Gorgeous Weather and Possibly Some Surf

Posted on November 18, 2008
Filed Under General, Surfing | Leave a Comment

When I woke up this morning it was 50 degrees and the temperature is slowly but surely rising (it’s 56 now). It looks like it’s going to be another cloudless, gorgeous day and to top it all off we may have some surf as soon as tomorrow morning. Now it’s just a matter of getting my ass out of bed at 5:30 to get to the beach by 6, we’ll see if that actually happens. If it’s good it probably will but there’s no way of telling until I actually get down to the beach. Surfline’s calling for 3-4ft which normally means 4-5 ft as the surf forecast for Flagpole and Breakers here in West Palm is often underestimated by them.

Other than that not much is going on.

Dinner at Bob and Mary’s House

Posted on November 17, 2008
Filed Under Friends | Leave a Comment

Bob and Mary are a charming older couple that lives in my building and are as nice as people get. I helped Bob set up 610ClematisStreet.com a few months ago and he’s been at it ever since. Last night they invited all of us “kids” down for dinner with them and Jim and Barbara, their next door neighbors. Overall it was Chad, Kristen, Eli, Bob, Mary, Barbara, Jim, a friend of Kristen’s and me. Really nice evening with great food. Outside was kind of chilly be we all loved it. I’m pretty sure each of us was originally from a colder climate at some point in our lives so it was a welcome change.

Thanks again to Bob and Mary for a really nice evening. Bob took so many photos it was insane so once I get a few I’ll post them up (either here or in the photo gallery).

Waist to Should High Surf at Flagpole

Posted on November 17, 2008
Filed Under Friends, Surfing | Leave a Comment

Sunday afternoon was the perfect time to hit the beach here in West Palm. The tide was dropping, the water was warm (though the air was about 65 and chilly as hell) and I had finally convinced my bro Phil to get his board out and join me. It’s getting dangerously close to full wetsuite season but it’s all good. I switched back and forth between my 8′4″ and my 7′7″ as the surf changed conditions.

Tons of good lefts as the swell was coming out of the North East, most good sets right around the should high range. It seems like forever since I’ve been in the water but man did it feel good. I’ve been incredibly lazy lately when it comes to surfing. I miss it so much but honestly I don’t have as much fun surfing solo so I lose my motivation to get down to the beach when there’s no one around to join me. Hopefully that changes soon.

She’s Doing Just Fine

Posted on November 13, 2008
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Thanks for all of your sentiment everyone. She seems to be doing just fine with two plates and eight screws in her collar bone. I’m not sure how many stitches she got but everything should heal nicely once it’s all said and done. Right now she just needs to get some rest and I’m sure she’s feeling better already.

Thanks to Trish as well for sending my Mom flowers, that was very sweet.

Mom’s Going for Surgury

Posted on November 10, 2008
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After 8 weeks of pain from her car accident my Mom’s finally going to have a plate and some screws put into her broken collar bone tomorrow morning. The original set never really took and it’s not begun to heal at all so the doctors decided to go ahead and schedule the surgery.

Good luck mom, I love you.

Beginning to Get Concerned

Posted on November 10, 2008
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When I spend half my day in the office asking for something to do it’s a bit concerning. I know everyone I’ve spoken to is running a little slow lately and no one’s really spending any money on much, especially companies and their marketing budgets. That’s where my life-blood primarily comes from. I’ve been in this seat twice before and I’m going to be honest with you, it was tough every time and the outcome was never that great.

The first time I was working at a company called the Mercurio Group. The lack of business was primarily the work of an incompetent and irresponsible owner. No incoming projects meant we sat around for a month or two with nothing to do but work on our portfolios and resumes. Not good but we all kind of saw it coming. I had a new job by the end of the week that time.

The second time though was in 2002 right after the twin towers fell and things in the design industry got really tough. The economy was in the shitter and my employer Greg Lange of then Lange Wheeler Design Group just simply didn’t have a use for their sole web designer and certainly didn’t have the clients to justify my salary. So, unfortunately I was laid off and spent 6 months doing freelance and bartending to make it. I was 24 or 25 back then. Greg was pretty much in tears that day as I wasn’t the only one he had to let go. Yeah, it was that bad.

Now I’m kind of looking around over the last couple months and I’m seeing the trend once again. I work in a small design agency of about 8 people. Two project managers, a writer, the owner Bill, our developer Rich, Rick the SEO guy, Neil our designer and me (I do pretty much everything from Design, planning to CSS/PHP Development). When times like these hit you tend to take a better stock of who sits around you, trust me. It’s not that I think any of us are getting laid off, it’s more that at some point it’s going to get tough to pay our salaries, especially without new projects coming onboard and who knows what’ll happen then. I don’t want to see it happen again but I’m beginning to get concerned.

I just really hope things turn around soon. I like being busy.

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  • About

    Damien Komala - web designer

    I'm a seasoned 31 year old web designer originally from Cincinnati Ohio (born in Wilmington) and now living in West Palm Beach, Florida. Currently holding the Senior Designer/Developer position at THAT Agency in downtown West Palm Beach. A small yet very talented design firm specializing in high end PHP and CSS sites for various clients.

    Even though I'm from Ohio I'm a die hard South Florida Surfer and beach guy. I picked up the sport over three years ago and never looked back. Any chance I get I'm in the water, which is sometimes rare considering that South Florida is fairly inconsistent with surf. Those days we do get are always a great gift.

    The blog itself is primary here to communicate with family and friends though it does server other purposes as well such as showcasing my portfolio, skillset and resume as well as giving me a place to express myself without (too much) injury.

    View Damien Komala's profile on LinkedIn



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