Brandon on a freshwater dive
I take a giant stride off the stern of the Independence II and plunge into the sea somewhere around 20 miles off Point Pleasant, New Jersey. I swim to the boat’s anchor line and begin my descent to the wreck of the Tolten 95 feet below. Visibility on the descent is around 10 feet, making orientation difficult. The line moves up and down as the waves lift and drop the boat. I have to be careful not to grasp the line too tightly and get pulled up and down or too loosely and risk becoming separated from the one safe path to the surface. I turn on one of my dive lights, which becomes truly useful for the first time. Unlike on previous dives in freshwater, I can clearly see the strong beam.
Continue reading 90 feet under the surface of the Atlantic »
At 6:30 pm on Saturday, March 7, I dove in Disney’s 5.7 million gallon saltwater fish tank for 40 minutes as part of Disney’s Epcot DiveQuest. Here are a few pictures taken from outside the tank and a profile of the dive from my dive computer.
Continue reading Disney’s Epcot DiveQuest »
Update
I can no longer recommend the Tivo HD. Since I’ve been using it with Verizon’s FIOS service, I’ve had far too many pixelation and sound issues. Tivo customer service insists that the problems are caused by Verizon’s signal. While this may true, the issues don’t exist with a Verizon box connected to the same signal. It’s very hard for me to say to Verizon, “Your signal is bad. Fix it.” when their equipment works correctly using it.
How much does it cost?
My factory refurbished Tivo HD DVR cost me $179, which was $120 less than the cost of a brand new unit. Service for the lifetime of the unit (not my lifetime) cost me $399. Effectively, the unit cost $578 refurbished or $698 new. As of this post, Tivo was no longer offering refurbished Tivo HDs on its website. At post time, Amazon was offering new Tivo HDs for $249 with free shipping (excluding the required Tivo service).
Continue reading Review of my Tivo HD DVR »
What is my FICO Score?
Your FICO Score is a number, in the range of 300-850, that represents how risky it would be for someone to loan you money. It is calculated based on data from a credit report about you.
Why should I care?
The way you use credit now will dramatically influence the amount it will cost you to borrow money later. The images below are from MyFICO.com, which is run by the company that calculates your FICO Score.
Continue reading Your FICO Score »
