{"id":2458,"date":"2012-11-09T19:42:20","date_gmt":"2012-11-10T02:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/?p=2458"},"modified":"2012-11-09T19:42:20","modified_gmt":"2012-11-10T02:42:20","slug":"diving-albania-presentation-goes-on-the-road-san-gabriel-valley-dive-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/?p=2458","title":{"rendered":"Diving Albania Presentation Goes On The Road: San Gabriel Valley Dive Club"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 8, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am getting mileage out of my diving trip to Albania.<\/p>\n

I was invited by Tony of the San Gabriel Valley Dive Club<\/a> to speak at their November meeting about my trip and how I was able to pull it off.<\/p>\n

I made certain that the presentation would go smoother than the last by asking, “My videos have sound, do you have speakers and PowerPoint that supports embedded AVI movies?”<\/p>\n

When the answer was “yes” I could not help but agree.<\/p>\n

It was raining, and it took me two hours to drive from the ghetto of Long Beach to the IHOP in San Dimas, where the club holds their meetings.<\/p>\n

I arrived an hour early, and the hostess at the restaurant had no clue that there was going to be a meeting of any kind at their restaurant.<\/p>\n

“Well, we’re remodeling our meeting room, so I doubt it’s going to be there, but I can save you a table,” she said.<\/p>\n

Hmmm… I asked if they had beer here.<\/p>\n

“I do in my car, but we don’t serve it here,” she said.<\/p>\n

Wait, no meeting that she knows about, and no beer at a dive club function – I became very suspicious.<\/p>\n

Every lobster season I get these PETA-member whack jobs that say how horrid I am for legally hunting lobsters.<\/p>\n

Was some looney-tune going to jump out of a bush at 6:30 and take me out Tony Soprano style?<\/p>\n

Tony Soprano chokes a victim.<\/p>\n

Well, I called Tony and verified that, yes, this was the place, but I was just early.<\/p>\n

I walked over to CVS, bought a six pack of Budweiser, and did what debriefing at Old Marineland trained me to do – drink a couple beers in the parking lot.<\/p>\n

After IHOP did an emergency clean up of their meeting room, I was let in to set up – nothing like the smell of fresh paint – I didn’t need anymore beer, especially with the rain and traffic.<\/p>\n

The dive club members started to show up, including several kids – OK, I now have to do an impromptu rated PG version. <\/p>\n

I can’t change the video of the Albanian graffiti, with the slight pan over of a guy with a … OK, it is now a cigar in his mouth, if I should be asked.<\/p>\n

Diving Albania at the San Gabriel Valley Dive Club<\/p>\n

Tony came through with his promise to bring me beer, and some kick ass beer at that, which I saved for home.<\/p>\n

And as I promised, I did the presentation with my genuine Albanian Fez.<\/p>\n

About 16 people showed up, which was considered pretty good considering the weather.<\/p>\n

The presentation went pretty much flawlessly and everyone seemed to enjoy it.<\/p>\n

The club has a bigger budget than most, I think – I was given beer, dinner and compensated very generously for gas.<\/p>\n

Hell, if I could redo this same presentation at the same compensation level 50 times over, I could pay for another trip.<\/p>\n

I was asked if this was “the most extreme thing” that I had ever done.<\/p>\n

Well, I didn’t have an answer… I’ve gone out with a lot of psychotic women, so in retrospect, I can honestly say that it wasn’t the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done.<\/p>\n

I had a great time and they were a cool bunch of people.<\/p>\n

When Tony told me that I had one of the better diving blogs, and another member said that she was glad she braved the rain because my presentation “was extremely interesting,” that made my night.<\/p>\n

When I asked if anyone would be interested in a trip to Albania, someone asked, “So, why would you want to go back?”<\/p>\n

“It is a beautiful country, with nice people and was exciting,” I said.<\/p>\n

Non-macho people just won’t understand.<\/p>\n

The videos that I presented at both of my dive club presentations can be found here:<\/p>\n

Diving Albania Presentation<\/a><\/p>\n

And just for fun, I just found this, Bugs Bunny goes to Albania…<\/p>\n