The week I flew too close to the sun (NorCal Cannabis Cup 2015: Revealed)

:danger: This story is a long one, and might piss some people off! This thread serves as documentation of the event that I was supposed to get during my trip, and what was going through my mind. Now that both parts are completed, I don't have to repeat this story in my mind. The more experience I get, the tougher I'll become. I did not write this to make a name for myself at anyone's expense. I wrote everything to show why I will personally be boycotting NorStar from here on out.


Before I begin this story, I must first say that this is a continuation of my travels to Colorado for the US Cannabis Cup. I was invited to NorCal by NorStar Genetics, which seemed like an exciting opportunity at the time. I had met Jen and Scotty from NorStar at the Cup and made what I thought were going to be future friends. There was so much excitement after that trip, even though I had no idea a storm was already brewing.


This tale begins at a hotel room the night before the Denver Cup began. I had previously shown TGA some pictures of my Jesus OG buds, and Mz Jill was interested in trying some while I was in Denver. I was starstruck because I felt like a nobody entering that room compared to some of the other people who were hanging out with us. That weekend was a blast and I will come back to this weekend later in the story. Because I was willing to help NorStar at their booth, take Robby G into my hotel, and help them sell their genetics the last day, I was invited to stay with NorStar for the cup.


Once I returned home, I began planning for NorCal, because I had received word that a business acquaintance of Mz Jill happened to own a dispensary in an area that I wanted to move. I was planning on going to a job interview as soon as the cup was over. This was an exciting opportunity for me, because I had received my certifications in Baking and Pastries, and I was going to be working at a facility processing edibles for them. It seemed like the weed industry had a calling for me, and I was going to do whatever it took to get there!


The weeks leading up to the Cup were filled with drama, but they were pushed through in order to get to California. I purchased my plane ticket with a potential job offer from NorStar, and this other place in the air. They may claim this wasn't the case, but I was paid for training in NorCal to help them with their booth. I was super excited to see my friends, and help them again. Because they had said there was a potential of something going on with a job, I was told by Jen not to worry about booking a rental car to drive back home. I had hoped this was a good sign...


I flew into NorCal and was surprised by one of my heroes. Subcool himself had come to the airport and he bought me lunch at the restaurant. I got to chat with him about music, genetics, and lots of other stuff. I was originally just going to purchase a couple packs of seeds from them, but then Subcool gave me a half ounce of Timewreck and some more tester beans to document. THC Goddess, Mz Jill, Subcool, Jen, Joel, and family were there. When we left the airport, Subcool gave me a hug and thanked me for the support. I felt like a hero had recognized me, and this was an awesome moment. I won't lie when I say that this was the best and worst moment of the entire trip. Yes, this moment right here will also come full circle.


On the way to the NorStar Ranch, the shit talking began about what a Fanboy of TGA I was. I told them that it felt amazing to be hugged by my hero, and they just laughed at me because they had known TGA for so much longer than I had. I was told that other growers grow way better weed than Subcool with his own strains, and that most of them taste like baby powder. At first I just shook this off because they were a different genetics company, but I was so wrong about that thought, too.


The NorStar Ranch was beautiful:





I even made a new friend the first night:





The next morning was setup day for the Cup. We drove into San Francisco to the Cow Palace.


Vineyards were everywhere:





Here's the Golden Gate Bridge:





...And Alcatraz in the distance:








These places are like $5k+ per month to rent:





And the Cow Palace:





We returned to the NorStar Ranch to sleep, and it was then that I found out that NorStar does a lot of the breeding for TGA. I guess a lot of strains I really liked were being outsourced to them. I didn't think anything of this at the time, but I wasn't enjoying myself unless I was smoking heavily.


The next day, we drove back into Frisco and completed setup of the booth. As long as I worked for them, they were willing to put me up in a hotel with them. This was a good deal, so I took it.


Doing Final Setup the next day:





I spent my breaks following Jen and Scotty around, and taking photos. I was already beginning to wish I was doing this trip on my own.














