There’s nothing I’d rather do than work, except spend time with my wife and children. To do both at the same time is like being in Heaven.
TPC
February 2, 2016 9:49 am
Working for myself brings me peace and happiness. Working for others lands me on that list.
Anonymous
February 2, 2016 9:52 am
I don’t speak for anyone but myself, but work gives me a sense of worth and self respect.
I suppose that puts me on the fringes of society today.
Teri
February 2, 2016 9:55 am
rob, the trouble is, most people think they’re too good for any kind of manual labor or working with their hands in a trade. I guess that big degree and a cubicle is supposed to be more rewarding.
Francis Marion
February 2, 2016 10:08 am
HSF – I’ll second that. I’d add gardening, hunting and spending time in the mountains right under the wife and kids part. Nice thing is they usually come hand in hand.
I think most people become disappointed and depressed with their working environment because they are disconnected from the real/natural world to such a large degree that they feel trapped – but are unable to figure out why or how to fix it.
I’ll never be a farmer but growing, foraging and hunting my own food keeps me content and connected to the universe around me while making me comfortable with my own mortality. If you are in touch with your mortality you begin to see life differently and you live with less fear and more exuberance.
Just my .02 cents…
card802
February 2, 2016 10:19 am
My work is life sucking, I have zero motivation.
While the business we started in 1987 has provided two weddings, two college educations for the kids and a debt free life, it’s time to call this chapter closed and move on to a new form of work.
Seriously thinking of a summer cash paying business, then hook up the camper and go off to see America, hike one national park at a time and work camp.
Iconoclast421
February 2, 2016 10:29 am
I dont know what google you guys are using
Iconoclast421
February 2, 2016 10:29 am
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JIMSKI
February 2, 2016 10:33 am
Ya just google search whatever terms you want and the make it look like the whole intertezt is fucked.
My first ” work makes me ” came up DRINK.
No idea how that came up……..
Shop Local
February 2, 2016 10:34 am
Rob
I believe that farming is the closest you can get to God. Even closer than being a preacher.
po'boy
February 2, 2016 11:23 am
Life sucking when working for others and fulfilling when done for myself.
Rdawg
February 2, 2016 12:14 pm
Arbeit Macht Frei.
Pirate Jo
February 2, 2016 7:22 pm
Imagine that you are an experienced carpenter who gets hired for a job. You show up on the first day of work thinking Carpenter Bob can work on the staircases, and I’ll do the bookcases and cabinets. Instead, Carpenter Bob works crazy hours building everything and you spend your day sharpening his tools.
That’s where I am right now. I spend way too many hours wondering what I am doing wrong.
I think, Why are they paying me these wages to sharpen tools all day? Well, because if they hire someone inexperienced to sharpen tools, they will fuck it up, and heaven forbid Carpenter Bob actually delegate some of the building and sharpen his own damn tools.
I don’t want to be Carpenter Bob’s assistant. As an experienced carpenter, I can do some building myself.
I am willing to sharpen my OWN tools – I wouldn’t even dream of asking someone else to do something that is my responsibility. But I don’t want to spend my days sharpening someone else’s, and then listening to them bitch because I didn’t do it the same way THEY would do it.
Such is life in corporate America. Thank the Maker for my big cash stash and my paid-off rental property. Quitting a job is coming soon to a future near me!
Llpoh
February 2, 2016 7:36 pm
Card – I feel your pain. Between employees – who suck beyond all human comprehension – and customers – who eat the crotch out of skid marked underwear – and govt regs and taxes – who wants to be a business owner.
Pirate Jo
February 2, 2016 7:39 pm
In addendum, to illustrate:
I do accounting, and last year I spent all summer doing something I really liked. I worked two weeks a month closing out a company’s books, reconciling the asset/liability accounts, and putting together the management report. I had MY OWN JOB. Every now and then, if I felt like earning a little more money, I’d put in a few extra hours a month working on a project for the boss. But I had my own responsibilities, some of which required low-level tool-sharpening and some of which required some analysis and critical thought. I “owned” the whole process and I liked it and the other two weeks of the month I just enjoyed the sunshine.
At the end of the year, for six weeks, I was called in to help a company in distress. The previous year’s software transition had been a disaster and they needed someone to help clean up their books. That was my job: Clean up the books. So it took me about five weeks, the books were clean, the client was utterly delighted, and my work was done.
Now I’m back with the previous client and have no idea why they wanted me back, other than to come in and sharpen tools all week. Frankly it’s a bit insulting. Hire a freaking college intern for this shit! Be a decent person and do your part to convince them they never want a corporate job in their life! I think they are just doing what is easiest for them, and they are about to lose a good contractor who knows all their systems because of it.
For those of you older folks who have more work experience than I have, what would you do differently in my shoes? Would you just leave, too, and take your chances somewhere else?
