Category: Today I Learned

TIL My Snorkel is Plotting to Kill Me

Posted on by Dusty Reagan

TIL (Today I Learned) my snorkel is plotting to kill me. Ok, actually I learned this last Saturday during scuba, so I guess this is TIL (Three days ago I Learned).

I’ve been a certified open water diver for a few years now, but I sat in on a group of my friends certification course to refresh my skills. Part of the course work is pretending your dive buddy is out of air while under about 15ft of open water. My friend signaled “out of air.” I gave her my regulator and put my secondary air supply in my mouth. I took a breath. No air came out. I tried to take another breath. No air came out. Fortunately, I didn’t panic, but I was confused as to why my secondary air supply wasn’t working. I began seeking my buddies secondary air. Quickly our instructor knocked my snorkel from my mouth and gave me my actual secondary air source. I cleared it and sucked in a beautiful deep breath. This is when I learned my snorkel hates me, and wants to kill me! I also learned to get visual confirmation that “yes” this is my regulator and not just a mouthpiece found near the vicinity of my air supply.

Seriously though, this is why you practice what to do in emergency situations in a safely controlled environment. Sometimes it feels silly to role-play these little scenarios, but when it comes down to a real emergency, it’s the only way you can prepare yourself.

On second thought, I guess my snorkel doesn’t really want to kill me. It didn’t allow me to inhale water after all. I have a dry snorkel that has a flotation plug mechanism that doesn’t let water in. Here’s a quick video on how it works:

TIL What it Means to Fence

Posted on by Dusty Reagan

TIL (Today I Learned) that a fencer is not just someone who fights with a sword.

I told my scuba buddies today that I was planning on being a fencer for halloween this year, upon which one of my friends said, “you deal in stolen goods?” I looked at him dumbfounded, and then got schooled.

Turns out a fence can informally mean someone who sells stolen goods. I suppose you could also call a fence a fencer, but I’m not sure how correct that is.

TIL Which Hits the Ground 1st a Dropped or Fired Bullet

Posted on by Dusty Reagan

It feels a little bit like cheating to use something I learned watching Myth Busters on my TIL (Today I Learned) posts, but it’s my blog, so I make the rules! 😉

TIL that a bullet fired from a gun hits the ground at the same time as a bullet dropped at the same height as the gun barrel.

I gotta’ admit, I actually speculated that the bullet would stay in the air longer than the dropped bullet due to lift. Turns out a spinning bullet has essentially no lift (kind of a forehead slapper there), and due to the constant force of gravity, both the dropped bullet and fired bullet hit the ground at the same time.

Check out the result of the Myth Busters experiment:

While you’re at, check out this clip of Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott dropping a feather and hammer at the same time on the moon.

TIL The Origin of FTW & The Michelada

Posted on by Dusty Reagan

I learned two interesting things today. I couldn’t make up my mind which to post, so here’s 2 for one!

TIL (Today I Learned) that the internet slang FTW (For The Win) originated from the show Hollywood Squares. Check it out:

TIaL (Today I also Learned) of a drink called the Michelada. It’s basically beer, tomato juice, and lime on a salt rimmed glass. I tried it. It tasted almost like a bloody marry, but I didn’t like the carbonation of the beer mixed with tomato juice. Next time I’ll skip this drink and stick with a bloody marry. Cheers!