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I Ratant · 19th June 2012, 10:38 AM

I had an insurance salesman hang up on me when I told him I rode a motorcycle 115 miles a day to fly in experimental airplanes!

Mark6 · 19th June 2012, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by superfreddy

I like my job, I don't love it. The pay is good and I have a fantastic boss - it makes all the difference. I believe people join companies but leave bosses.

Of course, it doesn't apply if you're self employed.

I know at least one self-employed woman who thinks she has a fantastic boss!

Marcus · 19th June 2012, 11:52 AM

I love being self-employed, but it's not as easy as many think it is. I frequently get something like "You get to set your own hours!" thinking that i must be sleeping until noon or something. My usual reply is that I have total freedom in my hours, I can pick any 60 hours of the week i want.

Cayvmann · 19th June 2012, 12:15 PM

If I said I loved my job, I'd be fibbing. I don't discount that there are jobs out there that I could love. If you love your job, good for you.

Polaris · 19th June 2012, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by Ethan Thane Athen

I do think some people say 'love' a bit too lightly though. Simple test, if you won the lottery and never had to work again, would you still do your job?

Not a chance. I'm only here because I get good benefits and I don't have enough saved to go into business for myself yet.

If I won the lottery I would still work, just not in a cubicle in a building, wishing a plane en route do DFW would experience mechanical failure and crash through the roof onto my head.

SomedayGirl · 19th June 2012, 01:57 PM

I agree with the lottery test, but I'd plus one...if you didn't need to worry about money and they didn't pay you, would you still do the work? Very very few have jobs they love like that. When my part-time job was acting and directing, THAT was a job I had literally done for free. Heck, it actually cost me money to do it most of the time. To make $15-20K a year for it was just icing.

My day job? Meh, it's fine. I never lose sight of the fact that its goal is to get the maximum amount of work from me for the minimum amount of money. From my end, I want it to make me the maximum amount of money for the minimum amount of work. It doesn't love me and I don't love it. It doesn't need me specifically order to function and I don't need it specifically to feel worthwhile. We'd both like to get rid of each other. The quasi-romantic feelings some people have for their employment leaves me a bit bumfuzzled. To me, work has just one purpose - funding what is actually important and enjoyable in my life.

joobie · 19th June 2012, 04:31 PM

i don't like my job, and i don't really get paid enough. i would like to find another, but i think i would have trouble reaching my current pay/benefit scale in anything else. and so i am stuck.

i don't hate it though, and i don't let it aggravate me anymore either.

fishbob · 19th June 2012, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by coalesce

I love my exterminating job, especially the people and their pets. The driving around can sometimes be a pain, but it comes with the territory. I enjoy my graphic design day job as well, but there are other...issues with that one, too. I try my best to maintain a positive attitude with both. I remember I stopped by one of my exterminating client's homes and her brother was there. She and I got along famously and her brother half-mockingly said, "Why are you so (blankity-blank) happy?" I replied, "I find I get more done and it pisses you off."

Michael

How many people and their pets have you exterminated?

jj · 19th June 2012, 04:38 PM

I've had a boss who seemed to think "oh, you like your job, we need to fix that".

Meadmaker · 19th June 2012, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by joobie

i don't like my job, and i don't really get paid enough. i would like to find another, but i think i would have trouble reaching my current pay/benefit scale in anything else. and so i am stuck.

i don't hate it though, and i don't let it aggravate me anymore either.

That's about where I'm at, and I assume a lot of other people are there, too. I suppose I get paid "enough", because I can't convince anyone they ought to pay me more. The pay is pretty decent, but not fantastic. I could do something I like better, but it wouldn't pay as well, and then I wouldn't be able to do as much stuff that I like during my time off.

As for the "lottery test", I would keep working, and probably doing the same kind of work (programming computers), but I wouldn't have to earn a profit, so I could work on whatever project I felt like, instead of one that has to actually work, and has to actually be purchased. That would be much more fun.

NYCEMT86 · 19th June 2012, 09:21 PM

I truly love my job. So much so that I work for 3 different agencies. I wouldnt want to do anything else honestly.

Astreja · 19th June 2012, 09:40 PM

I like My job quite a bit -- I type mass quantities of medical reports for a hospital, and learn something new just about every day -- but if I ever get offered a paying gig playing clarinet in a band, all bets are off.

DragonLady · 19th June 2012, 10:45 PM

I would continue to do both of my jobs if I won the lottery. But, I would do them a bit differently. I'd invest a lot more into my retail biz, and I'd hire someone to take care of the daily gruntwork.

I'd probably also buy a motor home, and DH and I would travel around a lot, so I'd have to have a full time employee to take over while we explored the world. I'd probably hire one of my own kids -or maybe all of them, and that would insure they all knew how it works so one or all can take it over if they want to someday.

I think that would be awesome.

