Spank My Wookie

I made it to number 10! Not too bad for only heading out on the weekends and once during the week! Today was really nice at Lindy. While suiting up, I had a quick chat with another surfer who just pulled in and was watching the waves. He had a nice looking todos santos 9'6" , which he said cannot be found anymore. I headed out to a crowded lineup. The sets were long but infrequent. While standing at the beach, I was able to make out where the peaks were and also I am starting to recognize the closeout sets as well. I caught two rides today. The first one was pretty much a straight in ride. I did try turning on my backside, and it was cool. There wasn't much room to move as there were people paddling out. My second ride is now the longest ride I've had. I managed to paddling into the break, and then turn the board somewhat as well. The ride lasted all the way back to the beach! So cool! I did not catch anymore after that. So fun!!!!!On a down note, I almost crashed with a short boarder. I think I got in his way, but I don't think I could of pulled out in time, as I already felt my board starting to catch. I popped off and said sorry after wards. The guy was cool about it. So it was all good.

Posted by Baldwin at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I finally made it out to surf on a weekday. It feels weird to wake up at 7:00am because I don't work till 10:00am so I usually sleep till 8am. Today I made an exception. I woke up around 7, then walked the dog. Since I packed my car the night before, all I had to do was jump in, and motor to Pacifica. When I got there, the sky was gray and the waves were choppy. There weren't that many people out, so its a far cry from the weekend crowd. It took me about 15 minutes before I finally said "Screw it, I'm going!" I suited up and hopped the barrier onto the beach as I was parked near the north end showers. On my way down, I bumped into a surfer who just finished a session. I asked him how things were, and he said that by going straight out, there might be something to catch. So I was off, paddling into a sea of choppiness. I got out to the first break and just sat to soak in the uncrowdedness of Lindy I think I caught about two small reforms, and pearled a lot on some of the bigger waves. I'm still having trouble popping up correctly, as I tend to fall over on my backside. I think it's probably because I am not landing on the center. Oh well, much to work on!Oh yeah, if anyone from the Stokemasters board saw a new face out there around 8:15am, it's probably me. I was a little timid, as it was my first time out on a morning session!

Posted by Baldwin at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Long weekend, what to do? Where to go, places to see, mountains to board? I opted to stay in town this weekend. As a result, I had a pretty relaxing weekend. I dashed out of work Friday around 6:00pm and left all the dreadful corporate buzzwords in the office. Three days of no work! I ended up at yancy's on Friday night. Good drinks, nice sites and great atmosphere. Hung out with a buddy of mine, whom I haven't seen in a few month. Shooting the breeze with him was a good way to past time.I spend Saturday with Edlyn and then headed to my parents place for the traditional chinese new years dinners. There's usually a two to three week period where we would visit all my relatives' houses, do dinners and just hang.Surfed Sunday! I was able to sneak in a session before the rains picked up in the afternoon. It was a fun session, just wished I stayed longer. But seeing the sewage run off 30 yards in front of me was interesting and scary at the same time.Today, was just another lazy day. Watched some TV, did some web browsing...nothing exciting, but a great way to cap off the weekend.

Posted by Baldwin at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I thought I would not have been able to get out this weekend because of the rain. I took one last peek at the report, and checked out a Lindy Cam and with favorable conditions, I dashed out. Today, I even brought my dog with me. When we got there, buddy was already excited to run off onto the beach. We took a quick walk around, and the dog did his business. I suited up and paddled out. It was a prettuy easy paddle today. There were long waits between sets. I caught my first ride of the day, though it was short, but fun. After that, it was a long period of waiting until more sets came through. I only attempted a few more today. I would of had my biggest wave today, but as I started to slide down the face, I pearled and fell forward. But it felt good to be able to catch it.The last wave I went for today, was also another wipeout. This time, I know that my pop up was incorrect as I landed not on the center of the board. I called it a day after that. But to my surprise, as I got out of the water, another set rolled through which could have been fun. Hopefully tomorrow.The water a little murky today, especially around the creek. The breaking water looked brown. On top of that, the sewage gates opened as well.Let's see what tomorrow looks like.

