My New Place
30 August 2005
Whew, this has been a mission so far but finally I get to do my final walk through of my new condo today over lunch. Luckily they'll let me move in before all of the final paperwork is signed (since my bitch of a roommate wouldn't give me an hour let alone a day). So tonight I'm finally beginning to move into the new pad (thank God). I'll probably post some shots if I think about it from the new place.

Last Weekend
29 August 2005
Finally a relaxing weekend. Ramil and I spent a few hours each day surfing at either Boynton Inlet (my new home break) or at Boca's South Beach Pavilion. Not bad overall surf but it was definitely long board time. Mushy and choppy.

Another Notch In The Belt
26 August 2005
Yup, that's right, we're still here and I've got another notch in the 'ole hurricane belt. This one was minor compared to what we had to endure last year. I didn't even lose power for more than a few minutes at a time and the only damage around here was a few downed tree branches and some minor roof damage so certain places. I think Miami got hit the hardest and that's simply because they received a ton of rain and flooding is still a problem down there. Overall I think we're lucky. I never did get a chance to surf the storm surge. By the time I got off of work the wind was all over it and the waves were like a washing machine. No thanks. But hey, we may have some residual surf for the weekend to look forward to.

Meet Hurricane Katrina
25 August 2005
That's right, our first official hurricane of the season. Yesterday's surf session was the result of some strengthening wind and a very large storm heading our way. Hell, last year I'd have been worried. This year, get the short boards out boys and girls - let's go surfing!

Happy Happy, Joy Joy!
24 August 2005
After the last few weeks it was about time I heard some good news! I finally got the loan for my condo approved and signed off so I'm now good to go! Hell yeah, I'm about to dance around the freaking office! That and we now have a tropical storm off the coast of Florida to produce some serious surf over the next few days so yeah, you can call me a happy camper.

The Predicament I'm In
23 August 2005
Life sometimes puts you in the shittiest of predicaments and mine is no picnic. As of today I have still not heard anything from my loan company as far as final approval on my loan. I'm now in a serious time crunch to get this thing done. If it fails to get approved I have to: A - Start another loan. B- Find some place to live for a few weeks since my bitch of a roommate won't extend my lease to keep me from being homeless while I try to get another loan pushed through. C - Organize and stress about yet another mortgage company. D - Ask... no beg, for an extension to my realty contract and hope they don't tell me to fuck off. D - Get the four grand I no have in SGROW back in my IRA before they charge me way too much in early disbursement fees. E - Put all of my shit in storage while I'm homeless. F - Pay for yet another appraisal of the property ($300). G - If all fails start the entire mind numbing process over again from looking for a property in a saturated market and loan approvals, closings, appraisals and I still won't have a place to live! And all of this is hinging on whether or not NationPoint will give me an answer or not. The constant and two and half week nail biting waiting game has pushed me back to smoking cigarettes and enduring sleepless nights. And to add insult to injury there's still no freaking surf!

Surfless Weekend
22 August 2005
Surf outlook has been extremely depressing lately so Barrie and I headed down to Miami to check out a local indoor rock climbing gym. It's been a couple of years since I was on a wall but most of it came back fairly quickly. Three hours into it and I was back to climbing 5.9's and 5.10's. Ok, mostly 5.9's.

Un-Fucking-Believable
19 August 2005
You got it folks, I'm back where I was last week at this time, waiting for an answer and enduring yet another nail biting weekend (except this weekend there's no surf outlet to pursue). Here's the story - they lost my fucking file when sending it over to Corporate for approval! It took two days to find it and now it's finally where it should have been last Friday at this time. So all I can say now is FUUUUUCKKKK! Here we go again!

For Those Of You Pulling For Me
18 August 2005
Well, still no word yet from my guy in California on my major stress campaign. I'm still on high alert as to what the hell is going on with this thing but I'm hanging in there. I've already gone through half a bottle of PureCalm this week and it looks like I'll need the rest over the next couple of days. All I want to hear right now is good news but any news would be nice. For those of you looking to get into this kind of shit, be prepared for the biggest pain in the ass you'll ever know. Thanks to all of your concern so far. The waiting game will soon be over (hopefully).

