Nothing Much...

Our sloop is tied up to the dock in front of our little apartment. We've taken it out a couple of times since Sunday, but it's tough to get the timing on the tide, sunlight, and wind to work out in our favor. Going out for couple hour sessions after work is my hope, but our waterways locally are pretty tidally influenced. A strong incoming tide and we get pushed towards the Cape Fear River and the outgoing tide pushes us out the inlet. Once we're a little more confident under sail, we'll be tearing up the waterways.

I did get out for a nice long afternoon on the beach with my lady and Sparky. The weather is just spectacular, 70's and sunny. Dogs are finally allowed on the beach again and Sparky need some work on the long line. I'm trying to get him to work with dog whistle signals. It'd be pretty badass to whistle commands at him.

I spent an hour out in the water surfing at the end of the day. There were some solid waves rolling through. I've pretty much been surfing the pier at the north end of Carolina Beach nonstop since the end of the summer. There's a pack of little kids that surf a few hundred yards down the beach, but nobody really surf right next to the pier. Maybe it's the big sign that say's 'No Surfing Zone'...I just don't know.

Still trying to fix the camera...

Bah.

The Sloop is in the Water!

We finally put our 17ft Paceship Peregrine Sloop in the water. It's tied up in front of our place as I type. I'd love to put a picture of it up online, but our digital camera apparently gave up the ghost within the past few days. Those freaking cameras work for maybe a year and then turn into paperweights. I'm tired of dropping $300 every year and a bit for fancy desk ornaments. We raised the jib sail for a brief time, but the wind was really whipping and the marina was full of boats, so we motored around for a bit and then heading towards our house. We'll break in the main sail this week when fewer people are out and about on the water.

I had a nice long rant about big Pharma and the flu vaccine all lined up, courtesy of a nice piece of propaganda from 60 Minutes I just watched...but I hit the old delete button. No need to beat a dead horse. If you can't see through all of the scare tactics/blatant lies, then I'm not going to convince you of the massive conspiracy which has overtaken the whole shebang.

I'll try to get my camera fixed, or maybe somebody can donate one to the cause. Catch ya'll later. We have a chilly week coming up around here, highs only in the 70's...

The Chinese Made It Snow...

I came across a headline on Drudge about how the Chinese are modifying their weather by seeding the clouds with chemicals. Does that seem like BS to anyone else? I remember in California there would occasionally be news reports about dangerous pollution levels due to Chinese smog which drifted the several thousand miles across the ocean. Maybe they should stop treating their environment like crap...

A Couple of Waves and a Pod of Dolphins

I went for surf last night and another one this morning in gray, dreary conditions. Sitting out there in the brine, you couldn't tell where the steely gray ocean ended and the horizon began. Every few minutes there would be a brief downpour of rain on the ocean, smoothing things out and at the same time adding a million little splashes around you. When the sets started to roll in, there would be a slight difference in the color of the water in contrast to the sky. It's crazy to see really, just little differences in the texture of the horizon or in the shade of gray. Schools of fish were cruising around the pier and pods of dolphins would take turns snacking on the fish and jumping through the lines of swell. At one point last night, I was surrounded by dolphins splashing about in trios. Towards the end of my session last night I was paddling into a solid chest high wave and all of the sudden a dolphin popped out of the face of the wave and landed ahead of the wave, as if to say, "Whoa buddy...This is my wave". I ceded that set to the dolphins and paddled down the beach.

I have never had an actual, conscious thought while in the act of riding a wave. Driving to the beach, I may have a million thoughts running through my head. But as soon as I take that first stroke into a wave, my mind goes into a wonderful, serene blankness. Life ashore just doesn't matter sitting out there in the ocean, staring back in towards houses that nobody can afford and out to sea towards that last great wilderness. In the water there are more immediate concerns like position in the lineup, current, slight changes in wind, and the next set which is stacking up on the horizon.

I actually just got back from the beach. I drove south into Kure Beach to check my PO Box and survey the waves at the Kure Beach pier and farther south at the Fort Fisher cove. At high tide, few spots will break without a big swell. The waves at the pier were rolling through and I threw on a wetsuit top, grabbed my board out of the truck and walked down to the beach. Without paying much attention to the beach surroundings, I simply walked to the shore, felt the water, and paddled straight out. I just needed a quick dip to clear my head from a morning/afternoon of calling golf courses to set up contracts. I paddled straight out into the waves. A set quickly started rolling through, I turned my board around, and paddled straight into a nice little peeler. A few turns later, a couple toes over the nose, and a close out barrel...I found myself in knee deep water looking up at an obese cop whistling at me. He looked rather out of breath and angry. I looked around and determined that I was indeed far enough from the pier (NO SURFING WITHIN 500FT OF PIER!). Out of courtesy, I walked in to hear what he had to say. Just for the record, if I thought I was going to get a ticket...I would have turned around and paddled the 2 miles into Carolina Beach and out of his jurisdiction.

As I walked towards him, I noticed a film crew and several guys dressed as pirates. The friendly police officer (italics=sarcasm) informed me that I was not allowed to surf at this public beach today because a film crew was filming a commercial or something. He said he wasn't allowed to tell me what the project was. I guess this film crew had rented the beach and ocean for the day and I wasn't allowed to be in the water in the vicinity of the filming. I guess a modern long boarder would just ruin the historical accuracy of a pirate commercial. I just had to chuckle as I walked down the beach, back to my truck. Hopefully I made the gag reel of some Hollywood pirate flick. It'd be awesome if a year down the road, I go to a movie and see myself gracefully sliding along a wave in the background of some gaudy pirates hauling a wooden boat up a beach.

Anyway folks-Enjoy the day, stay skeptical, and keep on keeping on.

P.S. Did you guys know there is a Congressman named Anthony Weiner? Kind of a funny name, especially when the cable news people address him as "Mr. Weiner"....Do think he ever got made fun of in middle school?

