Before you open an account with Eagle Community Credit Union

Before you open an account with Eagle Community Credit Union of Lake Forest, CA, Read the fine print. Here is an exchange I had with the president of my credit union, Bill Birnie of Eagle Community Credit Union in Lake Forest CA. I opened an IRA to the tune of $2000. Eagle Community Credit union charges a yearly "maintenance fee" currently pegged at $10. For those of you familiar with interest rates these days, the $10 "maintenance fee" wipes out any accrued interest for a $2000 IRA, and even digs into the original principal. So, before you "invest" in any IRA from this credit union, or any other credit union that charges such "maintenance fees", read the fine print, as I failed to do.


-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Birnie
To: 'jvirXXX@aol.com'
Sent: Fri, Dec 31, 2010 10:23 am
Subject: RE: Eagle Community Credit Union annual IRA Maintenance fee

Good Morning!

I wanted to take a moment to follow-up with you on our conversation back in July about the maintenance fee for IRA accounts.

In October I formed a Committee to review all fees and service pricing. Among other things, the Committee recommended that the IRA maintenance fee remain intact. Eventually, I concurred.

We will be publishing our 2011 Service Pricing Schedule with the mailing of December 2010 statements. I know that the maintenance fee was an issue for you – so I wanted to let you know in advance that we chose not to make a change. While I hope you have found value in your membership with Eagle Community Credit Union, I certainly understand that you have to do what is in your best interests.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday weekend and a terrific 2011!!

Bill Birnie
President/CEO
Eagle Community Credit Union

(949) 639-7832
(949) 639-7996 (fax)

23021 Lake Center Drive | Lake Forest, CA 92630

From: jvirXXX@aol.com [mailto:jvirXXX@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 6:17 PM
To: Bill Birnie
Subject: Re: Eagle Community Credit Union annual IRA Maintenance fee

Dear Mr. Birnie,

Thank you for taking the time to actually answer my letter. What concerns me is small investors saving for retirement like myself will have nothing left of the initial investment when the IRA matures. For me and my economy, $2000 is a lot of money to place in an IRA, especially in these times, but to have a $10 annual "maintenance fee" assessed every year on this amount of savings to recoup the "additional" costs associated with the creation of the account is ridiculous. I can understand if this was a credit card account or a checking account, which are used daily, but this is supposed to be an instrument for retirement, a sort of set it up and not worry about it type account, the main reason why I set this account up. Like I said, I have another IRA set up with a different credit union, and it does not charge any type of annual "maintenance" fee. There are no costs involved with that account, and I have watched it accrue interest and grow, albeit slowly, yet surely, and without any incurred fees. I was hoping that this account would do the same. I appreciate you getting back to me and I look forward to read whatever changes, if any, are made to benefit members who don't have large sums of money to put away for retirement.

Sincerely,

John Virata




-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Birnie
To: 'jvirXXX@aol.com'
Sent: Tue, Jul 13, 2010 5:09 pm
Subject: RE: Eagle Community Credit Union annual IRA Maintenance fee
Good Afternoon!

Again, please accept my apologies for not responding to your request sooner. I wanted to read through our disclosures and gain a firm grasp on our procedures for opening IRA accounts before I responded.

The reason for the fee is to recoup the additional costs associated with the creation and maintenance of IRA accounts as opposed to other account forms.

The fee is disclosed on our Fee Schedule and should have been explained to your at the time your account was created. Given your comments, I will assume that my staff did not explain the fee to you. Again, please accept my apologies. It appears that we need little training in this area.

I will reverse the fee.

In the fourth quarter of each year we convene a committee within the credit union to review all fees and charges. We will take a good long look at this fee to ensure that it is commensurate with the costs. This particular fee is assessed annually on June 30th. We will publish any changes to Fees and Charges during January 2011. This should provide you an opportunity to see what changes we have made and decide what, if any, actions you may want to take in regards to your IRA account.

Thank you for your membership with Eagle Community Credit Union!

