Amusement Centres

By Isaac Small

 It is fall and the trees are ablaze in all of their glory. Who isn’t in awe of this bountiful tapestry of red, gold, and orange leaves that adorn deciduous trees in neighborhoods, parks, and mountains from coast to coast? With an azure sky as a backdrop the colors are all the more magnified, your viewing pleasure increased. In the middle of all of this lurks a menace, one that can be both destructive and deadly. Please read on to discover the inherent dangers of the autumn season and what you must do to protect yourself and your property.

Anne Bridgeton was accustomed to taking her ‘99 Camry on weekday excursions from her home in the Kentucky foothills to her job some thirty miles away. By traveling along narrow, twisting back roads and avoiding the interstate, Anne’s trip took an additional fifteen minutes each way but it was a small price to pay as one of the benefits included viewing a bucolic landscape replete with farms and forested areas, and pocketed by small stores. Somehow the sterile scenery of the interstate was more unnerving than calming, even unsettling at times. Besides, no tandem trailers took the Kentucky backgrounds unlike the interstate which was full of them. Staying out of their way was the chief reason Anne avoided the interstate.

This past October all of that changed for Anne and dramatically so. It had been a dry summer and autumn seemed to have arrived earlier than usual as the leaves changed and fell well before the month ended. In some sections along the back roads, particularly in more residential areas, leaves were piled up alongside the curb for removal by the local sanitation crews. It reminded Anne of the snowdrifts that she would soon see all winter long on her way back and forth to work.

When the phone rang, Anne assumed that it was someone at her place of work calling to ask her if she would stop by at a local farm and pick up cider and donuts. Several times during the year Anne would visit a nearby farm and pick up a treat for her office staff. As it turned out it was her mother calling to remind Anne that today was her younger sister’s birthday.

Pulling off to the side of the road, Anne turned on her emergency flashers, shut off the engine, and engaged her mother in conversation. Not three minutes went by when Anne noticed a plume of smoke rising up outside of the front passenger window. Alarmed, she cut off conversation with her mother, exited her Camry to investigate and soon saw flames shooting up from the ground. As she dialed 911 the Camry was quickly engulfed in an inferno and within moments it was destroyed. Fortunately for Anne she was unhurt — deeply shaken — but alive.

What happened to Anne occurs all too frequently to drivers who park their vehicles directly over leaves. Anne’s catalytic converter was the culprit and as with so many newer cars it can heat up to temperatures well over 1500 degrees. When Anne stopped her Camry right on top of the leaves, sparks from the Camry’s catalytic converter dropped down, the leaves caught fire, and her car was engulfed within minutes. Fortunately, Anne escaped with her life but her Camry was destroyed.

Take care to make sure that the season’s beauty does not lull you into forgetting potential hazards. Keep your vehicle far from leaves and only park on surfaces that are completely clear of all debris. Hundreds of fires each year are ignited by catalytic converters; remain vigilant and don’t fall prey to this deadly peril.

To read about wasp repellent and wasp sting remedy, visit the Eliminate Wasps site.

Disneyworld for Scuba Divers

By Arnoldo Watson

 There is an interesting dive option for certified scuba divers who are vacationing in the Orlando area especially with family members who are non-divers. The Living Seas at Disneyworld’s Epcot Center is home to a marine tank that measures over 200 feet in diameter and 25 feet in depth. This tank contains a sample of Caribbean marine life in an artificial salt water and reef environment. Through the center’s Divequest tour, certified divers can take a special three hour program that includes a forty minute dive in this marine tank.

The current price is $140 US with advance reservations required. Divers meet at the Guest Relations office just outside the main Epcot gates. Epcot park admission is not required or included. However, I was let out in the main area of The Living Seas after the tour so I ended up seeing other parts of Epcot for free anyway. Twice per day at 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm, a maximum of twelve divers per time slot are taken on a behind the scenes tour of the facilities at The Living Seas. All scuba equipment is provided. In fact, divers are not allowed to bring their own equipment for the fear of contaminating the marine tank. Even jewelry must be removed prior to the dive. Scuba wetsuits (shorties), BCs, regulators, fins, booties and masks are provided. Divers are allowed to bring and use their own masks and bathing suits but these are the only exceptions to the rule.

After the facility tour, wetsuits and towels for each diver are already waiting in private stalls that include private showers in the change rooms. The setup is well organized but a bit odd because after changing into wetsuits, the divers are paraded through the public areas where the other Epcot guests are before going into the main level of the marine tank. Once at the marine tank, divemasters are waiting with tanks and BCs already assembled for each diver. The BCs are weight integrated with more weight than needed and the only gauge attached is an air pressure gauge. There isn’t even a depth gauge or octopus second stage as they are not considered necessary for this shallow dive. After the dive briefing, the divemasters help the divers with their equipment on and everyone moves to a descent line at the middle of the tank.

The dive itself is usually beyond most divers’ expectations. There is a lot of marine life in this tank including sharks, rays, turtles and lots of Caribbean fish of all sizes. In fact, the staff claims that divers will see more variety of Caribbean marine life during this one dive than many dives combined out in the open sea. One of the neat things that divers can do on this dive that they can’t do elsewhere is interact with the public Epcot guests. There are sixty observation windows all around the marine tank including views from the main restaurant. The divers become part of the attractions at The Living Seas as the public behind the windows wave and snap photos. Some divers made arrangements with family members to be on the other side of the windows while a designated divemaster videotapes the entire scene. Even though I was skeptical at first, I have to admit that I had fun interacting with the public behind the glass. I had forgotten that the vast majority of people out there are not certified divers and we are somewhat of a curiosity for them.

For scuba divers who dive mainly to see marine life, the Divequest at Epcot will not disappoint. It’s an opportunity to swim through a few large schools of fish and see some creatures like the sharks and turtles up close which as most divers know, is a real hit and miss out in the open water. It is also a very unique opportunity for non-diving family members and friends to see divers in the underwater environment. Divequest is certainly a special dive that is worth doing at least once.

Learn about weeping norway spruce and weeping pussy willow tree at the Weeping Trees site.

Your Source For The Top Amusement Theme Parks Around The World

amusement parks

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.