| Dave Jebb teaching on the mound. |
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One thing I’ve learned from stock trading is not to hurry. Actually, I learned it surfing. When there are no waves you can’t surf. Sounds simple right. You’d be surprised to see how many people try to surf trash, or a wave that isn’t theirs. A better attitude is, “I’ve got all the time in the world.” Let the wave come to you. When it comes do what you do, do what you’ve learned.
You might wonder how that works in equity and currency trading. It’s much the same. There are seasons for assets that move just like waves. When you chart them they actually look just like waves. In a bull market go long, in a bear market go short, range-bound trade the boundaries. Simple right? That fact took me almost 20 years to learn and now that you know it it may take you 10 years to practice. The point is when there’s nothing to do, do nothing. When there’s something to do, act without hesitation. No gain comes for forcing anything when you’re dealing with forces of nature.
When you have all the time in the world you can adopt a gentle attitude: you can tell when it’s time to go short, go long, or more importantly do nothing. A natural outcome of my “doing what I do” is that I make money – a disproportionate amount. If I “try” to do what I do, if I force it in the wrong conditions, I lose money.
In martial arts you have 2 kinds of fighters: the technician and the bull. I’m a bull. I can win a fight seemingly without a strike, though sheer willpower. The reality is that there are some fighters that are just as bullish but who have more technical skills. If I want to win against the best I need a balance: to be both bullish and technical.
Paragliding, as a skill, is about balance and finesse – Listening to the wing: not forcing or overreacting to anything. In fact, the skills you need to be a great paraglider are all those that I’m lacking – or seeking – in trading and Kung Fu. It’s a perfect way for me to find the balance I need to grow. "The way you do anything is the way you do everything", was the message from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I'm not sure truer words were ever written.
I’d been downloading Dave Jebb’s weekly show on World Talk Radio to my iPod for the past couple of days and getting used to hearing his voice guiding and sharing his experience. You can download them as podcasts on iTunes or directly from the Web. When I arrived at Torrey and saw him on the LZ I was thrilled. This is the true master of Torrey and I had full access to him for the day.
My first flight was easy, perfect launch off the ridge and smooth quick turn to the north. Lots of lift early in the day. Winter weather is coming in here in Southern California. The marine layer is heavier, it’s starting to rain. This was a day when you couldn’t tell if it was going to rain or if the marine layer was just heavy.
I’m starting to get used to soaring. At first I was just trying to get high enough to see my home in Del Mar, about a mile north from Torrey. In fact I can see it pretty easily when there’s lift. Today I focused on something else: How do you know when you’re getting lift?
For one thing you feel some pressure on your ass, but the visual markers seem more usable. I could see the distant horizon changing before the nearer objects. I was making note of where the shop was in reference to La Jolla.
Dave had me doing button hook landings all day. On my first approach I thought I had it nailed. I should have known something was wrong by the fact that Dave was calling in my ear, “You’re not listening to me!” Uhh, what did I do wrong. It turns out a lot.
On my approach to the LZ I was coming in right over the RC mound with all of it’s obstacles close below. Dave said that even though the conditions at Torrey are ideal we train as though we’re at a mountain site where you can drop 10 to 25 feet in a landing approach at a moment’s notice. There’s a bowl right in front of the RC mound that offers some pretty reliable lift as you approach the LZ. I guess somehow I felt that lift on prior landings and was starting to count on it. He offered some other approaches using visual markers.
I had 3 more flights were I tried to get it right. It got better, but the wind died. My last run was to the beach. When I got there an Indian tourist approached me and asked about the sport. I was so disappointed about landing on the beach that at first I didn’t give him any attention. I knew that wasn’t right. I could feel it, but at the time I really was pissed. Was I too far from the ledge? A lot of folks up there were not obeying right of way. When I turned away from the ridge to give way they’d start their turns and I had one pretty near collision. Was it they or I? It was hard to be an ambassador of the sport at that moment.
As I packed my wing I begain to calm down. How can’t you on Black’s Beach? It’s so beautiful: California raw, unspoiled. I regularly spot dolphins here. The seaweed on the beach is fresh and smells good enough to eat. There was no wind at all on the beach; the nudies there were in a state of bliss, as happy to see me as if ET had just landed. I took some cleansing breaths, put a little ocean water in my hair and headed for the ridge trail.
As luck was have it I ran into that tourist again. He was a scientist visiting San Diego with some biotech firm. Biotechnology is the real engine of growth here, not Qualcomm. Sorrento Valley, which is about a mile square, houses a little over $4 billion in venture and seed capital. That’s a lot, even by venture standards. I talked to him a bit about his skills in molecular biology and shared my picks for the winners in the valley. No big surprises really, ILMN, AMLN and others. It’s all here on my ClearStation watchlist.
We parted as friends and I believe he’ll take a tandem ride. I love meeting people at the heart. I’m glad he was open to a second chance. I’m starting to get used to this kind of encounter.
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