re: lawn mowing (ditch digging, shit shoveling, surfboard sanding, etc...)

General Discussion
21

Exactly… the hours you have to be there at the surf shop are precisely when you could be surfing.

plus if by some miracle you do call in somebody to cover for you, when you get to the beach the wind will always shift to a howling onshore. It’s a natural law or something, I think. Leastwise it always happens to me.

Best idea is to save your wages up ( which means avoiding buying everything that comes in that you’d like, even at an employee discount) and take a long vacation now and then.

Owning a surf shop…well, I’m glad it’s not me. I could rant on that for pages and pages, but it all boils down to the fact that it is a business and you have to run it like one. If you want people to rely on you, ya gotta be reliable.

Right now, for instance, we ( the shop I run) does a lot of business in our sideline, supplying the beach staff types. And that involves running around a lot, to the beaches and admin buildings and so on. No way could we be open regular hours, or every day. Better off not to open at all for a while rather than be open now and again and disappoint a lot of people.

and that, as they say, is surf biz…

doc…

22

with panceta and wild rice??? that sounds incredible.

the quayle was quite an odd creature as well eh???

doc ,when is the old timers this year???

23

Life is made up of decisions. We’re making most of them. Following your heart on these decisions is by far, the most important factor.

The question is, where is your “heart”?

We’re all on different but similar quests.

Roof/food/love, not necessarily in that order.

It’s all cake after that.

Now, there’s where it gets tangled.

God has a sense of humor, but in my humble opinion, He also is a very serious Power.

Why things are the way they are, who can say?

Our bodies, like all of our life’s issues, are all about balance. Then there’s Faith. Seek it, Find it.

Unfortunately, surfers tend to be deadbeats.

I’ve been one for 37 years, early on was one of the worst/best. Learned about keeping word and showing up on time. Minor things when a teen, but timeless lessons and not to be taken lightly. Some of us never figure that out.

Later, hand in the soil of volcanic origin, Island escape. Long time it worked out, sinus drain seened to help the plantsgrow.

Good combination, ocean and farming. Hard on the back, though.

Returned to the sea, been the eyes behind the binoculars for over a decade now. Here, it’s a great gig, elsewhere…?

All I can do is reiterate, life is a balance, Faith in God and Good.

Noone ever said it wouldn’t be painfull.

24

One of my favorite jobs was tearing down an old barn and the 100 years of chicken shit in the adjacent coup. Breathing chicken shit dust is Naaaaasteeeee. The best part was cutting partialy through the support post with a chain saw and pulling the roof down with a rope and running like Carl Lewis. The job took me 30 hours and I made 300 bucks minus the cost of the tetanus shot due to multiple nail punctures. Good money in those days. The view was killer, too. Why did the Creator leave me here? I may not find out until tommorrow or a 1000 generations from now. So I don’t spend a lot of time contemplating that questions. Besides, I’m too busy raising two kids, building boards, and riding them. I always do the best job I can and try to have a bit of fun, too. Because that’s how mom and dad raised me. Doc, I love your common sense and anecdotes. If your ever west in the Monterey Bay area please give me a jingle for beers and food. Mike

25
Quote:
Quote:

its quail.

Well, no. Quail make sense: small, fairly fast flying and tasty game birds, nice roasted with wild rice, a slice of pancetta over 'em lest they dry out and a tangerine glaze.

On the other hand…

when we first got my dog a german shorthaired pointer, i was going to train her to be a bird dog(funny now i am a vegetarian) and I had purchased quail eggs and an incubator. Nevere hatched, and now I have the quail pen laying in my backyard.

26

Yeah, that hard labor, gotta love it. I’ve had my fun with chicken shoot, right next to pig in nostril/lung burn. Hard labor’s Fine when the back is young, not so fine later.

Rather use the chain for cranking a few more turns.

What happened? My father told me I’d grow out of this surf thing. Still can’t get enough.

Thank God for that.

Why we’re here? I’m more concerned with the next swell…

27
Quote:

the narrow gate does’nt foster higher humanity.

the goal of contribution and acceptance

rings of sufi teaching

-Ambrose

Nicely nailed there, Ambrose.

When I was neck deep in the Rut Race I took strength/solace from the people I worked with. Walked through the fire with them, got dirty when I needed to, protected some when they needed that, took body shots for things I had no power over…up until a point where I felt certain people above or beyond just saw the rest as equipment. The day I gave my notice (“Man delivers thunderbolt from out of the blue” would have been the headline) I had been listening to several different cd’s while I worked inside stuff, and the one song that had and still has figurative resonance even now years later had the following line:

"Let the chips fall where they will,

I got me boats to build…

I got me dreams to fill"

Quote:

The human mind? uhmmmmmm - if that is meant to, in a small way, reproduce the mind of a creator, then I think the creator is really Jerry Lewis, maybe Billy Connolly or possibly Steven Wright

It’s always seemed to me there are two kinds of humor: silly and mean. Goofy and that which is at another’s expense. Marx Brothers vs. “The Little Tramp”, a pansy who needed his ass kicked. Steve Martin vs. Andrew Dice Clay. I don’t know how to classify Sam Kinison and Bobcat Goldthwaite other than to say maybe they were Anti-Rosie O’Donnels. I don’t do much giggling now unless I get wasted and watch the evening news…

…

“Hey man, do you surf? Are you a surfer?”

“Nah, not me. I’m a garbageman!”

