iBob in the Wilderness

The hills are alive.... with the sound of music...

iBob here. I just wanted to report about the glorious outdoor experience I had this weekend up at June Lake. Even though the drive was long (and the DVD player died) we arrived at Boulder Lodge without incident.

The old welcoming lodge (think "rustic") embraced us like old friends. We were in one of the deluxe rooms with a small kitchen and a gorgeous view of the lake. Good ol' room 206 (the same room we've stayed in the past 3 years) had been updated with new carpet (now with 50% less fish hooks!), a single bedroom with a queen bed (for the kids) and a twin bed (for my wife) and a couch (for me). This was to be our base camp for this adventure.

My son had been simply buzzing with anticipation all week long. He simply couldn't wait to get here and get fishing. After the long drive we had some dinner and met up with my in-laws, and decided to get to bed early so we would be ready to go first think Saturday morning.

My brother-in-law, Jimbo, was heading out early (4:30am) to Bridgeport (about an hour north) to do some stream fishing, but promised to take my son out as soon as he got back. This meant that I would probably be up early to take him out for the first round.

Turns out that at 3:00am he was awake and crying that "...all he wants to do is fishing. That's the only reason he came up here!" I assured (promised, did a pinky swear) him we'd go - wanting to get a little more sleep myself.

At 6:00am (on the nose) there was a knock on the door and my father-in-law, Don, was dressed and ready to go - asking if he could take my son down to the docks.

Could he? Are you kidding?

I woke him up, got him dressed, stuffed his pockets with snacks and off they went - down to the docks in the crisp, early morning air. Being the stand-up father I am, I promptly... went back to sleep.

When I finally managed to push the cobwebs of an interrupted sleep out of my eyes - it was about 8:00am. My wife and daughter were just waking up - and still there was no sign of Don and Brennan.

We had a little breakfast (doughnuts and coffee), got dressed, and mingled with the extended family for a couple of hours - when Jimbo showed up. He didn't have very good luck in Bridgeport (after hiking in 3 miles and fishing on a icy stream) - but his first question out of his mouth was "where's Don and Brennan?" No sooner that we informed him they were down on the dock - he grabbed his pole and headed out.

The weather was simply gorgeous. There's no other way to put it. The online weather service said it would only be in the high 50's to the lower 60's - but it was easily about 75 degrees. There was a mild breeze, the blue jays were out in force, and it was a beautiful day for fishing.

Around 12:30pm - Don, Brennan and Jimbo came back - no luck. Undeterred in their quest - we all had some lunch, and decided that a good nap was in order.

I didn't wake up until 5:30pm (it's the most sleep I had all week!).

Turns out they were all down on the dock, so I dragged my altitude-weary body down there for a while and was informed that they still had no luck - although there were a couple of people next to them that had caught a fish or two (trout). Late in the day, about an hour before sunset, we all had dinner together (chilie verde burritos) - and I never saw the men eat so quickly. They wanted to get down to the other side of the lake before sunset for one more round. They still had no luck - and we called it a night.

On Sunday morning - the knock came at 5:15am. This time Jimbo was ready - and I got Brennan dressed, stuffed with snacks, and sent him off. Then another knock came at 6:15am - this time Don wanting to know if Brennan could come out and play. After informing him that he and Jimbo had set off - I decided that I would never get back to sleep and put on the coffee.

They came back about 11:00am with one big fish - a 4 pound German brown. Success and high fives all around. I took the kids swimming at the indoor pool for a couple of hours while my wife made lunch (her world-famous chili). She's not been feeling the best (cough, snuffles, not able to sleep) - so I ran into "town" to get some drugs while my niece and her husband watched the kids.

In the general store, they had all the fishing supplies up front - with the boring things - like groceries - in the back. After spending about 5 times more than I would have for the same supplies in civilization (they actually had a sign at the cash register that read "$5.00 charge for listening about how much less you paid everywhere else), I headed back to the compound.

We had some great chili - and hunkered down for our traditional afternoon nap.

