I bobbed up and down like…well, like a bobber.
There followed several joyful hours of climbing on and jumping from the giant inflatable iceberg and sliding board, as well as a moderately successful attempt at snorkeling. I am a bit doubtful about scuba diving, the logistics of which make the Apollo mission look like a trip to the Wawa, but all in all Dutch Springs was a gas, I’m grateful to Keith and Karen for finally dragging me up there, and I’m ready for a return trip.”

The New Castle County Airport hosted the “Wings of Freedom” tour this week and for a price you can take a ride in one of the restored WWII planes. I picked the B-24 bomber.

The B-24 was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft of World War II and still holds the record as the most produced U.S. military aircraft. It was used by many Allied air forces and every U.S. branch of service during the war, attaining a distinguished war record with its operations in the Northern European, Pacific and Mediterranean theaters.

I now have a new respect for the young men who risked their lives in these flying tuna cans.

Here is a pic of my Dad standing in front of the B-24.

And a pic from the flight.  Note the 50 cal in the bottom left corner of the photo.

Dive Master Kevin took us to another ramp to enter the water and we surface swam to the platform and Kevin navigated us to the School Bus, which we proceeded to enter and look around. We took a short swim to the fire truck and then a long tour back to the dock along the edge of the quarry.

Great sights all along the way.

Attached is an updated map of where we have been in the quarry.

“There Will Be Blood” was one of those movies where I kept finding myself with my eyes closed (almost falling asleep), but still continued watching as I heard how good a flick it was.  I’ll agree, it was a very good movie.  It wasn’t your glamorous Hollywood eye-candy, but I can see how critics would like it.

In such a serious film, I have to wonder why the bowling alley scene… I literally laughed out loud when Daniel said “I drink it up!” and proceeded to throw bowling pins at Eli.

I guess you had to be there.

I stared slow - a couple of 15o’s in the first five games.  I was -39 after 4 games, and that was low to cash.  I somehow found a couple of decent games, got to +6 and made a run for the number.  I chased it down by game 7,  and shot 220 in game 8 to secure a spot in the finals.

Sunday was more of the same.  I had a few good games, and a few doozies.  You can see the full results at the PBA website here -  pba.com

As I arrived at home I noticed I was losing air in one of my tires.  I promptly spent most of my profit at NTB on 4 new tires.  I was overdue. 

First of all - Karen has completed her Open Water certification. Yay, Karen. Send her an e-mail and congratulate her.

SCUBA adventures have been at Dutch Springs in Bethlehem Pa. www.dutchsprings.com

On Saturday, Karen and I ventured out to see the submerged airplane. We descended to the plans, took a trip around the island and back to the plane… here are a few photos.   There is a hidden message in the picture on the right.  Click to get a larger view.  I swear I had nothing to do with this!!!

OK - Now we’ll get the cameraman in a photo. This is a pic of Karen and I sitting on the tail of the Helicopter. The lighting is a bit weak at 50 feet below the surface.

When we finally got in the water, Ben was teaching us the drysuit skills.  This is typically how our lessons go.  We know nothing before we get there, and just jump in the deep end and start our lesson.

Dave hasn’t lost any gear yet, so I guess his teaching works.

The first skill was a forward somersault, and it was easy.  Then Ben told us he was going to have us hold on to a handle at the bottom of the pool while he filled our drysuit up with air.  Then when he gave us the ok, we would let go and try our forward somersault while trying to remove the air from the suit.  This is a skill I did not master on the first try.  I almost made the full somersault, but ended up floating at the surface with my drysuit mostly inflated - looking like the Michelin man.

Take 2 was more successful.

If anyone has any ideas of what normal people do in their spare time, please drop me a line.  I can only do so much cutting the grass, pulling weeds, painting, etc…  Save me.

I will also mention that this week I will begin learning how to use a dry suit in SCUBA class.  I’m not very good at maintaining bouyancy as it is.  This dry suit thing could get crazy.  I can only imagine getting a big air bubble in the suit near my feet and floating to the surface upside down. It’s a scary thought.  Sorry, no upside down pictures of me.

Skip and his partner Steve Levering, as usual, made a top 10 finish in the doubles event, while Eddie and I squeaked out what may be finish around 75th place. Skip and Steve shot 1428, while we shot 1352. Dave filled in for our hero Stan Cramer in bowling, while Durbin filled in as the team elder.

Here is a link to track our current standings. 2007 Leisure Lanes I

The highlight of the tournament for me was hitting the 1-5-9 jackpot!!! $$$$

From left to right: KP, DG, SR, DF, EG. Doesn’t Skip look tough?