In no particular order, however the TV and CAR sure win my vote for making us most lazy!
1. Televisions
2. Cars
3. Cell Phones
4. Computers/The Internet
5. Gastric Bypass Surgery
6. Remote Controls
7. Automatic Gas Pump Handles
8. Drive-Thrus
9. Hands Free Car Washes
10. Couches
Have you seen the movie WALL-E yet? If not, the humans that are portrayed in that movie are not far from present day people. Fat, lazy, distracted and needing constant virtual stimulation!
I could make an entire sub-list of items related to the above top 10 list that help to keep our waists bulging and minds well rested!
So here's my take on each of the top 10:
1. TVs - What better a way to lounge around all day and all night and all weekend watching senseless television programs, movies, or playing video games! This one wins my personal award for most likely to make someone lazy because even in times of joblessness, the TV grips people from doing all kinds daily chores/duties - sort of like a tractor beam that just sucks you in and won't let go!!!
2. Cars - In the United States we pride ourselves with big wide open spaces, making it virtually impossible to stick with the old walking legs or maybe even a bicycle. Almost every single individual above the age of 18 has their own personal wheels. To make matters worse, big cities like Houston and Los Angeles are so unbelievably spread out and do not have decent public transportation that it almost forces to drive your car everywhere. Not only have cars caused our bellies to broaden, but they have almost single handedly lead to many many other problems such as serious pollution, dependence on foreign oil, and the massive concrete/asphalt expansion all over the planet. I hope we find a better solution for transportation issues soon!
3. Cell phones - Well at first these nifty devices seemed to be quite convenient. Inside of having to be "somewhere" to make or take a phone call now you could be anywhere! But soon just being a phone was no longer good enough, they had to start introducing things like a camera, then emailing, then full on Internet access, then endless applications that do almost anything a home computer can do! What's next for these little portable pocket geniuses? Please help us to not even think when we have a conversation with someone, just do it for us!
4. Computers / The Internet - I had to include the Internet in this one because computers alone just keep the geeks happy with their gaming, applications and nerdy programming languages.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Tomato Update - July 1st, 2009
This is just one little grouping on my "in the ground" tomato plants that are now 6 feet tall. See below how the weight is bending the bamboo sticks holding up the plant! If you scroll down to my previous tomato post you can see these same plants about half the size that they are today. This means they have doubled in size in exactly 30 days time. Have yet to harvest the tomatoes on these two plants!
Here is my one and only crop from the patio tomatoes. I had to pick them a little early because I needed to take down the plants. Still pretty good for 6 plants.
These are my patio tomatoes at their peak before I took them all down today (July 1st). This is the same variety as the plants in the ground that are six feet tall and have a two inch thick trunk. Amazing how nature's way is always the best way!!!
The Best Photographs have already been taken.
This post sort of goes along the same lines as my previous post about technology and cell phones, and how our current world is moving at a too accelerated pace.
Maybe as I get older, some of the principles that my grandfather tried to teach me when I was younger are starting to make sense now. Growing up a true Texan farmer on a large piece of property outside the small town of San Augustine, TX, my grandfather "Papa" often made comments that "things just ain't the way they used to be". He told me lots of stories of how he walked to school every day, through sleet, rain, snow, and mud. It was 3 miles from his family's farm to the one room school-house that housed all 12 grades. He was a true believer in hard work, having to get up before dawn to tend to all the livestock and other animals along with their huge vegetable gardens. He lived a hard yet well rewarded life.
As he got older though, the pace of the world around him was beginning to pass him by and I could tell he was uncomfortable with all the rapid changes. All the gadgets and tools that make things so easy seemed to take the joy out of projects leaving him stuck in the past, or as some people say "stuck in his own ways". I am starting to understand this more now than ever.
When I was a teenager (I think around 13) my other grandparents, Nana and Grandad gave me my first real nice 35mm film camera made by Minolta. In fact I still have this camera even today, and I would boldly say that it is becoming an antique. As I grew up, I took tons of pictures every time we went on vacations or visited family. Both my mom and my grandparents told me that I had a natural talent taking pictures, and they reinforced this over and over through the years. I remember the excitement of getting the film developed after a family trip to see what I had captured. Even then it took a couple of days for even one roll of 24 pictures to develop. This just isn't true anymore. Processing film is almost completely obsolete.