Bill Birnie
President/CEO
Eagle Community Credit Union
Where community counts...
one member at a time.
Email: bbirXXX@eaglecu.org
Phone: (949) 639-7832
Fax: (949) 639-7996
Web: www.eaglecu.org
From: jvirXXX@aol.com [mailto:jvirXXX@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 2:04 PM
To: CEO
Subject: Eagle Community Credit Union annual IRA Maintenance fee

Takayama Model T

Takayama Model T

I have been wanting a Takayama Model T for many years, and finally, one was made available. I put an ad out on Craigslist for a traditional single fin noserider, and one respondent offered up his 10 ft. Model T, which of course I jumped at for a more than fair price. Put it this way, I could turn around and sell it for $250-$300 more than I bought it for. This Model T is the old version, not the T2. It was shaped by Donald not off a machine (this is per Donald's nephew Michael, who I grew up surfing with) using a Walker foam blank. It has heavy volan glass, no knee patch but a tail patch, T-band stringer, and boxed fin. It came with a 9-inch Takayama Pivot fin. Other than a snackle on the nose, knee paddle dents, and some rice paper discoloration on the bottom, the board is quite sweet.



How it rides
In a word, beautifully. I was expecting the board to be a bit unwieldy, given the size, but it was actually quite easy to ride. My first outing with it was at Blackies on a rather fast day, not really conducive to noseriding, what the board was made specifically to do. I actually was surprised how the board handled in the punchier surf. Blackies was crowded, as there was a swell in , a swell that wasn't holding very well in other spots. Shortboarders were out en masse and the vibe in the water was typical Huntington beach Pier, meaning the vibe was negative. You had guys turning around in front of you as you paddled for a wave, which is typical of HB pier. I dropped in on several serious waves and had a blast, garnering some decent full round house cutbacks in the process, which was a total surprise. Unlike a high performance board, like my 9'0" Scorpion, you can't really pump the Model T. You really just go with the flow. Turning the board was surprisingly easy, hence the ease of cutbacks. I was able to get a fast noseride going left, but had to back pedal after a while as the wave got too hollow for my liking. It was a leash day, and I wore a leash.
My second go out was at super small Blackies, which was two days after that Thursday. No leash, which is the way to go with this board, was the call. I had a super fun time catching the ankle to knee high runners, and was able to work on the footwork and placement.

The third outing was at a secret spot in OceanSlide with the Takayama brothers, Michael and Larry, and my surf friend Trace from Costa Mesa. This was by far the best day. We were the only surfers out for two hours and we were working with a decent southwest swell that was producing both rights and lefts. I really worked on my noseriding, and even got a super clean layback barrel on this overhead left. Michael and Larry were giving me props on that wave, in addition to Michael's noseriding advice from previous waves. That is one thing I really enjoy about Michael, and that is his constructive criticism that he lays on me as I practice the craft of noseriding. He got his advice direct from the master, Donald Takayama, so I take his advice to heart.

In all the Model T is a keeper. I am super stoked I chanced upon it, and for such a great deal. Thank you Mr. Gordon for the killer deal.



Takayama Model T review

Wipeouts from the last 40 years

Style Evolution: Wipeout from The Glassy Knoll on Vimeo.

Andy Irons RIP

You left us too early, AI.

Andy Irons Tribute from Brian Bielmann from M. Scott Mortensen on Vimeo.

The OC and Entitlement

Yesterday was California Coastal Cleanup, part of an international effort to clean up the world's beaches. Juliana and I went down to Brookhurst Street in Huntington Beach. She actually did a good job seeking out the plastic, fast food wrappers, cans, your basic beach trash, and placing the trash in her little bucket. After about 15 or so minutes, she, being the 3 1/2 year old that she is, got bored and decided to play with some other children who were building a sand castle. So, not having proper beach provisions, I sat on the bucket next to the kids and watched them play, about 15 minutes later, this older man, probably in his late 50s early 60s, comes out of the water and says "There is the whole beach to choose from and you decide to block my view." I was at first sort of shocked, but then again not surprised considering these people think they own the whole damn beach.

