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Newsgroups: alt.surfing
Subject: The D.J.Files...snips of a surfing life #8 Beauty Sleep - djzzzz.8 [1/1]
From: dp025@seqeb.gov.au (D.Pritchard...Bear)
Date: 10 Oct 1996 05:44:21 GMT

       Disclaimer:        The story you are about to read is true
                          ...only the names have changed...
                          er, well no, actually some of the bodies have too :-)

                    The D.J.Files #8
      
       Beauty Sleep

       Down the designated walkway of the factory D.J. ambles, rolled-up
 sleeping bag under his arm, following 'advice' from fellow workers. Neat
 this night-shift thing, he thinks. This is his 2nd one. New job. He's
 never worked (or even considered) shifts before. He spent the previous
 day playing pool, since there was no surf. Took the trail bike out over
 the hill behind his house in the long summer evening before work.
      "Oy!, wherethefarkyagoin wi'that then?" says the foreman, pointing
 to the sleeping-bag as D.J. nears the locker room....
      "Er, well I.."
      "Geddafrigginthing oudahere!!" and the foreman's neck is bulging
 and going red. Fellow workers are doing the rib-nudge-and-chuckle act,
 D.J. notices out of the corner of an eye. Bastards!! 
       The sun is up well before the shift finishes at 06:00. A partly
 cloudy day...with a light offshore D.J. notices as he heads for his van.
 An hour-and-a-half, a gas-up, coffee and bacon sandwich later, D.J. is
 pulling up at one of his regular surf spots. Hmmm, not very good tho. A
 bit of swell, but it's slow, small, sloppy. Hey!, tho, I've got all day.
 A tyre-squeal later he's off toward the main highway westward.
       About 2 hours even later and he's looking at peaky hollow 6'ers
 in crystal clear cool water. No-one else about, unless you count the
 hick on the tractor. Wettie on. Board waxed. The chill of the water as
 he ducks thru the lip kicks his tiring brain back into life. Drop.. Lean.
 Unweight. Haul the front foot back around as the board spears the sky.
 Lean into the face and drag a hand as the lip throws over your head. A
 couple of seconds of sexual metaphor before the lip collapses on him,
 but he bursts out of the white and carves back up into the action.
       Shit!, it's a pity no-one can see me rip, he grins to himself.
       Tide changes make the break deteriate eventually and D.J. leaves
 the water. A Gas Co. van has been parked on the road for a few minutes
 and its occupant says "I guess I missed it today then..."
       "Er, yeah" D.J. peers into the van and sees the board in the back.
 Hmmm a local surfer eh? Be nice to live down here...the guy drives off.
 D.J. has a smoke and heads back toward the city. At one point he nods
 off at the wheel, but he comes to early enough and avoids the fatal
 collision and mention on the TV news later.
        That night he feels 'quite tired' at work and falls asleep during
 smoko..and mealbreak...and smoko, but he gets thru the shift. The next
 morning is clear and the sun tends to waken you, doesn't it? and well,
 let's check out the surf again...  He rings another guy he knows works
 shifts and they head off together. This time their local breaks are
 working, so they hit 4-5' sepia waves with an ever-so-slight on-shore.
 No tubes this session, but D.J. is all over these waves like a rash.
 Slashing cutbacks and wild kickouts. All good fun.
        They go for a few games of pool and a couple of beers and then
 the other guy drives em back. They're laughing and joking too much for
 D.J. to doze off in the car. When he drops D.J. off at his house the
 other guy says something he doesn't catch*. Oh well. His wife has a great
 dinner waiting. Then he watches a few hours of TV before heading off to
 work again.
         He feels strange at work. For a couple of hours anyway.  Then
 everything goes blank.
                      .
                      .
                      . and he wakes up in hospital and it's 18 hours
 later and the Doc says "We'll just keep you in for another 48hours for
 observation.

   * and what the guy said was
       "Gotta get a few hours beauty sleep in eh?"