Looking for a complete change of pace after obtaining two college degrees and spending 14 years at a desk in Silicon Valley, Paul Knowles went to work for an old high school friend at AP Pallet in Gonzales three years ago.

Since bidding good-bye to the high-tech world, Knowles said he's lost 30 pounds.

"That's certainly a very good thing," he said.

Knowles has no regrets. He likes his new job because every day is different, plus it primarily involves a lot of outdoor, physical labor.

"I'm doing a lot of construction, destruction and recycling," he said. "Using the pallet machine, two of us can make about 1,000 pallets in eight hours. We also have a more hands-on process using a jig where two men can make 200 to 300 pallets in a day."

Involved in pallet construction about one day a week, Knowles spends the rest of his time recycling wood from old pallets, painting and doing other jobs at the site.

A Santa Cruz resident, Knowles commutes more than 100 miles round trip each day, but that hasn't been a deterrent. Wielding a paint brush, he said, "I've got it down to a science now!"