Its friday!!!!!
Not a whole lot been going on. We have been having a consistently crappy week of surf. Mushy wasit high all week and after my last session, Im not driving back to the coast until she hits chest high or bigger. The good news is the water temp is up to 73f now so its totally trunkable. Im just praying for some surf right now. Taking that much time off from surfing is just not good especially when Im heading to Mexico in a month and a half. Grrrrrr there has to be a better place to live with a better line up and warm water.
On a sidenote, I was talking with one of my Palestinian friends today. She moved back to the westbank around a year ago and has been living there ever since. She is very involved with the protests and NGO groups there and she is just doing awsome things. Anyways, she invited me to come over there and hook me up with a place to stay provided by the NGOs for a little while. I deeeeply support the Palestinian cause and this would be a chanceto first hand get involved. The protests turn violent very very often but she assured me they only shoot rubber bullets, tear gas, and sound bombs hahaha. Still sounds horrible but it is just a small price to pay to be involved and to show my support for them. Its something I will consider for the next year as its looking pretty good that my boss has given the green light to 4 months off next summer. damn I just cannot wait! I need to save like hell and come up with a good itinerary for after a month in Israel/West Bank. Maybe take a hop down to S. Africa or Madagascar??? GOOOOOOd SURFFFFF! Who knows, we will see how the money goes and the possibility of working in the insurance field next sumer. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE
Friday, March 30, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
And the Surfing was...
Yup. It did not.
Nope, not even.
WTF????
Joe, Charlie, and I all met up at the Chevron this morning at 5:30am to gas up and grab some food and stuff. Then we were off, complete with some 2way radios, toll roads, Monsters, and little Mexican pastries.
5:55am, driving
Charlie: BEEEEP "Hey David, Whats the Galveston bouy reading?"
David: BEEEEP "Hrmm, Its at 4.3ft but reading a NNE swell at 6 seconds. Thats wierd, it must be malfunctioning. I know it always reads lower but NNE?"
Charlie: BEEEEP "Yea, Lets just hit Gtown, I dont think surfside is going to be much better. Whats the water temp at flagship?"
David: BEEEEP "Yea surfside bouy is showing solid 6.3ft at 8 seconds but crazy winds. Flagship water temp is a cozy 67F"
Charlie: BEEEEP "Alright, lets hit Gtown then, we can tuck in behind the jetties to break the current"
David: BEEEEP "Im down"
And thats how it went. You just have to love modern technology. Upon arriving in Galveston we quickly saw just how disorganized and choppy it was. O well, 80 miles, we are getting in the water no matter what. I'm in a fullsuit for the beginning of the session. I'm thinking about some software changes I made at work last night and praying I dont start getting blasted with tech calls and end up driving back to Houston. I twas waist - waist+ and very mushy. My 6'2" was just not cutting it, but I trudged on, wanting desperately to get the board wired and see her potential. Wave after wave missed, blown, not popping up fast enough.
I get out and change into some board shorts, a vest,and a rash guard over that and just brave the water and too my suprise it was not that bad. After missing another who knows how many waves, I decided to end the session before I threw my board into the seawall.Charlie and joe just kept trying to reassure me not to get pissed over such shitty conditions and that it was hard for everyone today. *Sigh*I just want out of this state. I want warmth, sun, good waves....I want to progress. I want to surf a lot!I want to surf well!I want to never see a wetsuit again...Im very down trodden with today. I'm just getting that wierd rush of "stuckness" all over again. I'll never make it out of this shithole....
*this was an old post, but blogger was screwing up. the date of this post should be marchh 21st, wednesday
Monday, March 19, 2007
And Here We Are...
The week of the long lost surf has finally arrived. Its spring, its warm, and its currently waist to chest and building. THANK GOD! Already I'm checking which classes I can skip and dodge without missing too much material. Im going to try and DP all week if I can and possibly just get a day off of work for some surffffffff. I can't wait to be in boardshorts on my new board and in sizable surf. The first and only time I have ridden it was in less than ideal shortboard conditions and I was in a fullsuit which I hate surfing in. I'm ready to see this boards potential and what I can do on it. No more big thick shorties, Im moving into the 'potato chip' series now.
