Ambivalence

Last week, especially 22 May 08, the surf at The Shores, at least in my surf world, was pretty darn good.

The paddle-out was not a lot of fun, in fact my offer of paying someone, anyone, the big $$ just to paddle my board out and leave it far outside the lineup went untaken.

Anyway, I finally did make it out [far south of the lifeguard tower] and as I paddled north towards Outside Emmett’s, I passed more than one longboard surfer.

Luckily for me, if the waves at The Shores even approach a few feet overhead, most of the longboarders [JALs (Just Another Longboarder)] who surf there [The Shores] don’t make the trek to the fun area in front of The White House – whew –

However, since my trek thru Archie’s to The White House started south of The Tower, I had to paddle through a number of JALs.

A pretty decent wave came thru and one of the JALs paddled kindda half-ass for the wave – no success in catching the wave.

I was in a pretty good mood [for me] that day, so rather than call the JAL a ****** or ****, I offered a friendly bit of advice: “Dude, you gotta paddle like you want to catch the wave.”

The JAL’s response: “I was really ambivalent about that wave.”

I didn’t know what he meant by ambivalent, so I just kept on paddling north.

I waited until I got to work later that day, and Googled ambivalent:

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
ambivalent
adjective
uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow; "was ambivalent about having children"
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

Anyway, I began to think – ouch – about the 2 sentence conversation earlier in the day.

I thought: how could anyone be ambivalent about the surf that day, or even more puzzling to me, was why would anyone be ambivalent about most things in life?

I won’t bore myself with my musings about my life’s lesson learned, but I just gotta say, if one is riding a longboard, with a leash, you are taking up a radius in the lineup of close to 20 feet [10 feet of surfboard + 10 feet of leash].

My suggestion: Please take your 20 feet of ambivalence and find a place where you can surf with like minded friends, and please stay out of surfing areas where those in the water always want to improve their surfing skills – meaning every wave one catches has a purpose, and finding that purpose will help you to get better, stronger, and more skilled in the lineup.

BA

Opening Season 2008 in La Jolla

Well kids, it's that time of year again -

Summer is almost here and the La Jolla beaches will be packed with:
Stingrays, boogers, cell phone [while looking for a parking place] yappers, beginning surfers [we all used to be one], JAKs [Just Another Kook] [I, for one, tried to get out of the JAK Class as quickly as possible], surf schools [we're all jealous 'cause we ain't making any $$ on the wannabe surfers], checkered flags, screaming kids, screaming lifeguards...

Anyway, the Unwritten Rules of Surfing have been printed many times over, here are a couple of my favorites:

1. The shoulder of the wave is not the on ramp for the wave -

2. Hold on to your stupid board - you're roped to it - it [the board] ain't going anywhere

AND - most importantly - if you're surfing La Jolla Shores and you DO NOT see any kooks in the water - YOU are probably the kook - please stay out of the way!

Oh - I almost forgot - The La Jolla Reefs are packed with hostile locals, the waves are NEVER any good, and for good measure, the water's always polluted.

Oh - I almost forgot 2 - there is a BIG difference between a KOOK and a BEGINNER - if you gotta ask what the difference is, I'm probably not the one to ask!

BA

Sand In - Sand Out

I've lived in and around, on and off, La Jolla for almost, gasp, 55 years. I saw the sand movement at WindanSea but never paid much attention to it

Now, I'm starting to pay attention.

Pretty darn cool that it [the sand] always comes in, always goes out.

"Sorry Dude, I Didn't See You"

- 12 November 2007 -

This may be a bit harsh - equating him with a someone who is deaf and blind - but the guy dropping in is lucky that Junior is able to maneuver his board skillfully enough to avoid a nasty collision.


Oh well, the guy had a Swedish Exchange Student waiting on the beach for him - He's the latest poster boy for "Chicks Dig Me 'Cause I Surf©!"

More Photos:

Seaweed Gulch: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9

Customer Service 101 - What's That?

I can only speak for myself, so here's another BA Broadside Salvo [BABS] to the surly business owners and their employees in my world:

Hey Mister / Ms. Business Owner:

How's this for a unique / novel idea:

Your business is a physical manifestation of a concept that maybe, just maybe, your customers have a basic human need to feel - at the minimum - somewhat special, kindda appreciated, not disrespected, and to be served by people who at least act like they enjoy serving their customers.

Now, for an even more novel idea:

Your business is a physical manifestation of a concept that people have a basic human need to feel special, to be appreciated, to be respected as individuals, and to be served by people who truly enjoy being gracious, helpful, kind and caring.

Maybe, just maybe, if I received the impression from you and / or your employees that you appreciated my business, I would come back for another visit.

Balsa or Foam Imports or No Imports

Balsa or Foam?

First Posted by Bill Andrews, April 2, 2003

==========================

I had an interesting conversation with Doug Murphy a few days ago. Doug is Dennis Murphy's (Murphy Surfboards) brother.

I have known both of them - the Murphys - since they were just little surf nazis.

Doug and I were discussing the state of custom surfboards - made in the USA - versus the molded surfboards from SurfTec and versus the cheap imports from Indo, etc.

Doug was pretty sure that the molded boards or the cheap imports would never catch-on, I heartily disagreed!

When I started to surf in the late '50s, balsa boards were still the stick of choice.

Foam boards were rare, but not the novelty item they were a few years earlier.

There were lots of lively discussions extolling the virtues of balsa wood and how crappy the foam boards were.

Naturally, my first few boards were balsa, even though a 40 pound foam board was just as strong as my 50 pound, plus balsa board and lugging an extra 10 pounds to Black's from The Shores was significant.

Anyway - balsa boards are now expensive wall hangings, and foam is - well, just look around.

When I started in the retail surf biz in the early '60s, everything I sold in my shops was made in the US. Wet suits, surf racks, Holo Holo Slippers, trunks, shorts, t-shirts

- EVERYTHING!

(Holo Holo Slippers - when I started stocking them, and when the coeds at SDSU and Cal Western would come in for their BLUE HOLO HOLOS - that was surf shop excitement)

If I had tried to sell imported "Surf Stuff" I would have been hung by my ******* .... Now - what "Surf Stuff" isn't imported?

?? - Surf Wax and Custom Surfboards - ??

Even a lot of the mags are printed overseas.

?? - Nobody cares - ??

I think that in just a few years - probably in my lifetime - the "Custom Surfboard" biz will rapidly disappear, and as today's youngsters age, their replacements will have been weaned on imports and molded boards.

Anyway, I'm glad I was involved in the early days of the surf biz, now I'm pretty happy that I'm not [in the surf biz any longer].

Later,

BA