A mudcatters job to die for

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Cool Beans
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 03:31 PM

I tried that Bible thing. Closed my eyes, opened to a page, stuck out my finger and pointed. It landed on Chapter 11. Now, there's an ideal job. (Non-American 'Catters: Chapter 11 is the best-known provision of the bankruptcy laws.)

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: PoppaGator
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 03:09 PM

Pauline, I just went to the local shopping mall one September, found the management office, asked about the job, and was directed to the photography studio (located in the same mall) who had the Santa-Claus contract.

The trick is to think about it, and apply, early enough. For several previous years, I would start thinking about how much I would like such a job only when I saw someone already decked out in a Santa costume at the ungodly-early date of a week before Thanksgiving. By then, it was always too late to get a job for the current year.

I had no trouble getting the job when I fianlly applied at an earlyh-enough date, largely because I was a 245-pound white male over 50 years old, with an appropriately jolly disposition and no visibly missing teeth.

I'm still male, but after a bout with throat cancer, I weigh in at a mere 185 and have lost a couple of front teeth. I didn't work as Santa last year, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get the job back. New false front teeth are an absolute must, since the job consists basically of smiling for the camera. I can probably work around the weight loss with padding ~ in all areas of my life except for portraying St. Nick, the new slim figure is a plus, so I'd rather not gain all that weight back (even if I could).

Keep in mind that playing Santa is not typically a full-time career. I kept my day job throughout the Christmas season each year that I worked as Santa, putting in 20-24 weeks at the mall on evenings and weekends.

However, I understand that a number of well-established Santas earn as much as 30 grand per season, enough to live all year (especially when also collecting Social Security). These guys are typically the only Santa at their pace of employment ~ I've been one of three at my Santa job ~ working 60-80 hours per week for the 6 or 7 week season, and traveling far from home to live in a motel room for the duration. I would love to have such a job, and before my illness I figured I could make it happen by the time I reached retirement age. Now I'm not so sure...

If you're serious about applying, by the way, the first step will probably have to be a sex change (grin).

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Firecat
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 02:43 PM

She said, as she messed up "perfect"!

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Firecat
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 02:42 PM

My ideal job would be acting. Stage, screen, I wouldn't care, as long as I got to do it. Or singing, for that matter.

Otherwise, I wouldn't mind being a proofreader. Imagine that, being paid to read all day and check for mistakes! Pefect for a pedantic bookworm like me!!!

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: jimmyt
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:29 PM

A year ago, I was so burned out on my job I actually considered getting out of it, selling my dental practice and doing something different. It was not the dentistry I hated, but the management. I decided to move toward a transition with a young partner but decided that before I did so I should get my " house in order" with new management skills and in order to attract the quality young partner, I needed to add technology to my practice. Now a year later, I still haven't managed to look for a partner, I am having so darn much fun with my practice. I have the best staff in the world, I try to enjoy each and every patient, each and every experience. and the odd pain-in-the-ass person that I can't manage to deal with I just move them on to somewhere they can take their negativity. I love all the new bells and whistles, digital Xrays, patient education computers in every room, intraoral cameras in every room, I am absolutely enjoying life. But, it took a conscious decision to get off my butt, quit whining and make things happen. I am a very blessed person. I still get all the music and theater fixes I need also!

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Mr Happy
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 09:15 PM

That was in the Book of Job???

Where??

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: frogprince
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 09:09 PM

Ya know how some people say you should make decisions in life by opening the bible at random and seeing what verse you find? I actually found my ideal job that way. One day I flipped open a book of job descriptions (at the state employment office) and right before my eyes was:      
   
       Body waxer in tanning parlor.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Pauline L
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 04:16 PM

PoppaGator, how do I apply for a job as Santa Claus?

I'd love to retire from a "real job" and play violin, teach violin, travel to festivals and write about them, do freelance writing about interesting things. All I need is some money.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 04:09 PM

That was insensitive, weelittledrummer. Winona has feelings too, you know. I am going to have Chongo pitch some ripe durians through your open windows for that. (they smell simply awful)

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 04:05 PM

gee, Amos...you don't remember the words of the famous Middle Eastern Philosopher and German immigrant, Schlitz M. Liquor. He said, "You only go around once in life. So grab all the gusto you can."