Well I have been communicating a little with the online magazine Drift (link on the sidebar) and there might be a little "voyage of the swell" type deal in the works. As the countdown timer shows, my friend and I are setting out on a huge trip this summer and I would love to write about it. Im going to try my best to film the entire trip as well and document as much as I can. I have a few issues about writing about my trip though so those of you who read this, please feel free to chime in and let me know what you think.
The issues I have with writing about my trip stem from a sense of selling out and/or possibly exposing secret or lesser known breaks. I will do everything in my power not to expose places as Im pretty secretive about the spots I do know of and the ideas of future spots in my head. To me, even just giving the state that Im in is already too much information. I have to really think hard about this and see if it is worth it to write and potentially expose or just keep my stories to myself. I love writing, especially about my adventures I embark on and I would really love the opportunity to write for the surf and surf adventure community. I feel like my travel style has a special ring to it that would attract readers and inspire others to try their own style of adventure travel. Whether I write about and publish them or not, I can guarentee you all that I will be exploring some very remote regions and surf. I have several ideas down on paper and I have been googling and reading guidebooks about the local areas, and the more I find some to no information, I get very very exited. I have already been scouting some other countries for some future expeditions and I can say Im looking at the Caribbean and South America actively.
In other areas, everything else has been going fine. I have been promising myself to start blogging more, especially after I saw that I only had 15 total posts so far for 2007. I just dont have much to say lately and I dont want to bore you all with the same ole repetative shit. Well, hopefully, I will have some surfing to be writing about very very soon.
Well I have been communicating a little with the online magazine Drift (link on the sidebar) and there might be a little "voyage of the swell" type deal in the works. As the countdown timer shows, my friend and I are setting out on a huge trip this summer and I would love to write about it. Im going to try my best to film the entire trip as well and document as much as I can. I have a few issues about writing about my trip though so those of you who read this, please feel free to chime in and let me know what you think.
The issues I have with writing about my trip stem from a sense of selling out and/or possibly exposing secret or lesser known breaks. I will do everything in my power not to expose places as Im pretty secretive about the spots I do know of and the ideas of future spots in my head. To me, even just giving the state that Im in is already too much information. I have to really think hard about this and see if it is worth it to write and potentially expose or just keep my stories to myself. I love writing, especially about my adventures I embark on and I would really love the opportunity to write for the surf and surf adventure community. I feel like my travel style has a special ring to it that would attract readers and inspire others to try their own style of adventure travel. Whether I write about and publish them or not, I can guarentee you all that I will be exploring some very remote regions and surf. I have several ideas down on paper and I have been googling and reading guidebooks about the local areas, and the more I find some to no information, I get very very exited. I have already been scouting some other countries for some future expeditions and I can say Im looking at the Caribbean and South America actively.
In other areas, everything else has been going fine. I have been promising myself to start blogging more, especially after I saw that I only had 15 total posts so far for 2007. I just dont have much to say lately and I dont want to bore you all with the same ole repetative shit. Well, hopefully, I will have some surfing to be writing about very very soon.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Waiting
Spring break is here. Water still chilly (64ish). We have no waves to speak of. Dammit.
Well Im still alive. Its beena while since I posted last so I figured I would throw something up on here.
Well Im still alive. Its beena while since I posted last so I figured I would throw something up on here.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Getting Warmer
The Gulf is warming her cute butt up, and I cannot tell you how exicted I am. I dont think I have been in the water since sometime around December, hell maybe even November! We are rapidly approaching warm spring trunkable waters and decent spring time surf. I hope we have an active spring time this year because last years left something to be desired.
