Hayley’s car died last Thursday. What we thought was an oil leak was actually a broken water hose that was leaking water into the engine. Hayley was having trouble driving the car over thirty mph and she could barely make it to Advantec (click for Yelp link), the highly acclaimed automotive repair shop on Adams Avenue in University Heights.

With the help of her parents, Hayley was able to get by this weekend without my car. This week though, I’m on the bike and she’s got the Suuby.

This morning I barely made it to the train on time; my bike speed is not what it used to be. I purchased my ticket and had about forty-five seconds to spare before boarding. This afternoon, I wasn’t so lucky. Four minutes late and now I have an hour and twenty minutes to burn. I decided to check out the coffee shop next door, Zumbar.

Honestly, things have turned out pretty well! Zumbar is much better than sitting on the couch at home while Hayley works. They have cool, rhythmic music playing and I’m drinking a high quality Vanilla Latte out of a real mug. There’s a hookah bar next door and I’ve seen all sorts of people walking in and out, from suit-and-tie business people to slovenly dressed college students.

The waitress from next door just came over and asked if the internet was working for me. I admitted to it, although I wasn’t very forthcoming since I wasn’t supporting their store. She was very nice and I feel badly about how I responded. Hopefully she’s not too dismayed. No big deal I guess, she’s probably high*.

All in all, I’ve turned an unsatisfactory and agitating situation into a unique and relaxing experience. That’s always nice.

* on life, of course?!

Tags: california, coffee, san diego, train, zumbar

I always check Earth 911 before Surfing to reduce the chances of contracting staph infections or other horrible diseases from the Ocean. See here for the gory details. Today I checked the report and as usual, it’s not up to date. The little bubbles for my local beaches are all filled white, meaning “No Data Available.” I checked a few days ago, and they were all Yellow and Red from the last month-long cluster of storms.

So I decided to do some research. According to Earth 911, the San Diego Department of Environmental Health (DEH) takes hundreds of samples weekly and posts findings on the Earth 911 website. I did a quick google search and found the main San Diego DEH website. The top of the website reads:

Unfortunately due to the Governor’s line item veto of funding for the Beach Safety Act from the State Budget on September 23rd, 2008, DEH will no longer be able to provide the following services:

• Routine water quality sampling and analysis of results for the County’s beaches
• Issuance of water contact advisories based upon bacterial exceedances
• Complaint investigation of suspected contamination
• Daily email, web updates (beaches911.com), pod-casts and fax updates of beach water quality.

DEH will provide limited services listed below:

• Receive reports of sewage spills and issue water contact closures when those reports indicate possible sewage contamination at public beaches
• Notification of closures will be limited to a press release, signs posted on the beach and messages on the DEH phone hotline 619-338-2073.

We would like to remind the beach going public that:

• Beaches with the highest risk of contamination are near flowing storm drain, river, and lagoon outlets.
• Water quality at all beaches can be contaminated by urban runoff for up to 3 days following significant rainfall
• Historical monitoring data indicates water quality at most beaches in the county is generally good during dry weather.

I know everyone has to sacrifice something in this economic crisis, but how much could these samples possibly cost the state? We are forty billion dollars in debt. I would be surprised if this topped five million dollars per year. That is one eight-thousandth of our debt. If you had eight thousand dollars, what is a dollar to you?

The governor sucks. Line item veto, my @.

Tags: budget, california, deficit, deh, governor, h2o, san diego, surf, surfing, water, water quality

I’ve changed my buoys page to be more of a San Diego Surf Report page. It aggregates current NOAA data. Check it out here.

Today was a pretty amazing surf day. I paddled out at 11th Street in Del Mar. Afterward, I took some photos:

Pretty good conditions:

The rest are here:
http://flickr.com/photos/mswebersd/archives/date-posted/2009/01/19/ or on this site after the sunset photos: http://mswebby.com/flickr/set.php?set_id=72157607806007223&set_name=Del+Mar%3A+11th+Street

Tags: 11th street, california, del mar, san diego, surf, surfing

Mt. High has real skiing? Who would have thought?