In the early nineties my dad, who has always owned a good film camera, passed down to me a Nikon FE3 camera. This was a major deal to me because it was such a good camera and I couldn't believe that my dad was giving it to me. This was one of the last truly great film cameras out there before digital cameras came onto the scene. Again I used it anytime I traveled or went somewhere interesting. Even as a started college and went through a rough time trying to sort out "my path" in life I seriously considered enrolling into the photography program as my major concentration. I didn't do it, but I did take a bunch of photography courses that all utilized black and white film only. I learned how to process and develop my own film, along with learning how to print and produce my own images in the darkroom. It was quite an experience looking back on it now. Even then digital cameras were very rare and they were seen as a fad that could never overtake film in quality or marketability. Sadly it happened. The funny thing is that I remember thinking it was kind of neat to be able to see my pictures on a screen right away, and if I wanted to print them I just took in the camera's memory card and they printed it out like the film cameras.
In my short lifetime, photography has gone from an obscure art form that took several skills, such as a steady hand, a keen eye and an understanding of light and metering, into an everyday household item that only takes the skill of aiming and pressing a button. It has been made into an easy hobby that anyone can pick up with a few hundred dollars to burn. The number of images taken are now seemingly endless. If you don't like the picture you just took, try it again right away and delete the bad one. Do it a thousand times if you like. If you want to capture a moving object or an athletic event, just hold down the shutter and rattle off 40-50 pictures in a dozen seconds or so. You are bound to capture something interesting. Even when you don't think your picture looks good enough, no worries, just use a computer program to clean it up and add color to it and make it look the way you want it. There is absolutely no sense of mystery left in the final photographic product, unless you think highly edited photos are mysterious. I guess one could argue that editing photos has now become the true art form, because the initial product can be captured by a blind 5 year old (when shown where to point the camera and how to push the button).
There will always be new situations that will lend new and amazing photos, however they will have been taken with less soul and with less appreciation of the true mechanics that it took when film cameras were around and before computers could edit everything. Taking a good photograph now is not hard nor is it complex. The days of only getting "one shot" to capture something amazing have fallen to the wayside.
Its too bad we think things always need to be made easier and easier.
I think it was better back when film was all we knew.
Maybe as I get older, some of the principles that my grandfather tried to teach me when I was younger are starting to make sense now. Growing up a true Texan farmer on a large piece of property outside the small town of San Augustine, TX, my grandfather "Papa" often made comments that "things just ain't the way they used to be". He told me lots of stories of how he walked to school every day, through sleet, rain, snow, and mud. It was 3 miles from his family's farm to the one room school-house that housed all 12 grades. He was a true believer in hard work, having to get up before dawn to tend to all the livestock and other animals along with their huge vegetable gardens. He lived a hard yet well rewarded life.
As he got older though, the pace of the world around him was beginning to pass him by and I could tell he was uncomfortable with all the rapid changes. All the gadgets and tools that make things so easy seemed to take the joy out of projects leaving him stuck in the past, or as some people say "stuck in his own ways". I am starting to understand this more now than ever.
When I was a teenager (I think around 13) my other grandparents, Nana and Grandad gave me my first real nice 35mm film camera made by Minolta. In fact I still have this camera even today, and I would boldly say that it is becoming an antique. As I grew up, I took tons of pictures every time we went on vacations or visited family. Both my mom and my grandparents told me that I had a natural talent taking pictures, and they reinforced this over and over through the years. I remember the excitement of getting the film developed after a family trip to see what I had captured. Even then it took a couple of days for even one roll of 24 pictures to develop. This just isn't true anymore. Processing film is almost completely obsolete.
