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