Workaholic? Please share!

[Kim Chee]

I'll admit that I can fuck off everything but putting food in my mouth, keeping clean and resting a bit before doing it all over again and be happy if I enjoy the work I'm doing (but I still love to travel). Are there any workaholics here amongst the misfits? I enjoy the restful times, but I really do enjoy work. If you travel to work, work to travel or are a washed up housie like me trying to make something happen for themselves and those who do travel, please share.

 

[wizehop]

If plane tickets and food/booze cost nothing then ya I'd probably never work a day in my life. Problem is I'm not happy sitting still, or going in circles for that matter, so I have to come up with cash from time to time to get me ever further away to new places.
All that being said I'll always work if there is work regardless of if I really want to or not. Money doesn't mean much to me, but the things you can do with it sure do. Some talk about being a slave to the machine, but I know what I'm working for...

 

[creature]

i HATE fucking work!! (ok.. ok.. i'm *not* wealthy & *do* work, but.. if i vote for it, do i get it??)

BUT.......... i enjoy being able to choose my own slavery.. & what i do after i tell my employers to go fuck off..

actually was a direct employee of some fucking billionaire a couple of years ago..

turned into a fucking shit throw..

my resignation letter, in part, read:

==========

The attached file is a composite (in varying degrees of transparency and contrast) of the existing drainage as per Snohomish County, the preliminary blueberry design, the portion of Lowell Larimer road **as actually surveyed** and the main aerial in reduced opacity for easy visual reference.

I am not a freaking magician.

I have literally just saved you a minimum of $100,000, while you have been scratching your heads wondering what the fuck I am doing.

I can prove my work, and I will do it for free & not bitch about another thing, in any way whatsoever, if it turns out I am wrong, & need to take every freaking lost penny & sulk away to somewhere that I won't be a bother to you.

I turned down a job paying nearly TWICE my current wages to be here with you.
I can provide you my goddamned **offer letter** if you want it from me.

****to be here with you****

Do you know that instead of looking for a place to live, I work on the weekends, and do not charge you?

Do you know that I shit in a bucket, and bury my turds in the dirt?

You are strangers to me.

& yet, with you, sirs, I have trusted what I believe was reasonable.

i am here, shitting in a plastic bucket..

No electricity, no fucking equipment.

I didn't drive here to be your enemy, but hey.. if conflict is what makes you happy, I am a goddamned fucking dick that lives on your doorstep that will be happy, too.

Win or lose, I dun care.

You will die, before I let go.
all i want is to do my job.

i don't want to be a whore or a bitch or a pain...
I need my tools, I need the money I have spent..

==========

well.. i got paid..

i got paid & i got fired.. good fucking riddance..
felt good, though..


[ btw, mistah 7 of X's, my tenses below are general, not directed towards any specific persons...
. except scumbags.... . ]

soo.. i enjoy working a shitload..
when i'm working with good people, good equipment, fair pay

almost never fucking happens, though..

my job is pretty decent in a lot of ways, though..
i work outside, i move around, go to a lot of different sites, a lot of variety in activities to get things done..

if i dinna survey, i'd be.. i dunno.. probably journeyman construction..

that or a nukier signintist..

; )

main thing about working is it can do 1 of 2 things.. maybe more.. but def these two:

wrap a noose around your neck, ankles & wrists, so that you never move from it..
or
be a tool to be free on your own terms..

being free means taking shit, one way or the other..
you busk?
well.. you have to deal with the folks that pay you..
you beg?
same fucking thing..
work for some fucking dick who's bottom line is self-interest & profit?
same same same fucking thing..

not working doesn't make people scumbags..
not being honest does..
not helping does
not being willing to clean your own shit, or make other people worry for you, so *they* have to feed you, when they HAVE NO MORE THAN YOU ********deffffiiinnnattteeellllyyyy*********** make you a scumbag.

but hey..
if you don't hurt anyone, & leave it up to others to help you, more fucking power to you..
.... & enjoy the ride..

it won't last long, & you'll eventually have to choose whether or not to *be* a scumbag to stay on, but..
it you can, without hurting others (taking from people, for instance, who need what they have, but share it, because they believe a lie you have told them).. then.. more power to you..

right around 24 or 25 is when people start looking at you & say "hey? can't you work?"
& if you say "yeah, but i don't want to" & they say "cool!! have a hamburger!!" then good for fucking you.

if you look up mournfully at someone, & they have a shitty fucking car, & obviously not a lot of fucking money, & you've just thrown been thrown down $100 for 3 hours of flying, & they ask "do you guys need money?" & you fucking take it so you can get some fucking luxury item, then you are a turd.

poor people don't prey on poor people.

do that, while being lazy, & everything is fucking cool..
don't lie.
travel.
fight your fucking addictions to your fucking death if feeding them means you will take what is needed from those whom need it so that they can simply exist..

there is a tremendous amount of fucking love in this world..
people will help..