In the early nineties my dad, who has always owned a good film camera, passed down to me a Nikon FE3 camera. This was a major deal to me because it was such a good camera and I couldn't believe that my dad was giving it to me. This was one of the last truly great film cameras out there before digital cameras came onto the scene. Again I used it anytime I traveled or went somewhere interesting. Even as a started college and went through a rough time trying to sort out "my path" in life I seriously considered enrolling into the photography program as my major concentration. I didn't do it, but I did take a bunch of photography courses that all utilized black and white film only. I learned how to process and develop my own film, along with learning how to print and produce my own images in the darkroom. It was quite an experience looking back on it now. Even then digital cameras were very rare and they were seen as a fad that could never overtake film in quality or marketability. Sadly it happened. The funny thing is that I remember thinking it was kind of neat to be able to see my pictures on a screen right away, and if I wanted to print them I just took in the camera's memory card and they printed it out like the film cameras.
In my short lifetime, photography has gone from an obscure art form that took several skills, such as a steady hand, a keen eye and an understanding of light and metering, into an everyday household item that only takes the skill of aiming and pressing a button. It has been made into an easy hobby that anyone can pick up with a few hundred dollars to burn. The number of images taken are now seemingly endless. If you don't like the picture you just took, try it again right away and delete the bad one. Do it a thousand times if you like. If you want to capture a moving object or an athletic event, just hold down the shutter and rattle off 40-50 pictures in a dozen seconds or so. You are bound to capture something interesting. Even when you don't think your picture looks good enough, no worries, just use a computer program to clean it up and add color to it and make it look the way you want it. There is absolutely no sense of mystery left in the final photographic product, unless you think highly edited photos are mysterious. I guess one could argue that editing photos has now become the true art form, because the initial product can be captured by a blind 5 year old (when shown where to point the camera and how to push the button).
There will always be new situations that will lend new and amazing photos, however they will have been taken with less soul and with less appreciation of the true mechanics that it took when film cameras were around and before computers could edit everything. Taking a good photograph now is not hard nor is it complex. The days of only getting "one shot" to capture something amazing have fallen to the wayside.
Its too bad we think things always need to be made easier and easier.
I think it was better back when film was all we knew.
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Double Edged Sword of Technology...
My friend Justin (aka. Mr. Money-Shot/Mega Gadget Geek) inspired me to write this.
I remember back in the 1980's thinking that computers were just for schools and scientists and maybe the government. In only 25 or so years since, almost everyone has a computer. Even if you don't own an actual PC workstation or laptop, you definitely own a cell phone (and I'm pretty sure even homeless people own them nowadays). They are everywhere. Cell phones have dramatically taken over as every one's personal assistants. They are little mini-PCs that have global communication technology including GPS satellite navigation, voice, text and email access, Internet access, and I'm sure coming soon a feature that allows alien communication! I mean what an amazing yet distracting tool! If we only used maybe ten percent of our brains before all this technology explosion, we are surely using less and less as these devices get smarter and smarter. (Can you say Terminator?) How many phone numbers do we remember from sheer memory anymore? I heard that my friend recently had a cell phone crash and couldn't even remember his own wife's number. Sad but true.
Now amidst all of this advancement in communication and personal computers, how often do we truly give ourselves a break from it all? If you stop to look around, it's really rather disturbing how people are so wrapped up in their little devices. Go to the gym and people are all wired with their Ipods and their phones and are literally like robots as they go about their typical routines walking and jogging in the same spot for hours. It's even so much of a problem that some states like California have made it illegal to drive while talking or texting on cell phones unless you use the hands free device. Did you just hear what I said? A HANDS FREE DEVICE. It is too much trouble to have to hold the phone to your ears and talk because you might need your hands for other things so they invented a HANDS FREE DEVICE. I think we all look like the Borg from Star Trek when wear these things! Man are we lazy!!!
