I Coulda Done Better But You Don't Mind

So here I am nearing the end of my "off track". I love Southern California, it's my home. It's hard for me to find something more enjoyable than laying around on the warm sand and paddling out on a good south swell for some frontside laybacks and backside hacks. I don't ever want to leave this place but I have to go back to the spud state soon to continue on with the so called pursuit of happiness (it's okay though, I actually like school).

Depending on who you ask this wasn't the most productive of "off tracks" for me. I didn't secure a solid, reliable job early on and earn just above minimum wage for five months strait to come out of this whole thing with somewhere around five grand to show for it. If you ask me, I did what was necessary to continue keeping the load off for just that much longer while still managing to not only get by with my sanity, but make a little bit of money along the way. And if you ask me, I did just fine. My lack of productivity was my productivity. The way I see it, I was preserving my faculties for the ensuing semester. The best way for me to stay fresh and clean for the heavy class load that lies ahead of me, is to stay as far away from the man as possible (all he does is drag you down anyways; right?). So, for the people out there that don't like the fact that I wasn't "responsible" according to the standard definition, you should re-evaluate the meaning. While I didn't have a "job", I still got the job done.

Those Silly Drugs Were No Match for Me

In addition to selling myself to medical research, here's what I did for money this summer...

Secured a two night stay at West Coast Clinical Trials for a clinical study of asthma medicine: $600.

"Donated" blood from a major artery in my left arm to Massimo Corporation: $200.

Taught surf lessons with Surfer Sam's surf school: Not much.

I checked back in with my friends at West Coast Clinical Trials and stayed there for 8 days. They paid me $5,100 to test a double dose of a drug called "Simponi" thats already on the market. That silly drug was no match for me. What bunch of suckers. ...that's most definitely the way they feel about us.