A Glimpse Inside

:: What's New in the World ::

Quote
"I hate you."
-Event Staff

In The Off Hours
Books :: None currently...
TV :: Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, The 4400, Entourage
Anime :: Naruto, Bleach, Gundam SEED Destiny, Sousei no Aquarion
Music :: DHT - Listen to Your Heart

happiness is... • Annoying Event Staff • No More Work • Night Pictures • Winning at Poker

unhappiness is... • No income • Expensive gear • Integrating flash and DBs • Driving long distances

Monday Weekend Report...
Well a lot happened this weekend kiddos and *gasp* I’m actually going to take the time out of my busy schedule to tell you all about it. Actually I’m using this as a means to avoid work, so it’s a win-win situation for all hehe. First up, it has come to my attention that I’m not in the best shape to handle the rigors of the trip I’m about to embark on, i.e. lugging around a 40+ pound pack while hiking on rough trails. So I decided that I should probably start training and conditioning myself in preparation of such ordeals. That said, Chris and I ran (and by ran I mean ran and then walked a lot) up Iron Mountain in Poway on Saturday. And even though it’s called a mountain, I would say that’s probably nothing more than a glorified hill. The strain of running up those rocky switchbacks still have my calves, quads and shins smarting. But once we got to the top I suppose it was all worth it.

On Sunday, I packed up the Jeep with all my SCUBA gear and headed out to La Jolla Shores to complete the night dive portion of my Advanced Open Water certification. You know if I never do another shore dive as long I live, I think that’d be ok with me. Diving off a boat is where it’s at. You strap on your gear, walk to the edge of the boat and step into the ocean. On a shore dive, you have to strap on all your gear, including your uber-heavy weight belt that digs slowly into you hip, and trek slowly towards the ocean. From there, it’s waddling out to waist high water, shuffling your feat along the sandy bottom to avoid getting stung by those pesky sting rays, and awkwardly strapping on your fins in surging surf that tosses you to and fro at the most inconvenient time. Then it’s a nice relaxing swim out to deeper waters on your back as the waves crest over the top of your head, salt water blinding you constantly.

Once we finally got where we needed to go, one of the people in the class had his tank slip out of its harness. Now generally this isn’t a problem but this genius didn’t bother to do his pre-dive checks. So he and the instructor spent a frantic 10-15 minutes on the surface trying to fix it. Eventually the instructor managed to get his tank back where it was suppose to be and we all headed down into the murky depths. Now night diving is a little different than regular diving, especially in water with as low a visibility as San Diego. It literally is sinking into the abyss. You can’t see more than 2 feet in front of you and if it weren’t for our super bright underwater lights, we’d all be blind. It’s easy to get disoriented. Even which direction is up is only signified by the bubbles floating slowly the surface. After a few seconds of hanging in limbo, we hit the bottom and the world regains a little of its natural up-down orientation.

We then start our tour of the ocean bottom, heading slowly out to sea at a miserly pace. After several minutes, I feel the sudden drop in temperature as we dive beneath the thermaclime. Then suddenly the ocean floor begins to drop away quickly into the darkness. We venture a little ways down the drop off but by then our air is running low and we start our way back to shore, swimming most of the way along the ocean floor to avoid the waves above. When we finally do surface, we realize that the currents have pulled us a good distance away from our entry point. The arduous trek back to our gear was umm… not fun. If you think SCUBA gear is heavy when dry, you haven’t lived until you walk a good distance in wet gear. Anyway, this post has rambled on for long enough. Till next time...

:: posted by Z [10:36 AM] ::
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Snowboarding, SCUBA, and Seasickness...
You know what? I am just gonna stop apologizing for not updating because then I'd spend all my time apologizing. After 3 or so years of doing this, I find it hard to... well find the motivation to update. And for once it's not from a lack of things going on. Just the week before last I spent 4 days in Mammoth in what could possibly be the last time I go boarding in quite a while considering by next season I shall be far away from my snowboard, my gear, and in fact everything else of mine. But if that was my last trip, then it was definitely a good way to go. It was also the first time Chris and I had gone boarding together.

The first day we got there, things weren't looking so great. The sun was shining, the snow was packed down as hard as... well ice because that's what it was. There was no fresh powder on the main runs and the wind was starting to pick up a little. Despite that, we got in some pretty decent runs from the top of the mountain before the storm set in. Half way through the day, it began to snow and the temperature took a nose dive. Those of us with extra layers were among the fortune ones. But the bad weather, even though it closed parts of the mountain, emptied it of those who lacked the heart to endure the harsh conditions. By the next day, the mountain had fresh powder and we split up into smaller groups to maximize our time. I managed to get myself hurt and my lower back is still smarting from an attempted, note the keyword attempted, jump I did on my second run. But all in all it was a great trip. Shout out to Javi for putting it all together again.

Also for those who don't know, Chris and I have been trying to get our advance diver certification before we leave on our trip and it has just been one delay after another. I think God might be seriously giving us a heads up warning to stay away from the ocean. We went to get our deep dive and wreck dive done over the weekend and the Pacific was anything but. I'm talking 10 to 15 ft swells in the middle of the ocean. It rocked the tiny boat we were on like one of those dancing ornaments people clue to the dash of their car. For the first in a long time I got seasick and wasn't able to complete the dive. I'm not sure what will happen now but I know I'm never gonna try to do that again. There were some moments there while I was in the water I was seriously scared.

Anyway, not the most intersting update I know but for those who have been wondering what has been up with me, there you go. Oh yeah, a minor correct to the time table above. My trip to Japan and Thailand was pushed back to March 10th. I can't wait to be free of this place for two whole weeks. Anyway, back to work... actually it's almost time for Wednesday Starbucks break. w00h00.

:: posted by Z [10:22 AM] ::
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