In a world where we have to put up with metered cellular phone minute usage and worry about overage charges on a monthly basis, we’re about to be introduced to a whole new set of headaches and stress. I’m talking about metered internet services. Time Warner has confirmed that it will be rolling out a trial internet service on its RoadRunner brand in Beaumont, Texas. Upon the trial’s completion, Time Warner will have plans to roll out to the rest of the nation.

The Problem

The main motivation behind this pay-per-megabyte program, according to Time Warner, is that 5% of its customers are using at least 50% of the bandwidth. To level the playing field a bit and penalize the heavy users, Time Warner decides to introduce this overage charge plan. Basically, it is supposed to punish power users whereas the casual consumers will not notice the difference. Yeah right, I’m holding my judgment on this because this whole internet overage charge notion seems like a corporate money-grab fest to me.

What’s Next? Family Plan? Unlimited In-Network Instant Messaging?

It is amazing how a few desperate executives are trying to brainstorm new ideas to screw the unsuspecting consumer. How long are we going to sit idly by and let them exploit this? By this I mean finding whatever ways they can to make an extra buck off of their customers. We’re being farmed…oink oink! moo moo!

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Went out to Pacifica Pier yesterday with my buddy Brandon to try for some perch, but not only did we get skunked real bad, I ended up losing two rigs and a fishing pole to the mussels in the side of a piling. We wanted to start off with surf perch or smelts with Size 8 Sabiki and Size 6 Hi-Low Rigs baited with cooked shrimp and squids, but nothing was biting.

It wasn’t just us, even the regulars around us were all complaining about the lack of biting activities. For the 2 hours we were there, no one on that pier caught anything — hope they had better luck later that day for the few that remained. Quite a few left before us due to the dismal fishing activities.

Any rate, to add insult to injuries after having to cut a Sabiki and hi-low rigs lose due to the snags caused by the mussels next to the pilings, I snapped my Daiwa fishing pole in 5 pieces (yes, 5!). You can see it in the picture below. After losing the 2nd rig (the hi-low), I just didn’t feel like tying another one anymore. From that point on, we pretty much just stood around sipping on hot beverages, sharing some good laughs and enjoyed the view until around 9:30am when we left for home.

Overall, it was a good day. Awesome weather and just to be out to witness the magnificent sunrise was worth the drive there. We witnessed something that cracked us up so badly though. Shortly after, at the spot where I lost my Sabiki rig and snapped my fishing pole, a guy started fishing there AND got his own line snagged in the same pilings. When I got mine snagged earlier, he was near me and witnessed it, but still he decided to try his luck at this same spot. After cutting the line lose, he got frustrated and left. That pretty much sums out this fishing trip report.. nothing but snags and snaps!

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There have been high surf advisories throughout the coastal region of Northern California for the past days or so now. That means stay the hell out of the coast! But nevertheless, a surfer riding a monstrous wave off the coast of Monterey near Pebble Beach died yesterday. Very unfortunate, but he probably went out doing what he loved.

Moving a bit north in the Point Pillar of San Mateo County, two people from a crab fishing boat (Good Guys) have been reported missing yesterday as they were entering Half Moon Bay area while in communication with another boat. When communication was cut off abruptly, the other boat immediately reported missing and Coast Guard started a rescue effort. Rescue attempts were halted late last night due to worsening conditions, but resumed this morning without much luck.

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Last night’s game between the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche was blacked-out on local TV. I didn’t have NHL Center Ice so was pretty much forced to listen to the entire game on local radio station KFOX 98.5. From what I heard, it sounds as though the Sharks did have a decent game. It is a much needed win to put the Avs in their rightful place — behind the Sharks. After getting our asses spanked the last time we played at the Avs’ home ice, this is sweet vengeance.

Michalek put us up 1 nil earlier in 1st period but 12 seconds later Hejduk tied it up! It would seem as though this is the Sharks ongoing curse. I haven’t really kept count, but it would appear that the Sharks are so readily to giving back a goal as soon as they score one. This has been debated over and over, “why doesn’t the Sharks have a vicious killer instinct?” I would beg to differ, I think the fundamental problem here would be the level of intensity. Sharks tend to relax a bit after scoring or having a lead in any given game. When you have a fast paced game like hockey, the level of intensity must be maintained if not increased gradually throughout the entire game.

At the end of the day though, a win is a win is a win. It would seem as though the Sharks are waking up a bit from the inconsistent slum they’ve been in. I hope this is sustainable and will let us cruise all the way into the playoffs and beyond.

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Went to Half Moon Bay Jetty to do some fishing for the first time today. I went out to the South HMB Jetty Mark 24 in between two groups of people. This is the first of many trips to come as I attempt to hone my fishing skills and experience. Friends and family often laugh at my adventure (misadventure) whenever I come home empty handed. Well I’m sick and tired of that — I want to become a lifelong fisherman and eventually I will find success when I persist.

I’ve talked to several fishermen there and none of them had any success. They had used a variation of shrimp and mackerel. I exclusively used frozen squid today with no luck — perhaps I should have gotten some other types of baits to try. Maybe better luck next time since this trip was quite short; only stayed for about an hour after hiking all the way out to mark 24 with Tammi.

Fished from 1:50pm to 3:15pm. Didn’t feel like tying a hi-low rig so I used a Sabiki Rig (size 8/0) with 2 hooks cutoff leaving only 4. 12# test line.

Tide conditions for today:

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon
           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

Sa   1     High   4:45 AM     5.0   7:06 AM     Set 12:43 PM      56
     1      Low  10:43 AM     2.5   4:52 PM
     1     High   3:48 PM     4.1
     1      Low  10:28 PM     0.8

These are the pictures I took while on the jetty:

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