Megalodon · 20th June 2012, 01:55 AM

I do love my job. I'm a scientist, have my own research projects, and if I won the lottery tomorrow would still show up for work the day after, because I have to many cool experiments coming up.

But I do have a life and interests outside of my job, and it doesn't define me as a person. I try to make sure that no single thing does.

ZirconBlue · 21st June 2012, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by Smackety

I kind of love my job, but the pay is pretty low, the workload is really high, I see way too many dead people, who I have just watched die of something horrible and gross while joking with them to lighten their mood, and then there is the lack of A/C most of the time, the clouds of bed bugs and cockroaches, wading through waist high piles of human feces, people threatening to kill me all the time, being exposed to every nasty illness, getting subpoenaed all the time, and my boss being a total pushover for her boss, who nitpicks about paperwork amidst the corpses and chaos. Other than that stuff, It is pretty rewarding.

Being a medieval knight just isn't all it's cracked up to be, eh?

Cainkane1 · 21st June 2012, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by Redtail

...or your job isn't worth doing.

I've run across this line of thinking more & more. Most recently an argument that went nuclear with my MiL. (I'm seriously considering limiting all contact to once a week skype so she can see Michael)

Basically, a lot of people simply can't believe that my wife & i love what we do, acting & costume design respectively. We're not famous, certainly not rich, but we make a pretty good living & have fun doing it.

Has anyone else here noticed this trend of "you can't love your job" or has it always been around & I just didn't notice it?

I enjoyed working with my coworkers. The job itself was difficult, demanding and the pay was horrible. The benefits were sorely lacking and overall if my co workers had not been great I would have hated the job.

Rasmus · 21st June 2012, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by Cainkane1

I enjoyed working with my coworkers. The job itself was difficult, demanding and the pay was horrible. The benefits were sorely lacking and overall if my co workers had not been great I would have hated the job.

I was once told that if the one thing that keeps you in your job are the nice co-workers, you should start looking for another job.

I am still friends with some ex-co-workers 8 years after we stopped working together.

Smackety · 21st June 2012, 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by ZirconBlue

Being a medieval knight just isn't all it's cracked up to be, eh?

I had no idea they also drowned in paperwork!

SUSpilot · 22nd June 2012, 12:14 AM

Originally Posted by I Ratant

I had an insurance salesman hang up on me when I told him I rode a motorcycle 115 miles a day to fly in experimental airplanes!

I'm lucky. I love my job because I get to play with the biggest Lionel set in the world. And, at the same time, I get to teach people to fly. Plus, my wife's a motorcycle instructor (no, I don't ride), so she's happy.

The only difference if I hit the lottery: I'm buying either a Pilatus PC12 or a Cessna Caravan...

mike3 · 22nd June 2012, 12:25 AM

Interesting. I notice that it seems that on this forum, very many say they love their jobs. Is this forum more populated by job-lovers than the public at large, or is it just bias in the "test", or both?

scratchy · 22nd June 2012, 12:32 AM

Allright, i dont love my job, as in loving the actual performance of it. But i love what it gives me back, in many ways. First, a decent and secure salary. Second, a sence of some importance to people i like and care about. Third, an outlet for a range of skills and creativity for which i get a lot of positive feedback, and which my employer would find difficult to replace. There are more positives, but these are the major ones.

Rasmus · 22nd June 2012, 02:28 AM

Originally Posted by mike3

Interesting. I notice that it seems that on this forum, very many say they love their jobs. Is this forum more populated by job-lovers than the public at large, or is it just bias in the "test", or both?

I still think this has a lot to do with cultural norms: Get a job that makes your rent, something you can get a career out of. It doesn't matter if you enjoy it, nobody does!

I'd assume that skeptics would have a higher-than-average tendency to question those rules, too.

Mark6 · 22nd June 2012, 05:31 AM

Originally Posted by Rasmus

I still think this has a lot to do with cultural norms: Get a job that makes your rent, something you can get a career out of. It doesn't matter if you enjoy it, nobody does!

I'd assume that skeptics would have a higher-than-average tendency to question those rules, too.

Also, smart people -- and I daresay skeptics are smarter than average, -- are more likely to figure out what job they WOULD enjoy, and to seek it out.

Rasmus · 22nd June 2012, 05:45 AM

Originally Posted by Mark6

Also, smart people -- and I daresay skeptics are smarter than average, -- are more likely to figure out what job they WOULD enjoy, and to seek it out.

And going with that, if you're smart, you have more options, too.

Gee, aren't we wonderful people?

The Mutha · 22nd June 2012, 05:57 AM

Also, taking the chance to learn something new and make a whole-sale career change takes some nerve. Some people seem to be wholly incapable of jumping off that cliff. I had a boss ask me if I'd like to learn how to draft given that he saw that I had an interest in it. I jumped at the chance, even though I was in my early 40's and now here I am at 49 making more money then the vast majority of my friends in the same age bracket. I took a chance, and in a lot of ways, am still taking chances because the boss called and asked if I wanted to join him in a start-up company.