We left early Tuesday morning and got to the mountain at 8:15. We parked in the East Resort, purchased a 1000 point ticket to split between the three of us and headed up the Mt. High Express lift.

It was about as empty as you could imagine on the day before Christmas eve- no lines and very few people on the trails, especially for Mt. High. The main run got a little crowded around 11, but we headed over to the far right (skier’s right) side of the mountain and were literally alone in machine made powder.

I was also surprised to find moguls on a steep run. They call it a double-black, although I’ve seen my share of double-blacks in Tahoe (how modest), and this wasn’t one of them. Either way, I would definitely compare this to the steepness of runs on KT-22 at Squaw the backside of Northstar (aka Flatstar). It’s a short run, but I’m pretty impressed. I guess Baldy isn’t the only mountain with steeps.

I also have 500 points left on the ticket. The 1000 point ticket was the price of 3 half days, and I got a free day out of it. Score!

Overall, I was very impressed by the mountain and I had a great time. It pays to work on Sundays when you get that kind of experience during the week and I’m guessing that it’s totally empty on non-holidays.

Tags: california, east resort, mt baldy, mt high, ski, skiing

Another six inches is expected on Monday. That will bring the total to a workable four feet. I’m not used to this kind of dump in SoCal. Growing up, I remember twenty foot weekends in Tahoe (El Nino, anybody?), but four feet in SoCal is miraculous, like God giving sight to a blind man.

Unfortunately I was unable to get a Mt. Baldy VIP coupon book. I was told to call back the next morning for four mornings in a row before leaving my number with someone, who didn’t know what a VIP pass was and probably won’t call me back.

For those that don’t know, VIP passes go on sale once a year at the local ski expos. It’s a great deal: four anytime tickets, two monday-friday tickets, four 2-for-1 coupons and two learn-to-ski-and-snowboard coupons, all for $60. I got mine last year at SnowJam, but Baldy didn’t setup a booth this year. At least that’s what they told me on the phone before the show. If you attended Ski Dazzle in LA this year, you scored.

So what to do? $180 6-pack at Mt. High? It’s reliable, true. You get man-made snow, sometimes it’s real but rare. No steeps. A well-maintained park. The most crowded ski resort per square inch in America. The secret? Ski weekdays. Can I do that? No.

Next option, pay exorbitant prices for Mt. Baldy, which has steep skiing and no lift lines. Unfortunately, you never know what to expect from Mt. Baldy. I went last year in the Spring, and it was awesome. I went in the early winter and they were charging $50 to walk around on a little patch of snow in front of the lodge. In other words if it’s good, it’s the best in Southern California (Mammoth excluded). If it’s bad, you feel like you lost ten hands straight in blackjack and tipped all the rest of your money to the person who enabled your hangover.

So honestly, I hate to rip on Baldy because I completely understand their situation. See, Mt. Baldy has this real local mountain feel to it. The road getting up there is not easy. The patrol is straight out of a movie; last year they had a sign that said, “Be Careful, it’s hard dick out there.” About as helpful as a snowboarder patrolman who told my friend “Why the f*ck should I know?” when asked if he’d seen his lost camera. Plus, the biggest metropolis this side of the Mississippi is one hour from the base of the mountain. So why not charge the douchey Lakers fans who wear jeans tucked into their ski boots $50 a ticket for 60s style lifts? Gotta protect the mountain somehow. Makes you wonder why they even sell the VIP pass?

So I think this year might be a Mt. High year. I’m going up for a day this coming week and I need a guarantee and a cheap ticket. Hopefully working on Sunday and skiing on the 23rd won’t be as busy as a normal day. And hopefully there’s more to that mountain than what I’ve seen the past ten times I’ve skied there. Not likely as you can see the whole mountain from the parking lot.

Tags: california, mt baldy, mt high, san diego, ski, skiing, tahoe