Jobs I wish I could have
As mentioned here previously, I have been in the newspaper industry for half my life. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to sell typewriters. I work in a medium that is rapidly losing its relevance in a more immediate, more glossy, less structured world.

However, I'm stuck with it, because I'm not qualified to do anything else. I can dream, though. Some things I wish I was qualified to do:

Computer security. Hacking for a living. Preventing others from hacking for fun. I want to be a guy who digs around on hard drives finding things some poor sap thought he had "deleted." It would suit my nosy tendencies.

"Professional driver on a closed course." Drive as fast as I want in a completely controlled environment. I really can't imagine a cooler job.

Car designer. This was the first career I seriously considered. I was 10 at the time. My lack of natural art talent -- and my lack of discipline necessary to develop what little skill I had -- were impediments to pursuing this. But I'd still love to be the guy who decides where to put the taillights and whether the license plate bracket goes on the bumper or on the trunk lid.

Writer. The only actual talent I have. Not enough of it to actually be lucrative, however.

Musician. If I had been a traditional young person, I might have chased this dream a little longer. However, I saddled myself with debt at a young age. Debt is incompatible with non-regular paychecks.

Historian. I always wondered how "historians" feed themselves. Yeah, I could sit around and do research all day, every day. I can't think of many things I'd rather do. But, what would I do with it? Who'd pay to read it?

Long-haul truck driver. I like to drive. I like highways. I like being alone, sometimes. I like seeing the country. I handle large vehicles fairly well, although my experience with large vehicles is limited to driving U-Hauls. I don't like flannel shirts or wallets on chains, and no matter how much truck-stop food I ate, I'd never weigh enough.

Writer for a car magazine. Wonder if I would get bored with cars if I spent that much time around them.

I love newspapers, and I love the news business. And I've had opportunities to try something different within those parameters. But I've always come around to shying away from the risk. I've seen too many people go into new business ventures that crashed and burned. I don't have a fireproof savings account. And I can't imagine my kid saying, "Yeah, I have to share a room with both of my siblings, but that's OK, because my daddy's a risk-taker."

There's no room in my budget for career redevelopment. Keep that regular paycheck coming.