Adios!

A Couple Barrels and Some Thoughts

My little slice of coastline caught some decent swell over the past few days, giving me chest to head high waves to play in for the past few days. I went in early to the golf courses on Friday to run off a few geese so I could catch the mid-afternoon low tide and some dredging little barrels. I was itching for an actual wave with some punch to it. Living in California spoiled me when it comes to sizable and consistent surf. I don't really remember seeing it completely flat ever, but then again it was often too big or sharky to safely paddle out. I digress though, we had some great waves over the weekend. I snuck out for two sessions each day over the weekend and caught some really great waves. Just this morning, my last wave of the session ended with a great barrel. It was just what I needed before church. I always forget to take pictures of the waves before I paddle out, but then again...Who has the time when there are waves breaking?

Life outside the surf is tumultuous as always. I picked the wrong economy to take on the title of small business owner and freelance writer. I'm gearing up to expand the Wildlife Management (i.e. goose chasing) business into new courses and areas. We've been giving those Canadian Geese a free ride for decades and now I'm going to get a return on all of that government money we invested into preservation programs. We gave them free range of the country for years and now they are certainly overrunning this area. Driving around the area, I'll see geese fly over the road and find myself wandering which addition they are landing in. It's just nerve-wracking to be in charge of your next paycheck. I mean, work

Owning a sailboat is a funny thing. Fix one thing and you'll find two more that need attention. It's been several weekends in a row that I'll say, "Well this is the weekend to launch this thing"...And the crappy thing is that West Marine and the other marine supply shops seem to think that the exorbitant prices they charge for the tiniest pieces of hardware or amount of something is legitimate. Apply a common piece of hardware equipment to a boat and you could make a fortune.

We went to a meet your candidate function at a local coffee shop/bar and met all of the Town Council hopefuls. They all seemed like pretty decent folks. At what point does the decent local politico become the sleazy politician that makes it to the next level? I was pretty disconcerted to hear all of them talk wistfully about developing parts of the town into bigger, better developments. I was kind of hoping to hear one of them say, "Ya, I'd bulldoze that whole strip of unsightly buildings and turn it into a park". If only Ed Abbey were still alive and running for Town Council.

I changed the comments portion of the blog, I'm thinking that the comments section should be open to everyone without an email verification now. So go ahead and comment away. I started putting the web address on my business cards and business brochures, so maybe it'll get more readership.

Catch ya'll later.

To Indiana and Back via Train and Truck

I made it back to the beach after a long, strange weekend of traveling. I left off of my last post, close to midnight on Thursday night and sitting astride a bar stool at a decent little brewery in Fayetteville NC. The Amtrak Station in Fayetteville sits at the end of the main strip through the downtown. After I had secured my tickets and checked out the sterile, lit-by-florescent-lights train station waiting room, I decided my best course of action was to sit in one of the two open bars, sipping beer and shooting pool, until my 2AM train arrived. Anybody who has travelled by train can attest to the fact that the Amtrak station waiting room is a place to be avoided at all costs. The train attracts a certain type of character which makes for a completely unique experience. I've taken a couple of trains in my lifetime and I always meet some pretty weird people.

I'm not generally into smoking cigarettes, but on the road, it's a good way to get into conversations with people you'd never normally be able to have a conversation with. There is something about smokers that is funny. Nowhere else will you see several former strangers, standing around a doorway or under a stoop, bullshitting about life and times. You'll chat with your fellow smoker for five minutes or until both smokes are done, and then go your separate way. At a bar or waiting for a train, if you want to meet people and learn about life in their neck of the woods, then share a smoke break.

Anyway, my train arrived at Union Station in Washington DC around 7AM Friday morning and my train to Waterloo IN did not leave until 4:30PM, so I was left with a free day of sightseeing around our nation's capital. I was a bit foggy from a fitful night of dozing aboard the bumpy train, but once I stepped off the passenger car and into the stream of humanity spewing forth towards the offices of downtown DC, I quickly perked up. It was interesting to stroll amongst the politicos on their way to work and look for people I recognized from C-SPAN. After finding a coffee shop and re-filling my re-usable coffee cup (which I always carry, refills are always cheaper), I set off to explore. Union Station is a few blocks away from Capital Hill and the sights of DC. Stepping out into the day, I quickly realized that it was a cold and rainy day. I actually am glad it was dreary outside, it kept some tourists away and left the sidewalks open for me. I walked through tons of museums and government office buildings. It was my first time to the capital, so it was great to see some of the places I'd read about. I was struck by the massive scale of the whole place. The Capital Mall, which is flanked by the Smithsonian Museums is huge. I walked through the Native American, Natural History, and American History Smithsonians. I also walked through the greenhouse and Library of Congress. I thought about going into a couple of the office buildings, but their were tons of very heavily armed Storm Trooper looking toughs. It was very eye opening to see the sheer number of assault rifle bearing dudes. They were standing at doorways and I even some a few on rooftop. It seems that Orwell was an optimist.

My overnight train ride was long and often uncomfortable. My seat mate was a garrulous 60-something. I have my suspicion about his sanity. He's laugh really loud in the middle of nothing. Apparently he worked for some geo-thermal consulting firm. I ended up having a couple of beers with him in the viewing car. I went their to get away from sitting elbow to elbow with him and have some peace, but he eventually followed me there and had a couple of Screwdrivers himself. Thank goodness for that, it helped him sleep soundly through the night. Leaving me to get some writing and reading done. Next time I travel by train, I'm taking a little flask of something for myself and I'm going to spend the whole ride in the viewing car, playing cards or something.

