Jersey Shore

It's been a while since I've been on to write something. I've followed a new path that has led me to new adventures. Currently I am living the life of a 9-5er. That's right, Dylan's gone corporate. The new job is a great mix of the things that keep me personally interested in a job: people, learning, yelling, solving problems, and not bar tending anymore. I know what you're thinking, how could he give up the life? Well, it was easy. I just realized I needed a little more mental challenge and a little less mental problems from my regulars (no offense, but you're all crazy). So now I've found myself in the suburb of New York, New Jersey. In a quaint town called Jersey City, because they thought it sounded as good as New York City. It doesn't.

Now I do have to say something about getting around Jersey. It does have mass transit, it costs you as much as owning a car, but they do have it. And their roads? It's like driving on the moon with all the craters that seem to be classified as simply "potholes". And don't get me started about navigating around New Jersey. If your state's roads confuses your GPS so badly that it tells you to stop and ask for directions then you've got problems. These are roads where you can start on the 1 & 9, which is two separate roads that link together and then eventually break off. Oh, did I mention that there's an express route too? And also a truck route? I mean, I'm no mathematician but that means there's 2 X 2 X 2 = 123349 different roads on this one road alone. Like I said, I'm no mathematician, but that's a lot of numbers I just made up.

Oh you want to take the New Jersey Turnpike? That's NJTP for those who don't know. It's also I-95, which is all they needed to call it but they're *$#@ing douches so there you go. And if you get stuck trying to drive on that one you'll be in traffic, have to pay a toll, realize you went the wrong way, have to pay a toll coming back, and then scream as you miss your exit again. Driving in Jersey is like Grand Theft Auto, except it's more vulgar and it creates a greater desire for violence. You ever seen the MTV series Jersey Shore? It's like that except more dysfunctional. And then I bought a car because that's the fun of living in Jersey.

I've got something else on my chest that I need to get off too, and I'm not talking about my pecs that have turned slightly man-boobish. I'm talking about faith, faith in every sense of the word. I tend to make a lot of big decisions, moving here or there, taking this job or that, and that brings a lot of opportunities for doubt. It's easy to second guess a decision. It's easy to question the simple things we do just as we question the larger events and choices. What we forget so often is that once the decision is made, it's made. You can't change what you did. You can learn from past mistakes or past choices that didn't work out. You have to remember that it's in the past. And you cannot predict the future. We need faith in our lives, even if it's not including the spiritual part. We need it because it is the foundation of our confidence. That swagger that has brought us so much success in the past. In the end, no matter your religious beliefs, you have faith, you carry it with you. It is the root of your happiness, because if you were to constantly doubt your past and current decisions, you could never be happy with who you are with now, what you are doing now, where you are living now, and your life now. That simple belief in yourself, that little bit of confidence, gives you everything even if you have nothing.

This week's Wandering Wizard is brought to you by Paulaner Hefe-Weizen. Paulaner drunk in authentic beer stein's, it's DE-licious.