Category Archives: Recreation

A Diving Gear Primer from John Michael Hughes

John Michael Hughes is an avid SCUBA diver with 26 years of diving experience. John Michael Hughes has applied his passion for SCUBA diving to a new business venture, Leisure Excursions, LLC. The clients of John Michael Hughes are treated to first class private diving tours that are worked into a breathtaking vacation package.

Certified as both a PADI Divemaster and Open Water Scuba Instructor, John Michael Hughes brings a wealth of experience, care and knowledge to private diving tours. Most people who are interested in diving, notes John Michael Hughes, have many questions about the methods and equipment that SCUBA diving requires. It’s true that SCUBA diving is a complex water sport, agrees John Michael Hughes, but it remains an accessible and rewarding endeavor.

People that have seen fully outfitted SCUBA divers, observes John Michael Hughes, often comment that they look like space aliens or creatures out of the deep sea. For the benefit of aspiring divers, John Michael Hughes has written about the basics of SCUBA gear. John Michael Hughes explains that deep diving is based on the same principal gear as snorkeling, and that this equipment includes a diving mask, swim fins and snorkel – although much more follows. John Michael Hughes clarifies that a SCUBA diving mask is larger, providing visibility underwater and forming a sealed air space around the diver’s face.

John Michael Hughes further explains that the pocket of air held by a mask helps the diver to equalize the pressure in his or her ears while descending. To find a mask with the right fit, says John Michael Hughes, place the mask over the face and touch the rubber skirt of the mask to the skin. Inhale gently to seal the mask onto the face, adds John Michael Hughes.  Human faces have many different shapes and sizes, points out John Michael Hughes, and it may take many tries to find a mask that seals comfortably, leaving no gaps.

For more information, contact John Michael Hughes at:

Leisure Excursions, LLC
PO Box 34290
Pensacola, Florida 32507
850.390.6680

About the Author

Dedicating a professional career to a single purpose is recognized as admirable in today’s economic environment. For John Michael Hughes it was a focus and interest that began as he exited college. Graduating from the University of South Alabama with a Bachelor of Science degree, John Michael Hughes set his vocational target on the insurance industry early on.

From 1992 until 1995, John Michael Hughes served as an Insurance Adjuster for Pilot Catastrophe Services, Inc. In this position he handled commercial and residential property insurance claims for wind, flood, ice, and earthquake losses. As an early training ground his responsibilities and claim ranges allowed him to develop a strategic understanding of the complexities of insurance claims.

Leveraging this experience in claims, John Michael Hughes has invested the last fourteen years of his professional life in executive management with an all lines public insurance adjusting firm. From 1996 until 2000 John Michael Hughes served as the owner and Chief Executive Officer of JMH and Associates. John Michael Hughes gained further Acts Of God claims experience as well as first hand exposure to the complexities of business ownership. The years of experience tied to natural disasters allowed John Michael Hughes to quantify and qualify claims filed quickly. This skill set was sought after and led to yet another opportunity for John Michael Hughes.

Since 2007, John Michael Hughes has devoted his time and energy to Leeco Consulting Company, LLC, again acting as Chief Executive Officer for the company. With claims services focused mainly in Florida, John Michael Hughes has continued to handle both commercial and residential property claims. His services have also been utilized throughout the Caribbean for both wind and flood losses. John Michael Hughes has further refined his focus and now has a concentration in hurricane claims. With this expansion and professional focus has come larger cases and expanded claims responsibilities. John Michael Hughes currently provides claims settlements that exceed five million dollars.

A natural byproduct of extensive claims settlement work also created opportunities within the area of historical property restoration. With activities generally focused in Alabama, John Michael Hughes acted as a Director for AD, LLC from 1998-2009. John Michael Hughes provided property management and development for this firm. Additionally, from 1996 until 2005 John Michael Hughes managed and consulted on a 26-acre island land development in Florida through Perdido Gardens, LLC. As a partner, John Michael Hughes benefited when the partnership was sold to a public NYSE property development company.

John Michael Hughes continues to blend his knowledge of claims settlements management and restoration complexities in a deep, diversified professional direction that allows him to step outside of most traditional professional vocational paths. It has also allowed him the opportunity to pursue other passions.

John Michael Hughes is currently working toward a Masters in Theology and aspires to complete this training in the fall 2012. John Michael Hughes has reached a point in his life where he will be able to apply decades of experience to a profession and blend this time commitment with a deeper calling that speaks to a different opportunity for his future.

John Michael Hughes has several professional affiliations, including the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters. He continues to participate in industry functions throughout the southeastern United States and is a highly respected veteran within his profession. John Michael Hughes has committed the last eighteen years pursuing a career that combines business, management and involving himself in the lives of people during their most critical times of need.

The need for seasoned claims adjusters has never been greater. The combination of record flooding in areas that traditionally have seen major damage and the increasing seismic activity throughout North America now requires that John Michael Hughes be more mobile. Natural disasters never isolate their occurrences and the demand for claims evaluations can pull many resources together within a very short period of time.

John Michael Hughes also continues his passion for the oceans.  From 1989 until 1992 John Michael Hughes was a PADI open water SCUBA instructor. At that time, he organized, taught and led groups on diving excursions and vacations. He continues to have a passion for scuba diving as well as enjoying golf, fishing, kayaking, water-skiing, snow skiing, racquetball, photography, reading and hanging out with his son.

John Michael Hughes currently resides in Florida and can be reached at johnmichaelhughes.com.

Belleville Indoor Shooting Range Brings You Out of the Cold and Into the Heat

Belleville Indoor Shooting Range knows that with winter fast approaching gun enthusiasts are finishing up outdoor hunting activities and preparing for winter. That is why Belleville Indoor Shooting Range continues to grow in order to serve the gun community in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area.

Open seven days a week, Belleville Indoor Shooting Range offers a broad range of shooting services. With an indoor 25 yard shooting range that is heated and cooled, Belleville Indoor Shooting Range provides a world class environment regardless of the weather outside.

At Belleville Indoor Shooting Range, owner Steven King is a certified NRA firearms instructor and oversees the range. Offering a full line of guns as well as consignment weapons for sale, Belleville Indoor Shooting Range provides a unique shooting experience. As cold weather approaches, gun owners throughout southern Illinois are making plans to visit Belleville Indoor Shooting Range.