My jobs have all entailed substantial drudgery, stress, and general assfuckery.
That made me laugh out loud. I vote it for Quote of the Day.
When Brewer retires and publishes his celebrity tell-all memoirs, I'm flying to his town to camp out in the line that forms a week ahead of his book signing party...
But if you HAD to show up at the beach at 8 am every day, and put in your 8 hours regardless of surf conditions, don't you think THAT would get pretty old?
That would get old quickly. I used to surf but have basically given up due to work, family and other hobbies. I used to hate though going surfing when it was freezing cold.
My daughter's been home from college for 10 weeks (with four weeks on a Pearl Harbor ship for Navy training) and she's been bringing home stray midshipmen almost every weekend since mid-May. We've done far more surfing than usual (4-5 times per week) for far longer than usual (up to 3-4 hours) and I've given more surf lessons this summer than in the last five years combined. I've probably gone through a half-gallon of sunscreen, too.
I enjoy teaching people how to surf, but if it was a paid job then it would suck. My students have nothing at stake in the lesson, so they relax and enjoy themselves without worrying about extracting maximum value from their payment. Even though I've expended a lot more calories this summer giving a lot more lessons, I still enjoy teaching them.
I suppose the business version of this would be "Satisfaction guaranteed or your money cheerfully refunded!" But I'd still be dealing with fees, taxes, liability insurance, bookkeeping, and a bunch of other overhead that would inevitably suck out the fun. I'd get all hypercompetitive about revenue and profit margins, too, and I'd be trying to squeeze out just a little more performance from every lesson.
I've been surfing for over 11 years, and boredom has not shown up yet. Every wave is different. Every one could be surfed differently/better. Every board performs differently, and every day the weather is different. I still need to try kite surfing, windsurfing, and stand-up paddleboarding. If all else fails, there's plenty of other surfer eye candy on the waves and plenty of people to talk story with.
In the last five years, though, I've lost my tolerance for "cold" water (below 74 degrees). I've succumbed to wearing a 2mm long-sleeve high-neck neoprene jacket from October-May. Whenever I'm really
sniveling feeling sorry for myself, though, I can always watch videos of the hardy souls in the Great Lakes Surfing Club...