After nap everyone decided to go out to a neighboring lake and so they packed up everything (and would have included the kitchen sink if they would have had a pipe wrench!) and were about to head out. My daughter, Brooke, who really isn't "into" fishing and prefers drawing, coloring, and puzzles, said she wanted to stay behind and play in the snow.

Well, with my wife in a cough medicine induced "nap" - I stayed behind with Brooke - and we headed off to the old snow plow pile of dirty, icy snow. You know, it's really amazing to watch a kid's imagination when it's in full swing. She found an old screw driver and was playing in this dirty, icy snow - just singing and hopping around when she hit upon a terrific idea.

She would try her hand at sculpting.

She found a piece of icy snow, sat down and began her work. After about 15 minutes, she announced she was done - and her masterpiece eagle head was finished. "Not too bad for my first sculpturing - huh, Dad?" Well, the snow might not have melted - but my heart sure did.

With everyone else gone (and no cell reception to find out where they actually wound up) - the three of us just sat around in the room with the slider open, feeding the blue jays (and chipmunks) on the deck, and watched the "Parent Trap" (the new version with Lindsay Lohan - before she imploded). We had snacks, read, Brooke colored, my wife dozed - and it was a really, really relaxing time. We had a late dinner (they didn't get back until about 8:30pm) of skillet-cooked hot dogs and salad and settled down for the night.

The knock didn't come until a respectable 6:00am - and it was Jimbo - ready for another day. Of course Brennan was ready to go in 2 minutes flat (try THAT on a school day!) and off they went. The fishing was crappy - mostly chubbs - but they caught one or two small rainbow trout as well.

The best part of the day came later on. We had rented a boat - and while my wife slept (she'd been feeling crappy the whole time) - I took my daughter out on the lake for a little cruise. I got her all strapped into her life jacket and off we went. 80 degrees, slight breeze, warm afternoon sun. There's simply nothing like it in this world.

On the last night we traditionally have the big fish fry - only we decided to do it for a late lunch this year (Jimbo and troop wanted to go back to Bridgeport). I followed Jimbo and Brennan to the little shack set aside for cleaning fish - and watched with rapt fascination as Jimbo made fillets out of about 10 fish in less than 10 minutes. Amazing.

He used his "secret" recipe of salt and pepper and flour and fried them up in hot olive oil on the crappy vintage 1954 electric stove in our room (an managed a small fire in the making). We feasted on baked potatoes, asparagus and fresh fried fish - yummy!

By the time this morning rolled around - I was prepared for the drill and was awake and waiting for the fated "knock" - which came at 5:34am. Brennan and Jimbo headed down to the dock to try their luck. This being the last day and all - I waited for about an hour and then joined them down on the dock.

Brennan was there talking smack - giving me 1,000 pointers about everything ("...you know - chubbs are bottom feeders with no natural predators so we got to get them out while we can..."). I was there about 2 hours in which time Jimbo got zero bites, and Brennan caught 3 chubbs (which promptly became ant food). Because no one was hitting anything - Brennan decided he would just fish for chubb right off the dock (we could see about 50 of them right below us).

His philosophy is: catching fish - even if they are chubb - is funner than not catching fish.

I couldn't agree more.

Gone Fishing

No, literally. I've gone fishing with the family (and in-laws!) at June Lake, CA. I'll be back on Wednesday with another installment... I know you "can't wait!"...

The Happiest Place on EARTH!

Yeah, so I took the family to Disneyland this weekend (again). The kids had no school on Monday for some teacher prep day or something - so we thought it would be a great idea to go down on Saturday night, spend the night, go to the park on Sunday and leave on Monday morning.

Also, rather than staying at one of the happiest-place-on-earth-hotels-for-$500-per-night rooms - we decided to stay about a mile away at a Marriott Suites. It was much less expensive, and they had a shuttle-thingie that would take us from the hotel to the park and we could avoid the parking expense and hassles.

Sounds great in theory.

So, the hotel was nice enough - not too fancy - not too shabby - just about right. The lobby was nice, the rooms were nice with a separate bedroom and living room (think Embassy Suites) - and it would work great for our needs.

