I’m Working It All Wrong

I brought my road bike in for service today. It had been awhile, and a lot of miles, thanks to the lock down.

Estimated costs for labor, replacements, repairs and cleaning is just shy of $200. And this bike shop likes me. They know me well. I buy a lot from them, including both my bikes and way too much other gear.

Well, OK…maybe that’s why they like me. But I consider it money well spent because I don’t want to yank off a greasy, gritty chain and cassette and replace them. Both tires are worn down to the green protection layer, past the grooves. I consider it an investment to do this, both in the bike and myself.

But I need a new job. I am in the wrong profession when I give out money like this for that. And yes, I am still looking. Spending a lot of time looking for something part-time so I can write full-time and train more often. But mostly I need a new job because getting up in the morning and doing what I don’t like isn’t a good way to live. Working with adults who behave like kids is draining. Getting lectured about how you should feel fortunate to have a job by someone who’s been living less time than you’ve been working is a real “WTF” moment.

I know a lot of people are out of work due to COVID-19. Millions in my own state are at the mercy of both no jobs and no unemployment payments, thanks to a state system that crashed and burned long ago, headed by a governor who thinks it’s all about how reopening things will solve our problems. But I have to look beyond the fear and possibility of failure and move forward, to find something that works for me. We may be physically masked and mostly still locked down, but creativity, imagination and hard work have no limits.