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Góðan daginn!! Moving to and Diving in Iceland

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:02 pm
by BbbleMkr
Just got the word, we're moving to Iceland (instead of Las Vegas -- so relieved!) in December.

I've done some noodling around, and it looks like 1) There is diving, 2) It's pretty cool, but 3) It's really frickin' cold. Two questions. First, has anyone gone diving in Iceland or been there in the winter and have any information for me (clothes/stuff to bring) and second, would you (in general, to everyone) like to come up and join me some time? I don't have any information on where our family is staying, but I'm sure it will be small, expensive and cramped. :) But, from what I've heard the nightlife is fantastic.

Let me know!

dd

Re: Góðan daginn!! Moving to and Diving in Iceland

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:12 pm
by Seth T.
BbbleMkr wrote:Just got the word, we're moving to Iceland (instead of Las Vegas -- so relieved!) in December.

dd
Whoa! Iceland! As in ICEland? Just all of a sudden you're up and moving to ICELAND in a month and a half? :axe:

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:22 pm
by CaptnJack
Be sure to crank up the goethermal heat!

I'd look into heated undies...

Re: Góðan daginn!! Moving to and Diving in Iceland

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:31 pm
by Pez7378
BbbleMkr wrote:Just got the word, we're moving to Iceland (instead of Las Vegas -- so relieved!) in December.

I've done some noodling around, and it looks like 1) There is diving, 2) It's pretty cool, but 3) It's really frickin' cold. Two questions. First, has anyone gone diving in Iceland or been there in the winter and have any information for me (clothes/stuff to bring) and second, would you (in general, to everyone) like to come up and join me some time? I don't have any information on where our family is staying, but I'm sure it will be small, expensive and cramped. :) But, from what I've heard the nightlife is fantastic.

Let me know!

dd
Wow Delaina, just like that? That's pretty cool. Hmmm what to bring, I would bring, lots of blankets, firewood, snowmobile, snow shovel, more blankets, more wood, Ice auger, Ice fishing pole, fishing hut (like Grumpy Old Men), XC skis, Snowshoes, Poles, Probe, Gloves, Stormy Seas Hat, Mustang suit, Survival suit (if your going boating), Dive gear, and More WOOD!!!...........Hmmm I give up. What DO you bring to Iceland?

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:48 pm
by dsteding
Remember, the Vikings named Iceland the way they did and Greenland the way they did to throw people off, I hear the water is cold, the winters are long, but the nightlife rocks and the people are beautiful.

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:03 pm
by Seth T.
Diving is supposed to be quite good there. Seriously, can the water be THAT much colder than it is here in the winter? :axe:

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 7:28 pm
by CaptnJack
Seth T. wrote:Diving is supposed to be quite good there. Seriously, can the water be THAT much colder than it is here in the winter? :axe:
Since seawater freezes at 28F (-2C), yes it can be. Iceland is subject to several oceanic currents including the margins of the "warm" gulf stream ~8C (45-50F, like us in winter). And...

the freakin' cold East Greenland and East Iceland currents ~0C or less in winter. The cold waters are partially seperated from the warm at great depths by a prominent ridge which extends over towards the UK. I don't know how these major oceanic features affect local temps though. During a volcanic eruption with lava and all that the ocean is boiling there too!

So what's the scoop? Iceland suddenly needs lawyers?? :bounce:

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:09 pm
by spatman
wow, iceland! that is cool. are you going to be in or near reykjavik? i hear it's an interesting city.

also, i once saw a cool video about diving in <a href="http://www.dive.is/Diving_Iceland.php?page=Silfra" target="_blank">Silfra</a>. if you searched youtube.com, you could probably find a few.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:34 am
by GillyWeed
Iceland looks beautiful from the pictures I saw.. I wouldn't mind visiting if fundage wasn't always my problem. Be safe and have fun!!!