Arriving home, it was great to be greeted by loving parents and enjoy a solid Indiana breakfast. It's always humbling to arrive back home to a great big loving family who always have arms wide open. I have a big, awesome family. Contrasting my family background to people who I meet, I always get a little lump in my throat. I've been blessed. I spent the day in Indiana, hanging out with my family. The family dogs are doing great, one is fat and happy and the other is a little one-eyed rascal dog. There was a big bonfire that night, complete with brats and burgers courtesy of my brother's giant smoker grill.

I awoke early Sunday morning and hit the road in my new truck, courtesy of my in-laws. They offered up the use of their Chevy truck for the time being, so I could grow my little business and look a little bit more professional than cruising around in my hippy van.

I made the drive East in a little over 12 hours, which I believe is a family record. I'm back to work this week chasing geese and researching my next article for publication. I'm going to write about a Civil War era Confederate sailor.

Our little sloop is getting put in the water this week. It's almost ready for its first voyage under new ownership. Say a prayer for seaworthiness.

Stay tuned for some pictures in the next few days or once I locate my camera's cable. I'll probably get fired up about something which is happening and try to write an article, but often I think 'what's the use?'...I listened to this discussion by alternative economic forecasters about the future state of this country and it really got me down. Their advice basically boiled down to stockpile food, gold, and ammo. Damn.

Anyway, keep on keeping on. God bless.

Random Post from the Road

Hey Folks. It's pushing 11Pm and I'm sitting in a bar in Fayetteville NC, awaiting a 1AM train which will take me to DC, and then eventually back to Indiana. My wife dropped me off here a couple of hour ago and I've been bar crawling around to get the feel for this place. This is a town of military meatheads and other equally short haired individuals. I'm always struck by the vibe of a bar when it is filled with testosteroned up dudes.

I get kind of a sad feeling in my gut when I am around the military. These guys, for the most part, are the most patriotic guys around...yet the powers that be have been pushing them into pointless military conflicts for the past 50 years. The phrase 'tis not our job to question why, it's simply our place to do or die' comes into mind.

I strolled past a memorial here and there had to be a couple thousand names on it of guys that died from this county in various conflicts in the past decades. The fact that they died in 'conflicts' and not 'wars' should piss you off immediately, that is if you know you parlimentary rules. We haven't really been in a bona fide war since WW2, but we've been content sending our boys to bleed in foreign countries without the proper process.

I didn't really start out as a peacenik, but the more I'm around these guys...the more tangible the sacrifice becomes.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately about how wasteful our country has become and a really shitty, eye opening example of that occured a few minutes ago. I was sitting at this Army bar, watching a football game and everyone was drinking out of plastic freaking cups. I was struck by the absolute shitty irony of the situation. Here were these guys, who were employed by the military, about to be deployed to some God-forsaken sand pit of a country, in order to protect our oil interests...and they were toasting to a safe return in cups made from freaking oil! I downed my beer and walked out. It was too much for me. Note to self, make sure to always have my reusable coffee cup on hand.

I'm off to await my late night train. Tomorrow I'm going to walk around DC and check it all out. Expect more postings. I guess I can officially claim that I'm a freelance writer at this point. I cashed my first check from an article this morning.

Hopefully all of this conspiratorial writing and subversive literature doesn't throw you guys off. If you think I'm full of shit, then call me out. I've been struggling with my views on politics and society lately. I've been reading pretty much nonstop and I feel that my writer's voice needs to come from a place of skepticism of the status quo. I don't appreciate the direction this country is taking and I feel that the pen is the mightiest weapon I wield. Selah And Bah.

A Few Pictures from the Labor Day Weekend!

The Sailboat I want to Rebuild...

Sparky with a Crazed Look in His Eyes...

Beers at the Dockside between Jet Ski Runs...

Refueling...

The Two Bens Docking Up for Beer.

Thank goodness that the summer is over. The island breathed a sigh of relief today as a steady parade of minivans and SUV's headed over the bridge and back to the 'real world'. It was a long and strange summer, to say the least. I'm interested in things getting back to the way it was last spring when we moved here; empty beaches and nothing but locals in the grocery store. The few business owners who make their money during 8 weeks of the year are pissing and moaning, but my money comes from off the island...so I'm not too bent out of shape. I've realized that a solid majority of the tourists to Carolina Beach are generally of the redneck disposition, so it's no big deal for them the leave a case of empty Busch Light cans and a pack of Winston Light cigarettes butts in the sand. Apparently they think that the incoming tide does a better job of cleaning the beach that a modicum of responsible behavior. A couple weeks ago, I got pretty pissed off with the amount of dumb-asses using the ground as an ashtray and got into a shouting match with a popped collar fratty from UNCW who kept tossing his butts over the railing at the Tiki Bar and into the rising tide. I'm not usually very vocal, but I really can't stand a litterbug. Afterwards, I realized that the written word is probably usually a classier way to voice one's opinions and penned a screed for our local paper (click for a link to the article). 

Anyway...Pretty much since we made the move I was working for a wildlife management company chasing geese away from golf courses and training dogs to chase birds away from air fields. A couple weeks ago, the company decided that they didn't feel like paying me for my expenses and mileage as stated in my contract, nor did they even feel it was necessary to pay me in a timely manner. Naturally I was a bit annoyed with the turn of events and expressed my opinion in regards to them f#$king with me. I guess the fact that I cited the contract and NC Labor Law annoyed them to the point of 'firing' me. Fired is in parenthesis because they didn't actually fire me, they just told me that they were canceling all of the contracts which I was working at the golf courses and needed the work dogs I was using back immediately. Now don't even jump to the conclusion that I was shitty or curt with them, I was very polite and toed the line of the law. They just completely blindsided me and changed the course of my short term plan. It's interesting how things can go from shitty to very optimistic looking in a matter of days. I was pretty pissed about loosing a sweet job at first, but then a couple of days later the golf courses I was working at contacted me and asked me to form my own company and basically do what I did before, except now without the middleman.