I think I would be happier working for small businesses, but they are dying faster than they are being born. Plus they only tend to hire family members. What would you do if you were me? And still had to spend some time working, in order to keep the lights on and food on the table? Should I just feel lucky to be able to find work, however irritating it is, at all? (That’s my mother’s voice in my head right there.) Somehow I’m either not being heard, or nobody is listening, or they are listening and think I’m desperate enough that they don’t care.
Llpoh
February 2, 2016 8:01 pm
PJ – Given your well known love of chilruns, if I were you I would adopt a couple of young kids born to drug addicted Russian prostitutes. I hear that always ends well.
Pirate Jo
February 2, 2016 8:03 pm
Llpoh, but how does it pay?
Rob in Nova Scotia
February 2, 2016 10:05 pm
@Shop Local
You made me laugh. Being a preacher doesn’t rank high on my list of “to do” things. Besides God and I are on a first name basis. He told me a while back that we don’t need to talk right now. Just chill and enjoy life. He said we can catch up on things at the gate.
Erumpo
February 3, 2016 12:58 am
I am blessed , I actually have meaningful work . It generally is good .
Im not bored. Challenges abound. Fits my skillset. I am fulfilled . Pay is fair.
If it was too easy , wouldn’t be worth doing. I get too guide people that have no critical thinking skills.
When the lightbulbs go off in their heads , wow I don’t know how to express that satisfaction .
I helped someone learn something .
One day , they might be capable of independent thought . That is written on my soul , to help ,to teach ,to give hope even when I have none . it is weird , but seems to be my life ,at least for this season I am currently in .
IndenturedServant
February 3, 2016 6:51 am
I love working. I’ve loved every job I’ve ever had……well, I’ve loved certain aspects of every job I’ve ever had. I’ve loved some jobs more than others but in general I like work. I’ve had about 20 different jobs over 37 years. By different I mean different lines of work, everything from shining shoes (awesome job) to delivering mail, to finishing concrete and making high end semiconductors from raw materials.
No matter how menial the work or how shitty the boss may have been there was always something worthwhile to learn and much pride to be taken in every job. I’ll do just about any kind of work available and have a good attitude about it to boot! Nearly every job has led me to my next and in every instance it was a step up in responsibility and pay.
The longest I’ve worked in one line of work (concrete construction) was 12 years and the longest I’ve been in the same job is my current one (semiconductors) for 10 years. I can’t even imagine spending a bunch of money going to college to be trained for one thing and then spending a lifetime doing that one thing. Fuck that! Some jobs, like HSF’s job would be great due to the variety of work, being outdoors etc but doing what admin does would inspire me to go postal.
People think I’m nuts when I tell them I love my job but it’s true. I look forward to going to work everyday and I have a good time while I’m there because it’s a challenge. I don’t really dream of retirement or look forward to vacations. If I won the lottery I’d probably keep working just for fun. Yeah……..I’m a sick bastard!
If you’re not having fun doing what you’re doing you need to move on. I think that’s been the secret to my success……enjoying my work. It seems that it always leads to something better.
sad
time to be a farmer.
There’s nothing I’d rather do than work, except spend time with my wife and children. To do both at the same time is like being in Heaven.
Working for myself brings me peace and happiness. Working for others lands me on that list.
I don’t speak for anyone but myself, but work gives me a sense of worth and self respect.
I suppose that puts me on the fringes of society today.
rob, the trouble is, most people think they’re too good for any kind of manual labor or working with their hands in a trade. I guess that big degree and a cubicle is supposed to be more rewarding.
HSF – I’ll second that. I’d add gardening, hunting and spending time in the mountains right under the wife and kids part. Nice thing is they usually come hand in hand.
I think most people become disappointed and depressed with their working environment because they are disconnected from the real/natural world to such a large degree that they feel trapped – but are unable to figure out why or how to fix it.
I’ll never be a farmer but growing, foraging and hunting my own food keeps me content and connected to the universe around me while making me comfortable with my own mortality. If you are in touch with your mortality you begin to see life differently and you live with less fear and more exuberance.
Just my .02 cents…
My work is life sucking, I have zero motivation.
While the business we started in 1987 has provided two weddings, two college educations for the kids and a debt free life, it’s time to call this chapter closed and move on to a new form of work.
Seriously thinking of a summer cash paying business, then hook up the camper and go off to see America, hike one national park at a time and work camp.
I dont know what google you guys are using
[img
[/img]
Ya just google search whatever terms you want and the make it look like the whole intertezt is fucked.
My first ” work makes me ” came up DRINK.
No idea how that came up……..
Rob
I believe that farming is the closest you can get to God. Even closer than being a preacher.
Life sucking when working for others and fulfilling when done for myself.
Arbeit Macht Frei.
Imagine that you are an experienced carpenter who gets hired for a job. You show up on the first day of work thinking Carpenter Bob can work on the staircases, and I’ll do the bookcases and cabinets. Instead, Carpenter Bob works crazy hours building everything and you spend your day sharpening his tools.
