Monday, August 27, 2007

Approved

I checked out the boat saturday. She is awsome! Im going to have to reaaaaally spend some time cleaning her and working on it, but I already cant wait. Im extreamly excited about this and I think it will give me some direction in all these last months I have with no work. Im already compiling a huge list of projects I need to do, all mostly just labor not much cash.

So today I went to my bank and BLAM, they approved me for the $4,000 I asked for no problem. The guy lowered the price to help me out a little to $3,000 so that gives me an extra 1K to have in case of emergency needs for the boat. I will hang on to it for a while and eventually just roll it back into the loan payment if I dont need it after a few months of work. Im super excited and ready to begin working on her. Now I just need to get the title signed, get it registered and all that mess. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im pumped!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Back From Surfing

Well, I just got back from a decent session down in SurfSide Texas, aka HillBilly City. I don't know what it is about hurricane swell but it brings out everyone who owns a damn board. I swear yesterday in the water some guy next to me was talking to his buddy about his board and he called the fin a "SKEG"! I almost threw up all over the place. Damn hillbillys on surfboards.

Anyways hahaa, I had some good rides. I wish I would have had my fish on me, but she is still under the knife in my garage to repair the nice rail damage I did with my shin in Mexico. So my rides were quick and to the point but it was still a little fun although frustrating at times for sure.

Not much has been going on, just working on some projects still with a friend. Last weekend I went to Mississippi to visit my older brother and some of my family and we had a blast. Free beers in Casinos are the greatest. A ton of drama has been going down between me and my ex in Mexico and basically well,,,, it just sucks to be separated from the person you love. So, that all has to come to an end because basically our circumstances just dont allow for it right now. Such a sad realization.

Well, I decided right now to spill the beans on project "New Apt/Exploration". This weekend Im headed back down to the coast to check out a 25' Catalina. Thats a sailboat for those who dont know. Shes pretty nice but small. It just happens to have the perfect price tag for living on it and learning the arts of sailing. It sleeps 3-4 people, has a bathroom(no shower), and a full kitchen with a table and benches. The guy is asking $3500 for it, and I think Im a go. I have been checking all the marinas in the area and getting everything lined up to live aboard and try that out for a while. Yes it will be hot. Yes it will be hard. Yes it might not work out too well. But, Im determined to make this happen. This is the first step to one day criss crossing the world looking for surf. I'd rather spend under 5k and find out if I like it or not than 20K. See what I mean? So thats been my primary concern for the past couple of days, and I will let you all know how it goes when I get back this weekend.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

An Excerpt from My Journal

This is an excerpt from my journal from when I was in Mex. Its about the freedom of the road, and I wrote this at 2am when I couldn't sleep one night. Its a little... "off" but I thought it was pretty interesting when I read it the next day.

"The hunt for these damned elusive forms of energy. It almost seems insane at times, even to me. The joy though, especially of traveling, of living in the now, it's indescribable. Every day I just wake up, check the map, and we decide where to go. The freedom is just awesome. I have now seen the power of a vehicle and really how insignificant borders are. They are imaginary lines full of imaginary bureaucratic bullshit, designed to scare you and keep you out. But once you cross those lines, a whole new world opens up.

I could have driven around the world if I had wanted to, and had the time and money. You just hit the road, clear the border, and there is that much weight gone. You blast some Tome Petty, just roll with it, and take the next border as you get there. I guess border crossings are kind of like daily issues, but without the great reward for clearing it. Live in the "now", roll with the punches, its almost all illusionary. Drop the windows, put your foot down, crank the stereo. We just hit Guatemala. What's next? Honduras, Belize, El Salvador? Fuck... wherever I want. You can choose. Who knows what you will find there.

Roads are incredible things. They can open an entire world of fates, possibilities, and events, just by leading you somewhere. I truly believe that roads can be powerful tools and even healing objects when used correctly. Some people say that maps steer us in the the direction we need to go without getting lost, or as least as possible. Fuck that. They can do that when you use these poorly understood objects for such a mundane task. I look at a map and I see possibilities. I see hope. I see the unknown. Maps can help you escape reality. They can force you to live in the "now". Don't plan. Roll with it. Go left, right, straight, hell its your choice. If it doesn't work out then turn around and go back. Kinda sounds like life doesn't it??"