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 12:45 PM

great idea - you could distract the store detectives...

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:43 AM

I have a great job...but if I was to choose another? Hmmm.

I would like to be hired to entertain Winona Ryder on alternate weekends.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: tarheel
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:41 AM

i have that "ideal job" now...being retired and living on my retirement,s.s.,etc.,and doing what me and the little lady wants to do when we want to do it!
and,if we don't wana do anything,then we don't!
you might think it would get boring,but it doesn't!
i have plenty to keep me busy and things i love,enjoy,places i wanna go,people i wanna meet!..but when i was still working as a tv news photographer,there were some reporters who thought that a great story was worth dying for...but not me...my philosophy was,all stories are worth dying for.,..there's NO STORY worth missing LUNCH, for!!!!
tar...

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Amos
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:41 AM

I have a pretty great job -- I work with a bunch of nerds in Birkenstocks working out solutions to weird techie problems, and writing them up, and thinking about future technologies and how to make them practical.

But were I to suddenly be independently wealthy, I would become a sculptor, or perhaps force my brain to learn how to coordinate with my hand well enough to learn to paint, or re-write the great American novel. Or I'd pour my attention into major technological advances which would resolve the three key issues of our time: unbounded energy, plentiful clean water (and air), and FTL transport.

Seems to me there is no single answer to this question, on reflection; I am glad to have an indefinite supply of lifetimes ahead of me, so that I will be able to work on all the possibilities. I do hope we preserve the playground long enough to be able to find others.

A

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:25 AM

to get that job, you need to start early

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Mr Red
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:13 AM

Painting the town red

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 08:30 PM

i like to be taster in chocolate factory.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Cool Beans
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 06:11 PM

Mattress tester.
Drama critic, which is what I do now, is pretty good. Drama critic's spouse would be even better: See the shows, write nothing.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Ed.
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 06:10 PM

The best job in the world is to be content with what you already have.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Eye Lander
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 06:00 PM

School secretary in a primary school (children aged 5 - 9) is lovely. Pay's not so good and it's hard work but....... 13 weeks holiday a year, I wont be changing my job in a hurry.
Jillie

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: DougR
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 05:28 PM

Chairman of the Board of Halliburton. :>)

DougR

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: *Laura*
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 05:08 PM

when I 'grow-up' I'm going to be a dictator. (not want to be - you notice)
I've already delegated charge of poland, germany, gibraltor and northern ireland.
Any requests?
hehe

xLx

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Mooh
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 02:37 PM

I've got a pretty good job now teaching private music lessons, mostly guitar, but a bit of mandolin, tenor banjo, and electric bass too. Not ideal, but as good as I'm likely to manage for myself. It would be better if all the students were perfect, and if I were perfect, and nothing ever went wrong, but what kind of life would that be? Insurance costs too much, paper and other supplies have to be watched closely, but all in all I like it better than anything else I've done. And it's full-time, and it's a living, so I can't complain. Self-employment wasn't part of the original master plan, but neither was getting older...

I also do a lot of repairs and setups, which I enjoy as much as teaching.

Now, if I could only afford a secretary, maybe centerfold material...

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 02:23 PM

I would love to get paid to be a troll and cause all sorts of trouble each and every day. That's a real fun job for me.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Auggie
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 11:04 AM

I took a Martin Guitar factory tour a few years ago and actually saw a guy doing MY ideal job. At the end of the assembly line is one cat whose sole task is to test-play the instruments before shipment.

I wonder what he has to pay them to keep his postion.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: PoppaGator
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 10:43 AM

Thanks, Jeanie.

Actually, doing the Santa gig sort of reawakened my interest in performing in general. I spent several years of my long-ago youth singing on streetcorners, and when I found myself perched on a thone at the center of a shopping mall, it felt very much like an indoor streetcorner "stage." Whenever I had a long waiting line of "customers," I had opportunities to mug and clown a bit for the crowd when dealing with a recalcitrant toddler. And on the few occasions when no one was waiting to see me, I would pick up a toy xylophone I found in the back of my photo-prop "sleigh," pick out a few carols, engage the attention of a few passers-by (young mothers as well as kiddies), and draw a fresh crowd.

