Going back to the start of the thread, when I'm not playing music, I support my music habit by being a janitor. The park district I work at is very good about time off, when we get opportunities to play out of the area. I took the job part time, telling them I was a musician and would sometimes be gone on Fridays and some Mondays. Since bookings occur months in advance I've never had to run off at the last minute. I've also gotten many song arrangement ideas while working.