If you don't work and you don't surf is it a waste of a waste of a life?

As I have mentioned in previous episodes of 23B


I am out of work,


on the dole,


a man of leisure,


a surf bum,


at liberty, between jobs, closed down, disengaged, down, fired, free, idle, inactive, jobless, laid off, leisured, loafing, on layoff, on the bench, on the dole, on the shelf, out of a job, out of action, out of work, resting, unapplied, underemployed, unengaged, unexercised, unoccupied, unused, without gainful employment, workless


But as hope springs eternal


and as the new year looms before us like a feathering clean up set 


I can't complain.


Well I could,
but my unemployed friends are in the same boat 
(some in smaller leaking boats actually) 
and 
my friends with jobs are envious of my free time.


It could be worse.


I certainly am not alone


If the internet and the network talking heads can be believed 
(and they can't about half the time you know, but the head count in the local lineup confirms my suspicions)
the country, heck the world has been going thru a tough patch.


By a tough patch 


I mean a time when


the very wealthy have been saved from having a zero lopped off the end of their swiss accounts


by government funds


while "main street"  (thats you and me)


tries to survive until the next wave of prosperity. 


(yes prosperity comes in waves too)


My family and I have been very lucky


mostly because we refused to borrow against our house.


(You mean we have to pay the money back? 
with interest!  
OMG
That's so ...
impossible)  


We have never been big on keeping up with the Jones'.


(heck the Jones' don't even live on our street!)


They do however live a few streets over and their new McMansion is, well interesting.


I keep asking to see their vegetable garden knowing full well that the house,


in strict accordance with state and local build codes and regulations 


consumes the lot


and outside the structure there is only room for cement walks 


and the landscaping required by the city fathers.


( a quick note on the landscaping. it's totally composted of non native plant species than require huge amounts of water.  Not too smart considering we live on the coastal strip of a big dry desert.)


but


I digress.




So I like to think,


these past few months of increased leisure time has been well spent.


I walk more, read more, surf more, bike more, nap more, and cook more.  


(I also do more laundry, clean up, vacuum and do yard work but you are probably not interested in the details of being a house husband) 


It has been enlightening to see what fills the void when you suddenly have more free time.


I feel a responsibility to use the time wisely.


(I am occasionally successfully, usually when drinking the house red, watching the sun set from the porch) 


And if I am ever blessed with grand children
and they ask me what I did during the great repression of the oughts  
I'll get to say,
I rode a mat! 

Photos by Graham Day - Shelter Surf Shop