It was a bit warm (like 95 degrees) Saturday afternoon - so the kids hit the pool, while I hit the supermarket down the street for snacks and some wine. I also got the 411 on the "shuttle", where to buy the tickets (kiosk outside), what time it left (6:20 and every 20 minutes after that), whether I could renew my annual pass at the hotel (no), etc.

Since we were going to get up early (the park opened at 8:00 am!) and it was going to be hot - we decided to get room service for breakfast.

It showed up right on time, was what we ordered - and we got dressed, sunscreened up and headed out. The tickets were easy to buy, the shuttle was right on time - and we got to the park in an efficient, uneventful way.

I told the family to go on in - and I would renew my pass, and would join them momentarily (the kids had been dying to get in there - and were all excited). I stepped up to the window and I told the nice lady that I wanted to renew my pass. She pulled up all the information, confirmed my address, processed payment in about 1 minute. Very nice.

Then she went to print my new "annual passport" on a plastic card - and things just went wrong.

It seems that this was a new printer, and it wasn't printing. Apologetic, thanks for your patiences, etc. You know how the old "won't print" thing goes - everyone and their uncle drops whatever they're doing - convinced they know how to hit or jiggle the cord better than everyone else.

After that failed - they called a supervisor. This person also hit the printer and giggled the cord - to no avail. Now REALLY apologetic, thanks for your patience. We're calling the "tech guy"... he'll be here in a minute. All in all I'd been there less than 10 minutes.

Apparently in the Magic Kingdom a 10 minute wait to get your printed pass is very embarrassing. Then - they did something that was totally unexpected. The cashier lady pulled out a little book of what looked like gift certificates - and told me that she was giving me a front-of-the-line pass for whatever ride I wanted.

Huh?

So, apparently, you can get this pass - go in the exit - hand it to the guy and you're on the ride. SWEET!

So, the tech guy comes, sets the target printer to the correct one (in 5 seconds), and prints not only my badge but the other 5 for the other people who were waiting. Since this took another 3 minutes - they gave me a SECOND front-of-the-line pass.

Well. Maybe this IS the happiest place on earth! Even though it was just a minor inconvenience - they took it to heart - gave me something that didn't cost them anything, but something that was going to be very valuable to me and my family. That's a lesson that I wish more companies did (including mine!). Food for thought...

So we're in, it's hotter than hell (101 degrees), pretty crowded (forget about "Finding Nemo" - that damn line was 45 minutes long at 8:01 am!), but we managed to grab "fast passes" to all the major rides and had a ball.

The "Fast Pass" concept is that you scan your ticket for a ride that is really popular - and it tells you that you can come back any time within a one hour period (based on length of the line, etc). It is usually anywhere from 1 to 2 hours in the future. It's a pretty ingenious system - have the computer wait in line for you. I like it.

The other thing a Fast Pass does is give you more time to walk around and spend money while you wait for your "window" to get back on the ride... pretty smart.

So basically we went on all the rides we really wanted to, and we were supposed to meet up with some friends at about 2:00 or so. We had the bright idea to take a quick shuttle back to the hotel, have the kids rest for about and hour and head back - so they wouldn't turn into any of the other 1,000 screaming, tired, unruley beasts... I mean children... that we were starting to witness all over the park.

We go outside by our appointed pickup number - and wait for the shuttle. No shuttle. Then there is one that is not going anywhere near our hotel - but I ask them what the deal is - and if they can call to let the dispatcher know we were waiting.

Here's where things fell down again. The nice driver told me that it's lunch time. For everyone. And ZERO shuttles were going to run again until 1:55 pm. It was now 12:55 pm.

To give some credit to the bus driver - she was asking the dispatcher for permission to take her group of 4 people back to their hotel. She was negotiating the fact that she would be taking lunch 1/2 later and wanted to come back to duty 1/2 later. Then, she asked if she could take us to our hotel as well.

Here's a terrific place to shine - just like this morning. But, unfortunately, the shuttle was a city-run enterprise, and not a Magic Kingdom-run enterprise.