Posted by Baldwin at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's raining, and raining and it's going to rain some more. Usually, I won't mind the rain, especially during winter. You know what that means! Snow, and lots of it. This year has been a little weird. It's snowed so much, and I've only been up there once. I need to go at least a few more times before the season ends. Don't want those new bindings to go to waste.One more day till a long weekend. Isn't that something?! I might finally get to have one this year, as I was robbed blind for MLK. And that weekend was sunny too! Went swimming tonight. Tonight, I actually started sweating in the water! Weird huh? It can happen. Unlike any land sport, when you start to flush up and sweat, dipping your head in the water cools it down fast! Well, still need a lot of work, but it's fun and I'm so glad to have signed up for lap swim!I'm really starting to think that internet engineering is becoming just another lackluster job. Just watch office space and you will find out what I mean. The bosses, the mottos, the empty promises...shit...it's all there.The last thought before I hit the submit button, can someone tell me how to retrieve a relative link from an Internet Explorer IFrame. Why can't Microsoft conform to standards, and release products that are not _SLIGHTLY_ different? Just can't understand what lake bill has done to the former chairman, who is now so filthy rich, that he should just move off this planet, into an isolated moon base. Hell, take all of microsoft with him. Then they can develop some form of ultra high speed data transfer mechanism to talk with the moon!

Posted by Baldwin at 11:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I had another two days of surf this weekend! Saturday was better than Sunday, but I am happy to have gone out both days. And both days were at Linda Mar. Saturday was really fun! The sky was blue, and the water was warm. I finally was able to paddle into a wave and catch it instead of riding the reform, or the wash. I got really sotked about this! The first ride I caught was also my longest in my short lived surfing sessions. The wave was about a knee high, maybe a little more. I rode it all the way into the beach. I proceeded to catch a few more all the way in. Sunday was a different story. The sky was pretty gloomy, and the entire beach broke at the same time. I guess that's how low tide affect Lindy. I got pounded by one 3-4 footer while trying to paddle out. Needless to say, I wasn't able to repeat Saturday, but I was exposed to a bigger pounding, so I am ready for the next time. Sunday was also the first time I went surfing by myself.

Posted by Baldwin at 07:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What is with people getting older? It seems like you start to hold back before doing things. When I was younger, I took up snowboarding. I think I was 19 at the time. I don't remember being nervous about going out there...I just went and did it. I tumbled a good 20 times, the first time going down an easy green at NorthStar. It got better after a while. Now, I love the snow, and will try to get up there as much as possible. Until I found something else, which I completely suck at, but will try to attempt. Well, I guess this is something I find myself wanting to go do when it comes the weekend. I just made it out every weekend this past month, even twice on the 15 and 16 of Janurary.My first time surfing was in Hawaii. Edlyn and I were there on vacation for about a week. We planned on doing a few water activities out there. Scuba diving, snorkeling, and surfing. I loved scuba diving...that was way cool, to swim with turtles...TURTLES?...they were slow as hell. But it was so cool to be back in the water. It was something I've never use to do often...I told myself that I would attempt surfing at least once during the year. Why not in Hawaii?! My girlfriend didn't want to try it, so I had to sign up myself. The surf shop dude was like, "Just try it, but once you get it, your hooked...!" I was like no way! That can't be...I've never played basketball and just got hooked!!! So the instructor shows up with a Surf Van! Stacked with boards, a vertical bench seat, and that's about it!!! We drive off to Diamond head instead of calm waikiki beach...The walk down to diamond head was pretty steep...But when we got down there, it's a friggen nice looking beach! Diamond head is a reef break, from what I was told (I don't know the terms yet!). It's pretty shallow, with a live corral underneath. I would say it's about chest high out there. Water was 78 degrees...that is so warm and inviting....He shows us the usual beach front warm up before heading into the ocean thing! Watch for landmarks, paddle hard, then harder before trying to pop up. So then I'm off, attempting to paddle in the ocean. Man, was it a hard time! I kept getting pounded trying to get out. I finally manage to paddle around the breaks and get out there...caught my breath a little, by sitting up. Man, was it weird to try to sit on a 22inch wide board, floating in the ocean! It was tricky at first. But I finally was able to sit up! So I attempt to take one wave. I paddled for it, felt the glide, and my contacts fall out!!! But I glided down the face for a little bit. It was fun, but I decided to paddle in because of the contact situation...It was fun, but I felt so tired the next day...I was slow to pick it up after getting back from Hawaii, but I am finally getting excited about it as every Friday begins to roll around. I begin to plot, where I'm going to go, and if I will venture a little farther into this thousand year old tradition of wave riding!After a mouth full of salty water every Saturday and Sundays, I'm beginning to really like this... Just thinking about a month straight is getting me stoked right now!

