Congratulations Drew Brees

Today was an historic day for quarterback Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints. He broke the 27 year old single season passing record held by Dan Marino that niether Peyton Manning nor Tom Brady could reach in their peak seasons.

Drew Brees is one of my all time heroes because of his character, ability to make everyone around him better, and strength to conquer adversity. He brought Purdue to the Rose Bowl his senior year, something they hadn't done since the 60's nor have they done since he left. Touted as being too short to play the position, and after recovering from a career threatening shoulder injury, he is one of the most dominant passers the league has ever seen at only 5'11, a full half foot shorter Peyton or Brady. When his team wins, he ALWAYS makes it about the team, the offensive line, the coaches, and never about himself. When the team loses he takes the blame and works harder than anyone to learn from his mistakes. Married to his college sweetheart with two kids, he embraced the recovery efforts of NO after Katrina through his charity Operation Kids and lives in town near the people that were affected most. A true gentlemen and role model that everybody can learn from. So awesome.

9. Do something exceptional at work

I never thought I would reach this goal. Sometimes it's hard to notice you are doing something exceptional when you are just doing your job, but it wasn't until today that I realized I have been part of something extraordinary at Oakley over the past several months.

It all starts with one person; the same person that helped me get the job I have now, that taught me how to do it the right way, how to notice trends and to always have checks and balances to verify I am making smart decisions. This person, Bobby Smith, took on a new role as S&OP manager late last year, and has been under continuous pressure to become the savior of our company's long list of supply issues. Several months ago he hired a kick-ass girl named Rhonda, that is smart and diligent and got up to speed with Oakley in about 6 minutes. The 3 of us have been a pretty cohesive team all year.

S&OP is not complicated in theory. Align a sales plan, demand plan, and supply plan as best you can, identify gaps, and make decisions on how fix them. In practice, it is way harder managing those 3 plans down to the SKU/Region level, then wrapping them up in a easy to read package. The S&OP meetings usually suck for me, basically it is a series of executives scrutinizing and criticizing my forecasts: my job, my means to support my family. I take it very personally when I make a mistake and it is noticed, and usually want to kill myself after an hour and a half of being picked apart.

Today was different. At the end of our S&OP meeting, the RX category leader commended Bobby and me for making this category so much more efficient, accurate, and easy to understand. We actually got a round of applause, I was floored and am still high from it. It ALL starts with Bobby, but I'm proud to have been an integral part in making things better. My boss even called me at home tonight and said it was well deserved. Rhonda, I think you can mark this one off your list too.

My WIFE!!!

November 1, 2004 was Lina's first day at Oakley. I remember when I first saw her I was frozen, speechless (you can tell why by just seeing a picture). After a week I finally got the guts to say hello and I called her Loni. Eventually she forgave me and came out for drinks with me, my sister and some friends. It's amazing how easy it is to be a complete jack ass and avoid common sense all together, I said to her "you still live with your parents, you are so sheltered." She eventually forgave me but then I said "I can't get serious with anyone, I am moving to Tonga to surf my life away." Really, I was an obnoxious dip shit back then. But Lina always saw the potential in me and I always saw her for what she was: smart, sweet, honest, trustworthy, hard working, feircly loyal, graceful, and shockingly beautiful; basically the polar opposite of myself. After 5 or 6 months of mishaps, mostly of me saying stupid things, getting drunk and throwing up on myself, or taking her for granted, I finally shaped up when she told me we shouldn't date anymore. I changed my plans of surfing my life away and starting planning to stay in OC with Lina. I still had to go on my self absorbed 6 week soul searching mission surfing the south pacific, but it was there that I realized I had the best thing in my life at home and knew I wanted to commit to her.

Now, seven years later we have a beautiful 1 year old girl and a baby boy on the way. Think of all the endearing qualities you find in your friends and wrap them into one person. That is Lina. She is the best mom and best wife anyone could ask for. She handles my insane addictions to surfing and mountain biking with a sweet understanding that would make Jesus ask "why are you so nice to him." I remember the day bunker blast wrote that article about me and I came home to Lina wearing an Oakley hat and cheering for me being the best employee ever. Really, I am not that nor half as hard working as she is and just got lucky for doing something my boss asked me to do.

Really though, it is easy to explain. I am really lucky and trying my best to not be a jackass anymore. She is still with me so I must be doing something right...

4. Keep Surfing

Its been really hard to surf before work when the tide is high and the waves are tiny. Why can't every day be like November 29th, 2011. Tuesday dawn patrol at 5:30 AM, low tide, me and Richard were the first two on it and old man John met up with us soon after, recovering well from his prostate surgery. Thanks for the pics John, as always! Pink sunrise and PERFECT chest to head high, lined up walls with a very light crowd. This was one of those days I thanked God that I surf.