***love*** is work..
if you **will not** do that work, you are fucking doomed.

you will never see the sky you believe you are free under.

you will be like a billionaire, counting his power & money, as you meditate upon your great scores of the day.

you will be a fucking scumbag.



my father.. my goddamned father, may his ashes fly sunward..

had a desk job for a thousand fucking years..
& i dunno..

maybe he was more free than me.

that is fucking love.

that is fucking work.

maybe you don't know everything.
maybe you don't learn the same meaning for the same fucking words in the *same* fucking language..

' *but*..
you do what you believe..

fucked up, scary, wrong, stupid or even insane..

you do what you **believe**....

& then, whatever work you do
is actually work..

it may not be work that is essentially good.. (which is the best argument against work in general, perhaps, if you are lazy enough to make that accusation against it...)

it may not be that work will actually *accomplish* anything (as if accomplishment has intrinsic meaning)..

it may not even be that what you loved enough to
' work
' for
' will survive..

but you will have loved.
you will have believed.
& you will have worked.

i assure you,
karma, heaven, or just making a fucking difference
do this work of being something else
& even if you are evil by way of ignorance
you will move humanity towards what it most dearly should become.

& if that is wrong?
or a fantasy?
or a lie to hold away fear?

then better that.

because if working towards something more than simple hunger or greed is not enough to change us
then all the universe will know,
at the end,
is

hunger


& greed.

scumbags will win.


humans will lose.

soooo..

i hate fucking work

but i love getting shit done


; )

 

[EphemeralStick]

I am definitely a workaholic. When I'm working a job that enjoy I tend to dedicate all of my time and energy towards doing that job. It's a double edged sword for me though since I sometimes tend to overwork myself and I end up wearing myself down mentally, and in some cases physically. I don't see it as a bad thing.

I only take on jobs that I enjoy doing, if I don't like the work I leave the job. But when I do enjoy the work and the people I'm working with I tend to go overboard. It's not even a matter of money, I'm the kind of person who needs to keep busy otherwise I start getting depressed. Hell I could be making 8 bucks an hour in a small cafe serving coffee to yuppies, but if that cafe is awesome and I enjoy the people I work with, I'll gladly put in 40 hours. (that actually happened haha)

 

[outlawloose]

@EphemeralStick what do you do?

If I didn't have to worry about money I'd still work my job. I live off my art and design work and Im fully grateful that I even have that as an option. A lot of the time it doesn't really feel like work.
Dont get me wrong, I work fucking hard at it, take it very seriously, and it can be really stressful at times – but there are people properly starving out there. I try to be as grateful as possible for the opportunity to get paid to do something Im happy to dedicate my life to.

 

[EphemeralStick]

@EphemeralStick what do you do?.

The instance I'm referring to was when I worked at a small ma/pa cafe. The pay was complete shit but being a barista and making coffee was a shit ton of fun. I learned a lot about coffee and tea brewing that I never would've thought had been interesting but low and behold it was!

I've also worked as shop manager for my friend's wood working business, that was a complete blast until said friend started caring more about money than he did making art which led to a rather explosive falling out. We've since reconciled and I'm actually working with him again to save up money before I head west. The work is back to being fun but I don't think I could deal with it long term like i used to.

I don't want to be another cog in the corporate wheel but goddamnit if it's a cool job I'm happy to do it.

 

[Tude]

I have been passionate about past jobs but sucks that industry tanked, etc. I used to be passionate about present job - love my old job - we grew that college dept. That ended in 2009 and it has crapped out to nothing. I work for my health insurance now. Eff anything else with them. I am looking for another job - want the passion back again. Makes getting up worthwhile and happy. So that is me in the job world. Wishing I could just get up and leave but I cannot.

 

[Rob Nothing]

as a young person I have found that I benefit, physically and mentally, from hard labor.

I have limits like anyone else, and one of these days I might have my fill or my luck will run and I could hurt myself. but that happens to the best of us and what is a good life if it doesn't make good sleep also.

And not work, but a slow, methodic cultivation.. developing skills and keeping my feet on firm ground. And I guess there is as much footwork that goes into a working day as there is in a traveling one. And There is a realness in it that I love as in everything practical, and more rewarding than hating and loving and keeping people.

 

[Odin]

I've worked since I was a teenager; more than half my life. I only recently stopped to reassess my life and make a drastic change, hoping to adapt myself to travel and find new adventure. To my chagrin, I have been embarrassingly slow at making the transition. Part of that being my drinking "habit", which I am in the third day of arresting to a full stop. I have done so a half dozen or so times in my life.

When I get into a job I apply myself no nonsense doing things the "smartest" way I can. I often don't conform well with procedure that is hyperbole and bullshit handed down from the corporate elite; all the while they're sickly smiles profess teamwork while eliminating benefits, pay and manpower to levels that constitute blatant robbery.

I think there is a better way. I think I can find other methods of sustainable living and include adventure. Now I have let myself for other personal handicaps/reasons to be stagnant. Though out of a reg job... I have small opportunities for ? Profit and day work. I am in no hurry to rejoin a "Regular" job. I hope I never have to. I want to come up with alternatives and learn new skills while rediscovering my potential to enjoy life.

