re: crude childhood submersible death-trap fun

[David Buchner <Buchner@wcta.net>]

Mike Holt writes:
>Lloyd Bridges wrote a book about his underwater exploits as a child.
>I think he was nuts, looking back on it, but he did claim to build a
>pump-supplied hard-hat rig.

I picked up an old paperback at a junk store a couple years ago, "Nautilus
90 North," by the guy who was captain when Nautilus went under the polar
icecap. He briefly mentioned "playing submarine" in the river when he was a
kid -- some contraption based on an upside-down rowboat. How many kids did
this stuff, and are any of them very successful (i.e., do they spend all
week pounding nails into dad's boat and then it keeps tipping over and
sinking and they give up and leave it on the bottom?)? And are kids still
doing things like this, or is it all TV and videogames now? I guess my
friends and I were a sort of interim stage -- we *talked* a lot about
building stuff like pump-supplied diving hats and ultralight airplanes, but
mostly just watched movies on those big plastic videodiscs. Built one wing,
and put one 25-horse outboard on a 12-foot sailboat... took a lot of stuff
*apart*...

Oh, and by the way --
I'm just grinding through the 3 or 4... *HUNDRED* messages which came
through while I was away for a week around the 4th (that's our Independence
Day, you stinking foreigners!), and during the next week while I couldn't
bring myself to start reading it all...

GEEZ!

Why do fisticuffs and general huge list traffic happen whenever I don't pay
attention for a couple days? Bad enough for me with my laptop plugged into
a camper at my dad's -- imagine Ray flying back from England! It's late and
you're all tired of this I hope, but how could I pass and never weigh in
with my cent or two: (1) I'm really weary of people who think everything on
the internet is a service they're entitled to and complain when it's boring
or whatever... (2) A list belongs to the list owner, period -- and he can
make us all wear tu-tus while we type if he wants; I'm just grateful that
it's here. I've joined and dumped probably 20-30 different lists during the
time I've been sub'ed to this one, and it's the only one I've stuck with.
Oh, and (3) Where did all these new members come from, and why all at once?
Hmmmm. Or are they all just folks who usually lurk so their eddresses
aren't familiar to unobservant me? "Long-time listener, first-time caller,"
as they say on AM radio? Anyway - welcome, sudden flock of newcomers. Hmmmm.

You mean Lloyd Bridges like in those Airplane movies?


---------
David
buchner@wcta.net
http://customer.wcta.net/buchner
Osage MN USA