Wow.
Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from an old friend with whom I'd recently re-established contact by e-mail but whom I haven't seen in a long time. He's recently returned to Dallas after an extended period of amazing travel, including sailing solo to Tahiti this spring and, as if that weren't adventuresome enough, journeying on the Akademik RV Keldysh and descending, in one of the two MIR vessels on board the Keldysh, approximately 12,500 feet (that's almost 2 1/2 miles!!!) to the ocean floor to see the ruins of the Titanic (for more specific information on diving to the ruins of the Titanic, see Deep Ocean Expeditions).
He said that he was going to be in my neighborhood and wanted to know if I'd be home so he could stop by for a few minutes to say hello. Both my car and the boys' car are out of commission right now (don't ask...that's a topic for another entry), so my ex (who's in Chicago for the weekend) had kindly loaned me his car, in which I was about to drive Mike to work. I explained the situation and invited my friend to come over in the evening instead.
He came over a little after 7:00 with an envelope that he'd just received in the mail containing a DVD with a record of his trip to the Titanic. He also brought me an amazing gift: a styrofoam cup that has traveled 12,500 feet to the bottom of the ocean, where, from a bot arm on the outside of the MIR (I think), the cup was placed briefly on the deck of the Titanic. Wow. I can't begin to say how cool I think that is. The cup is incredibly compressed from the tremendous pressure exerted on it at that depth. I've attached a couple of photos that show front and back views of the cup, and I placed a quarter beside it to give an idea of the degree of compression that the cup has undergone.
Of the 6 billion people on this planet, only about 200 have been to see the ruins of the Titanic. The DVD of the trip was amazing...we watched it, and then picked up Mike from work, and of course he wanted to see it, so the three of us watched it again...and (if you're reading this, Jay) I would still love to watch it again.
Still limited to one car and with lots for both Mike and me to do this afternoon, I have to run, but I'll write more about this later.
11 comments:
Wow! Neat!
V
That is just so cool. What an adventure.
I travel by CarnivAOL, that is amazing that you have such a treasure! What a life he must lead.
Rebecca
What a fascinating day you have had! Marvelous! Waiting for the "rest of the story"....Marc :)
Fascinating story, great friend to bring you such a treasure.... oh and good luck with the car situation.. Car problems can be so annoying.
What interesting friends you have. I, too, would have loved to have seen that video. Good luck with the cars!
Sam
As fascinating as is the Titanic dive, I'm even more intrigued by the sailing to Tahiti.
Wow!!!!
Judith
WAAAAAY Cool! E
Very interesting turn of events. A very happy journal entry. It's great to reconnect with old friends. Hope you get your car up and going again.
All I can think of is what that kind of pressure would do to US.
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