Spinning off from ranting over my life, I'm really curious about what other people do, and what they've done in the past, to make a living. It's one of few things I find particularly fascinating about other people, and I could also use ideas! I know I've mentioned some of this already, as have a handful of other people, but I'll start this off with my whole work experience (that I can remember).
I got my first 'job' when I was 8, cleaning horse stalls in exchange for being able to ride an old horse around for the rest of the afternoon. I did some babysitting when I got more into my teens. I did some house/pet sitting in high school. I cleaned stalls in exchange for boarding my own horse. I was a groom at a greyhound racing park, which is the person who pulls the dogs out of the kennels before each race, or is running around on the track before/during/after the race. I worked as a rural mail carrier. I became a dog groomer when my car died and I had to quit carrying mail. I stuck with grooming for 12 years, moving states and a couple of different places, even trying to do it on my own for awhile. I also cleaned stalls at a couple different barns within those 12 years. I worked at a humane society for a couple months as a second job to grooming before they fired me because apparently wanting to take perfectly healthy and nice animals home instead of letting them get euthanized is considered a 'red flag'. cough Then I became a web developer. And now I'm unemployed!
I have some future plans, but most of them are 'hobby' jobs and not, like, making a living jobs. I'm kind of at a loss there. Before I became unemployed, I bought a rare breed stallion and I eventually plan on starting my own breeding program with him. He's still too young for that nonsense (even if he doesn't always agree), so no hurry there. I want to write books and/or screenplays. I want to build a couple of different web apps (that have no real hope of monetization). I have a couple mobile/browser based games in my head. I'm working on my bachelor's in software development. I've considered moving to CO and becoming a weed farmer (my friend's mom does this, so I'd sort of have a mentor). I want to train horses to compete in dressage. I want to compete in dressage.
Sorry, that got really long! It became a little cathartic after spending most of the night slogging through some existential depression and a headache instead of sleeping.
