Sunday 19 May 2013

Page 39, some more changes...

Well, hello again! I know, I know, it's been a little while since my last entry, but there hasn't been much to report on lately, up until this week that is!

I was fortunate enough to work a shift with Traffic Management on a job site last week that the Hamilton branch was supposed to be covering, but for a lack of staff they sent myself and a couple of other guys from the Auckland branch to it for one day. Way out in the middle of nowhere, we found ourselves on an old gravel forestry road, assisting a crew who where building a set of retainer walls on the road edge to stop it breaking away and falling down the cliff. The road was nice and quiet, so rather than just stand around I decided to jump in and help the work crew out. Well, lo and behold, at the end of the day their boss came up to me and asked if I'd like a job! Pretty significant payrise, plus a few other benefits, so when he rang me back on Saturday morning I said yes! So, as of Monday I've been working on the same site, we're getting further up the road to the third wall now, it's much more enjoyable work and I'm getting paid a whole heap more now too! Plus no more night shifts, we get weekends off, travel allowance, I've got my own work truck and fuel card, it's awesome! Sure, the work is pretty physical at times, but it'll be great to get back in shape again! (FYI: I was only a casual staff member at Traffic Management, so was able to give short notice and start pretty much immediately with the new job...)

So, due to the change in jobs and the extra pay cheque, I was lucky enough to be able to attend another 'Playday On Track' event yesterday, with the bike, and despite the on / off weather conditions, I had a blast! It started off pretty wet, but then the sun came out and we had three perfect sessions with a nice dry track. I found my cornering lines again pretty quickly, and the bike ran flawlessly all day. The rain came back in force mid-afternoon, so I decided to finish up early, rather than risk an accident. Lots of people were coming over and saying how cool my bike was, and how well I was going on the track, giving me tips and advice for certain sections, and boosting my confidence! Being that I'm still only a beginner when it comes to the track, and still very slow compared to some of the others, I was more than happy for the comments! One of the guys that was helping instruct our class was from Spectrum Kawasaki, up here on the shore, he had heaps to offer, even saying we could car pool our bikes down to the track together in future as we live pretty close together. He made a point of telling me about another 'school', namely the "California Superbike School", who take all forms of motorcycle rider and teach them skills to vastly improve their riding, suited to both road and track. I had heard of this course previously, but hadn't put serious thought to it until now. So, now that my finances are on the rise again finally, I'm going to start saving up for a two day course down in Taupo later on this year. It seems to be the one course that all the experienced riders rave about, so I have to go and see for myself! Watch this space for further updates! :-)

Huge thanks of course to Ash, Gary, Tony, and all the team at Playday On Track! You guys put together an awesome day, the track was fantastic, and I had a blast! Also thanks to Tuna (yep, that's his name!) from Spectrum Kawasaki, you're a legend mate! I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun if you hadn't shared your advice and watched me on track. When you passed me with a big 'thumbs-up', that made my day! Cheers mate!

Other than that, there hasn't been much to report, as I mentioned earlier, so I'm off to give the bike a good clean, return the trailer we borrowed (from my partner's brother, thanks Barry!) and enjoy the rest of my weekend off!

Hope everyone out there in internet-land is doing well too! Keep smiling!

Until next time...!

:-)

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