So many clones were sold here! Holy Hell! :





There was some pretty bud that I smoked:





... And the Art was spectacular:











Cannabis now has many uses! Both for your pets and Vagina! :








Here is where the story will come back to Denver. At the hotel room, I was accused of trying to start an affair with Mz Jill. I denied the question from Scotty, and asked Jen the next day, why people were assuming this. I guess he wasn't the only person who assumed she was getting something on the side, because I was told that a few people thought that. People thought it was odd that I was going to meet Jill at her hotel, which I can now see why people assume things. It was awkward from an outside perspective, and when I am confronted with awkward situations, I use sarcasm as a defense mechanism. My sarcasm was misinterpreted as actually trying to begin an affair, which was wrong! The conversations were ended with me telling people that I respected Sub and Jill too much for something like that to be possible. I thought it was just bros talking to each other and joking around, so whatever.


The next day was a bit more independent, and I figured out why later. It was a good last day at the cup for the most part, because nobody had hinted to me about the storm that was coming.


I met Frenchie Cannoli and saw his hash:








I also purchased an oil rig:





I can't forget the seeds I picked up either! Here's a bud of Kimbo Kush that I got with my purchase of a pack of Kimbo from Exotic Genetix:





Here's Big Bud:





Mendo Dope:





Some cool 3D art:





At the end of the day, I thanked Scotty for the wonderful time and experience I had. His response was, "We're not done yet." Assuming that things were still okay, i didn't see this as a warning sign. I thought there was something else to look forward to, and Joel hadn't come and talked to me about a job yet. Was this the surprise? We then finished packing our trailer, and drove back to Santa Rosa. Jen bitched the whole way home about various things, and thought I was asleep for the ride. She complained about me, and it was a really weird car ride to her house.


We got back to her place, and I wanted to Christen my Rig. Her babysitter joked that it looked like a dick, and called me a cocksucker when I took the hit. It was then and there that I had enough, so I told her, "Fuck You." This wasn't meant as anything more than a leave me alone, but Jen assumed I was trying to get with her babysitter, too. This was not the case, because her babysitter was making me uncomfortable, and NorStar had already been notified of this. I went to sleep assuming that I could make my travel arrangement with their internet.


The next morning I was greeted with an instant tantrum from Jen that I didn't book my rental, and that I didn't have maps of the road home. She told me things were up in the air when I left for California, but it was my fault for doing what I was told at the time. She took this all as me not wanting to leave her house, and all I wanted was to get my information before I left.


My phone began to vibrate with texts flooding my phone from MzJill. She had heard the rumors that Jen and Scotty were spreading, and was pissed at me about it. I told my side of the story, and was called a liar. Jen and MzJill go way back, so there was no way that her best friend would talk shit on her... LIES ALL OF IT!


I was threatened with violence from her MC friends, and she emailed the Dispensary, and told them not to hire me.


All of this was going on while Jen was yelling at me inside her house. I was told that my service as a moderator to both here and Facebook didn't mean shit in their eyes. I was told that my gardening experience and everything else wouldn't help me get a job in this industry. I was bullied and belittled by a man named Joel, who carried a gun around his house with him the entire time I was there. I finally left their house after being told, "Fuck You."


They drove me to the airport, and told me the rental agency would be able to get me a car. She tried hugging me goodbye after all of this, and I was really confused at the gesture. After telling me to fuck myself, they abandoned me at the Santa Rosa Airport.


This is the End of Part One. I'll continue the rest of all this tale once I get some sleep.

 

Part two coming today.

 

There is Sever Social Anxiety from all parties involved, including me. It's just expressed differently from person to person. I can't say that I know of anything else.

 

rofl. the weed scene in california is most definitely not all puppies and kittens. You got off easy man, count your blessings.

 

Thanks for all the good pics. As for all that fucking drama, who needs it ?


they wrecked the dispensary gig tho. That kimbo kush looked awesome. Was that hydro or soil grown ?


BBT

 

The Week I flew too close the the Sun: Part Two


I walked into the Airport feeling extremely anxious. I was praying to anything out there to just let me get a rental car. After trying all three of the places, I found out that none of them had cars available for rent. The last one said they would have a car available after 5PM, but I got dropped off pretty early in the day. I logged onto the AirPort's Wi-Fi to see if the rental agencies in town had anything to get me back home. I found a car that the website said was available and booked it. I paid $45 to have a Cab drive me into Santa Rosa.


After going to three separate rental agencies, I was told that there wasn't a car that I could rent to get me all the way home. I was also told that I couldn't use my Debit Card to pay, because of California State Law. In other words, I was boned because I haven't needed a card yet, until then! This may have been a slight lack of preparation this time. I still had my computer, though. I left the agencies with a little bit of hope.