This is the OC after all, lots of assholes live here. So I said "sorry about that" and proceeded to move about 2ft to the right of where I was originally sitting. Which I am sure pissed the guy off because I heard him mutter "Unbelievable" under his breath as he walked back to the water's edge to rinse off his wetsuit. If the guy was courteous, and said something like, "can you move a bit buddy, you are blocking my view" I would have had no problem moving away from him, but he was a total asshole, like a dog marking his territory, so, in essence, I made no real effort to move, because 1. he was a total asshole, and 2. my daughter was playing right next to where he was sitting. I was waiting for him to say something adverse, being the dick that he was initially, but when he came back from rinsing his wetsuit, he said to me, "your daughter is really cute." Which in of itself defused the whole situation. While it is true that I would have blocked his view, nobody was sitting there when we first arrived, and I thought it not a big deal to sit next to where juliana was playing. But the guy was such an asshole, an entitled, wrinkly, American scoun who owns the whole damn beach.

20 years later a surf subculture thrives in the Philippines

If ever I was wrong about something, it is about the Philippines progressing. Well, I can't really say if it has gotten better, but judging on the surfing culture that was virtually non existent 20 years ago, it has blossomed into a full fledged subculture. Back in 1987, when I shipped two surfboards to the Philippines inside my cousin Marlon's Toyota 4Runner, I had no idea that I would ever get to use the boards. It wasn't until 1989 that I was able to use them, albeit at a small beach break south of Manila called Matabunkay Beach.

In 1985 I was in the Philippines for three months with no surfboard, and Typhoon Saling roared through, coming from mainland China and causing 100 deaths and more than $68 million in damages. After the storm, my Uncle Ramon wanted to get out of the house, so he and I drove onto the Coastal Road for a typical Sunday drive. Although the destruction of the nipa huts, and alimango stalls was depressing to see, along with felled palm trees and water everywhere, what really caught my eye were these perfect little lefts that somehow made it through Manila Bay and were breaking just offshore, a stones throw from the Coastal Road. These were hollow barrells that were a bit fast, but totally makeable. It was a constant barrage of waves with no interval between. I asked my Uncle to stop and I watched the waves roll in, one after another after another. Perfect shape, top to bottom. It was then that I realized that the Philippines was a potential surfing mecca that will rival Indonesia.

In 1989, I surfed Matabunkay with a new found friend Joselle of BF Paranaque, whose family owned a cement/ brick company off of Sucat Road, my then wife Rosalynn (who boogie boarded), and a local guy named Rolly, who was the resident king of Matabunkay Beach. When we arrived at the beach, the waves were small, but shreddable, and I paddled out right away. Joselle being a big mestizo, rode a Dewey Weber Performer. Almost immediately, two menehunes came out and started dominating the peak. They were not more than 12 years old, but were already ripping. One was riding a finless thruster while the other was riding a thruster with a side fin and the center fin. They were having a blast and we traded waves for an hour or so before Rolly called them in. He then came out and started to rip. I was trading him maneuver for maneuver; off the lips, cutbacks, floaters, until he went switchfoot. I couldn't do THAT!

Fast forward 20 years and Philippines is truly the new surf mecca. While Indo has Uluwatu and the Mentawais and Nias, Philippines has Cloud9 and Majestics. I've spent the last 10 years going to Hawaii every vacation and should have went to the Philippines. I've missed the country grow up surfwise. Now there are contests, a thriving surfwear culture and endless possibilities to get tubed. Bring me my passport to surfing heaven.

Hang 10, Dude

The Surfers Pro Shop is closing down

I just heard that the Surfer's Pro Shop in Oceanside aka Donald's retail store in Oceanside California is closing down. It in no way affects Hawaiian Pro Designs. The shop wasn't run by Donald, but rather a Japanese company called K&T Enterprises. Sad deal because the shop is actually pretty cool. Donald was there almost everyday, and there was even a shaping room in the back of theshop, in what is the garage area. I spoke with Donald's nephew, and he had all kinds of theories as to why the retail store was going out of business, but at any rate, its a sad deal. I am hoping that someone can step up and save that place, because it has been there for a long time.

Takayama Noah Ka Oi/56th Street ASShole

My surfing friend trace just got a like new Takayama Noah model. It's a 9'0" white resin tint 2+1 with no gloss coat. I was able to ride it at Church last Tuesday, and it was surprisingly easy to ride. First wave I was on the nose with it. Take off and it immediately finds the pocket. Run to the nose. Second wave was just as fun. Trace rode my Guy Takayama GWAT and I think he had fun with it as well. Second or third wave he drops in and sets up, tucks under for a barrel run,. right in front of me and gets a cheater five, five toes over a 7'2". And then wipes out. I dive a bit under, bail on his board and pop up. Everything ok no harm no foul. It was a good day.