14. Get a smartphone

I am an idiot for not getting one a long time ago. I got an iphone 4 and now I find myself being one of those dousche bags that walks and stares at his phone almost crashing into people in the halls. Oh well, totally worth it to get email at home so I know what I'm in for when I leave for work in the morning.

8. Backyard Enduro

Words can not express how fun this was. Last year I raced the Lopes Biker Bar Banzai from the top of Santiago Peak to Cooks Corner, over 5000 ft of downhill. BLC was so nervous he took off sprinting, crashed twice and froze up at the bottom of Joplin, so funny. Great concept though and Joplin is no joke, very challenging but very flowy.

I thought it would be a killer event to try for Oakley employees since you can spit and hit the mountain from our office, so I approached my hero Mike Bell with the idea. Mike Bell is the coolest m-f-er on earth, one of the original pro mx racers who is as humble as can be and has the energy level of a teenager; and the coolest scars you've ever seen. He once told me to not put my hands out when I crash but just take it on the shoulder, "if you break your collar bone it heals in 5 minutes." His collar bone is shaped like a pyramid and is probably 3 inches out of place from all the hard falls he's taken over the years.

After 3 months of planning the event kicked off on Dec 9, 2011 with about 40 of Oakley's in house riders with a group climb up maple springs and then a race down Joplin, Santiago Truck Trail, and Luge to Cooks. The race was f-ing chaos with bikes and people crashing everywhere. No one got hurt and personally it was one of the funnest days of my life, i think i was just high from seeing it actually happen. I got 9th. Video and photos coming soon via Hans Arnesen productions, but this was without question the raddest thing i have ever planned.

Xmas pics of our cutie

Lina found a great deal on professional pics. She dressed Coco up in these awesome red Dorothy shoes and the pics are unreal. And today when I got home from work she came running up to me screaming "daddy daddy" with a big smile on her face. I love that.

Lina's New Hobby

An unlisted goal was to motivate Lina to pick up a new hobby. I bought her a nice camera before Coco was born and it was very worth it. She took a class in Laguna and her first project was silhouettes. She got skills!

22. Keep riding

Still riding with my cast. Was easier than without it!

7. Take Lina on Vacation

2 days in Paso with Coco's cousins and 2 days in Monterey visiting the aquarium, Carmel, and a drive through Big Sur. Super fun and not too far away. I love Carmel and the awesome banzai type trees on the beach.

Ate at a cool place called Baja Cantina in Carmel Valley, great outdoor patio.

3. Take Coco to Monterey Aquarium

The aquarium is a great place for kids of all ages. The blue water easily catches your eye, even a one year can sit still and stare at the fishies for a while. Fun trip, and Coco seemed to have a good time. 3 hours without one little weep.

1. Teach Coco to Walk

This one is kind of cheating, because it was going to happen. But it happened so fast. The week before she turned 1, she could take 3 steps and would crash. By the time she turned 1, she was running into the kitchen to open all of the droors. She is pretty independent, and usually throws my hand away when I try to hold it. She is telling me "I got this dad."

4. Keep Surfing

S0 my scaphoid is still broken, even after 10 weeks. It is the stupid bone in your wrist that never heals because it doesn't get any blood. But with a cast on, I can keep doing almost anything without issue. I haven't surfed this much since I lived in Newport in 2005 when I could see the waves from my house; these days I'm catching better waves and doing it with some good friends. I had my cast removed for a couple days in preparation to get a screw put in my wrist. After I heard my doctor was going on vacation for 2 weeks, I had a cast (my 4th one) put back on so I can keep surfing and keep riding. There is a guy named John that is out at uppers every morning at the crack of dawn; he blogs about his sessions and includes pics of each day. This was one of the best days this fall, September 14th, a cool sunny morning with a light crowd and perfect chest to head high waves. Found out today John has prostate cancer but is having surgery tomorrow (Oct 18) and is supposed to have a complete recovery in about 6 weeks. Good luck John, hope to see you at Uppers soon.

Check out the array of cast colors I have gone through:

20. Get a cool new haircut

I went to a barbershop called Hawleywoods in Costa Mesa and got a rockabilly pompadour cut. Kind of a classic 50's greaser cut like Elvis used to wear. The barbers name was Eli and he was really meticulous, took an hour to cut my hair and they gave me a Pabst. The finishing touch was a straight edge razor he used to clean up aroundthe ears and neck. Really nice work.

2. Take Coco in Ocean

There is something about the ocean that does it for me. I'll find myself being the only adult bodyboarding with a bunch of pre-adolescent children and it doesn't bother me. I love the smell and the taste of the water, and getting that salt burn on my tongue. I love ducking under waves and riding the ones that slam me into the sand. I love it when salt water comes out of my nose 5 hours after I got out of the water.

I don't know if Coco will feel the same as me, but the least I can do is introduce it to her; so before she even turned 1 Lina and I gave her the chance to get wet and I think she liked it. Looking forward to spending a lot more time with her in the water.