How Becky stole the internet

So it may have occurred to those of you who follow my demented ravings that I didn't update my blog last night. This was mostly due to the lockdown of the camp interweb by Becky the Administrative Director. I used my charisma to re-establish an internet connection, and will endeavor to continue making entries.

Yesterday, approximately six separate alarms sounded in the halls of Riptide, including P-We's who didn't even sleep here last night. He merely stopped in to play his part in the cacophony. Also no one woke up and went running. We've got to be careful or we're going to build up resistances to our own alarms.

Breakfast was waffles. Someone complimented the symmetrical arrangement of food (bagel, waffles with strawberries, and bacon) on my plate. I blushed.

Knowing that the return of Rasheed was imminent, my associates Emi G and Nick endeavored to make it seem as if they completed a great deal of work in his absence. I busied myself with driver training, which was very laid back as Phil, Jill, and I had been drivers at CIC in the past and were fairly familiar with the procedures. Pretty much we drove around camp in a series of wide turns for several hours. Phil of West failed to back up properly due to an extremely exciting story I was telling but cannot remember the details of.

Lunch was chili dogs. Nick did not approve. I didn't put chili on mine.

After lunch, Becky summoned the driving triumvirate (Phil, Jill, Vid) to pilot the mighty and venerable camp vans down the long, winding road that leads to Two Harbors and the semblance of civilization. The ride out with Phil was a lot of fun, we chewed the fat and he said a lot of things about his personality that I didn't understand. We arrived in the TH without incident (you will never find a greater hive of scum and villainy) and met the Catalina Express, which had borne its precious cargo of 20-something CIC staff across the channel and unloaded them in town. We met them, hugged the precious few returning staff members, (curse you Stephen!) and awkwardly pretended like we were meeting the new staff for the first time, even though we all had stalked each other mercilessly via facebook for weeks beforehand. We loaded up their gear and took off for camp. On the way back I nearly drove the van off a cliff, which spiced up the journey for all involved.

The afternoon consisted of waterfront orientation. Miah taught us all the ways of the waterfront. This ensemble was concluded with a brief swim test. It was somewhat cold in the waters of the Catalina that day.

Dinner was tacos, and my roommates all concur, they were delicious.

The evening marked the beginning of Specialist Training. I assembled the Sailfleet for the very first time, and we discussed the basics of the sailing program. I feel much more confident and prepared this year, it seems as if everything has changed about my outlook toward leadership and the sailing program, and for the better.

"The sea hates a coward." Eugene O'Neil

Today began with another glorious alarm chorus, but at least this time Andrew got up and lifted some weights. He apparently fucked it up and managed to give himself a massive blood blister. Which he later popped on camera in a grisly display of manliness. I'd upload the video but it was overly disgusting for me to view.

Breakfast was breakfast burritos. Could have used a meat component. Or beans. Still, I ate well.

This morning we enjoyed an epic training session led by the infamous Tom Kern on the intricacies of chaseboating. Tom employed his celebrated wisdom and quirky style to train us on the various boats in the CIC navy. My staff performed admirably, in particularly their docking abilities were impressive. After Tom Kern's dissertation we took the Zane Gray (a boston whaler named for a prolific writer of westerns) out to Ship Rock, and showed my staff around the general area around Howland's Landing (cove where camp is located). This was a lot of fun, everyone got a chance to drive, we chilled with some sea lions, it was a great morning.

Lunch was sandwich day, AGAIN. I love it. Sandwich day is like the best day of the YEAR. I could compose epic poems to the glory that is making my own sandwich at this camp. Perhaps with vikings.

After lunch we had an afternoon packed with sailing. We rigged up a Capri and took it out, and practiced a complex Jack Sparrow-esque maneuver that involved me leaping off of a moving sailboat as it passed the dock at full speed. My sailors indulgently allowed me to practice this trick several times. After this we took out sabots and practiced capsizing. All in all, an excellent afternoon of strong winds and hulls slicing through the waves.

Dinner was meatloaf.

After dinner I met with my sailors, discussed some stuff. Then I attempted to edit the footage produced by the Cabin Crew using the Apple-produced nightmare that is iMovie. Now I am a man who believes that people should be able to choose to buy computers that are designed to be used by idiots, it just infuriates me when I am reduced to utilizing them as well. The complete lack of customization on that program is so aggravating that I want to turn into the Hulk and go on a doomspree through downtown Cupertino. Anyway, the attempt failed, as did my attempts to install Adobe Premiere Elements on Rasheed's laptop, so pretty much the movie has not been edited. Hopefully Nick and the Cabin Crew will be able to figure it out over the weekend while I am off graduating. Adios.

"Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view" - Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi