Well It’s 2 a.m. and my shoulders woke me up so while and I’m waiting for the tylenol to kick in, so I can return to sleep, no better time to write a blog.

I have had real nice, happy, patient, cool guests so far this year.  Stuart, Cathy, Julie, Jim, Marvin, Mike, Jerry, David, and Jay just to name a few are much more than fishing guests but have become pretty good friends.  It is real nice having return guests that you have things in common with to talk to, one of the perks of the jobs I really like.  Guys like I have had lately is what makes me want to work as hard as I can to make their trip fun and successful.

I spoke with one of my clients last year about some of the other jobs I have had over the years and he said I was too young to have done all of those things!  I didn’t say that I was good at, or excelled at all of these previous jobs but I think I have done pretty well with my current one.  Tonight, or this morning, this job like a job I had working at a sawmill, pulling on the green chain, also has awoken me with pain! 

People constantly tell me that I have a dream job, and I feel like I do, but it can be extremely physical and this time of year when the wind blows hard down river it can hurt these old joints and muscles.  My friend and boss Joe played pro football for a living so I’m sure he has some nights where he’s like “Damn, can I get a new hip or shoulder in the morning?”  Smashing into people at full speed who are also fast as cats and strong as bulls must wear on the body more than a lot of physical jobs but I guess any job you use your body manually to make a living takes its toll!

After high school I got a job working at a concrete/ gravel quarry where they would grind up rocks and make concrete with them.  My job was to shovel the larger rocks out from under a huge conveyer that would hang up the gears of the conveyer while softball size rocks rained down on top of me!  Luckily I had a hard hat, but it still hurt when a rock would drop on your shoulders or back!

I’m thinking how long can I put up with this for $6.00 an hour and remembering my school counselor telling me to not really follow my dreams, but go to college for a career that would be available.  After pulling boards on a green chain at a sawmill, and getting rained on by rocks at a gravel pit I eventually decided to go back to college and pursue some type of dream job. I have since went back to college, built houses, sold sporting goods, substitute taught, coached foot ball, worked as a corrections officer, bartended, managed a sports bar, and guided hunters and fisherman for 13 years while getting married and raising 2 kids.  My high school counselor was a complete dipshit!

Well the tylenol is starting to work so I think I’ll try to get some sleep.  I drove to the Mo yesterday because our local rivers aren’t in the best shape.    We slayed a bunch of huge fish with smiles everywhere.  That river is a fish factory, lots of driving but it is awesome over there.  In a few hours I’ll be making the 2 hour drive back over there hopefully with similar results.

I’ll put up with a little pain now and then, I still think I have the dream job, but having dream clients makes it what it is!  I hope I don’t ever have to  guide my high school counselor, I might flip her overboard!