So this weekend was a blast. I hung out with my bud Damien and we hit some new bars here in The Woodlands. In general it was a good time. I ran into an old friend from Venezuela at a bar here and it was good to see her again. They used to be part of the big Latin crew at the local junoir college I attend but they have all since moved on except a few. I too am left in this damn college. Sunday I woke up at Damien's and we decided to head out to this little pond (about the size of a football field) that I discovered wayyyyyy off in the woods by my house. This is all private property owned by The Woodlands Corp. We decided to try and fish it since I hadnt been fishing since I was a kid and I recently bought a rodnreel for my trip to Mex. We didnt catch anything but had some strongggg bites. We are going to change up the bait/lures when we head back out next weekend and hopefully we will have more luck.
Well not much has been going on, just counting the days. I have been thinking of trying to produce a surf movie lately about hardcore surf adventure. Think "Second Thoughts" by Timmy Turner. I think I am capable of doing this but getting it out there and licencing all the music and crap is discouraging me very fast. Ill keep everyone posted on this project.
Ohhh also... Im walking with a team for my company on March 11th here in AIDS Walk 2007 Houston. Please if you have the chance/time, drop by my donate page for my team and donate a couple of bucks if you can.
http://afh.convio.net/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1030&px=1058402
So this weekend was a blast. I hung out with my bud Damien and we hit some new bars here in The Woodlands. In general it was a good time. I ran into an old friend from Venezuela at a bar here and it was good to see her again. They used to be part of the big Latin crew at the local junoir college I attend but they have all since moved on except a few. I too am left in this damn college. Sunday I woke up at Damien's and we decided to head out to this little pond (about the size of a football field) that I discovered wayyyyyy off in the woods by my house. This is all private property owned by The Woodlands Corp. We decided to try and fish it since I hadnt been fishing since I was a kid and I recently bought a rodnreel for my trip to Mex. We didnt catch anything but had some strongggg bites. We are going to change up the bait/lures when we head back out next weekend and hopefully we will have more luck.
Well not much has been going on, just counting the days. I have been thinking of trying to produce a surf movie lately about hardcore surf adventure. Think "Second Thoughts" by Timmy Turner. I think I am capable of doing this but getting it out there and licencing all the music and crap is discouraging me very fast. Ill keep everyone posted on this project.
Ohhh also... Im walking with a team for my company on March 11th here in AIDS Walk 2007 Houston. Please if you have the chance/time, drop by my donate page for my team and donate a couple of bucks if you can.
http://afh.convio.net/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1030&px=1058402
Monday, February 19, 2007
Never ending wanderlust
It just doesn't stop.
Im actually considering going to work in Iraq/Kuwait/Africa or pretty much anywhere overseas that I can drum up a shitton of cash fast so I can try and curb some of this wonderlust. My buddy Damien offered me that old spot at the City that I passed up on a while back. Dammit.....I cant get tied down yet to something predictable. I need to wonder, to surf, to just find something. Maybe that something is myself. Maybe that something is the meaning of life. I know people will try and pass off some religious "meaning of life" statement, but that just does not cut it for me. I need something solid. Something real. Faith does not hold that answer for me, well at least at this point in my life.
Truth be told, I think I am in the middle of an identity crisis of no small scale. Im hopelessly lost in my mind. Who am I? What am I to do with my life? Why must I follow the path set out before me by everyone else and their ideas of what is right? Why am I so afraid to take the 'leap'? What does money really mean? Why do I feel the need to have so many materialistic things in my life? Why am I now feeling the need to rid myself of everything, clothes, furniture, and all my useless shit?
Those are a fraction of the questions I am dealing with on a day to day basis. Hopefully, I will find some answers soon.
To change the subject up a little, I went shopping with Joe on sunday to try and grab some more stuff for the trip. I bought a new smaller backpack that I like for small hikes. I got a fishingpole for trying to catch a majority of our food when we are in Mex. I grabbed a small camp shovel/pick that folds up all nice and small. I got a meat cooker thingy you lay over/in the fire to cook the meat without it falling into the fire/dirt. Last but not least, the camp chair! Joe saved me as I was reaching out for a $4.00 collapsing metal chair and told me to go for the $12.00 one. I quickly remembered all those occasions when those shitty metal chairs break a leg or support beam. The time is flying by. Im saving my cash. Im getting mentally prepared. Im getting physically prepared.
