It has been quite a while! Do y'all miss me?

Baptist Renegade said:
Well, tell them all I say howdy! I know it has been a good number of years but I still envision you as some spunky young "take no crap" kind of lady that could probably hold her own in a barfight! :LOL:

I'm pushing 60 now and have seven grandkids! Can you believe that? My wife and I will be retiring in the next couple of years or so and splitting our time between Texas and the Philippines serving where the Lord leads.
Click to expand...
i told my dad and sister you said howdy..... they said to tell you hello for them too..... my dad wanted me to ask you if you ever started scuba diving?.. or were still diving?.... he remembers someone else on that old forum had gotten into diving and wondered if it was you........ .he still dives with basic scuba gear sometimes just to check out the reefs..... but he free dives a lot more and always goes with us when we spear fish for octopus... ...back when we were on that old forum he always referred to himself and all other commercial saturation divers as hard hat divers... but we started calling him hard head diver when he said he wasn;t going to give that up after his heart attack.... he did give it up though -
 
aleshanee said:
i told my dad and sister you said howdy..... they said to tell you hello for them too..... my dad wanted me to ask you if you ever started scuba diving?.. or were still diving?.... he remembers someone else on that old forum had gotten into diving and wondered if it was you........ .he still dives with basic scuba gear sometimes just to check out the reefs..... but he free dives a lot more and always goes with us when we spear fish for octopus... ...back when we were on that old forum he always referred to himself and all other commercial saturation divers as hard hat divers... but we started calling him hard head diver when he said he wasn;t going to give that up after his heart attack.... he did give it up though -
Click to expand...
I was into Scuba diving a long time ago back in the 80s when I was stationed in Guam. Still certified but have not been down in years. I'd like to get back into it especially when I start spending more time in the Philippines. There is also some good diving in Texas in some spring fed lakes around the Hill Country area from what I have been told. The only dive equipment I have left now is an old Sherwood Magnum regulator and a Suunto Console. I will need to have it checked out before I use it and I'm sure the dive shop will consider it an antique by now! :LOL:
 
Baptist Renegade said:
I was into Scuba diving a long time ago back in the 80s when I was stationed in Guam. Still certified but have not been down in years. I'd like to get back into it especially when I start spending more time in the Philippines. There is also some good diving in Texas in some spring fed lakes around the Hill Country area from what I have been told. The only dive equipment I have left now is an old Sherwood Magnum regulator and a Suunto Console. I will need to have it checked out before I use it and I'm sure the dive shop will consider it an antique by now! :LOL:
Click to expand...
i still only free dive with mask..snorkel and fins... sometimes i use a light weight belt if i am wearing a thick wet suit.... but usually not.... .i never was able to get use to a regulator and scuba gear... . i was determined for many years.. .and kept trying.... i think the last time was about 8 years ago before i finally gave up .... . i could handle breathing through the regulator on the surface... but every time i tried to submerge with it i had a severe panic attack and couldn;t handle it.... .. i can free dive down to around 20 feet to spear fish with no problem, wearing a mask and snorkel.. fins.. ... 🤿..... just no regulator and scuba tank.... ....



but i have his gear he currently uses for free diving here in our utility room .. right next to my own gear... and 2 long sling spears..... because any time he goes in the water now we are always going together.. ...:cool:
 
Last edited:
Starlifter said:
Unfortunately I don't remember you, but I was on the old FFF as 16KJV11, back when JustMama was on and some dude named MartyBraymore! Rebecca's rants, and Tom Brennan were there and many others. Who knows when I first appeared. But welcome back none-the-less...
Click to expand...
Well, you go back at least as far as I do. I remember Marty Braemer, and Tom Brennan. Tom was especially stable and a good "Sanity Check" regarding other discussions circulating about during that time. I haven't seen "The 'Real' Baptist" around here. Has he been banned?

I know there were certain cliques that followed each other around. Average Joe and Ransom I know quite well. Some of you were more on the IFBx side while others were on the FREEEEEEE side. I was on the latter but I guess I have come around to where I consider myself more independent, more fundamental, more Baptist than ever - just in a completely different universe apart from all the chowder heads up in Hammond, IN and Pensacola, FL, and wherever else the nutcases may happen to roam! :cool:
 
aleshanee said:
i still only free dive with mask..snorkel and fins... sometimes i use a light weight belt if i am wearing a thick wet suit.... but usually not.... .i never was able to get use to a regulator and scuba gear... . i was determined for many years.. .and kept trying.... i think the last time was about 8 years ago before i finally gave up .... . i could handle breathing through the regulator on the surface... but every time i tried to submerge with it i had a severe panic attack and couldn;t handle it.... .. i can free dive down to around 20 feet to spear fish with no problem, wearing a mask and snorkel.. fins.. ... 🤿..... just no regulator and scuba tank.... ....

