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For ten hours a day, four days a week, people call me and I solve their problems by instructing them on what to click and where to drag. It’s actually a lot more interesting than it sounds, and I enjoy it a lot more than I ever thought I would. I’ve never been much of a puzzle-worker. I tell my customers frequently that I’m from the “Nuke it all” school of troubleshooting when fixing my own problems, preferring to destroy and start over with that which I am unable to easily fix. So, it’s a blessing that for 40+ hours a week, I am forced to methodically isolate the cause of the issue and, just as methodically, tease out the solution. And if you think all technical issues are the same, they are not. I learn something new every, every day, and the majority of the calls I get are about things I may have never seen before – at least not exactly in the way it’s manifesting for that particular customer.

When I graduated from high school and chose not to go to college, it wasn’t necessarily my dream to be a phone tech support person. My dreams and goals have always been extremely vague and non-specific, and none of them foresaw any sort of big-deal “career” type job. I sort of figured I’d work at Kinko’s my entire life and write books or make magazines and maybe live in a trailer on a plot of land somewhere. For me, that was success. Honest and heartfelt. The thought of that still makes me feel content. There is so little I truly want or need. A place to live. Candles. Things to write on or with. Things to read. Things to eat.

My eldest son is now at the age I was when I made these plans and had these dreams. His plans and dreams are different from mine, for sure. As we eagerly await word from his favorite school, I’m looking at my life and wondering what my years post-children will be like. Will I read Erma Bombeck books on the front porch of my condo and remember what it was like when life was more chaotic? Will I sell all of my worldly possessions and hit the road in an RV? Will I buy my trailer home in the country and finally achieve my lifelong goal?

It’s an interesting phase of life that I’m creeping up slowly on. These are the days I thought about wistfully when parenting was most difficult. These are the days I will remember fondly in the future.

❤ ❤