Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
I'll reintroduce myself because no one knows who I am. I'm Dave, I'm 46 and I want to start over on a few levels. Mostly training, happiness and contentment. Some know I like a good debate, I don't always let things go and don't accept certain things. Long story short, my life is quite a bit different at the moment than it was 4 months ago. Some people would say I was crazy for giving up a job that was 4 miles away where I could commute and hit the best trails on the east on the way home. I woke up at 5:30am, rode to work, started at 6am and was done and on my bike again at 2:30. Great unless you boss is a lazy shit and basically assigns you to sit in a quiet welding shop in farm country doing zilch for months on end. I was getting home and falling asleep on the couch.
Fast forward to now. I decided to try something and it's working for now but I don't have faith long term. My old employer asked me to come back(I considered moving the fam back to Jersey but that's not happening. (If I was @UtahJoe and WFH across from awesome trails it would be one thing but in my line of work I am basically forced to commute to shitropolis of Newark). Don't try to argue that it's not that bad or not that congested. Working blue collar in NJ means going to where the work and money is(union jobs) and it is so damned congested. Way worse than when I left 2 years ago)almost to the day). Anywho, I am now a shop foreman with minimal hands on. I have a take-home work truck, a laptop, a work phone I can use for personal as well as a great pay rate, benefits and the healthcare is 100% paid for. Salary wise I make about 30% more but when you put the enitre package side by side it's more like 45-50% more. The tough part? I leave Maryland at 2:15-2:30am to start workout either 5:30 or 6am Monday. I also work a long day(11 hours). Monday is typically an off day from exercise with some yoga if feeling up to it. I try to rest good Monday into Tuesday and I do 2 more 11 hour days. Tuesday is usually weights and a run at a shitty gym and Wednesday is a tempo ride at Allaire with the old crew. Thursday I try to start early and leave by noon. I am home by 4-6 on Thursdays typically in Md. I then have fri, sat and sun off.
What I need to change. I am grateful for my friend Greg and his wife that I am staying with but Freehold is a bitch of a commute even if it is only 3 days a week. Basically I've been digging a whole of exhaustion and finally got sick. The change I need is steering away from alcohol(this means cold turkey for me). I'll soon ban it from my house at least temporarily. I still want to train and race but really need optimize things and most important of them all is rest. I'm actively seeking another job but in the mean time I have the opportunity to do some critical stuff like Rahway and warinaco. My diet is better but far from perfect. I need to stop the slice of pizza after every rider.I eat well at work but would stop at Tommy's on rt 9 too often.
So there you have it. I'm trying to be open minded and embrace some needed change. Ultimately I will find a job closer to home but in the mean time I am looking for a room to rest my head 3-4 nights a week for not an arm and a leg and a bit closer to essex county. The being away from family adds up and now getting the flu at the beginning of my 11 day vacation doesn't help.
Fast forward to now. I decided to try something and it's working for now but I don't have faith long term. My old employer asked me to come back(I considered moving the fam back to Jersey but that's not happening. (If I was @UtahJoe and WFH across from awesome trails it would be one thing but in my line of work I am basically forced to commute to shitropolis of Newark). Don't try to argue that it's not that bad or not that congested. Working blue collar in NJ means going to where the work and money is(union jobs) and it is so damned congested. Way worse than when I left 2 years ago)almost to the day). Anywho, I am now a shop foreman with minimal hands on. I have a take-home work truck, a laptop, a work phone I can use for personal as well as a great pay rate, benefits and the healthcare is 100% paid for. Salary wise I make about 30% more but when you put the enitre package side by side it's more like 45-50% more. The tough part? I leave Maryland at 2:15-2:30am to start workout either 5:30 or 6am Monday. I also work a long day(11 hours). Monday is typically an off day from exercise with some yoga if feeling up to it. I try to rest good Monday into Tuesday and I do 2 more 11 hour days. Tuesday is usually weights and a run at a shitty gym and Wednesday is a tempo ride at Allaire with the old crew. Thursday I try to start early and leave by noon. I am home by 4-6 on Thursdays typically in Md. I then have fri, sat and sun off.
What I need to change. I am grateful for my friend Greg and his wife that I am staying with but Freehold is a bitch of a commute even if it is only 3 days a week. Basically I've been digging a whole of exhaustion and finally got sick. The change I need is steering away from alcohol(this means cold turkey for me). I'll soon ban it from my house at least temporarily. I still want to train and race but really need optimize things and most important of them all is rest. I'm actively seeking another job but in the mean time I have the opportunity to do some critical stuff like Rahway and warinaco. My diet is better but far from perfect. I need to stop the slice of pizza after every rider.I eat well at work but would stop at Tommy's on rt 9 too often.
So there you have it. I'm trying to be open minded and embrace some needed change. Ultimately I will find a job closer to home but in the mean time I am looking for a room to rest my head 3-4 nights a week for not an arm and a leg and a bit closer to essex county. The being away from family adds up and now getting the flu at the beginning of my 11 day vacation doesn't help.
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