Yeh i'd seriously recomend a refresher course. Its very easy to get into trouble underwater and i think my life is worth more than $300...

I havent been for a dive for a while now (no buddies, no boat and couldnt afford decent gear for a while there) but i think its something that should be done once a year for everyone. Divers tend to get into bad habits and as the saying goes, "There are old divers and bold divers. But there are no old bold divers"

What were the bends like? I wouldnt imagine it would be very nice. I take it you werent deliberately trying to beat the bubbles One of my dive instructors told me a story of a bloke suffering nitrogen narcosis (sp?) who tried to do that!