My point here is this, people should place more value on life's sacred things and not get so wrapped up in man made tools of distraction. I am just as guilty as the rest of them for spending my fair share on computers and using cell phones, however I am trying to recognize that it really isn't always for the best. If you go camping, leave your laptops and your gadgets at home, that's what camping is for...appreciation of the outdoors. Take some time away from the TV and computer and take a walk on the beach. I'm telling you...we are putting way too much faith in the powers that create all this technology and not spending enough time without it. It is 100% luxuriuos and 0% necessary. I don't think it makes us better people to have so much at our fingertips that we also control so little of. One flip of the grid (power grid, Internet grid) and we will all be left with a bunch of fancy looking devices that can only be used for skipping across a lake (and of course poisening the lake soon after by leaking its lithiom ions all over the place).
PS. I should have written this in my normal hand written journal, it would have lasted longer that way.
I remember back in the 1980's thinking that computers were just for schools and scientists and maybe the government. In only 25 or so years since, almost everyone has a computer. Even if you don't own an actual PC workstation or laptop, you definitely own a cell phone (and I'm pretty sure even homeless people own them nowadays). They are everywhere. Cell phones have dramatically taken over as every one's personal assistants. They are little mini-PCs that have global communication technology including GPS satellite navigation, voice, text and email access, Internet access, and I'm sure coming soon a feature that allows alien communication! I mean what an amazing yet distracting tool! If we only used maybe ten percent of our brains before all this technology explosion, we are surely using less and less as these devices get smarter and smarter. (Can you say Terminator?) How many phone numbers do we remember from sheer memory anymore? I heard that my friend recently had a cell phone crash and couldn't even remember his own wife's number. Sad but true.
Now amidst all of this advancement in communication and personal computers, how often do we truly give ourselves a break from it all? If you stop to look around, it's really rather disturbing how people are so wrapped up in their little devices. Go to the gym and people are all wired with their Ipods and their phones and are literally like robots as they go about their typical routines walking and jogging in the same spot for hours. It's even so much of a problem that some states like California have made it illegal to drive while talking or texting on cell phones unless you use the hands free device. Did you just hear what I said? A HANDS FREE DEVICE. It is too much trouble to have to hold the phone to your ears and talk because you might need your hands for other things so they invented a HANDS FREE DEVICE. I think we all look like the Borg from Star Trek when wear these things! Man are we lazy!!!
My point here is this, people should place more value on life's sacred things and not get so wrapped up in man made tools of distraction. I am just as guilty as the rest of them for spending my fair share on computers and using cell phones, however I am trying to recognize that it really isn't always for the best. If you go camping, leave your laptops and your gadgets at home, that's what camping is for...appreciation of the outdoors. Take some time away from the TV and computer and take a walk on the beach. I'm telling you...we are putting way too much faith in the powers that create all this technology and not spending enough time without it. It is 100% luxuriuos and 0% necessary. I don't think it makes us better people to have so much at our fingertips that we also control so little of. One flip of the grid (power grid, Internet grid) and we will all be left with a bunch of fancy looking devices that can only be used for skipping across a lake (and of course poisening the lake soon after by leaking its lithiom ions all over the place).
PS. I should have written this in my normal hand written journal, it would have lasted longer that way.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tomato Growing Experiment
Starting from seeds and then moving to small cups after a couple weeks.
After about 3 weeks, almost ready for final transplant.
I don't know why, but I love to tinker around in the garden and grow veggies! It must be because both my grandfathers always had amazing gardens and my dad has also been known to have his own plants. I like trying to grow tomatoes because they are unpredictable and can grow indeterminately if you take care of them and stake them up. Living in an apartment makes it challenging because I am forced to grow them in containers. This past summer (2008) I started late in the season (late July), but still managed to get a bunch of tomatoes by October.
This year I started planting way early (April) and even went so far as to start everything from seeds. Also I was blessed to be able to use an old flower bed next to our apartment building; it had been neglected and was overgrown with Ivy and some old bush-like plant. I spent a few days digging up everything and completely clearing it, preparing for a mini garden. The flower bed is about a 50 foot strip and 4 feet wide. I let my front neighbors plant two rose bushes in the front section, but I got the rest for a bunch of different vegetable plants.
This is before I cleared the flower bed.
This is the bed currently.
I originally planted 5 tomato plants near the back part of the flower bed. Only two survived because of an idiot Mexican yard guy that went crazy with his blower and knocked 3 plants down, breaking them at the base and killing them.
