
So this past weekend the Ryce Crew went to San Diego for a BBQ that we do every year at La Jolla beach. Friday night Ryce Rodney, his roommate, Mamiko, and I went to Johnny V’s in Pacific Beach to hang out. Apparently they don’t like to bring people into the club because some drunk girl was dancing on Mamiko’s lap out in the patio and they both got kicked out when there was only 30 minutes left before the club closes. So Mamiko sneaks back in and when Ryce Rod is paying his bar tab, one of the bouncers asks Mamiko how she got back in. Then he kicks her out again … when the whole club was already leaving. Hahaha, shows how good their security is that Mamiko gets kicked out and then LITERALLY walks right back in through the front door. On top of that Ryce Rod asked one of the bartenders for a NewCastle and the bartender said they didn’t have it. 20 minutes later I go to the same bar and get the bartender to give it to me. So I guess not all the bartenders know what they have on tap. The decor of the place was ok, nothing that impresses me since I’m a Hollywood kid. It is one of the better places in the PB area in terms of decor though.
On Saturday we hit up La Jolla beach all day and hang out with friends that we haven’t seen in a long time. Too bad it was pretty crowded because we weren’t able to setup our volleyball net on the grass. There was a lot of people out in the water even though there were strong waves and riptides. Olivier and I had a blast out in the water though. We went to go flip Chris off his boogie board. He knew we were up to something but we’re too sneaky sneaky for him
Then we decided to swim back closer to the shore. This is where it gets interesting. Our friends “Mary” and “Tina” were swimming together the whole time but were a little separated at the time. So Olivier and I went over to Mary, acted like we were drowning, and was splashing water and putting all our weight on her shoulders. Little did we know she actually needed help getting back to shore. So Olivier helped her and I went over to Tina. Since I just met her and she’s a good looking lady, I decided to let her swim around and let the guys check her out or whatever. I guess I was just giving her space. Anyways she didn’t look as happy as she did early and I was TOTALLY oblivious to the fact that she needed help getting back to shore also. So when she asked me for help I was like oh, ok like a dumb dumb, haha. So after I get her closer to the shore, I felt the ground and stood up. Then I told her to stand up also and she tells me,” I can’t reach the ground.” So I’m trying to be serious and help her but couldn’t stop laughing because I forgot that she’s not as tall as me. After O and I get the girls close enough to stand up we see a lifeguard swim past us. Then I realized I knew the person he was saving also. Man, I didn’t know riptides and waves were that serious. I was so oblivious to how far O and I were out there. Not to mention that our friends needed help.
I’m very good in keeping an eye on the girls in our group where ever we go to make sure they’re safe. I just should have been paying more attention this time, especially at the beach. I don’t consider myself a good swimmer but I do consider myself athletic only because I play a lot of sports. But even with that being said, I had no idea how to swim with someone holding onto you. Since people are always at the beach in the Southern California area, I decided to look for a video on how to properly save someone from drowning if you are swimming next to them without a flotation device. No luck. All I could find is information on repeatedly informing the person to calm down and then float on their back. If they are panicking and thrashing in the water, they could potentially pull the rescuer under the water and drown. Well, I didn’t tell her to calm down because I felt that she was, but then again I was pretty oblivious to some things at the moment. She did pull me under the water a few times but because I’m strong-willed and determined to get her back safely, I didn’t say anything.
So from first hand experience, if someone is drowning or scared of drowning, they WILL pull you under the water. It obviously won’t be intentional, but you both have to stay calm in order to get through the situation alive. I know Olivier had a harder time because him and Mary were farther out than Tina and I were. Overall it was an interesting experience. Do not take this the wrong way, but I’m kind of glad that it happened because it taught me how to deal with the situation in the future and hopefully inform you guys before it happens to you. They sun-tanned on the beach when we got back so I’m sure that was a good way for them to relax and calm down. I just hope that the girls won’t be afraid to go out into the beach again. Even though all of this happened, everyone had a good time at our BBQ and can’t wait for another one next year.
Sunday I played volleyball and somehow strained my neck. It was that feeling when you wake up and you have a pain in your neck because you slept wrong in a bad position. Luckily Kat’s friend came into the gym to say hi to her and he was some kind of PT. He did a few traction exercises on my neck to relieve the muscle tension. When I woke up on Monday it felt even worse. I told Ryce Rod that I’d help him move and felt bad if I backed out, so I did it anyways. Starting at 9 AM we didn’t get down till about midnight. Then while we were carrying Rod’s Mom’s heaviest headboard for the bed, I dropped the post on my left foot. I actually didn’t feel much pain until afterwards. Then the pain started getting stronger and stronger as the night went on. So I tried to keep my foot elevated higher than my butt and kept ice on it. So now I’m home with my foot elevated, ice on it, and a warm towel on my neck doing traction exercises. Not only that, I’m suppose to play volleyball tonight and our first Upper division league game in Ontario tomorrow. Despite all these injuries if I still don’t feel good to play … I’ll pop a Vicodin and get on that court. Rod’s roommate asked me how much I like volleyball and I told him I’ll be ready by tonight. He’s right, nothing’s going to stop me from playing volleyball
So far this weekend was packed with events that were not only eye-opening but always educational. Anytime the Ryce Crew can share educational information with the public for the good, we will. Hope all of you guys have a great Labor Day Weekend as Ryce Rod and I will probably do a little BBQ. Hopefully he doesn’t burn his house down and force him to sleep in the alley
- RYCE Randy