It's been a trial, we've had some major hiccups and we've taken a major paycut to keep the company afloat, but it appears to be panning out. In August we'll be in business a year and apparently magical things happen when a company makes it to the one year mark.

DragonLady · 22nd June 2012, 06:39 AM

Quote:

and apparently magical things happen when a company makes it to the one year mark.

Ughm...not sure what magickal things you're looking for, but I wouldn't bet on them.

The one year mark, the five year mark, the twenty-five year mark, they really don't mean much. Some years sales will be good, others they will tank. As long as the income is greater than the outgo, you're doing as good as you can hope for.

The Mutha · 22nd June 2012, 07:03 AM

From what I understand, health insurance costs go down for the company as well as more insurance companies being willing to even talk to us, and it's easier to get a line of credit from a bank at that point as well. In Oil & Gas, vendors give a company a better rate on products if they've established that you can and do pay your bills after a year. Clients are more inclined to consider the company for a project if they've been around that magical first year.

We'll see what happens. Currently, we have a large international drilling company coming in this morning to discuss us designing and building some rigs for them, another group is coming in next week, and we're signing the contract on a long-term lease on a facility that will be able to accommodate building some rigs this week as well. We're still in debt to the initial investor, but if the contract comes through with the company coming in next week, we can pay off the initial investor and take it from there.

The only downside is that the new facility will be a 54 mile each way commute for me at this time. We've always planned on moving closer to the final location, so the commute won't be that long forever. Good thing I have a TDI New Beetle as my work car... Another upside is that I'll be a heck of a lot closer to GeekGoddess' area, so I can see about meeting up for dinner some time.

MortFurd · 22nd June 2012, 07:40 AM

Originally Posted by Ethan Thane Athen

I do think some people say 'love' a bit too lightly though. Simple test, if you won the lottery and never had to work again, would you still do your job? If so, then you're probably at least close to 'loving it' (and I totally accept some people will be in this bracket). If not then you clearly don't.

For the record, I quite enjoy my job - as far as doing something that'll pay well, be quite interesting and be reasonably secure (what I'd really like to be doing I either don't have the skill for and / or wouldn't pay) but if I won the lottery you wouldn't see me for dust.

If I won the lottery, I probably wouldn't continue working where I am but I would continue doing what I do there. I write software, and I like doing it. If I were suddenly rich, I'd still write software because that's what I DO. I'd just be free to concentrate on just writing software that I want to write instead of what the company pays me to write. Believe me, if I had the time I'd produce some really cool stuff I've got floating in the back on my mind. Unfortunately none of the things I'd like to do could realistically be accomplished by one guy hacking on things in the evening after work.

I like my job, I like the people I work with. The subject of the software we write is not really my thing, but it is useful to the people who need it, and the job they do is very useful to society so I am pretty content where I work.

bjornart · 22nd June 2012, 07:43 AM

Originally Posted by mike3

Interesting. I notice that it seems that on this forum, very many say they love their jobs. Is this forum more populated by job-lovers than the public at large, or is it just bias in the "test", or both?

Well, this isn't a test. It's a thread about the stance "If you say you love your job you're lying..." Counterexamples are interesting falsifications of this "hypothesis". People hating their jobs on the other hand are completely irrelevant. So, yes, the subject is biased towards stories of job satisfaction.

Cainkane1 · 22nd June 2012, 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by Rasmus

I was once told that if the one thing that keeps you in your job are the nice co-workers, you should start looking for another job.

I am still friends with some ex-co-workers 8 years after we stopped working together.

Well a nice co worker caused me to look for another job in that the woman with her six figure salary told me with my five figure salary they couldn't afford to keep me.

Silly Green Monkey · 22nd June 2012, 09:56 PM

I'd like to expand on my answer, if I may.

When someone hates their job, they feel they must accept it because they need the money and don't see any other options. When someone who hates their job meets someone who loves their job and still makes money, they are faced with the question of "why am I doing this to myself?". The more someone who loves their job continues to love their job and succeed financially, the more someone who hates their job must face the fact that suffering is not a requirement of the job and the pressure to do something about it mounts. If they can force the person who loves their job to get one they hate, the pressure goes away and they can feel better about hating their job because it's just a part of having a job.

learner · 22nd June 2012, 10:20 PM

I stopped working a couple of years ago as a self employed retailer turned property dabbler. If I had been asked, when I was working, if I loved my job, I would have said yes, definitely!
Since I have retired I have came to realise that the work was defining me completely and that I had nothing else in my life. I probably averaged 60 hours a week for 30 years including living in the store room of my first store for 3 years to get together the money to expand. I was obsessed with making money. I am enjoying the rewards of that now but I missed out on so much. shouldn't moan though, I am going to see my sister tomorow and suprise her with a present for her birthday. I am going to pay off the last of her mortgage. Obsession does have some benefits.

