I'm Not Dead, In Fact, Still Very Much Alive...

It has been just over three weeks since my last post. It's pretty evident that things in my life have been hectic. I have been overwhelmed and tired. There is a lot going on.

I suppose I'll start with three or so weeks ago... I've been going out on the lake some -- not at much as previous years, but my friends and I go out as much as we can. Here you can see my pal Kyle Hook getting ready to 'biff it,' while wakeboarding on the 4th. It has been a long hot summer thus far here in Joseph, so what better to do than go out on the lake?

My next lake adventure didn't occur until after my trip to the Willamette Valley and coast, which was July 10-15th. I had a blast down there... with my friend Chris and her daughter Marisa.
For those of you on the "inside" you know I went down that way for a reason, and all went well there, but I still don't know the result... I should find out this week. In the meantime I've been finding lots of other "reasons" for going down there in the near future. In fact I've pursued about two dozen more of them, so I hope I get a call. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry, you will soon enough.

Nevertheless the trip was great fun. It was the first time I had ever been to the coast in July. It was even warm enough to get soaked in the waves (as you can see Marisa and I ran furiously to get away from a large one in this picture).

I got slightly depressed as I returned home to Eastern Oregon only to find triple digit temperatures and a whole bunch of fires around Joseph. Right now, it is so smoky here you'd think you were in downtown LA. It's just that smoggy.

Now, for the other piece of big news -- I have decided to close my office on main street in Joseph. Yes, that's right, I'm closing the doors of LB Productions. This doesn't mean I'm closing the business. I plan on still serving my customers just like I started the business from my home. The stress, overhead, and burn-out effect have really started hitting me hard lately. I still will continue to maintain websites, work on computers, and even sell them here and there, but I no longer want the headache of the large office. I'm really relieved in a sense, because I can have some of my life back. Though, for some of you who know me, know that I separated my home from my office so I'd have a life. Little did I know it would do the opposite. Over the past three years it feels like the office has consumed me, and I look forward to living back on my schedule. The folks working for me will still play a role in the business as well. They will be part time, but still play an important part in the operation of the business. The last day will be August 24th, and I will resume working from my home on September 4th.

Now, fast forwarding to today...

It was just another day boating. Or so I thought... that is until the wave from hell engulfed my boat!

All I can remember is telling everyone to "hold on," and then just seconds after I remember seeing a wall of water, closing my eyes, and then getting soaked -- not once, not twice, but three times being slapped with different waves.

It drenched the boat, and also sacrificed my friend Melissa's cell phone. Mine was acting very goofy, but finally dried out. The cd player in the boat also died for a short time before coming back to life. The picture shows how drenched we got. There was about six inches of standing water in the boat once it was all said and done. It just goes to show you, you never know what to expect on Wallowa Lake.

Well folks, I appreciate you spending the time to read this and let me catch up with you. I hope to be more "on top of things" in the coming weeks. It'll definitely be more frequent than every three weeks, this I promise you.

There are a lot of things going on in my life, and as things continue to unfold, I will post as much detail as I can. Take care and keep dry!

-LB