What do I do

Several of my friends have pointed out that it might be easier for friendly readers to help me find employment if I told them what I do for a living. Unfortunately, that's an easier question to ask than to answer. I'm a modern sort of person. I don't have anything so old fashioned as a career, within which I only occasionally move from job to job, gradually increasing my experience, and collecting gradually increasing rewards. I have a set of evolving skills that I try to tto the rapidly fluctuating job market as I am shuffled from job to job against my will.

Although I have had thirty two jobs in my life (which puts me a few jobs ahead of Coturnix, but only because I'm much older), I like to thing of my core skill set as centered on research and writing. I have a Masters in Balkan History and I did all of the class work for a Doctorate, but never completed the hoop jumping that goes along with writing a dissertation. The writing was not the problem. I wrote a Master's thesis on the way to my degree.

Since leaving graduate school, I have worked for an HMO writing bylaws for two hospitals. I have been a senior technical writer for a company building backend processing services for internet commerce. I have freelanced for various computer related businesses writing online help files, installation procedures, marketing materials, white papers, and UI text. I have also written book reviews, created technical graphics, and drawn cartoons. Lately, I have been a librarian for a property management service and have written descriptive essays for items in private art and rare document collections.

I like books, politics, science, and history and the collisions of any combination of these topics. I am a font of useless information and will kick your butt on five of the six traditional Trivial Pursuit categories. I would like to find employment that involves writing content at least part of the time. I am smarter than most furniture and able to learn most skills that do not require good eye-hand coordination. I will make a new pot after taking the last cup of coffee.