Being in a foul mood, I did text my offenders and let them know the extent of how fucked the whole situation became. Scotty acknowledged the "We're not done yet," did mean added drama about our conversation in the hotel room. I asked him if he knew what sarcasm was, and told him to have a nice life.


All the weed I had left was Timewreck, so I smoked a joint to calm down. I never felt so grateful for that gift than the times I needed to calm down.


I walked to the nearest McDonald's which was three miles away. I knew they had Wi-fi, so I looked up flights and trains to get home, since I couldn't rent a car anymore. There were no flights out until the next day, and I really didn't want to pay $600 to get home. I found an Amtrak ticket to take me home for $300 and booked the ticket. The problem was that I had an hour to catch the bus and I had two and a half miles to run and catch a bus that would connect me to the train. It was shortly after that, that I was being sent to the Greyhound Bus Station, instead of the Amtrak Bus Route. A local had told me all the Travel buses were running out of this spot, instead of the hotel where I originally thought. I called Amtrak to tell them what had happened, and they found me a cheaper train ticket the next day. At least I saved myself enough money to get me a hotel room for the night.


I stayed in a hotel that was rented by the month, and had ladies of the night strolling the walkways of the rooms. All the weed I had left was Timewreck, so I smoked a blunt to calm down.


I had not talked to my wife in four days, because my phone had no service for the majority of the time I was there. I could get texts when I was Roaming, but I could not make calls. My lack of technological interest had bitten me in the ass this time. This is the only time I cursed myself for having a burner phone. Once I was in the hotel, I heard the voice of someone that loved me. I explained all the details and let her know I would be home in few days. It was Monday night, and my bus left the next day at Three.


I got to the right Bus stop the next day, extra early so I could catch my bus to Martinez, CA. This was where the trains ran out of, so I had a few hour ride on a bus from Santa Rosa. All the weed I had left was Timewreck, so I smoked a joint to calm down before my ride. I met a Bounty Hunter on the bus, and then had to wait six hours for my train to pull into the station.


I smoked a couple joints of Timewreck to calm my nerves while I was there. I had the pleasure of getting yelled towards by some random tweakers who mistook me for someone else. Music from my Laptop was all I had to pass the time, so I listened to a lot of music.


Death Cab for Cutie is one of my favorites, so they helped me:


[YOUTUBE]sJHYcy1b5xw?list=PL9041CC29405D9435[/YOUTUBE]


The Tuesday night I boarded the Coastal Starlight train, I was really unsure what to expect. Our seats were assigned, and I ended up sitting next to a guy who was from Philly. He was heading to Seattle, but had spent the past few weeks in hostels. I had no idea that they even existed in America, but you bet your ass I'll be looking for them now! I had the special occasion of smoking a joint of Timewreck with him at one of our stops, which made the ride pretty fun. We were both into taking photos, so the time past by quickly.


Sixteen hours on the Coastal Starlight had given me some time to humble myself a bit about the whole situation. MzJill wasn't even around in NorCal except for the Airport. How the hell could this drama have been spun so far? It wasn't her fault for reacting the same way I would have given the situation. In fact, I was just as enraged at NorStar!


Trying to do damage control during that day, I apologized about the whole situation to MzJill and told her I would try to make things right with TGA. I thought things were getting better, because I got some really helpful advice along my journey. The Timewreck that they gave me had gotten me through the roughest 24 hours of my life and I thanked them for that. When I was in Portland, she checked in on me to make sure I was still on my way home.


I connected to the Empire Builder which was a train that went from Portland to the East Coast. My leg of the trip was only 8 hours, though. I sat next to another stoner who wanted to share a couple joints at the stop. We were in Oregon and Washington for this leg of the trip, so someone eventually brought a pipe out and took a fatty rip in front of the Amtrak employees! We were in a legal state, and they did not give a fuck!


Over twenty four hours on a train, and nearly two and a half days of travel, brought me home. That night was the best nights sleep I ever had.


Here are all of the photos from my train ride, because I can't remember the specific order that they are in:





















































Oh wait! Did you think it was over?!?! Nope!


The next morning I received a text saying that my wife had blown my chances of mending the situation. After some prying, I found out that she had sent an email to NorStar out of rage for what they had done to her husband.


