Day 20
Thursday March 20th
Finally!!! The weekend is upon us! For some reason that has never really been explained, our parent company mandates Good Friday as a corporate holiday. With a paid day off, I am never one to complain, especially when it is a Friday. I had HUGE plans for the weekend and could not wait to get it started. I had this really cool three day weekend planned. I was to head up to Big Sur early Friday morning and spend the next three days hiking in the coastal redwoods and climbing along the immaculate coast. I was stoked! I had contemplated leaving tonight and staying at a cute little hostel in the seaside hamlet of Cambria.
Before I could hit the highway though, I really wanted to get some research done in this new documentary project I have been toying with these last few days. Also I had kinda screwed up my neck goofing around at work. It was sore but no big deal. Instead of tempting fate, I figured one less night sleeping on the ground might do my creaky neck good. Besides I had piles of research to get through, literally hundreds of pages of reading to pour over. So one more night being responsible and then off to the coast.
Thursday March 20th
Finally!!! The weekend is upon us! For some reason that has never really been explained, our parent company mandates Good Friday as a corporate holiday. With a paid day off, I am never one to complain, especially when it is a Friday. I had HUGE plans for the weekend and could not wait to get it started. I had this really cool three day weekend planned. I was to head up to Big Sur early Friday morning and spend the next three days hiking in the coastal redwoods and climbing along the immaculate coast. I was stoked! I had contemplated leaving tonight and staying at a cute little hostel in the seaside hamlet of Cambria.
Before I could hit the highway though, I really wanted to get some research done in this new documentary project I have been toying with these last few days. Also I had kinda screwed up my neck goofing around at work. It was sore but no big deal. Instead of tempting fate, I figured one less night sleeping on the ground might do my creaky neck good. Besides I had piles of research to get through, literally hundreds of pages of reading to pour over. So one more night being responsible and then off to the coast.
Getting a jump on the research ground work, "Accountability Deficits of Int'l & Local Administration" (in Kosovar nation building), courtesy of Tony. A heading read, but definitely an invaluable resource!Day 21
Friday March 21st
I woke up at about 3am with this incredible pain shooting down my back. I tried my best to ignore and get some shut eye before starting the long day ahead. I had no luck. As the sun rose, I tried to get out of bed. No luck. I could not move my right arm or feel my toes. My neck was so tweaked any minute movement caused white hot pain to shoot down my back. Hmmmm this can't be good. After about an hour of trying to get up by myself I gave up. I had to have PonyBoy pull my butt out of bed and help me stand up. The pain was so bloody intense I felt dizzy and nauseous. After about an hour praying to the porcelain gods, I gingerly plopped my self down in a desk chair with a bottle of aspirin and a bag of ice.
I could barely move without plunging my head and neck into excruciating pain. I was miserable. If I sneezed I thought my neck muscles were going to burst and explode into a big bloody projectile mess. It was not good. I tried to sleep but any slight movement would wake me up with alarm. Sleep just was not an option either. I could not move my arms sufficiently enough without incredible pain that reading was out. I have no patience for cable TV and surfing through 500+ channels to find the last ten minutes of a cool show. So I tried to watch a few movies with a little better luck. I caught The Bank Job, Vantage Point, Never Back Down, and Fool's Gold.
Fool's Gold was more of a petty selfish indulgence. A horrible movie but it has tons of shots of crystal blue waters & Kate Hudson in a bikini. In a way it kinda reminded me of my old barn storming days tramping around the Caribbean w/ Club Med. Ahhh sometimes I miss those carefree days on the beach diving and surfing, sailing and loving. They were good days and this movie, cheese and all, brought it back full force. Besides little miss A-cup Hudson in a teeny tiny string bikini and the glassy turquoise Caribbean waters, you can not go wrong with that! It served it purpose, mindless entertainment to take my mind off my present predicament. The Bank Job was bloody good, although a little cerebral. Given the fact that I was in no mood to think, I lost a little bit here and there. Otherwise though, definitely a movie worth a second viewing. Vantage Point & Never Back Down are pure trash. VP started off interestingly enough and was filmed beautifully. The camera work in VP is amazing. It is frantic and unsteady making you feel like you are right beside the characters. The writing and acting are horrible. there is no way to get around that, no matter how badly I wanted to like the film.
The same is true for NBD. A sophomoric flick if I have ever seen one. NBD follows the standard Hollywood formula for success: troubled kid trying to do good, rich kid with all the toys won't let troubled kid be, beautiful blond breaks up w/ rich kid jackass to date bad boy troubled kid, toss in some b-roll of co-eds in bikinis & tightly choreographed fight scenes and be sure that the troubled kid bests rich kid in final fight and wins girl and voila, you have an instant financial success without any real effort. Mindless entertainment with no real plot or character development-- totally pedantic and predictable. Despite giving up four hours of my life that I will never have back for these two flicks, in a way it gave me hope. I mean seriously, if some director/producer was able to get millions of dollars for loosely written piles of crap pictures like these then there is hope for me. I did lose a little faith though in the movie viewing public these days, but that is wholly another rant.