Thy time is nigh o' captain.
Guide us through the depths of the lands
Bring us safely to Neptunes gifts
And return us as we came
The idea for whatever is written above was shamelessly stolen from Queen of the Surf Pirates. Thanks Paula the Surf Mom!!!!
Im actually considering going to work in Iraq/Kuwait/Africa or pretty much anywhere overseas that I can drum up a shitton of cash fast so I can try and curb some of this wonderlust. My buddy Damien offered me that old spot at the City that I passed up on a while back. Dammit.....I cant get tied down yet to something predictable. I need to wonder, to surf, to just find something. Maybe that something is myself. Maybe that something is the meaning of life. I know people will try and pass off some religious "meaning of life" statement, but that just does not cut it for me. I need something solid. Something real. Faith does not hold that answer for me, well at least at this point in my life.
Truth be told, I think I am in the middle of an identity crisis of no small scale. Im hopelessly lost in my mind. Who am I? What am I to do with my life? Why must I follow the path set out before me by everyone else and their ideas of what is right? Why am I so afraid to take the 'leap'? What does money really mean? Why do I feel the need to have so many materialistic things in my life? Why am I now feeling the need to rid myself of everything, clothes, furniture, and all my useless shit?
Those are a fraction of the questions I am dealing with on a day to day basis. Hopefully, I will find some answers soon.
To change the subject up a little, I went shopping with Joe on sunday to try and grab some more stuff for the trip. I bought a new smaller backpack that I like for small hikes. I got a fishingpole for trying to catch a majority of our food when we are in Mex. I grabbed a small camp shovel/pick that folds up all nice and small. I got a meat cooker thingy you lay over/in the fire to cook the meat without it falling into the fire/dirt. Last but not least, the camp chair! Joe saved me as I was reaching out for a $4.00 collapsing metal chair and told me to go for the $12.00 one. I quickly remembered all those occasions when those shitty metal chairs break a leg or support beam. The time is flying by. Im saving my cash. Im getting mentally prepared. Im getting physically prepared.
Thy time is nigh o' captain.
Guide us through the depths of the lands
Bring us safely to Neptunes gifts
And return us as we came
The idea for whatever is written above was shamelessly stolen from Queen of the Surf Pirates. Thanks Paula the Surf Mom!!!!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Math Sucks
Yea....I failed my first Trig test. Yay. Failed completely out of lack of trying or care. I hate it. I can just tear myself down so bad mentally that I dont even want to do the work. I would do homework in almost any other class except math. I hate it. I understand math completely. I just hate the fact that I have to do so much of it for nothing. Blah
So yea the template changes that were supposed to go down on my blog didnt finish. I worked up a nice banner collage from a bunch of my photos and then.... WHAM! It was the wrong size. So.. in the middle of moving out of my apartment and back home, I havent had time to set shit up and get my computer up and running at home. So, I havent had time to completely recreate my bannner. No I cannot resize it because I rescaled all the pictures exactly to certain sizes to resizing just blurrs everything really bad.
So Im officially moved out and it sucks. Its not bad, I just dont feel that welcome in my home. I guess we will see how and if it will all work out in due time right? I think Rami is doing ok back at his parents house so I know I can tough it out. He has been out on his own for 4 years now, and decided to go back home to saveup some cash.
