Free Ride

My topic has less to do with the title of this song and more to do with the first line: "The mountain is high; the valley is low, and you're confused on which way to go." It's not that I'm confused. It's that the mountains are high and the valleys are low, and my life seems always to be in one of those places or the other. I'm sure I've mentioned before that I like "the rollercoaster". I may complain sometimes about having too much work -- or not enough -- but the fact is that my life has always been flood or drought, feast or famine, boom or bust, everything or nothing. I don't have a lot of "gray time" and I've gotten used to it. It isn't just work; balance does not seem to find me, nor I it. (Gosh, that's a bad sentence!) Right now I'm in flood, feast, boom, everything time. I put in scoring availability for six days this week, as we were offered a $100/day bonus for each day of eight (or more) hours of lead-scoring. I was scheduled for all six. Today, in the midst of my scoring shift, I received a phone call from a woman who wanted me to edit the first chapter of her dissertation -- by Wednesday! I asked her to send me a copy so I could see how much work it would be, and asked her to call me around 5:30.

When I finished my scoring shift, I took a look. It's not too bad, and it won't take me long to do. I was thinking of charging her $150 -- and I always tend to low-ball estimates -- but when we spoke, she asked how much $200 would get her. I said, "That will get you all of it." She was referred by a woman whose entire dissertation I edited about four (or maybe more) years ago. I was really touched that that woman held onto my contact information and felt confident about referring me to the woman who called me today. It seems they are close friends. Am I thrilled about doing even a brief edit in two days, sandwiched between nine-hour scoring shifts? Not particularly. Do I know this could lead to more work, and will help me finance my family vacation this summer? Yes, indeed. And this is how it always goes: When I have a lot of work, more work comes in. But since I don't always have a lot of work, I need to take it when I can get it. I'm fine with that. It will just make the time pass faster until I take my short vacation.

Of course, in the midst of those things, I also need to set up my summer classes and at some point deal with all the housework I've been neglecting. I think I'll take off all of next week (I leave next Thursday for Cabo) and get my literal house in order. I do really well with piled-on work when I know there's an end in sight. (That's part of why I like teaching; there's an end to every semester.) I suppose in some ways, the title does apply to my life, in that I'm getting a "free ride" flightwise, but even that, I feel I worked for in a way. Everyone on that overbooked flight (the one that netted me the credit) wanted to go home. I was so sick with an awful up-north cold, and all I wanted to do was get home. However, when the offer finally reached $700 because no one was volunteering to take a later flight, I decided it would ultimately be worth it. And it was! Or, rather, it will be! All of the work I've been doing lately has put me in the sweet position of being able to take a little time off and still be able to pay my bills and have a bit of spending money. I expect there will be valleys ahead again at some point. This month, I'm enjoying the mountain.