Next Chapter... Job change

After being in the Powersports Auction business for a while, It is time to move on.
It was mutually agreed that I was not a fit for the position as it was evolving. The needs of the job specifically in territory had changed and forced me to seek employment elsewhere.
I learned a lot during my time with NPA. I was not really ready to leave as I felt I was gaining progress, building accounts, bring in new customers, and keeping my markers ahead of most the team every month.
Where I go next is still uncertain. maybe motorcycle industry, telecom, aerospace......
If you are reading this, and you have an opening for me......
give me a call.

Glamis and the deck

On Friday after work, "S" and I went out to Glamis to meet up with the Coffins. we got out there about 9pm. we built a camp fire, enjoyed some beverages, and then retired to their camper/toyhauler.
In the morning,  we went on a ride, and a few of us fell over due to the sand being so soft. The sand gets soft when the temperature picks up. we went back to camp, and had some lunch. another ride, and we went to a hot Springs, and then onto Gecko road, where we found a great natural jump.I got some good Air, but Hali did better than all of us.
Here is a picture of "S" and I getting some air.

 "S" and I drove home that night so we could get a fresh start in the morning on the deck.
The deck had been taken apart, and That morning, we cut up the boards, and loaded both trucks with the boards. we broke our backs, but we unloaded at the dump, and treated ourselves to some subway sandwiches. We went home, and broke up the cement anchors of the deck, and loaded up the cement, and some bushes, and disposed of them.... ( secret drop).
We washed the cars, and dirtbikes, and laundered the gear.

Birthday!

My lovely Daughter Sydney made it to 16 despite all my threats.
Happy Birthday, Kid!

Went Turkey hunting

The only thing I saw was turkeys all along the road. I could hear them in the trees near me, but none would come out to visit me and my decoy.
Better luck next weekend. I will be going up into the mountains more, with Robert.

Tejon youth hunt

I had heard about the Tejon Ranch youth hunt sponsored by the California Deer Association. I entered my daughters name, and got a call back from Jerry Springer, President of CDA. He said that Sydney had won a deer hunt at the Ranch. 275 junior hunters applied, 5 were picked for Deer, and 10 for Hog. We were asked to practice at the rifle range, be prepared for any kind of weather, bring a big cooler, do not bring ammo( it would be provided) bring one parent, and a camera. We headed out of San Diego Monday the 17th, and stayed in Santa Clarita. The next morning we drove through the heavy fog and rain to the offices of Tejon Ranch Lebec California. We were met with open arms by the staff of Tejon Ranch, Jerry from CDA, and the other JR. hunters and Dads. Jerry Passed out gift bags to the kids filled with goodies: Alpen Optics binoculars, Barnes ammo ( 2 box's), z-blades knives, scent away shower kit, Hunters specialties Deer call and rattle,.Binocular harness, and 3 hats. along with a few other items that were in the bag. We were very excited about these give-aways, from the sponsors, and plan on writing them thank you letters. Our guides showed up, and we followed them through the main gate, and we headed to the cabin, where we would set our gear.

We waited to see if the weather would clear so we could practice shooting. The fog and sleet showed no sign of clearing, so we started shooting at short range:

Once we were sighted in, we jumped in the truck of our Guide "Cody", he drove us around the Western end of the Ranch, and we started seeing deer right away:

Cody found a nice Bobcat to get pictures of.

Since we were there to help balance the herd, we were only allowed to shoot Does. Here is a shot of a young buck we saw early.

We saw close to 70 deer in 3 hours, but it wasn't as easy as spot and shoot. I was the goal of the guide to not shoot does with yearlings, and if we couldn't tell which doe the yearlings belonged to, we moved on:

Finally we found 3-4 bachelorettes, Sydney and the guide got out of the truck with the rifle, and tri-pod, and started hiking out to the base of the mountain the deer were spotted on. I tried to hang back so I could capture it all on film. She set up, and took a shot that just went under the lead doe. We kept an eye on that deer, to make sure she was not hit. She did not leave, nor did the other 3 deer. Sydney put the cross-hairs on her again, and let another round fly. You could see the impact on the deers ribcage, it instantly lurched, and took off to the top of the hill and disappeared in the brush. Our guide asked us to stay put and keep an eye out for her around the base of the hill. Sydney and I walked around the hill, and found our doe expired. We quickly took a few pictures as the sun disappeared on the horizon. She was all smiles. I kept an eye on her to see if she was truly enjoying this, or doing it for Dad. She never stopped smiling, and loved it all. I had told My daughter that I wanted her to gut the deer, ( against her mothers wishes). She flipped the deer over and used Dads knife and followed the guides instructions well. she was allowed to turn the knife over at any time, she made it all the way to cutting the esophagus. That was fine with me. I have learned over the years of coaching my daughters that sometimes it is best to let someone else coach her. She listened to the guide intently, and he was a very good instructor, and a very patient man. I think he appreciated me not butting in, too.