Thus Caywood Ventures emerges from the shadows, poised to take over the Coastal Carolina goose chasing racket! I'm doing it all 'by the books' and hoping to use this small business to form a couple of other companies within a few years. It's a certain type of giddy exhilaration to start a business and pursue your own paycheck. It sucks to pony up the cash for insurance and workman's compensation, but I'm gonna try to ride this until it bucks me.

We bought an awesome dog named Sparky from the pound for the business. He better realize that he's a work dog pretty quick or all is lost. 

In other parts of life, we just moved into a new studio size apartment on the Carolina Beach Harbor. It's a small little space, but we lofted our bed dorm-style and we're throwing out crap we don't need. I bought a 17' Pace Ship Sloop and I'm in the process of re-fitting it for use this fall. My ultimate goal will to sail the sloop around our islands and use it to camp on some of the un-inhabited islands which surround Carolina Beach. 

We lost a good man this week...My uncle, Jim Caywood died on Thursday. He was a solid uncle who always remembered what I was up to in life, he even remembered my wife's name after meeting her years before. I'll always remember how he snuck outside during Christmas Eves at Grandma and Grandpa Caywood's to sneak a cigarette out by his Cadillac. He was lethal with a snowball. I'm holding up a beer to him as I type...

Anyway...Keep on keeping on. I'll post some pictures this week of my new dog kicking some serious ass.

BAH.

Caywood Ventures Is Formed!

I've started my own business up...I'm going about the motions of compliance with local regulations and figuring out how this whole thing works. Stay tuned for the outcome!

Ranting and Ravings

My wife flew home for a wedding a couple of days ago. When I got back from taking her to the airport I turned off the AC, turned on the Rolling Stones, and cracked a beer. I've been wandering around our little beachfront apartment in swim trunks, sweating my ass off, swilling beers, and getting pissed reading about the worldwide corruption of the political system. It could be the combination of heat, information, beer, and coffee...but I am not happy about the corporate elite who are dominating the world. I just want to live a quiet life of growing my own food and living simply, but those bastards just want to have a thumb on every aspect of OUR lives. 

Here is an article from Rolling Stone's Matt Tiabbi about those shit-headed assholes from Goldman-Sachs who are in the business of screwing all of us out of our money. The very fact that these scum bags are out there doing this to us while we just sit back and watch 'American Idol' is pretty heinous. The mainstream media has totally failed us when Rolling Stone is out there talking about the real issues of today. CNN spends more time talking about celebrities than true news events. Thank goodness there is a burgeoning alternative media rising up to fill the void left by the corporate conglomerate controlled media. Check out www.infowars.com for some pretty mind opening news and opinion.

I have to chuckle about the news cycle this past week. While cable news talking heads were bleating about the president's comments about Harvard professor Gates, serious shit was going down in the world. Just watch C-Span for a couple of hours and see all of the sobering items which are up for vote that WILL change our lives, but we don't hear a word about. We are about to get taxed on things ranging from toilet paper to kitchen sinks, our choices  on healthcare are about to disappear, we're going to get taxed on driving via an Orwellian GPS tracking system in our vehicles, and Obama is getting set to expand our military operations into bases in Africa. It's almost too much for a rational individual who wants to live their own life without the input of a million political hacks who sold their souls to the corporate Man. 

I just read that our local mayor and town council is up for reelection here in Carolina Beach. The thing is though that they are all running without opposition. Thank goodness for them I haven't lived here long enough to throw my name into the hat, but next time they had better watch out. I'm getting fired up here about politics and real change starts at the local level. If we're still living here in two years, then I will run for a public office. Until that point, I've made the decision to get involved by going to all the public hearings and putting out as many opinion articles which the local papers dare publish. Hunter S. Thompson ran for sheriff is Aspen a couple of decades ago and he ran without censoring himself. He through bricks at everyone, attempting to expose fraud and corruption wherever possible. I am going to follow his Gonzo example and be loud about my opposition. Don't bring your children to the meetings, because I'm going to use profanity when necessary...And it seems that there are few situation which call for the use of profane language like politics.

On a slightly more positive note, we finally got some juicy waves on Thursday and Friday. It was almost head-high with some power behind it. I surfed for almost 7 hours Thursday and 5 hours on Friday. My arms were noodles and my nose was crispy by the time the swell got beat down by the onshore wind. I am really looking forward to surfing some decent waves this fall. 

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more rants and entertaining stories. Keep on keeping on.

Pictures from the Past Couple Weeks

Drinks at the Tiki Bar

Beach Cruiser Gang

My Daily Car Pool

My Bad Ass Work Dog Cane

My Pregnant Work Dog Molly

Summer Happenings

Hello folks. Apologies for the lack of postings. Life has been busy this summer. I've been driving all over coastal NC chasing geese and running my work dogs. I've also been working at an island shop giving surf lessons and taking people on kayak and jet ski tours.

The island is packed with sunburnt tourists and vacationers. I've come to grips with the fact that this place gets trashed, abused, and thoroughly used for about 10 weeks out of the year. I don't know what it will be like to walk out to the beach again this fall and not see anything but pelicans and seagulls. The weekly vacation cycle is entertaining though. Every Sunday a new batch of pasty white families excitedly unpack minivans and head down to the beach for that first dip into the ocean and the following Saturday morning they tearfully take one last trip down to the seashore as a sunburnt dad repacks the van. 

I can't complain about tourists though. They allow me to have a pretty sweet side job. A couple days a week I cruise the beach in a little John Deer Gator and pick up beach rental chairs and umbrellas. The best part of the job is taking people out jet skiing and on kayak tours through the local estuaries. There are days where I'll do a early morning kayak tour, then a surf lesson, and then spend the rest of the day out on the inter-coastal waterway taking tourists on high speed jet ski trips.

