tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post8787735947408135651..comments2024-03-28T01:35:19.028-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/28/24: ‘A cheap and easy way to save lives’Neil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-42767526317061833432021-09-27T03:18:24.898-05:002021-09-27T03:18:24.898-05:00I have the suspicion we may have crossed paths at ...I have the suspicion we may have crossed paths at some time, too many shared memories, Found my grandparents laundry bag, they lived at 6817 N. Lakewood, from the mid 60's to the mid 70's. It was a walk of several blocks down Pratt to reach the lakefront. My siblings and I would swim near there where ever a lifeguard in a rowboat was watching. Remember the tennis courts, I think they're still there. Since the mid 80's I typically bicycle from the loop to the pier and back. North of Hollywood the path runs down side streets. I visited the mural area a few decades ago, but that spot is not easy to bicycle, too much broken pavement. Next time I'll take another side trip and check it out.Berniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17157600812959885192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-80020895950673940512021-09-25T11:11:38.570-05:002021-09-25T11:11:38.570-05:00I always called it Farwell Pier, and went there of...I always called it Farwell Pier, and went there often when I was young, back when my grandmother lived on Estes in the late Fifties and early Sixties. My Detroit cousins were amazed by the size of Lake Michigan. Decades later, as a young adult, I would bike from South Evanston to that same pier, and hang out at the beach. Are the murals on the concrete still there, and looking better than ever?<br /><br />So I was there when the cops and the firefighters come screaming down Farwell one Fourth of July in the late Seventies, after an obese male swimmer dove off the pier and never came up. I knew about the hidden rocks and boulders, and that the water was not deep there. I figured that he didn't know the territory, and had probably hit the bottom, or the rocks. I stuck around until his body was located and fished out and hauled away.<br /><br />The pier was always a popular fishing spot. Loyola and Morse and Touhy were our family's beaches. The adjoining park was a big hippie hangout for a while, circa 1970. And one of the busiest outdoor basketball courts on the lakefront was just to the west of the pier, but I'm assuming that the hoops and the blacktopped court are long gone, torn out by the city because of gangs and shootings. Even so, most of my nostalgic memories of the beach and the pier are good ones.<br />Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-24177855444733861572021-09-24T19:06:47.281-05:002021-09-24T19:06:47.281-05:00LOL, Les. I'm no sophisticate, but I've n...LOL, Les. I'm no sophisticate, but I've never watched it and thought it was a funny reference even before I got to your last sentence. Jakashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-7531345517128943462021-09-24T19:03:26.863-05:002021-09-24T19:03:26.863-05:00Well, that would cost money, of course. But, havi...Well, that would cost money, of course. But, having wondered that myself, I wonder if it's also because they think that would encourage people to jump in, knowing that there was a ladder to climb out. Jakashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-62702286419155361032021-09-24T18:10:35.925-05:002021-09-24T18:10:35.925-05:00One important question, was Cisneros drunk or ston...One important question, was Cisneros drunk or stoned when he went into the water?Clark St.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09634234069783123180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-90818362811451797282021-09-24T17:02:04.067-05:002021-09-24T17:02:04.067-05:00I was trained how to use the “Torpedo Buoy” which ...I was trained how to use the “Torpedo Buoy” which was nothing more than a tubular plastic float with about a ten foot leash. If you watched Baywatch you know what I’m talking about. <br />The idea was to swim out to the the person in distress, push the torpedo toward the person, and loop the end of the leash across your shoulder. Once the person got a good hold on the torpedo you just swim them to shore. If the person wanted to “walk” their way up the leash toward you, you simply removed the least to keep your distance until the person got with the program.<br />I suppose a ring could be used in the same manner.<br />I had to describe the buoy because this group is too sophisticated, except for me, to have viewed Baywatch.Leshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16679840606511726447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-81092931897636075562021-09-24T14:25:58.659-05:002021-09-24T14:25:58.659-05:00Being a boater most of my adult life, I'm pro ...Being a boater most of my adult life, I'm pro lif0 ring but ladders are important too.<br /> <br />I've often wondered why there aren't ladders every several feet in case someone falls into the Chicago river. Easy to fall in but not to get out. just concrete walls. Same at the lake Michigan downtown breakwall.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-38837813515146097312021-09-24T12:34:03.481-05:002021-09-24T12:34:03.481-05:00Pratt Pier, know the area well. As a youngster my ...Pratt Pier, know the area well. As a youngster my grandfather would take me fishing. At the street turnaround were benches, the grandmas’ would sit talking in Yiddish. Back then the water was clearer and shallow. There were large boulders with sharp edges visible stacked against the pier.<br />In college I took a lifeguard class. They focused on swimming strength and lifesaving technique, not relying on flotation devices because they may not always be available. Use the American crawl and keep an eye on the exact location where the victim is struggling. Dive on approach grab legs and turn them away from you, arm lock around the neck, and use the side stroke to get them to safety. At the time didn't need the job, so never bothered getting certified. On Chicago's lakefront the safest place for distance swimming is doing laps along the break wall between Oak St. and North Avenue Beach, there are a few ladders in place. Any flotation device or swimming aide like, water wings, inner tubes, paddle boards, and fins is prohibited. Because wind and current can rapidly blow you far from the beach.<br />In Hawaii at a remote beach saw someone struggling in the water, instinct kicked in and I was able to grab him and swim toward shore. A local improvised a flotation device by filling a trash bag with air, sealing it and reached us within seconds. People watching us were duly impressed, but several locals told me in the ocean, taking the few seconds needed to find a flotation aide is the best technique. On remote beaches there were locations with whirlpools, cliff diving, blow holes, and strong currents to preform deeds of daring do. But only attempted with a strong swimmer (with a floating aid) as backup spotting for you.<br />And now to Miguel Cisneros. Because of the memories when going by on the bicycle trail, I'll take a diversion and visit the Pratt pier. As I recall, the water is deeper now, boulders not always visible. There are no ladders that I can recall there, allowing a swimmer to climb out of the water. As you walk on the pier, every 50 feet or so is a caricature of a swimmer with a red circle and slash through it. If you ignore the warning and dive in the water at the end of the pier you will have to swim approx. 150 yards to reach shore to the south, 50 yards to the north,, not difficult for a "strong" swimmer. Miquel's Mother said he was a strong swimmer, not quite sure about that. It would have worked out better if Miquel had a strong swimmer as backup, and not have to rely on the kindness or strangers.Berniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17157600812959885192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-30593640182908028932021-09-24T11:33:28.218-05:002021-09-24T11:33:28.218-05:00"The idea is not just to fling them at a drow..."The idea is not just to fling them at a drowning person. ... The rings are meant to be grabbed by the person going in."<br /><br />As somebody who would not even consider jumping in because my poor swimming ability would only make matters worse, the idea that the life ring is not simply for throwing at the person in distress would never have occurred to me.<br /><br />Whatever their effectiveness or frequency of use, it would seem that "better than nothing" is, indeed, better than nothing.<br /><br />Unrelated to that, except that it's in the same edition of the S-T, I loved Roeper's appreciation of the John Belushi movie "Continental Divide" today. An under-the-radar favorite of mine since seeing it when it came out.Jakashnoreply@blogger.com