Here you see one of the two flower bed plants that I staked around 5 weeks old. I'm going with small bamboo sticks because I think it looks more rustic and natural.
I planted the same seedlings into 5 different sized potted containers, ranging from 12inch pots to 14 inch pots. Also staked at about 5 weeks. Notice the immediate difference in the size of the main stalk compared to the one planted in the flower bed.
Currently, the two flower bed tomato plants have drastically tripled in size compared to the potted plants on our balcony. They all get the same amount of watering and sunlight, however it is a little harder to keep the potted plants perfectly watered (sometimes the leaves droop if you don't water a bit on a daily basis).
Below is me and my two big plants. Notice in the background there are lots of tiny seedling plants starting to come up. These are all other veggies such as peppers, onions and more tomato plants.
This is before I cleared the flower bed.
This is the bed currently.
I originally planted 5 tomato plants near the back part of the flower bed. Only two survived because of an idiot Mexican yard guy that went crazy with his blower and knocked 3 plants down, breaking them at the base and killing them.
Here you see one of the two flower bed plants that I staked around 5 weeks old. I'm going with small bamboo sticks because I think it looks more rustic and natural.
I planted the same seedlings into 5 different sized potted containers, ranging from 12inch pots to 14 inch pots. Also staked at about 5 weeks. Notice the immediate difference in the size of the main stalk compared to the one planted in the flower bed. 
Currently, the two flower bed tomato plants have drastically tripled in size compared to the potted plants on our balcony. They all get the same amount of watering and sunlight, however it is a little harder to keep the potted plants perfectly watered (sometimes the leaves droop if you don't water a bit on a daily basis).Below is me and my two big plants. Notice in the background there are lots of tiny seedling plants starting to come up. These are all other veggies such as peppers, onions and more tomato plants.
Its been exciting to see the progress of the same plants in two different growing areas. All of these first wave tomato plants are just starting to flower and form tiny tomatoes. I have had to continually prune each plant along with add more stakes to the two in the flower bed. I also planted some heirloom tomatoes in place of three plants that were murdered by the blower. I will update when the tomatoes are in bloom.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Spear Chunkin....I mean shootin
So this past weekend I had my first free diving experience with my friend Q (Chris Quirarte) and his friend Zack. We all drove separately to Ventura Harbor and met on Dock G where the Peace Dive Boat resides. I got there last, around 11:30pm and everyone was already in bed trying to get some rest for an early morning departure and dive. I had a hard time falling asleep in the little bunk, especially after the anticipation of getting there and making the long 100 mile journey. I think I was mostly excited. To calm myself, I practiced holding my breath in the dark and timing it with my cell phone. My first attempt was 1 minute 29 seconds, which I thought was pretty impressive, especially since I hadn't timed myself in years and I remembered one minute being pretty good. Second attempt I hit 1 minute 58 seconds and felt pretty good, had to try again to break the 2 minute barrier! Third attempt I got 2:02 59 !!! Woo Hoo! Maybe my 30 challenge has paid off by expanding my lung capacity from having to breath only with my nose in that hot room! Finally I fell asleep feeling reassured that I probably wouldn't drown the next day!
I awoke to the sound of the boat engines starting up. I looked at the time and it was 4:10am. I tried to go back to sleep but was restless hearing all the sounds of the boat getting untied and slowly moving through the harbor. Our bunks were all on one side of boat and as the boat picked up speed it sounded like the water was rushing by our heads! Then as the boat made it out of the harbor and made it to full speed, the rocking of waves began. I had to lay flat on my back to keep from getting nauseous. Finally I made it back to sleep and awoke a couple hours later to Q saying "you gonna make this first dive"?