So the city employee mentality (very similar to a postal worker mentality) is lunch break first, customers second. Her boss (the dispatcher) denied her request to take us to our hotel, and grudgingly "allowed" her to modify the apparently-all-important-lunch-break.

So, we are in the heat, with tired, grumpy kids, we want to go back to our hotel for some rest, we bought the "unlimited all day" passes - and we were SOL.

I was a "smidge" unhappy.

We decided right then and there - we would never take the tram - or any other form of public transportation in Anaheim - again. Ever. Yet another lesson that I wanted to take back to the team on Monday - have some compassion. Have a soul. Don't be in the service industry if you don't plan on serving your customers.

So we trudged on - and the kids did their best to not bitch and complain - and we actually had a terrific time for the rest of the day. Then about 9:00 pm I was done. Done as in stick-a-fork-in-me. Done.

But people had been lining up around the lagoon where Tom Sawyer's island is - for the past 3 hours. There was going to be some kind of show. So, we decided to stay and see what's up.

WOW. That's really about all I can say.

It turned out to be a homage to Fantasia - the original animated piece that Walt Disney meant to be used to stretch his animators and the technology of the day. Well, they had little barges with all the "princess" characters dancing, music blaring, brilliant lighting, and then something that I've never seen anywhere before.

They had Mickey appear on the island, then they projected moving animation on a fan of water spray about 40 feet high.

It showed the classic Fantasia scenes where Mickey used magic to make brooms carry the water for him - but as the water in the animation rushed and roared - the REAL water would foam and so the 2D projected animation would seem to become 3D.

When the evil witch appeared and in the animation set the water on fire - the whole lagoon was filled with REAL fire on the water!

Wow! It was one of the coolest shows I'd ever seen.

Oh yeah, then they had the fireworks show right after that (sponsored by Honda)... one word: FABULOUS!

We left the Magic Kingdom that night weary, bone tired, sore footed - and again, the magic halted just outside the Disney gates. Our we-thought-it-was-a-good-idea-at-the-time tram was late, crowded, smelly, and stopped at 4 places before we could get off... but we made it back. The kids slept in until 8:30 (usually up at 6:30) and we went on with our daily lives.

All-in-all I really learned a lot about business from that trip:

• If you screw up (even though it's not even your fault) - throw the customer a bone
• If you're in the service industry - put yourself into your customer's shoes - and consider their needs first
• Re-use and re-purpose and re-package EVERYTHING you've ever done in the last 50 years to make something new
• Delight your customers (even long time customers) with something that is both familiar (see "re purposing above") and something totally new
• If you do something like a fireworks show - re purpose songs to evoke emotions and then back that up by having big, loud, bright and "cool" fireworks - in other words - GO BIG
• ALWAYS take your own car - public transportation just sucks

Spring Break (With Kids)

Ah the heady times of Spring Break. The crazy roadtrips, going to Mexico, waking up face-down in some back alley or a in a place you don't remember going to. Those were the days.

It's kind of like that when you have kids out on Spring Break - only not.

My kids just turned 8 this week - and we wanted to take a couple of days off work and go to the beach with them. We would "normally" go and camp (yes, I did say CAMP) at Carpinteria, CA... but, to tell the truth, I'm sort of "over" camping.

As you can read from previous posts, camping has sort of lost its luster. I mean, I still enjoy it every once-in-awhile, but if I had my choice - I'd "camp" in a nice hotel with running hot water and room service.

So, this year, my wife Brenda, was paging through Sunset Magazine and came across a place called Crystal Cove, located in the upscale Newport Beach area just up the California coast. She read the story of the Crystal Cove Beach Cottages and explained to me that they were right on the beach and it was going to be "like camping" - only with 4 walls and a shower.

At last! "True" camping!

We were in unit 19A - and I checked the website... and well, it was a bit "rustic" for my taste - but I figured it beat the hell out of 4 people in a tent with leaky air mattresses. The only part that really didn't register at the time was the "State Park" portion of located in "Crystal Cove State Park."

So - we did the default - pack too many clothes we would never wear, pack up stuff we wouldn't get around to using - and then add about 40% more crap for good measure - and head out.

