The Aikido Problem

[serinde]

So I want to start taking aikido again. I seem to not have the desperate need for it anymore to stave off The Crazy, but I want it for exercise and weight loss and, Goddammit, I really enjoy it especially now that I have reached some bare glimmerings of competence.

The Problem: I had been accustomed to take the 12:15pm classes. They were of a comfortable size; I quite liked all the teachers; and it meant I could do it during lunch. This worked tolerably well when $JOB-1 was at 18th St., a block from the dojo. It was more of a pain when $JOB-1 moved a half mile uptown, but they are a free-wheeling and forgiving lot, so I managed to eke out the extra time to hoof it. Now, though, since I am working in Outer Fuckyouistan the Upper East Side, and since there is no aikido club at Hunter nor any dojos nearby, there is no obvious good solution. Here's my options as I see 'em:

1. Find a way to keep taking the 12:15 class.
   I think this is a non-starter. It'd be half an hour transit each way, plus an hour class, and that's not even counting changing, clean-up, etc. The deep woe of crossing this out means that I do not ever get to take weapons. :(
   
   
2. Take the usual after-work, 5:30 class.
   This seems like the "well, duh!" option, but here's the thing: Okay, so I leave work at 5 or a few minutes before and head downtown. Class runs 5:30 - 6:30. So there's no conceivable way to make the 6:32 train, which means I'm looking at the 7:15, which means I'm getting home at gone 8pm. I think I would rapidly go postal. (Not to mention, where in there do I have dinner?)
   
   
3. Take an evening class in Joisey.
   There are dojos in Hoboken, Teaneck (or Hackensack? One of those) and, I think, Ridgewood. But for all intents and purposes that ends up being the same as #2, above, except I'm also going to a dojo where I have no idea what the people or culture is like. (Except the Hoboken one, which is, I believe, run by Michael-who-teaches-at-Tuesday-lunchtime, and I'd be quite content to go anyplace he runs.)
   
   
4. Take a class before work.
   The only morning class is at 7:15. I would have to take the 6am train (JESUS H. CHRIST ON A RUBBER FENCEPOST!!) and sit around for awhile; and then I would also be in early at work--which might not entirely suck, I could leave earlier, but I really think this is a non-starter.
   
   
5. Find a way to take the 4:15pm class.
   If I can swing it--which is a not-inconsiderable "if"--this would probably be the sweet spot. Class ends at 5:15; I could easily catch the 6:04 train, pokey local though it be. Now, the problem is, how can I arrange my life to be on 18th and Seventh by, say, 4:10pm?
   
   
   
   • Take no lunch and come in ~20 min. early, so my hours are like 8:45 - 3:45. It's a lovely theory, but this being an arm of civil service with unions and stuff, I strongly suspect there would be wailings and gnashings of teeth if you try and work N hours without a break. Indeed, I think I've overheard as much.
     
   • Work 7:45 - 3:45 and take a full lunch. This lets me have aikido and river walks. It also means I'm taking a 6:13 train. arglbargl no.
     
   • Work a nominal 8-4 day, taking half-hour lunch, and splitting the other half-hour so it's actually 8:15 - 3:45. It Just Might Work. I believe it meets all the fussy labor requirements; I could take the 6:56 train (or maybe even the 7:10) which is within the bounds of sanity, if barely; and I could at least walk around a little to stretch my legs midday, even if I couldn't do a full river walk. (This would be even easier to manage if Steve were actually going in for his early meetings, instead of taking them from home. Cough.)
     
   
   

I had wanted to settle on a Plan and then enact it this month, but the holiday season is such a crazy mess, maybe it'd be smarter to hold off 'til January.

Comments

[heliumbreath.livejournal.com]

Option 2, and find someplace to eat dinner downtown between getting out of class at 6:30 and boarding the 7:15 train?

(For an encore, you could be thankful that you're not *cough* in some wannabe huge metropolis somewhere up here, where the trains stop running after about 6.)

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

1. I am trying to avoid eating out in general, as it's overpricey in these parts (unless you want a cheap hot dog). And packing a dinner every day in addition to lunch gets into serious logistical annoyance territory.

2. That's why I don't live there. ;)