In other recent news, I think my mom may be headed off to Iraq to work for KBR as a bus driver on base. Se is determined to get her hand son some of that cash, and her fearlessness is kind of motivating me to follow her. They have several tech jobs open for Iraq and Im very qualitified for several of them. I might be submitting my resume after I return from my trip this summer. I wouldnt mind working there I guess. It would be dangerous and all, but I will be inside the green zone mostly and just working indoors on computers and making my cash. I could even do this a couple of years in a row maybe and save up a good amount. Then.... SEE YA LATER! Who knows. Jessica and I also broke up. I never blogged about her much, but shes the "cant say" person who was bitching that my blog was personal enough haha. We were together roughly 5 months I guess and it all pretty much came down to that Im an asshole and I just couldnt make enough effort to see her and spend time with her. She is a great girl, and Im hoping to pick things up after I get back from Mex and my school is over for a bit. Right now, especially living 45 minutes in the wrong direction from her with school and work everyday, things are not easy. I think its best for now.
Anyways.... Im off. I need to go run some errands for work and do some system updates. I have been doing these freaking updates for like 1 week now because Jackson Hewitt corporate has dropped 3 updates (.07a, .07b, .07b) in a damn week. This is GETTING ANNOYING! 10 stores, 3 updates, 30 trips. Probably over 1K miles of driving. For those few tech readers I still have, ever heard of a program to do taxes crashing a p3 1ghz machine with 256mb of ram with "Windows is low on virtual memory" warnings??? yea neither have I. Sounds like very very shitttty programming to me.
So yea the template changes that were supposed to go down on my blog didnt finish. I worked up a nice banner collage from a bunch of my photos and then.... WHAM! It was the wrong size. So.. in the middle of moving out of my apartment and back home, I havent had time to set shit up and get my computer up and running at home. So, I havent had time to completely recreate my bannner. No I cannot resize it because I rescaled all the pictures exactly to certain sizes to resizing just blurrs everything really bad.
So Im officially moved out and it sucks. Its not bad, I just dont feel that welcome in my home. I guess we will see how and if it will all work out in due time right? I think Rami is doing ok back at his parents house so I know I can tough it out. He has been out on his own for 4 years now, and decided to go back home to saveup some cash.
In other recent news, I think my mom may be headed off to Iraq to work for KBR as a bus driver on base. Se is determined to get her hand son some of that cash, and her fearlessness is kind of motivating me to follow her. They have several tech jobs open for Iraq and Im very qualitified for several of them. I might be submitting my resume after I return from my trip this summer. I wouldnt mind working there I guess. It would be dangerous and all, but I will be inside the green zone mostly and just working indoors on computers and making my cash. I could even do this a couple of years in a row maybe and save up a good amount. Then.... SEE YA LATER! Who knows. Jessica and I also broke up. I never blogged about her much, but shes the "cant say" person who was bitching that my blog was personal enough haha. We were together roughly 5 months I guess and it all pretty much came down to that Im an asshole and I just couldnt make enough effort to see her and spend time with her. She is a great girl, and Im hoping to pick things up after I get back from Mex and my school is over for a bit. Right now, especially living 45 minutes in the wrong direction from her with school and work everyday, things are not easy. I think its best for now.
Anyways.... Im off. I need to go run some errands for work and do some system updates. I have been doing these freaking updates for like 1 week now because Jackson Hewitt corporate has dropped 3 updates (.07a, .07b, .07b) in a damn week. This is GETTING ANNOYING! 10 stores, 3 updates, 30 trips. Probably over 1K miles of driving. For those few tech readers I still have, ever heard of a program to do taxes crashing a p3 1ghz machine with 256mb of ram with "Windows is low on virtual memory" warnings??? yea neither have I. Sounds like very very shitttty programming to me.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Up to Nothing
Yea... I havent been surfing, havent been doing shit. Just studying non stop for stupid trig and working. Thats about it. Some "people" have been bitching lately that this blog isnt personal enough, its repetative etc. I agree. I will be doing my best from here on out to make this blog more personal and less repetative.
Im going to try and start updating my blog and get some more links. There are many blogs I read yet I do not link them. Somehow maybe I might be pissing other "bloggers" off with this. To those of you that I offend, Im sorry. Im not exactly up to date on the latest and greatest blogging trend faggotry. With that said, Ill defend myself and say no.. Im not anti gay and all that. I just needed a great word to describe anything that might resemble "blogging ettiquette" because there is no such thing. I just blog. I mean to make hyper links, and make my blog all cool and flashy but then again, I dont want to spend the time. I personally like the simplicity of my blog. It gets... ya know... TO THE POINT.
