Monthly Archives: July 2006

Well, the summer continues; and with the month of July came and passed a ridiculously disappointing Tour de France. Most of the top [un]professional cyclists favored to win this edition were suspended the day before the start due to a massive doping operation in Spain; I, for one, was very sad to see Mr. Basso on that list… And now, just four days after the Tour has finished, this year’s winner has come up positive for an unnaturally elevated testosterone level after stage 17; meaning, in simple terms, he probably doped too. It’s my opinion that 90% of pro-tour level riders are on the juice in one form or another; the ones who get caught are just the unlucky ones. It’s sad for the sport, but more importantly it’s sad for the cyclists who truly lookup to these riders. Sure, for me it’s entertaining to see the pros climb mountains faster than humanly possible, but I don’t see these people as heroes or role models just because of their athletic talent and dedication – mine were on a different cycling journey in the month of July (cough cough) – so I guess that keeps the disappointment level down a bit for me.

In other news, Daniel doesn’t wear glasses anymore! Gasp! I’m really enjoying the experience so far; its nice to be able to wear sunglasses (the yellow ones if you were wondering) and see at the same time…

Last weekend my brother and I went camping on South Padre Island, and it was a blast. Lots of quality time on the beach; which is always nice. Sunday evening the two of us went out for dinner, leaving his dog on a 25 foot steel cable leash – certified to secure a polar bear if necessary. Sure enough, when we returned to the campsite there was no dog; just a broken steel polar bear leash – believe me, that dog is amazing. So, of course, we went looking for him, even though it was around 11:00pm and pitch black on the island; but luckily we didn’t have to go far. Our “neighbors” found him first. Let me describe our newfound friends by proximity… They were an older couple, retired, living in a bus converted into an ultra eco-friendly camper. These two obviously had fun in the sixties, and were striving to relive the experience. The man had long gray hair down to his shoulders, and upon seeing my brother and I outside exited his camper/bus in his tiny blue Speedo; completely comfortable with the situation. Behind him was his wife, I assume, wearing a tiny blue bikini. They were the nicest couple, and also had two dogs tied up outside the camper keeping ours entertained. We chatted for a bit, while their dogs, both “fixed”, continuously tired to sodomize ours. The man just laughed, saying “I think they’ve been watching the two of us too much.” Talking to him, I kept having flashbacks to Austin Powers: Goldmember and the Hollywood image of the swinging sixties. It was hilarious. And then that night, another island local parked his van near our tent thinking we were his long lost friend Marcus, who apparently is a bum who has been living on the island for the past twelve years in a tent. So it’s 2:00am and we hear someone yelling in a slightly dutch/drunken accent, “Marcus, I’ve got some Wild Turkey whiskey! Come drink whiskey with meeeee!” So my brother gets up to check out the action and informs the man his name isn’t Marcus, but Nick; and the next thing I hear, in an excited voice, is “Oh Nick, I’m so sorry! Do you want to drink some whiskey with me in my van?” My brother declines, is offered a beer next, and declines that also. All the while, I’m dying of laughter inside the tent. He finally says goodnight to the man and returns to the tent, and then I hear “Hey Nick! Does your doggy have a little water dish?”, which makes me laugh even more; we reply, yes, and get a slightly intoxicated “OK Nick, goodnight Nick!” in return. The whole episode was really hilarious; South Padre can really be an interesting place sometimes…

I come home to Austin in four weeks, and I’m really excited to see my amigos again! Good times will be had this fall, I’m sure of it!

I should really try to make a better effort with the frequency of my blog updates. It’s not as if I have nothing to say; I guess I’m just having a lack of motivation when it comes to getting it on paper.

It’s summer time here in Texas, and for better or worse that distinction has kind of translated into a bit of a lifestyle change for me this time around. In my normal life it’s always one thing after another with no time to reflect and ponder what happens, but this summer I’ve finally got a chance to slow things down a bit and begin to think about me again.

My grandpa is among the smartest men I have ever been lucky enough to have a conversation with. We’ve always been close, but until recently I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to truly understand what he’s been trying to tell me all these years – lessons he’s accumulated over his life just waiting to be passed on. My grandpa spent almost a third of his life in the army; traveling the world, fighting in Vietnam, and, in accordance with the military lifestyle, working under someone else. He’s paid taxes while living in France just to be able to breath the air (literally, look it up), and has seen things I know I never will.

Humility is one of the points I think he stresses the most. He’s not a college graduate, but I think if anyone is testament to the fact that a degree doesn’t always equal intelligence it’d be him. 9.9 out of 10 times if he says something is a particular way, I’m not betting against him. There’s just something about age and experience you can’t condense into a textbook, and over these past few weeks he’s really helped me to see that. A young man with an education doesn’t quite have everything…

We also talk about the future career choices I’ve made from time to time as well, and he has always been the first to tell me not to chase money. He’s not a wealthy man by any means, but if I’d have to guess I’d say he’s one of the happiest. A tremendously long marriage, successful children, and grandchildren beginning to write their own success stories as well – how could money possibly mean anything more than all of that?

So, so far this, and a few books here and there, has been what summer ’06 has been all about for me – learning from the richest sources, and trying to piece together tomorrow’s world. Perspective.