So after sitting in this desk chair without moving and watching some less then stellar movies, I was frustrated to high heaven by this neck pain. Finally I tossed in the towel and said screw it. Off to the ER I went. Unbelievably the wait and experience there with all the poking and prodding and sterile cold environment was so much better then the experience of watching either VP or NBD. Finally the verdict was in, though by this time I was so out of it I really was not paying attention. It had something to do with a severely pinched nerve and I needed a shot and they needed my credit card, etc., etc., etc. Within an hour of popping some pills and a quick shot to the spine I was feeling grand. Well grand enough I mean compared to the misery that blew out my morning.
Unfortunately it was well after sun set before I crawled home. It looks like Big Sur is off. I was cautioned not to drive for the next few days. Also I was cautioned to not participate in any strenuous activities but to walk short distances periodically to help with the circulation. Yup Big Sur was definitely not happening. Feeling a little better I went for a walk along the beach and caught the very last rays of the setting sun silhouetting the Channel Islands. When I returned to the SurfShack PonyBoy was back from his nap. We stocked up a fire in the trusty chiminea and played cribbage until it was too cold to stay outside. And that was that, pretty much a wasted first day of my supposedly epic three day weekend.
Friday March 21st
I woke up at about 3am with this incredible pain shooting down my back. I tried my best to ignore and get some shut eye before starting the long day ahead. I had no luck. As the sun rose, I tried to get out of bed. No luck. I could not move my right arm or feel my toes. My neck was so tweaked any minute movement caused white hot pain to shoot down my back. Hmmmm this can't be good. After about an hour of trying to get up by myself I gave up. I had to have PonyBoy pull my butt out of bed and help me stand up. The pain was so bloody intense I felt dizzy and nauseous. After about an hour praying to the porcelain gods, I gingerly plopped my self down in a desk chair with a bottle of aspirin and a bag of ice.
I could barely move without plunging my head and neck into excruciating pain. I was miserable. If I sneezed I thought my neck muscles were going to burst and explode into a big bloody projectile mess. It was not good. I tried to sleep but any slight movement would wake me up with alarm. Sleep just was not an option either. I could not move my arms sufficiently enough without incredible pain that reading was out. I have no patience for cable TV and surfing through 500+ channels to find the last ten minutes of a cool show. So I tried to watch a few movies with a little better luck. I caught The Bank Job, Vantage Point, Never Back Down, and Fool's Gold.
Fool's Gold was more of a petty selfish indulgence. A horrible movie but it has tons of shots of crystal blue waters & Kate Hudson in a bikini. In a way it kinda reminded me of my old barn storming days tramping around the Caribbean w/ Club Med. Ahhh sometimes I miss those carefree days on the beach diving and surfing, sailing and loving. They were good days and this movie, cheese and all, brought it back full force. Besides little miss A-cup Hudson in a teeny tiny string bikini and the glassy turquoise Caribbean waters, you can not go wrong with that! It served it purpose, mindless entertainment to take my mind off my present predicament. The Bank Job was bloody good, although a little cerebral. Given the fact that I was in no mood to think, I lost a little bit here and there. Otherwise though, definitely a movie worth a second viewing. Vantage Point & Never Back Down are pure trash. VP started off interestingly enough and was filmed beautifully. The camera work in VP is amazing. It is frantic and unsteady making you feel like you are right beside the characters. The writing and acting are horrible. there is no way to get around that, no matter how badly I wanted to like the film.
The same is true for NBD. A sophomoric flick if I have ever seen one. NBD follows the standard Hollywood formula for success: troubled kid trying to do good, rich kid with all the toys won't let troubled kid be, beautiful blond breaks up w/ rich kid jackass to date bad boy troubled kid, toss in some b-roll of co-eds in bikinis & tightly choreographed fight scenes and be sure that the troubled kid bests rich kid in final fight and wins girl and voila, you have an instant financial success without any real effort. Mindless entertainment with no real plot or character development-- totally pedantic and predictable. Despite giving up four hours of my life that I will never have back for these two flicks, in a way it gave me hope. I mean seriously, if some director/producer was able to get millions of dollars for loosely written piles of crap pictures like these then there is hope for me. I did lose a little faith though in the movie viewing public these days, but that is wholly another rant.
