The Time Sink

Considering we're talking a P-120 maxed at 40megs of RAM, a 2 gig HDD and a TFT screen running Win95b with the Winsock and DUN upgrades, I think I'm doing okay... Yeah, like that. A study in patience as things swap in and out. Rambooster is what allows it to work, to put it simply.

I upgraded the programs to this year's mix when we got in the other night. EditPlus replaced NoteTab as the HTML editor (and ftp client) and MozillaFirebird took over the browsing chores. I'd really like to take the image editor up a notch, but I think that's a show stopper... Right now Adobe's old PhotoDeluxe is having enough trouble; as it is, I have to exit all other programs to get it to even save a jpeg without hosing the file. I'd love to try Elements, but I think I'd be spinning my wheels...

...and then there's the story of the screen: I can't see what I'm doing. The resolution is just not there. I'm trusting my readers over on the blog to bear with me as I post what I really cannot see. ...and to let me clean up the worst of it when I get home. ...and to let their vision of my vision help out.

Two days in the ocean have helped kick some of the stressors into the back room here. There's something about getting the heck beaten out of you by a wave or two that will do that <g>!

...and we've also been able to gather in some beach time and some kick back time reading. Today may be a travel day to get Brad a new board; he's big enough now to use the size Daniel and I have. Then again, Avila is sounding good to Shelley; maybe we'll end up there...

Yep, we ended up spending the day at Avila. If you're up on your environmentalism, Avila was one of the "ruined" beaches... In this case, Chevron and a plume of oil underneath the town and beach from leaking tanks perched above the town. They ended up replacing portions of the town and all of the beach. Literally, they removed it all, scooped out the gunk and brought in fresh buildings and sand. ...quite an undertaking.

They did an okay job though. The beach is very nice and the town is rebuilding. Some of the smaller outfits are gone forever, but the new vendors seem to be doing okay. I sure wish the pizza place would open though <g>...

I took the day off from things yesterday... How the heck do you take time off from vacation? Well, I slept in some, then stayed home and cooked breakfast while Shelley and the guys played tour guides for some visitors. When that was over, I drove the gang down to Santa Maria so we could get Brad a boogie board of his own (since he's now big enough to use a full board). We picked up some bread while we were there and then stopped by a book store in San Luis Obispo on the way back (I needed more low key reading since that seems to be what I'm doing this trip). Dinner and some reading rounded off the day. See, that's how!

Sand where there should be no sand, our evening in a nutshell <g>... We hit the beach in late afternoon, hoping to be able to catch a wave or two to test out Brad's new board. The tide had turned; but things were too calm for Daniel and me, so we started digging one of our 'ocean holes' to pass the time. Brad went out and worked the lighter waves while we dug in and Shelley read. We managed a split-level ranch style hole in about thirty minutes. Not bad!

Brad came back in and helped out in the hole as a firefighter-medic we hadn't see in ten years or so wandered up. We had a nice chat; but then the waves started to break real nicely, so I excused myself and the boys and I went out to see what we could sea...

Nice waves! Pounding waves. Very nice waves. Pounding waves. Man, one mistake and you became one with either the water under the wave or the ocean floor itself! ...but when the rides were good, they were very, very good! Brad had to pack it in simply because the waves grew too big for him. Daniel and I hung on until hypothermia became a very real consideration. But what a bunch of fun, even with the bruises from who knows what and the sand and seawater in every orifice!

Usually we kick it a bit after a heavy beach day, but yesterday Brad and I headed out even later in the afternoon than we had on Thursday to try the waves again. Try them we did! ...and they tried us. Whooo... We found some very serious stuff coming in. Brad gave up when he got too cold; I packed it in when my calves started cramping up. ...but man, we had some fun out there.

Now I'm sitting here hoping for maybe one more round before we head on back to the heat. ...and with my forearms spasming enough to have Gatorade in one of the glasses in front of me. I'm looking forward to blading again, but I think I've actually been able to keep my cardiovascular levels up. ...and my legs and arms are doing okay, just with different muscle groups getting the action. Still, one more day sounds pretty good

Travel day...

Click image for larger version

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic."
Arthur C. Clarke, "Technology and the Future"

    Thanks for visiting!  
All content Copyright 1999->2003 Daniel C. Bowman. All rights reserved.