On Thursday we decided to surf 56th street in Newps when this complete asshole pulls up behind me, steps out of his car and says "I might not run you over here, but in the water, I'll run you over." Total asshole young punk. Trace chimes in, "We might laugh here but in the water we won't laugh." Then this guy, in his 20s, who drives a black A3, takes off his shirt and wants to kick all our asses. "It is a good day to go to jail, then he mouths off that we come to his local break, blah blah blah" Total localism asshole. Except I have been surfing West Newps before he was even born. So Trace called the cops on him for threatening us. I mean we are all in our late 30s, I am in my early 40s, and I have been surfing for 30 years, with the majority of it up and down West Newport, including 56th street, and this total dick wants to fight us because we didn't agree with his boorish behavior. He wants to go to jail for fighting us? Fine. Rich daddy will probably bail him out. I can't afford to go to jail, and I wouldn't even fight the guy, unless he threatened my family. That is the only fight that is worth fighting. So to the asshole who drives the black A3, don't even bother trying to drop in on me, because you might just get stung by a Red Scorpion.

Staying Shacked

The new Howard Special Mini

The new Takayama Howard Special Mini.

Over at Mitchs they've got a few new versions of what looks like the Flow Egg, called the Howard Special mini. This board looks super fun. 6'10" to 7'6" with a sanded gloss and tweaked v in the tail as well with Jack Jenson tuned side fins and Larry Allison tuned center fin. Can you say speed?

Church, SANO, and 38th St

Paddled out at Church yesterday, one of the first south swells of the summer and got absolutely hammered on the paddle out by consecutive waves on the head. Usually, when Church is firing, you can paddle out to the peak from the side. Yesterday the waves were closing out at the shorebreak, and there was no real "channel" to paddle out to get to the peak. I was seriously going to give up trying to make it outside when I finally made it out. Exhausted, the sets were well overhead, walled and ugly. Kevin caught a good right that held up, and he took it to the beach. I got the next one which was a semi close out. Dropped in, got a few pumps down the line then it closed out. We then went to Sano

San was more of the same. The shorepound was unforgiving, and we met up with Trace and Austin. I finally made it out, but the waves were shifty. I spent the entire two hours chasing ghosts, and caught just five waves. Kevin was on fire, with his wave count into the double digits. I had a bad day with the Red Scorpion. The waves were essentially gutless big gobs of mush, but the Scorp spun out on the first wave I took, the fins for whatever reason didn't hold. On the second wave, I stepped on my leash (Big days, I wear a cord), third and fourth waves, I didn't even feel comfortable on the board. It felt like a whole different board than what I was used to. Just a crappy session. It wasn't any fun at all. I did talk to Liz, she is one of the Takayama riders, not sure if she is a team rider but she is pretty cool anyway.

38th St. Newport
Now I haven't surfed any jetties in Newport for a long time, at least since Paul moved to Hawaii. Today, I went down and found a parking spot, and paddled out at 38th st. First shift consisted of the groms, going for a session before school. Second shift could've well been the groms dads. Waves were definitely better than Sano yesterday. Hollow, with an occasional overhead barrel. I had a blast on the Red Scorpion. The lefts were coming in pretty consistently for the first hour and I scored several hollw lefts, placing my arm in the barrell (and filling the armsuit with water in the process) just for fun. I got maybe 8 or nine solid fun waves, and a host of smaller fun waves. I love Red Scorpion again.

Donald Takayama Scorpion 5'6" Quad at Lowers

Kassia Meador and Donald Takayama at the retail store

My Favorite surfer

Takayama Scorpion Surftechs

Help me win a Takayama Scorpion Surftech!

Hey all Facebook users, Please vote for me and Frog House to win the West wetsuit contest. If I win, I get to spend $500 at TK's Froghouse, and get a new West suit! and help Frog House in the process.

HOW TO VOTE:Here is how you can vote for me . Copy and paste ActionSportsNow.com into Facebook's search bar and "like" them.

