The water has been on a steady decline after all these winter storms. We are now down to 50-52 degrees in Galveston, 50 in surfside, 48 in the Galveston channel, 49 in South Padre. South Padre water as far as I know, hardly ever gets that cold. It usually stays decent in low to mid 60s in the winter, and around high 70's to low 80s in the winter. They have deeper water much closer to the coast down there than here on the upper gulf. Anyways, its FREEEEEZZZING!!!!!
I have been wanting to get in the water, but its just soo damn cold!
So my phone bill for the month of Jan. is $311. Im kinda angry about that but o well. I dont know if I mentioned this either but Rami and I have to pay an extra $319 for the apt because we didnt give a damn 30 days notice. That place and their management can goto hell. O well, Im happy. My tax reutrn this year will be $2380. YAY! That combined with the 1200 I have saved, and the 1500 I plan on saving from Feb - April while I'm living at home should give me a nice chunk of spare change considering I'm only using $1800 for my trip.
$1800 for trip
400 for tires
550 for used transmission and clutch
200 in other maint parts.
------
$2950 grand total.
Thats not bad at all! Its just too bad my car needs all that damn work to make the trip but O well right? I would have to do it eventually anyways so its better to do it now. That leaves me some change to buy an extra board but Im not trying to blow allll my savings and Im taking 3 boards as it is. My quiver will be, 6'2" Spider, 6'6" Al Merrick K-board, 6'0" SurfThis Fish(twin, tri, quad adjustable fin setup). I will however need to buy some camping gear maybe and a double board bag. Any recomendations on the board bag?
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Texas makes SURFLINE!!!!
http://surfline.com/surfnews/article_bamp.cfm?id=6878
There she is, from two of our best photogs, GScott and Jon Steele.
See more of Texas surf and G's work here at
http://www.gscottimaging.com/
Yea, Im stuck at work again right now and it sucks. Im on hold with tech to try and resolve and issue with something here at work. Bleh!
Laters
There she is, from two of our best photogs, GScott and Jon Steele.
See more of Texas surf and G's work here at
http://www.gscottimaging.com/
Yea, Im stuck at work again right now and it sucks. Im on hold with tech to try and resolve and issue with something here at work. Bleh!
Laters
Friday, January 19, 2007
Some Pictures
My MYspace picture as some have called it hahaha. Too bad I dont have a myspace.
Just tired and a few beers under....
The old group. The guy with the red board is my partner in crime for next summer.He and the short guy came with me last summer.
This was a sunset over Surfside after a session
This is what I look like after 62F water for a couple of hours. Damn I'm red!
This was a sunset over Surfside after a session
This is what I look like after 62F water for a couple of hours. Damn I'm red! Hey Hey Hey
I dont have much to.... SAYYYY!!!!!
Just wanted to drop a line, let everyone know Im not dead.
Sometimes, I feel like I'm just talking to a wall. Others, talking to that wall feels good. As long as this thing remains somewhat theraputic, I'll keep it up. I hae been on a mission to cut and paste all of my posts in Word when I get the chance, just to see how many pages this thing adds up to.
In other news, I have been researching/Google Earth scouting some locations in my upcoming trip, and I have to say, its going to be beautiful!
Iceland....lookout!!!! You have 40ft ground swell headed at your western shores in a couple fo days. I have scouted a nice rivermouth beachbreak that should LOSE TOTAL CONTROL when this thing goes off. Ill post some pics of the WAM soon.
Just wanted to drop a line, let everyone know Im not dead.
Sometimes, I feel like I'm just talking to a wall. Others, talking to that wall feels good. As long as this thing remains somewhat theraputic, I'll keep it up. I hae been on a mission to cut and paste all of my posts in Word when I get the chance, just to see how many pages this thing adds up to.
In other news, I have been researching/Google Earth scouting some locations in my upcoming trip, and I have to say, its going to be beautiful!