Autolite · 23rd June 2012, 11:02 PM

I had a few bosses who claimed to love their job. And I believed them. Why shouldn't they?

I was doing their job for them and they got to take home my paycheck.

What's not to love about that???

gumboot · 24th June 2012, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by theprestige

I think "you should not love your job" is about the only job-related meme stupider than "you should love your job".

I think the bottom line is, you should love getting paid to do your job. Whatever the work is, if you don't mind getting paid for it, then you're probably fine.

Overall, you should be content with the sum total of your life. If that includes doing a job you live, great. If it includes doing a job that doesn't burn you out, and pays you well enough to buy contentment elsewhere... also great.

Considering the average person will spend more of their life doing their job than doing any other single activity, it seems totally bizarre to me that people would pick a job they don't actually enjoy.

gumboot · 25th June 2012, 12:05 AM

I love my job so much that if I won the lottery I'd use the winnings to make more work for myself.

Rasmus · 25th June 2012, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by gumboot

Considering the average person will spend more of their life doing their job than doing any other single activity, it seems totally bizarre to me that people would pick a job they don't actually enjoy.

people need to eat.

Mark6 · 25th June 2012, 05:34 AM

Originally Posted by gumboot

Considering the average person will spend more of their life doing their job than doing any other single activity, it seems totally bizarre to me that people would pick a job they don't actually enjoy.

"Pick" implies a choice. A lot of people do not have a choice.

ZirconBlue · 25th June 2012, 06:04 AM

Originally Posted by gumboot

Considering the average person will spend more of their life doing their job than doing any other single activity, it seems totally bizarre to me that people would pick a job they don't actually enjoy.

Eh. I can't imagine anyone paying me for the things I enjoy doing.

Darth Rotor · 26th June 2012, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by Redtail

...or your job isn't worth doing.

I've run across this line of thinking more & more. Most recently an argument that went nuclear with my MiL. (I'm seriously considering limiting all contact to once a week skype so she can see Michael)

Basically, a lot of people simply can't believe that my wife & i love what we do, acting & costume design respectively. We're not famous, certainly not rich, but we make a pretty good living & have fun doing it.

Has anyone else here noticed this trend of "you can't love your job" or has it always been around & I just didn't notice it?

Redtail:

I once had a job I loved. I don't have it anymore.

I now have a job I don't much care for.

Both are worth doing.

The Man · 26th June 2012, 07:17 PM

I’ve had jobs I’ve absolutely despised like working at water and sewage treatment plants. Often literally shoveling (or spraying it out of a huge distribution hose into a field full of it) crap. Trust me you don’t want to know where those septic trucks went after they drained your tank, because it might just have been where the new housing development you’re considering buying a home in is being built. Washing dishes in a seafood restaurant was almost as bad, the floors got so greasy that I would fill the biggest kettle with water, boil it on the stove and then just dump it on the floor to do the finial mop up. Janitor, cleaning shopping malls and office buildings wasn’t quite as high on the hate list (even with the bathrooms), the mall particularly had its love moments, but they all paid the bills. Other jobs I just loved, working in an engineering laboratory and literally ripping (figurative) crap apart, shaking it to pieces, frying it with high voltage, high current or just wasting it away with a salt spray that would make a cardiologist cringe. How could you not love it? Designing connectors for power utilities and then transport cases for weapons and other sensitive equipment, both simply joys I hoped would never end (even with the stress of the latter almost destroying me). Neither of which would I have given up by my own accord (in spite of the stress and low pay) but economics ensued and the companies were sold and essentially dismantled. Better for me in the long run and although I don’t love my current job as much as I did designing stuff, I don’t have the constant stress either. The pay is actually even better than when I was an Engineer and the only crap I have to deal with (or shovel) is the figurative kind. So while not ‘love’, ‘likes a lot’ works just fine for me these days.

19th June 2012, 11:35 AM	#42
Mark6 Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4,254	Originally Posted by superfreddy I like my job, I don't love it. The pay is good and I have a fantastic boss - it makes all the difference. I believe people join companies but leave bosses. Of course, it doesn't apply if you're self employed. I know at least one self-employed woman who thinks she has a fantastic boss!
Mark6 Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4,254	__________________ Gamemaster: "A horde of rotting zombies is shambling toward you. The sign over the door says 'Accounting'"

19th June 2012, 12:15 PM	#44
Cayvmann Muse Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 579	If I said I loved my job, I'd be fibbing. I don't discount that there are jobs out there that I could love. If you love your job, good for you.
Cayvmann Muse Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 579

19th June 2012, 01:42 PM	#45
Polaris Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 5,229	Originally Posted by Ethan Thane Athen I do think some people say 'love' a bit too lightly though. Simple test, if you won the lottery and never had to work again, would you still do your job? Not a chance. I'm only here because I get good benefits and I don't have enough saved to go into business for myself yet. If I won the lottery I would still work, just not in a cubicle in a building, wishing a plane en route do DFW would experience mechanical failure and crash through the roof onto my head.
Polaris Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 5,229	__________________ "There's vastly more truth to be found in rocks than in holy books. Rocks are far superior, in fact, because you can DEMONSTRATE the truth found in rocks. Plus, they're pretty. Holy books are just heavy." - Dinwar "Roy Moore of Alabama. The world would absolutely benefit by him being run over by any vehicle." - Lowpro

