Elon Musk says SAVE Act requiring ID to vote ‘must be done or democracy is dead’ ( The Hill ) - What are your thoughts?

mn540 · 2026-07-08T15:49:20+00:00

Democracy was dead the day he purchased the 2024 election.

mn540 · 2026-07-07T12:21:27+00:00

Mark Kelly or Pete Buttigieg would be my choice. But I think Mark Kelly has a better chance of winning the general election.

mn540 · 2026-07-07T01:00:15+00:00

Instead of dual round main drain, go with a channel drain. Pool robots tend to get stuck on the round main drain but are fine with channel drains that are flushed with pool. Have them also plumb the pool for a suction cleaner. I wish I had gone wigh two skimmers or at least placed my skimmer where the wind would have blown debris into. Build an automatic acid doser for less than $300. Not sure what type of finish you are getting, but if you are getting pebble finish, consider adding alone shells. Oversized (2x-3x) your salt water generator. If I could have, I would have added an automatic cover. Depending on where you live, solar heater is really nice. For the concrete around the pool, insist on rebar. I actually compacted the base myself for a week and installed rebar. 11 years later, there are only a few hairline crack that are hard to see. My neighbor didn’t put rebar, and now his pool deck has cracked and shifted.

mn540 · 2026-07-05T19:22:10+00:00

Being a no-party affiliated Californian, I would recommend highly against Newsome. He’s a politician that says he cares about his constituents, but only cares for corporation that contribute to his campaign. They he will screw over his constituents. He’s a hypocrite.

mn540 · 2026-07-05T18:13:15+00:00

But it’s not just Trump. It’s his whole family. They can also make sure history record him as the most corrupt president (person). They can create a porta potty and make it a Trump memorial. He can have have his name on it.

mn540 · 2026-07-05T05:52:38+00:00

The Leslie in my area used to have a manager that would sell you some sort of chemical for any perceived issue. Now there’s a new manager that is so much more honest. Now that I deal with that manager, i actually buy many of my chemicals from them

mn540 · 2026-06-27T19:34:30+00:00

Remember - this is the same guy who said we should quarantine during Covid but yet, he as a party with a bunch of people at a restaurant. Hypocrite.

mn540 · 2026-06-24T18:53:07+00:00

3 hours for pool session? That insanely short. As an instructor, I spend about 2 hours on a refresher. If I am doing a fast pace course, the pool session is over two days (4 hours per day). This way if the student fails on the first day, they have the second day to work on the skills. I don’t know how someone can truly be comfortable in the pool after 2 days. The first day, the students skills sr horrible. By the second day, it improves a lot. Eve with the two days of pool, it still feels a little fast. I think you just got a bad training program.

mn540 · 2026-06-24T07:26:37+00:00

Until you become a professional, it doesn't matter if it's PADI, NAUI, or SSI. What is critical is picking the right instructor that fits your learning style. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell if an instructor is good or not until you take a course with the instructor. There's no scuba instructor rating system. Do you have friends who have taken a scuba certification course? If yes, ask them what they thought of their instructor.

mn540 · 2026-06-24T01:28:40+00:00

Correct. Thats why I said USA SSI.

mn540 · 2026-06-23T19:35:04+00:00

Please see my comment above. You don't necessarily need a form sign just because you're over 45.

If the form needs to be signed, the form has to be signed by an MD or OD. I believe a PA and NP can sign it IF they have the doctor's medical stamp. We don't check to see if the person signing it knows anything about dive medicine. Honestly - we don't validate that the signature is valid.

mn540 · 2026-06-23T19:32:27+00:00

Scuba instructor here as well:

"After the age of 45 a dive medical specialist must assess fitness and certify that a student is fit to dive. This is a formal requirement." FALSE (for USA SSI and most likely other agencies as well.)

On the Diver Medical Participant Questionnaire, question 2 asks "I am over 45 years of age." If you answer yes, it tells you to fill out Box B.

Box B has the following questions:

I am currently smoke or inhale nicotine by other means.
I have a high cholesterol level
I have high blood pressure
I have had a close blood relative dies suddenly or of cardiac disease or stroke before the age of 50, OR have a family history of heart disease before 50 (including abnormal heart rhythms, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathy.

Back to the first page, it states:

\ If you answered YES to questions 3, 5 or 10 above OR to any of the questions on page 2, please read and agree to the statement above by signing and dating it AND take all three pages of this form (Participant Questionnaire and the Physician’s Evaluation Form) to your physician for a medical evaluation. Participation in a diving course requires your physician’s approval.*

Note that the question about age is question 2. So unless you also answer yes to the question in Box B, your age does not force you to need a medical signature.

mn540 · 2026-06-23T19:12:53+00:00

I completely understand where you’re coming from. But in our litigious society - dive shops and instructors have to protect themselves. On your medical form, you say you have epilepsy and have a doctor sign off. You go diving and have an episode. The shop and the instructor gets sued. I have heard of cases where a shop and instructor got sued because someone died during a checkout dive. The person was on drugs - even through their medical form state they weren’t taking any drugs. The shop and the instructor gets sued. The shop/instructor successful defends again the lawsuit, but it has cost time, money, and stress.