When it is all over it your bankroll or possessions are not important. The real wealth; Your life experiences, good and the bad, are the currency of your mind. The real reason to live time spent well; experiences you absorb by yourself and with other human beings. Those in chance meetings and those that are with people who are and become close to you.

Grasp onto life and the time you have.
Live it well on the blue marble we call Earth.​

 

[Deleted member 13433]

being an Irishman who was born in West Germany and grew in in Brooklyn NY from 1965 on..... I have a very solid work ethic by simple virtue of being raised in a household where both my parents worked two jobs at once just o make ends meet.

by the mid 1970s, both aviation and maritime were my passions.
by the early 1980s, it was all about the downtown NYC art scene.
by 1983, I suddenly switched gears and decided to persue a career in aviation as a mechanic so I could finance my art ventures, which at the time included building a big recording studio where stage volumes would not be an issue.

by 1993, I had numerous flight hours in the following military aircraft as a crew member: UH-60A, EH-60A, UH-60L, SH-60F, CH-53E, MH-53E, SM-80-1

I was living a dream in Connecticut.

I bought my house, and it was filling up fast with all kinds of vintage gear which back then was still somewhat attainable.

By 1995 I was engaged to be married.
By 1996, I was widowed.

By this point, I was through 1 layoff with another on the way, so again I had to switch gears some.

the late 90s rolled in with me in a relationship with a beautiful woman who had two children from a previous marriage, and we were one big happy little family for real.

I was encouraged to use my house as a recording studio, while we would live at her house.

Seemed ideal, until she decided she had other plans for me which did not include me.

by 2003, the Bush administration had me thououghly enraged to the point where I questioned my initial career choice and place of employment.

I swung hard left, became a Green - and have been pestered with jury duty every since.

The studio was rocking hard between my own projects and projects for others and had now expanded into being the entire house - as I was determined to never be in a situation again which could allow me to co-habitate with another human being.

In the - lets see, 2007... late 2007 - I suddenly found myself kayaking again after a long break [25 years or so...] and suddenly the studio went silent as I found one of my earliest childhood dreams becoming a reality even if in my own mind: that of a forest ranger.

I got into river clean up since nobody else was doing it, then wildlife rescue followed as I was already doing monitoring work for my own interests.

Once I got me dog - my childhood love of swimming came back, as me and my dog would go swimming all the time in the river near my home.

This lead to something called free diving, which allowed me to expand on my research of all things air trees water and animals.

Today, I'm back to being a registered Republican as the left made me even more sick than the right, and while I am still at the same evil defense plant, I've been progressively busted back and demoted - including loss of most of my seniority - to where I am just a lowly line monkey, but it's alright because now at the ripe age of 50, I'm seeing things very differenty due to some self reflection and a life time of objective observing.

now, I openly admit that I am at that damn company until I am either fired, laid off, or quit.
Quitting would only happen if I need to save face, as winners don;t quit because quitters don't win.

I also realize that I am lucky in that I have done pretty much everything I have ever wanted to do, and this goes with life experiences too.

Not many can say that - but truth be told, the good life - or what can be percieved as the good life - comes at a price to.

Now - with the realization that I won't be retiring out of that fucking place because I am the most senior junior - a token jerk - I am setting a radically different course which will involve living a life where money is not needed.

I'll be 100% self sufficient, alone from other humans, no income, no taxes, no address, just me my canoe, my gear living in a place where there is only air, trees, water, and animals, and nothing else.

This rat race has finally taken it's toll on me, and I ain't having it anymore.
Lucky for me - if I got fired on Monday [sadly I don't have that good fortune] I'd be back to realizing my teenage dreams of being an artist while working with animals - as my overhead gets lower and lower with each passing month.

But I still have about 10 to maybe 15 years to go until I make my epic journey way up north as I have both my own personal obligations along with family obligations, which are all good things - essential to me and my family - but once it is just me, myself, and I..... then everything goes - everything gets sold cheap, everything.... what remains is given away, except for my canoe, trailer, and camping gear.

I won't even want a car, as that comes with a price.

Again, I want as far away from money and all that civilized society bullshit as I can get.

And wot brought me to this point ??

The rat race - believing I could make an honest living and retire comfortably by playing the game - only to find out that that's a load of shit, and something that is not going to happen.

I am definately a workaholic.

The problem lays when the effort is far greater than the reward, and before you ask - the reward is not necessarially the money - but sometimes a simple pat on the back.


I hope I got this right, as I am now in such a bad mood after writing it I ain't about to re-read it.

cheers.

 

[MirandaLeigh]

I have a pretty sweet deal with work. My boss loves me and I can work fulltime whenever I want or just fuck off and leave, to which she says "see you whenever!"
it's awesome. She understands I use the job for money, I don't give two shits about the company or progressing. I'll be caught dead before I'm part of any fucking middle management. No thanks!

But this is because I work HARD. I'm awesome at my jobs, I just hate them >__>