Spring Break

Yesterday symbolized the precise reason why I have the 2nd overall best job in the world and the absolute best job in the world for my age group.

The best overall job in the world is being a rock star. If you're a kid in your twenties, there couldn't be a much better job than that. Yet, we all get a little older (hopefully! ...the alternative ain't no fun) and, as Hank Williams, Jr. says,

"The hangovers hurt more than they used to.
Cornbread and iced tea took the place of pills and 90 proof"

I was a beer man (I've never been a "pills" guy and "90 proof" only very sparingly) during my wilder days but the principle remains the same: when you get older, you either change your ways or feel miserable every day.

This brings me to my point, I have the best job in the world for my age. First, I enjoy going to work every day, even during weeks like this one where I put in about 60-70 hours (edit: I first typed 70-80 but then calculated how many hours a day I'd have to work to reach 80 and I didn't work THAT much!!!).

Second, I've got a job where I can always make more money if I want to. I got a call yesterday from my old officemate who is now a professor at Northeastern University in Boston. He said that Accenture (consulting firm) asked him to find someone who would like to do research full time, get paid $140 - $180,000/yr, and move to Boston. My officemate asked me if I would be interested. To which I replied that I don't believe I'm ready to move to Boston yet. Point being, there are always opportunities.

Third, I get about 4.5 months a year off if I want to take it. Professors are paid on a 9 months salary, but during those 9 months you have Christmas, spring break, fall break, etc... By my calculation, that adds about another 1.5 months onto the 3 summer months.

The reason I bring this up is because yesterday was the last day of school before spring break at MSU. One of my professors here told me one time that he has a great job because if he "doesn't show up one day...no one dies." Well, nobody died at MSU yesterday, but nobody showed up either. The office was EMPTY! No professors. No students. Nothing. The best part is, the odds are that none of the professors even called in to say, "Hey boss. Not coming in today." They just didn't show up...and...no one cares!

This is the best thing about academia: the lifestyle. Work on what you want to work on, no boss (in the formal sense of the word), no set schedule, none of that crap that makes a "real job" suck. Now, the fact that nobody has a "real" boss means that there is very little accountability. This means that all things move at a glacial pace, which can be VERY frusterating. However, you take the good with the bad.

I've got the best job in the world (for my age group) because I'm on spring break this week but I'm still going to go into work. Why? Because I want to, but if I didn't want to, nobody would care or be any worse off.