Iceland....lookout!!!! You have 40ft ground swell headed at your western shores in a couple fo days. I have scouted a nice rivermouth beachbreak that should LOSE TOTAL CONTROL when this thing goes off. Ill post some pics of the WAM soon.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
My little world
Well, all this winter weather is finally about to vanish I hope and that has me a little excited. Im waiting for the water to start warming back up. Im really thinking hard about purchasing a 4/3 for the rest of this winter season, but I just dont see myself getting to use it much because of work and class everyday. Bleh
So my little world was shaken this afternoon while hanging out on the local surfing forum (www.elride.net). They threw up a post for me showing a 91 Ford sportsmobile. Its basically like the old westfalia VW campers except that its newer and its a ford. The top pops up, it has a stove, a bed, and a fridge. It sleeps like 4 people or something. The best part is, the guy is in Austin and hes only asking 5,500. I would have to trash the idea of my trip to get this thing, but someone mentioned in the forum something I didn't know, and it shook my little world. Financing for RVs is special and leases up to 12 years can be arranged! That would make this little beauty roughly 40 bucks a month counting interest! Of course it wont take me 12 years to pay it, but it makes it a viable option for the summer and some more summers to come. 40 a month is very affordable, and Ill just pay her in big lump sums when I return from my trip and being working my 2nd jobs.
I dont know what to do, this has totally messed me up. I dont know if I should travel long term by truck, SUV, van, motorcycle, car, bus. bleeeeehhhhhh!!!!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Spray Paint
So Rami and I got a little creative last night. Well, I guess I was the test subject. Damn you Carta Blanca Caguama!!! Thats a Carta Blanca 32.oz beer for the rest of you :)
Out of Control
My spending is out of control! I feel like shit about too. Im blowing precious money on stupid stupid things, like eating out everyday for lunch etc. I need to stop all of this because this is precious money for my trip this summer and its cash to have when I return and move into my new apt. I realized today that I spent a little over 400 in bars/resturants in the month of December. THATS UNACCEPTABLE! Its going to help a lot when I move home with my parents in a couple of weeks.
Yes my experiment living out of home is coming to and end as my lease is going up on Feb 1st. I didnt know that you have to give them 30 day notice and Rami and I have been working insane hours so now we have to pay an extra 319 for extra days. BULLSHIT! Anyways, so I have decided to move back home to avoid paying bills while Im off running around chasing waves. I think this will be a much better solution and I will save a lot of money. When I return, I will be looking for a place in downtown Houston. I want to be right in the thick of it and it will save me a lot in gas for work. I want to be near the punk/hippie crowd. I need to surround myself with some people that have the same mindset as me for a while. Out here in the sticks (im really just in North Houston) people are very different.
So I have been reading tons of blogs on the internet about traveling. I read a guys journals the other day at work for 2 hours! He traveled by bus and car all over the world for 2 years. Damn, I would really love to do that, and Im slowly trying to find a way. It doesnt cost much money but that all depends on how you spend. If I were to camp the whole thing, I could be gone for a long long time. I keep trying to tell myself that my time will come, and be smart with my money until then. Look for certain jobs etc, and things will work out. My mind is slowly warping into that "quit and run" state that I need it to be in. Im no longer afraid of quitting my job, losing everything, and myabe selling the rest to run off for a while. I have been conditioning myself for this, and telling myself there are ALWAYS other jobs when I get back. I personally think its sad that I even have to do this much thinking and convincing but I can blame that on my parents for making me so damn scared and responsible. :)
If I go on living like I do, I can easily plan out the next 5 years of my life. Car, House, Places to surf, Trips, How much money I will probably make. THATS JUST BORING AND STUPID! Im afraid that I will never venture off and do my own thing for a while. Im telling myself that hell, in the end if it doesnt work out and its a huge disaster, everyone is allowd a good fuck up in their lives right????
I know my life style will work out. I know I will be soon writing into this blog from whereever Im staying, surfing my brains out, and living with/like the locals. I have it in me ro live a rough lifestyle to accomplish the things I want to accomplish. If I had a bigger vehicle (ie. a van) I would seriously try living in it. Im not even joking. 24 Hour Fitness gym membership for showers and working out, throw away plates and cups, maybe a laptop, and just cruise and sleep wherever I want. Live homeless. I think that would be a blast!
