Well, after all the horror stories I've given you in previous threads with
my old instructor, I finally had a chance to "dive in" on one of my new
instructors classes.  He just invited me down to the pool, since he was
teaching a small class, and I'll be taking another class in July.

What a difference!  He actually got in the water with us, instead of sitting
in a beach chair and yelling at everybody.  We all stayed together and did
the exercises together or one at a time.  I was allowed to wear my contacts
and just kept my eyes closed for one of the exercises and closed my eyes
when we practiced clearing our masks, which I had already done about a
zillion times in that other class.

I also noticed that I had no ear trauma going down, coming up or after the
class, which is far different than the other classes I took.

I'm far from perfect, and I know I still have a lot to learn, but this is
gonna be fun for a change.

Thanks all for your support, again, and I'll keep you posted.  You were all
right -- find the right teacher and it makes all the difference.

Sheldon