Lessons from Odd Jobs

I am participating in a group writing project called Lessons From Odd Jobs.

This was started by my friend Robert at Middle Zone Musings.

Since all of us can benefit by learning about others’ jobs, I thought you might like to see some of the direct links to the contributors.

From Robert’s entries:

• Once Upon a Time I Was a Guinea Pig, by Marcus Goodyear at Goodword Editing
• Steam Cleaning Carpets, by Brad Shorr at Word Sell, Inc.
• Dr. Strangelove and Me: What I Learned From Riding Missiles, by G.L. Hoffman at What Would Dad Say
• Lessons from Odd Jobs, by Mark D. Roberts at markdroberts.com
• Lessons from Odd Jobs, by Dan King at Management by God
• An Odd Lesson, by Shalene at A Proverbs 31 Woman Wannabe
• Into the Ordinary, by L.L. Barkat at Seedlings in Stone
• I Was a Fast Food BBQ Busboy, by Brandon Sanders at Words of Redemption
• Not a Fry Cook on Venus, by Dave Zimmerman at Loud Time
• My Life at Labor Temp, by Dan Roloff at Ramblin’ Dan
• Odd Jobs, by Merrie DeStephano at Alien Dream
• A Real Saturday Post - The Odd Job, by Rebecca Miller at A Christian Worldview of Fiction
• I’ve Been Memed! Lessons About Odd Jobs, by Marlo B. Manitoba at The Joyful Christian Wife
• My “Not So Odd” Jobs, by Jim Garland at The Genius’ Gumption
• Lessons From Odd Jobs: You’re Fired, by Karl Edwards at Bold Enterprises
• Snapshots From a Variety of Odd Jobs, by Jim Martin at A Place for the God-Hungry
• On Memes and Special Things, by Carl Holmes at thoughtsofagyrovague.com
• My First Job, by Gordon Atkinson at Excellence
• What I Learned From Two Weeks as a Tomato, by Thursday Bram at thursdaybram.com
• What I Learned From Odd Jobs, by Karen Hanrahan at Best of Mother Earth
• What I Learned From… Odd Jobs, by Patrizia Broghammer at VoIP
• What I Learned From Theatre Lighting, by Sam Brougher at Your Scared Seductive System
• Things I Learned Being a Popsicle Man, by Otto Haugland at The OHO Report
• Odd Jobs, by Tanya Dennis at In The Dailies
• What I Learned From Sorting Apples, by Robyn McMaster at BrainBasedBiz
• What I Learned From Pumping Gas, by Chris Brown at Branding & Marketing
• What I Learned From Odd Jobs, by Sarah Stewart at Sarah’s Musings
• What I Learned From Having a Job for a Day, by Trevor Hampel at Trevor’s Writings
• What I Learned From Working in a Sweet Shop, by Joanna Young at Confident Writing
• What I Learned From Being a Listening Post, by Jean Browman at Stress to Power
• What I Learned From Odd Jobs - How Kids Start Off on the Entrepreneurial Trail, by Yvonne Russell at Home Biz Notes
• What I Learned From Picking Zucchini, by Lisa Gates at 360 Alliance
• Lessons Learned From Odd Moments on the Job, by Jacob Share at JobMob
• My Non-Entry to MZM’s What I Learned From Odd Jobs, by Karen H. at Stop/Start
• What I Learned From Odd Jobs, by Jackie Cameron at Jackie Cameron
• What I Learned From Being a Pregnant Usherette, by Amy Palko at Lives Less Ordinary
• What I Learned From Door-to-Door Sales, by Lillie Ammann at A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye
• What I Learned From Sweeping Up Hair, by Drew McClellan at The Marketing Minute
  

Here is the list from Higher Calling:
1. Lessons from Odd Jobs by Dan King, proud former employee of Yo-Yo Loco.

2. An Odd Lesson by Shalene, a former magician’s assistant.

3. Once Upon a Time I Was a Guinea Pig by me, Mark Goodyear, who once had a job where I got paid to stand around.

4. Into the Ordinary by L. L. Barkat (buy her book!) whose regular jobs help her realize “maybe there is hope for the ordinary person.”