When I move into my next apt, Im not going to make the same mistake I did with my current. No more buying useless shit. All I need is my computer. I dont care about anything else. I might buy like an Ikea couch and fill the living room a little, but In all honesty, Im just going to turn it into a surf pad. Surfing EVERYWHERE! I might even spray paint my walls. who knows.
Speaking of spray paint, My roommate and I had a little fun last night. The pictures are the result.
Yes my experiment living out of home is coming to and end as my lease is going up on Feb 1st. I didnt know that you have to give them 30 day notice and Rami and I have been working insane hours so now we have to pay an extra 319 for extra days. BULLSHIT! Anyways, so I have decided to move back home to avoid paying bills while Im off running around chasing waves. I think this will be a much better solution and I will save a lot of money. When I return, I will be looking for a place in downtown Houston. I want to be right in the thick of it and it will save me a lot in gas for work. I want to be near the punk/hippie crowd. I need to surround myself with some people that have the same mindset as me for a while. Out here in the sticks (im really just in North Houston) people are very different.
So I have been reading tons of blogs on the internet about traveling. I read a guys journals the other day at work for 2 hours! He traveled by bus and car all over the world for 2 years. Damn, I would really love to do that, and Im slowly trying to find a way. It doesnt cost much money but that all depends on how you spend. If I were to camp the whole thing, I could be gone for a long long time. I keep trying to tell myself that my time will come, and be smart with my money until then. Look for certain jobs etc, and things will work out. My mind is slowly warping into that "quit and run" state that I need it to be in. Im no longer afraid of quitting my job, losing everything, and myabe selling the rest to run off for a while. I have been conditioning myself for this, and telling myself there are ALWAYS other jobs when I get back. I personally think its sad that I even have to do this much thinking and convincing but I can blame that on my parents for making me so damn scared and responsible. :)
If I go on living like I do, I can easily plan out the next 5 years of my life. Car, House, Places to surf, Trips, How much money I will probably make. THATS JUST BORING AND STUPID! Im afraid that I will never venture off and do my own thing for a while. Im telling myself that hell, in the end if it doesnt work out and its a huge disaster, everyone is allowd a good fuck up in their lives right????
I know my life style will work out. I know I will be soon writing into this blog from whereever Im staying, surfing my brains out, and living with/like the locals. I have it in me ro live a rough lifestyle to accomplish the things I want to accomplish. If I had a bigger vehicle (ie. a van) I would seriously try living in it. Im not even joking. 24 Hour Fitness gym membership for showers and working out, throw away plates and cups, maybe a laptop, and just cruise and sleep wherever I want. Live homeless. I think that would be a blast!
When I move into my next apt, Im not going to make the same mistake I did with my current. No more buying useless shit. All I need is my computer. I dont care about anything else. I might buy like an Ikea couch and fill the living room a little, but In all honesty, Im just going to turn it into a surf pad. Surfing EVERYWHERE! I might even spray paint my walls. who knows.
Speaking of spray paint, My roommate and I had a little fun last night. The pictures are the result.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Not Much of Anything
Just a working and a working. Today was a blast though, I had some crazy windows printer error, something along the lines of unable to launch spooler. So I went into the services and tried to start it manually. Lo and behold, the best windows error I have seen to date. I dont remember exactly but something about "missing dependancies and structures" blah blah. Please, if you know whats this means, let me know! I got one look at it, and formatted the harddrive to reinstall haha. Sometimes, thats just the best solution, especially when there is no way in hell any of my employeees could have pulled this one off, not even on accident!
The surf has been flat or whatever but it really doesn't matter to me anymore. My head is soooooooo focused its scary! Im eliminating any barrier to my trip, one at a time. family, friends, etc. I have been gathering prices and ideas as for the work that needs to be done to my car before I can get her Mexico ready. I once again, have considered just doing the transmission myself. I know how to do it, but Im not sure how to change out and realign the clutch. I have a Haynes manual on order as we speak. Im also considering doing the waterpump/timing belt myself as well. If I can pull this work off, I will save myself somwehere between 700 and 1000 in labor costs alone according to my calling around to shops. After that comes all the easy stuff, complete brake rebuild, new plugs and wires, new air filter, clean throttle body, clean out EGR, clean battery, new tires, octane booster, new oil, and im ready to run!
