Stopping by to say hi.

Heinz Doofenshmirtz · **on:** September 10, 2013, 05:36:30 AM

Hi everyone!

Just stopping in for a few to say hi, and let you all know I'm doing alright.

Life has been hard for me, a lot of deep and difficult emotional, spiritual, and personal growth going on, but I am on a good path of restoration and recovery.

I stretch and meditate almost every morning, meditate almost every night, practice gratitude and compassion every day, ride my bike almost daily as it's now my only source of transportation (I've done 100+ mi. each of the last two weeks), work out either doing weight training or HIIT exercising, am eating a mostly vegetarian diet (still eat grass-fed beef and free-range chicken, no suffering animals in my diet!) and have lost 41 lbs in the past 3.5 months or so. (I've gone down a whole shirt size, and a whole waist size; from an XL to an LG, and a 40 to a 38! I love my new fitness and strength!)

I am now an active member of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery; I sit in meditation with their Sangha once a week, and contribute whatever dana I can by helping out at events and doing fix-it jobs for them (often with either my trusty Crunch or Work Champ!).

I am still unemployed and living off of my savings. I have given up my career as a professor to stay here in the Bay Area so I can be close to my kids, and help out my ex-wife around her new house with fix-it projects, spending time with our kids, and being as supportive as I can of them and her. We are still amicable. I have a second interview this week at a local REI for a position as a service technician. At $12/hr it'll be quite a change from my previous life, but I am looking forward to the simplicity of being a regular employee, working with my hands again, and helping people discover the outdoors, learn to care about the environment, and get fit and active in the outdoors. I also feel that with my education and experience there will be room for me to advance, and possibly even have a new career at REI.

I've met a nice gal who is an elementary school teacher in Berkeley, and we get along well, and are developing a nice relationship. Not getting serious or anything, as I still have a lot of emotional healing work to do, and spiritual and personal growth still in front of me. But, her friendship and companionship are wonderful and she is very appreciative and supportive of who I am and my current path of personal growth and self discovery.

Won't be around much at all still, but will stop in to say hi and chat briefly every few weeks or so.

Thank you all again for all your support and friendship!

Namasté!

Paul.

AHB · **Reply #1 on:** September 10, 2013, 05:50:34 AM

Thanks for the update Paul and congrats with your new and in every way, healthier life style..

Godspeed buddy..

dks · **Reply #2 on:** September 10, 2013, 07:23:51 AM

Good to see you are using your multitools.

Steinar · **Reply #3 on:** September 10, 2013, 07:35:14 AM

Sounds like you weren't kidding when you were speaking of drastic changes. Good luck!

Gareth · **Reply #4 on:** September 10, 2013, 07:42:37 AM

Good to hear from you mate, and I'm glad to hear things are going OK. Best of luck with the job interview.

PTRSAK · **Reply #5 on:** September 10, 2013, 08:26:25 AM

Good to hear you are doing okay. Better than okay by the sound of it.

While it's nothing near the level you have been going through I have some similar upheaval in my life too and your attitude is quite an inspiration.

cheers and good luck as you walk your new path.

kirk13 · **Reply #6 on:** September 10, 2013, 08:37:47 AM

Paul,great to see you mate

Thanks for dropping in

Gotta admit to being slightly envious of you,but well done on all the positive steps

Don't forget the family are here waiting for your updates

captain spaulding · **Reply #7 on:** September 10, 2013, 08:58:37 AM

Holy crap it's good to see you around Heinz.

After you left I was wondering if I would ever see you again.

Glad to hear that everything is going well and your new path is working out for you. Staying close to the kids is great.

I hope to hear more from you. If i'm around Berkeley I will give you a call and maybe we can meet up and grab lunch sometime. Is your phone number still the same? Anyways it is great to hear from you and I wish you and the kids the best. See you around.

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #8 on:** September 10, 2013, 09:29:18 AM

Great to see you Paul

A lot of folks just curl up and hide when things go bad, and it's fantastic to see you taking hold of things and remodelling them for the better

It's sounding like you've made a lot of very positive changes already

Good luck with everything .... and don't leave it so long till your next update

Mr. Whippy · **Reply #9 on:** September 10, 2013, 01:36:22 PM

Hey Heinz,

Great to hear things are settling a bit. I am so glad that you went this way rather than "Out in the Wild" sort of thing. Sounds like life is getting on track, albeit a different track

Good for you!

ducttapetech · **Reply #10 on:** September 10, 2013, 01:44:15 PM

Nice to see you are getting things turned around and nice to hear from you. Best of luck!

sent from my mobile

firiki · **Reply #11 on:** September 10, 2013, 02:05:15 PM

It's good to hear from you, Heinz. I hope you find what you're looking for. Take care and keep us posted, please.

Syph007 · **Reply #12 on:** September 10, 2013, 02:54:17 PM

Thanks for letting us know how you are doing Paul. Hopefully you are still giving your workchamp some tool exercise too!

