Since it was such a lovely day, I recently drove to the Pismo Pier for lunch, figuring I’d breathe in the ocean air and what-not. And as I pulled into the parking lot, I thought: How cool that you don’t have to pay to park here! In this day and age, you figure, the city would be salivating to get their meat hooks in your pocketbook.
Not so in Pismo, I thought, thinking: That’s why the Central Coast rocks!
Then maybe a week later I saw this story, which pretty much ruined my faith in humanity.
OK, so maybe I’m exaggerating. Humanity still has a shred of hope. See?
Congrats, Larry. We’re all happy for ya!
Anyway, I figure I’ll just have to avoid Pismo Pier in the future. Because I hate paid parking.
First of all, if you’re dealing with meters, you NEVER have change, unless we’re talking about pennies. And meters, of course, are too good for pennies. If you find yourself in a parking garage, you never having anything lower than a $20 bill, and the attendants always give you attitude when you give them $20 for a 75-cent charge.
“Do you have anything smaller than that?” they say, judging me for my lack of quarters.
I always want to respond: “I won’t tell if you just let me slide out of here for free. ” But I usually end up saying, “Nope. Sorry.”
Then I wind up with about 19 George Washingtons crammed in my wallet, and for some reason I feel like I just did something really awful.
****
Speaking of Pismo Pier, while it’s still free, check out (or compete in) the Moondoggies Spring Fling Surf Contest April 28-29. Top prize is $1,000, and there are several categories, including a retro fish heat. It’s one of several surf contests put on in the area each year. (Morro Bay Surf Company recently finished its invitational contest, and the Estero Bay Surf Club held its annual Big, Bad & Ugly in February.)
Whether you love or detest contests, I figured I’d share my Five Truths of Surfing. I started collecting these in my head, while waiting in the lineup one day:
1.) When you’re pressed for time and you say you’re going to catch one more wave, a lull hits, and you end up being in the water for 45 more minutes.
2.) As soon as you paddle to a better spot, the waves break in the spot you just came from.
3.) The last wave you catch is always the worst, forever prompting you to consider just One More Wave. Then it’s back to #1.
4.) If you plan to surf on Sunday, the sun will be out the entire day on Saturday before the fog rolls in for the rest of the weekend.
5.) As soon as you brag about it being a good day, the conditions will start to suck.
–Pat P.
Posted on April 10th, 2007 by Pat
Filed under: Surf stuff
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