There is a lot of gear required for this sort of spear fishing. I had on a full wetsuit, booties, a neoprene hoodie, a weight belt with 12 lbs of weights, scuba mask, snorkel, long free diving fins, a dive knife, and finally a 4 foot wooden spear gun with a float line and big float attached to it. To say the least I was a little overwhelmed with all this gear and not knowing what to expect when I hit the water. Thankfully Q and one of the deck hands helped me into the water and handed me the gun and told me to swim out 50 feet or so to load it. The water temp was pretty nice actually...maybe 63 degrees. Visability was good too, maybe 15-20 feet. The boat was anchored in about 40 feet of water right smack in the middle of a huge kelp bed a few hundred yards from Santa Cruz Island.
It was a breathtaking experience both literally and mentally! Looking all around at the underwater forest seemed like I was inside one of those nature channel programs. I had to keep telling myself to breathe! My earlier "out of water" breath holding skills were quickly diminished and I was lucky to dive down more than 20 seconds at a time! I had a hard time clearing my ears past about 10 feet, so I decided to just be a surface hunter! Q spent some time with me showing me how to load the rubber bands on the gun and how to patrol around in the water. The hardest part was trying to stay relaxed and not use up additional energy, but this is much harder said than done. It's gonna take lots more experience to learn this one technique.
After about 2 hours of "hunting" we made it back to the boat and I was both exhausted and borderline nauseous from all the movement and swaying. Back on the boat there were a few stories of big fish sightings and a few lucky spearings. We were specifically targeting White Sea Bass and on this first dive, two were shot - both maybe 12-15 lbs. A few other random fish were shot, a sheephead, a couple barracudas, and one kelp bass. Not the most successful first dive, but loads of fun and adventure none the less.
The crew provided us with a hearty breakfast of eggs, pancakes, sausage, and oatmeal to build our energy back up for the 2nd dive to come. The boat re-positioned a mile or so down the island and before I even had a chance to rest they were ready for us to get back in the water. I had taken off my wetsuit already so I was one of the last people back in the water for this 2nd dive. This time I went off by myself and explored and explored.
I found Q after an hour or so and we stayed near each other until the end of the 2nd dive. I was getting anxious to shoot something so I started setting my sites on some of the larger kelp fish that kept swimming all around. Finally a pretty large kelp fish swam in between two large strands of kelp and maybe 10 feet from me. I swam over and quickly took the gun off safety, pointed, and shot through the kelp. I didn't think I had actually shot the fish until I began retrieving the line attached to the spear. I felt a tug and then another. I remember thinking "YES" I nailed one! I called over to Q and told him I needed some help getting the fish off the spear. After we got everything all sorted out, I told Q I was heading back to the boat. I must have inspired him because not even 5 minutes later I heard him yell that he had now shot a fish. I swam back over and helped him get a nice sized California Sheephead onto the fish stringer. We both swam back to the boat with our 2 fish.
These ended up being our only 2 kills, yet we had a blast. No one else had much luck either on the 2nd and 3rd dive spots. There was one notable White Sea Bass shot at the 2nd spot, it was over 4 feet long and weighed about 51 pounds! Amazing! To say the least I got exposed to a very adventurous new way to fish. After a nice lunch and brownie sundae, the boat headed back for Ventura Harbor. We sat up on the upper sun deck and talked and hung out the whole way back. Q and Zack had several Moose Drool Beers and I sort of dozed on and off. I was very wiped out. We finally arrived back at the dock around 6pm and it was still fully daylight out. We packed up all our gear and carried everything back to our cars. I think Zack ended up following Q back home to Whittier and I drive home to Huntington Beach. It was an awesome experience that will be sought after again! Many thanks to Q for the spear gun, weight belt and for teaching me the ways of the spear fisherman!!!
It was a breathtaking experience both literally and mentally! Looking all around at the underwater forest seemed like I was inside one of those nature channel programs. I had to keep telling myself to breathe! My earlier "out of water" breath holding skills were quickly diminished and I was lucky to dive down more than 20 seconds at a time! I had a hard time clearing my ears past about 10 feet, so I decided to just be a surface hunter! Q spent some time with me showing me how to load the rubber bands on the gun and how to patrol around in the water. The hardest part was trying to stay relaxed and not use up additional energy, but this is much harder said than done. It's gonna take lots more experience to learn this one technique.
