back to Peacock Springs today, for two dives with Simon (from

England, by way of Savannah).

    while in the water at Peacock I for our first dive of the day,

we spotted a pileated woodpecker.  it's a large bird, about

the size of a crow or slightly larger.  the red crest is very, very bright.

pileated woodpecker

       simon and i are getting ready to take our apprentice cave class

next week (also coming along is jeandiver from ScubaBoard).

     we did some drills and had fun.  also, i was trying out my new

Nitek He (i paid way too much for it).  i did find that the interface

is a lot simpler than my old Aeris Atmos 2, which i love. also,

the display was easier to see.  all in all, i am happy so far with the He.

(by the way, the Atmos 2 is being phased out in favor of the new

Aeris XR2.  frankly, other than a $70.00 price hike, i don't see

much of a difference here. ah, progress... we pay more for the

same thing, repackaged.