It's the work you hate that is by far the biggest risk factor

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | 6-17-02 | Dale Dauten

[FairWitness]

"Without work, people wither in the soul."

It seems to me that the longer a nonfiction book is, the less they ought to charge you for it. After all, the author has left you with the tough work of trying to figure out what's important - it's the same logic as getting a discount for a product that needs to be put together. A long book should come with a warning: "Some Disassembly Required."

[FairWitness]

"The latest medical research is saying that the quantity of the work you do is not a risk factor. They used to think that being a workaholic was unhealthy. But the important factor is if you like your work. It isn't doing a lot of work that's dangerous; it's doing a lot of work that you hate that's a risk factor."

I am currently "retired", at age 61. I worked at essentially the same job for 27 years, in pharmaceutical R&D. For about 25 years it was a great job, and who counted the hours? But for the last two years it was just a job, eight hours a day. The difference was in freedom and responsibility to make decisions that could mean the difference betwen success and failure in development of a product (first 25 years), versus going through a "box-checking" exercise to produce required data for regulatory submission (last 2 years). This difference was the result of a merger in which my part of the company was definitely not seen as "equal" by our larger "partner". I was very fortunate to come to a mutually agreeable ending with the company. My point is, while I was being paid very well for doing relatively easy work, I was not happy because it was not creative or challenging. Right now I am just enjoying the time off, but will be looking for something interesting to do in the near future. The above article kind of meanders around, but the part about it not being the amount of work, but whether you enjoyed it or not, that matters did speak to me.

[Lazamataz]

Interesting article ping.

[headsonpikes]

An unexpected perspective...thanks for posting. ;^)

[DJtex]

I like the part about "a great obligation to uplift."

My favorite prayer starts: I am here only to be truly helpful."

[Hillary's Folly]

I'm Doomed

[Pentagram]

Bump!

[1234]

bmp reminds me of one of my heroes: ECKHART TOLLE, author of "THE POWER OF NOW"; this book is the best i've read: powerful and peaceful.

[FairWitness]

LOL. Thanks for the link. My family is more "mature" than the one in your article, but I am enjoying playing the "house-husband" for my still-working wife. I'm not very creative at it, but am doing most of the cooking now. I've always said that a biochemist (my training) ought to be able to follow recipes and cook. My specialty is cherry pie.

[Hillary's Folly]

Hmmm, is that a homemade crust? Nothing like the taste of a homemade crust.

[secretagent]

Reminds me of the profit volunteers get from their work.

Tradesmen will volunteer on Habitat for Humanity type projects for no pay, but they get in return the freedom to do something new, or something right.

[FairWitness]

Hmmm, is that a homemade crust? Nothing like the taste of a homemade crust.

Nothing but homemade. I started making pies 38 years ago when I moved too far away from my mother to enjoy hers on a regular basis anymore. Practice makes perfect they say.

[tamu]

have you or has anyone read 'the diamond cutter' by geshe michael roach? it's the same kind of thing stretched to 225 or so pages and details how an american (princeton grad w/honors) went to nepal/tibet (i forget) and then came back to the US and went to work in the diamond industry (at the urging of his lama). it talks about how he used buddhist beliefs to manage people and enhance the bottom line of the firm. cerebral folk, those buddhists.

[AnAmericanMother]

What a beautiful lattice crust!

Do you cut out the diamonds for the lattice? I can't see the joints that I should see if you interlaced strips of dough (my sainted grandmother's method).

Is it a trade secret, or can you tell?

[FairWitness]

O.K. True confession - my pies would not look that perfect (but would probably taste better). I interlace the lattice, as your grandmother did (does?). I found this picture on the internet - to make a lattice with no seams I assume one would have to cut out the "holes" in the lattice very carefully after laying it in place, or else have a crust "tough" enough to stand the manipulation of putting it on top of the pie after cutting it out (my crusts are too flaky to stand that kind of transfer). In addition I never make pies in metal pie plates - only glass.

[JamesWilson]

I thought you might enjoy this article.

How could I not? I love my work and look like a Budda. ;-)

[AnAmericanMother]

Then I'll just keep doing them the way you do and my sainted grandmother did (rest her soul; she died in '73).

I just learned how to make paté briseé, and I'm having fun using it for all sorts of unlikely things (like chicken pot pie a la Rich's Magnolia Room, etc.) My pies are NOT things of beauty, but they taste o.k. (at least no-one around here ever complains.) I like the flour/butter-crusts, but my husband likes the crumb crust (because Key Lime pie is his favorite.)

I'm so glad somebody else still likes old fashioned cooking! This nouvelle cuisine stuff gives me the heebie jeebies. As Julia Child said, "You just know somebody's hands have been all over it." :-D