In fact, I only picked up my long-dormant guitar and slowly started practicing and "re-learning" -- and began to obsessively hang out at Mudcat -- after starting out to be Santa.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Jeanie
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 05:24 AM

Just an idea, PoppaGator, having just read your post - if the Santa job no longer works out (or as well as, if it does): have you thought of branching into some other work involving characters and children ? - i.e. children's drama ? It sounds to me as though you would be great at it !

All good wishes to you for good health in the New Year,
- jeanie

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Jeanie
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 04:58 AM

I took a very "scenic route" to get there, but 25 years into my working life, by the fluke of being at the right place at the right time, I took on a part-time job teaching children's drama. One thing led to another.... and very recently to another extra job....and I can honestly say that, for me, it fulfils all the criteria given by the person who started this thread: I get up really looking forward to the day ahead, actually get paid for enjoying myself, and feel appreciated for doing it, too - kids love drama !

A lot of drama activities with children involves what the educational jargon calls "teacher-in-role" to help the class get into an improvised situation - (in other words, license for teacher to lark about, otherwise known as acting). This month, for instance, I have been, amongst other things, Red Riding Hood's very trendy Cockney grannie, a dodgy crook being trapped by Sherlock Holmes, and a very excited frog. Not everyone's cup of tea, maybe - but for me, this is heaven - and I get paid, even. As well as all the fun, there is the satisfaction of knowing that through a lot of the themed improvisations, the drama work helps the children deal with serious issues for them, such as bullying or loneliness or making friends. It gives them a safe outlet to express their feelings and concerns about life and guides them to look at things from a different perspective.

.....Then there's directing the plays and shows, the ups and downs of rehearsals, the challenge of props, effects and costume on zero budget, the absolute thrill of seeing children grow in confidence and learning to work together as a team.... that feeling, at the end of a show, of "Well, we DID it !" After the Christmas show last week, the thought came to me that I had had a hand in creating a lovely memory that would stay in the minds of at least a few of those children for all the rest of their lives. You can't buy that. I love it.

Sometimes, the chance to branch off into a new or different line of work appears out of the blue. If you are doing a job which is "OK", and a new chance offer comes along that somewhere, somehow, strikes a chord and puts a grin on your face at the thought of it (as happened to me) - don't let it pass you by.

- jeanie

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: mg
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 01:02 AM

I don't care what I do so much as where I am, and I am working on a pretty cranberry farm. I have lots of sunlight and fresh air in my office. My boss is generally not bad, and I am more or less the queen bee of my domain. Financially it is awful but I supplement it by working weekends. I have headphones on my computer and listen to bagpipes all day sometimes. There is a gift shop on the premises that sells chocolate covered cranberries and sweatshirts with cranberries on them, which if I ever get more sophisticated I will buy. mg

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 09:54 PM

In all fairness I really must point out that I've always thought I'd like to be a cowboy with a real horse and real gun and be able to play the guitar while riding off into the sunset holding the hand of the heroine, who I have just rescued from the Bad Guys by shooting their guns out of their hands and then tying them up with their own lassoes.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: jaze
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 06:41 PM

I'd be an itinerant folksinger. Just well-to-do enough to afford to travel around the country, see new places,& meet new people. And hopefully good enough singer to move people with my songs.Half of you probably already do this. That would be my dream if "I could only...."

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Chris Green
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 06:32 PM

MG, I think you're limiting yourself. Surely the point is to test them in a variety of positions! :)

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: PoppaGator
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 06:21 PM

Ooops, that was me. Where'd my cookie go?

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 06:18 PM

Here's my two-part pipe dream:

1) Peggy and I move to my family's ancestral farm in County Mayo, Ireland. My 70+year-old second cousin and his wife keep their newish home on one wide of the narrow one-lane road, and we take over the previous farmhouse across the way, inhabited only by sheep since about 1980. We renovate the place to include all modern amenities, build additions as necessary, and go into the bed-and-breakfast business.

