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On a whim about a month ago, I decided to buy a kayak. I figured that I work my legs enough rollerblading, so I should alternate with an arm exercise and kayaking seemed easier to get into than wall climbing(which I'll get into eventually).
Though I'm in California, I've never seen any other prius owner with a kayak on top. The kayak would probably be longer than the car. So, I looked on Craigslist and found an inflatable one: The Stearns IK 116 was originally $360, but I found a used one for $180 with paddle. I then had to buy a Personal Flotation Device(PFD)($70 Amazon) and then figure out how to inflate the darn boat.
For my first attempt at launching, I bought a $15 target bike inflater that I would power from my car's lighter. Even though I vacuum sealed the air going in with a plastic bag, I was getting no where after 15 minutes of very noisy parking lot inflating. I needed more power!
I went to target and didn't find anything else better. Nor on Amazon. So, where would you go next for some somewhat obscure power tool? Yup, I went to Home Depot. There I found a Ryobi 18V Dual Function Inflator for $49 but they don't package either a battery or wall power cable. So, unfortunately that was another $35 for a battery and $30 for a battery charger.
Insane, I know. I was thinking maybe I could buy an air mattress for $20 and modify it but then I'd have to buy a car cigarette power to wall charger and would then have to carry the airful kayak from the parking lot to the docks. This way, I carry the light, flat kayak and battery operated inflator and then POOF! Instaboat!
So anyway, last weekend was a flop. This morning, I took all my gear to Shoreline, paid the $4 to do whatever I wanted all day, and after carrying it all to the dock, I had a working boat within 2 minutes of turning the inflator on. HALLELUJAH!, I thought. Because there was always the possibility the kayak had a hole in it that prevented it from blowing up last weekend. Blowing up would be a good thing in this situation.
I enjoyed 2 hours of the summer sun going from one side of the lake to the other or laying back and twirling the boat, watching the people in rentals wonder if I was going to sink. Which, just added to the excitement because I can't really swim.
If anyone is near Mountain View, Oakland, Cupertino, Foster City, or Redwood City, or at the SF piers and wants to Kayak, I'm ready. I guess if you had your own moonbounce inflatable, I'd be ready for that too.
This is the equip list(helpful for me to remember):
Kayak + Paddle Inflator if needed Lifejacket(PFD) Sunglasses + Contacts Sunscreen Baseball cap Bottle of water Flip Flops Ziploc for car keys(secured somewhere so it doesn't fall in the middle of the lake) Itching for fun
Super bowl? How about a super bowl... of chocolate?
Friends, roommates, strangers, and I converged in Berkeley to celebrate the discovery of local dark chocolate in the 45 mile radii area we call home. Scharfen Berger isn’t your garden variety chocolate, though it is owned by Hershey’s now.
The difference between this brand and other chocolatiers is that this company tries to appeal to dark chocolate aficionados and those with refined palates by changing their selection of cacao beans from ecuadorial countries to result in more exquisite detailed flavors. Their ever-changing ingredient selection and homegrown processing means that each bar may taste different from the next. You might taste pepper, coffee, mango, orange, plum, and more. There’s even an “Antilles” designated bar that represents this year’s selected banner flavor of the year. They design their chocolates like vineyards design their wines.
The one hour tours are free and you get to taste about 6 different kinds of chocolate.
Can you say, “Will tour for chocolate”?
The seven of us spent a total of $145, so bring your wallet if you bring your impulses. You can also buy certain bars at Whole Foods.
http://fastcupid.com Scharfen Berger Tour Info
Here lies the remains of a fresh chocolate bar. It is graphically inciteful so portions of the object have been removed for viewing purposes. Viewer discretion advised.
I was not paid by S.B. or W.F. to post but I am journaling while under the influence of good chocolate. And really, who wouldn't?
I've noticed in the past year that with the advent of DVD subscription companies, Tivo, and the ease of downloading that a fun topic to talk about with friends and strangers is binging on tv shows that somehow bond us together as fans.
Examples: Sex and the City Sopranos Dead Like Me Carnivale Lost Veronica Mars
Over the past two years, I've watched a few episodes of Six Feet Under but didn't have the working schedule to watch it full-time. My coworker, after watching the final episode, said that I had to see the complete series because the final was that good. So, he lent me the first and second season of about 12 and 13 episodes each. I went through the first season in 3 days and the second season in a day and a half(Labor Day).
It's very liberating to watch these great shows that are historical pop culture time pieces that future generations may never know.
You can feel passionate about a show because of how much of your life you sacrificed for such worthy causes to enlighten and expand our world perspectives. At the least, it's something to live for in a week's time. We can find meaning in our lives in fictional stories of other people's lives.
