Anything boys can do....

....yeah yeah we know the rest. Anyway as many of you know I work in the surf/skate industry and had the opportunity to get my own personalized skateboard from our skateboard manufacturer. I was SUPER stoked beyond anything.

Well we get to the Manufacturers on friday after noon and find out that our production manager put a stop on us getting getting our own personalized graphics, etc on the board and we're just there to take a tour and get a standard Element Skateboard (which all of us basically have....BIG WOOP) Anyway, at this point we're all pretty bummed & annoyed but still kinda stoked we get to see how the skateboards are actually made.

So we're all making the best of the situation and having a good time and stoked to know the owner, prof schmitt, still charges on halfpipes etc. Then we learn about all the specific trees that are used in these boards & its nothing thats harmful to our environment etc. Anyway its an insane process in which i just thought, they cut a tree, shaped it, sanded it and bam, you have your board. Its so not...but i wont bore you with the details but it is pretty cool!

Anyway we go through all the techinal stuff and then the professor takes us into the factory....it kinda felt willy wonka-ish as we walked through the doors to the main warehouse because thats where all the magic REALLY happens. In the warehouse is where all the actual cutting, shaping, sanding (all by hand) is done.

Now the fun part, we actually had the opportunity to cut, shape and sand our own board. So we all separated into small groups so we all could get to our own board. there were some of the employees there to help us out etc. Well i ended up having the chauvanist of the bunch....yeah BAD match for me.

The first step is to grab a bulk of boards and place them on this machine to drill the holes for the trucks. So this freak looks at me and says "oh hun, you might break a nail, lemme help you" Um yeah WRONG WORDS to say to me. Ok on my appearance alone, i do look like high maintenance, kinda stylish and just all around girly, so yeah i can see one just thinking that. but if you know me you know i'll through off the stilletto's, pull the hair back, throw on a T and play mud football, play in a gnarly game of hockey, whatever, i'm just a tomboy. BUT that doesnt mean i have to look like one.

So you can just imagine my look when i hear this come out of this man's mouth. I'm like "OH HECK NO YOU DID NOT" my co-workers are busting up that this man is thinking i'm going to break a nail and priss out. Well i get the bundle of wood before he can help me and make it look like its a piece of paper (actually it was pretty heavy but i'm not going to let on). Then to his amazement he says "um, you're pretty strong" i look him dead in the eye and said "never judge a book by its cover" So i do my thing and place all the boards to be cut and sized etc.

Ok so i'm proving myself. Next comes the sanding. Wood's flying everywhere and dust, kinda gnarly but hey its part of the program. So anyway homeboy still hasn't learned the lesson i'm trying to teach and comes up before i shape the board on this gnarly machine, hands me my board and says "you might get dirty" I yank the board out of his hands, put my goggles on and start the machine and get to shaping. He's like "whoa" and was going to give me advice on shaping. I stop, look up at him and i guess i put fear in him because he backed down and helped the other girls who LOOK tomboy that were freaking out with the machinery.

Anyway we went through the whole process etc and the guys came up to me and we're all stoked that i showed up the freak. One of our designers (whom i'm close to) Meyer told me that he pulled the guy aside and told him "g may look all girly but she'll show us all up in anything, she charges and she's cool like that and she'll kick your bootay (he actually said something else but you get the picture) if you dont leave her alone."

OK so that gave me some vindication and cracked me up. I love my male co-workers....they totally believe girls can do anything we put our minds too!

All in all, i am quite proud of myself for making my own board it truly was one of the best opportunities & experiences ever!

Now if you'll excuse me, i'm headed to the mall, there's a fab sale at nordstrom.