Preparing for my dive trip in November - A review of Dive Locator.

So it's coming closer now. My dive trip with Lorenz and Marc to South Africa.

With our vacation to Hurghada, Egypt, now being a mere memory (more on this in a future post), I'm looking forward to what the near future has in store. Apart from a trip to Cairo tomorrow and some days with my wife to celebrate our anniversary, the big trip will be November 19th to South Africa. And I've decided that I want a new camera and a new watch.

New Gear
The camera will probably be a Canon Powershot G10 as I read great reviews on it and it's affordable. The watch is probably going to be a Suunto X10, which sports a GPS (which is useless underwater, but great to track my travels). Since I already have a Suunto Vyper2 as dive computer I'm all set. Although I'm tempted to get me the new Vyper AIR, which integrated the air pressure into the dive computer. Maybe next trip as I'm already overspending a bit... But that's only good for the economy, isn't it.

New Apps
On a slightly different node, I've been looking into applications to track my dive log and stumbled upon a few that also have some sort of counterpart on my Touch. I bought Dive Log from moremobilesoftware as it integrates, supposedly, nice with a log application for Windows that can read from my Suunto.

Dive Locator
While browsing in the Apple AppStore I stumbled upon Dive Locator, an application that lists dive sites around the world, which currently is limited to 4 regions (Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, USA and Western Carribean, but nothing in the Red Sea or Asia). Although there are 900 sites according to the documentation, it doesn't feel that much. But there are means to update the database by email and through the web. Adding new locations in the application itself is not possible, so you need one way or another internet access.
The tool is very simple, which is excellent by the way, as its purpose is simple: List a multitude of dive sites and provide relevant information on your selected site. That information by the way is very limited, any thing else than a simple address and longitude and latitude coordinates. Something I'm missing is information regarding the site itself. Is there a wreck, at what depth, how long is the transfer to the site when it is in open sea. Is the site a regular for live-aboard trips etc. And very important, what kind of dive can you do at that location and what is there to see, like special marine life.
It doesn't tell you that. On the other hand, there is an interface with Google Maps, so you can see the site and its surroundings on GoogleMaps, but the sites in its vicinity are not shown. Which is unfortunate because in most cases I know where I've been, but don't know the name. Or I know where I want to go, but don't know the name. Also very handy is the possibility to show current weather conditions.
Considering the price this is an application that you should consider. It works well, has interesting and handy information regarding geographic location (Google Maps) and weather conditions, but insufficient information regarding the dive site itself. I'm looking for updated information on the sites, and hopefully there will be a way to add these additional information as well in a future release.
Find iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ

Iwan

What happened in 2008 (part three in a series...)

Hi,

Not too long ago, I blogged about our family vacation in 2008. That was in September.

Right after that vacation I went to see our doctor because I was feeling dead tired all the time. I was sleeping 16+ hours a night and still I was exhausted. According to the doctor this was due to a lack of adrenaline. I was underworked! She suggested I should go sporting, so I picked up swimming and things went better.

In November 2008 I went to Egypt with two buddies of mine, scuba diving in the red sea. The high lights were seeing a group of turtles grazing underwater and a little fight between two of them as well as spotting Hamer head shark. The trip in general was just great and relaxing.

The end of 2008 was marked by a Christmas in bed. I had an ear infection that resulted in nausea and dizziness. Every single move of my head resulted in throwing up. After a couple of days all was fine again, but it was scary. So I spend Christmas alone in bed instead of with the loved ones.

New Years eve was great though and the kids loved the fireworks. Jay was all up-n-go with the fireworks, and Ray, well Ray was just Ray; all into it.

That more or less concludes 2008. This year has been a year of excellent stuff so far... well it would've been if I wrote this a week ago, which I didn't so next time I'll tell you what happened a few days ago, that wasn't excellent.

Iwan

What happened in 2008 (part two in a series...)

Hi,

So last time I blogged, I could still call it 'What happened the last 12 months...' but let's call it 2008, shall we?

So what did happen after I was released from the hospital? Obviously Jay turned 3 and I went just before that to San Francisco for a slightly over a week... JavaOne 2008.

The summer didn't have a lot in store for me, mainly because my MR2 had a small problem with its transmission. The problem being that I couldn't use it. And of course those very few sunny days in 2008 I didn't have a convertible. Anyway, they fixed it and it cost me a lot less than initially thought. That was good.

The summer of 2008 was also the first time the four of us went on vacation all together. We went for a whole week to Asten-Ommel, a small town in Brabant. The park's name is Prinsenmeer. I've got to say that the week was great, to be with the family and all without the daily routines from around the house. But th little bungelow we thought we had booked was a big caravan without wheels and it was kind of like not really well cleaned.
On the uptake, the pool they had was nice with two nice water slides, that Jay dared to do all by himself. Jay and I also went for a trip on the waterbikes. That was fun. One of the nicer trips we took that week was to a zoo nearby, which was just big enough to walk all day and see everything. But it was also very well maintained. And the Cheetah's were great. Also our daytrip to Toverland was great. Jay was barely big enough to be allowed in one of the many rollercoasters and he loved the bobsled and the wild-water ride. Unfortunately Ray was too little for most rides. Well, being only a year and a half old... this was to be expected.