My full time job for FlyAway Farm and Kennels is going well. I've worked on some great dogs who are now chasing birds at Air Force bases up and down the East coast. I get to travel all around our area to high end golf courses to run the dogs on Canadian geese. For the past month I've had to take a ferry each morning to one of the courses. It's awesome that my morning commute involves a 35 minute boat ride across the Cape Fear River. 

Charging around a golf course with a couple of wound up dogs in a Gator is a great way to spend a day. All of those guys in their little golf shirts and fancy pants look at me kind of weird. There are so many rules and etiquette on the course. I just have to chuckle at all of those guys chasing the little ball around while I get to charge around the course chasing birds and other random creatures.

The surf has been minimal for the past couple of weeks. We've had some fun days of surf around here, but nothing to get the blood pumping too much. I'm holding out for some good surf this fall and winter. The water temp is still around 80, which is just about perfect. 

On the literary and political front of life, I just finished reading through 'The Monkey Wrench Gang" by Ed Abbey. The book is about four eco-minded individuals who are tired of watching their beloved desert be torn apart by corporations. They turn to sabotage in defense of their Southwest country and destroy all manner of things mechanized. It's a great book and brings up some very strong points. The phrase "Resist much. Obey Little" is a central theme of the book. The book is a loose retelling of Abbey's days defending the desert wilderness he loved. The only resource we can't get more of is wilderness. After driving around and across the country for a couple of months this winter I can't believe how much rampant development there is. Here at the beach there are huge condos going up in every vacant lot, condos that will only be used 10 weeks per year. I'm not calling for an all out war on development, but Ed Abbey makes some strong points in favor of pulling out survey stakes and monkey wrenching large corporate development. 

Anyway, thanks for reading and keep on keeping on. I'm gonna get back into this blog thing, so stay tuned for more postings.

Random News Article that Pissed Me Off!

Wow! I thought things were out of control in Eureka when it came to people getting way too much money from the gov't. Apparently the trend has now gone national. Here's an article from USA Today. Get in line for your free handout, just don't think about future generations.

My Opinion about Amusement Rides at the Beach

Letter to the Editor

Follow above link to letter.

During the past couple of weeks, a carnival has been set up along our town's boardwalk and downtown area. It annoys the crap out of me. It's tacky, gaudy, loud, and shitty looking. I'm so fired up about it that I wrote a letter to our local paper. There are already a couple of responses to it, mostly telling me to go back to California. I'm going to make it my pet issue until the carnies leave town. I want to prove to myself that the written word can make a change. I'm going to take a stab at investigative journalism and raise some hell in this little beach town. I'm almost positive that some movers and shakers in this town pushed the carnival's approval through the town council in order to make a private buck. The Freedom of Information Act is my friend! I'll post all of my writings here.

I've been spending non-stop time out at the beach working. I teach surf lessons, give kayak tours, occasional jet ski trips, and set up beach umbrellas. I'm basically a beach bum. I spent ten hours out there yesterday. Four of which were spent teaching people to surf. It's a great skill to teach someone. It opens up a whole new world, it may even change your life...Like maybe cause you to leave your home and move all around the country looking for a perfect little beach town with good culture and great waves....

Late April Update on Life

Hey Folks. Many apologies for the inconsistent posting schedule. I've been pretty much busting ass to get things set up here in Carolina Beach. My first job ended up being uber-shitty to a corporate degree. I guess the constant stressing of money making during staff meeting tipped me off to this job not exactly fitting into my persona. At one point the owner asked me, "How much money do you need to be happy?" I guess after living a somewhat charmed life in a California paradise below the poverty line for three years, a fellow tends to itemize whether possessions are more important than experiences. Needless to say, I lasted about two weeks working in sales. I now work for a delightful small, family owned business called FlyAway Farm and Kennels. They specialize in training Border Collies for use at airfields and corporate facilities to discourage certain animals from settling down. I currently am working at a super high end golf course, chasing Canadian Geese away with my 'killer' dog named Nick.

It's a fun job that fits my personality fairly well. I get to tear around the poshest country club in Wilmington and chase birds away from the precious grass. A goose eats like 5 square meters of grass each day, so imagine how much grass an entire flock eats daily. It's up to me and Nick to kick some ass each day and save the day for the wealthy old folks. The country clubbers are some of the grumpiest, snobby people I've ever come into contact with. It's certainly an interesting contrast from the hippies and crab-fishermen of Humboldt that frequented my bar. This coming week I am putting in a bid with the course to trap a couple gators and muskrats which had the audacity to set up homes in the lakes around the course. I've never really trapped an alligator, but these are little guys, so I'd think some stinky meat and some Hoosier creativity should do the trick.

I'm loving the area. Our apartment sits right on the beach, I make a couple trips down the water each day. Now that the water temps are edging into the 70's, it's getting very pleasant to go swimming a couple of times each day. We picked up our fishing permits and we've started to drown some bait. It's nice to drop a line in for a few minutes after work each day. The fish are starting to bite. Flounder, Blues, and Whiting are all starting to come in-shore as the water warms up. We've even had some good surf sessions since we've moved to the area.

Now that we're fairly settled in to the area, we are able to start working towards making some goals. There are some nice, cheap sailboats to be had and I've been assembling the tools to start shaping a surfboard. I'm halfway through doing research for my article on the great John Maffitt and I'm writing an article about my job for a local magazine.

Are you guys ready to watch Obama's big 100 day news conference? Ya, I don't really care either. I'll watch it, but I can't really believe anything that guy says anymore. There is a ton of crap going down in the world apparently. If you believe the news...then shit is really hitting the fan (as always). Oh well, keep on keeping on and don't go smooching any pigs.

Thanks for reading. 

Email me at bencaywood@gmail.com 

I'm Back!