my dad has literally tons of dive gear ...all different types for different jobs and such.... some of that might be antiques too... ... most of it is in a climate controlled storage locker now... .. i;m not even sure how many regulators he has.... the oldest 2nd generation type are dacor... which they don;t even make any more..... but they still work well.... i;m not sure what the make on them are but he still has 2 old 1st generation sets where the 2nd stage of the regulator is attached to tank valves and there 2 corrugated rubber hoses that come around to the mouth piece... ... just like the ones you see in old james bond movies..... they still work....

then his newest are scuba-pro.... 2nd generation.... and he uses one of them with a full bc any time he dives with scuba gear now..... and then of course there is a huge box of parts and pieces.. spare hoses and connections etc.. plus other boxes of replacement seals and fittings.. ... and also 200 feet of air hose/communication line that has not been used in years... it;s clean.. but it would have to be tested again before it could be hooked up and used again..... it;s on a shelf with his mark 21 helmet set.... ..i was there on the barge assisting the surface team when he used that last....

i know he has 12 scuba tanks because the last time we moved to a different locker i picked every one of them up to put them on the cart... ..those things are heavier than people realize.... 4 tanks are fitted together in pairs on a harness so they can be worn and used as double tanks.. ...those were super heavy...... ..but all his tanks have been over due for hydro testing a long time now.. .....about half of them are still charged with air.... but he says when those are used and empty he might just sell all the tanks rather than have them re-hydro tested...

and then there are at least 6 bc harnesses and harness sets... different kinds of wet suits... a canvas rubber lined dive suit that connects to a mark 5 helmet.... ..extra masks - snorkels.... and fins of different types.... . all in bushel sized plastic buckets.... some of my old ones are in there too...... .... and then the heaviest things of all.... weight belts - some which have weights attached.. all in plastic buckets..... plus buckets of spare weights... ... all of which are in storage too.... ... .

but i have his gear he currently uses for free diving here in our utility room .. right next to my own gear... and 2 long sling spears..... because any time he goes in the water now we are always going together.. ...:cool:



View attachment 3667
Click to expand...
Wow! You really have a special relationship with your dad! I'm sooo jealous! My daughter moved off to Nashville, TN for work but she calls me up several times a week to check in.
 
Baptist Renegade said:
Well, you go back at least as far as I do. I remember Marty Braemer, and Tom Brennan. Tom was especially stable and a good "Sanity Check" regarding other discussions circulating about during that time. I haven't seen "The 'Real' Baptist" around here. Has he been banned?

I know there were certain cliques that followed each other around. Average Joe and Ransom I know quite well. Some of you were more on the IFBx side while others were on the FREEEEEEE side. I was on the latter but I guess I have come around to where I consider myself more independent, more fundamental, more Baptist than ever - just in a completely different universe apart from all the chowder heads up in Hammond, IN and Pensacola, FL, and wherever else the nutcases may happen to roam! :cool:
Click to expand...
I was trying to remember the moniker the real baptist. I wonder what guy is doing these days? I don't know if he's been banned or not. Ransom might be able to answer that one better than myself.
 
Baptist Renegade said:
Well, you go back at least as far as I do. I remember Marty Braemer, and Tom Brennan. Tom was especially stable and a good "Sanity Check" regarding other discussions circulating about during that time. I haven't seen "The 'Real' Baptist" around here. Has he been banned?

I know there were certain cliques that followed each other around. Average Joe and Ransom I know quite well. Some of you were more on the IFBx side while others were on the FREEEEEEE side. I was on the latter but I guess I have come around to where I consider myself more independent, more fundamental, more Baptist than ever - just in a completely different universe apart from all the chowder heads up in Hammond, IN and Pensacola, FL, and wherever else the nutcases may happen to roam! :cool:
Click to expand...
I just had some interaction with Marty Braemer a couple of months ago. He's pastoring a church...can't recall where at the present, but, I believe he was looking to take another church. I remember Tom Brennan as well.
 
Starlifter said:
I was trying to remember the moniker the real baptist. I wonder what guy is doing these days? I don't know if he's been banned or not. Ransom might be able to answer that one better than myself.
Click to expand...
There was a "The Real Baptist" account that posted a handful of times in 2015, but it turns out it was a sockpuppet account and got banned.