The night I wrote all of that, I had a lot on my mind. I was feeling good. I was feeling ready to conquer the world with my car and newfound freedom. My curiosity is so intense, its hard to quell it. I wish I would have driven into El Salvador and scored some good right hand point breaks. There is always next year, plus... who knows whats on the horizon hehehehehe.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Back in the Mix

Yeapp..... I'm pretty much fully back in the mix. I'm working again (not much, but working is working) and just trying to sort some stuff out for next year. Where to go?????? So many choices, I think I'll let my savings account decide next year. Im getting ready to sign up for some fall classes again but I have no idea what Im going to take.

My buddy Chris and I have been working non stop on a program that we really hope to sell to the small business market. We also hope that we can sell tech support services through this software and try and make a little more cash on the side with that. I really hope this works out. I would love to give out the details, but NO WAY! Its just toooo awsome!

Well, Im here at work right now, and there is about to be a supposed 6 hour meeting about pretty much nothing. This should be about as exciting as brain surgery so Im really looking forward to this hahaa.

Ill try and post more this month, I have some stories I want to relate from Mexico.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Im back

Well, first I just want to say Im sorry for everyone who still reads this piece of shit. Yea I know I hardly updated while I was in Mex but I was on a mission to keep an accurate diary this year and rewriting what I had just written seemed a little redundant to me. Also, trying to find or make the effort to walk to an internet cafe EVERYDAY or whatever to blog was just stupid. So, I want to say Im sorry.

Yea, so I got back on the first. I have been slowly trying to readjust to being here and its been hard as hell I can say that. Im trying to not drive like Im in Mexico. Im trying to fight the urge to pull over and grab a beer for the road to fight that traffic hahaha. Im trying to get used to hearing english everywhere I go, and change my thinking back to english. Im trying to get used to not surfing, exploring, or waking up to something new everyday.

Why is it such a crime to always want these things? Living dynamically as I have been for the past 2.5 months has been a life changing experience and one that I will never forget. I have been humbled in many ways and countless times on this trip. I wake daily now and no longer see my map. I no longer see options for my day. Now I see things I have to do. I see that routine filling in. I see no waves on my horizon.

I chased waves all over Mexico this summer. I scored great and I got skunked too on astronomical levels. That's the balance of this great activity that we surfers seek. One must pay the toll to keep riding. My tolls included many skunks. Getting stabbed. Living in a tent for 2.5 months. Crapping in things that could barely be called toilets. Somehow avoiding both Malaria and Dengue (I still dont know how). Getting sick countless times including food poisoning on the drive back home. Now Im back here, wondering what to do next.

On my last day in Mexico in Punta de Mita I did something I had set out to do but almost didnt. I drove out that afternoon and explored the Cabo Corrientes. What I found out there was simply amazing, and I drove merely 1/3 of it. I found little settlements of farmers and ranchers. I found towns where who knows when the last gringo came through. I found a beach that breaks good on NW swells that has a jetty and an all rock bottom. Has it ever been surfed? I doubt it. I found countless backcountry dirt roads for exploring for the patient. I found a little ranch where I bought some Raicilla, Mexican/Jalisco moonshine in an old dirty water bottle. I was glad I drove out there. It was long (6 hours) and hard but well worth it. There are still parts of Mexico on the coast that are untouched and this is one of them. Its absolutely beautiful, and for all those future land developers reading this, good luck, its all ejido and backcountry. You wont be able to get the infrastructure there for years, hell the road isnt even in barely passable condition in parts. So, just leave it be.

Im trying to decide what course to take lately. Im going to take some more classes this fall, thats a neverending mission. Just a few at a time, Ill finish eventually right? I need to start chunking back cash NOW to try and get a jump on the trip coming up next summer. Its looking like I may have 4 months off so thats going to be a little expensive on my end. Who knows where I will go. I have been thinking of many things. Drive to Panama? Australia? Bali/Indo? Im not sure what it will be but it will be good, thats for sure. Ill try to get back on this blogging thing. Sorry, my heart just isnt here right now.

I miss you Leslie