So after sitting in this desk chair without moving and watching some less then stellar movies, I was frustrated to high heaven by this neck pain. Finally I tossed in the towel and said screw it. Off to the ER I went. Unbelievably the wait and experience there with all the poking and prodding and sterile cold environment was so much better then the experience of watching either VP or NBD. Finally the verdict was in, though by this time I was so out of it I really was not paying attention. It had something to do with a severely pinched nerve and I needed a shot and they needed my credit card, etc., etc., etc. Within an hour of popping some pills and a quick shot to the spine I was feeling grand. Well grand enough I mean compared to the misery that blew out my morning.
Unfortunately it was well after sun set before I crawled home. It looks like Big Sur is off. I was cautioned not to drive for the next few days. Also I was cautioned to not participate in any strenuous activities but to walk short distances periodically to help with the circulation. Yup Big Sur was definitely not happening. Feeling a little better I went for a walk along the beach and caught the very last rays of the setting sun silhouetting the Channel Islands. When I returned to the SurfShack PonyBoy was back from his nap. We stocked up a fire in the trusty chiminea and played cribbage until it was too cold to stay outside. And that was that, pretty much a wasted first day of my supposedly epic three day weekend.
In four hands I double skunked PonyBoy in Cribbage. I guess I was taking out all my pent up aggression on the darn cards...Day 22
Saturday March 22nd
The doctor suggested I do nothing too vigorous for the next 4- 7 days. He also suggested that I try to walk as much as possible to keep the fluids moving where they should. When I woke up I didn't feel nearly as bad as the morning before, but I still had a pretty painful morning. My neck was killing me! Again! So I decided that a good long walk would be just what I needed. I figured the length of the walk should correspond to the amount of pain right? I figured Gridley Peak in Ojai would be just about right (14.6 miles to peak w/ 3300 ft. elevation gained, rated double-black diamond T4.5 trail for you mountain bikers out there). A nice lazy walk in the high desert sun put a smile on my face. So Gridely it was. With a couple bottles of water, a few Clifbars, and a full bottle of Advil we were off.
Making our way up above the Ojai Valley
According to locals, these are "Perdy fl'ars!"
Dang rocks, everywhere! I hate hiking!
Flat Tire: "Dude like I was pounding down through the scree and felt like this softness and jammin' kinda, you know? So I stopped and was like, oh fuck dude! I blew out my damn tire man! But its cool now so, you know. Its a quick fix." 
And off we go once again, hukin' & jivin' down some pristine single track.
"Don't step on me fl'ars!"
A little tilted, I haven't had my V8 yet...
Avocados anyone? They're just hanging here...
Trailhead Bill: "Well then you gotta go all the way down there to Cozy Dell. And then you gotta haul yourself ALLLL the way back here and then up to Rose Valley. Figure it takes the faster ones 'bout 22- 26 hours to finish." Bill was setting up an aid station for Ojai's Coyote Two Moon Ultra Marathon(100 miles in 2+ days-- you thought I was nuts!), his 2nd station of the day.
After the hike we went on over to the Plantation and visited with PonyBoy's folks for a bit. Co' made up some HUGE sandwiches that definitely hit the spot. I was famished! We relaxed a bit on the porch, played a little bocce ball in the back yard (they have their own bocce court), and then headed back to town. I spent the rest of the afternoon banging away at this keyboard working on the book. I was feeling pretty good, definitely proud of myself. I wrote for hours. It has been a few months since I attacked this stupid book project. It felt good to get back into it. I spent the first hours just editing and parsing down some of the older stuff to get my head back in the story. Unfortunately once my head was back in it I only got about ten decent pages of real writing in. But hey it is a start. Every little bit moves me closer down the literary road. 42 pages and counting...
Later that night we walked on over to Billy O's to catch a quick pint and some live tunes. Dave Gleason and Old California were playing. These guys can totally rock out. At first it was a little country but then they turned it up to 11 and the place was R-O-C-K-ING! Those boys can definitely noodle. It turned out to be a great bluesy evening. After last weekend being stuck in the vaccuumm and all, and the last day gingerly clinging to the desk chair, today was super busy to make up for it all. By the time we made it back to the SurfShack, I was exhausted. But it was one of those good exhausted you know. I slept with a smile.
Later that night we walked on over to Billy O's to catch a quick pint and some live tunes. Dave Gleason and Old California were playing. These guys can totally rock out. At first it was a little country but then they turned it up to 11 and the place was R-O-C-K-ING! Those boys can definitely noodle. It turned out to be a great bluesy evening. After last weekend being stuck in the vaccuumm and all, and the last day gingerly clinging to the desk chair, today was super busy to make up for it all. By the time we made it back to the SurfShack, I was exhausted. But it was one of those good exhausted you know. I slept with a smile.
Dave Gleason jammin' w/ Old California.
Old California pouring on some soul.
Dave getting funky with it & bringing the house down with a colossal jam.For more see: http://www.myspace.com/davegleasonmusic
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