Why it'll (probably) never happen: First of all, we'd have to hit the lottery or otherwise come into unexpected riches to make the necessary investment. Plus, the place is far off the beaten track -- not much in the way of tourist attractions nearby, and you have to drive a mile and a half down a *skinny* one-lane road lined with stone fences to find the place. Not an ideal B&B location, or even a suitable one.

2) Once a year, for the six weeks starting a week before Thanksgiving and ending on Christmas Eve, I fly back to the states, take up residence in a motel room near a suburban mall in a major metropolitan area, and work 50-60 hours a week as a full-time Santa Claus. These jobs exist for the lucky few, and pay as much as $30,000 for the six-week season.

Why it might not happen: I've been an excellent Santa the last two years, working part-time for an independant photographer who employs a number of part-time Santas. I've been assuming that I could look forward to one of those cushy full-time Santa jobs after retirement. BUT -- after a bout with neck cancer and radiation treatment earlier this year, I'm suddendly less well-qualified: I lost 65 pounds, all my facial hair, and a couple of highly visible front teeth (necessary assets when you smile for the camera all day long).

I can (and will) get false teeth, and I can wear a padded suit in lieu of gaining all that weight back, but the beard may never be the same. It's thin all over, and I have irregular bald spots on the right side, where the radiation was concentrated. The serious high-paying Santa jobs do NOT go to guys who have to wear the false beard; the beard has to be big, thick, and ideally white (or light enough gray to effectively "take" some white greasepaint). You just can't make the same contact with the kids with your face hidden behind a wad of synthetic fuzz.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: GUEST,Diogenes
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 06:14 PM

Come on, fellas, get a grip on yourself.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 06:11 PM

Guest Diogenes....You could do the condom testing if you only used your head!

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 06:07 PM

Emperor of the Universe (benevolent despot, of course)

I'd have all the traditional folk music, exotic wood, sensual women, beautiful landscapes, delicious food, I could want...and so would all my loyal subjects who behaved as I directed...

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Once Famous
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 05:24 PM

Well, i would still test condoms but not with the machine method. The machine can't test them for sensitivity.

Guest, Diogenes or diorea or whatever your name is, I would have no problem getting up everyday for multiple testings. My experience well qualifies me for the position.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: open mike
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 05:22 PM

about the vital statistics job...
as a genealogy researcher, it is
becoming increasingly difficult to
access this data. I have been able,
with the help of vital statistics
bureaus, to find lost family members,
re-connect adoptees with their birth
families, and piece together patch-
work quilts of family stories. It
is interesting to be able to do so.
On the other hand, there is legislation
which now makes it nearly impossible to
locate some of this info, and some families
are no longer able to find their loved ones,
trace their ancestry etc. This is due to
Identity theft and so some of this data
is no longer avaialbel to the public.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 05:19 PM

I have the perfect job.....Retired..on a very healthy pension and able to chose what I do and when I do it...I am an antique and collectables lover(bit of a lovejoy type) with a good working knowledge so if I need some extra. I can buy and sell. I sing at local Folk Clubs...I work voluntary in a charity shop one day a week and do the valuing for them on other days also....On the whole a happy sort of life eh???
Best wishes.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: el_punkoid_nouveau
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 05:18 PM

I had my ideal job, for three years. I was a history undergrad - it all stopped the day I got my degree, and had to get a real job. If only someone would pay me to research my Great Grandfather's life! I will admit quite freely that I can bore for England (if not Great Britain) on that particular subject.

Meanwhile, I just have to stick to running computers by day, and having the interesting things as hobbies.

epn

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: GUEST,Diogenes
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 04:59 PM

Martin, for testing condoms the way you thought they were tested, your employer would probably want someone who could work more than three times a year.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Helen
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 04:43 PM

From September 13th this year until Jan 28th next year I have the pleasure of doing something very close to my ideal job. Working at the Birtsh, Deaths & Marriages Registry. Sounds pretty mundane, and we are flat out busy most of the time, but...

I get to deal with customers - not long enough with any of them to get sick of them, and I get to surf around in one of the biggest databases in the state which goes back until the start of white settlement in NSW, Oz. (I'm an ex-librarian. What can I say!!) I get to find out about the different names people have chosen for their kids, and then, and then....