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:18 am
by BbbleMkr
Fishing Hut! Awesome idea! :)

Scoop is, we were planning on moving to Vegas in December so we could support all the single moms down there via my husband's work as a strip club runner. (Apologies to all adult exotic dancer divers out there. I'm sure you're lovely, lovely people.) Anyway, he was also recently approached by a headhunter to do some high level, uh, thinking? marketing? chainsaw juggling? (I really have no idea what he does. Our daughter is _convinced_ he's in the CIA, and tells all her friends that because we have no idea what he does for money. We're pretty sure it's legal......) for another company which is partially run out of Iceland. As training or a right of passage, that company requires its employees to spend 6 months to a year in Iceland before moving to their main operations in Georgia. Soooo, I'm wrapping up my practice, doing a hard-line triage on stuff (Crucial--in the POD, not so-- sell or donate) and getting ready to become a kept woman. :) I'd like to be a lawyer in Iceland but I think I need to be fluent. Instead, I'll be like all "Gera þú vilja pönnusteiktur með þessi?" (Which means "Do you want fries with that?")

But I'll also be diving. I did look at some sites and it looks chilly (dry gloves, internal heaters and a warmer hood fer shure) but crystal clear. There might even be wolfies!

And the invitation stands. :)

dd

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:48 am
by Seth T.
BbbleMkr wrote: Scoop is, we were planning on moving to Vegas in December so we could support all the single moms down there via my husband's work as a strip club runner. (Apologies to all adult exotic dancer divers out there. I'm sure you're lovely, lovely people.)
dd
Strip clubs in Iceland? Holy hairy armpits! :vom:

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:54 am
by Sounder
Seth T. wrote:
BbbleMkr wrote: Scoop is, we were planning on moving to Vegas in December so we could support all the single moms down there via my husband's work as a strip club runner. (Apologies to all adult exotic dancer divers out there. I'm sure you're lovely, lovely people.)
dd
Strip clubs in Iceland? Holy hairy armpits! :vom:
Ryan's a great guy to have at a party. Some of my friends who met him at one of ours are still talking/asking about him.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:29 pm
by kwbyron
My wife's roomate before she joined the military was a stripper. It was intersting to learn the ins and outs of that industry, and sad at times.
EDIT: forgot to add, at $400-500 a night though, she was pretty well off.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:33 pm
by BbbleMkr
Sorry if I was unclear, but NO. The job that my husband recently secured has NOTHING to do with heavily made up, young, surgically enhanced, thonged somethings rubbing all over anyone. (Or any dick swinging, for that matter. Ok, maybe that's not a stripclub thing, but I've been wondering how I could work that into a NWDC submission.) He'll be working with a gaming company and we'll be living in Reykjavik.

dd

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:36 pm
by scottsax
kwbyron wrote:My wife's roomate before she joined the military was a stripper. It was intersting to learn the ins and outs of that industry, and sad at times.
EDIT: forgot to add, at $400-500 a night though, she was pretty well off.
I dated a dancer (their preferred term) for 10+ years. The freedom and flexibility (no pun intended) of the lifestyle is addictive and hard to break out of, as is the hard-partying, cynical worldview.

Seth T. wrote:Strip clubs in Iceland? Holy hairy armpits!
Have you ever seen Icelandic women? Yowza!

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:46 pm
by Seth T.
scottsax wrote:[

Have you ever seen Icelandic women? Yowza!
Evidentally not! I guess was thinking about zee Austrian Vimen! Da! \:D/

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:51 pm
by Sounder
Oh no no no... Seth, go visit Iceland and Russia. Thank me upon your return. Girls from Iceland are quite suitable to the American ideal.

Hey Bubbles - you going blonde?! #-o

Living in Iceland will rock, but what happens when you move to Georgia? :vom:

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:54 pm
by Seth T.
Sounder wrote:Oh no no no... Seth, go visit Iceland and Russia. Thank me upon your return. Girls from Iceland are quite suitable to the American ideal.
Well, I'll definately have to take the wife! :axe:

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:45 pm
by scottsax
BbbleMkr wrote:Our daughter is _convinced_ he's in the CIA
I have a friend like that. Runs a car dealership, has a degree in molecular biology, he's a NAUI instructor, an award-winning UW photographer (last year's Digital Shootout in Bonaire), a commercial boat captain (up to 100'), a skilled horseman, an expert marksman, and a damn good guitar player.

