[at-l] jobs, and life, and such

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C.)]

>"...On the trail, my deepest thoughts related to, "What am I going to eat when
>I get to town?" and "Do I shower first or eat first when I get there?"

I guess that's one of the advantages of taking a more relaxed view of the trail
(The disadvantage is one tends not to hike the whole thing) But my mind was
churning away most of the time in 1993, except, perhaps, when someone would
implant a song in my head that wouldn't leave.

I didn't read much on the trail. After a few minutes I would drift off to sleep.
But those snatches before sleep tended to keep my mind pondering away the next
day, which is perhaps an argument for choosing one's trail literature carefully.

I never earned much money, but I was fortunate in my jobs. For 30 years my job
was also my hobby. Good in that I enjoyed it despite the stress. But bad in that
I tended to ignore the rules and work far too many free hours than was good for
my family.

 I made more money before I became a "professional" than afterwards. Those early
 jobs tended to be what most consider boring assembly line and manual work. But
 even that has advantages. My work then was automatic. My mind was free to
 wander wherever it chose to go -- somewhat like my postings to this forum.
 There's nothing like winding coils, shipping bobby pins, making skins for
 skinless hotdogs, or working the clean up shift in an ice cream factory for
 stimulating thinking.

 Weary