After about 2 hours of "hunting" we made it back to the boat and I was both exhausted and borderline nauseous from all the movement and swaying. Back on the boat there were a few stories of big fish sightings and a few lucky spearings. We were specifically targeting White Sea Bass and on this first dive, two were shot - both maybe 12-15 lbs. A few other random fish were shot, a sheephead, a couple barracudas, and one kelp bass. Not the most successful first dive, but loads of fun and adventure none the less.
The crew provided us with a hearty breakfast of eggs, pancakes, sausage, and oatmeal to build our energy back up for the 2nd dive to come. The boat re-positioned a mile or so down the island and before I even had a chance to rest they were ready for us to get back in the water. I had taken off my wetsuit already so I was one of the last people back in the water for this 2nd dive. This time I went off by myself and explored and explored.
I found Q after an hour or so and we stayed near each other until the end of the 2nd dive. I was getting anxious to shoot something so I started setting my sites on some of the larger kelp fish that kept swimming all around. Finally a pretty large kelp fish swam in between two large strands of kelp and maybe 10 feet from me. I swam over and quickly took the gun off safety, pointed, and shot through the kelp. I didn't think I had actually shot the fish until I began retrieving the line attached to the spear. I felt a tug and then another. I remember thinking "YES" I nailed one! I called over to Q and told him I needed some help getting the fish off the spear. After we got everything all sorted out, I told Q I was heading back to the boat. I must have inspired him because not even 5 minutes later I heard him yell that he had now shot a fish. I swam back over and helped him get a nice sized California Sheephead onto the fish stringer. We both swam back to the boat with our 2 fish.
These ended up being our only 2 kills, yet we had a blast. No one else had much luck either on the 2nd and 3rd dive spots. There was one notable White Sea Bass shot at the 2nd spot, it was over 4 feet long and weighed about 51 pounds! Amazing! To say the least I got exposed to a very adventurous new way to fish. After a nice lunch and brownie sundae, the boat headed back for Ventura Harbor. We sat up on the upper sun deck and talked and hung out the whole way back. Q and Zack had several Moose Drool Beers and I sort of dozed on and off. I was very wiped out. We finally arrived back at the dock around 6pm and it was still fully daylight out. We packed up all our gear and carried everything back to our cars. I think Zack ended up following Q back home to Whittier and I drive home to Huntington Beach. It was an awesome experience that will be sought after again! Many thanks to Q for the spear gun, weight belt and for teaching me the ways of the spear fisherman!!!Wednesday, May 20, 2009
30 days in a Row!
So I have to brag a little here. For the past 30 days, Sadie and I have been quietly participating in a 30 Day Challenge at our favorite little Hot Yoga place here in HB. We have both been attending fairly regularly since this past January (maybe 2-3 times a week) but we decided to step it up starting April 20th and attend a class a day for 30 days straight. No days off, no make-ups.
Now if you've ever heard of Bikram Yoga, you would know that it is a very structured type of Yoga comprised of 26 poses done in exact order under instruction from a teacher in a room no less than 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Its also 90 minutes long. Now if that doesn't scare the pants off you, then listen to this...at our Hot Yoga studio, they have improvised the Bikram poses into a slightly altered order, yet still sticking with the same principles, but also play background music. Our room is heated to no less than 110 degrees with an average of about 112 and sometimes as hot as 116 depending on the size of the class and humidity. Nonetheless its is a "moving" experience and most certainly not for the faint of heart.
I am very proud of Sadie for all her 6am classes then straight to work, then to ballet class for 1-2 hrs in the evenings. She is very dedicated and strong. Even on the weekends we had to make it to a class each day when we really wanted to sleep in or just be lazy. We didn't take any trips during these last 30 days, and we were forced to do our laundry every single day (because of the sweaty towels and clothes). It was quite the commitment.
Not only do I feel physically stronger from all the classes, I feel mentally capable to take on just about anything. This challenge even helped me to be on time to appointments and work and events.
There have only been 140 days so far in 2009 and I can say I've spent at least 50 of them in Hot Yoga class.
Go team Eppes!
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