Some idiot said: Let’s do everything we can from making it so people can’t make a left turn where they want to make a left turn, and instead divert them around this big ass loop with a slow speed limit.
Category Archives: Opinion
Boardshorts and Surf Wax
Here before you on this very website your going to read about two products that were recently on my list of things to buy. I want to tell you about my experience. Honestly, not the best buying experience. There’s no sense of consistency. First we’ll talk about two brands boardshorts your probably familiar with Hurley and O’neill. Then I’ll talk about the surf wax acquisition experience.
New boardshorts are one of the special experiences in life, up there with new sandals, an epic ride, and good sex. Who’s to tell me any different. Sometimes we get boardshorts and they’re perfect, they fit, the stiching is good, we like the material, and the pattern looks sick. This was kind of a half and half experience. I got boardshorts from three different brands. Some issues have arisen over the course of a few weeks of use. Fortunately, there was surf this past week so I’ve had the opportunity to field test, and wash and dry the shorts. The first issue is with the Hurley shorts. What kind of company makes board shorts, but only puts the elastic band in the pocket that holds your keys only in some of the boardshorts? Seriously, who’s the dumb ass that ever thought it was a good idea to take out the elastic band from some of the boardshorts and not the others? We can get back to the topic of key holder material being changed from elastic to something more durable, but that’s not here nor there. It seems dumb what Hurley did. Inconsistent at best. I was looking forward to telling you about how the O’neill shorts were perfect, how they were the other side of the coin, a company that seemed to have their shit together. Unfortunately, they just aren’t that company. The boardshorts I got from O’neill have been okay. I questioned the way they have their label branded on their shorts. It seemed like it would be okay. I was wrong. Yesterday while volunteering the label on O’neill shorts just started peeling off. I peeled it off about half way. It was a sticker they put on your shorts that would damage your shorts when it came off. C’mon guys. Seriously? Oh well. I like them enough to just keep them and egnor the small amount of damage from taking the sticker off. Camo boardshorts are sick. I have a pair of Quiksilver shorts that I got with the batch. The Quiksilver ones seem pretty good. I guess I don’t really have anything bad to say about them. I feel like the products I’ve gotten from Quiksilver have generally been good. I like their wetsuit that I had for many years. I might just get a 4/3 from them, as I’m defenitely in need of a new one, the Billabong one I have is falling apart at the seems. The Quiksilver boardshorts so far have only been a little bit more stiff, probably more prone to cause a rash while surfing in them. I haven’t been wearing them as much as they others for that reason, and because I have more of the other ones. So… not the ideal boardshorts because of these flaws. I’m more than please to have new boardshorts though to be honest. I’ve been using the same couple pairs for forever, and I’m confident these will be nice and last a long time. All three brands are worth recommending simply for the fact that they are manufacturing boardshorts (a specific kind of baithing suit designed to be in rough water).
On to surf wax. The surf wax experience was disturbing. What is it about company that charge you out the ass for things that are disgustingly inexpensive? Surf wax. One litte bar of wax. Wanna know how much Amazon wanted on the first page that comes in when you type “surf wax?” They wanted almost 6 dollars for one bar of wax. They’re charging about 2.50 for cold water wax, and about 3 for warm water wax. Why is that? It’s because they’re scam artists. The price isn’t based on any legitimate thing. They are charging you whatever they want to charge you for it. Otherwise, why would surf wax be more expensive in the tropical/warm variant versus the cold water variant? Seems dumb. I did decide to get wax from them at least for the short term. I have a beach about 15 minutes from where I live and the closest surf shop is 45 minutes to an hour away. It looks like with Amazon your paying for your delivery whether or not Amazon is telling you you are. Local surf shops are typically around the 2 dollar range on surf wax. Come to think of it, there is a tourist shop that offers 2 dollar bars of warm water wax for the skimboards they sell about 30 minutes away. They are actually kind of on the way to Sand Key in Clearwater. Unfortunately, surf shops and companies that support surfing can’t really survive and thrive around here despite offering products that cater to all the activities around here. They sell sunglasses, clothes, shoes, etc. yet they can’t seem to compete with larger companies like amazon, or malls, or target and walmart. It complicates things when companies have complete and utter control of something. If you were in a country that was completely in control of everything and there was no private property or ownership, don’t you think people would be unhappy, potentially overturn whatever force is in power if they could? Yet companies go on as that entity in our country. The “government” is just the secondary force in power in some sense. Granted government is oversight, but it’s often to keep other things from getting too powerful. Companies seem to be defacto government. It’s complicated, subject to situation, inconsistent at best.
America
George Carlin – Abortion – lul
Any Sublime Lovers Out There?
