Revised Career Plans

[pyat]

My previous career plan involved working at my current place for another four or five years, if possible, and then collectively considering our options as a family, to either continue in technical writing, go freelance, or use my professional experience to enter an entirely new career.

I have prepared a set of revised plans.

1. Move to Shelter Valley Road and grow mangel-wurzels on a communal farm.

"Oh, the Shelter Valley Road
And the way it winds along
It's like a long-lost melody from a half-remembered song
In the end it all comes down to
Reapin' what you've sowed
In the fields along the Shelter Valley Road"
- David Newland, "The Shelter Valley Road"


Riches more than mind can picture,
Wheat and barley, oats and hay,
Clover, beans and mangel-wurzels
Shall be ours upon that day.
- Beasts of England, 4th stanza

2. Stay at Home and Read Encyclopedias.

"You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting."
- T.S White, The Once and Future King

3. Go back to school and become a mycologist, or some other science that fits my particular strengths for classification and literal fact-collecting.

"In reading the old accounts one finds a strange mixture of fact and fantasy. Some are so fantastic that if they had not been accepted by other authors they would not find a place in even a most detailed historical summary. Then there comes an observation of such merit that all seems set for real progress. But these facts, even when accepted, are often misinterpreted, almost as if in a superfluity of naughtiness, and again there is confusion."
– John Ramsbottom, Mushrooms & Toadstools, 1953, p. 17

4. Stay in my basement and write Role-Playing Games for Royalties.

"Emperor Wu wished to publish a game. He consulted his advisers, asking them, How can I best accomplish this? His advisers gave their opinions, one saying, You must have a Web page, another saying, You must have plastic tokens, each answering in turn, save for Chang Lin, who remained silent. Finally the Emperor asked: Chang Lin, why won't you speak? Give us your opinion. Chang Lin replied: My only advice is to abandon this plan. If you desire a long and prosperous life, you will not publish a game. The Emperor ignored Chang Lin's advice. The following autumn he died of heartbreak."
- General Tso: The Ten Wings

5. Combination of the above.

Does anyone want to come live on my mangel-wurzel commune? I'd run RPGs, and we could have wireless, and make mulled... drinky... things...

Comments

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I imagine all of these are better than being devoured by a reptoid bossboss.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

You can totally come and live on the mangel-wurzel commune, you know.

[easyalchemy.livejournal.com]

Fact: David Newland is a good friend of mine, and his song was, I believe, written about the childhood home of Aengus Finnan, which was indeed a communal farm. I have no idea if they grew mangel-wurzels, but I tell you: should you start that farm, I know a-many friendly and hard-working wish-they-were-hippies who would join you.

You and the family should come to SVFF! The Children's Area in particular is awesome

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I remember your connection to David! It came up when I posted something about always wanting to get off the highway at Shelter Valley road, I think...


When is SVFF?

[easyalchemy.livejournal.com]

Labour Day Weekend - Sept 4-6. http://www.sheltervalley.com/

Early Bird tickets on sale now!
(Now I've done my duty as a Board member - but it really is very lovely and friendly, and I'll wave as I dash past with a camera on my shoulder)

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

Should I be heartened or disheartened by the fact that 3. is currently my plan Gamma in career plans. Seriously.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Well, if you do become one, I'd be envious!

[snobahr.livejournal.com]

If we could afford it (it would require a lottery win), we'd so move on to a farm and go Green Geek.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

In a couple of years, Boyzilla could probably pull the plough and shoe horses with his hands!

[conjurdude.livejournal.com]

I am all about mulled drinky things, yo.

[beetiger.livejournal.com]

I am totally in. I am really good at making drinky things.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

We could not have a mangel-wurzel gamer commune without you, ma'am. :) Bring the Moth and the Bard and the Cat!

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

My plan B is to establish regional Dirndlfests across the US and Canada.

All of your options sound like worthy pursuits.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

We already have Oktoberfest! Haven't you seen Strange Brew? :)

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

One of those effervescent "almost highschool sweetheart" memories involves a woman who later became a fast friend and her dirndl. ::sigh::

But mostly, those of us here in Neu Berlin who are long time locals just batten down the hatches and keep of the roads during dirndl-time.