Sydney and her guide Cody:

I can't thank the folks at Tejon enough for giving my daughter the experience of a lifetime. Jerry hooking her up with the hunt, and all the goodies. And mostly Cody( our guide) for making it a very pleasurable experience. Sydney was a fine young lady throughout the whole thing, and I couldn't be prouder of her. She was involved, a good shot, patient, polite, sociable, and grateful.

4 out of 5 of the kids were able to harvest a deer. The 4 were very conscious of the feelings of the young man who did not get his deer. That night we all sat around the cabin as one of the old timers told a story or two, and we all shared some laughs. I highly recommend you try to get your youngster in this hunt, but if you don't I hope you have a great experience in the outdoors as we did. Eric Here is the video:
 WARNING GRAPHIC

Amber and Oma are back

Amber flew back into SD. We picked he up at the airport, and stopped by the Mexican food joint. It was also the week that Oma came out for a visit. We were smiles from ear-to-ear.

Hunting and riding

Hunting season came and went. I spent a lot of time scouting as it is as much fun as the actual hunt, and I can bring my friends with me. I explored a lot of new places this year, but I settled on Pine Valley and McCain Valley. I hunted in both places. I shot my deer in McCain Valley. It's size wasn't impressive, but it was still a success.

Amber wanted to try to ride my street bike before I sold it. The bike is a Honda vtr1000. She did very well.

It has been a while since I have talked to you all. The bad: After working for 8 years with AT&T, my employment with them has come to an end. Apparently they didn't need me as bad as I needed them. I spent 3-4 months looking for employment. I found a new home with a great compnay called NPA (National Powersport Auction) they are a few miles away, and I have known of them for about 20 years. NPA is a auction house for motorcycles, quads, boats personal watercraft... etc. I am a sales rep for them, and I go to dealerships, and try to bring in inventory( consignments) to the auctions. I have been working with them for 4 months, and so far so good. I do travel a lot. thank goodness the girls are old enough to not require my constant attention. I didn't take much of a hit in salary. so I think we are going to be ok. I miss the security of AT&T, but definately not the people. Love my new home NPA!

Dad and Daughter weekend, Oh, and some gardening

We were bored Saturday night, so Bob took us ( 'S' and I , and Bobs daughter)out to the bowling alley on base.
We bowled a game and a half. The scores were not impressive, but everyone was smiling.
We had some fries, and beer. Made our way over to the pool table, and tried to teach the girls about shooting pool. We listened to some country music and had a great time.

















Sunday, we got up early and went out to the mountains, and 'S' participated in the Youth Pheasant hunt. They had booths set up for shooting clays, learning about the environment, archery, bird dogs, and finally going out into the field with a dog, and handler, and a partner. 'S' had a shot at two birds. She hit the first one pretty hard, but it flew into another field, and it's demise could not be verified. The second bird was hit, but flew off to live another day. Her hunting partner was able to knock down one bird ( kids were given an opportunity at two birds, often a rooster, and a hen). Here is a picture of 'S' with her partners bird.

We left the hunt, and I let 'S' drive the truck down a dirt road in the mountains. It was one lane mostly, and winded its way out of the mountains and some beautiful scenery, that included seeing wild animals, waterfalls and stream, an arboreal tunnel.
We made it home after a long day. 'S' took a nap in the sun ( it was in the 70's all day) I cleaned the gun, then went out back to plant some tomato plants, and some onion bulbs. This is my first earnest attempt at a garden, I will keep you updated

Internal Medicine

Anyone see anything wrong with this?

Went to the Supercross

It was quite a logistical nightmare, but we got it done with minimal problems.
Got into the stadium parking lot early, had a little cookout on the tailgate. The 'A' showed up, because she was at softball in OC. We went into the pits and saw some famous riders, and people. 'A' got a free hat, and T-shirt by turning on the charm. 'S' and her friend also enjoyed the pits, and the boys they saw. We made our way into the Stadium ( Bob, myself, and the 3 girls, ) when Bob got a call from his daughter who had just arrived. We all watched, cheered, and laughed. We had a very good time.

