Time Flys...

We have officially lived in Cali for a month already...WOW, time flew by.

For the holidays, we flew to CO for a whirlwind of a trip. Lots of
family and friends and food...we're happy to be home safe and snow free.
Kimberly is bumin' because we didn't get a chance to snowboard during
the trip (well we could have gone but it was a steamy -25 wind chill),
so for her birthday we are starting to plan a trip to Mammoth mountain.

This photo is actually from the Thanksgiving festivities, but Christmas
does not look much different...



Christmas Party



We came home to great sunny California weather and the lost
ark (the last piece of the grill)!!! I spent the rest of the day
putting it together and that night we fed half of the complex.
Everyone was stoked and it was fun to get to know our neighbors.
[the grill works great, but charbroil still sucks!]

Maggie was in Sacramento visiting her family for the holidays and
decided to come visit for a few days. The last time we saw M was
while we were with Mom in NY for the EMS bike ride. While M was
in Bali she met a guy from Cali who live near her parents house. He
was heading to Ocean Beach this weekend too and caught a ride with
M. Turns out he was coming to visit a friend from Corpus Christi too.
Small world. We lit up the grill and made some more friends.
Last night they invited us over for dinner and we made some more friends.
We've made more friends here then we have made all year. Everyone is supper
friendly.

char-broil sucks

Living in Cali you don't have extra space. anywhere. for anything.
So you can bet we were excited when we came home yesterday and
found the grill tool kit on our doorstep (we bought a grill over week
ago and it didn't come with screws). Today I wanted so badly to put
the damn thing together and use it tonight...but when I got to step
11 there is not a "heat shield" in the box. Fuck.
So I called the grill people again and Abdul set up the shipment for
the missing peace and told me it would be here in another 7-10 days.
are you kidding me? Can I pick it up? Nope. So I asked him to overnight
my missing puzzle piece and "foot the bill". Manager time.

Manager Teressa wasn't much help either. If fact she tried to turn it around
on me by telling me that it was my fault I didn't have my part already because
I didn't inventory each piece...so theoretically I could have noticed it was
missing and had it shipped with my missing screws. I tried to explain to
her that there was no way I could inventory each piece of the grill because
it exceeds the square footage of my living room and kitchen combined...
there was no reasoning with Teressa...


...7 to 10 more




Next grill you buy DON'T make it a char-broil.

busted!

I went surfing last Tuesday or Wednesday, the day before it got big.
It was my first time to surf real waves in a few years and even get
on my board in a few months. Anywho, some dude got a video of my
first wave out! With music and all...




enjoy ( but don't blink)
pickin' n' publick

miscalculation

Another wet weekend...the friends and neighbors all tell
us it hasn't rained for 4 months. Sure enough it rained
both Friday and Saturday. So yesterday when I rode
with Kimberly to work (or half way to work) we happened
to ride by the beach and I was able to check the surf.
Glassy, offshore and only 6 people out. But it just rained.
I thought better and went home. After pacing around for
the next hour I decided to walk back to the beach for
another look. 15 people out and Firing! Had to do the
surf/water quality calculation and it passed. Surfed for 2 hours
and froze my ass off. Woke up this morning feeling groggy...
head kinda hurts...ear kinda hurts...pollution sucks.

lunch break

Today the surf was only about half the size as yesterday, and
it's about twice as windy...still some mackin' waves out there.
K-town was able to come home for lunch so we went to the beach
and took these pictures.


They say a picture is worth a thousand words. With that said,
these pictures are worth less the time it took me type this.


The whole town shows up when the waves get big...

dude

Finally made it out in the water yesterday. Stephen and crew
picked me up and took me to sunset cliffs. Pretty much firing!
A few feet overhead and not the super crowds typically associated
with socal surfing. I surfed until I was exhausted and then it
was time to make my exit...they call it cliffs for a reason.
(Suz and Paul would have been proud.) You paddle in until
you are between a cliff and a boulder; ditch your board and
find a couple of finger holds in the bolder. wait for a wave to lift
you up and slowly crawl your way up (only stopping to grab
your leash rope so your board doesn't get banged up). Pretty
much the same thing as bouldering, only in the water and the
rock is covered with algae.

The surf is pretty much epic today. I'm swamped with work and
Kimberly is at work. Hopefully I can squeeze in a lunch sesh.

Sears sucks: (but don't tell them until they send me my screws).
We ordered a grill online, picked it up at the store and brought it
home. unpacked all 1000 pieces of it and went to town...only to
find out town didn't get us past page one because the kooks forgot
to include the screw box. Now they won't let us exchange or pick
up the screws...we have to wait 4-6 days to get them in the mail.
WTF we wanted to grill last week.

haven't surfed yet...

...have you?

Sooo...we have...unpacked, put up, rearranged, modified and
poof; we're done. It was a long couple of days, and a lot has
happened...Kimberly started her new job. On her second day
of work she helped transport a few thousand fish (I want to
say 20K but it might have been more like 50K) during the day and then
helped me finish moving that night. Kimberly is now riding her
bike to work. We were able to get the internet hooked up on time,
the first night here (which is more than I can say about the landlord/
owner/who ever having our house ready on time).

living/entrance / computer / dressing / surfboard storage/ filing room



dining room / surfboard storage / office



kitchen / cutie



I know you know, but did you know that you can't
go in the ocean for 72 hours after it rains? I'm sure you
already know this, at least I did, but holy shit, literally,
you can't go surfing for 72 hours after it rains. I think
this is the calculation to use when deciding to go surfing
after it rains: (time after it stopped raining X surf quality).
Luckily it still sucks today. Wednesday is supposed to be HUGE.
surfline.com is calling for it to be 15 ft and epic...I wonder what
the surf is doing in Texas...not.


Oh-yeah Kimberly went and checked out the golds gym on
arena blvd today (body pumpen it up). This golds claims to be one
of the largest gyms in the U.S....