I have been working since before it was legal for me to do so – my first real job, as a tiny 14-year-old, was stripping and refinishing furniture for $3.50 an hour under the table. I can still remember riding home from work on the bus, coated from shin to chin with noxious goo — paint stripper mixed with paint and varnish and who knows what else. It set a good precedent for me; nearly every job since has seemed pleasant and easy by comparison.

Here is a partial list of the jobs I’ve performed since that first one in 1986:

• furniture restoration (refinishing, etc.)
• fast food: every station (x2)
• dressing room attendant
• dishwasher
• cash register operator (x7)
• temp work:
  • proofreader
  • furniture mover
  • assembly line worker
  • general labor
  • data entry
  • software training
• laundromat attendant
• convenience store clerk
• front desk clerk for housing complex
• copy shop clerk/operator
• painter (buildings, not paintings)
• telephone book deliverer
• food delivery driver
• print shop delivery driver
• taxi driver
• airport shuttle driver
• dispatcher/office worker
• telemarketer (just for one day, I swear)
• Rainbow cleaning machine salesman
• online forum administrator
• entrepreneur/CEO
• newspaper delivery
• newspaper subscription sales
• wine grape picking
• landscape install laborer/rock worker
• book editor/proofreader
• computer tech support
• PR writing
• business writing
• website design
• website design training
• newsletter production (w/ writing and editing)
• XML Accessible Media Developer