Armed with the latest Google/Reserve America directions - we got to the end our journey a short 2 hours later - no where NEAR Crystal Cove. Yep, wrong directions. Luckily, we came prepared with our trusty Thomas Guide, and after a short 5 mile detour, we found the Park.

Then, things got confusing.

It seems that the Park has all this land - but they chose to put the parking in such a way that you have to drive in, park, register, be taken by golf cart to the cottage, unload, golf cart back to the parking lot, then drive about a mile and cross the street to park.

I'm sure it sounded good in the planning meeting.

Anyway - the cottage was "interesting." The description on the website:

"Savor the spectacular views from one of four decks in this beachfront cottage dating to 1931.

Guests in this large unit overlooking the beach will enjoy a spacious living/dining room with high ceilings, a sofa bed, two sleeper ottomans and a door to the front porch, a tiled kitchen with ample storage space, a bedroom with two twin beds, and an ocean view bedroom with a full bed."

Although it's technically correct - was taking a few liberties. I would describe it as "quaint" and "rustic." It did have a tiled kitchen with a full-size refrigerator and a microwave (both new). However, there was no stove and no barbecue (you can bring your own propane one - but that's the ONLY thing we didn't bring). The "tiled kitchen" was done by a drunk, one eyed Greek, but the rooms were a decent size, the bedding was soft, and the view kicked some serious ass.

Think "quaint" and "rustic."

The location, though - WOW. Seriously, you can't get any better than RIGHT on the beach. The front and side porches were literally 3 feet from the sand, and we were up on the upper level with a simply stunning view.

Of course, the kids leaped out into the sand and I decided to go to the store for provisions. I hiked it back to the car, and found that there was a Trader Joe's only 1 mile down the road. Being as we were in Newport beach the Trader Joe's was next to a Williams Sonoma, Cartier Watch place, 4 fabulous restaurants, etc.

Ah, camping!

I packed some bread, cheese, meat, wine, chips into two very, very, very precisely packed bags (for the long haul back to the cottage) - and off I went. When I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before - a shuttle! For $1 it would take you all the way back down the hill (or UP the hill!) and drop you off 50 feet from the cottages. YES!

Once I made it back and we pried the kids away from the back and back to the cottage - it was dark. We hosed the kids off, and went to the only restaurant the Beachcomber - that was about 50 feet from our cottage. Bob's recommendation: skip it. Over-priced, crowded, boring food, slow service - PERFECT when you have tired, starving kids.

Let's just say we did pizza the next night. We literally just spent the day on the beach, the kids in the 58 degree water with their Boogie Boards. We took walks to the tidepools, played cards (there is no TV, no clocks), did crafts, read books, and just relaxed.

Of course, no stay in a State Park would be complete without some kind of bureaucratic hijinks. When I got the car on the way out - I also had an $88 parking ticket - even though I had carefully put my parking pass so that it was visible on the dashboard. At checkout I mentioned my dilemma - and was informed that "we don't have anything to do with that - it's the State." Turns out that the check-in person wrote the wrong date on my pass - and that I'll have to fight it out with Sacramento to get the ticket fixed... but that was the only hiccup in the trip.

I'm actually looking forward to "camping" again soon...

The 5 Things I Learned From Snow

This weekend my baby brother, Eric, and his new bride invited my family up to Mammoth for the weekend - along with some of his new in-laws. The company he works for, DPR Construction, very generously allows some executives the use of a fabulous rental home at no charge. This was our third trip up there together - and we always have a total blast.

Because it's about 6 hours from home - when the kids were younger - we would drive about 2/3 of the way up and stay at an "upscale" hotel in the middle of BFE and then continue the final two hours the next morning. This trip was no different.

No head lice, free sugar-laden breakfast. So far, so good.

LESSON 1: Drive straight through.

As we passed through the last big outpost on the trek (Bishop) - we realized that it might, perhaps, be a good idea to stop by an establishment and see if they had more hardy, snow-repelling shoes for my son. Mind you - this is in addition to the new snow pants, shirts, socks, long underwear, hats and gloves that we purchased before leaving.

