What would you do for free? Well you must find out what it is and quit your job so you can do it. You will enjoy your work much more and will become an expert in your field.
I suppose that academia is the poster child for jobs that people think they might do “for free.” In fact, there are folks in my department who have been retired for 10 years, but who come to work every day. And some of them are doing excellent work that gets published in the best journals. I guess you could say that they are doing it for free. I hope that when I am 75 I’ll be in an emeritus office doing the same thing.
But the thing is, they aren’t doing the whole job. They aren’t sitting on endless committees. They aren’t teaching large lecture classes full of indifferent undergraduates. They aren’t pulling all-nighters writing grants. They aren’t grading papers. Or essay exams. Or those other damn papers they forgot that they assigned. If their manuscript gets rejected by a high-status journal, they don’t spend weeks revising it to meet the demands of dimwitted reviewers. They just send it somewhere else. Because, why not? No one is going to evaluate the quality of the journals they publish in. They don’t do the whole job. They only do the satisfying, self-expressive parts.
Even in academia, you get paid to do the tedious stuff that you would never do for free. That’s the cost demanded for the opportunity to do the things that really interest you. It’s not that different than working a day-job full of tedious stuff so you can spend your spare time writing fiction or working in local theater. There is a nice advantage that you know all of the people you work with will share your avocation, and there are rewards for succeeding at it. But if you try to do only the parts you like, you won’t last long.
I totally thought you were suggesting an alternative to the doll hospital.
I hadn't thought of that--but I like it.
That's a great point, Rick.
yay for Maria!
Cashmere, a woman in my office has a daughter whose American Girl doll had a SPA DAY - had a "facial", had her hair done. At, I think, about $100. eek
Kat, it's kind of ironic that K bought a new car with seat warmers when you're enduring 100 degree heat, no?
Jessica: There's apparently a chance the entire NYC transit system could be shut down this weekend.
What, do they think they're DC's Metro? the subway system that shuts down for snow ....
Irene ... it's the big news story (now that the earthquake fuss has settled down a bit). I was listening to the radio this morning and they had their gardening expert on, advising on protecting plants (anything in a pot, bring inside). Asked if packing extra soil around plants would protect them, he said, "lighting a candle to the Blessed Mother" would work about as well.
I had to send quite a number of American Girl dolls in to the "hospital" when I was a kid. I loved them. My father bought me three of the original ones when I was really tiny and they are so old their bodies were signed and numbered and dated. I wasn't even allowed to touch them until I was 9, and then I played with them so hard and for so many years they are basically ruined, which is sad, as I bet dolls that old from a company that huge would be worth something now.
Kat, it's kind of ironic that K bought a new car with seat warmers when you're enduring 100 degree heat, no?
No kidding! It also has a cooled glove box for beverages or sandwiches. I kid you not.
Cash, I don't think you are crazy for the doll hospital. I think you're being economical. Those dolls cost a fortune. If you were taking it to the AG doll beauty shop, I might feel differently.
Grace's AG doll's hair is nasty, though.
What, do they think they're DC's Metro? the subway system that shuts down for snow ....
They're trying to avoid another massive clusterfuck like what happened during the blizzard. Shutting down the system before the storm gets here will mean the trains can be moved out of the way to let the cleanup crews get in as soon as the weather passes and have everything up and running again much faster.
ah ... foresight ... I'd forgotten transit systems could actually do that. DC's plan seems to be "wait until everything's so badly backed up no one can get anywhere and then shut down ... but don't tell anyone until they're stuck between work and home".
The Queensland floods earlier this year took out the banana crop, and the farmers' lobby group is preventing imports so they won't have the competition next year.
Wait, floods took out a banana crop? How does that happen, short of actually killing the trees (which I assume would make the next several years banana-free ones as well)?
As of yesterday (Metro press release), DC Metro wasn't planning to shut down. Although, to be fair to NYC, DC is quite a bit farther inland.
DC did shut down for Isabel. Made the decision easy to shut down the governent for the first day.
