secret surfboard

^This. I buy no trinkets, wall hangers, or clothes (same cannot be said for the wife but she deserves "nice" things). Tools are justified by my habit of fixing things around the house rather than paying someone to do it or making things for the wifey. I own nothing "nice" except for a lap top for work, quiver of ten or so boards, couple of wetsuits, a kayak, a bike I've had since high school, and a hand full of fishing poles. I tend to craigslist things that have sat around for a year or two without being used (wife doesn't always like that) and pick up cash side jobs fixing things for her friends (youtube can teach you how to do anything).

None of this is because she won't let me own anything "nice" but because I'm cheap and would rather take a yearly surf trip than spend money on what I view as the non essentials (excluding PBR and the occasional can of dip for building projects). No restrictions on how money spent as long as its affordable. She has an Audi... I have a rusted old Tacoma. She can visit her family in Curacao... I'll stay home and work. There is no argument when it comes to me throwing down money on a board or trip and sometimes she'll even do it for me as a surprise. If the score is even...buy her/ let her get what she wants, then there should be no problem.

My buddy couldn't go on a surf trip a few years back to central America because his wife wouldn't let him... solely because she had never got to leave the country and didn't want to spend the money for him to have fun and her to stay home. Lame.

 

Ha! Yeah, he can atone for his sins of ratting us all out to the MSW mods last XMas.

 

Yup same buddy I was talking about before had his wife say he can only go as far as he can and still get back in the same day. There is also a rule of no air travel, and no special occasion trip (by car only) that lasts more than 2 days without taking her. He came down to visit me last weekend and she had to come. It was meant to be be a surf trip but she hates the sun and the beach so she *****es the whole time and is a worry wart so is pacing the beach while he's out there because she's worried about sharks. Thankfully it was virtually flat in MD last weekend so she didn't have a heart attack. I told him to leave her home and he said he couldn't. Same guy has a virtual arsenal in his garage locked away and belongs to a shooting club but she has said if he buys a gun she will divorce him. I can't imagine living in that hell, life is too short to have your every move dictated by a psychopath. I'm a firm believe that even the psychopath would be better off alone rather than have a willing victim allowing her to remain stuck in her negative psychology.

 

that is just awful. i don't even know that guy and i feel bad for him. i hope they don't have kids.

 

i always wanted a CB Bonzer too but the prices a nuts. i found a hardly used one exactly like what i wanted. its not like your buying a mass produced board. they are glassed to last, kind of like a boat. Nobody should buy a new boat.

 

That sucks. Truth... I don't like most of my friend's wives for that reason. If your buddy is doing his part as a husband there is simply no reason for those types of restrictions. Way to clingy! Another surfing (use the term loosely these days) friend wanted to join the Coast Guard because times were economically hard with two small kids, a stay at home wife, and a house payment all on his shoulders. Medical, dental, BAH, steady paycheck...problem solved. She told him she'd divorce him if he talked to a recruiter because she couldn't stand the prospect of him being away for a short time even if to better their situation (its the Coast Guard...if the boat sinks they walk back to shore). I guess the moral of the story is pick a mate wisely.

 

I bring mine along to talk me out of things, it doesn't work, then i sleep on the couch

 

The sad part is I'm starting to realize I really don't like my buddy any more, or to clarify what he has become.. He has let himself be subjugated by an overbearing, worrying and damaged person and is sinking into her darkness. He should be the force to pull her back into the light but instead followed her down and is but a shadow of who he once was... Sad.

 

If its metal, its worth money. So scrap it. Collect anything metal in your truck. Keep your eyes peeled driving down the road, people are always throwing away heavy, metal things. Keep it, and bring it to the scrap yard on the weekend. Do this a few times and bam.. new board.
Also copper wire stripped clean is good money. Recently stripped nearly 50 lbs of it myself for a pretty little sum of around $200.00

 

say you need a repair for your vehicle. Women know nothing about cars. Say it's your ABS pump. Brakes are important! Say it's $600 (come on bro, $900?, go to ANY local shaper and get almost ANYTHING sans huge longboard for under $600). Keep board in bag. If it ever comes up "where did this one come from?" ... "oh I stole that thing on craigslist last winter, remember?"... Just resist the urge to get "Custom for BIG WET MONSTER" signed by the shaper

Damn German cars, am I right?

 

But do you have any kids? I surfed every single day even when I got married. Things changed after we had a child. Even when we were first married, I wasn't trying to fly home to Maryland 4 times a year. My wife would cruise home for 3-4 days, meanwhile I am back in california, surfing all day, catching up on "bro time" and all that. We were traveling all the time. Dirving up and down the coast, me surfing, her not....

I think everything starts out all gravy like that, but the reality becomes a two way street. Today, right now, I would pass up a 3-4 day trip to PR if I wasn't taking my daughter with me. Not cause I can't, but because I wouldnt want to....

Sh** just gets different. It's a whole different ball game if your wife wants to go to Curacao without you, and she leaves you for a week with a 2 year old, that is a WHOLE different ball game. Especially if you got a job. And that works both ways. You leaving the country for a week to go surf, leaving her alone with the child and the responsibility for a week straight. What if SHE has a job? Or other responsibilities.

It's not about wives being bad to us, its about life gaining on us. The wife thing is just stage one. If you go through with all that goes with "marriage" then the travel freedoms and trip to Indo with the boys aren't going to be on the same radar as they once were. For you or your wife.

 

Oh wait so you fell out of love with your Lost motivator your go to board lol.

Dang I better put mine up on Craigslist before you do to buy my new Roberts Diamond fish before your new bonzer haha.

I need to scratch up some cash or else my wife will hang me by my boys.

 

I have a son, great kid, way smarter than me. Traveled around with me while I worked, never had daycare, spent his days by my side, surfing, fishing and working. My wife is a forester and a bit of a hippy. I had the chance to date and marry girls that wanted a traditional life but my instincts told me to high tail it outta there. I chose a person that wanted balance between work, home and children. No riches, no mansion, just freedom. With freedom comes happiness. I would give up everything to be free, not free of my family, wife or child just free of constraints from what has come to be considered "normal".

 

no

i don't think anyone will

 

Man this is when keeping pics of the ex's would come in handy.

 

start keeping ALL boards in a board sock. if she never sees the actual stick she's less likely
to see the quiver shuffled later.

 

Well stated perspective. You got me there. No kids. Both in our mid 30s and it was never part of the plan. She's career military and I like things just the way they are in "stage one" and have no desire to trek the "two way street" for all the reasons you listed above. Zippy seems to have found a nice medium (as I'm sure you have in your life as well).

 

My wife left me with a 2 year old for a week long trip to the Virgin Islands, just sayin, lol.

 

My wife busts my chops when I get a new board " how many boards do you need" well how many purses a shoes do you need? That just opens a can of worms but its true.