I've Got It Worse Than I Thought

(Sigh) What have I done? I can't believe it. (Sigh) I might as well tell the whole ugly story and get it over with. I called ZJ's this morning, asking if they had any idea when my board is going to arrive. I'm awaiting a call from Mike, who said he would probably end up having to call the factory. He warned that the board could take three months to arrive if Channel Islands didn't have the board in its inventory (and, thus, had to make it). Alright, I can live with that. But, as we all know, I'm having problems with restraint.

I went to bed last night thinking I'd be surfing today. At about 3:00 a.m., I realized I was hearing rain outside. Okay, again, I can live with that. Still, that meant my one day off was ruined in terms of surfing. (Friday is the one day I don't teach and it's the one day when I have the house and a big chunk of time to myself.) Well, who wants to stay in the house all day? I decided I'd go to Just Longboards to see what was there. (Stop laughing at me! Yes, I did something foolish!) I looked at the boards. Truthfully, it was the first time I actually examined boards. They have everything there and I consider it a good place to learn about boards because you see so many different variations on one theme—longboarding. So, I noticed a board by a shaper named Chris Slick. I took the board down to get a better look at it. I started talking to one of the guys who works there, explaining that I only like single fins and am now down to one board. Then we got into a conversation about building quivers. Of course, I now realize that's what I'm doing and that's why I'm so anxious to buy new boards. We're looking at this Chris Slick board and a guy comes in carrying another one. It turns out that he was the shaper. We started talking. Finally, I asked him what his last name was. This whole time I'd been wondering if the Chris Slick boards were shaped by Chris Schlickenmeyer. Yes, you've got it. That's who I was talking to. His is a name with which I'm familiar. Frankly, I took all of this as a sign. I'd been wanting a Schlickenmeyer-shaped board for awhile. But I didn't know where to find one or how to inquire about one. Then I go to Just Longboards and find the board AND the shaper. Well, you know what happened, don't you? I put a deposit on a Schlickenmeyer board. As I was handing over my credit card—the one I said I wasn't going to use since I'm trying to live my life without resorting to credit—the guy at the register said something that assuaged my guilt. I was standing there kicking myself for my lack of restraint. He said that you can't have just one board. He used a golf analogy, saying you can't play golf with just one club. You need a bag full of different clubs. Surfing, he said, is the same way. You need to have several boards. Well, when you put it that way, I don't feel so bad. I don't know. I worry that I won't know where or how to stop this!

Postscript: Mike at ZJ's called as I was typing this. It turns out, my order for the 7'0" hadn't gone through. It was faxed, but the shaper hadn't received it. I was given a choice. I could wait for them to make the board in yellow, which would not be ready until June, or pick from what was in the factory. I told Mike, "Hey, it's just a surfboard. I don't care that much about what color it is." (Although we all know I will not surf a board without color.) He told me which colors they had available. I opted for the red one. In two weeks, I'll have two boards in my quiver. I don't know when I'll be able to get the Slickenmeyer out of layaway. I won't worry about it for now. I'll concentrate on getting the money together for the board that's coming. If I get paid before it's ready, I'll have all of the cash needed to pay off the balance.