Some
of my favourite things
Astronauts, project managers, CEOs, engineers, physicists, architects,
metallurgists, maintenance managers, truckers, hijacking victims, union bosses,
border guards, widows, scientists, railroaders, air traffic controllers, ships’
captains, mountaineers, security chiefs and detectives, because I get to talk
with them.
Bull pens, commuting, rush hour, half-hour lunches, payroll deductions,
Saturday shopping, ties, polished shoes, scary bosses, office politics,
annoying colleagues, cubicles, reporting on pot holes, owners’ children,
backstabbing, meetings and company computers, because I do not have to endure
them.
Checkpoint queues, deicing facilities, nuclear power plants, X-ray telescopes,
battleships, airports, hydroelectric dams, dental drill bits, free flight,
runway incursions, spacecraft, kitchens, virtual reality, man traps, noise
monitoring, polar routes, FIDS, simulators, offshore oil production platforms
and alloys, because I get to write about them.
Deadlines, e-mail addresses, wrong numbers, answering machines, communication
departments, publishers, FTP sites, tax returns, passwords, typing, spelling
mistakes, first paragraphs, putative editors, hard drive crashes, deteriorating
exchange rates, lost files, stagnant fees, the Transportation Security
Administration, new topics, the word ‘no’ and loneliness, because they
challenge me.
Editing, flying an Airbus A320 past the CN tower, attending awards dinners,
cooking up story ideas, preparing invoices, cashing cheques, unpacking a
27-inch iMac, interviews, writing question lists, using my 16-50mm lens,
crafting leads, standing on a 170-tonne turbine, traveling in a transport
truck, driving an aircraft deicer and a raising a celebratory Macallan with an
editor, because they’re part of a great day.
Flight schools, gypsum mills, intermodal terminals, pulp and paper mills, egg
grading plants, roller coasters, NASA, aircraft hangars, airfield rescue
firefighting vehicles, runway cleaning equipment, Bombardier, test tracks, air
traffic control towers and baggage handling systems, because my job opens
doors.
Good coffee, real breakfast, back yard, bathtub, fridge, fruit, rocking chair,
apples, toast, dry socks, peanuts, mail at eleven, phoning friends, walking in
the sun, bicycle, bed, leather couch, my book and welcoming my family at the
door, because these are the delights and privileges of working at home.
How can you top that for a great job?
Copyright
© Carroll McCormick 2012
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