Screwed!!!!!!!!!!

Some of you may know, that back in 2005 I had shoulder surgery. Pretty bad stuff. I have mentioned it before. Rotator Cuff Tear, Bankart Tear, Slap Tear, just a mess. The doc said I should probably not do any long distance paddleboarding. That was fine, I would keep it under 4 miles, with the most just a lap around Naples Island here in the LBC.

This past spring and summer I was getting back into it, really enjoying the paddles on the bay. I was working up my speed, strength and endurance. In the mean time, I was throwing the baseball and football with my son.

Sure enough, the shoulder starts to hurt..........ALOT! I kinda mentally freaking out, knowing the "warranty" has expired, and thinking I might have torn something again.

July goes by, I don't surf or paddle, and just rest the shoulder, August comes and goes, and I do the same thing, no surfing, no paddleboarding, just rest. Finally I break down and call Dr. Kramers office and make an appointment.

Well, they take an xray with their new fancy digital xray machine, and for the first time, I get to see what he put in my shoulder.

Holy crap! look at that screw, it looks like a drywall screw.......

The doc checks me out, makes me do all kinds of movements and strength tests, and tells me to just keep doing what I want too, yeah there might be some rough edges that he could smooth out, but should he go in and do that? not Really he said. He repaired it to last.

I breathed a big sigh of relief., I an go back and surf and paddleboard.

But, on a side note, on the wall of this particular exam room, is the most amazing photo of a wave with a kid, must be around 12-13 getting ready to drop in. I just love this shot, it is so pure and simple. I snapped pic with my droid for all to see.

The Lost DOUG AITKEN

Way back in the day, August of 1988, a bunch of friends got together for a little camp out at San Onofre. Not so much camping, as sleeping in a parking lot with dirt and trains going by. We did surf.

This was just a casual get together at the end of summer. Little did we know that a core group of us would somehow continue this little camp for the next 22 years. I think all of us were still in college. But as you can imagine, alot has happened in those 22 years.

The most intriguing, was a friend, of my good friend, his name is Doug Aitken. Doug was a Student at the Art Center College of Design on Pasadena with my friend Vince.

Vince is a surfer, and Doug is a surfer, and in a world of art students wearing black, Doug and Vince were the few surfers at art school.

Fast Forward 22 years, Doug is now an internationally known visual display artist. He was just tapped by the Museum of Contemporary Art in LA to "headline" the November Gala.

Well, who would have known that the guy sitting in the dirt with us would become so big.

And what about the rest of us you might ask?

Well, we are all planning to sit in the dirt for the 22nd year, in a few weeks. However, the location has changed to San Elijo.