Well folks, It's been a strange and crazy ride since my last posting in February. Justine and I have landed in Carolina Beach, NC and we're both starting to settle into our jobs and home. We've been here at the beach for almost three weeks and the time has flown by. A fellow forgets how hard it was to nail down a job and network after settling into a town, but it is not easy to adjust to new things. Life was starting to get pretty comfy and easy in Humboldt, I mean all I did was run a bar, surf, and take long weekends along the coast. We had good friends to have beers with, easy work schedules, and an established routine. However, we weren't comfortable being comfortable with that routine in that place. Family was too far, the culture was too skewed, and the sky was not the limit. 

Jobwise, I went corporate this time around. I work for a company called EcoWater, we're the world's largest and oldest water treatment company around (apparently Warren Buffet owns 60% of us). We sell 1/4 of all water treatment systems in the world. I basically show you how crappy your water really is and tell you how we can fix it. Most of the water we drink is filled with nastiness, even the bottled water, I can run the tests that prove it to you. Next time you take a drink of that Aquafina, see if you can taste the chlorine and added minerals. 

It's funny to go from bartending at a somewhat rough, neighborhood bar full of crabbers, loggers, and assorted workingmen to toeing the corporate line...learning the lingo and saying the correct answers. I sat through a week of the most God-awful unpaid training last week, fighting for a few spots with 40 people, just thinking how much I'd love to crack a few of these numb-skulls in the head with a pool cue and drag their asses into the bar parking lot...telling them 'You aren't kicked out for good, just for today'. 

When we first got down here, it took a while to get dialed into a job. It's annoying to have someone tell you that they don't want to hire a college graduate. 'They're looking for someone with a lower pay scale', I would usually just ask them if they knew what a knew teacher got payed in California...

I may have gone corporate to pay the bills, but there are two cool little publications on the island which I am starting make submissions to. In June or July I have an article on the 'Prince of Privateers, John Maffitt' coming out in the Snow's Cut Monthly. He was an uber-badass sailor during the time of the Civil War, running blockades and blasting Yankee ships to bits. He grew up, made a name for himself, and died around the Wilmington area. The other magazine is Surf Carolina, it's a cool little surf magazine devoted to everything surfing that is the Carolinas. I'm in the talks with them about publishing a little article I'm writing about surfing the West coast on a budget. 

Things are settling down here and I'm finally getting some water time, so the words will start flowing once again. Times are crazy politically, there is plenty to piss and moan about going on in this world...But, as always, there is even more to get down on the knees and praise the Lord for. The news only sells if it's bad news, but is it really that bad? We're screaming about an abstract idea like money when it isn't real anyway...How does it effect your day today if someone else got a couple hundred grand they didn't really deserve? If some complete asshole won the lottery would there be the same outcry?Granted...lottery winnings are different, but we also put those bums into office that gave them the cash. I have food, family, friends, sand to put my feet in, and waves to push me along...How can I ask for anything more?

Stay tuned for more stories, screes, and pictures from life as I experience it. Keep on keepin' on and just keep paddling, there's always another wave.

Out of Humboldt County, Into Wine Country, Pirate Camping, and a Day in San Francisco...

After my blitz drive across the country with our van load of possessions, I was ready to continue the good times with a leisurely drive down the California coast. When my flight landed back in California, Justine was ready and had packed our little Honda full of camping equipment, wetsuits, and duffle bags full of gear. Justine and I each chose a board to strap to the roof of our little car for the shredding of any tasty waves we happened across. After one last bagel at our favorite Humboldt County bagel shop and a quick trip through our CO-OP for our favorite jams and granola, we left our home of 2 1/2 years for points South and eventually the East coast.

There is something incredibly exhilarating about cutting ties, packing up, and moving on to new places and experiences. People have guffawed the idea and basically told us it's silly to cut ties and move on without jobs or apartments lined up, but isn't it sillier to be tied down to jobs and comforts without questioning what is around the next bend. There are believers and there are doubters, Justine and I don't let the naysayers keep us down. They tend to get in the way of a good time.

After leaving Humboldt County, our first stop was the wine country around the Russian River Valley and some prime beach camping at Wright Beach, near Jenner. We stopped at a couple of wineries for tastings, the highlight being the Copolla Winery. The Copolla Winery offers tons of great varietals of wine (Pinot Nior, Cabernet Sauvingnons , and Syrahs). They also have some prime wine tasting digs at their huge vineyard which overlooks the huge Russian River Valley. They usually cook up a pretty mean wood-fire pizza, but they are currently building bigger and better facilities, so their wood-fire oven is out of commission. We fed our inner hunger for classic California wood-fire pizza by heading into the town of Geyserville and eating at Diavola Pizzeria. The best part of Diavola is that they make their own sausage and cure their own meats. We ordered a big salad and a pizza loaded with sausages, peppers, and other sundry delights. After our wine tasting session I was hoping to order a bottle of wine with dinner, but the wine at Diavola is pricey. I opted for the delicious, cold, and FREE pitcher of ice water to go with dinner. Justine and I saved our money for a six-pack to go with our campfire on the beach and some stargazing at the edge of the Pacific Ocean...Caution though...Don't stare at the stars for too long or else your feet will get wet with the incoming tide. Everybody knows how hard it is to dry a pair of boat shoes crammed in the back of a Honda while on a camping trip.

Wright Beach is one of the best campgrounds on the beach close to wine country, it's also one of the priciest. It costs $35 a night for a beach-front campsite. It's definitely worth it, if you're made of money.  I, personally, don't think that a fellow should have to pay that much money to pitch a tent on the ground at a state owned campground. I have no problem paying $15 to sleep on the ground in paradise, but I could almost get a motel room with cable TV and running water for $35. Expensive camping is something Justine and I have learned to deal with and find ways around, I have come to call it 'Pirate Camping'. There are times, while on the road, when you really just need a place to pitch a tent, light a fire, and catch some ZZZ's. 'Pirate Camping' is not for the weak of heart, or those who are afraid of schmoozing the occasional Park Ranger, it involves a blatant callousness for the rules and regulations. 