I have still been working on the route, but Im just not sure yet. Everything is up in the air, but I kinda like it like that. We will probably decide over some campfire beers somewhere in southern Mexico if we should head into Belize/Guatemala or not. Im thinking... why the hell not right??? I mean, you do only live once. Im planning on scoring some of the best surf of my life and having some of the best adventures of my life! Im fully read for shit to go bad though, it kinda has to. Someone once told me, "your only a tourist until your shit goes horribly wrong!"
Well, I dont have much else to report. I gotta program a little and work on this shit for work for tomarrow. If only they knew how much time I throw into this job evern AFTER I get off of work right??? O well... karma karma. I will get my dues, when Im hiking through some country for 6 months, chasing surf and adventure to the highest, I will know it was all worth it. Believe me when I say it, its coming....
The surf has been flat or whatever but it really doesn't matter to me anymore. My head is soooooooo focused its scary! Im eliminating any barrier to my trip, one at a time. family, friends, etc. I have been gathering prices and ideas as for the work that needs to be done to my car before I can get her Mexico ready. I once again, have considered just doing the transmission myself. I know how to do it, but Im not sure how to change out and realign the clutch. I have a Haynes manual on order as we speak. Im also considering doing the waterpump/timing belt myself as well. If I can pull this work off, I will save myself somwehere between 700 and 1000 in labor costs alone according to my calling around to shops. After that comes all the easy stuff, complete brake rebuild, new plugs and wires, new air filter, clean throttle body, clean out EGR, clean battery, new tires, octane booster, new oil, and im ready to run!
I have still been working on the route, but Im just not sure yet. Everything is up in the air, but I kinda like it like that. We will probably decide over some campfire beers somewhere in southern Mexico if we should head into Belize/Guatemala or not. Im thinking... why the hell not right??? I mean, you do only live once. Im planning on scoring some of the best surf of my life and having some of the best adventures of my life! Im fully read for shit to go bad though, it kinda has to. Someone once told me, "your only a tourist until your shit goes horribly wrong!"
Well, I dont have much else to report. I gotta program a little and work on this shit for work for tomarrow. If only they knew how much time I throw into this job evern AFTER I get off of work right??? O well... karma karma. I will get my dues, when Im hiking through some country for 6 months, chasing surf and adventure to the highest, I will know it was all worth it. Believe me when I say it, its coming....
Monday, January 08, 2007
Im still alive
Well I havent posted in a while, so I figured I would throw something up. Nothing much has been going on, just working like crazy! Things are finally slowing down a tad, and corporate is getting their crap together finally. I'm getting more and more excited as we are heading into spring. Yes I know, its barely half way through January, but I can dream cant I?
In other news.... hahah Im kidding. I dont have much else to report, other than Rami is a flaming homo. I can get away with saying that because he doesnt read this blog. He's not really gay, but if he was, it wouldnt make much difference to me. He'll always be my best friend. awww *tears*
Ahhh man, I just dont have much to write. So Ill end this now before I get a little more silly and delerious from lack of sleep.
In other news.... hahah Im kidding. I dont have much else to report, other than Rami is a flaming homo. I can get away with saying that because he doesnt read this blog. He's not really gay, but if he was, it wouldnt make much difference to me. He'll always be my best friend. awww *tears*
Ahhh man, I just dont have much to write. So Ill end this now before I get a little more silly and delerious from lack of sleep.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Who says we dont have waves???
First and foremost, let me say HAPPY NEW YEARS to everyone!!!!!!!!! Feliz ano nuevo!
I had a blast last night, and I hope everyone else had a great new years as well.
These are some pictures of BHP yesterday (Bob Hall Pier) in Corpus Christi, Texas. This a great spot and a lot of good Texas surfers hail from this area.
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