Weekday Afternoon Motorcycle Ride

Four of us met this afternoon for a motorcycle ride into San Clemente, for some lunch at Pizza Port.

Thursday afternoon rides have been a regular occurrence for us for the past several weeks. While traffic is still heavy during the week, there's always a sense that we're taking advantage of something unique.

For one thing, the weather always seems to be at its best between Monday and Friday. Maybe that's what we're taking advantage of.

The popular biker hangouts are not as crowded at this time. You get quicker service, and a pick of the best seating. Maybe that's what we're taking advantage of.

There's also a sense of gratitude, that we have the freedom to get away during a weekday afternoon, and not put our careers in jeopardy. Maybe it's that freedom we're taking advantage of.

Everytime I take a joy ride during the week, there's always someone out there who tells me that they're envious of me, or that they hate me for this freedom. But the fact is that I once worked "for the man", in an office building, from morning to evening, and had to commute along freeways of SoCal. I was like everyone else.

I remember an episode of "Moonlighting" where Bruce Willis said, "your job will never love you back". That statement struck me, and I kept it filed away in the back of my mind. Then during a really bad day at work, I pulled that statement out of the file cabinet, and made the connection, that no matter how I hard work, I'll never get anything more than just a paycheck, and that paycheck will never let me get ahead in life.

At the time, I was dabbling with the Internet, learning how to make websites. I decided I would make a website that folks would find useful and interesting. That was in 1997. I worked two full-time jobs, my "day job", and the other working from about 5:00pm to 2:00am, building this website, and learning how to make money from it.

My wife will attest to the many years of frustration she had with me for not spending enough time with her. For awhile, the only way I knew I was married was by the dinner she had ready for me when I returned home from the office.

But in 2003, at the age of 37, I quit that day job. I tell people that I retired at 37, because I could work at home, and be my own boss.

But the truth is that this wasn't handed to me on a silver platter. I worked my ass off to make this happen. My wife sacrificed several years of happiness to let me get to this point. And now, we can spend all kinds of time together.

I guess if I'm taking advantage of anything, it's the freedom that this country gives us. No one has to be unhappy in this country if they put their mind to it. I wasn't lucky either. And I wasn't born rich. I was just tired of waiting for something to happen.