THE GOOD BUCK

That job fiasco was a fiasco. £24.95 p/h, full time, permanent. None of that was true. I decided not to risk it and instead told my current job I was available Fri- Mon inclusive instead of Thur- Sun, as I don’t seem to be getting shifts on Thursdays. Also, until January, I can work other days, apart from Tuesday. I’m trying to get some cash together to buy a spiffy VFR750. I’ve decided the only thing wrong with the VFRs I’ve had in the past is they were old and worn out. The engines were still going strong, but electrics and such. I’ve seen some advertised almost as good as new. One is 100% original, 12,000 miles, always garaged, one owner from new. That’s barely out of the box for a VFR. The downside to 100% original is the standard exhaust system. They rot through, and they don’t make the stainless steel replacement exhaust system anymore. So I’d have to keep my eye out for a second hand system. And fit a double bubble windscreen and heated grips and a rack and box. I’ve had a VFR that was about 50,000 miles and still on the original exhaust, so if there’s life in it I’d have time to look.

Then there are three others around 20,000 miles, stainless exhaust, with some other desirable goodies. One has a red screen! Ughh. And they’ve all got aftermarket endcans, which are noisier. And none of them have a rack and box. So there would be some investment whichever way I jumped. But the thing is, a £2,300 minter VFR would run until I’m too old to ride. Even if I got all four days that would only be about 35,000 miles until I retire. A 12 or 20k VFR would laugh at those miles.

I was looking at the modern alternatives. The Yamaha Tracer 900 or the Triumph Tiger Sport 660, or the new Tiger 800 but they are starting at £4, 5, and 9k. The gains are marginal. They’ve got fuel injection (OK,that’s a biggie) some are a bit lighter or a bit more power but the first two are both criticised for wind noise and buffeting from screens that just don’t work. The third is brand new this year, so real-world feedback is sparse.

I’ve not been getting many shifts at work. The last few weeks have been 2 shifts, 1 shift, 2 shifts. I think Wendy is getting worried about the money situation so I had a look for another job. I wasn’t expecting to find one, but I may have landed a beauty. The agency advertised it as £24.95 an hour, full time, permanent. Hmmm. Agencies. They said it was for a parcel distribution company and gave a postcode. I googled it, it’s a Yodel RDC, 2 stops away down the M62.

I applied on Saturday, they rang me back today (Monday) and sent me an application pack email, which I’ve filled in and returned. They said they could get me an assessment for Wednesday, start work on Thursday.

It’s 4 on, 4 off, 04.00 or 06.00 starts, doing a straight run to Glasgow and back. Around 12 hour shifts. Apart from the start times that’s about ideal. The driving involved with my current job is so tough, it feels like you are an inch from a crash at most drops. This is straight trunking. I’d know the route by the end of the first week, then just tootle up and back every day. I’ve just looked, Yodel, Glasgow looks to be less than a mile from junction 5 of the M74. So M62, on to the M6, carry on until it turns into the M74, come off at junction 5 and you’re there. Hard to make it easier.

Well, what do you know?

The Muay Thai guy didn’t want me training yesterday due to my tachycardia. He said I should see the doctor. I explained I’d already tried twice and got nowhere, the last one saying it was nothing to worry about. He wasn’t having it. I was a sad bunny. Not just because I’d started that club, but because I was worried all the clubs might react the same. In which case I can’t prepare for the fash. And I have to live in fear. Bad, bad, bad.

I rang the doctors this morning. Our doctors is basically an overpriced triage centre now. I don’t think they have actual doctors there any more, just those fake ones. If you can get an appointment at all.

I have really got my head around this Muay Thai thing. Book in advance, then you have to go, ready to go all in, first belt in December, black belt in 3 years. I have got over my resistance to going. I managed to talk myself around from real aversion to going, to nervous excitement tonight. It’s a brutal, real, martial art. I want it!

I went tonight for my third lesson. I possibly went too hard in the pre-session warm-up, but 10 minutes into the class I had tachycardia. In retrospect, I think I freaked the guy out by going head down, arse up, on the mat. It probably looked like I was keeling over, but that seems to be the quickest way to settle the damn thing down.

I got it to settle and wanted to carry on, but the guy wouldn’t let me. He refunded me the lesson and said to go an rest for 24 hours. I’ve got to ring the doctors in the morning and him at night. I think he’s not going to let me train until I get it sorted. That could take years.

I went to the Muay Thai class today. New things are always a stressful time. This was newer than most. It is completely unlike any martial art I’ve ever done. I think it must be like boxing. I did the usual stretches and warm up, then the instructor had me do a jab, a left/ right combination, knee strike and a pushing front kick. Then it was timed intervals against someone with pads calling out each move and moving around, so I was constantly moving and having to punch, kick, and knee. The few minute (I wasn’t wearing a watch obvs, and there is no clock in the gym) intervals were exhausting. There were an even number of fighters there and me, so they had me do one interval while someone sat it out, then I’d cycle for an interval, then back fighting again. I can see why MT is so effective. It’s actual fight training from lesson one.

No disrespect to the other martial arts I’ve done, the black belts are all scary, but in my experience it takes ages for the lesson to work as a fighting system. You go to the dojo, warm up, do a kata, then do specific drills each week. The trouble is it’s a different drill each week. For a noob it’s confusing and you don’t retain much beyond the basic principles of the moves. And you do a bit of light sparring every now and then. Eventually it all must gel.

I swear down though, in that one session today I must have thrown more punches than in 18 months of Taekwondo. That is what makes it such a real world fighting system. If you repeat a move often enough it becomes muscle memory. And the fitness needed is extraordinary.