Click on the poll question, Then you can vote for me in the poll

http://apps.facebook.com/opinionpolls/index.php?pid=ABJT0fuv3iw

If I win, I can get a scorpion surftech and give you my unvarnished opinion on how it rides!


Surftech and Hawaiian Pro Designs will ship Takayama Scorpion Surftech models this summer in 5'10, 6'4" and 6'8 sizes in single, twin, 2+1 and quad fin configurations. Yup the board is going to support all those fin setups. Now my Scorpion is a 9'0 and it is really a great board. I am excited to see how these Scorpion Surftechs sell, and am eager to try one out. I hope to try one this summer if I can get my friend Michael to take me to his uncle's shop where I am sure a loaner model will be. If they work good, and I can't imagine that they wouldn't, I'd like to get my hands on a 6'8" model, hopefully in yellow or red. We'll see. I can always get a traditional foam board planed on the computer and finished shaped, but I am really interested in the Surftech model, after all, its the surfer and not the board.



There is a certain stink regarding Surftechs in California, the so-called purists don't like them and call them garbage yada yada yada. There is one particular craigslist surfboard salesman who really doesn't like them. Screw those idiots. Its a surfboard, and I don't care what people think regarding what kind of board I ride. I personally have only ridden two, an In the Pink and an Al Merrick Water Hog. I've ridden the ITP surftech at overhead Blackies as well as super fun Diamond Head. I could care less about the water hog.

Sano in Slomo

Kevin and I surfed Sano today. Drove the turbo benzo for the first time in a month. We were initially going to surf Church, but the Point looked good enough, so we paddled out. I rode the last longboard that I have, the Takayama Scorpion (aka Erki Sommer model). The waves were a bit on the soft side, typically for Sano, but there were waves from the South West that is in the water. We surfed for about two hours and it was pretty fun. The cool thing about Sano, especially when it is slow, is you can take off with four or so other people and not get in anyone's way. Kevin rode the Scorpion for the first time, he got several super long rights, and I think he enjoyed riding it. Water is warming up, around 62 degrees or so. And it was super clear, at least on the reef before the paddle out. A few hotties were in the water, including Tammy, an Indo friend of Mona. Also talked to the Buy my Bikes owner, he's had the shop for 32 years, which is a dang long time. No pics today.

Church

Trace and I surfed Church today. Kevin and I looked at the usual spots and they were not picking up the swells, though the cliffs had good size if a bit walled. Kevin couldn't go down south so I picked up Trace and we headed to Sano. Sano was a bit mushy when we got there so we walked to Church. Church was firing, not perfect, but it had size, with the sets going overhead. Dano was out on a shortboard. Most of the surfers were riding thrusters. Trace, me, and maybe three or four others were the only ones with longboards. I had a blast dropping in, cutting back and then just hitting the turbo benzo button. It was really pretty fun. The rights were pretty long, and if you caught the first of the set, you got pounded going back out. I then saw Dano drop in on another guy, full on snake drop, and the guy was spazzing at Dano for dropping in, and Dano finally pulled out of the wave. My last wave, a guy on a longboard dropped in on me, and while he got stuck on the top of the wave, I just started pumping up and down, up and down. I gained some speed but couldn't catch the guy, and I then headed it in. It was actually a pretty fun day. Got home around 12:30.

Alex Knost on a Model T?

Breakfast at Blackies from RVCA on Vimeo.

Holly Beck Barrells

Holly Beck showcasing some cool goPro video she shot from her board cam.

Swell remnants

There was still some remnants of the swell from Tuesday lingering today, Thursday. The water still hasn't cleaned up from the storms, but its slowly regaining the color back (that's not brown, yuck). Water was pretty chilly today. Rode the 8'8" Takayama noserider with some degree of success, but not a whole lot. I just wish it was a 9'0". Will ride the 9'0" tomorrow. Hope there are still waves.In the mean time, enjoy this video of Takayama team rider Noah Shimabukuro ripping some big surf on Maui

Solid Blackies for a day

After the initial big swell dropped off on Sunday a bit, Monday got small, but then yesterday a new swell came up and Blackies came alive yet again. The waves were solid, head high to slightly overhead peaks. Really good with some juice. Surfed for a few hours before work, traded some peaks with Kevin S. and had a really good time on the Scorpion. Water cleaned up a tad, but was still a bit dirty from last week's rains. Not too many folks out, and I inadvertently dropped in on a guy, who took off later than me. I didn't see him and was about to wrap it around when he let me know he was behind me. I then pulled out immediately, saying sorry as I ended what was a pretty good ride. He still rode the wave in and we talked briefly when he paddled back out. Totally cool guy. Anyway, here's a YouTube clip I found via Board Collector's blog.