The emails that my wife received after that, contained everything under the sun as far as ways to convince my wife that I was a total scumbag. I was accused of being a Creep, a Liar, a Cheater, and many other things.


Remember when I told you the hug and gesture from Sub would become the worst moment of that trip? The joy I felt from that experience was instantly crushed when I found out that Jill had told Sub that I was hitting on her.


The Packs of seeds I was given, and the hug that I received, became a cause for me to be looked at as an ungrateful bastard for everything that they had done for me.


My response to MzJill was that I wasn't interested and that her friend Jen causes a lot of drama. We have since cut all communication over the phone.


Why did all of this surface now?


Because all I see advertised on Facebook now, is TGA NorStar Genetics... and people who dissed on TGA are riding their fucking coattails to the top! It has now just become a reminder of how I was told to Fuck Myself in California.


This is the end of The Week I flew to close to the Sun. I now know what being Icarus feels like, because I felt like I was going to soar before this happened. In my glorious flight, I was burned for my lack of preparation.


[YOUTUBE]HOkYVfLpGGE[/YOUTUBE]


Now that it's written, I can put this behind me and move on. This is my form of closure, because I know that this may prevent it from happening to someone else.

 

I understand that it just seems like High School Drama to everyone on the outside, but this actually happened to me in real life, so I'm not going to pretend like the trip was all sunshine and rainbows. I lost a huge opportunity because of this trip and the drama.


Thank you for the condolences, though.

 

I never expected puppies and kittens. I bet you wouldn't think it was funny if this shit happened to you.

 

Here's Links to just the photo albums, if you don't wanna hear about the current state of the industry. I'm not captioning any of it, though :


NorCal Trip:


http://forum.growkind.com/album.php?albumid=858


Train:


http://forum.growkind.com/album.php?albumid=859

 

I've had fifty times worse happen to me. You got off easy. And everyone that grows out here knows that TGA farms out his stuff. I've met them and they really are good people though. Most of their gear is crap imho, but, there are a few gems in the bag. As for Norstar, this is not the first time I have heard shit like you described, they are coat tail riding douche bags for sure. And fwiw, the fact that you are a mod here means exactly squat in the grow world. When you win a cup or do a strain that takes the world by storm, then you'll get accepted to the group.But trust me when I say, it's not a group you want to be a part of for the most part. Lots of double dealing and backstabbing goes on. All the best brother, I hope all your hopes and dreams come true.

 

I used to be a mod here, and I was a Mod of the Weed Nerd Nation Group on Facebook... Which Jill put me in charge of. I figured if Jill put me in charge of their page, then it was something that might help me. It made me look like I was dick riding, though.


I know that TGA does some good out there, which is why I was much more willing to be forgiving of things until my Female associates were emailed by Jill telling them to watch out for me! That's in the past now, but it still stung a bit.


NorStar can burn in hell, though.

 

Ive dealt with countless folks like that over the years. Not in the cannabis industry but in other business types. The ones that seem to have a bit of success or were fortunate enough to get involved in an industry at its inception tend to group together and create their own reality. I've found that as long as I don't question my self worth and realize that their bad behavior is on them and has nothing to do with me I'm okay. If I had any advice to shoot your way it would be to stay grounded, keep your eyes open and other opportunities will present themselves. Folks like the ones you describe are usually miserable and if you dig deep lack self esteem. Keep growing and give your wife a hug for sticking up for you.

 

I appreciate this! Thank you!

 

I've found that when someone totes a gun in the house, it usually means someone's looking for'em...

 

Agreed. He was paranoid as hell, and wouldn't even come to help his wife set the booth up at the cup.

 

In the end, I am sure you're right Resin. I know it'll all be a laugh eventually. It's an experience that I was supposed to have for some reason, so I should be grateful I had it this early. I'm almost 28, so I'm sure there will be more hurdles along the way.


I definitely have some insight on the kind of people I would like to work with in the future. I think I needed to document it all to get it out of my head, though.

 

I'd go back, hustle the bitch up, get her all primed, take some horney pictures of her getting all naked and wet and walk out before I'd stick her and send the pictures to her ol' man. Fuck 'em. Douche bags are just that, douche bags. It does suck tho when someone you have "idolized" turns out to be a dick. Your young. You'll find out that you should never put ANYBODY on a pedestal still they prove they belong there.