What's your ideal job?

My boss asked me this question,and I'm really glad he didn't ask it at the interview - I might not have got my job if he did.

"If money was no object, what would you do for a job?"

When he asked me the question I really had no idea how to answer, it wasn't something I'd ever considered, my life's path had gone a certain way and that led to certain jobs, which gradually led up the managament ladder to where I am now; a middle management corporate wage slave - hence the title of this blog.

The reason that I'd never considered it, is because I don't truly believe that I'll ever be in a 'money is no object' situation. I play the lottery, so every week I have a 1 in 13 million chance of this becoming a reality. Of course the odds of being struck by lightning are something like 1 in 575,000, and that hasn't happened yet either, so I'm not exactly waiting for that ridiculously slim chance to actually happen becaus eI'm pretty safe in the assumption it won't.

When I was asked, I think I replied something like, "I'd put my time in to music, maybe become a session musician or something." It wasn't necassarily what I'd do, but the first thing that I thought to say - after all, among my past hobbies does lie failed attempt at music stardom (needless to say I didn't anywhere further than the local pub circuit).

Apparently the answer to the question says a lot about the person answering.

Looking back on that question, today, I think perhaps my answer wasn't so far from the truth. Music and audio is something that has, forgive the pun, resonated with me. I've been a musician, I've written songs, I've recorded songs, I've played to crowds sometimes even fairly big crowds, and it's all a lot of fun. Let me tell you there is a buzz you get when you step up on to a stage to look outon a crowd of people there to see you perform. That buzz is unlike any other I've known, it really plays to your ego, However, money being no object doesn't dictate whether you can have a career as a musician, luck does, and plugging away as a session guy really doesn't do it for me in the way that being a part of an act would. So music is out.

Or is it?
There's more to music and the music industry than the guys up on stage; there's an army of sound guys, lighting guys, roadies, techs - all of whom do their utmost to make the band look and sound as good as possible both in the studio and live.
Then there's  the DJs the promoters, all working to get the band visibiilty.

Me? I like sound, Ilike messing with sound, I like to think that if I wasn't doing my current job and money was no object I'd be doing something somewhere related to sound.
Two 'heroes' one from a book, one from a movie, have always stuck in my mind; Jack Sorenson of the novel 'To Kill The Potemkin' and Jack Terry from the movie 'Blowout' are both experts in sound and both shine through in their field through the course of their respective stories. Neither of these guys are typical action heroes, and both of them stumble across the plot through being very good at their jobs.

Blowout

To Kill The Potemkin