Finished a helmet

I had promised to not paint a helmet again, but I gave in and painted one because the family is close to us, and I totally dig their daughter. It is not the best work I have done, but it has been a while, and this is the result:

VolleyBall

'S' had her first weekend of Volleyball, and they won all 3 matches, never loosing a game.
A couple of the girls have played together before. Last year they looked pretty good, but they look like they have made huge improvements.
Their timing is down, they are blocking at the net, they are spiking the ball with authority, and their serves are strong, and sometimes un-returnable.

Shooting Trap

Finally we are not shooting our trap off, we are trap shooting.
'S' , Myself, Bob and 2 of his girls went to Camp Pendleton, and went Shooting Trap.
'S' Borrowed a 20gauge from My neighbor.

Christmas Day on the beach

After we unwrapped gifts, we loaded the family up, and went to the beach ( Del Mar).
I had never seen the tide so far out. We didn't dress up fancy, but we took pictures.
The pictures below are what we came up with.

week 1 of Christmas break

I told the girls we would try to do as much together as we could. Now that 'A' has a job, we are on a tight schedule.
So hiking, riding, golf, softball, and visiting friends will be on the agenda.
First up, hiking in the snow on Mt. Laguna. We drove an hour outside the city, and took the dog, so she could experience her first snow under her paws.
The dog had fun in the snow, and so did the girls. They posed for pictures, threw snowballs, and left with smiles.

Thanksgiving Glamis Trip 2011.

It was our annual trip to Glamis. Our group included the Dickinson's, Bradford's, Coffin's, Berlue's and the Ratza's. This year was the best year of all. Everyone finally got used to their vehicles and we were able to keep a steady pace. Day 1 of our trip we took a new route to Oldsmobile. Day 2 we took a 13 mile ride out to the famous China Wall. This year, my daughter Sydney took the challenge of riding my 450 up China Wall for the first time. We were all so proud. We did have one breakdown. Todds Razor burnt up a belt, and we had to leave the Razor out there, go back and get him a belt, so he could return. Day 3 was the best ride of all.It started with a nice ride out to Oldsmobile and over the top. We were heading out to Gecko and 2 dunes before our arrival destination Sydney's CRF150 broke down. Something in the transmission, or the clutch, I think. We had to tow it out to Gecko road and Big Eric stayed with the bike while we went back to camp. We drove the truck to go pick the bike and him up. All of this excitement was the highlight of our day. Or better yet the low light. That was the end of the day, so we packed up our stuff, and headed out Home-Sweet-Home.

Getting colder!

Went up to the mountains to see what I can see. It was cold from the previous snow fall day. Some of the roads were closed, so we had to hike in.

someone shot my deer

Some asshole shows up late, crowds me and stumbles into the deer I was tracking.

I taught 'S' as much as I could.
I taught her to scout multiple spots.
Know your terrain, and the surroundings.
Make sure you know where your going to sit, have a backup plan.
Make sure you have a shooting lane
know your weapon and your comfort level of distances you can shoot
Look for signs, know that there is deer in there.
Get in your spot early, and don't screw up some one else hunt.
Be considerate, and respectful.

Well I did all those, watch a buck for over a week( he went about 18olbs, and was a 2x3 muley), and got in my spot by 5am

People were still rolling in after 6am, between 6 and 6:30, I counted 7 cars. One of the last guy to show up near me came in and 6:15, saw someone in his spot.
So he walks into my spot/area, busting through the brush, so I shine a light at him. He yells to his buddy, " some one is there, we need to move.
I thought he left. Turns out he was about 100ft from me. I finally see the buck i had been watching and two does walk out of the brush about 325 yds away, I make double sure he's legal, but I don't like the shot ( quartered toward me, between bushes) i see the doe come toward me, I see he is going to follow. They are heading toward me, he comes out of the bushes, but at an angle where I can't see him yet, and then.... My ears get rung by the guy sitting that close to me as he unloads his gun on this thing. The first two shots miss him ( at about 125yds) then he finally spines this thing, and it is kicking about. He waits about 4 minutes, walks out to it, and puts another round into its neck the size of a football. I just wanted to cry. All the work and effort, and this guy who does everything wrong gets the buck. Me or anyone else would have been better.


Moral of the story:
Its Ok to not scout ( I talked to him, he had no idea this buck is here) show up late, bust in on someone else spot, not leave, and not make good ethical shots.
Moral 2:
Its public land, and there is not a damn thing you can do about it!

First blood!

'S' was able to get her first confirmed kill today. We went out deer hunting on the edge of the desert. We did not see any deer, so we put away the rifle, headed south about a mile, broke out the 20 gauge shotgun, and started walking, we didn't get far before we heard a rabbit, 'S' took aim, and made a perfect shot.
It was an especially proud moment, because she was able to use the shotgun that my Dad had used most of his life, handed it down to me, and now my daughter is using it.