Ok sorry for my rant and probably pissing off whatever is left of my reader base. Sorry I dont have anything interesting to talk about. Sorry Texas is not exactly affording me the greatest of my surfing adventures. I can say though that I will work on making this blog better. I will work on scoring some surf. This blog will KICK ASS when Im finally in full travel mode. It will be littered with travel and surf and all that great stuff and it will be the envy of God Blogger himself. K well not really. Probably will not have any more or less readers than it currently does. Dammit, who needs a beer?
Im going to try and start updating my blog and get some more links. There are many blogs I read yet I do not link them. Somehow maybe I might be pissing other "bloggers" off with this. To those of you that I offend, Im sorry. Im not exactly up to date on the latest and greatest blogging trend faggotry. With that said, Ill defend myself and say no.. Im not anti gay and all that. I just needed a great word to describe anything that might resemble "blogging ettiquette" because there is no such thing. I just blog. I mean to make hyper links, and make my blog all cool and flashy but then again, I dont want to spend the time. I personally like the simplicity of my blog. It gets... ya know... TO THE POINT.
Ok sorry for my rant and probably pissing off whatever is left of my reader base. Sorry I dont have anything interesting to talk about. Sorry Texas is not exactly affording me the greatest of my surfing adventures. I can say though that I will work on making this blog better. I will work on scoring some surf. This blog will KICK ASS when Im finally in full travel mode. It will be littered with travel and surf and all that great stuff and it will be the envy of God Blogger himself. K well not really. Probably will not have any more or less readers than it currently does. Dammit, who needs a beer?
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
It Just Keeps Getting Colder
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?
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?
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.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Tax Season and Technical Work: Close Enough to Hell
Tax season ohhhh tax season, where art thou sleeping? Ohh, in the bowels of hell, nestled with Satan? How lovely.
We are already getting off to a great start. The major software update Jackson Hewitt dropped on us last week is totally eating shit at the moment, less than 24 hours from going live for Money Now Prefile. YAY! So that means, its all coming back on me. I have had computer issues coming out of my ass for the past couple of days. I didnt even get off work last night until 12:15am! The company I work for owns the 4th busiest store in the United States and the customers are calling in masses and showing up, already looking for their money. My boss is dropping the bomb on me, not in a bad sense, maybe more of a desperate looking in all fucking directions for a answer. Im trying my damnedest to help them out, after all they pay for my salary and if we lose a ton of cash on this, well, so much for the raise right?
I have been now sitting on hold with tech support for 20 minutes. Hell Im on hold right now while Im typing this and I dont think its going to get any better soon considering when I tried to call 40 minutes ago, the line was busy with callers maxing it out. ***HOLD ON, BOSS CALLING*** Ahh and the general consensus is...JHnet is taking a gigantic shit! Im all for newer technologies and updates, hell thats what I work in, but these guys are taking the WRONG approach for the way our software works. They have all tax return and customer retrieval happening through an SQL backend over an HTTPS connection to a website. Throw in some sql, php, and soap, and you have an environment teeming with unreliable variables. There HAS to be a better way. Right now, its looking like that HTTPS SQL server has given up the ghost, so now return retrieval is next to impossible. Not only retrieval, but filing as well, which is the core of the business right? Right!
I had a few beers last night with Rami to try and calm my nerves and celebrate the upcoming season and devotion to hell..err I mean tax season. Rami was mentioning something totally on his own, about how when he was "kidnapped" and taken back to Syria by his parents, he was super super stressed for a while. In fact he was soo stressed, he started getting itchy, bad. Almost like opiates itchy. His doctor there told him it was due to high stress and he needed to relax. Needless to say the itchyness went away, but started to return just yesterday. he has been really stressed out with his work as he has been recently promoted to store manager of a Starbucks. Now you may be wondering what the hell this has to do with anything I have been talking about, but hold on, Im getting there! Actually, Im there....yea so I have been getting extreamly itchy for a while now and I couldnt figure out why. In fact last night, as I had just gotten off, at 12:15am, I was VERY itchy. In fact, Im itchy right now as Im typing this crap.