19th June 2012, 01:57 PM	#46
SomedayGirl Critical Thinker Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 282	I agree with the lottery test, but I'd plus one...if you didn't need to worry about money and they didn't pay you, would you still do the work? Very very few have jobs they love like that. When my part-time job was acting and directing, THAT was a job I had literally done for free. Heck, it actually cost me money to do it most of the time. To make $15-20K a year for it was just icing. My day job? Meh, it's fine. I never lose sight of the fact that its goal is to get the maximum amount of work from me for the minimum amount of money. From my end, I want it to make me the maximum amount of money for the minimum amount of work. It doesn't love me and I don't love it. It doesn't need me specifically order to function and I don't need it specifically to feel worthwhile. We'd both like to get rid of each other. The quasi-romantic feelings some people have for their employment leaves me a bit bumfuzzled. To me, work has just one purpose - funding what is actually important and enjoyable in my life.
	Last edited by SomedayGirl; 19th June 2012 at 02:01 PM.

19th June 2012, 04:31 PM	#47
joobie i don't care Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: in my dreams, i am still in perú Posts: 2,517	i don't like my job, and i don't really get paid enough. i would like to find another, but i think i would have trouble reaching my current pay/benefit scale in anything else. and so i am stuck. i don't hate it though, and i don't let it aggravate me anymore either.
	__________________ Don't you just hate it when some uppity Black Guys escape from the Liberal Brainwash? - Robert Prey

19th June 2012, 10:38 AM	#41
I Ratant Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 15,305	I had an insurance salesman hang up on me when I told him I rode a motorcycle 115 miles a day to fly in experimental airplanes!

19th June 2012, 11:52 AM	#43
Marcus Graduate Poster Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Austin Posts: 1,866	I love being self-employed, but it's not as easy as many think it is. I frequently get something like "You get to set your own hours!" thinking that i must be sleeping until noon or something. My usual reply is that I have total freedom in my hours, I can pick any 60 hours of the week i want.

19th June 2012, 04:35 PM	#48
fishbob Seasonally Disaffected Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chilly Undieville Posts: 5,670	Originally Posted by coalesce I love my exterminating job, especially the people and their pets. The driving around can sometimes be a pain, but it comes with the territory. I enjoy my graphic design day job as well, but there are other...issues with that one, too. I try my best to maintain a positive attitude with both. I remember I stopped by one of my exterminating client's homes and her brother was there. She and I got along famously and her brother half-mockingly said, "Why are you so (blankity-blank) happy?" I replied, "I find I get more done and it pisses you off." Michael How many people and their pets have you exterminated?
	__________________ When you believe in things you don't understand, then you suffer . . . " - Stevie Wonder "Stupidity - a callow indifference to facts or data" - Stuart Firestein -neuroscientist. I hate bigots.

19th June 2012, 04:38 PM	#49
jj grumpy old skeptic Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Deep in the rain Posts: 18,720	I've had a boss who seemed to think "oh, you like your job, we need to fix that".
	__________________ The Power to Quit

19th June 2012, 07:31 PM	#50
Meadmaker Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Detroit suburbs Posts: 11,466	Originally Posted by joobie i don't like my job, and i don't really get paid enough. i would like to find another, but i think i would have trouble reaching my current pay/benefit scale in anything else. and so i am stuck. i don't hate it though, and i don't let it aggravate me anymore either. That's about where I'm at, and I assume a lot of other people are there, too. I suppose I get paid "enough", because I can't convince anyone they ought to pay me more. The pay is pretty decent, but not fantastic. I could do something I like better, but it wouldn't pay as well, and then I wouldn't be able to do as much stuff that I like during my time off. As for the "lottery test", I would keep working, and probably doing the same kind of work (programming computers), but I wouldn't have to earn a profit, so I could work on whatever project I felt like, instead of one that has to actually work, and has to actually be purchased. That would be much more fun.
	__________________ Dave "War is Peace. Freedom is slavery. Particles are waves." Last edited by Meadmaker; 19th June 2012 at 07:33 PM.

19th June 2012, 09:21 PM	#51
NYCEMT86 Graduate Poster Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The Slums of Brooklyn Posts: 1,058	I truly love my job. So much so that I work for 3 different agencies. I wouldnt want to do anything else honestly.
	__________________ I bringth the Amber lamps "The most beautiful four words in the common language is: I told you so." - Vidal

19th June 2012, 09:40 PM	#52
Astreja Springy Goddess Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Winnipeg, Canada Posts: 977	I like My job quite a bit -- I type mass quantities of medical reports for a hospital, and learn something new just about every day -- but if I ever get offered a paying gig playing clarinet in a band, all bets are off.

