Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn't it a pity
Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city
All around, people looking half dead
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head
Don't be makin' fun of my dream job.....
Basically a 40 year span with 25 of those years in the advertising/internet business, of which I still continue to do to this very day. I don't really consider what I do a JOB, as I much as I do as just having fun enjoying what I love to do. I just like creating s**t and throwing it up on the wall and seeing if it sticks. Luckily I've been fortunate enough that most of what I have created over the years has stuck, and has afforded me the freedoms to have fun and enjoy my life while I'm still young. I will probably never retire in the "official" sense of what most people would consider retirement to be, as what I do is something I thoroughly enjoy and will keep doing it until my mind or body totally ceases to operate.
I live in Brooklyn. I enjoy it, but I was born and raised in Socal so I'm used to being around a sea of humanity. There's tons to do within walking distance of where I live - great restaurants, bars, museums, pretty much anything you can think of. That said, I'm only here because my fiancée is doing a residency at a Brooklyn hospital. It's a fun place to be in the meantime, but once she's done we'll likely move to a place that's a little more laid back (and less expensive!).
You were. Eglin.
Latest was a guy from England who worked for the Royal family and spilled the beans to us on all their nasty little secrets. It's very interesting to say the least...
I keep considering it. I'm 2/3 of the way to ATP minimums but I'm really not sure about that severe of a pay cut... On the other hand, it's not like I want to keep doing what I'm doing.
Alright, I'll play along. Let's talk about the last 20 years. Previous 20 years prior to 1997 were a combination of cattle ranching, oilfield work, machinist, room service waiter at a resort, owner of a moving company, owner of a motorcycle courier company, then owner of advertising/internet company which I still have to this very day.
In 1997 I was doing advertising (both print and web) for the real estate crowd and small business owners. I was also running nude celebrity web sites. My typical day consisted of pulling frames from movies on DVD's of celebrities who happened to have any nude scenes. I'd grab the frames and post them to the web sites and then hype the content (what you call click bait these days) to gain more signups. When not doing that, I was usually out and about riding my motorcycle doing photo shoots and gathering content for my realtor/small business clients for their web sites or their regular printed media campaigns. I'd gather the content, come home, do a ton of design/copy work on my computers, then either produce a web site or print media campaign based off the gathered content.
In 1999 I weaned down the print media side of my business to concentrate more on the internet side. With the threat of divorce from my wife as she didn't want the stigma of me being in the "porn business", I sold my nude celebrity sites to one of my friends who was also in the business. His wife wanted no part of it, and he actually ended up getting a divorce over his nude celebrity/porn business. He's now a multi-millionaire and lives in a mansion in N. Scottsdale. I'm sure his prior wife now regrets her decision. His current wife could care less and thoroughly enjoys all the perks of what that lifestyle affords. I told my wife (when she was alive) that if she would have let me keep my celebrity sites, we'd be in the same position as my best friend. I can tell she regretted making that decision, especially whenever we'd go over to their house and she sees their opulent lifestyle. Oh well... it was her call.
I then concentrated my efforts strictly on the "legitimate" side of things and still continued my small business/real estate web development. I then built a real estate web site that basically went viral overnight. I purposely designed it to be totally automated and require the minimum amount of maintenance and work as possible. My typical day running that web site (and still is), consists of checking my bank account for the daily deposits, answering a few emails or phone calls, and then maybe writing a new email to send out to gain more clients. My average work day is about a 1/2 an hour a day. As with any business, there are life cycles. This business is currently at the end of its cycle as there are newer and better "shiny objects" nowadays that have come along to pull my client base away from me. At this point and time, I have 2 sites (new shiny objects) currently in development that are also designed and automated to require very little maintenance. These sites should easily carry me (financial wise) for the next 20 years, and allow me the freedoms and adventures to pursue whatever I want to do that my current site has allowed me to do the prior 20 years.
For the last 25 years I've worked out of my home office. Since my wife has passed, I'm ready to move on to the next adventure in my life. I'm selling my home and everything in it, and will be hitting the road in an RV and traveling and doing business out of that. Besides the two businesses that I have in current development, I'll have another one that will be a blast to run and operate and will entail a lot of fun things. That one will require some actual work, as that is what it is all based on... working! I'll be trading jobs for a day or two with other interesting YouTubers who YouTube themselves doing their jobs or activities. Basically, I'll be YouTubing them YouTubing me doing their work, and then YouTubing all of that on my own YouTube channel. That business will be tons of fun to operate and should produce some decent revenue.
I don't know if you call what I do a "JOB" or not. To me it's just having fun doing what I enjoy doing and not being under somebody's else's thumb dictating my destiny. I don't like that feeling. I like to dictate my own destiny in life!
. That, and I was a captive audience as a 20 year old with 3 years' worth of undergraduate work already sunk in cost (aka little incentive to re-tread by the time one realizes the work environment is a non-starter).
I'm not knocking the airlines brother, if anything I'm being more pointed about engineering jobs, which was a working construct I grew to loathe. Matter of fact, I've come to generally regret having forewent my college years by enduring the grind of completing an engineering education with a GPA competitive enough to get me into the military. I did it for the wrong reasons, but hindsight is 2020
At any rate. I was just saying if you're that bogged down with your circumstances, and I'll be honest, your posts read very despondent about your current vocational choice, then make the pivot. I'm not being flippant, I recognize the economic logistics are not simple. As to the military and your potential medical disqualification, I don't know what to tell you. Ask the question anyways and see if there's any waiver precedent. Otherwise, I can tell you that I told myself back then. If mil aviation wasn't available, I wanted to pursue a job that I didn't absolutely hate, that would afford me both the economic ability and the time off to enjoy recreational aviation in earnest. I'm not gonna be a hypocrite and say I wouldn't have pursued airline work, when I was never tested on my bluff, since I was able to get into TAC military aviation, which is what I always wanted to do.
Whatever you do, life's too short to be miserable with work. Find a balance that works for ya, only you know what that is. Good luck to ya.
What's a "JOB"? Is that something where you have to go a place each day and be told what to do, how to do it, where to do it, why to do it, when to do it, and are constantly reminded what will happen to you if you don't do it?
It sounds like a lot of fun. I would really enjoy flying professionally. Unfortunately i wouldnt be any better at flying professionally than i am at being an engineer. Probably much worse. And im probably overpaid as it is
I thought the same thing. If you want to chat off forum that would be nice.