Dirty Blackies

Surfer/Photographer Bart Tuck sent these photos of Blackies on Saturday Jan. 23, 2010. The waves were pretty much going off, except for that brown tinge of hepatitis, staph infectionitis, cholera, and all other mad diseases that flow out to sea during a big storm. Hope nobody gets sick, cause the water looks like poo.

Storm Blows over

After a week of rain and wetness, it appears that things may dry out for a spell. Below is some of your basic trash that washed up on the beach at Blackies.

Surf in Long Beach

And they say there is never any surf in Long Beach. Sink the breakwater!

Surf in Long Beach

Sunday Blackies

Surfed Sunday from 7 to around 930 this morning. Swell was still in the water but not as clean as Friday. The lefts near the jetty was working but walled. I caught about three or four lefts on the 9'8" Junod, and discovered that the board needs sidebites when the waves are hollow. The board kept spinning out even with the 9.75-inch Greenough 4A. I'm looking for some Future sidebites for the board, because spinouts are no good.

Surf Friday

There was good surf at Blackies today. Surfed this morning before work andenjoyed some pretty solid swell from the W that rolled through this week. Although Friday was supposed to be the tail end of the swell that started mid week, it was still solid 4-6ft. The place was totally crowded from HB interlopers, but I still was able to get a fair share of good set waves. Super glassy today and even saw Jaime, the surfboard shaper who used to shape my boards when I was in high school. Caught three or four solid rights and as many lefts, and on the last left, I got stuck inside and watched this one guy I know from HB catch three waves before I could even get out, so I called it a day. It was a relentless set of about 10 waves, of which half I got on the head and had to bail on my board. I was just really stuck inside and decided to give it up, already have surfed for two hours.

Flat Blackies

IMages from the early morning. No surf

Blackies Jan 3

Surfed Blackies am from 7am to 10am. Place was packed. Waves were about 2-3 with a few head high sets. Rode the 7'2" Guy Takayama GWAT. What a zoo. Got a few good ones, as well as some sets. But the place is crazy. All in all, the waves were good, water was freezing and dirty, and crowded. Typical OC surf spot.

Back to Blackies

Surfed high tide, freezing, crowded, crappy Blackies yesterday and have to tell you I didn't have much fun. Talked with Pooch about my trip to O'ahu, and let me tell you something, say what you want about the man, but this guy understands the plight of the Hawaiian people. When I told him about the homeless encampments, he said that the government needs to give the Hawaiians some land back that they stole when they overthrew the queen. And I couldn't agree more. The Big Island is large enough to support what is left of the Hawaiian people.

Homeless in Hawaii

Things have changed quite a bit on Oahu from 10 years ago when we moved b/to California. The Waianae coast, which remains one of the most beautiful drives on Oahu, has been innundated with tent cities, homeless encampments for those unfortunate Hawaiians who have lost their homes, jobs, but surely not hope. It has to be a combination of the economy, drugs, whatever, there needs to be a solution. In addition to Waianae, these encampments can also be seen in Hauula, Kaawaa, Punaluu, and even Kahuku, as well as in town at the beach park at Ala Moana and Kapiolani Park. It really is sad. We fed several homeless people in Kapiolani Beach park on Christmas day, with food from Zippy's. I know not the best food, but still food nonetheless, and the people that we gave the food to were very grateful, especially this couple living underneath a tent/tarp structure at Ala Moana. It is a pressing problem especially in Waianae, where families have been displaced and are living with a bit of shelter. I am not sure how dire the situation is, but it is not the Hawaii that I know, and the people and Government need to step up, and not to just ban camping at Kapiolani or Ala Moana. Mufi needs to figure out a solution.