If you know and love Sublime like I do you’ll appreciate this song. Sublime stole the hook from this song, and even took a clip directly from the very beginning and put it into one of their songs. Listen to it and appreciate the beauty of it. Surely sublime loved the doors. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Who’s Letting Us Surf?
Yesterday, after I made the 40 minute commute to the Clearwater area I was looking for a place to surf. In a shrinking surfing environment I had to find somewhere to surf. We are losing our freedom to surf in much of northern Pinellas County. For the sunny day yesterday with somewhat light winds we had limited beach access. This loss of freedom isn’t a party issue; it’s not just democrats or just republicans that are taking away our freedom. People within both of these so called separate parties are limiting our freedom. The state park (republican managed), Honeymoon Island State Park, was closed yesterday for the bright sunny windy day with surf. When I arrived in Clearwater and went to check Sand Key, the county park (democrat managed) the park was closed.
What this post is really about is the fact that the City of Clearwater was there for surfers. Well, sort of. They took away our parking on north beach, so we can’t really surf there anymore without getting a ticket or towed. It’s really a thank you for letting us surf on the south Clearwater Beach Jetty. There has been a trend to let us surf on that jetty during storms. It would seem absurd not to let us have anywhere to surf, especially since the community has been centered around surf marketing for decades. At least for the moment we have somewhere to surf in hurricanes in north Pinellas county. Sometimes they don’t let us surf. It’s a thank you for letting us surf, not a very good thank you, but a thank you. Thanks for letting us surf.
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Car Manufacturers Should Be More Considerate
Where do you draw the line between a safety feature and something that is going to restrict someones freedom. There are things that piss people off in this world, and I would wager that the majority of people are against being controlled by others. Yet, it’s going on on an ongoing basis. If you’re driving a car you’re more than likely driving one that will set off an alarm designed to keep you following the laws. Sure, safety is a major factor in why they installed this feature in a car. However, the reality is that not everyone needs it, and more importantly you should have the choice as to whether or not to do it. Can you guess what I’m talking about?
More than likely you’ve figured it out. It’s activated by a trigger build into your seat and your passenger’s seat. When your sitting in a car, and you drive without you belt plugged in a really annoying alarm starts to sound. You might have forgotten to plug it in every once and a while, and then heard that annoying alarm. Beep, beep, beep. Then 10 seconds later: beep, beep, beep. It goes on continuously until you plug in your seat-belt.
We have have to ask ourselves as a society, where do you draw the line? Do we have a choice? Obviously, it’s a law. It’s something your required to do, or else you get fined, and eventually imprisoned if your not on private property. If you’re driving around in your gated private community, should you have to listen to that annoying beeping sound every 10 seconds, or whatever it is? Who really wants to hear that annoying sound. When you’re driving in a golf cart on roads that permit golf carts you don’t have to wear a seat belt. Why should you have to if you’re under a certain speed limit in a car. Who were the people that thought this alarm is a good idea? Can’t we choose whether or not to buy a car without an alarm? Why are manufacturing companies products so meshed into one coherent scheme that manufacturers aren’t designing drastically different things? Don’t they have free will? Is it all just one big company producing the same annoying products, just with a different name, and under a different network of people? It sure looks that way.
Thinking about this leads to some very serious questions about manufacturing, production, and how supplies are being integrated into society. We have to ask ourselves if we’re really getting a choice here. A good analogy would be like the thought I had recently about taxation without representation. So you’ve got Donald Trump, and you’ve got Joe Biden running for office. You can vote for either of them. They claim to be representing different ideas, but do they really? Are they really different? Are you really just voting for two democrats, or two republicans? When the younger generation are discriminated against in society based purely on the fact that they are “not old enough” to hold office, are we really being represented? Do we really have a choice?
Seat belt alarms should be a choice. That is all.
George Floyd Paddle Out
My good friend Myles Messinetti over at Surfer made this awesome video of a moving event in memory of George Floyd.
Rioting Thoughts With Weather/Surf Forecast on 5/31/2020
Reopening Pinellas County Beaches Following Jacksonville Opening Theirs
I hope Pinellas County recognizes the move Duval County (Jacksonville) made to allow residents to exercise today on their beach. To prevent the increase in rates of heart disease we all need to be able to exercise, and since the Governor of the state is permitting “essential activities”, according to the Duval County website, it’s essential that Pinellas County be reopened to essential activies on our beaches. Surfing is not a crime. Duval Counties opened the Jax Pier and Mayport Poles to surfing today, and we should open Sand Key and Honeymoon Island. The curve has flattened. Reopen our beaches Pinellas.