Ok, so I just got off the phone with JH tech support, it is in fact THEIR server! damn I knew it! They are saying its being really slow, and I can just try again later. Wanna know what I think? How about you upgrade? Get some nice servers together, no fucking around on this one. Bleh....
So in other news, I signed up for classes for this semester. Looks like I will be taking Trig and Spanish 1. Yes I can already speak spanish, but Im looking for more vocab and some more hardcore studying. Thats my plan for college this semester. I have been thinking for a while about grabbing all my certifications for computers I can get. NET+, MCSA, MCSE, and maybe even a CCNA. With those, Ill quit college for good, and just run on my certs and see where I end up. Im also taking a class in the fall for my Insurance All-Lines Adjusting licence. I want to start working disasters and hopefully I can do this for a while so I can just work 4 months out of the year and travel the rest. I have some close family friends doing this and they are making quite a bit of cash. This is all boiling down to the "Great Escape" plans that are in motion. In the next upcoming 2-6 years, this blog will be littered with "surfing in Indo","Surfed 6 west african countries", "surfed brazil, paraguay, argentina, all of central america", "explored all of SE asia, india, and asia minor.", Rode/Drove a vehicle from texas to south america in 7 months, with surfboards, surfing ever piece of land", and the best yet "bought a sailboat after learning to sail, and sailed all over mexico/central america". I also have some big plans for winter gulf suring in the gulf side of Mexico. There are hundreds of secret spots, tons of places no one surfs. Damn...Im obsessed!
We are already getting off to a great start. The major software update Jackson Hewitt dropped on us last week is totally eating shit at the moment, less than 24 hours from going live for Money Now Prefile. YAY! So that means, its all coming back on me. I have had computer issues coming out of my ass for the past couple of days. I didnt even get off work last night until 12:15am! The company I work for owns the 4th busiest store in the United States and the customers are calling in masses and showing up, already looking for their money. My boss is dropping the bomb on me, not in a bad sense, maybe more of a desperate looking in all fucking directions for a answer. Im trying my damnedest to help them out, after all they pay for my salary and if we lose a ton of cash on this, well, so much for the raise right?
I have been now sitting on hold with tech support for 20 minutes. Hell Im on hold right now while Im typing this and I dont think its going to get any better soon considering when I tried to call 40 minutes ago, the line was busy with callers maxing it out. ***HOLD ON, BOSS CALLING*** Ahh and the general consensus is...JHnet is taking a gigantic shit! Im all for newer technologies and updates, hell thats what I work in, but these guys are taking the WRONG approach for the way our software works. They have all tax return and customer retrieval happening through an SQL backend over an HTTPS connection to a website. Throw in some sql, php, and soap, and you have an environment teeming with unreliable variables. There HAS to be a better way. Right now, its looking like that HTTPS SQL server has given up the ghost, so now return retrieval is next to impossible. Not only retrieval, but filing as well, which is the core of the business right? Right!
I had a few beers last night with Rami to try and calm my nerves and celebrate the upcoming season and devotion to hell..err I mean tax season. Rami was mentioning something totally on his own, about how when he was "kidnapped" and taken back to Syria by his parents, he was super super stressed for a while. In fact he was soo stressed, he started getting itchy, bad. Almost like opiates itchy. His doctor there told him it was due to high stress and he needed to relax. Needless to say the itchyness went away, but started to return just yesterday. he has been really stressed out with his work as he has been recently promoted to store manager of a Starbucks. Now you may be wondering what the hell this has to do with anything I have been talking about, but hold on, Im getting there! Actually, Im there....yea so I have been getting extreamly itchy for a while now and I couldnt figure out why. In fact last night, as I had just gotten off, at 12:15am, I was VERY itchy. In fact, Im itchy right now as Im typing this crap.