-Bear, from Big Wednesday…looking happy as a pig in you know what…

28

Couldn’t help but notice… FOUR lawn mowing business ads via the Google thing down at the bottom of the page. LOL

Also saw an interesting article in LA Times about a lady who owns a landscape business in SoCal who can’t find laborers even at 34.00/hr. Apparently she has a contract with CalTrans that requires employees to be legal. That rules out many who would do it in a heartbeat. I guess white people just don’t do that sort of thing anymore.

S’cuse me now while I go mow my lawn… with all the rain we’ve had, I’ve got a biomass factory revving at full steam ahead.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fi-jobs18may18,0,7635699.story

29

I’ll never forget that scene in the movie Woodstock where they interview the guy who is cleaning out the Porto-Potties.

They ask him what he’s doing and he turns around smiling, and says something like, “Well I’m just making everything clean, so it will be more pleasanter for the people.” He was a happy guy, and I got the impression it wouldn’t matter what job he was doing, he’d still be the same guy. He had simple joy.

Everyone in the theater applauded him.

I want to be like that.

Doug

30

It’s actually a good growth opportunity as it seems the richest seem to be the laziest when it come to lawn care and household maintenance. So instead of a mower the well to do will get a wireless speaker system for the pool area.

My parents tried to hire a lawn man to take care of the grass and hedge but they don’t come area the suburbs now cause they are too busy servicing the ritzy homes of Kahala and Hawaii Kai.

Specializing in those mundane incidental tasks of home ownership that alot of us take for granted can be a rewarding occupation. Cleaning the house, dog washing, car detailing, lawn mowing, fixing thing when they break and even shopping for food are all being outsourced from the wealthy and busy as we speak.

Kind of like having the water patrol jet ski towing you back out during a contest so you don’t have to waste your valuable energy doing something as non productive as paddling back out through the break to catch another wave.

The grass is sometimes greener I guess…

As far as Nel’s thought

Quote:

I don’t do much giggling now unless I get wasted and watch the evening news…

“Hey man, do you surf? Are you a surfer?”

“Nah, not me. I’m a garbageman!”

-Bear, from Big Wednesday…looking happy as a pig in you know what…

It’s always the case when I pull up to the parking lot at my favorite break to a bunch of blalahs in parked cars smoking batu or pakalolo or drinking.

And someone shouts my way… Hey bra, you five-o or what?

And I just smile and say back,

“naw just a fireman sneaking some waves while on duty…” (not true of course)

31

outsourcing the good things in life. American success.

“Breathe forrr meeee nowww…”

32

I’ve done a fair bit of lawn and garden work. Both, during college and after. It’s good healthy work if you stay away from the poisons. Some people are willing to pay more for gardeners that speak English for the ease of communication regardless of skin color. Others don’t give a shit except for price and they are usually a pain in the ass anyway. Now I own my home and would not think of hiring a gardener. I work it myself. Hiring a gardener is kind of like owning a dog and paying somebody else to take it for a walk. My roses are KILLER right now and my native plant garden is full of birds, lizards, and smells of sage. I’d let the deer in if it wasn’t for the ticks and I have not seen a bobcat since they ate my last chicken. Mike

33
Quote:
Also saw an interesting article in LA Times about a lady who owns a landscape business in SoCal who can't find laborers even at 34.00/hr.

I’d go do it right now if the location was anywhere that’d catch a south swell. But she’s in Riverside and I wouldn’t live/work there for $100/hr!

34
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My existence is proof of my place in the universe. Though the awesomeness of the Creator, I know my worth is independent of what others think of me. It cannot be gotten though material means, it cannot be gotten by actions. Not by owning as much treasure as human eyes can see, or having extraordinary abilities, it is fueled by a belief that I exist for a reason, the One who set all things in motion decided to carefully craft my being. Can I live in that belief? This is my story . . .

i’m right with you there. & as equally grateful.

i’m a primary school teacher (you’d call it elementary school over there in the states). of course the job doesn’t define who i am, & i wouldn’t do it for free, but i do love looking after & esteeming & nurturing children. i’ve done a bunch of different stuff: landscaping, labouring for carpenters & bricklayers & plumbers (yep, shovelling shit!), office work, factory work, restaurant work, etc. none of it has been as fulfilling as teaching. it’s a real blessing to do work that i know is making a difference in young people’s lives. definitely job satisfaction for me.

plus the holidays are good, eleven weeks a year, lots of family camping trips up the coast, so no complaints from me!

but primarily, regardless of everything else, my job is to be a good husband & a good dad. in lots of ways, everything else is background noise, surfing included. i wouldn’t have it any other way.

35

A job well done should always give a sense of satisfaction no matter what it is, those who don’t usually think themselves above others or that their work does’nt add to the sum of human endeavour. I even get like that myself sometimes but then I get my head out of my arse and see more clearly. I also sometimes think that being a responsible family man where surfing is “background noise” would be a good idea but it so isn’t, it’s a loud and demanding noise. I suppose I’m still a gromet hedonist even after all these years, in spite of wife and children. It might give me a nice cosy feeling inside to be able to trust my existance to some sort of creator but I can’t, truth can’t be given to you by anyone else but yourself. Belief by it’s very nature is trust in second hand information fed to you as truth. That’s not to say that no creator exists but we could just as easily be the result of chemistry and physics that became self aware , I know not, not for sure anyway. Your perception of who you are is up to you, the job you do is just the job you do but by doing it as well as you can you’re being the best you can. Having said that obviously some jobs will attract you more than others but being attracted to how much money you can earn is just chasing the easy life. Be true to yourself.

When I surf I dance for Darwin, perhaps