Dear Windsurfatlanta.org Part 34
See. There are worse things than getting skunked. You could be the guy on the left handing out the trophies. "Congratulations and please don't shake my hand."
Nice trophy. The ones at the Fall Classic are better.
It's been a while since we've published anything from our mailbag. Quite frankly, it may well because we get very little mail in the first place. Sadly, a fair amount of our mail begins as such:
WE THE WESTERN UNION URGENT REMMITTING OFFICE HAVE SENT YOUR FULL COMPENSATION PAYMENT OF $1.5million (One Million Five Hundred Thousand United Stats Dollars) TO YOU THROUGH WESTERN UNION, NOW WE HAVE SEND THE FIRST PAYMENT TO YOU.SO CONTACT OUR DIRECTOR DR ADO STANLEY, etc."
Despite our repeated correspondence with a number of Doctors, Reverends and Widows who have difficulty with English syntax, spelling and capitalization, we are still waiting for the proceeds from the lottery, estate or family trust smuggled from the new regime. Honestly, we don't see a way towards a new George Forman grill and flat-screen TV unless one of these good people comes through for us. Until then, we are relying on a title pawn on our 1997 Equipe II and the interest fees are killing us.
The following email hypothetically came across our desk and we feel compelled to respond:
Who makes the decision about what pictures to post on top of your articles? The reason I'm asking is that I've seen emaciated male models, cartoon insects, fortune tellers. I haven't seen a windsurfer in some time. I'm beginning to wonder if anyone around here actually windsurfs. Judging from the pics, it's more likely they are playing board games.
Signed,
[Name Withheld but he wants you to know it was sent from his iPhone]
Dear Guy who has an iPhone,
We're not sure what you mean. We are windsurfers, not people who windsurf. As such, every picture has something to do with windsurfing because it's through the lens of windsurfing which we view life. Nothing has context unless it is displayed against the background of windsurfing. Windsurfing is our mother tongue - anything we hear, see or say must be said in it.
Okay, enough with the bad metaphors, let's continue. For example, as a windsurfer, when I see this pic:
For example, as a windsurfer, when I see this pic:
Thank heavens we don't have to hang our sail numbers from our butts.
I think about this pic.
Now, on to recent things that have caught our attention:
We can't claim at all to understand the emotional and personal journey it takes to campaign for and win an Olympic medal. It's not for us to judge. But this article caught our eye as we were perusing the pulp that is the Daily Mail UK. British Olympic silver medalist Nick Dempsey has sadly separated from his wife. After she won a a gold in Beijing, she put her sailing career on dry dock to look after their family so he could compete this year.
Click on picture to read the article.
As much as Mrs. Webguy supports us and our habit, we imagine that if we went on a four year windsurfing sabbatical, we'd have dues to pay when we got home. Especially, if the missus had been changing diapers instead of winning another gold medal. Yeah, there's that - Mrs. Dempsey is the gold medalist in the household. We hope they can sort things out.
Please note that we showed great restraint not saying any of the following:
- Olympic sailing couple's marriage hits the rocks
- Olympic medalist leaves spouse in his wake
- Windsurfing hubby gets 4 years of free child care
- Well, at least he isn't Lance Armstrong
Oops. We guess we just did.
For all you GPSers out there, a little soul food.
Humble pie is a great dessert to share with others. This vid is a couple of years old but the pain is still fresh.
Australian windsurfer Steve Allen on the Polish version of "Dancing with the Stars"