I complain a lot about the pace of my life and the hours I work….actually the pace of my life caused by the hours I work. The two are certainly related.

But the things that fill my life outside of work are largely good things. The pace is a little hectic and I feel overscheduled…but the extracurricular stuff is fun and relaxing for the most part. I definitely can’t say my life would be better without them…..otherwise, of course, I would consider getting rid of them. They are all voluntary. And I would volunteer for more stuff if I could fit it in.

So that brings us back to the first issue….which is the cause of the second: work hours and the pace of those hours that leaves me tired at the end of the day.

Do I hate my job? No. I don’t hate it. I actually like a lot of things about it.

It is very challenging, which makes it easy for me to stay awake, something I’ve always had trouble with. Some of that energy is caused by stress, but I don’t hate stress. I just hate chronic stress.

I never look at my watch during the day and wonder when 5 o’clock is gonna roll around. I remember in high school those big grey round clocks hanging at the front of class over the teachers head, always reminding you how freaking slowly the day went by. 50 minutes seemed like a year. That never happens at work (although I might not mind a few days like that so I could get some rest).

My coworkers are pretty good folks. My managers are workaholic stressballs….but they’re not that bad either. And everyone is pretty smart too. Its always nice to be around people you can trust to do their stuff right.

The company has a line of business that does what I want to do. All I have to do is not self-destruct and I’ll one day get moved. I have a habit of quitting stuff I don’t like. It has always been hard for me to work at something I don’t really care about because I know it’ll get me what I want later, but maybe it isn’t impossible.

On that note I do still apply for other jobs (all in the field I want to move into) and dream of leaving the rat race. Lately I’ve been trying to get in touch with immigration lawyers, although I think that usually means foreigners trying to come to the US, not a US citizen leaving to work somewhere else. I tried to find emigration lawyers, but there doesn’t appear to be such a thing.

I might be willing to drop a thousand bucks if some lawyer could get me a work permit for the EU. They work, on average, 9 weeks less a year than we do. 9 weeks is a lot. Although if I moved there, with all my extra time, I would probably find a place where they worked even less….and then I’d want to move there. I think I’ve figured out my real goal: I want to be a bum. They don’t work at all. Hmmmmm…that doesn’t sound right for some reason.

Anyway…although I joke and complain, I have a pretty good job and don’t hate it. It is just too much of a good thing sometimes.

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