Left Coast Observatory

Not necessarily in any order:

• make a career I love
• never compromise my integrity
• realize my time's importance
• don't look back
• guilt is not an option

I can see by my list that there's a lot of regret crowding my mind. But with it a determination to be free of regret in my future life. The most positive item is to do something that is meaningful to me. In part that is also a reaction to the jobs I've done over the years:

I think my first job was working in a factory, where I prepped auto-parts for teflon-coating. The parts arrived packed in grease, and I dipped them in a vat of boiling acid to remove the grease. It made me dizzy working over the hot fumes. Whew!

Another early job was working in the kitchen at a bar. I'd also change the kegs when they blew. I got my first on-the-job injury there, slicing my left ring-finger so badly it took seven stitches to hold it together. Boy was the boss mad he had to interrupt his conversation to see to it I got to the hospital. Do you think he realized I'd rather cut off part of my hand than make another order of onion rings?

There were lots of other restaurant jobs. A few construction-labor jobs. A couple of temp office jobs. Jobs that meant only money to me. Like my current job.

Sure, I try to take pride in being the best dishwasher or busboy or casual laborer I can be, but there's only so much pride I can wring out of that. And worse, only so much money to be had. I do have some ambitions for myself, and some feeling that I'm better than all this.

More and more I need to look at what I love doing, and seeing how it can become a career.

It's just that easy!