Centaur

           During my time of extensive repairs on my only working surfboard, I started thinking that I should probably get another board. The Firewire surfboard that I wanted is quite expensive, but it's one of the best boards on the market today. Unfortunately, the cost of the board is $700, which doesn't include the fins, leash, or a grip pad (which can easily add another $100 dollars to the cost).  Though, I think it would be the equivalent of purchasing a guitar... spend a little extra and buy what you want, because you're going to have it for a while (hopefully). 

           As I was delaying my purchase, because of the great cost (and because I'm cheap), I discovered that there was a movie being premiered at the local surf shop. One of the guys in the movie, Sterling Spencer (who was hosting the premiere), has a blog with many short clips and was giving away a Firewire surfboard at the premiere that was signed and surfed by professional surfer, Taj Burrow! In order to win the board, you must dress like one of his characters from a short clip. I knew at that instant, I must do this!!!
           Knowing that Sterling's nickname is Centaur, I knew that if I wanted a chance at winning, I would have to make a centaur costume. I also knew it was going to be difficult to make the mythical creature out of wood, chicken wire, foam, and a blanket, but with the help of Alicia and mi' madre' I knew that it could be accomplished.

           We had to hand sew the entire "hide" onto the centaur... Although it was time consuming, it was well worth it!



           After working late a few nights it was ready to show at the Premiere of Surf Madness.

           Another contestee! Yes, that is a boy...

           Alicia was able to join me for the night, which was great because we were able to see what kind of response our hard work received. It was also great to have the support of other friends, such as Justin Wyatt, Grace Bohnhoff, and Jason and Audrey House.

           After a long period of suspenseful waiting, the winner was announced and I became a proud owner of a Firewire Alternator!

         

           Afterwards, we got to go into the store and do some browsing for the new board. :)

            Overall, this was... a crazy experience, but it was definitely worth it! My neighbors almost peed on themselves in laughter, children in the street almost wrecked their bikes, and my grandparents got some great laughs. An excellent way to spend the thanksgiving weekend! Thanks to everyone for all their help and support.

Fall Frenzy

           Surfing has been such an awesome experience and has taught me so much about life. Last night I was watching I Am Legend and in the movie, a woman says, "It is much quieter now. If you listen you can hear the voice of God." That is how I would describe surfing. Although there are times when it isn't quiet, most times it can be a place of tranquility and utter bliss. There are times of great joy when you catch a wave that you want to last forever or spending time with others at the beach. There is also the fear of the unknown (and sometimes known) wildlife that swims beneath you or not knowing when you will get your next breath. It is humbling and brings about a recognition of how small and fragile we are.
           It seems like I am constantly learning life lessons when I am on the water. For instance, one can learn patience while waiting for a wave that is worth catching. You can learn how to be decisive by choosing a wave, even when you don't know whether it's going to be worth it or not. Learn to overcome fear and anxiety, that shadows over most of us, by surrending them to God as you enter the water. Surfing is not the only way that God has blessed me to be able to experience these things, but it is definitely a way.
           This fall I decided I needed to work on my surfboard because after a few years of use, it started taking in some water. Even though it is an epoxy board, which is supposed to be more durable than a polyurethane board, it is not bullet proof (especially when it flies off the top of your car when your going 55 MPH). After doing some pretty extensive repairs on the rails of my 7ft Walden (which went great!), Jason (a coworker) gave me a 1980 Grizzly board that he has had for years . Although the graphics where radical and amusing, they had to be trashed if I was going to fix the board properly (see photos below...sad ). It was literally a trash board... his buddy found it in the trash... Since the board was damaged all over and considered a total loss, I decided to use it as a learning experience. Hopefully after this process, i'll have another board to ride and share. :) Here is the progress that has been made so far...

           Here is what the board looked like when it was received.

           I started stripping off the old fiberglass to bring it back to a foam blank.

   After reshaping the nose, tail, rails, and... pretty much the entire board, I had to fill in some holes with polyurethane resin and sand it to make it ruff.

After getting the board smooth, the next step will be to fiberglass it. I'll let you know how it goes. :) I also bought a $10 board from a flea market, which will be my next project. Pretty exciting stuff... to me anyway.  

Summer Fun

Hello Friends,
           I thought that I would start a blog for a season (at least) just to let people know that I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. It seems that lately, I have found myself wanting to share certain experiences of my life with other people. I have been encountering some new and... abnormal things and so figured I should share them with others while I can still recall them. This past summer was my first summer working, what some people would like to call, a "real job." I have been working at a local hospital in the information technology department.
           Working with computers all day may be some person's dream, but I have found that it isn't working with computers that is great; rather, working with people. The reason why I can stay here and work is because I know that it is helping people, such as nurses, doctors, therapists, etc. In order for them to do their job to the best of their ability, I must do mine. I'll admit, it can be hard to help people that don't want to help themselves with a little troubleshooting (saying, "I don't know what's wrong, you just need to come down here!"). You would be surprised at some of the calls... "Is it plugged in?" "Is it turned on?" "Have you restarted it?" The worst part of the job is going to the location and then having to tell them it would have been fixed even faster if they would have made sure it was plugged into the wall first. Thankfully, I have been blessed with some pretty good coworkers. One of them, Jason, has become a pretty good friend simply because we both enjoy surfing and our relationship with Christ. It is always nice to have somebody else to surf and share faith with.

           This summer I had the opportunity to build a pretty cool structure that became known as a "hayport." It is kind of like a carport...except for hay. It was a ton of fun and there was many hours put into its making. The idea was presented to me by a friend of mine named Alicia. Before the "hayport", someone would have to put out hay (by hand) almost every day so that the horses would have enough food to eat. With this "hayport", the hay could be covered AND accessible to the horses. It was a real blessing because I really like working with my hands and Alicia and the Wyatt's really wanted a hayport. It was great because I didn't know if I was going to be able to do stuff like this once I got a "real job" AND because it didn't cost me anything. lol You may laugh, but it was great to get to build something and not worry about having to take care of the costs. I would compare it to giving a kid $50 bucks and sending him into the toy store. It was fun and what I could consider as free experience. I also gained some useful knowledge and confidence for future projects.  It is pretty stout and is something that I found as both enjoyable and straight up awesome! Here are a few photos during the making...

           One of the best parts was when we (Alicia and myself) were done... lol Not only because you could see what was accomplished, but also because most of the work was done during the summer (HOT!) and after work (so I couldn't dedicate all my time in order to get it finished).  We worked many late nights because that was the only time when it was actually "cool" enough outside.  It took about a month and it was a tremendously rewarding experience...