"Luckily" we found a HellMart just outside of town. After about 2 hours, 1 shopping cart full of crap, and a couple of hundred bucks - we are finally on our way again.

LESSON 2: Let the kids go barefoot and naked in the snow.

The weather was absolutely beautiful. It was warm, sunny, and the mountain just received 15 inches of new snow a few days before. It was really beautiful. Just before you get to the turn off for Mammoth, there is an old, famous place called "Tom's Place" where there is supposed to be some great sledding opportunities.

Since we had never been there - we decided to give it a whirl. I followed the signs for a "sno-park" - and after driving for 6 miles up a 1 lane road (the scenery was awesome!) - we arrived. At a sign that said "ROAD CLOSED". Being the ever intrepid explorers that we are, we decided to park and head out to the great outdoors. 20 minutes of changing into snow gear later - we grabbed the plastic dishes and headed up the snow-covered road.

After 200 yards - we were done. The 8,000 foot elevation had taken its toll - and then I had the "great" idea to just slide down the road. We did. It was a BLAST.

LESSON 3: Sometimes the best present IS an empty box.

We got our wet, tired butts back into the car - and headed back to Tom's Place. As we got there - we realized that the sledding place was actually right next to the road and we had inadvertently traveled into the State Park. Oh well, no harm, no foul.

We ate at this "rustic" Tom's Place Cafe (with attached bar). This place was... ummm... "charming." It had all the things you want in a kid-friendly environment - like a stuffed deer's ass above the kitchen, various "informative" signs touting friendly service slogans, provocative beer posters - but hey - FREE crayons and coloring books!

We arrived safe and sound at the "cabin" - a 5 bedroom, 3 bath, multi-story, multi-million dollar little hideaway about 1 block from the chair lift. Needless to say, the 2 plasma TV's, fireplaces, gourmet kitchen and wrap-around decks were, according to my kids "pretty cool."

Um, yeah. "Pretty cool!" Amidst all the creature comforts, Xbox, satellite TV, 46 board games, 12 puzzles and an entire library of books - my kids wanted to do only one thing: go outside on the driveway and play in the snow.

So we did. It was awesome!

LESSON 4: In a snowball fight - 8 year olds will win - every time.
LESSON 4a: Snow in the eye can hurt.

My new sister-in-law's family members were a real hoot! They are all gourmet cooks - and we took turns making meals and just hanging out. We stayed up late playing cards, drinking wine, playing Guitar hero ("little Joe" - you absolutely ROCK), drinking wine, playing Pictionary (my wife Brenda is still the best person EVER at this game), drinking wine, eating, drinking wine, etc.

On Saturday (the big ski day - and the day the kids were going to ski school) - Mother Nature really kicked some serious ass. It was about 28 degrees but with a 60 mile per hour wind. We were so determined to get the kids in ski school - that we braved the elements and went to the lift a block away.

When we got there - everyone (even the hard-core ski folks) were leaving. It was just too cold, and too windy to enjoy the day outside. So, we did what any self-respecting, cabin-bound group of frontier explorers who are caught a wintery storm would do: we played cards, drank beer, played games, drank beer, played Guitar Hero (MUCH more fun after beer!), had dinner, drank wine, talked, drank wine, played games, drank wine and hit the sack.

LESSON 5: Liquor before beer, never fear. Beer before liquor, never sicker.

Before we knew it - the weekend was over. So we re-packed the 450 boxes, bags and suitcases and headed back "down the mountain" home again. Our annual pilgrimage to the snow was a complete success.

And, I learned a few things along the way...

I'm a Total Slacker

Yikes! I mean- Happy New Year.

Yes, OK, so I'm a total, 100% slacker for not updating this blog for TWO MONTHS. Damn, time flies. I can't believe it's a whole 'nother year.

New Year's Resolution #8 - I'll see if I can be better about getting something up here - at least once a week.

The last quarter of the year is typically the busiest time - not only in terms of Holiday preparations, but business-wise as well. Thanks to our terrific developers, partners and community - Servoy finished yet another banner year!