We've asked him what he REALLY does, but he just smiles and buys another round. :partyman:

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:12 am
by RSdancey
Good news: Fantastic new job back in industry I was born to work in.

Bad news: Job is in Iceland.

Turns out, Iceland is not such a bad place to live. It used to be a nation of sheep herders & fishermen. Since WWII, they've been paying Euro-level taxes into their social safety net. Some years ago, they figured out they could leverage their position mid-way across the Atlantic to become a banking & services economy. So all the kids went to school in Europe & the US, and came home with MBAs and PhDs. Since then they've been investing the government's surpluses and making ridiculous piles of cash. Suddenly Iceland has become one of the world's economic success stories. But there's still only about 300K people there, they have full employment, and have a big PR problem when it comes to recruiting.

Believe it or not, but Iceland is on the edge of the gulf stream, and all that warm water flowing by keeps the place temperate. For 9 months of the year, its basically Seattle in spring or fall, but with a bit less rain. 3 months of the year, it's Anchorage (no sun, very cold, lots of snow). We, of course, are moving there during the winter, so we'll get the whole "no sun" thing right off the bat.

I am told there is a very good dive shop in Reykjavik (a word I have recently learned how to spell without looking it up constantly). I am told that some of the people in that dive shop have heard that some "cold water divers" from Seattle are coming. I have not met any Icelandic divers yet, but from what I have seen so far I expect them to be meticulous in attention to detail, and crazy in daring & temperment. This is a country literally settled by Vikings, and they have not really changed their mindsets in 1,000 years.

We're planning on taking some gear, and hopefully we'll get to do some dives. If we do, we'll be sure to send back reports!

Ryan

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:59 am
by Tom Nic
Congratulations!

I envy your adventure!

You can bet that if I have a reason to be in Iceland I will send you a pathetic, pleading Email begging to go diving! I'd LOVE to dive in Iceland!

-Best Regards,

Tom Nic

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 12:11 pm
by CaptnJack
RSdancey wrote:Good news: Fantastic new job back in industry I was born to work in.
Still sounds like its the CIA... :salute:

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 12:38 pm
by Pez7378
Sounder wrote:Oh no no no... Seth, go visit Iceland and Russia.
Been there, done that. SOME Russian women are very beautiful, even if their name is "Olga". Of course, I was pickled with Vodka DA! Now as far as Icelandic women, Hmmm Helga? Gertrude? Red Hair and Fur boots?

Congratulations on your new assignment. What an adventure. Looks like DiverC's workload will double. What's a flight to Iceland? The diving sounds terrific.

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 12:49 pm
by Tom Nic
Pez7378 wrote: What's a flight to Iceland? The diving sounds terrific.
$1,012+ $133 taxes & fees = $1,145 per person

Leave Tue, Apr 8 Northwest Airlines 154
Depart: 12:52am
Arrive: 6:00am Seattle, WA (SEA)
Minneapolis, MN (MSP)

Change Airline. Time between flights: 13hr 20min

Icelandair 656
Depart: 7:20pm
Arrive: 6:20am Minneapolis, MN (MSP)
Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF)
6hr 0min | Boeing 757
Total duration: 22hr 28min

This is an overnight flight.

Return
Tue, Apr 15 Icelandair 643
Depart: 4:55pm
Arrive: 7:05pm Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF)
Baltimore, MD (BWI)
2 stops in BWI , LAS BWI

6hr 10min | Boeing 757

Change Airline. Time between flights: 1hr 30min

US Airways 212
Depart: 8:35pm
Arrive: 10:52pm Baltimore, MD (BWI)
Las Vegas, NV (LAS)
5hr 17min | Airbus A320

Change planes. Time between flights: 1hr 7min

US Airways 298
Depart: 11:59pm
Arrive: 2:53am Las Vegas, NV (LAS)
Seattle, WA (SEA)
2hr 54min | Boeing 737
Total duration: 16hr 58min

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:23 pm
by Seth T.
Let's see. A flight to warm, sunny Cozumel: $550. A flight to freezing cold Iceland $1100. Hmm. Let me think.... \:D/