Chamber Day results & more

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Still decompressing from the Chamber Day 2026 aftermath . . .

IN CASE YOU DIDN'T HEAR, WE SET A NEW RECORD -The annual Chamber Day event this year raised an amazing $201,244, a new record. (This despite the current state of the economy.) I really thought, with everything going on in the economy and the world these days, that we would experience a drop from last year. But I am quite pleased to be wrong in this instance. And this is the first time ever, that we’ve exceeded $200,000, a level of donation that only a few years ago seemed unreachable. It's not exactly over yet since we leave the Flying Dutchman open for a few weeks after the event has concluded for late-comers who want to get the Dutchman t-shirt. (You've got until 5PM May 21. Sign up at www.chamberday.org.) But many, many thanks to all of you who participated and donated. All I do is just badger and harangue you about it for a couple of months. YOU are the ones who make Chamber Day the resounding success that it is to allow our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber to keep gong for another year. As this is an annual event, Chamber Day 2027 is scheduled for May 5 of next year. Hope to have you as part of the fun.

GOES WITHOUT SAYING - I hope you had a nice Mother's Day for those who were with your mother or who are mothers. I spent the afternoon at Dodger Stadium where there was definitely a Mother's Day theme - players wore pink to honors mothers and as a breast cancer awareness and they had the Dodger wives/mothers throw out the first pitch - but those mothers in actual Dodger uniforms couldn't buy a hit (except for Pages and Muncy). Hopefully they'll do better against the Giants tomorrow.

CUTE LITTLE OCTOPUS - Except they weren't so little. There's now evidence that Kraken-like octopuses glided through the seas when dinosaurs ruled the land. You can read more about them here: GIANT PREHISTORIC OCTOPUSES.

SPEAKING OF OCTOPUSES . . . - (And in case you were wondering the correct plural of "octopus" is "octopuses" not "octopi" as we were taught for years.) If you're an octo fan and would like a cute doesn't-require-you-to-think movie, check out "Remarkably Bright Creatures" on Netflix. It's mainly the story of an elderly woman cleaning lady at a small Pacific NW aquarium (Sally Field) as seen through the eyes of and narrated by Marcellus, the resident Giant Pacific Octopus there (voiced by Alfred Molina). It probably won't get any Oscar noms but it was a pleasant 2-hour diversion and it got a 7.9 on Rotten Tomatoes. Give it a look if you have some time to kill.

And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!

- Ken