Posted by Baldwin at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's Thursday, the day before Friday! Just in case you forgot...Anyhow, that's one day closer to the weekend and one day closer to trying to go surf in Santa Cruz. I'm calling it escape to Santa Cruz. Who is going to join me? We'll see probably tomorrow night!As for tomorrow, it will be Friday, and that will be cool. I get to hang out with Edlyn and probably go swimming. Then grab some good pizza from this place we discovered on Geary Street. So signing off, cuz I have this friggen meeting...

Posted by Baldwin at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Went out for session number 5 yesterday. We headed to Lindy at around 9:30 am. The sky was gray and it seems like the onshore winds were going pretty good. And to top that off, it's been sunny all week, but Saturday had to be gray.The breaks didn't look too bad from the parking lot, but again, it wasn't a glassy 2 foot day with light offshore breeze. So we suited up, and headed in. It almost seemed like closeout conditions, and after an hour and a half of not being able to get out, i called it quits. I felt a little deject on not being able to paddle out and try for a few waves, especially after want to try a few new techniques to further make the popup more consistent.Oh well, it seems like it has to be Santa Cruz next weekend. The week looks a little big, so I have to wait for a smaller day for trying my first DP session.

Posted by Baldwin at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Woke up early in the mornin'And the clock strikes nineI tried and tried to get out of bedI don't think I'm gonna make it on timeI dragged my ass into the showerAnd the cold water hits my faceI wait and wait and wait for itBut the water heater is in disgraceI moped back in and got dressedPut on those worn sneakers tooThe dog's a barking and yelpingHe's says come'on where's my foodI pulled open the frig doorTried to find something to eatWait a minute, somethings wrongTwo cans of beer, some smelly cheese that smells like feetFinally get in the carAnd I start it up tooTurn on the radio and head to workSunday sale, my god, no work, I'm such a fool

Posted by Baldwin at 09:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Woke up early in the mornin'And the clock strikes nineI tried and tried to get out of bedI don't think I'm gonna make it on timeI dragged my ass into the showerAnd the cold water hits my faceI wait and wait and wait for itBut the water heater is in disgraceI moped back in and got dressedPut on those worn sneakers tooThe dog's a barking and yelpingHe's says come'on where's my foodI pulled open the frig doorTried to find something to eatWait a minute, somethings wrongTwo cans of beer, some smelly cheese that smells like feetFinally get in the carAnd I start it up tooTurn on the radio and head to workSunday sale, my god, I'm a fool

Posted by Baldwin at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today is wednesday, aka, hump day. How do you spend your hump day? I spend it at work, but of course. This is the day where you start to plan for the weekend, look forward to friday, and try to start to unwind. So, hmm, what the hell am I going to do this weekend? Let's see, there's the water, and then there is the mountain. I like the water idea more this weekend. Its going to be small, and sunny. Good day for a kook like me. I'm also thinking of having Sunday dinners, you know, the kind where you get friends together and just hang out to wind down the weekend. But let's see how far that will go.Gosh, stupid cubicle talk. How many other terms do you only hear in this mindless corporate world: sales pipeline - just say if we are going to shutdown or not "that would be great" - nothing is great when someone asks you to do something touch base with you (wtf, i don't want to touch anything of yours) please repeat that, I am retarted CYA (fucking aye, why do you need to put cover your ass into an acryonm) priority - what the hell, at the end of the day, we all get paid project plans - pointless, as they are never followed to the T post mortem meetings - meeting to discuss how you fucked up processes - fuck this too brown bag lunch - I wanna get the fuck away from you people, not share during this time all hands meetings - just leave us alone on a Monday morning Thanks - at the end of every email, you see this, I have nothing to thank you for...what you just read my email Directors of blahblah blah.... we do not need any more directors to direct. hell, I can call myself a director of my cubicle politics - this one just sucks brown nosers - I just hate these people

Posted by Baldwin at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)