Monday – 30th April
I was in the library from 10am to 1am, just studying for stability and control, although I did take breaks in between and actually saw the Manchester City vs. Manchester United match. I must say that I got a ridiculous amount of studying done, and by the time I left, I felt in pretty good shape for the test the next morning.
Tuesday – 1st May
There were a whole bunch of other people studying in the library in the morning, getting ready for the stability test. However, it proved to be fruitless as everyone in my section got raped on the test. It wasn’t that we didn’t quite know the material, it was more that every variable required like 10 minutes of calculations, and you needed another 10 variables before you actually put it into your final equation. Everybody after class was just moaning and groaning and most were just glad to be done. I went home, grabbed my longboard, and headed to Ponce Inlet, stopping by Sandy Point Progressive Sports for the first time.
I can’t believe that I haven’t been there earlier, as the shop has virtually every extreme sport (well almost) equipment for sale. Kiteboarding, kayaking, surfing, windsurfing, snowboarding, and tons of accessories like clothes and car racks. I was there to actually check on the Thule roof rack for cars, since it’s a pain to transport surfboards with the removable Blocksurf rack, and it’s not stable either. It was a pretty decent day out at Ponce Inlet and I caught some decent footage with my GoPro.
I was happily resting in the evening, when Navin called, asking for permission to buy a piece of furniture, as he wasn’t sure if it would fit. I ran it by Reggie, and in a matter of minutes, we were on the way to Sears to collect our air hockey table that cost Navin a whopping $40. This is a table that’s about 5’6″, and usually sells for $180. If we had resold it to some frat, we would have instantly made money.You can even convert it to a ping pong table!
Wednesday – 2nd May
We all slept late, messing with the table, and just enjoying the end of the semester. I woke up late and did my accounts to see how much money I had. After checking my finances, I headed down back to Sandy point to buy that surf rack, which I am very pleased with, as it is ridiculously stable and makes transporting boards a breeze. I can also keep the equipment and bring it to any future vehicle I have, needing only to change the fit kit, which are the metal plates that connect the foot of the rack to the car. Those normally run about $60, so it’s only 10% of the total price of the rack. Obviously I also invested in the locking mechanisms, so it is impossible to steal the rack of the car, as it’s now an integral part of it.
Thursday – 3rd May
Around lunch, Sebastian, Navin, and I finally got together for that flight we were supposed to take. We rented a plane from ERAU, took off and headed towards Flagler Airport (10 minutes flight) to have lunch at their airport restaurant. I got to fly the plane for a while, under the supervision of Sebastian, who’s a certified flight instructor (CFI). Lunch was pretty awesome, and we took the scenic route back to Daytona, passing over Ponce Inlet, so I could get a bird’s eye view of the place I always surf at.

The breakwater is to the right, and the best waves occur near the corner made by the shoreline and the breakwater. When the tide is high and I can’t drive on the beach, I go to that parking lot and lug my board all the way to the shore.
At night, we all headed over to John Li’s wine tasting party. Navin and I totally forgot about the dress code, but it was cool as we’re “the neighburs.” His house is literally about a five minute walk from ours, and we walked over with our own beach chairs and wine. It was a pretty cool party overall. Reggie came after us and got the memo about the dress code, but came in a super beng shirt.
Friday – 4th May
With the waves dying down, I washed my car today and cleaned the interior. There’s still a bunch of work that needs to be done to make it perfect, but for the time being, it’s a really decent car. I just need to address that oil leak soon. We also started to prepare the house for our own Cinco de Mayo party, and I went to Sam’s club to get food.
Saturday – 5th May
During the day, I made apple pie, and this time it turned out a lot better than the last time, as I got the dough much better.
We had a dinner party, with the closer friends, who all chipped in for ingredients as we had rib-eye steaks, which were excellent. There was a lull after dinner, and it wasn’t till like 10pm, that a huge ton of people showed up. After Nick and Chris were happily buzzed, they wanted to go out, so I decided to follow them to Seabreeze and see what the clubs had that night. It was pretty pointless in my opinion as there weren’t that many people, and for some reason they just wanted to find people they knew.
While at the clubs, they were on the lookout to make lady friends, but I was totally indifferent to the endeavor. Maybe the wealth of good times at Zouk back home has given me perspective because I know that in this environment, with the male-female ratio the way it is, it is better to just not play the game. You may hope to find a girl from the area, outside of Embry-Riddle, perhaps from Daytona State College, but they know the Riddle ratio and they know they can wrap you around the finger, just like many Riddle girls do. There are after all, a few DSC girls who keep hanging out with Riddle guys, and we’ve known of people who’ve paid for their entertainment. I’m not saying that the girls here are bad or vixens or anything, it’s just that they are highly valued around here. It’s simply economics, with a low supply and high demand, prices will go up. Unless you’re willing to pay the price, just don’t even be in the market for it.
I’ve met some really excellent people here both guys and girls, and some girls tell me that they actually feel lonely, despite all the attention they get. Because sometimes they become commodities in the eyes of guys, and frequently judged by the people around them, it’s hard for them to just make normal friends and be themselves, because someone is always either trying to hit on them, or afraid of getting too close. It’s actually not that easy to be a girl in this school. Navin, Reggie and I have our experiences and we know what’s going on, but more importantly, we’ve managed to not let ourselves get affected. Reggie is beyond the point of caring, while Navin and I just chuckle from the sidelines.
Some of the other guys know that nothing is going to happen, but they’re just happy to have female company. I guess it does take a certain amount of self-control, and being burnt a few times to just totally ignore the dating scene here and to focus on other activities like studying, surfing, or cycling. In a game where statistically you’ll lose, it’s not worth playing unless you look like Christian Bale or something. My personal opinion is that if all the energy is channeled somewhere more productive, great things will happen.
Sunday – 6th May
It was the laziest Sunday on record, as we woke up in the morning to clean the house, after which I pretty much slept the afternoon away. We did watch Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on the TV though, now that the PS3 is hooked up to it.


