19th June 2012, 10:45 PM	#53
DragonLady Graduate Poster Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Under the Starry, Starry Night Posts: 1,967	I would continue to do both of my jobs if I won the lottery. But, I would do them a bit differently. I'd invest a lot more into my retail biz, and I'd hire someone to take care of the daily gruntwork. I'd probably also buy a motor home, and DH and I would travel around a lot, so I'd have to have a full time employee to take over while we explored the world. I'd probably hire one of my own kids -or maybe all of them, and that would insure they all knew how it works so one or all can take it over if they want to someday. I think that would be awesome.
	__________________ It's NOT denial. I'm just very selective about the reality I accept. -- Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes) The Gweat and Tewwible Winged One

20th June 2012, 01:55 AM	#54
Megalodon Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 2,553	I do love my job. I'm a scientist, have my own research projects, and if I won the lottery tomorrow would still show up for work the day after, because I have to many cool experiments coming up. But I do have a life and interests outside of my job, and it doesn't define me as a person. I try to make sure that no single thing does.
Megalodon Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 2,553	__________________ Stupid is depressing...

21st June 2012, 08:25 AM	#55
ZirconBlue Sole Survivor of L-Town Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Wilson, North Carolina, USA, Earth Posts: 11,407	Originally Posted by Smackety I kind of love my job, but the pay is pretty low, the workload is really high, I see way too many dead people, who I have just watched die of something horrible and gross while joking with them to lighten their mood, and then there is the lack of A/C most of the time, the clouds of bed bugs and cockroaches, wading through waist high piles of human feces, people threatening to kill me all the time, being exposed to every nasty illness, getting subpoenaed all the time, and my boss being a total pushover for her boss, who nitpicks about paperwork amidst the corpses and chaos. Other than that stuff, It is pretty rewarding. Being a medieval knight just isn't all it's cracked up to be, eh?
	__________________ Religion and sex are powerplays. Manipulate the people for the money they pay. Selling skin, selling God The numbers look the same on their credit cards.

21st June 2012, 08:31 AM	#56
Cainkane1 Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: The great American southeast Posts: 7,238	Originally Posted by Redtail ...or your job isn't worth doing. I've run across this line of thinking more & more. Most recently an argument that went nuclear with my MiL. (I'm seriously considering limiting all contact to once a week skype so she can see Michael) Basically, a lot of people simply can't believe that my wife & i love what we do, acting & costume design respectively. We're not famous, certainly not rich, but we make a pretty good living & have fun doing it. Has anyone else here noticed this trend of "you can't love your job" or has it always been around & I just didn't notice it? I enjoyed working with my coworkers. The job itself was difficult, demanding and the pay was horrible. The benefits were sorely lacking and overall if my co workers had not been great I would have hated the job.
	__________________ If at first you don't succeed try try again. Then if you fail to succeed to Hell with that. Try something else.

21st June 2012, 08:58 AM	#57
Rasmus Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 6,139	Originally Posted by Cainkane1 I enjoyed working with my coworkers. The job itself was difficult, demanding and the pay was horrible. The benefits were sorely lacking and overall if my co workers had not been great I would have hated the job. I was once told that if the one thing that keeps you in your job are the nice co-workers, you should start looking for another job. I am still friends with some ex-co-workers 8 years after we stopped working together.
Rasmus Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 6,139	__________________ "Well, the religious community could not just make it up." - JetLeg

21st June 2012, 10:42 PM	#58
Smackety Graduate Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 1,146	Originally Posted by ZirconBlue Being a medieval knight just isn't all it's cracked up to be, eh? I had no idea they also drowned in paperwork!

22nd June 2012, 12:14 AM	#59
SUSpilot Muse Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 722	Originally Posted by I Ratant I had an insurance salesman hang up on me when I told him I rode a motorcycle 115 miles a day to fly in experimental airplanes! I'm lucky. I love my job because I get to play with the biggest Lionel set in the world. And, at the same time, I get to teach people to fly. Plus, my wife's a motorcycle instructor (no, I don't ride), so she's happy. The only difference if I hit the lottery: I'm buying either a Pilatus PC12 or a Cessna Caravan...
SUSpilot Muse Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 722

22nd June 2012, 12:25 AM	#60
mike3 Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 1,968	Interesting. I notice that it seems that on this forum, very many say they love their jobs. Is this forum more populated by job-lovers than the public at large, or is it just bias in the "test", or both?
mike3 Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 1,968	__________________ “Ego is subversive and devolutionary, truly destructive and terrible; ego is the generator of privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Ego is the fire that burns within the pit of hell, devouring and cosuming everything that enters and leaving utterly nothing behind. Ego is horrible, cruel, and restraining, the darkness of the world, and the doom and bane of man.” – a reaction to that famous Bertrand Russell quote.