It's the human condition in microcosm. It's life's dramas being lived by everyday people and we just hear the potted history version and then they are gone. Why their father or mother won't let them change their name, why a young mother hopes that changing her young child's name might keep them both safe from domestic violence. Why someone is happy to buy a marriage certificate so she can show it once to the divorce court and then burn it forever. How the mother of a multiple birth could not bring herself to register their births because they have all not made it into life, so she sends her friend to do it for her. The legal wrangles, or tangles following a death in the family.

Then there are the happy stories: the about-to-turn-18's who want a proof of age card so that they can go out and celebrate at a pub or club, the marriages at the registry, the births of happy bouncing babies, the certificates needed for a passport to go on a trip overseas, and some of my ex-students turn up with babies, which can be a positive or not so positive thing. :-)

Unfortunately this job is only temporary, and I get to move on at the end of January. I am really going to miss this job. I haven't worked with such a lovely bunch of people and in a job I have enjoyed so much for maybe 30 years.

The next job is already lined up - state taxes and land taxes. Cannot possibly work up any enthusiasm about that but it is real money, unlike temping money, with annual leave, sick leave and flexi days, which I haven't had for about 10 years. I'm getting too old to live like a nomad on hand-to-mouth subsistence wages.

Helen

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 04:00 PM

Actually, MG, the job of condom tester exists but it's not what you think. When my brother was working for Illinois' Vocational Rehab department it was one of the jobs they offered to those who were trying to defraud the system. To do it you put a condom on a nipple which squirts water out at a certain pressure. You do this for eight hours. Sometimes the condoms break and it gets really, really messy. It is a mind-deadening job.

The other job was skull grinder. You don't want to know.

My own job is pretty good -- doing things that help people in an area with a cost of living well below the national average, has pretty fair weather, and is filled with folks who are at least not actively hostile and usually pretty nice. And I get a decent salary and benefits package, too.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Once Famous
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 03:33 PM

I would like to be a condom tester with a variety of women.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Justa Picker
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 03:00 PM

Moderating Mudcat.

I'd do it for FREE.

Mind you there'd be a
few less Guest posts. 8-)

It would be a labor of love
and the forum would be
"completely cleaned up"
in less than week.

Then I'd retire.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 02:39 PM

slaughterhouse worker.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: GUEST,Roger the cookieless Skiffler
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 09:55 AM

I never got that job of dresser in a strip club...I always thought it would be nice to be the sole decision-maker deciding where charitable grants went but for now I'm happy in retirement, beats working.

RtS

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Burke
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 09:55 AM

I know someone who is independently comfortable and travels all over to folk festivals & works as a volunteer.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 09:45 AM

Playing Inside-forward for Sheffield United FC and England, but:

1. There aren't any "Inside-forwards" any more.
2. I'm 57 and, I guess, maybe too old for the job now.
3. I've got a "glass back".
4. My big toe (left foot) hurts whenever I kick a ball.

I guess I'll just have to be content sitting here in an office that overlooks an idyllic village cricket ground in the heart of THE MOST beautiful countryside on the edge of the Peak District National Park, filling in the blank spaces in my day by amusing myself reading posts to Mudcat forum and looking forward to playing more music in one of the many local folk club venues.

Gee - it's a hard life; someone's gotta do it I guess.......

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Flash Company
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 09:41 AM

I once saw an ad for a vacancy at Forsyth's, a big Music Shop in Manchester, England. It went into great detail about all the benefits, staff discounts etc but never actually said what the job was!
I applied but didn't get an interview, guess there were too many of us!

FC

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Maija
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 08:34 AM

Right now I would be very happy indeed to make a living as a concert photographer. I love making pictures at gigs, but sadly my camera is not good enough to really get going in that area, and I do not have the money to buy a better one, let alone to take up an education. If the light is good I can make decent shots, or I have to resort to using a flash.

