What the F*&%# Took so Long??

File under ‘It’s About Friggin Time”!: Congress is finally looking into why the FDA relied on two studies funded by American Plastics Council to decide that the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) is safe — in the face of more than 100 published studies by government scientists and university laboratories that have raised health concerns about the chemical.

BPA is often present in plastics marked #7, such as some Nalgene and Camelbak bottles, which I’ve been using to help the planet! Over the weekend we got rid of all of our Nalgene bottles and got new “BPA-Free” ones. If you go to their site they now have a large selection of them along with new stainless steel bottles.

More evidence that our government is in bed with big business and it’s all about the bucks so screw the American people, (be it our health or our gas dollars)!!

Wheel-less skateboard

For those of you who want, (or need ), to practice your skate tricks without hitting the pavement, (literally or figuratively), you can get this cool invention called an Ollieboard that has plastic ‘thingys’ instead of wheels so you can practice and learn hot new skate tricks indoors and whenever you want!

With the Ollieboard you can build and improve muscle memory and help prevent skateboard related injuries. That means bigger ollies, more tricks and less boo-boos.

This week our friends over at Beach Trading are having a sale on them so if you’ve been thinking about getting one, or have never heard of one until today and now you want to try one, (they’re really cheap – under $30), now’s the time to get one!

It’s Earth Day – Do Something!

Thoughtless Slobs – Hold Your Butts

So it took a report by the Ocean Conservancy to tell everyone else something I already knew… smokers are thoughtless, self-absorbed dorks!

Apparently one day last September they got almost 400,00 volunteers in 76 countries to pick up trash from 33,000 miles of shoreline and they came up with 6-million pounds of trash! Guess what the majority of the 7.2 million pieces of it were… yep, friggin’ cigarette butts!! Almost 2-million of them to be exact…

As someone who frequents the beach I see this evidence almost everyday. As someone who lives in Southern California I cheer when city-by-city our beaches ban smoking on the sand.

What most idiot smokers don’t get is that the butt they throw out their window 3 miles away from the ocean will eventually get to the ocean. If not the next rain, then the one after that…

If you can’t tell, this is a pet peeve of mine, (this and car stereos so loud that the dishes in my cabinet audibly shake). Nothing burns me up more than to be behind car and watch some dork throw a butt out the window.. and still burning besides that, (yes here in brushfire-famous SoCal)!!!

Maybe this report will bring this huge and stupid problem to more peoples’ attention so I won’t be the only one yelling at drivers to use their ashtrays…

Oh, second on the list: food wrappers.

Pick up after yourselves people – your mama ain’t here to do it for you!!

Quiver Down by One

Sold a beautiful board yesterday… had a custom 8′ Spherical Revolver made for me by Harbour Surfboards that I found I just wasn’t riding. She was a beauty but I just noticed that for the last 2 years, when I ran out the door to surf I always grabbed one my 9′ or 9′6′ Stewarts.

So in an effort to get rid of stuff I’m not using, (and that’s taking up precious storage space around my house), and to get a few bucks in my pocket, I put her on Craigslist… a really great businessman from Texas who was out here on vacation to surf San O’ scooped her up… said she’d work great for his frequent trips to Costa Rica, (did I mention he was a rich Texas businessman??).

Around the World From My Living Room

As previously posted, I was one of the poor saps that ATA so graciously left in the cold when they closed suddenly and without warning earlier this month.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and not wait for the refund that Travelocity said they would “pursue on my behalf”

A friend suggested I call my credit card company and dispute the charge – DUH – what a brilliant idea I thought!

