SCORE

Well I went to the SCORE (service core of reired executives) for some advice today. They told me to dissolve the company and keep everything for myself. Honestly, in not in so many words that is what they said. And they said get a real job and they said money makes the world go round. Mostly they were discouraging.

I was so mad I went out and signed up a Mexican mall on the east side of San Jose for two kiosks. I also yelled at the kids in the tutoring group about respecting authority. (imagine me telling them that) Its true though. Looking back, I wish I had done some more of what they told me to. The whole time I was growing up, and even now to a certain extent, if I percieve the system or some authority is acting upon me I am as stubborn as a mule.

I think I am confused.

I was so dissaapointed. I had the SCORE meeting built up in my mind as this great organization, a club of bevevolent, rich, dogooders. I was going to walk in and they were going to tell me everything I wanted to hear and when I left, my company would be profitable and the world would be great.

DUH. They're just like everyone else. They tell you what the book tells them to tell you. They say give us $50 for our course. They are honest and mean. Maybe I really should write a business plan.

Carmel Rivermouth

I couldn't believe it! Carmel Rivermouth, that steeep beach with a sandy gnarly unsurfable closeout for the last 25 years has a wave. It breaks along the rocks at the north end of the beach and then dumps like nothing you have ever seen on the sand. There are some pits though! Last night I came to PG to put a new CD in the Juice and Java Kiosk and I jammed over to the lagoon afterwards. I meditated on gettting three good waves becasue it was almost dark. The sunset was awesome. My first wave I got a great bottom turn and nice snap in front of the sunset. I got a couple of big sandy bombs. One was a huge wall just standing up on dry sand. The wave was all dark and full of sand and I felt like my fins were just barely hanging in there. I dove off my board at the last secnd and jeust barely penettrated the back of the wave getting spit through the back spray. Coooooollll. I will have to head back there tonight!

The coolest thing was, I got an email earlier in the day from Rachael about how things that seem scary at one stage in your life are actually really cool at another stage. I remembered being a little kid, getting sucked out of the river towards the ocean trying to hang on to a whiffle ball bat for a surfboard. Scared me terriblly. My sister had to pull me out. Then yesterday I was riding those things and just loving it!

Random Experience

Well I finally figure it all out.
What makes me tick.
The reason I pick up hitchikers. The reason I love surfing, ad travel and paragliding. And quite possibly, the reason I was so opposed to ":settling" inot one permanent relationship. Because I love random experince. I love it when things are different and interesting and exciting. Whe we go to the movies the last thing in the world we would want to see is a flick about some guy who goes to work and sits in traffic. We want random experiences. We want things that don't ussually happen. The most random thing, besides Burning Man or Mardi Gras, falling in love with someone who a couple of weeks, or days, or hours, prior was a random stranger.

Irionic that one of the most random acts can lead to an existence that becomes utterly homogenized. Just tonight Kate remarked that all we ever talk about anymore is bills and what we are going to have for dinner.

Nothing

Kate just told me that Michele said I really reminded her of her uncle Redge, who's last name is also Rice. Wierd.

So I have been thinking a lot about Marriage. Kate by the way was pissed when she saw my blog becasue she said I always make her sound like a bitch. The irony that she was yelling at me for this did not escape either of us. Does every marriage have to have a good cop and a bad cop? And do I, by doing all those things that piss her off and never getting mad at her for antyhing becasue my only real complaint is that she gets mad at me for doing stupid shit, does that really warrant the title of "good cop"?

Here's the other problem I have been thinking about: People are naturally driven to get the next better thing. We want to grow, to improve to develope. And here is marriage. This institution that says "You can never get anything else, this is all you will ever have." God Kate is going to kill me when she reads this. But anyway, you see my point.

And then there's the flip side. Relationship after relationship. Mini relationships, not one night stands, but nothing longer than three monthes, pure infatutation. Who could hack the heartache? Who could not ever ache for something deeper. And yet Kate and I (I think) both prefered it when when we called eachother boy/girl friend.

I don't know.

I do know I love her.

Allen The Mountain Man (Squaw part 2)

About two years ago I picked up a hitch hiker named Allen. He was 83 and has lived up a dirt (snow) road near Squaw Valley in a cabin since 1963. He worked as a DMV examiner in Truckee or Reno, can't remember which. Retired now. He hikes the 2 miles to the road and back to his cabin three or four times a week to get grocercies and check his mail. No phone. No electricity. He said he fell walking out of his cabin the other day "it was snowing, and I just layed there, I said well maybe I'll lay here and die. But I didn't."

He is a very nice guy. He told me that he wanted to get to Santa Cruz to see his last living relative, his siter, who lives in a convalecent hospital. I always felt bad that I did not offer him a ride down there.

Well this weekend I saw him again! We left Los Gatos at 10AM and rolled into Squaw at 5:30Pm (huge traffic) Kate had had about enough of the Squaw kiosk. It was broken again. Anyway, when we were driving past the place I dropped Allen off two years ago I saw him. I slammed on the brakes (Kate was really getting ticked off now) and ran up his road to see him and say hi.

He looked the same (super thick glasses, unnerving for a DMV tester)snowshoes and a bag of groceries, three newspapers. He said he got to go see his sister. He was amazed that he made it to San Jose in just 35 minutes (he must've flown). I ran back to the car totally stoked to have seen him. When I got to the car, Kate just said "He fell" I looked up the hill and he was laying face down in the snow. He slowly got up and started trudging up the hill.

Christmas

Surfed some Big Mole Point. BIG.
Paddled out by myself (later found out Middles was perfect, grrr.) Really only got one good wave. The tide was super high so where you ussually take off was not breaking and the waves backed off until they ledged hard. But this one wave I got a kick ass bottom turn (my fins just barley hung on) then I snapped and stalled a little bit then I got a sort of cut back then I got a killer cutback on the inside. I let a lot of really good waves go by because I was out by meslef and really ddn't want to get caught inside. And, the waves were really hard to catch. Had to get out becasue Kate was there and we were supposed to be back to open presents. Water was really nice, way clear and glassy. Beautiful prefrontal day.

Got home Christmas was cool.
Gave:
Dad - Book
Pam - Lights
Todd - Beer (drank one)
Mom - Bird nester
Laclan - Airplanes and 20 question guesser
Lilly - Butterfly light and socks
Kids were great. House was awesome. Funnnnnn

Squaw

This is a great post becasue it involves both kiosks and hitch hikers. I landed a kiosk at Squaw Valley USA which is great. While installing it I picked up two guys (I was on my way to the hardware store at Truckee becasue my screws were too short to lag the kiosk into their counter top). Well these two guys said they were going to 7-11 to see if the cop was still there. They both had warrants and the cop had followed them while they were in their motor home. Then He banged on the door saying "I know you're in there, I just want to ask you some questions" but they just stayed hidden and quiet. So they wanted to go to 7-11 to see if he was still there. If not they could hitch back to Squaw and get their motor home and drive to Reno. One said he had warrants for stealing toothache medicine (which was funny becasue my tooth was hurting like hell as I was listening to this story) The other didn't say why he had warrants but if he got caught it was 55 days in jail and a $5K fine.

One of them smelled terrible ( as do most hitch hikers). They both had to sit in the front seat becasue I had the back seat down. The front seat was completely filled with road trip rif raff but we managed.

The good news was the last time I was at Squaw, meeting with the owner about the kiosk I left my snowboard in the parking lot. Someone had turned it in to security and it was there waiting for me. Awesome.