I don't recall The Real Real Baptist ever migrating over hear from the fleabag site.
 
Baptist Renegade said:
Wow! You really have a special relationship with your dad! I'm sooo jealous! My daughter moved off to Nashville, TN for work but she calls me up several times a week to check in.
Click to expand...
it became even more so after he retired... ...i learned in pre-med long ago that an alarming number of people in high stress physically demanding jobs, died with a few years of retirement.... and some even died within a few weeks or less.... .the reason was thought to be going from being super active and busy to suddenly not having much to do.... so i made my mind up back then i was not going to let that happen to him.... ....but it sounds like your daughter is of the same mind if she calls to keep up with you several times a week..... .. that;s awesome....

sadly i know some retirees who never hear from their adult children at all - unless of course they are in trouble or need something.... then the phone rings continually and all hours of the night and day..... .being good parents they respond and help their kids in any way they can... even going into debt sometimes to do it... only to be ignored again once the "crisis" is resolved.... a couple of the retired paramedics/divers my dad goes to talk story and smoke cigars with at the barge have kids like that... it breaks my heart to hear them talk about it... ....
 
Last edited:
Baptist Renegade said:
Wow! You really have a special relationship with your dad! I'm sooo jealous! My daughter moved off to Nashville, TN for work but she calls me up several times a week to check in.
Click to expand...
I read an article your daughter did a few weeks back. I had forgotten that she was in Nashville until I saw the name! UGH! Guess the "old-timers" is kicking in! :)
 
aleshanee said:
it became even more so after he retired... ...i learned in pre-med long ago that an alarming number of people in high stress physically demanding jobs, died with a few years of retirement.... and some even died within a few weeks or less.... .the reason was thought to be going from being super active and busy to suddenly not having much to do.... so i made my mind up back then i was not going to let that happen to him.... ....but it sounds like your daughter is of the same mind if she calls to keep up with you several times a week..... .. that;s awesome....

sadly i know some retirees who never hear from their adult children at all - unless of course they are in trouble or need something.... then the phone rings continually and all hours of the night and day..... .being good parents they respond and help their kids in any way they can... even going into debt sometimes to do it... only to be ignored again once the "crisis" is resolved.... a couple of the retired paramedics/divers my dad goes to talk story and smoke cigars with at the barge have kids like that... it breaks my heart to hear them talk about it... ....
Click to expand...
I saw that far too often working in the aerospace industry! People would retire, get in their RV and ride off into the sunset only to have us read only months later that they had passed away from a heart attack or whatever!

I believe the key to longevity and keeping a sharp mind is always having a reason to get up out of bed every day. Yes, it is nice to hit the snooze button and sleep in late and it is nice being able to travel to Hawaii and the Grand Canyon and other places but it doesn't equate to a true "Reason for Living!" We are planning on being active within our Church leadership and in the Philippines doing evangelism and church planting work. I'm also continuing my education and hope to train others for the ministry.

The Lord knows the appointed time of my departure and there is nothing I can do about that but there is something I can do about the days he gives me. As someone says, your life is two dates with a dash in-between: Make the most of the Dash!
 
AverageJoe said:
I read an article your daughter did a few weeks back. I had forgotten that she was in Nashville until I saw the name! UGH! Guess the "old-timers" is kicking in! :)
Click to expand...
I'll let her know she is getting some readership an recognition! :D

She says she'd really like to eventually break into entertainment journalism. We have talked about how seeing nothing but bad news day in and day out can really mess with your mental well-being. I have had to turn off all the news feeds showing up on my iPhone because it will get you depressed!
 
Baptist Renegade said:
I saw that far too often working in the aerospace industry! People would retire, get in their RV and ride off into the sunset only to have us read only months later that they had passed away from a heart attack or whatever!

I believe the key to longevity and keeping a sharp mind is always having a reason to get up out of bed every day. Yes, it is nice to hit the snooze button and sleep in late and it is nice being able to travel to Hawaii and the Grand Canyon and other places but it doesn't equate to a true "Reason for Living!" We are planning on being active within our Church leadership and in the Philippines doing evangelism and church planting work. I'm also continuing my education and hope to train others for the ministry.

The Lord knows the appointed time of my departure and there is nothing I can do about that but there is something I can do about the days he gives me. As someone says, your life is two dates with a dash in-between: Make the most of the Dash!
Click to expand...
I definitely agree with your sentiments here. Having the recent diagnosis of moderate to advanced heart failure, I want to make the most out of "the dash." The beginning and ending dates for me won't be on a tombstone, but, I'll still have to make use of that "dash" in between. That's all that really matters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top