...a drunken sailor? Not exactly.
I'm not sure how wise this post is, but then, I'm not sure how wise I am these days. Meh, we'll give it a shot.
See, I've got this problem, and it's a well-known fact that FoLCs can solve pretty much any problem which doesn't require the direct intervention of Clark Kent or H. G. Wells.
I need something to do with my time. Preferably something productive and rewarding. Money is nice but not necessary.
Limitations/requirements:
- Thanks to a bunch of sleeping disorders, I have a very volatile sleep schedule. Flexible hours are a must.
- Thanks to one of those sleeping disorders in particular, I have arthritis-like symptoms which come and go at will. On a good day, I can do some heavy lifting, but there's no way to tell if it's going to be a good day until I've been up and going for a couple of hours.
- Thanks to something else we've been unable to pin down, my mind is just as unreliable. I can't think my way through more complex problems even on a good day (I used to teach freshman calculus, but I can't wrap my head around most of it anymore). On a medium day, I'll randomly zone out for short periods, and can have a hard time holding my own in casual conversation (processing what's been said, figuring out what I want to say, finding the words to go with the concepts, and remembering them in proper order long enough to say them). On a bad day, standing up straight takes a conscious effort.
- Even on a good day, focusing for too long (i.e. spending a few hours writing) is very draining. Doing so pretty much gaurentees that the next couple of days will be bad ones. I just tire out way too quickly.
- I'm prone to random dizzy spells on medium days and below, so I don't trust myself with heavy machinery. I can still drive if I have to, but I try not to, and I try to make sure that it's only for short distances. There are periods (hours, days, sometimes months) where I won't drive at all.
- I can't program a computer. I know how to do basic tasks, use various programs, find my way around the web, etc, but when it comes to writing code (including HTML), I just seem to have the wrong kind of mind.
Seems to me that rules out just about everything.
I have gone back to GEing (productive but not especially taxing volunteer work on a flexible schedule), but the work is sparse. Which is good in a way because I'd probably exhaust myself if I tried to do it every week.
What else is there? My life's been on hold for a few years now, and I'm going stir crazy.
I do have a nerd's lexical knowlege of various things, but I can't always access what I need.
I can write sometimes, when I have a clear idea of what I need to put down, but I have to do it in moderation. (And I'm short on fresh ideas.)
I enjoy working with kids, but I can't be trusted with too much responsibility. I also have a distressing tendency these days to freeze up when presented with a new and/or unexpected problem. (I've rebuilt some things from scratch, such as the processes which allow me to take part in basic conversation, but I haven't been able to do anything with my panic response. It still tries to jump into high gear, but without the necessary processing power, that just leads to multiple thought train derailments.)
I can type at a reasonably good pace, but the limitations there have already been noted.
I think that's about it.
So, to sum up: No skilled manual labor. No regular heavy lifting. No mental strain. No rigid commitment for anything to happen on a given day. No medium-to-long-distance travel. No programming or web design. No situations which might require sudden and decisive action.
What does that leave? Any thoughts?
Paul
