Don't Leave Home With It

Remember Karl Malden telling us not to leave home without the American Express card? "Don't leave home without it" became an unforgettable tag line. And while I'm on the subject of American Express, why is it that when you speak to someone in their customer service department you're speaking to someone in India? I recently called Sallie Mae to find out the best method for paying off the several law school loans they serviced for me. Isn't Sallie Mae supposed to be a psuedo-governmental agency? As in U.S. government? Again, why was I forced to speak to someone in India who could not answer my questions because they did not pertain to anything on the scripted list of items he could discuss? No disrespect to the folks in India, but outsourcing is wrong and its existence does not bode well for the future of this country's workforce.

Wow, rant over. All I was trying to say with this post way was that I paddled out without a leash once again. For the first time in forever, I surfed alone. I did not utter a word for an hour and a half. I only waved at people from afar. I separated myself from the crowd at the home break. I like my space, especially when there's room to enjoy it. Not once did I need to check and see whether it was safe to paddle for a wave. Not once was I forced to give a wave up to someone lacking in proper surf etiquette. All I did was surf (and swim). The waves were tiny. But there was enough out there to allow me to work on a few things. Walked to the nose a few times and fell (because the wave died out). Played around with different stances while doing bottom turns. It was a good day to experiment.