Camping usually involves a certain level of self policing, the camper fills out a self-registration and drops it into a box...and then he goes on his merry way, camping and enjoying the great, monitered out-of-doors. 'Pirate Camping' involves much of the same, but instead of dropping that self-registration envelope filled with $35 of your hard-earned dollars into the nameless box, you hold onto it until the nice Park Ranger comes and confronts you about not paying for your beach front camp-site. The savvy 'Pirate Camper' always has his envelope ready to hand in, but has a good reason for not turning it in. I usually rely on the classic 'incorrect change' excuse, but sometimes if you encounter a particularly asshole-ish Park Ranger, then there becomes the need for the ability to improvise. We didn't need to use any of the classic tricks at Wright Beach, we arrived late and woke up early...Thus avoiding anyone asking us for money. We had a sweet campfire, a  nice stroll on the nighttime beach, and some great sleep...

Sunrise comes early to a tent on the beach after a full day of leaving behind your home and tasting wine all day. We packed up the tent and headed South on HWY 1. After coffee and bagels with blackberry jam in Bodega Bay, we headed towards some tasty waves at Dillon Beach. The drive down to Dillon Beach is absolutely beautiful. It's a windy country road, flanked on each side by beautiful, green pasturelands filled with sheep and cows. Morning drives along the California coast are so beautiful that I lack the words to convey it all, I could have a thesaurus in one hand and my journal in the other and still be at a loss for adjectives to tell you how wonderful the West coast is in the morning. A morning drive along the North coast is nothing but the dankest green pastures, rocky headlands, and glassy waves. I must have mind-surfed a hundred waves on the drive to Dillon Beach, but I'm happy I waited to pull on my wetsuit until we got to Dillon Beach proper to do it. 

Justine and I got down to the beach and scoped out the break. It was the perfect set-up for some mellow wave riding. Waist high and glassy waves were the name of the game. There were perfect sets just peeling into the bay. I could hardly contain my excitement as I pulled on my wetsuit and waxed up the boards. From the car I could watch the waves peel by unridden. It was all I could do not to skip around the parking lot in jubilation. Justine and I paddled out and surfed all morning alone, in perfect waist high peeling waves. The water was crystal clear and in between sets we stared inland, towards those dank green pastures and hundreds of happy California cows. As we were peeling off our wetsuits, a couple of surf dudes pulled into the parking lot and asked us how it was out in the water. We chatted with them for a bit, gathering local knowledge about the spot we surfed. They chuckled when I asked how sharky it was out there. Locals called the spot we were surfing 'The Shark Pit'.

After our morning of surfing, we threw on some clean clothes and headed south on HWY 1, towards San Francisco and an afternoon of revelry. From Dillon Beach it's about 2 hours into the heart of the city. By mid-afternoon we were digesting some tasty In-And-Out Burgers and climbing onto a Cable Car for a cheap ride around the city. For $11 you can buy an all day pass on the Cable Cars and ride around the city to your heart's content. Justine and I usually buy the pass each trip, they're good for free rides on the buses and trolleys too. A good strategy for saving cash in the city is to find cheap all day parking outside the heart of the city and then take public transportation into the middle of everything. All day parking at Fisherman's Wharf costs around $10, while parking garages downtown start at about $25. 

San Francisco is made up of districts, all of them have their own flavor and attractions. We usually like hitting up the Market, Financial, Haight-Ashbury, and Waterfront Districts. Union Square is definitely a fun place to walk around. It's a huge amalgamation of people...business people hustling towards meetings, Japanese tourists snapping pictures, shoppers walking with bags of designer clothes, bums begging change and offering directions, and every other type of person imaginable from every walk of life. Justine wanted to pop into a couple of shops that she regularly frequents on trips. She shops better without me looking over her shoulder, so we set a time to meet back up and I moseyed along the streets...taking in the sights and sounds. There's an Irish pub called 'Time For A Pint' that I like popping into while Justine is shopping in Union Square, so I walked that way and grabbed a frosty pint of Anchor Steam while my lady shopped.

After meeting back up, we grabbed a Cable Car and rode around towards Chinatown, past many great memories we had made during 2 1/2 years of visiting San Francisco. It will be weird not to visit this town every month or so, I'm sure we'll be back within a few years for another visit...but it'll never be the same again. With the sun setting over the Pacific and lighting up the city with a golden glow, we headed out of the city and towards Santa Cruz.

An Adventure Begins, Escape from Reno, Across the West, and A Political Ramble...

The Entertaining  Portion of the Story

About a month ago Justine and I loaded most of our belongings into our Chevy G20 Van and I drove it across the country in four days. It was a long, strange drive and I have no desire to do it again during the winter. At the outset of the drive I had intended to sleep in Wal Mart parking lots along the way. I had read about this club of RV'ers who do it all the time and I figured it sounded like a cheap way to go, plus I was hoping to get an article or something out of the experience. 

If you've never driven straight across the country alone, I highly recommend it. The scenery along the drive plays out like a long mix tape of songs from American icons like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Neil Young. There is something purely American about the open road, it's the rumble of a V8, combined with classic rock, and a bag of Oberto's jerky. Redwood forests thinning into California's fertile central valley, Steinbeck's agrarian valley erupting into Muir's snow-covered Sierra Nevadas, the Sierra's melt into Johnny Cash's Nevada desert (Remember the 'dusty Winnemucca road'?), and from the desert comes the mighty Rocky Mountains in the distance. The Rocky Mountains are an experience onto themselves to drive through during the winter. I got lucky and started my drive in between winter storms. The roads were clear, but the surrounding hills were packed with snow-All the scenery, but none of white-knuckle 'Chains Required Beyond Point' driving. After dropping down from the Rockies and the beauty of the West, the senses are assaulted by the 'Great Plains'. Aside from their size and the incredible amount of time it takes to drive through them, there is nothing 'great' about them. 

