#274 - last day

today was the last day of vacation. i'm not totally sick about going back to work. yes, it's gonna completely suck to wake up early (i hadn't gotten up earlier than 9 am probably the entire break, and usually it was closer to 11:30), but i'm a guy who likes schedule and routine, so being back in the regular working grind is not so unpleasant to me. of course, weekends help, holidays are great and "inter-session" breaks are fantastic, but overall i can still do a lot of things during the regular work week. i'm not one of those people who shut down the rest of their lives during the work week, i still go and do (of course it helps that my work schedule is pretty darn sweet!) all the things i would otherwise do if i wasn't working. only now when i go to the beach on the weekends it's super crowded, and when i work out at the gym after work it's super crowded. i'm kind of a loner. and i like it that way (i guess most loners do, that's why they're loners). so being able to do all the things i like to do while most people are working their 9 to 5's has been awesome for the past two months.

but, alas, work had to come back someday (because i do want to get paid). i had a pretty great last day of freedom though. i set my alarm for 9, actually got out of bed at 10, made breakfast, watched a little history channel, then headed out to the gym. surprisingly it was pretty crowded there at about 11:30, it usually thins out a bit around noon but i guess people like to work out on mondays huh? oh well, after today i'll be working out in the crowds again after work. bought a jamba juice and had the other half of my subway footlong for lunch, then went out to the beach. i thought i'd be perfect timing, the surf report said there was gonna be a north shore bump today, perfect for my last day of vacation. but i drove up to ali'i (my all-time favorite spot) and it was flat-sos. so i hiked over to chun's where it was super crowded! well, not like a weekend, but for a weekday with little waves it was packed. that's okay though, i stayed on the outside (cause i'm a loner and don't do well with crowds) and with patience caught some nice waves. the sun was out but it was a little chilly, and since it was so crowded i decided to call it an early day and head in. so when i packed up the car again i noticed it was only a little after 4pm, and since there's no shower at chun's i wanted to wash off my board (and myself) so i headed back to ali'i and what do you know? the swell finally started to roll in!

i mean, they said it'd be rolling in late, but i usually never get in the water after 4pm (it's too cold). since it was my last day though, i decided to go for it. i didn't stay long, only until about 5:45 but man i caught the best waves of the summer (well, my summer anyway) today. sets were smooth and crystal clear. y'know where you're riding the wave and you look down under you and you can see the glass of the wave and all the coral heads underneath it? that's the most beautiful sight i think, which is why i've got so many wave pictures on my walls, that water effect is the coolest. anyway, there weren't a lot of people out there so i could pick and choose my waves on the sets and on this one i rode all the way in, man, i must've been able to get up and down on that one like 5 times, it was sweet.

so it was a great way to end my summer break. topped it all off with a avocado burger at kua'aina, yum. so i'm not so sick about going back to work tomorrow. it'll be a change and that's cool. people need vacations. recharges the soul. i might even be motivated to start this year.... weird.

but don't quote me on that until i wake up tomorrow morning (hopefully) at 6:30 am. ugh.