22nd June 2012, 12:32 AM	#61
scratchy Muse Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: In the happy state of denial Posts: 607	Allright, i dont love my job, as in loving the actual performance of it. But i love what it gives me back, in many ways. First, a decent and secure salary. Second, a sence of some importance to people i like and care about. Third, an outlet for a range of skills and creativity for which i get a lot of positive feedback, and which my employer would find difficult to replace. There are more positives, but these are the major ones.

22nd June 2012, 02:28 AM	#62
Rasmus Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 6,139	Originally Posted by mike3 Interesting. I notice that it seems that on this forum, very many say they love their jobs. Is this forum more populated by job-lovers than the public at large, or is it just bias in the "test", or both? I still think this has a lot to do with cultural norms: Get a job that makes your rent, something you can get a career out of. It doesn't matter if you enjoy it, nobody does! I'd assume that skeptics would have a higher-than-average tendency to question those rules, too.
Rasmus Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 6,139	__________________ "Well, the religious community could not just make it up." - JetLeg

22nd June 2012, 05:31 AM	#63
Mark6 Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4,254	Originally Posted by Rasmus I still think this has a lot to do with cultural norms: Get a job that makes your rent, something you can get a career out of. It doesn't matter if you enjoy it, nobody does! I'd assume that skeptics would have a higher-than-average tendency to question those rules, too. Also, smart people -- and I daresay skeptics are smarter than average, -- are more likely to figure out what job they WOULD enjoy, and to seek it out.
Mark6 Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4,254	__________________ Gamemaster: "A horde of rotting zombies is shambling toward you. The sign over the door says 'Accounting'"

22nd June 2012, 05:45 AM	#64
Rasmus Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 6,139	Originally Posted by Mark6 Also, smart people -- and I daresay skeptics are smarter than average, -- are more likely to figure out what job they WOULD enjoy, and to seek it out. And going with that, if you're smart, you have more options, too. Gee, aren't we wonderful people?
Rasmus Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 6,139	__________________ "Well, the religious community could not just make it up." - JetLeg

22nd June 2012, 05:57 AM	#65
The Mutha thoroughly confused, but valiantly trying... Join Date: May 2006 Location: Houston Posts: 1,515	Also, taking the chance to learn something new and make a whole-sale career change takes some nerve. Some people seem to be wholly incapable of jumping off that cliff. I had a boss ask me if I'd like to learn how to draft given that he saw that I had an interest in it. I jumped at the chance, even though I was in my early 40's and now here I am at 49 making more money then the vast majority of my friends in the same age bracket. I took a chance, and in a lot of ways, am still taking chances because the boss called and asked if I wanted to join him in a start-up company. It's been a trial, we've had some major hiccups and we've taken a major paycut to keep the company afloat, but it appears to be panning out. In August we'll be in business a year and apparently magical things happen when a company makes it to the one year mark.

22nd June 2012, 06:39 AM	#66
DragonLady Graduate Poster Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Under the Starry, Starry Night Posts: 1,967	Quote: and apparently magical things happen when a company makes it to the one year mark. Ughm...not sure what magickal things you're looking for, but I wouldn't bet on them. The one year mark, the five year mark, the twenty-five year mark, they really don't mean much. Some years sales will be good, others they will tank. As long as the income is greater than the outgo, you're doing as good as you can hope for.
	__________________ It's NOT denial. I'm just very selective about the reality I accept. -- Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes) The Gweat and Tewwible Winged One

22nd June 2012, 07:03 AM	#67
The Mutha thoroughly confused, but valiantly trying... Join Date: May 2006 Location: Houston Posts: 1,515	From what I understand, health insurance costs go down for the company as well as more insurance companies being willing to even talk to us, and it's easier to get a line of credit from a bank at that point as well. In Oil & Gas, vendors give a company a better rate on products if they've established that you can and do pay your bills after a year. Clients are more inclined to consider the company for a project if they've been around that magical first year. We'll see what happens. Currently, we have a large international drilling company coming in this morning to discuss us designing and building some rigs for them, another group is coming in next week, and we're signing the contract on a long-term lease on a facility that will be able to accommodate building some rigs this week as well. We're still in debt to the initial investor, but if the contract comes through with the company coming in next week, we can pay off the initial investor and take it from there. The only downside is that the new facility will be a 54 mile each way commute for me at this time. We've always planned on moving closer to the final location, so the commute won't be that long forever. Good thing I have a TDI New Beetle as my work car... Another upside is that I'll be a heck of a lot closer to GeekGoddess' area, so I can see about meeting up for dinner some time.
	Last edited by The Mutha; 22nd June 2012 at 07:07 AM. Reason: Additional Info

