Closing track could have been Pink Floyd’s “Welcome To The Machine” : )

I would to thank Gary Collins for his observation on blood pressure. After having nearly died from mainstream medicine I prefer to do naturaly what others depend on drugs for.

Re: being paid to pursue one’s interests instead of having a job

I absolutely would LOVE the idea of being paid to ditch my well-paying but crappy & unfulfilling job and instead learn, read, and create whatever happens to be in line with my interests and without giving away any creative control. Universities may have offered something like that a long time ago, but my time in college made it clear it wasn’t worth the extra years to get a Phd in engineering in the hopes of getting one of the coveted research positions AND regularly going around hat in hand for research grants.

If I were Elon Musk rich, just for shits-and-giggles I’d create something like an inventor’s/scientist’s/creator’s/artist’s campus with some basic tools, equipment, computing resources, a decent library (print & digital), a department to help participants create a business and market & sell things they create, and a respectable wage that covers cost of living plus some extra for savings and funding for bigger or extra projects.

The rules would be those of basic common sense, respect for fellow researchers and their projects, and the campus/institute getting a small percentage of profit from any marketable technology, designs, or saleable artwork. Would be interesting to see if such an endeavor would turn out to be profitable over the long term and how many of it’s participants would more than pay for themselves over their time there.

Anyway, back here on Earth it still looks like running my own business is the closest thing to this that’s available to me or most people, so that’s what I’m moving towards. Less than two months to go!

Jack, to your comment that any company with more than a few dozen employees can find one or several that could be cut without missing them: while I am certain that is true in most companies, I can’t think of one person in the company I work for that can be gone for more than a day without being missed — gone for a week and their absence is felt by all. I won’t give the name of the company I work for but will say that we are a small “David” in service industry niche where the “Goliath” is significantly larger than we are — they certainly would fit the bill of having persons they could part with without concern. They cut 1/3 of their employees during the big recession while we cut 0. My department of 7 does the same work that their similar dept of 300 does. We have felt the ripple effects of the publishing industry’s painful move from print to electronic publications and have had to adapt our services to keep up.

Even though we are a small company with zero “fat” to trim, I am always aware that our world is changing, technology is changing the face of many jobs, mine included. It is dangerous to ever think one’s position or career is “safe” or “indispensable”.

And, as a 50-something lady, the idea of being paid to pursue my vocational interests rather than a job gives me mixed feelings. Sure, I would love to have 40 extra hours a week to do what I feel more passionate about. But, honestly, the idea of being paid to not work goes against my grain. But, as I get older and more “crickity” it would be nice to have a more secure future financially (which seems like a oxymoronical idea really — is there such a thing as a “secure” future?).