The weather gods smile upon me. The gods of surfing and wallet possession do not.

It's really getting nice outside! Today was in the 80's! I think it's fair to say we have finally surpassed Wisconsin in terms of heat!

Now that the weather has been so wonderful, I've been to the beach every day possible. I'd like to say that I'm building up a nifty tan, but you can't tan through a wetsuit! My hair, however, gets noticeably blonder every day I spend outside.

The water is still pretty cold. I picked up a board locally and I'm really happy with it. I think I'd be making a lot more progress if the weather would cooperate, but the surf's been choppy, really bad to learn on...it's been stormy, doesn't make for good surfing!

Surf injuries so far: Stepped on dried seaweed, ribs are very sore from rubbing on surfboard, rash on left knee from dragging on sea bed, floor burn? from wax on right knee, and a shark wound on left forearm. (or a gash from a surf fin, whichever story you prefer)

Yesterday, I went to the beach and removed my shorts with my wallet inside. I put the whole lot into my backpack. I put on my wetsuit, spent two hours playing "let's see who can hit each other hardest" with the ocean (guess who won that one?) and then walked home. I prepared to head over to a friend's house and noticed that I didn't have my wallet. I tore apart my room twice, my bag, and all my surf stuff. No bueno. I walked back to the beach, called the police and checked with the lifeguards...I have absolutely no idea where it went.

As a result of not knowing that it is gone for sure, I keep ocd-tearing up my room looking for it. None of my cards were used either, so I'm really wondering if I have it somewhere. I don't know how it would have left my backpack and still be mine, though.

Here's a list of things that are no longer in my possesion:

$40 dollars or so in Monopoly money.
Two credit cards
One debit card
Two Platteville student IDs
One University of Newcastle student ID
Two Wisconsin driver's licenses
One open water diver PADI card
One University of Newcastle discount card.
One semester train pass (valued at $450)
One magnetic key card to get into my building
One third of one receipt from the last time I saw Joel and Steve
Miscellaneous Burger King and Walmart gift cards of unknown value

At this point, I have absolutely no money and no way to get more money. I managed to scrape together $7 in funny shaped coins that I found in my room. What would you do with your last $7?

I went to KFC and bought a "favourites" bowl, leaving me with $.55. Awesome.

I'm entering the acceptance stage...I've started calling my credit card companies and trying to plan how I can function without all that crap.


You call that a burger?



THIS is a burger! (pronounced "burh-gah")
Big patty, fried onions, fried pineapple, fried bacon, fried egg, lettuce, tomato, beetroot and barbecue. om nom nom! That, a big bag of chips and a 375ml can of Mt. Dew for the low price of $8!



Here's billy on a train.