Sunday, May 29, 2005

Busy Weekend (Updated)

My trip back from Albuquerque was much more pleasant. I got upgraded to first class! The hours pass by very quickly when you're comfortable. The free liquor also helped. Upon my arrival, I had to prepare for my camping trip, which I was leaving for the next day, right after work.

I get to work, and have to run a teleconference with a supplier. My mind was everywhere, I began the meeting with, "Why are we here?" It went well, I just couldn't make sense of why one of the attendees was wearing club gear. She does this all the time, but I never had to work with her. Maybe she doesn't realize that the perceptions she gives others will precede her work reputation.


Latino Musica


I came across a radio station tha was jamming! It was a Latino Hip hop station. I don't know what they were saying many of the songs, but they had me bouncin' my head to the beat while I was cruising in my Chevy Malibu. Spacious car, but it had absolutely no power, compared my supercharged ride. Anyways, most of the songs were same as the ones on the other hip hop stations, except that the lyrics were replaced with spanish-speaking rappers/singers. Hooks were the same as the original. And they were TIGHT! Even the all spanish songs had me wanting to pull over and dance on the hood (thinking back to Freaknik days). My favorite song: "Papi, Rip My Bumper... Papi, Rip My Bumper..." That was the only english phrase. It was like, some spanish crunk shit. It was tight.

Camping


Last year, at this time, it was dark & raining when I arrived at the campsite. It's no fun setting up a tent in those conditions. This time was more pleasant. The following day had some drizzle. So I passed on the planned horseback ride, and enjoyed the white water rafting when the sun came back out. Campfire discussions were quite animated. The typical topics.


White Water Rafting


So the sun finally came out, and headed off for some on-water adventure. Why were the biggest 2 guys in our group acting like the biggest punks? The biggest one, was so scared, he couldn't shut up! Just talking mess, not listening to instructions... we didn't have a full boat, but we made sure that scardy-cat didn't make it onto our boat. Nor the other guy. Good thing we didn't, he fell in twice.
Now our boat had 5 folks in it, so they put two guides in our boat. One guide had 14 years of experience. The other girl was new. She said she a guide last year, uh huh, yeah, whatever. This chick got us STUCK on EVERY single rock that we were supposed to miss. Of course, I was sitting in the front seat, and I started calling out ahead of time, watch us get stuck on that rock right there. Sure 'nough... I called it every time. Our boat never lost anyone, so at least she was able to do keep us all in the boat.
Before we got in, I told the guide that I wanted to hit a kayaker. Not to be mean, it's just that when you're in a 7 person raft, you cannot maneuver the thing to avoid a very agile kayaker. Kayaks know, the rafts have the right of way if they are up stream. An idle kayaker in the travel lane is roadkill. They should rest on the bank of the river. The second rapid we hit, we came real close to hitting one. I had to take my oar out the water to avoid smacking him in the head (tempting). I was thinking my goal was not going to be achieved. Then we reached the last rapid. A kayaker was apparently having a little difficulty getting enougy power to get himself unstuck. The way some of the rapids work, the water may run backwards, forming a swell, trapping victims who navigate poorly. So our raft came, and hit him dead on right on his back! He should thank us, it was just the push he needed to unwedge himself. Don't worry, no one got hurt.
I forgot what it's called, but kayakers can get turned upside down, and their head can be rattled & pulled down into a swell that is several feet under the surface. So there are two huge rocks with a gap in between with water rushing between them. If the kayker doesn't have enough force to upright himself, his gets rattled like a bell inbetween the rocks, stuck in the swell. Yes, a horrible way to die. One time, I saw someone stuck in that position. I noticed the kayak upside down for several seconds. Suddenly, he uprighted him self, gasping for air, scareed... it was a kid. I'll still to rafting, leave the kayaking to the more adventurous folks.


Off-Roading


I have a precious ride (to me). Designed to rule the highways! Supercharged Grand Prix GTP. On my way up to the campsite, the paved roads disappear. So of course, I tread slowly & carefully. Then there's this one spot... trail intersects a stream... my ride apparently was not going slow enough to avoid scraping the underside of the front of the car. **OUCH* *ARRGGHHH* I felt every cm of pain that my car felt. It lasted for several hours. On the way back, I tread even more slowly to avoid the same fate. Didn't work. This time I scraped the underside of the back of the car, probably my exhausts. *ARRGGHH* I'm feeling the pain again, just thinking about it.


Just Chill


OK, so my name seems like it's very inappropriate me, because I'm never sitting around, doing nothing for long. To me, it's more of a chill mindset. I hardly ever get high-sprung, or overly animated. No matter what I do, I have a laid-back style of doing it. So I plan on chillin' somewhere, doing something with a chill style, every few weeks or so.

9 Comments:

At 3:44 PM, Blogger AMES said...

Was it drizzling because it was so hot?

Hot rain is odd, doesn't that make camping muddy? or do they do something special in southern campsites to avoid that?

As for whitewater rafting,everyday has been a "Stay Away" warning. The snow melt has created dangerous river conditions.

 
At 3:45 PM, Blogger AMES said...

The California rivers that is.

 
At 9:57 AM, Blogger AMES said...

I will certainly avoid kayaking in rivers and stick to ocean activities. At least in the ocean you know when a wave is coming, although sometimes it can pull you out.

 
At 10:18 AM, Blogger Jez Chill said...

Coley: For me, chill is a mindset. Hope you start camping again, you'll be hooked!


Edwige: Two words: Frequent Flyer miles = Complimentary Upgrades. See, you guys no how to camp. I have no problem doing the man shyt. And the when the drinks & food is taken care of, it's a perfect camping trip.

Proactif: lol Every now & then my twisted mind says something that makes sense. Glad you found something meaningful. :-)

C2A: ONLY in California is it weird for it to be hot & raining. Summer Rain in CA means mudslides. Summer Rain everywhere else means green grass, pretty flowers, and save a few bucks on our water bills. No, not muddy.

 
At 9:10 PM, Blogger Jez Chill said...

Proactiff: Yeah... it takes me a couple days to complete a single entry. Even when i blog, I'm Jez Chillin'. Oh oh... if you family starts blogging, you really can't get personal!

 
At 9:25 PM, Blogger B.E.G said...

White water rafting sounds like fun I think I'm gonna have to try it.....I wish we did have "hot rain" in Cali.

 
At 11:15 AM, Blogger C.R.C. said...

Man - you are quite the adventurous one, huh? Sounds like you had a great time! First Class must've been great :)

 
At 3:09 PM, Blogger Don Tate II said...

Wow, you are an adventurous brotha. All that stuff sounds fun, camping, rafting and whatnot. Maybe I'll do some of that in my second life. The one when I have a bit more courage and adventurism.

 
At 1:43 AM, Blogger Brown Shuga said...

Yes he is adventurous. At least it seems....skiing, white water rafting...every damn thang. LOL Heeey...I'm going to the Smokey Mountains in a couple of weeks. We're supposed to...well THINKING about going white water rafting. I'm a little nervous about it. I keep thinking the waters are going to be very rough and I'll be thrown overboard or something. *sigh* I'll keep you posted on my decision!

 

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