Translating is also nice, as I love to learn languages and spending hours and hours in front of my 'puter, puzzling around to get it JUST RIGHT. The past year I spent learning German, and if it wasn't for the grammar, I'd love the language :p

I am also starting up a folk / folk crossover mailorder together with a friend. I guess all those things together will make for an exciting life - where I will be happy to get up each morning (ok, not HAPPY, I hate getting up) and do what I have to do. AND get paid too!

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Fibula Mattock
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 07:38 AM

[Hello Uncle Metal-Detector, thread instigator!]

I love my job. I'd like it even more if I had less time doing grunt work and more time writing, and if I had even more spare time for fiddle playing. I wouldn't say that I'm dying to start it in the morning, but I am enthused enough to talk about it at length to anyone foolish enough to ask me, and occasionally I get sent off to exotic places to make the digital equivalent of crayon rubbings, and the pay's not bad (for now).

Then again, I reckon John Moulden has a pretty fantastic job - song detective/researcher!

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Midchuck
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 07:21 AM

Never happen. Whorehouses hire ragtime piano players, not folk-singer/guitarists.

But I bet I'd be so good that they'd stop to applaud!

Peter.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: MBSLynne
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 07:02 AM

Well I WAS going to say high-class prostitute......but...

Although I have several jobs, all part time, I consider muyself very lucky in that I really enjoy them. I milk 10-15 beautiful jersey cows every afternoon and feed calves and young stock. Some of my happiest and most satisfying times have been working on farms and this is a particularly nice one. I get paid daily and if, for some reason I can't be there, or don't want to work, I don't. Alright, I don't get paid, but that's my choice. The week before last I helped to deliver a beautiful calf. Wonderful!

On top of that, I grow herbs and give talks on them to various groups, for which I get paid what seems to me an incredible lot of money. Anyone who knows me will know that for me to be paid to talk to people is absolutely the ideal job! As well I get to grow things and to work with plants which are not only beautiful, they smell wonderful and they are useful too!

I consider myself very lucky to be working with animals that I love, people and lovely plants.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Polly Squeezebox
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 06:50 AM

Okay, it's not my main wage - but on most Saturday nights I get to go out with friends I really treasure. Play music and have fun with those friends, while other people dance to our music and we get the joy of seeing others relaxing and enjoying themselves to our music. While we're there people buy us drinks and feed us. Very often it's in some stately home or other special place that most people wouldn't get to visit without having to pay. Very often, also, it is at some special event in their life - such as a wedding or anniversary. At the end of the evening the people who have arranged all these delights for us turn round and pay us for being there. We've made friends through the years by playing for several 'special events' in peoples' lives. I CONSIDER MYSELF SO, SO LUCKY TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE GIFT OF MUSIC MAKING.

Pauline

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 06:11 AM

From March next year, a jpob that pays the bills with a bit left over for food and replacement strings would be nealry perfect.

But if I weren't being picky ... there are more vacancies than school-leavers here in Milton Keynes, so who knows?

Steve

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Leadfingers
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 05:35 AM

I've got it ! Retired from the day job and just doing Pro Music Gigs !
What more could you ask ? Getting paid for what has always been a hobby !

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 04:52 AM

Travelling to and writing about folk festivals round the world, [and whisky tasting!]
Giok

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: GUEST,pipes42
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 04:21 AM

whiskey taster while listening to recordings of pipes from around the globe.    Yeah! that would be a job and a half... with overtime.
    WOW! . . . POP!!! (sigh) dream ends! ah well, it was great while it lasted.

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 03:51 AM

I'd be happy with my scout hut full of craft stuff and sewing things... I could make arty farty cards and pictures, sew ties, waistcoats and posh frocks all day long... bliss!

LTS

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 03:48 AM

Moderating a folk music discussion forum?

Subject: RE: A mudcatters job to die for
From: muppitz
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 03:47 AM

If it exists can someone let me know about it so I can apply please?!



(A slightly downbeat and lost her way) muppitz x

Subject: A mudcatters job to die for
From: GUEST,eoin o'buadhaigh
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 03:44 AM

What would be the ideal job? A job you wake up in the morning dying to get started, being paid for doing it AND being appreciated for doing it! Does such a jod exist and who has it?
Do any mudcatter have have 'The perfect job' or is it just one of those things we all dream about?
    eoin o'buadhaigh