What Do You Do?

[matsumoto]

You two are cool. Your jobs kick! You kick!

 

no contest!

[Mourningcloud]

currently (like this very minute-im currently at work-which is to say of you live in the state of California, your tax dollars are paying me to write this)

I work for State Compensation Insurance Fund as a Program Technician, which is a big phrase for low level grunt who does everything from make copies and change the water in the cooler to taking applications for insurance, making sure they are valid, and inputting them (low level data entry) and covering for the receptionist when she calls in sick (which is like every other day, but now that i have answered phones for a state agency, i understand why)

this is definitely NOT my dream job.

 

Incidentally, for all you walmart, barnes & noble, fast food wage slaves out there, consider this: its true what they say about office jobs-most of the women and many of the men i work with have gained an estimated 10 pounds/ year since they have worked here (I'm not being sexist, its just that the women are often moms so when they are not working they are usually at home being moms, where the dads are often soccor or baseball/softball coaches in their "downtime" and tend to keep in shape a little bit more, but as i said many of the men have gained their share of poundage too). In the beginning i couldnt understand why, but now that i sit in a cubicle all day, i find myself reaching for snacks at all hours, just for something to do while i am doing nothing (AKA working...). I have also started to gain a little weight, and this is from a guy who normally runs anywhere from 4-7 % body fat and has stayed physically active throughout his entire adult life; I danced Jazz, ballet and other styles all through college (I have my 8 year degree-my bachelors ) and also Kickboxed (Muay Thai, not that american pseudo-karate junk); and I still kickbox and lift weights several times a week. Ive been at a desk for 4 months now and i am already going stir crazy, as well as gaining love handles. Before this I was waiter at BJ's Brewpub and Rainforest Cafe (thats an active job!), and have also been a bookslave (both B Daltons and waldenbooks), been the grill man at the student union cafe in college, and worked in a gorcery store bakery. I can tell you that id rather have one of those active jobs any day over this 9-5 on my butt crap. But when yo have kids, you take the first job that has benefits, so here i sit on my ever-expanding keister....

 

Without a doubt the best job I have ever had was for the US forest service. I was Hotshot-a handcrew firefighter for the Del Rosa Hotshots here in San Bernardino. It was the most difficult thing i have ever done physically (it was frigging grueling), the guys i worked with were for the most part immature uneducated lunkheads with the average mentality of a 9th grader-the kind of guys who still think that referring to someone as homosexual is an insult-don't they know that it is "in" to be gay? (actually no they dont-they would never watch any shows like queer eye for the straight gay, or even the channel that would show such nonsense; they would likely even consider the history channel for "sissies") yet despite this it was without a doubt the best thing i have ever done. There is little more rewarding then saving someones house, which in my short time there we did several times over (i fought the notorious Grand Prix and Old fires here-many of you out of state likely heard of these-they were pretty big news two summers ago.)

 

I have also been: a waiter for the box seats at a concert venue (I saw every concert from 1993-2001-The Eagles twice, Metallica twice, Ozz fest 3 years, the Ramones, Don Henley, Depeche Mode, Megadeth, Skid Row, Def Leppard, just about any country act you can think of several times over from Travis Tritt, Trisha Yearwood, Kenney Chesney & Brooks and Dunn to Hank Williams Jr and Charlie Daniels, Warped Tour twice, Celine Dion, Barry Manilow, Lolapalooza 2 years in a row, the Cranberries, the Gin Blossoms, etc etc etc.;that was definitely a dream job, but at some point around my 27th birthday i had to grow up ); a manual drafter for a mapping company, an educator for the local county museum, and a projectionist in the two most ghetto movie theatres this side if Los Angeles county.

 

My "dream job" is as varied as my real job history. i hope to someday try my hand at acting and modeling but i just turned 31 so time is growning short-if you check the "what do you look like" thread you will see me headshot posted. Someone here had a wife who was a director? i also want to be either a park ranger or a US forest service Law Enforcement Officer-cop pay, badges and guns, you dont have to settle domestic disputes or do traffic enforcement and you get to muck about in the wilderness all day, every day;sometimes even on horseback. Ahh, joy. Oh yeah, id also like to be a crime scene investigator (i am currently taking classes toward this end)-not because of the show, but because i really want to solve crimes and bust bad guys. I also want to be an FBI agent or possibly work for national security, the federal air marshalls, or intelligence. I was considering doing some military time as an officer toward the law enforcement goal after college, but now the prospect of getting sent to Iraq and away from my two young sons (ones 3 1/2 years, ones 2 weeks), possibly forever keeps me out of the recruiting office.

my main dream would be to have invested in the local real estate market when property values skyrocketed here in Southern California the last three years, and made enough to retire with a house on the beach and a few hundred thousand in the bank, and started on my modeling and acting career, and studied dance and martial arts and archeology all over the world with my kids; and what really kills me is if i had played my cards a little better, this could have been a possibility. but oh well, we live and learn, right?