Isn’t Life Strange?

After a few thousand miles and a couple of weeks, I’m finally back home in Houston.  As I mentioned in previous posts, I had a fantastic time seeing some new sites and also spending time at a place that I dearly love.  On the drive home I thought about how much I would love to spend more time there, and that got me thinking. 

I’m not one of those guys who graduated at the top of the class, has an advanced degree, or got himself a killer job right after graduation and worked his way up to the top of the ladder.  I am, shall I say, a bit of a nomad.  I’ve tried new things, have had a few different jobs and careers, and I have lived in a number of places in the United States.  It’s not necessarily good, nor bad.  To use a popular expression, it is what it is. 

I very much enjoy my current job more than any other I’ve ever had.  In fact, I consider myself fortunate to have fallen into this kind of work.  Sometimes things happen that way, and I cannot express how thankful I am for the opportunities I have. 

But lately I have come to the conclusion that there must be some way to make a ton of recession-proof money and achieve real financial independence.  We do live in the "Land of Opportunity" after all.  We don’t need to look too hard to find a story about a normal guy who had a great idea and ended up being wealthy beyond his wildest dreams.  The more I think about it, the more I realize I want to be that guy. 

There is more to this desire than simply wanting to be stinking rich.  I’d also like to make my mark, to provide for family, to do what I can to help others, and to have some spare money so that I can do whatever I feel like, whenever I feel like it. 

The hard part is coming up with the right idea.  It seems like everything has already been done.  But who would have ever thought to put an ordinary rock in a box and call it a pet?  In the mid 1970’s, that very thing made a man a millionaire.  The best part about that idea is that it didn’t require any particular skill or talent. 

What I find amazing is that we live in a world where there are people who blog for a living.  In other words, they have web sites just like this one (except better) that generate income!  Now this blog as it is could never generate an income.  But the thought of maintaining a topic-based blog that receives thousands of hits per day is definitely something worth considering.  If one thing about the Internet is true, there can never be too many good web sites. 

I admit, I feel a lot like George Costanza after he quit his job and was looking for a new career.

GEORGE: Nobody’s hiring now. The market’s terrible.

JERRY: So what are you gonna do?

GEORGE: I like sports. I could do something in sports.

JERRY: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. In what capacity?

GEORGE: You know, like the general manager of a baseball team or something.

JERRY: Yeah. Well, that - that could be tough to get.

GEORGE: Well, it doesn’t even have to be the general manager. Maybe I could be like, an announcer. Like a caller man. You know how I always make those interesting comments during the game.

JERRY: Yeah. Yeah. You make good comments.

GEORGE: What about that?

JERRY: Well, they tend to give those jobs to ex-ballplayers and people that are, you know, in broadcasting.

GEORGE: Well, that’s really not fair.

JERRY: I know. Well, okay. Okay. What else do ya like?

GEORGE: Movies. I like to watch movies.

JERRY: Yeah. Yeah.

GEORGE: Do they pay people to watch movies?

JERRY: Projectionists.

GEORGE: That’s true.

JERRY: But you gotta know how to work the projector.

GEORGE: Right.

JERRY: And it’s probably a union thing.

GEORGE: [scoffs] Those unions. [sighs] Okay. Sports,…movies. What about a talk show host?

JERRY: Talk show host. That’s good.

GEORGE: I think I’d be good at that. I talk to people all the time. Someone even told me once they thought I’d be a good talk show host.

JERRY: Really?

GEORGE: Yeah. A couple of people. I don’t get that, though. Where do you start?

JERRY: Well, that’s where it gets tricky.

GEORGE: You can’t just walk into a building and say " I wanna be a talk show host."

JERRY: I wouldn’t think so.

GEORGE: It’s all politics.

JERRY: All right. Okay. Sports, movies, talk show host. What else?

GEORGE: This could have been a huge mistake.

JERRY: Well, it doesn’t sound like you completely thought this through.

So it comes to that.  What do I do?  Write a book?  Compose music?  Do something web-based?  I suppose if it were easy, everyone would be filthy rich.  This will require some thought.