It’s time now to check in on Operation Get More Money. Strategy #1 does not seem to be working. Strategy #1 is “Win the Lotto.” Part of the problem may be that we do not have a “Lotto,” we have a “Lottery.” “Lotto” sounds better because there is a Dutch (or Belgian?) cycling team named “Lotto.” Refined Europeans play the Lotto. Tacky Americans play the Lottery. My Sweet Lady and I are, therefore, tacky losers.
So, on to Strategy #2. Strategy #2 is to become a world famous writer. Any second now, this blog is going to go viral, get a crapload of hits, and make some serious cash. In fairness, I guess I should walk that scenario back just a smidge and get honest with myself that there is no advertising on this blog, ergo no way to make money. Instead of inventing some self-important crap about this being an advertisement (emphasis on the first syllable) free zone, I’ll own the truth that both of you who read this blog don’t seem to justify enough traffic to figure out how to put Google ads on here.
Which leads to Strategy #3. Strategy #3 being “get a fancy job and make bank.” Strategy #3 has involved idle speculation up to this point. “What kinds of jobs make bank?” “How might I acquire said jobs?” “Do I get to / have to wear a suit at these jobs?” “If a given job could pay for a Droid Incredible, would it be worth the stress?” Idle speculation has given way to real consideration as two positions have come to the fore this week alone. Strategy #3 might be showing promise.
Or strategy #3 could be a canard. I’ve had fancy jobs that paid half again as much as I am currently making. I was miserable. My family was miserable. Tallulah regularly took chunks out of classmates using nothing but her mandibles. Not cool. It seems strange to think that a person could be headhunted for a job that has the potential to double one’s salary and that person would say “hmmm, nah.”
But what it comes back to is a question of motives and too many failures have taught me that if my motivation is salary or prestige then I’m screwed. If my motivation is service and self-support, I may be ok. It’s possible that such a view is the height of arrogance. It’s true that it is the one view that seems to have consistently worked. If I had a choice, I’d choose to be motivated by big salaries. Fortunately or not, that doesn’t seem to be something over which I have any control.
being motivated by other than money has worked out great for me. you’ve seen my carpet, yes? and those roosters in the kitchen beside the harvest gold appliances? yeah….
🙂
Are you being ironical? Because I have seen the golden rooster as well as what strikes me as a type of freedom that comes from not trying to support a lavish lifestyle. So you are not jockeying the anchor desk beside Dan Miller but you get to see your family etc. There’s a balance?
you know dan miller had a heart attack like 18 months ago and died at the master’s golf tournament where he’d gone with rudy kalis? no, i am not shitting you there.
however, yes, being free from a lavish lifestyle has its perks – but on the other hand living with the same carpet and wallpaper for 2 decades gets a bit tiresome. one problem with changing things, though, is that i’d like a decor that could support a grocery cart-basket-buggy as a plant stand and have a place on the wall for that antique fire alarm i convinced them to give me at work when they replaced all the fire alarms — and my old man, not so much with the quirkiness. we’ve neatly avoided any controversies over decor by simply not having any.
look at the length of this comment. maybe i should get a blog of my own.