How Many Calories Do You Burn?
17 August 2005
From the off-color humor index here's Calories Burned During Sex.

Wedding Crashers
16 August 2005
I've got to add this one to my DVD collection when it comes out. Barrie and I went to see Wedding Crashers last night with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, holy shit it was funny as hell. I'd actually just start laughing out loud after the movie was over just recalling particular scenes. Vaughn was brilliant - the perfect "that guy". You've got to go see this one!

Saturday's Surf Trip
15 August 2005
A well needed surf trip up to Sebastian Inlet was definitely a good time. Ramil, Dan and I loaded up the car at 5:30 am for the 2 hour drive north. Early in the morning the wave was a little punchy and powerful but very shallow. After the tide began to fill in it became a lot of fun. Just what I needed to get my mind off of all of this real estate stuff. We ended up surfing until around 3. All of us where completely spent by the time we loaded back up for the return trip. Sun burnt, sore and completely surfed out. Excellent.

More Waiting To Come
12 August 2005
Well, it looks like I'll be waiting for another 4 or 5 days to get an answer from my mortgage company. They now have to send it to corporate for approval and now have 4-5 days of unbelievable stress to endure. What a mission. I'm going to be so gray by the time I find out what's going to happen with my life from now on. There's not much more to say or do unless I can come up with nine grand in a hurry - it's out of my hands.

Weekend Surf Trip
12 August 2005
Looks like the boys (Dan and Ramil) and I will be heading up to the Sebastian Inlet, dog early on Saturday morning, to catch the swell radiating from the tropical storm off the coast. My SuperFish has been repaired and I need a day on the waves… badly. - No news yet on the condo. Should find out today around lunch time.

Hoping For Some Good News
11 August 2005
Hopefully I'll find out some time today whether or not the deal goes through. Wish me luck.

#$!*&^%!!!!
9 August 2005
Don't ask, just frustrated. No surf, no news.

Dance Like No Body's Lookin'
8 August 2005
If you need a Monday laugh, here's your fix.

Sunny And Mellow
8 August 2005
That pretty much sums up the weekend. Hanging with Ramil on the beach on Saturday and Sunday busting out the old chess board and ukulele on the beach. As well has spending time in the sun at Barrie's house chilling by the pool. Very relaxing weekend - now into organized chaos - hello Monday!

Here Comes The Weekend
5 August 2005
Not much surf in store for us in South Florida this weekend so not much to get excited about. Have a good weekend everyone, see you Monday.

Gotta Make Space
5 August 2005
Wow, I'm quickly running out of space on my server so I've decided to remove a couple of the less popular albums. Don't worry, I still have them there's just no need to take up server space with them at the moment.

Huge Congrats To Sammy
4 August 2005
My buddy Sam (guy on the right) got hitched last weekend. Looks like I'm the last one left! Here are Craig's photos of the event. Good luck bro.

More From Costa Rica
4 August 2005
More photos are now up from Costa Rica/Nicaragua. I finally got around to getting most of Johnny's photos up. Take a look.

Too Busy To Think
3 August 2005
Full speed ahead it seems. Sorry guys for the lack of news over the last few days. It's been a hectic week so far and it's only Wednesday morning. The condo is coming along on schedule (so far) and work here in the office has tripled. So this month is turning out to be fun. Here comes the gray hair!

Better Than Nothing
1 August 2005
Sunday's little trip with Ramil up to Ft. Pierce wasn't a complete waste. Little knee to thigh high rollers with occasional waist high sets, perfect for my 8'2" Kechle (long board). All in all a pretty good sunday. Road trip, surf, sun and then a visit to his friend's barbecue for lots of food and a few beers. Hey, it's better than nothing.