I'm an avid fan of Six Feet Under and the defunct Dead Like Me because they show different ways in that you should fully enjoy life. In the case of Dead Like Me, enjoy death and hope to resolve the voids of life. Plus, I love partial comedies.
So, the shows that I've binged: Six Feet Under(though just Seasons 1-2) Lost(1 Season) Veronica Mars(it's teeny but clever) Dead Like Me(2 Seasons) Carnivale(2 Seasons-Note, don't watch all of last episode)
Shows that I should see after that, or that other people could likely have: Sopranos Simpsons Alias 24 Seinfeld
What shows do you watch or have you contemplated watching? Do you love binging on series?
One of the first questions I ask new people(as well as friends that have lost linkage) is, "What do you do for fun?" If I want it to sound less like a line then I might ask "What do you do outside work?" but that edges being surgical.
If someone were to ask me, I'd answer that I love inline skating with groups Wednesday nights in Palo Alto(though not so often with these gas prices) and Friday nights at SF's Embarcadero. Besides that, I'm online or watching the best defunct shows. I watched all of Six Feet Under's season two in one and a half days.
In this phase of life, I'm in this rush to do as much as possible. Live every day. People who do more activities or more unique activities really sparkle in the mist. Or rather, someone who does things is more attractive than someone whose life revolves around work.
People at work will always ask how your weekend went and old friends will always how you've been. And if you don't answer exciting and wonderful, don't you want to just get out and put some cowboy boots on or get a classic california sunburn? At the least, I think I should get back into volunteering. And if I get a chance to wear boots and get a tan, there'll be a fun pic to see.
Fourth of July in Cupertino surprized me in two ways. For one, I haven't seen so many kids from one town in one little area. There must have been at least 250 judging from the high voices and short, wiggling bodies after nightfall.
All us Cupertinans had 4 square meeting viewsites available and the elementary school across the street from us was good as gold because it was down the block from the launch site.
The second surprise was the duration and quality of the fireworks for Cupertino were on par with what I saw in Redwood City last year. It was 19 minutes of pyrotechnic pleasure. I heard SF's fireworks were clouded by the fog(not too surprising).
I like trying to make wishes on birthday candles, shooting stars, and fireworks. Fireworks make for the most interesting wishstreams because you have to get creative for 19 minutes about all the things you could wish for; all the little things you might want. And what a travesty if you missed an opportunity to wish.
Today, Tesla came to our campus with a shiny silver car. I'm not much of a car person but I'll oggle if they make it curvy and gadget spurned. Aesthetically, I think my coworker's red Lotus Elise has a more attractive smile to its grill.
and they'll give you dinner, chocolates, and wine...
Last night(Tuesday), I decided to try a volunteer event for singles done by Hoba. The big two volunteer orgs are Hands on Bay Area and One Brick. I had been to the last two annual Hoba big special event days(and met someone cool the first year) but this was my first participation in a smaller reoccurring event. I had fun and unexpected rewards.
This particular project for http://fastcupid.com, we put laminated book covers on new children's books. These books get sent to needy schools locally and around the world to encourage parent/teacher/child reading. The five of us covered 90 books total. Afterwards, they gave us a couple special treats that they warned me not to expect in the future.
Food of some sort is always included. This meal consisted of egg rolls, pot stickers, chinese bbq pork, satays, cherry pie, and two kinds of sugar cookies. To top that off, we had wine! It's probably a once a year time that you can get free wine for volunteering. And that's not all: we each got a gift bag with no less than 3 popsicles, 5 chocolate pandas, 24 kisses, 5 chocolate hearts, 3 bags of mini-M&Ms, and a big red heart container of chocolate I dare not open yet(because you never know if I might meet someone to give this heart to).
If you read my previous post, it'll probably be evident that I love chocolate and all this seemed like a seduction to volunteer. Honestly, I didn't need all the food and spirited drink. Meeting four nice, caring women volunteers and two jubilant staffers was icing to the cake of time and effort that go into doing something for others.
I'll probably volunteer for Bring Me a Book org again knowing full well there'll be no wine and chocolates.
Given enough time, I'd like to regress to childhood years by reading some Dr. Seuss and Where the Wild Things Are books that I saw hanging out and looking for lovin'.
Hoba goes Tuesdays from 6-8:30PM and Onebrick goes Wednesdays at the same time slot at the office building in Mountain View.
To link to this blog from blog posts/comments, use [blog catchingleaves], from anywhere else use http://fastcupid.com/blog/catchingleaves,
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