Planning for the trip consisted of watching the Weather Channel and little else, I figured as long as it was an Eastbound highway, then I was fine. As I said earlier, I figured that I could catch a bit of sleep in random Wal-Mart parking lots. I figured I could spot one from the highway, pull into an outside parking space, crash out for a few hours and then be on my merry way. The first hitch in my plan came in Reno, I had pulled into a Wal-Mart and was dozing off when a fat-gray haired security guard with an attitude came and decided to confirm my suspicions that Nevada has no shortage of assholes. He pounded on my window with the butt end of a big Mag-Lite and demanded I get out of my van and show him some ID. I took one look at the security patch on his little blue Wal-Mart vest and politely told him sit on his flashlight and leave me the f@$k alone! After a brief, yet entertaining quarrel with him, I gathered that he had called the cops and they were probably just as eager to harass a long-haired, unshaven, and bleary eyed 'hippy' with California plates as the rest of the town...I ended up cranking up some Led Zeppelin and making tracks down the road to a Motel 6 and a legal nap. The Motel 6 ended up being more of a mind trip than any confrontation in a Wal-Mart parking lot could be. 

I was napping peacefully in my cheap room, when around midnight, the most drugged out collection of meth-crazed miscreants checked into the room next to me and began unloading a collection of gas-cans and bottles into their room. They were driving a big, rusted out Explorer that was pulling a ski boat that hadn't seen water in years and now apparently served as their trailer. Now at that point in the day, my nerves were about as frazzled as could be...I had been driving the entire day, I had crossed over Donner Pass in white-out conditions, and in my mind I had avoided a nasty confrontation with the Reno police and the Walton family. At some point while dozing in my roach motel it came to me that these ruffians next door to me were up to something nefarious. I figured they were setting up some sort of meth cooking operation or something equally disturbing. I tried to sleep with one eye open for a few hours, but to no avail. I ended up hitting the road before sunrise, putting Reno behind me and swearing off Wal-Marts and seedy motels for good.

Day two of my drive took me through Nevada, Utah and into Wyoming. Nevada and Utah is pretty much a collection of dumpy old mining towns with mountains looming in all directions. I did stop in Winnemucca to see the town made famous by Johnny Cash's song, 'I've Been Everywhere'. There are some beautiful places in both states, but seeing that I had neither the time nor desire to sight-see I kept the pedal to the metal and kept on driving. I was hoping to make Boulder during this day's drive, but Wyoming proved more than I could handle in one day. I ended up crashing out in the van at a Flying J. Nobody cared. What a novel idea...Letting someone sleep in their car on a road trip. I ended up stopping almost exclusively at Flying J's along the rest of my drive. 

Day three found me driving through Wyoming and half of Colorado. I stopped in Boulder, meaning to say hi to some friends and then continue onto Kansas, but my buddy took me to lunch at a pub. After one sip of the IPA at Sun Mountain Brewery, I knew that my driving was over for the day. My buddy and I ended up having an afternoon pub session and then we went hiking/scrambling in the mountains around Boulder for sunset. After scrambling around the Flatirons, we walked around Boulder searching for beers and wings. We stayed up late into the night waxing poetically about Purdue Boilermakers, climbing, surfing, and the philosophical intricacies of western theology.

It took all of day four to get through Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri. I didn't run into any snow, but I suffered from horrible side winds the entire way through the Plains. I saw a couple semi-trucks that tipped over from 65mph wind gusts. Around St. Louis it started raining and sleeting, so I found a Flying J and caught a nap until the sun came up. I made quick work of Illinois and found myself drinking beers with my old college roommates by early afternoon in Indianapolis. 

I figure that during my drive I drank around 24 cups of gut-rotting truck stop coffee, ate 48 inches of Subway sandwiches, consumed 4 1/2 bags of beef jerky, and ate enough processed snack foods to take months off of my life.

I spent two days in Indiana and then flew back to California where my wife was waiting with our Honda Fit all packed up and ready to go. I left Indiana in 10 degree weather, with an impending blizzard and landed in California with the weather in 70's and sunny. The plan had always been for me to haul ass across the country with our stuff and the van, then we were going to take several weeks to make the trip South along the California coast and then leisurely across the country...visiting friends and having adventures along the way.

It's a funny mind trip to drive that far alone. I think it's healthy to spend time in your own head, thinking your own thoughts, drinking truck stop coffee, and dreaming about the future. 

The Political Rant (Feel Free to Skip Over)

After listening to NPR and conservative talk radio for 4 solid days, I feel like there is a definite difference in the rhetoric each viewpoint spews out. It seems like NPR is so in the tank for Obama that they lose all claim to objectivity, while most of talk radio is so in the tank for republican evangelicals that they lose their credibility on many issues. Both sides are constantly shouting about how bad things are and how they can only get worse...it seems like the one thing everybody can agree on. I'm no expert, but maybe things were a little out of hand economically. I mean, is it really that bad if people don't spend as much money at strip malls and movie theaters? On one hand people bemoan the decline of the environment and global warming, but on the other hand they bite their nails over the decline of the consumer based economy...Isn't an economy based on people spending and spending and spending a little bit irresponsible anyway? Maybe things are starting to correct and get back to a more 'sustainable' level of spending. Call me crazy...but maybe buying loads of worthless crap on a credit card which is mass produced in China by 9 year old peasants, shipped across the Pacific in huge container ships, driven across the U.S. of A in semi-trucks which get 4mpg's, and then sold to consumers at huge multi-national chain stores with just enough mark-up to make a couple hundred share-holders a %7 profit is a tad bit irresponsible.

Apologies for the rambling. I had a lot of time to think. Check back later for some stories about our trip down the California coast, the drive East, adventures in Colorado, and our brief return to the great state of Indiana.