I still think I can be a success someday, for some reason

[lincolnduncan]

The worst thing about the job I have, the fact that I work with dispatchers and schedulers who don't live anywhere near me notwithstanding, is the unpredictability and mystery of the schedule. The number of people who use the company I work for varies daily, weekly, and monthly, though it's a safe bet that, for example, Tuesdays and Thursdays are

Comments

[jalfrdprufrocky]

... And yet, I still don't understand why you want to work this job rather than some other temporary, menial job, like doing office work or waiting tables, and actually knowing what your schedule is. And where you may hate it and feel that your talents are being wasted, but where you're not risking your health and sanity.

I'm frustrated too. I mean, I'm frustrated for you. I understand that you're looking for a job right now, and that time and money and other factors mean that you're in a different situation than I am, but you keep complaining and I don't know what to say in return. I'm not saying that you should find a full-time, career position this minute, but your current "temporary" job isn't giving you any leeway to even relax, let alone continue your job search for something bigger.

Unless, of course, there's something you secretly love about this driving job that I'm just not getting.

[lincolnduncan]

The problem with this job is that, now, it's "the devil I know". I don't want to wait tables, for example, because the schedules still vary, even if it's weekly instead of daily. (Restaurants usually don't hire you unless your schedule can vary, unless you're willing to work overnights if it's a 24-hour location.) The main advantage this job does have is that when I'm not driving around, I'm at home.

The bitch is that the more I complain and find this job frustrating, it probably means the more money I'm making. Money isn't everything, of course (for example, I'd jump at a library job, as counterlogical as that might seem knowing my personality), but it will help when I actually have the ability to go after something I'd rather do.

This job could be much more tolerable if they would actually hire a scheduler who knows this area and/or hire one or two more drivers to ease the load. The flip side for me, of course is that as I'm paid by the trip, more drivers and less work means less money

[smilingbeef]

Mr. "In a Minute There is Time" is right, you are stuck in the same shitty ass rut I was in a few years ago. The solution as I see it is to get yourself out of it forcibly. I'm not saying march in and quit without any other place to go, but you need to be giving your dreams equal time with your checkbook, and maybe $1 or $2 an hour less is worth a productive and healthier life.

Ask yourself "What do I want to do with my life" and then ask yourself "Is what I'm doing now getting me any closer to that?"

[lincolnduncan]

I still don't know if my most desired goal right now is to start a writing career or simply to start any tolerable career than will get me out on my own and worry about writing once I get that established.

The thing is, if I knew the answer to that, I could answer if this job is helping me at all. Of course, it's of no use to a writing career (and as it wears me out too much to writing as I would like, it could even be considered to be pulling me further away from it) but in establishing myself in some general manner, it helps because it's probably the most financially beneficial job for helping me strike out on my own (again).

You do bring up a good point, though. I need to devote more time to things that make me happy.