That’s where I am right now. I spend way too many hours wondering what I am doing wrong.
I think, Why are they paying me these wages to sharpen tools all day? Well, because if they hire someone inexperienced to sharpen tools, they will fuck it up, and heaven forbid Carpenter Bob actually delegate some of the building and sharpen his own damn tools.
I don’t want to be Carpenter Bob’s assistant. As an experienced carpenter, I can do some building myself.
I am willing to sharpen my OWN tools – I wouldn’t even dream of asking someone else to do something that is my responsibility. But I don’t want to spend my days sharpening someone else’s, and then listening to them bitch because I didn’t do it the same way THEY would do it.
Such is life in corporate America. Thank the Maker for my big cash stash and my paid-off rental property. Quitting a job is coming soon to a future near me!
Card – I feel your pain. Between employees – who suck beyond all human comprehension – and customers – who eat the crotch out of skid marked underwear – and govt regs and taxes – who wants to be a business owner.
In addendum, to illustrate:
I do accounting, and last year I spent all summer doing something I really liked. I worked two weeks a month closing out a company’s books, reconciling the asset/liability accounts, and putting together the management report. I had MY OWN JOB. Every now and then, if I felt like earning a little more money, I’d put in a few extra hours a month working on a project for the boss. But I had my own responsibilities, some of which required low-level tool-sharpening and some of which required some analysis and critical thought. I “owned” the whole process and I liked it and the other two weeks of the month I just enjoyed the sunshine.
At the end of the year, for six weeks, I was called in to help a company in distress. The previous year’s software transition had been a disaster and they needed someone to help clean up their books. That was my job: Clean up the books. So it took me about five weeks, the books were clean, the client was utterly delighted, and my work was done.
Now I’m back with the previous client and have no idea why they wanted me back, other than to come in and sharpen tools all week. Frankly it’s a bit insulting. Hire a freaking college intern for this shit! Be a decent person and do your part to convince them they never want a corporate job in their life! I think they are just doing what is easiest for them, and they are about to lose a good contractor who knows all their systems because of it.
For those of you older folks who have more work experience than I have, what would you do differently in my shoes? Would you just leave, too, and take your chances somewhere else?
I think I would be happier working for small businesses, but they are dying faster than they are being born. Plus they only tend to hire family members. What would you do if you were me? And still had to spend some time working, in order to keep the lights on and food on the table? Should I just feel lucky to be able to find work, however irritating it is, at all? (That’s my mother’s voice in my head right there.) Somehow I’m either not being heard, or nobody is listening, or they are listening and think I’m desperate enough that they don’t care.
PJ – Given your well known love of chilruns, if I were you I would adopt a couple of young kids born to drug addicted Russian prostitutes. I hear that always ends well.
Llpoh, but how does it pay?
@Shop Local
You made me laugh. Being a preacher doesn’t rank high on my list of “to do” things. Besides God and I are on a first name basis. He told me a while back that we don’t need to talk right now. Just chill and enjoy life. He said we can catch up on things at the gate.
I am blessed , I actually have meaningful work . It generally is good .
Im not bored. Challenges abound. Fits my skillset. I am fulfilled . Pay is fair.
If it was too easy , wouldn’t be worth doing. I get too guide people that have no critical thinking skills.
When the lightbulbs go off in their heads , wow I don’t know how to express that satisfaction .
I helped someone learn something .
One day , they might be capable of independent thought . That is written on my soul , to help ,to teach ,to give hope even when I have none . it is weird , but seems to be my life ,at least for this season I am currently in .
I love working. I’ve loved every job I’ve ever had……well, I’ve loved certain aspects of every job I’ve ever had. I’ve loved some jobs more than others but in general I like work. I’ve had about 20 different jobs over 37 years. By different I mean different lines of work, everything from shining shoes (awesome job) to delivering mail, to finishing concrete and making high end semiconductors from raw materials.
No matter how menial the work or how shitty the boss may have been there was always something worthwhile to learn and much pride to be taken in every job. I’ll do just about any kind of work available and have a good attitude about it to boot! Nearly every job has led me to my next and in every instance it was a step up in responsibility and pay.
The longest I’ve worked in one line of work (concrete construction) was 12 years and the longest I’ve been in the same job is my current one (semiconductors) for 10 years. I can’t even imagine spending a bunch of money going to college to be trained for one thing and then spending a lifetime doing that one thing. Fuck that! Some jobs, like HSF’s job would be great due to the variety of work, being outdoors etc but doing what admin does would inspire me to go postal.
People think I’m nuts when I tell them I love my job but it’s true. I look forward to going to work everyday and I have a good time while I’m there because it’s a challenge. I don’t really dream of retirement or look forward to vacations. If I won the lottery I’d probably keep working just for fun. Yeah……..I’m a sick bastard!
If you’re not having fun doing what you’re doing you need to move on. I think that’s been the secret to my success……enjoying my work. It seems that it always leads to something better.