Ok, so I just got off the phone with JH tech support, it is in fact THEIR server! damn I knew it! They are saying its being really slow, and I can just try again later. Wanna know what I think? How about you upgrade? Get some nice servers together, no fucking around on this one. Bleh....
So in other news, I signed up for classes for this semester. Looks like I will be taking Trig and Spanish 1. Yes I can already speak spanish, but Im looking for more vocab and some more hardcore studying. Thats my plan for college this semester. I have been thinking for a while about grabbing all my certifications for computers I can get. NET+, MCSA, MCSE, and maybe even a CCNA. With those, Ill quit college for good, and just run on my certs and see where I end up. Im also taking a class in the fall for my Insurance All-Lines Adjusting licence. I want to start working disasters and hopefully I can do this for a while so I can just work 4 months out of the year and travel the rest. I have some close family friends doing this and they are making quite a bit of cash. This is all boiling down to the "Great Escape" plans that are in motion. In the next upcoming 2-6 years, this blog will be littered with "surfing in Indo","Surfed 6 west african countries", "surfed brazil, paraguay, argentina, all of central america", "explored all of SE asia, india, and asia minor.", Rode/Drove a vehicle from texas to south america in 7 months, with surfboards, surfing ever piece of land", and the best yet "bought a sailboat after learning to sail, and sailed all over mexico/central america". I also have some big plans for winter gulf suring in the gulf side of Mexico. There are hundreds of secret spots, tons of places no one surfs. Damn...Im obsessed!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Here We Go Again!
Well tax season is starting up, and my body is feeling it. Im seriously lacking sleep, and Im starting to have some difficulty remembering the date and other wonderful things. I dont actually feel days passing, I merely count them until my "completion" deadline for my boss and 2 other franchise owners I'm doing contract work for. In the end, it will all pay off!
So as Im working all these crazy hours, charging like crazy for the side contracts (a small 30.00/hour, wait till I get my certs!), I stumbled upon 6 very valuable items I will be letting go on Ebay very soon. I have in my posession, 4 unopened EZ payclock PC100s, retailing on ebay and the net for around 425 - 500 each. I also have 2 Cisco IAD2400s, retailing around 800 - 1700 each on the net and ebay. Im hoping to sell low and sell fast as its all profit to me. Im hoping to walk away with at least 1500 dollars which will be thrown into my transmission in the car and various other 'upcomping surf trip' related items. No, before you ask, there will be no new board purchases unless I stumble upon something remarkable.
I have decided that I need to start posting again more. I miss posting but sometimes I feel like no one will want to or will bother to read my boring shit. I dont always have surf to talk about, especially my non rubber having, cold water fearing, blue lipped after 10 minute, self here in this Texas winter. The water has warmed to around 60 - 62, but she wont be there for long. O well, spring is just around the corner. After all, they dont call em a spring suit for nothing right?
So as Im working all these crazy hours, charging like crazy for the side contracts (a small 30.00/hour, wait till I get my certs!), I stumbled upon 6 very valuable items I will be letting go on Ebay very soon. I have in my posession, 4 unopened EZ payclock PC100s, retailing on ebay and the net for around 425 - 500 each. I also have 2 Cisco IAD2400s, retailing around 800 - 1700 each on the net and ebay. Im hoping to sell low and sell fast as its all profit to me. Im hoping to walk away with at least 1500 dollars which will be thrown into my transmission in the car and various other 'upcomping surf trip' related items. No, before you ask, there will be no new board purchases unless I stumble upon something remarkable.
I have decided that I need to start posting again more. I miss posting but sometimes I feel like no one will want to or will bother to read my boring shit. I dont always have surf to talk about, especially my non rubber having, cold water fearing, blue lipped after 10 minute, self here in this Texas winter. The water has warmed to around 60 - 62, but she wont be there for long. O well, spring is just around the corner. After all, they dont call em a spring suit for nothing right?
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