Grand Opening

This past week was overwhelmingly busy. My friend/surfbuddy Jessie has been immersed in opening up a coffee shop for last few years. It finally opened yesterday. It came together amazingly fast and a couple weeks ago she asked if I could set up her network and registers. So for the last two weeks we have been working endlessly to get the shop up and running. Up until the last minute we had the registers not communicating and other technical issue. I managed to get one working register before they opened and by end of day, I had them both running. There are a more things to iron out, but we opened with success!

It was a very sweet day and they had lots of visitors and customers. Here's a few pics:

Jessie making me a latte.

This place has quite a bit of square footage!

The signs went up before opening day!

I still have to go back and finish up some details regarding firewalls and security. It's so nice, though, to see everything come together.

There wasn't a whole lot of surf while all this was going on. I actually missed out on a couple of nights, but was on it the last two. I had brought out the Princess Cruiser the last two times I surfed. Oh, how I missed her. Such a great board! Last night I took out the Orange Dreamsicle and just had a blast! Also, a great board... my time on the nose has doubled and it just gets great velocity and turns with great power.

I'll surf tonight and then tomorrow the SCLU meeting is on at 6pm. Maybe I can squeeze a go out in :) Also, next week I am supposed to join some key people in meeting with the city and surf school instructors to discuss the issues we've been encountering in the water at Cowells. The situation has been getting out of hand and there's been a lot of regulations being ignored by the schools. I'll report on how that goes.

Hopefully things will slow down a bit and I can have a little more me time.
Until the next post...

Light Show

For some reason I always get sick around the end of September or October. It's always the same thing: a nasty sore throat followed by sinus pressure and pain, ending with a cough. Monday it began, I felt the sore throat coming on. I totally missed the low tides this week and don't think I am well enough to go tonight. I made it out Monday, just as I was getting sick, knowing full well that I was only going to get worse and it would be my only chance for a session. It was worth it... uncrowded and fun.

I had missed two days of work and went back yesterday. I tried to go home at 2pm, feeling a little feverish, but the universe had a different plan for me. My friend and I were out talking by my truck (as per her suggestion since she was on break and didn't want to be disturbed and it was at a better distance than hers, parked right in front of the door) and as we were closing our conversation and saying g'bye, a transmitter on a power line exploded right above us, creating a huge lighting effect. It was so loud and the flashes of light were so intense, we had no idea the hell had just happened. The snapped wire had hit a moving car and stopped it dead in the street. When we realized what had happened and my friend stopped screaming, we ran into work, knowing already that the power was out. I had to make a couple calls letting certain work groups we were down. I came back outside and the fire department had arrived clearing clueless people off the sidewalk. They wouldn't let me back near my truck because the live wire was laying right in front of it ... we were that close! My friend pointed out to me that it was a good thing we had move to my truck, because hers was right underneath the poll! Most of Pacific Avenue was out of power and created quite a traffic jam. Well, everything was restored, but the epiphany that my friend and I had come out of that uninjured was pretty amazing, considering the proximity of where we were standing and the timing of it all. We were fucking lucky.


A downed line that popped up on the 3rd Street on Beach Hill:




Anyway, after I came home, I saw that the one morning glory in my yard had closed:



My housemate had pulled all the greenery on the side of the house, and these guys just came on their own. It was so pretty opened, but I think more beautiful closed. I can't wait for more of them to come out! Love those volunteers!

Hopefully, I'll have some upcoming surf sessions to talk about. All I got to do was film some of my friends surfing... but it was cool. Until next time...

Just the Begining!

Well happy September! You have no idea how happy I am that Labor Day is over... to anyone who lives in Santa Cruz, this is a joyous time. It means that all the tourists go home and the kids are back in school! It means we get our quiet streets and beaches back, and no more traffic from one end of town to another. Don't get me wrong, I'm stoked that people want to check out this town, but it really wears thin by the end of August.

Also, September starts off the fall surf season, which is my favorite! The tides are bit funky this month, but hopefully we'll get some good swells in! I did buy the Wee Board yesterday and took it out last nite. Man, what workout! I was so proud of myself that I didn't bring a backup longboard or get out and run to Fritz and Laura's for a board switch. I want to prove that I am serious about learning how ride a shorter board. It was hard, but it's worth it, and builds strength in my paddling, not to mention my mentality.

This past week two guys from my surf crew got into the Santa Cruz Longboard Union. Watching your friends get inducted is just as exciting as getting inducted yourself. The SCLU couldn't ask for better people!

Things have been pretty busy, with work and surfing in the evenings. Tomorrow is my mother's birthday, so we are heading to Monterey to eat at one of her favorite places. Then on Sunday I have to go to the catholic ritual of a "40th day after death" prayer for my late aunt. Hopefully I'll have some time to garden and drop in a couple of lavender plants I had just bought.

Until the next post...