In a parallel universe

Every once in a while, when I have had a bad day at work, I think about other career paths I could have taken. Don’t get me wrong; I love what I do. Breaking software for a living is fun, challenging, and it seems to be something I’m good at. I have no intentions of giving it up. But occasionally I think about other paths I could have taken if I had opened my eyes a bit during high school. Here are three that I have considered lately:

1. Crane operator. We have the new medical school going up beside PEER Group and there is a very large crane right in the middle of it. I don’t have a window seat yet (sigh) but whenever I walk past a window I think about the crane operator and what he/she is doing. I think I could do it; I am not too afraid of heights and I’m pretty good at taking orders. I suspect they get paid well too.
2. Stone mason. What could be more satisfying than building something out of rocks? It would last forever (if built well) and look good to boot. If I was a stone mason I would be well muscled (as opposed to now). They used to be looked down upon as ‘just a trades worker’ but not anymore. They are in quite a high demand. Look for me to do a stone mason-ish project in the spring.
3. Cook. I love to cook. If I was at a restaurant I could cook all the day long. But the hours are pretty bad and I would never see my wife. But I would get paid to get better at making food – that’s hard to beat.

Those are the jobs the pop into my mind these days. What other careers to do think about when your day has gone into the toilet?