I wanted to take a quick minute to thank all of you that have helped to contribute to Servoy's on-going success. We couldn't have done it without you.

Speaking of being a slacker - during the (woefully short!) Christmas break - I had a chance to do all the default things - get together with family, spend too much, eat too much, drink too much... and... go sport fishing.

Really. Me. On a boat. At 5:00am.

It was my son's "big" Christmas present - he's a hard-core outdoors guy (loves hunting, fishing, etc.). I mean really hard core. My buddy Aaron Archer (a fellow Servoyian) calls him "Davey Crockett."

It was actually Aaron's idea to go on this "adventure" in the first place. I thought - "Hey, it's Christmas - Brennan will LOVE it. How bad could it be?"

And with that - I sent wheels in motions that I knew nothing about. We booked the trip - and even though I did my best to conceal the trip from my son - a well-intentioned, blabber-mouth relative let it slip and he found out about it early.

From that point on - he was officially counting down the days. He would wake up in the morning and say "Just 14 more days!" You would think he'd be referring to Christmas. Nope. He was referring to the fishing trip (set for December 27th).

Needless to say, he was excited.

Well, the day finally arrived - and just by the way it started, I should have suspected that something was up. Because Aaron and his friend and brother were going to meet at my house at 3:30am - I slept downstairs, fully dressed, ready to go. I told my son not to worry, that I would wake him up and get him dressed in his 87 layers of clothes (it was 38 degrees the day before and the winds were howling like crazy).

At about 3:25 he wakes ME up "Hey Dad, time to wake up - it's almost time to go!"

I grab some food out of the fridge, get my outer layer of clothes together and we depart with Aaron and crew in tow right on time.

We meet my brother-in-law (Jim), his 20 year old son (Wes) and my father-in-law (Don) at the dock, rent the poles, get the gear - and off we go... into Hell.

It's about 39 degrees, and there are 3-4 foot swells that toss our 42 foot boat like a cork in a bathtub. After about an hour, the wind isn't the only thing blowing.... Brennan is puking in the galley, Jim is puking on deck, and I feel like I have the black whirlies while still wide awake.

It's all I could do to not join the puke party - lucky there was nothing in my stomach that wanted to leave in a hurry.

Don't get me wrong, I love holding my now-limp, 75 pound, dead weight, puking son up on the deck of the SS Minnow while inhaling diesel fumes on our 2 HOUR ride out to the Channel Islands.

I figured IF I lived - and once the sun came up the winds would die down and we could fish. Well, the sun came up, and so did another round of yellow bile from poor little Brennan's stomach. We were sitting there rocking and rolling (Don was puking WHILE fishing - NOT kidding!) - but Aaron and crew were having beers!

I just wanted to go home and die and in peace.

The boat was rocking so much from side-to-side that the water almost breached the gun whale (the little wall on the sides of the boat). After about an hour and a half of this - I told the captain that we had one more hour and we're D-O-N-E, done.

He explained that he would take us to a calmer spot - but my reaction was (literally) - "I don't give a crap what you do - you've got an hour, and we're done."

On the way to calmer waters - we spotted a whole pod of dolphins that were racing the boat, we saw several sea otters and even a grey whale! (that was the best part of the trip)

Well, we did get to calmer waters, the sun was bright, and the winds calmed down. Aaron and crew were fishing like there was no tomorrow - along with Don (the Super Angler) - while Brennan and I and Jim were dozing in the sun.

In the end - everyone was really kind to Brennan and let him reel in some fish (which he was thrilled at - and later took full credit for). I even plopped a line in the water and reeled it in - just to prove that I'm not a total pussy. Jim even fished for awhile - and did pretty well (while he wasn't STILL puking).

When it was all said and done - we (they) caught over 100 fish.

I drove us home and slept for a day and a half.

The next day when Brenda (my wife) asked Brennan how the trip was - he replied "It was the best fishing trip ever! I caught a ton of fish - and I even threw up!"

Maybe I'm not a TOTAL slacker...