[anidada.livejournal.com]

That's very wise. :D

[anidada.livejournal.com]

You ever tried to yoink a mangel out of the ground, there, buddy? Ain't for the faint o' heart...

I am now pondering the utility of a mangel trebuchet, and it's all your fault.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Maybe a teeter-totter tied at one end to the mangel, manned by three little girls at the other end?

[anidada.livejournal.com]

Can you imagine trying to get them to quit and come in for dinner, though? :D

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

"Come on, girls! That mangel has to be in the oven for four hours, get it in here already!"

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Well, I wouldn't want to mangle the wurzel.

Perhaps some kind of machine...? A mangel-wurlizter?

[anidada.livejournal.com]

I've heard many a mangled Wurlitzer in my time...

[relee.livejournal.com]

I would consider moving to a commune after the year is up, but somehow I don't think you're serious. ^.^

Doez mangel-wurzel even grow in Ontario? It's a European plant I think.

[relee.livejournal.com]

LOL I just came by to see what everyone else had said, and I realized I spelled Does as Doez. That was totally an unintentional typo. XD

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Most things that will grow in middle/northern Europe will also grow in Canada. The thing looks like a cross between a turnip and a pumpkin, and both of those grow here.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Maybe not mangel-wurzels as a business, but the farm and/or communal household is a relatively serious idea. :)

And, yup! They grow anywhere with liquid precipitation and sunshine.

[relee.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll keep an eye on you for any commune updates then. ^.^

I looked them up on Wikipedia since I had been curious and apparently you can eat both root and leaf. Very versatile plants. But it also said you might need to fertilize with potash to make them grow properly.

[nottheterritory.livejournal.com]

for you, I would grow mangel-wurzels ;)

I am also considering 3 - except with less mushrooms.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Greater love hath no man than this, that he should grow mangel-wurzels!

[amarafox.livejournal.com]

I'm on the road to #3, but it involves health care :D

[dagoski.livejournal.com]

Why stay at home and read encyclopedias when the right degree will let you earn a paycheck doing that? That's kind of what a Library Science degree would do for you. Just don't get stuck in the metadata trap that I appear to be falling into. That's the situation when you get good at classification and description of materials. Then you only get considered for cataloging positions and get shunted away from reference work. Seriously, this is a profession you, and several people in my friends list, would probably really enjoy. I don't think it was a good choice for me, but it hooked me up with the fields that are, so it was still a good experience.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I'd be a librarian! Hmm. Something to look into. I think McMaster has a good program for that.

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

Library Sciences: Masters program. Western, UofT. If Mac had a program as well, I would absolutely want to know about that, Pyat...

[dronon.livejournal.com]

Hey, I went into cataloguing on purpose! Nothing wrong with it, although if you had your sights set wider I can see that it would be frustrating to be pigeonholed. I had the opposite problem when looking for work though, I had no reference experience and that's what everyone wanted to hire for. (I love doing reference research for friends, but I'm not cut out for working at public service desks.)

[dagoski.livejournal.com]

I actually enjoyed my cataloging class, but I wanted to get in on human and the planing side of the business. Unfortunately, if you do something and do it very well, you can get stuck. In my case, my IT experience means I'm relegated to Systems Librarian positions, though, I've gotten in on some good Digital Library projects which are more interesting than being a Sys Admin with a library degree.

Actually, I think the Library field was, perhaps, wrong for me. The degree program did, however, find me the focus of PhD work and helped me put a name to the field I want to work in, so it was definitely not a waste. Besides, the degree comes in handy in a lot settings that are far from the traditional library world.

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

These are good plans!

If you decide on the gamemaking, I could do photoshop for you.

[paka.livejournal.com]

Sure! Mangel-wurzels, mulled whatever-was-on-sale (hot spiced cranberry-grapefruit juice!), mycology, and the chance to be the illustrator for RPGs, sounds better than most of my current plans.

[kores-rabbit.livejournal.com]

A. I want a basement to hide in.
B. I want a mulled... drinky... thing
C. I want a commune.

Let's go!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Basement commune disco party!