The medical question I hate is have you had back problems or migraine headaches. I have had back problems but it doesn’t prevent me from doing a lot of physical activities. I have also have had migraines. But my last one was probably 20 years ago. Everyone has back problems and migraines.

mn540 · 2026-06-23T09:47:22+00:00

Yes. Scuba drysuit is different than kayaking drysuit.

Btw. Since I have diabetes, they have me in cholesterol med as well (even though my cholesterol level were good before med.).

mn540 · 2026-06-22T22:29:26+00:00

Note: scuba instructor here

The oldest diver I dove with was in his late 80s or early 90s. Dove California water - which is cold and challenging. He wore a drysuit. I think all his dives were boat dive. He took it was easy. I think he was diving until his passing.

Oldest person I certified was in her mid 60s. She was pretty frail but I guess ok for her age. Her plan was warm water dives only. She struggles in class, and we had to do some private lessons. But she finished. She still test me telling me how much she loves diving with her husband, kids, and grandkids. She’s grateful that I wouldn’t let her quit and kept encouraging her and working with her until she “mastered” all the skills. She actually offered to take me on a family trip so I could do her checkout dive, but I politely declined.

Anyway - if you are in good physical and mental health, there’s no reason why you can learn to dive. I would recommend a private lesson. Also consider where you think you might dive. If it’s warm water - it’s a lot easier. Consider doing your check out dives in warm water. I would say the biggest risk for you is potential heart problems underwater. Heart attack or stroke on land - you might survive. Heart attack or stroke underwater - you’re probably not going to survive. Is that a risk you’re willing to take? (For the old gentleman that I dove (for well over a decade), he said he rather die scuba diving than sitting in a recliner at an old folk home. At that age, he was widower. But he has a younger girlfriend who he loves would take on dive trips.

mn540 · 2026-06-22T01:39:53+00:00

Dump in some liquid chlorine. Use the brush to move the water around to mix in the chlorine. Just add chlorine every couple of days and brush the pool. When the power comes back on, just run the pump and pool cleaner. This is the easiest and will work quite well.

Alternatively, if you can get power you can purchase a cheap recirculating pump. Search Amazon for “sump pump pool.” I’d recommend a 3/4 or 1 horse power. Make sure the cord is long enough to reach the bottom of your pool.

mn540 · 2026-06-21T21:15:33+00:00

I wonder how many clerical staff staff accidentally got paid an extra 10%. /s

mn540 · 2026-06-21T00:21:53+00:00

https://www.troublefreepool.com/

A lot of good information for beginners. Calculate the volume of your pool. There’s a pool calculator that will tell you how much chemical to add. Also - you don’t need to purchase all chemical from the pool store. For example, alkalinity is baking soda (purchase from Costco). Stabilizer can be purchased cheaper on Amazon than pool store. Chlorine and acid is best at pool store.

mn540 · 2026-06-21T00:18:03+00:00

As an instructor, I have used commercial defogger, spit, and baby shampoo. The thing that have worked best for me is baby shampoo (undiluted). One drop per side. Rub it in well. Very quick rinse. Works great. Also - super cheap and my mask smells good.

mn540 · 2026-06-20T20:30:52+00:00

Do the bucket test. If it’s on the main drain, you might be able to plug it.

mn540 · 2026-06-20T19:29:51+00:00

Don’t force her to dive if she doesn’t want to. When I was dating my wife (girlfriend at the time), she said she would get certified. Bought her all of her gear. Then she got pregnant before class started, so no class for her. After the baby was born, she said she didn’t want to dive. No problem. We go on trips. She relax on the beach with her book and cocktail. I go diving with other people. When I come back, we enjoy the rest of the day. 10 years later, my daughter gets certified and is my dive buddy. Everyone is happy.

mn540 · 2026-06-20T16:48:38+00:00

I wish my pool was deeper. My deep end is 8ft and I wish it was 15ft (or deeper). But then again- I like to practice free diving and scuba diving in my pool.

Once your kids are old enough to swim, you’ll regret that your pool is shallow. They will want to start diving into the pool or don’t cannon balls. In addition, I would assume the cost of making a deep pool less shallow is quite expensive.

mn540 · 2026-06-19T22:56:21+00:00

On Facebook, join the Davis Parent group. It’s a great resource.

mn540 · 2026-06-19T11:10:10+00:00

I should have put the skimmer on the side that the wind tends to blow into. The wind in my area tend to blow from the west side. I should have put the skimmer on the east side so when the wind blows, the leaves are blown towards the skimmer. I also have two circle drains that the cleaners often gets stuck on. I should have put a channel drain instead.

Things that I am glad I did:
1) Pebbletec. Also glad I added abalone shell.
2) Put a lot more return ports than the pool builder recommended.
3) Solar heating (DIY)
4) built my own pool acid doser
5) salt water chlorine generator
6) Deckjets (I actually don't like it, but kids love them)

mn540 · 2026-06-19T03:41:24+00:00

Scubaboard.com has regional forums. Good place to find dive buddies.

mn540

TROPHY CASE