Printable View
I have been working 65 to 75 hours a week. I have the house to pay for, new car payment, utilities etc. No kids no gf no wife so thats a plus. But everytime i know the surf is at its best window of opportunity i usually am working watching cars go by with surfboards on top killing me inside haha.
How do you guys do it?
I make my wife work.
I stopped surfing for a few years to do what you are doing and put myself in the position I'm in today. My work requires a lot of travel, so when I'm home, I can go in later or miss a day or two to catch some swell (comp time). Im 15 minutes from the beach & let's face it, VA barely has a number of even moderate surf days, so I rarely miss anything good.
The Sunday after Irene, today & tomorrow, I'm at the beach at 5:30-6:00am & surf until I'm spent. It takes all of the anxiety out of seeing the loaded surf racks drive by for the rest of the day! Hell...even my wife & 21 month old son will do a weekend DP.
Get a plan that will allow you to live the life you want. You may have to take a hiatus from surfing, but it's worth it. I promise.
I invented the window on an envelope.
Not to bum you out.Were all in the same boat but its getting alot darker earlier now.The window is shrinking for everyone.
I work a lot too...skipped that sh!t today though! :P I've been fortunate in many ways in the navy life. Sure, deployments suck balls, but at the same time...people are pretty chill when we're NOT deployed. I stay low-key and work my ass off most of the time. When it gets good...I'm mysteriously absent for a day. We don't get 'sick days', but I'm reliable enough that in my colleagues' eyes I've earned the right to not be hassled. It's a hard line to walk, and I have f@#$ed it up before and been called out. Seven years in the making, I have the system down pretty well. My current job teaching in college is more difficult. It's tough to just 'cancel class'. Administrations look down on that sort of thing, so I could never pull that off. Needless to say, I'll be missing the Katia 'good day' (tomorrow...). I say just do what ya can, and try to forget when you miss it. Beer helps. :P
Try throwing an 8 yr old that wants to go, an ex-wife, and a preggos wife into the mix plus a job that seems you could be laid off tomorrow and a do it yourself home remodel. I usually head out for a DP before work...but haven't been able to make it out for over a month. It hurts but you have to do these things sometimes. I live for the hope that I can skip outta work early tomorrow unnoticed.
As live aloha said "Beer Helps".
X 2 it took 3 years in-land but now I live within a couple minutes of countless reefbreaks in a consistent part of the world with a slack teaching job and can surf whenever. Speaking of which....Quote:
Get a plan that will allow you to live the life you want. You may have to take a hiatus from surfing, but it's worth it. I promise.
When my daughters were little, my water time was cut in half. Now that they are big, one in college, and one who surfs with me, I get more water time. With work, I am able to sneak out early once in a while, or make sure to arrange meetings, etc, in OC so that I can surf between or after work.
For the most part, though, I am a weekend warrior. I like to drive on to AINP, so weekend beach trips start reeeeaaaaallll early in the morning, and the wife is not shy about letting me know that is sucks to get up at 5am on Sunday morning, but she realizes it would suck more to sit on the dune swatting flies waiting for our turn to get on.
I make dawn patrols easier by prepacking the truck the night before (while drinking beer). I pack towels, chairs, boards, etc., and stage lunch meat/sandwiches/sodas in the garage fridge so that it only takes a coupla minutes to be ready to go.
It helps to surround yourself with people who understand how important surfing is to you. If you're single, stay single until you meet someone who understands this. Don't marry anyone who gets envious of your watertime or who doesn't understand there are times you NEED to be surfing. Make sure your spouse knows your vacations will mostly include surfing. Find a girl who likes the beach and sunrises. That sort of thing.
Same goes with work. This may take a long time, but I've been working at the same company for 12 years now. They've seen me drop everything and work OT or hop on a plane to wherever and do whatever it takes to get the job done when it's crunch time and work needs me. I've proven my work ethic and my reliability to them and so, when it's a random Friday morning in September, like today, and work is not too busy and I roll in a little late, there's no questions asked. I know, and they know, I'll be making up the time over the weekend. It's one of the advantages of having been at a place so long.