I got on the phone with my cc company from my home here in Southern California and called customer service. I was connected to “David”, (pronounced with a thick Indian accent – that always cracks me up!!), in India, who, after I explained my situation, transfered me to their Rewards Center, (I had used mileage to book the ticket). Before signing off I got the overly-polite 30 second “sorry I can’t help you, but please let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you, thank you for being a valued customer, hope you will continue to stay a loyal customer, wold you like to take a survey” goodbye speech…

Next, Katie, (her real name), answered my call in Chicago. After I went through my explanation she said I needed to talk to customer service. “But wait – I just talked to customer service!”, I said. Katie told me that the first rep must not have understood what I was talking about, (although I must say he was VERY polite), and that she would stay on the phone and talk to the customer service rep to explain what my situation was to get everything straightened out. She assured me to stay on hold while she spoke with the rep… a few minutes later I heard 2 voices as Katie handed me over to “Jane”, (not her real name), back in India.

The first words out of “Jane’s” mouth were, “how can I help you?”. At this point about 30 minutes and 2 explanations had passed so I asked her if Katie, (her real name), had done as she promised and explained my situation… “well, not really”, was “Jane’s” answer…

I took a deep breath and repeated my story, (which I had down pat by now)… “Jane” then tells me she cannot help me but that I need to talk to someone in the Dispute Department, (not a department name I’d like to work in). Next comes… you guessed it… the overly-polite 30 second “sorry I can’t help you, but please let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you, thank you for being a valued customer, hope you will continue to stay a loyal customer, wold you like to take a survey” goodbye speech…

After a few more minutes on hold I’m speaking with Zack, (his real name), in Utah. Zack was cool as he explained he’d handled 100’s of call from people like me who got screwed by the airlines, (pick one this week: Aloha or ATA). Zack laughed when I told him what I’d been through, said I must feel like I’ve been around the world and within about 3 minutes issued me a credit for the $300 I spent on my now-useless ATA ticket to Hawaii.

I’m happy to report it took exactly 48 hours for the refund to hit my account!

Now I don’t have to wait and worry about if and when Travelocity will get around to “acting in my behalf” AND I got a free trip around the world without ever leaving my living room.

I Hate Pocket Aces!

Just got home from the Commerce Casino and I’m still steaming!

I got pocket AA’s THREE TIMES within 5 hands and lost each and every friggin’ time to straights, (2 on the river and 1 on the turn)… the lasted time busted me and I left… you could probably see the steam coming off the top of my head! Earlier tonight my full house lost to quad 2’s…

Today I hate this game… another day I’ll be in love all over again… that’s poker…

Poker Gods Were Smiling – 8th Place

Just got back from my weekly afternoon poker tourney at The Bike and I’m happy to report I had a good game. Started with a field of 145 and made it to the final table and got busted out in 8th place!

Started off at my first table playing with poker legend Robert “Chipburner” Turner… really nice guy who’s been playing forever. When our table broke I didn’t play with him again until we met at the final table. He got busted out in 9th – on a bad beat, of course… he was getting short-stacked and went all in with pocket KK’s… got called with some donkey holding Q-10 off suit… flopped trip K’s only to have the dork with Q-10 hit a straight on the river – sorry to see you go, Robert!

I got blinded out soon after in 8th…

At least the poker gods were with me today and I didn’t get busted out with pocket QQ’s or pocket AA’s like I have the last 3 weeks.

Ocean Friendly Seafood Guide – Eat Green Too

I don’t know about you but when I’m standing in front of the fish at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods or I’m staring at the menu at a seafood restaurant I can’t always remember which fish I’m supposed to eat and which fish I’m supposed to stay away from… which fish is endangered and over-fished, which ones are farmed poorly and creating more pollution, which ones contain mercury, etc, etc, etc…

Well, thanks to the folks over at the Blue Ocean Institute I don’t have to!!

Believe it or not the Blue Ocean Institute has launched the FishPhone, which brings sustainable seafood information straight to your cell phone or PDA. So the next time you’re about to pick out a piece of fish at the market or order from the menu at a restaurant just text 30644 with the message “Fish” and the name of the fish in question and within seconds you’ll get an environmental assessment of your choice of seafood.

Rock on!

IKEA to Ban Plastic Bags

After reducing their shoppers’ use of plastic bags by 92% in the last year, furniture and home decor giant IKEA will ban bags altogether by October of this year!

Read more about IKEA helping our environment here…