22nd June 2012, 07:40 AM	#68
MortFurd Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: An American in Germany Posts: 1,975	Originally Posted by Ethan Thane Athen I do think some people say 'love' a bit too lightly though. Simple test, if you won the lottery and never had to work again, would you still do your job? If so, then you're probably at least close to 'loving it' (and I totally accept some people will be in this bracket). If not then you clearly don't. For the record, I quite enjoy my job - as far as doing something that'll pay well, be quite interesting and be reasonably secure (what I'd really like to be doing I either don't have the skill for and / or wouldn't pay) but if I won the lottery you wouldn't see me for dust. If I won the lottery, I probably wouldn't continue working where I am but I would continue doing what I do there. I write software, and I like doing it. If I were suddenly rich, I'd still write software because that's what I DO. I'd just be free to concentrate on just writing software that I want to write instead of what the company pays me to write. Believe me, if I had the time I'd produce some really cool stuff I've got floating in the back on my mind. Unfortunately none of the things I'd like to do could realistically be accomplished by one guy hacking on things in the evening after work. I like my job, I like the people I work with. The subject of the software we write is not really my thing, but it is useful to the people who need it, and the job they do is very useful to society so I am pretty content where I work.
	__________________ Ace Baker gets pwned by Shrinker, and I get an Avatar.

22nd June 2012, 07:43 AM	#69
bjornart Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 2,409	Originally Posted by mike3 Interesting. I notice that it seems that on this forum, very many say they love their jobs. Is this forum more populated by job-lovers than the public at large, or is it just bias in the "test", or both? Well, this isn't a test. It's a thread about the stance "If you say you love your job you're lying..." Counterexamples are interesting falsifications of this "hypothesis". People hating their jobs on the other hand are completely irrelevant. So, yes, the subject is biased towards stories of job satisfaction.
bjornart Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 2,409	__________________ Well, I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU LIKE TO BELIEVE, GODDAMMIT! I DEAL IN THE FACTS! -Cecil Adams

22nd June 2012, 08:14 AM	#70
Cainkane1 Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: The great American southeast Posts: 7,238	Originally Posted by Rasmus I was once told that if the one thing that keeps you in your job are the nice co-workers, you should start looking for another job. I am still friends with some ex-co-workers 8 years after we stopped working together. Well a nice co worker caused me to look for another job in that the woman with her six figure salary told me with my five figure salary they couldn't afford to keep me.
	__________________ If at first you don't succeed try try again. Then if you fail to succeed to Hell with that. Try something else.

22nd June 2012, 09:56 PM	#71
Silly Green Monkey Cowardly Lurking in the Shadows of Greatness Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,095	I'd like to expand on my answer, if I may. When someone hates their job, they feel they must accept it because they need the money and don't see any other options. When someone who hates their job meets someone who loves their job and still makes money, they are faced with the question of "why am I doing this to myself?". The more someone who loves their job continues to love their job and succeed financially, the more someone who hates their job must face the fact that suffering is not a requirement of the job and the pressure to do something about it mounts. If they can force the person who loves their job to get one they hate, the pressure goes away and they can feel better about hating their job because it's just a part of having a job.

22nd June 2012, 10:20 PM	#72
learner Graduate Poster Join Date: May 2008 Location: dorset england Posts: 1,594	I stopped working a couple of years ago as a self employed retailer turned property dabbler. If I had been asked, when I was working, if I loved my job, I would have said yes, definitely! Since I have retired I have came to realise that the work was defining me completely and that I had nothing else in my life. I probably averaged 60 hours a week for 30 years including living in the store room of my first store for 3 years to get together the money to expand. I was obsessed with making money. I am enjoying the rewards of that now but I missed out on so much. shouldn't moan though, I am going to see my sister tomorow and suprise her with a present for her birthday. I am going to pay off the last of her mortgage. Obsession does have some benefits.
	__________________ "I would give my right arm to be ambidextrous" - My Mate Dave " How do you expect me to use my initiative if you wont tell me what to do?" - Dave again

23rd June 2012, 11:02 PM	#73
Autolite Graduate Poster Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,529	I had a few bosses who claimed to love their job. And I believed them. Why shouldn't they? I was doing their job for them and they got to take home my paycheck. What's not to love about that???
	__________________ "When they come around sweet talkin', don't listen" - Willie Stark

24th June 2012, 11:51 PM	#74
gumboot lorcutus.tolere Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 23,194	Originally Posted by theprestige I think "you should not love your job" is about the only job-related meme stupider than "you should love your job". I think the bottom line is, you should love getting paid to do your job. Whatever the work is, if you don't mind getting paid for it, then you're probably fine. Overall, you should be content with the sum total of your life. If that includes doing a job you live, great. If it includes doing a job that doesn't burn you out, and pays you well enough to buy contentment elsewhere... also great. Considering the average person will spend more of their life doing their job than doing any other single activity, it seems totally bizarre to me that people would pick a job they don't actually enjoy.
	__________________ O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi. A fan of fantasy? Check out Project Dreamforge.

25th June 2012, 12:05 AM	#75
gumboot lorcutus.tolere Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 23,194	I love my job so much that if I won the lottery I'd use the winnings to make more work for myself.
	__________________ O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi. A fan of fantasy? Check out Project Dreamforge.