More on the proceedings in 2008 of me and my family later (this year).

Iwan

Movie Review: The Wrestler

Does Mickey Rourke deserve an Oscar based on this performance? I don't know, although his acting is quite good, it's not great. Well maybe it is, because during the movie you're starting to feel for his character. The story is quite predictable. There are no surprises or twists in the story. But that's not a problem, since the story doesn't require any mysteries or suspense to be involving.

The story though is about a man who's lost contact with his daughter, who's in love with a stripper and considers a paycheck with more than 10 bucks on it a good day. And when you're asking me if I can relate I'ld have to say 'No', but still the acting is such that you understand why things are going the way they are, and you'll be finding yourself against better judgement, hoping for events to take different turns.

The Wrestler is a slow moving story. The action scenes in it are there only to underpin the story, not to blow you away. But on top of it all, the movie captivates at times, and is interesting overall. And not to forget Marissa Tomei, who shows some wrinkles, but is still damn cute.

Iwan

What happened the last 12 months (part one in a series...)

Hi,

As promised in an earlier post (I'm too lazy to figure out which one) I'm going to tell about what happened the last 12 months or so. Since quite a bit happened, I'll be posting a few blogposts to cover the period. This is part one in the series.

Last year as you might have read, my brother and his wife lost their pre-maturely born daughter Bindi. That pretty much marked the last blogpost of me in 2008.

In April right before Easter I got really sick. Sick enough to be hospitalized. Yup I spend a few days in the hospital. But no operation or anything else, only a very strict diet. I could only drink apple juice and eat some shakes. And I had an IV in my hand, probably just to keep me from running away. Now I have to say that those shakes weren't too bad. Especially the banana flavored were rather good, and efficient. Only 5 or 6 shakes a day and I had all nutrition of the day. No chewing involved.

Ok, I had to spend like 4 hours in the ER, and suffering from really intense pains in my abdomen. As it turned out I had a problem with my intestines. Hence the diet. After 2 days all pain was gone and I was allowed to drink coffee again. That's right, I wasn't allowed to drink any coffee, or an espresso. So that sucked.

Easter Sunday I was back home, which was good. Hospitals aren't too nice a places, so I intend not to go there too often.

Iwan

PS: I was told that I should eat whole wheat bread and lots-n-lots of fruit by my doctor. So nowadays I have whole wheat bread and eat lots-n-lots of fruit. Do you?

Back from the Maldives

Hi,

So I'm back in the Netherlands and already missing the serenity and quietness of Kandooma. But obviously I'm really happy to be with the boys again. And so is Olcay, who's suffering from a flu at the moment. I guess it's best to be sick when you're at home.

Jay and Ray had a great time at my parents who made sure that they wouldn't be thinking about anything else than doing fun stuff.

The flight back was not too good as Air Berlin appearantly doesn't care about leg-room, which is really not much more than a few cm I estimate. And 10.5 hours folded in a chair is not cool... and not to mention the fact that they don't have adjustable headrests on their seats. That sucks.

Last Sunday was Ray's birthday (8th of feb) and we had a great day. Although he's suffering from a serious ear infection. The goo is literally dripping from his ear, no kidding.

Yesterday was my first day back at my main customer at the moment and the last 2 weeks some interesting things had happened. And a lot of realization took place as well. 

Iwan

Words from the Maldives (7)

Hi,

So this is going to be a mixed feelings blog... Today was our last day on Kandooma :'( but also the last day we have to miss Jay and Ray.

So what was done today? Not much, or maybe quite a bit. We went snorkeling this morning on two sites, both not as impressive as our snorkeling trip yesterday, but we saw a turtle and there was a nice current, that allowed for a nice drift. Still the fish weren't as bright and numerous as yesterday.

This afternoon we spend soaking up more sun, and we had some nice talks with some of the guys working here. This night we had diner at The Kitchen, where Olcay had 2 deserts. Yup and both times the Almond Fried Ice. And we got the promise that we would receive the recipe by mail.

All-in-all this vacation has been tremendously cool and relaxing and Kandooma is really a great place to spend your time when you just want to relax and want to be amongst the friendliest of people. Although everybody is trying their best in serving you as good as they can, it doesn't feel as if they're trying... it feels as if it all comes naturally. This added to the experience and whenever you are thinking about the Maldives, but don't know which of the islands is the best place to spend your time... go to Kandooma.

Well that is about it, for now the last Words from the Maldives. Maybe in a couple of years we'll be setting foot on the island again, for now, we're longing to see the boys again.

Next time, Words from the Netherlands and I'll try to get you up to speed about what happened in 2008.

Iwan