I would have done the same the same as you and given up the job if I had to move away from kids.

Taxi Dad · **Reply #13 on:** September 10, 2013, 03:03:37 PM

good to hear from you man, I did think you'd vanished into the woods never to be heard from again !

jerseydevil · **Reply #14 on:** September 10, 2013, 04:10:18 PM

Hello Paul! Glad to hear that things are starting to turn around. Best of luck!

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #15 on:** September 10, 2013, 04:33:01 PM

Good to hear from you. I've been wondering how you've been since we last heard from you.

Good to hear you'll be sticking close to your kids. They will always need their father.

Def

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

sawman · **Reply #16 on:** September 10, 2013, 04:36:36 PM

Thanks for stopping by as I was wondering about you just the other day. Your new life changes sound interesting and I wish you the best in them. If you're ever down and out and find you have no place to go, you can always come here. You're amongst friends.

Aloha · **Reply #17 on:** September 10, 2013, 04:54:08 PM

glad to hear you are well. nice that you stayed close to your kids as from what you've said they are the world to you as im sure you are to them. what great news on you getting healthy in all aspects of your life keep it up and some how your journey reminded me of the Robert Frost poem. Ill be sending you positive energy and thoughts as you continue to grow and heal. best of luck with landing REI and its pretty fantastic your tools are still serving your well. thank you so much for the update and checking in. I know I came here just as your were transitioning out but ive read a lot of your contributions and MTo is family so with that again all the best Sir.

Monrogue · **Reply #18 on:** September 11, 2013, 04:39:22 AM

Hey man, it's great to hear from you! I'm happy to hear that your new lifestyle path is working for you and that you are healthier in many ways. Good luck in your future endeavors, and I look forward to hearing more updates in the future

Grathr · **Reply #19 on:** September 12, 2013, 09:26:43 PM

Great to hear from you again Paul!

Im glad to hear that you are doing ok, and taking good care of yourself.
Good luck with the interview!

tattoosteve99 · **Reply #20 on:** September 13, 2013, 05:45:32 AM

That's great news to hear from you! I was honestly and genuinely worried

. Buddhist monastery, that's awesome! The closest place near me is a far drive

. But I'm am sooooo glad to hear you still kickin!

82brutus · **Reply #21 on:** September 13, 2013, 07:32:02 AM

Good hearing from you! Glad you decided to stay near the kids and look for other ways to keep your sanity.

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk 4

Heinz Doofenshmirtz · **Reply #22 on:** September 23, 2013, 11:00:26 PM

Hi everyone, thanks very much for all your kind words; I genuinely appreciate it!

Things have been up and down for me, but overall I'm doing alright. I have my bike, a roof over my head, people who care about me and support me, and now I have a new job too.

I started as a part time mechanic at the Performance Bike Shop in downtown Walnut Creek last week. It's a nice place to work; I like the people I work with, and they have a great employee training and incentive program. Oh, and I use my Skele-CX every single day at work, mostly for opening boxes the new bikes come in. I use it for pulling staples out and cutting the serial no. off the box for filling out the build tags we have to complete for each bike.

Today is my Sunday on my schedule for my new job, and I just finished doing my stretching and meditation. Have some housework to do, build a new rear wheel for my bike, and then get some work done for a writing job I've got right now. Tonight I'm going hiking up in the hills, and to gather and process some firewood for my ex-wife and our kids for a camping trip they're going on this weekend.

This week I'm going to dip into my savings and buy myself a new bike frame to start building a new bike with, and get myself a new mattress for my bed, as my old futon is completely worn out. And, the gal I've been dating is coming over to my place this weekend!

All in all, things are moving forward. Honestly still don't know where my life is going yet, but right now I don't mind; I'm moving in a positive direction, I have everything I need, and I am grateful for it all.

Namasté!

Paul.

derekmac · **Reply #23 on:** September 24, 2013, 12:18:07 AM

I'm really glad to hear that things are heading in a good direction for you! Also glad you found a job you like AND you get to use your Skele everyday.

Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

kirk13 · **Reply #24 on:** September 24, 2013, 12:47:39 AM

Sorry,should be going for a funny here,but...

Zen and the art of bicycle maintance Heinz?

Syph007 · **Reply #25 on:** September 24, 2013, 12:51:30 AM

Nice to hear from you again! Keep checking in with your tools buddies when you can and let us know how it's goin!

tattoosteve99 · **Reply #26 on:** September 24, 2013, 02:09:52 AM

Excellent that you stopped by to say hello :wave: So glad to hear things are looking up

. Take care

sawman · **Reply #27 on:** September 24, 2013, 02:27:59 AM

Good hearing from you as always! Keep up what you're doing and stop by often as you can

CanadianLMfan · **Reply #28 on:** September 24, 2013, 02:40:16 AM

Hello! random emoticon

Mr. Whippy · **Reply #29 on:** September 24, 2013, 02:42:52 AM

Really glad to hear that life's trajectory has a positive slope.

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