5. I Was a Fast-Food BBQ Busboy by Brandon Satrom, who cleaned bathrooms and handled raw chicken and still learned some touching lessons about work.

6. Not a Fry Cook on Venus by Dave Zimmerman, who reviewed legal documents out of the dumpster and learned that “oddness and competence are unrelated.”

7. My Life at Labor Temp by Dan Roloff, the Editor-in-Chief of TheHighCalling.org [read Mark Goodyear’s supervisor and friend]. Dan worked some temp jobs and factory jobs where “the world looked bleak, and work looked even bleaker.” It’s a tough essay, but powerfully honest.

8. Merrie’s Big Adventure by Merrie DeStefano, who includes a truly frightening picture of gas masks.

9. A Real Saturday Post - The Odd Job by Rebecca Luella Miller, who sorted phone cords. Truly odd.

10. I’ve Been Memed! Lessons from Odd Jobs by Marlo B. Manitoba, who had some interesting jobs before she became a joyful Christian wife. Thanks for your honesty and courage, Marlo. (She even uses my ugly logo!)

11. My “Not So Odd” Jobs by Jim Garland, who went from soda jerk to carpet cleaning telemarketer without any Glengarry leads. (Mamet is one of my favorites, Jim. He’s a master of dialogue.)

12. Lessons from Odd Jobs: You’re Fired by Karl Edwards who one day “had to tell 10% of the firm that they were being laid off… effective immediately.” Yikes.

13. Snapshots from a Variety of Odd Jobs by Jim Martin who writes a very touching post about selling the same bread for different prices, mailing lady bugs, and discovering that the bosses errands include getting his wife to sign divorce papers.

14. On Meme’s and Special Things by Carl Holmes, whose job is so weird I’m a little flabbergasted. To use polite language, Carl was an agrarian flatulence technician.

15. What I Learned from Steam Cleaning Carpets by Brad Shorr, who shouldn’t move grand pianos without extra pay or agree to clean large black oil stains without getting paid up front.

16. My First Job by Gordon Atkinson who was suckered by his dad into starting a lawn care business one summer that ended up teaching him some incredible lessons about work and faith. For those of you who don’t know Gordon, he is an incredible blogger who bares his soul at RealLivePreacher.com. Check him out.

17. Dr. Strangelove and Me: What I Learned from Riding Missiles by G. L. Hoffman, the CEO and Chairman of JobDig, who was–get this!–an an “Air Force officer in charge of a nuclear missile, in Kansas.” Not sure what awards we’ll hand out, if any. But so far, you win, GL. That is insane.

18. Lessons from Odd Jobs by Mark D. Roberts, another heavy hitter in the blogosphere who was gracious enough to participate. Mark tells a moving story of helping his employer trim the grass around her husband’s grave. Powerful stuff.

19. What I Learned from an Odd Job by Karen Hanrahan, who learned to love people while working at a dude ranch where the cowboys “would spit if they liked your behind.”

20. Things I Learned Being a Popsicle Man by Otto Haugland, a new blogger who makes me laugh with insights like “driving by an outdoor boy scout jamboree is Popsicle Man heaven.” HILARIOUS!

21. In the Dailies: Odd Jobs by Tanya Dennis whose job includes teaching her daughter not to sing the ‘erection song’ at Easter, and teaching her son not to hang things from… well, you’ll just have to read that one for yourself.

Tags: Dan King, Shalene, a former magician’s assistant, Mark Goodyear, L. L. Barkat, Brandon Satrom, Dave Zimmerman, Dan Roloff, Merrie DeStefano, Rebecca Luella Miller, Marlo B. Manitoba, Jim Garland, Karl Edwards, Jim Martin, Carl Holmes, Brad Shorr, Gordon Atkinson, RealLivePreacher.com, G. L. Hoffman, employment news, employment newspapers, employment guides, help wanted newspapers, Jobdig in Texas, Jobdig in Tennessee, Omaha jobs, Wichita jobs, Des Moines jobs, help wanted guides, odd jobs, interesting jobs, interesting landscaping jobs, miscellaneous jobs that people do