What would you have chosen to do?

As some of you know, I was an allergy/immunology doctor, and although I really enjoyed interacting with patients, solving difficult and complex problems, and bringing some relief to those who were suffering, the profession itself was very stressful for me, especially since I entered it when I was almost 40 years old and had less energy and less tolerance for the institutional BS. I have really been happy in retirement for the last few years. I sometimes muse about what else I might have chosen as a career, and remembering how much I loved going as a child to the natural history museum in Los Angeles with my grandfather, who was a security guard there, I think I would have been very happy as a paleontologist or an archeologist. Even now I go every day to dinosaur and archeology news websites to read about the latest discoveries and theories, which fascinate me, and I've taken a couple online courses in the fields.

So what might you have chosen to do and enjoyed, other than what you actually ended up doing?

With all sincerity, a Zen Buddhist monk.  

As a child I wanted to be a shop teacher. I think I would have been good at it. later in life I found out that I'm a pretty good instructor.

I did try my hand at being a cop and was good at that, but I ran into laws that were sexist and tied my hands one night to force me to remove the victim of abuse out of his home and allow the female to stay. That didn't sit right with me. She freely admitted that she was the abuser and there was nothing I could do about it as the law was written. I'm not the most PC person on the planet and politics came into play later in my career. I wanted to be a cop not a politician so I resigned and moved on. I went into industry and retired from that.

When I have the time today I am a teacher of sorts but not in shop. But it's at my leisure and my choice of students. I tutor some folks one on one in handgun safety and shooting and certify them for their CCW permits. Shooting has been a love of mine since I was a teenager and I get to combine that with teaching. I'd never be able to make a living doing it but it makes me happy to see good folks able to be societies sheepdogs should they want to take on that role. But at the very least they are able to protect themselves and their loved ones and do it safely. I have nephews that I "gun proofed" as children decades ago to make them safe around firearms and they remember that to this day. I also shoot competition but due to age can't move as fast as I should be able to to be a top competitor*, but I enjoy giving tips to those who want them. I enjoy seeing them use them and passing me by as they climb in the rankings. I'm also the guy with the tools to maybe fix a firearm so that they can get back into competition.

*Think Biathlon, but not in the snow. Instead it's done with running shoes and shorts, and with handguns. Short courses of fire, speed of movement is essential, so is accuracy, and the fastest time with the best hits wins. Top competitors run, I don't. But I have accuracy up my sleeve, from my years of experience, to make up for their speed. That's USPSA Action Pistol, but in that I shoot a 9mm PCC SBR (pistol caliber carbine short barreled rifle) and not a pistol. Then there's Steel Challenge that is pure speed shooting (accuracy does count) with virtually no movement. The younger shooters speed of movement is no advantage in that and it shows. I do pretty good in that since all it requires (mostly) is swiveling at the hips.

Your post helped me see how unbelievably blessed I’ve been.  I grew up a real cowboy with roping, riding, branding etc.  also farmed the famous Idaho potatoes.  I taught ski school.  I coached football at Chiba University in Japan and played baseball for Matsushita while I was there.  I guided whitewater rivers in Idaho (and still run a trip or two each year).  Owned a masonry business, a cell phone business, and a concrete business.  Held a securities license just for fun. (That test was killer). Guided fishing trips in Alaska in my spare time.  And Have been in the auto, RV, trailering market now for 20 years and get to do marketing/sales all over the world.  When I was younger I thought I’d like to be a pro baseball player but Looking back now I can’t imagine a more whacky awesome ride than the one I was/am on.  60 years old and in a month, if this Covid junk allows, ill get my second total knee replacement and get back at it!  I don’t have any desire right now to consider retirement but guessing my little lady is going to insist somewhere along the way.  Life thus far has been fantastic.

As some of you know, I was an allergy/immunology doctor, and although I really enjoyed interacting with patients, solving difficult and complex problems, and bringing some relief to those who were suffering, the profession itself was very stressful for me, especially since I entered it when I was almost 40 years old and had less energy and less tolerance for the institutional BS. I have really been happy in retirement for the last few years. I sometimes muse about what else I might have chosen as a career, and remembering how much I loved going as a child to the natural history museum in Los Angeles with my grandfather, who was a security guard there, I think I would have been very happy as a paleontologist or an archeologist. Even now I go every day to dinosaur and archeology news websites to read about the latest discoveries and theories, which fascinate me, and I've taken a couple online courses in the fields.

So what might you have chosen to do and enjoyed, other than what you actually ended up doing?

Knew you were a doc but had no idea what field.  Fascinating man you are John!  Paleontology and archeology would have fit your curious and sleuthing nature I’d guess.  Great post! (But all your posts are great).

With all sincerity, a Zen Buddhist monk.  

And that is where you leave it?  I think from your posts we all kind of get that zen vibe from you but I’m curious how and why that appeals to you.

As a child I wanted to be a shop teacher. I think I would have been good at it. later in life I found out that I'm a pretty good instructor.

I did try my hand at being a cop and was good at that, but I ran into laws that were sexist and tied my hands one night to force me to remove the victim of abuse out of his home and allow the female to stay. That didn't sit right with me. She freely admitted that she was the abuser and there was nothing I could do about it as the law was written. I'm not the most PC person on the planet and politics came into play later in my career. I wanted to be a cop not a politician so I resigned and moved on. I went into industry and retired from that.

When I have the time today I am a teacher of sorts but not in shop. But it's at my leisure and my choice of students. I tutor some folks one on one in handgun safety and shooting and certify them for their CCW permits. Shooting has been a love of mine since I was a teenager and I get to combine that with teaching. I'd never be able to make a living doing it but it makes me happy to see good folks able to be societies sheepdogs should they want to take on that role. But at the very  least they are able to protect themselves and their loved ones and do it safely. I have nephews that I "gun proofed" as children decades ago to make them safe around firearms and they remember that to this day. I also shoot competition but due to age  can't move as fast as I should be able to to be a top competitor*, but I enjoy giving tips to those who want them. I enjoy seeing them use them and passing me by as they climb in the rankings. I'm also the guy with the tools to maybe fix a firearm so that they can get back into competition.

*Think Biathlon, but not in the snow. Instead it's done with running shoes and shorts, and with handguns. Short courses of fire, speed of movement is essential, so is accuracy, and the fastest time with the best hits wins. Top competitors run, I don't. But I have accuracy up my sleeve, from my years of experience, to make up for their speed. That's USPSA Action Pistol, but in that I shoot a 9mm PCC SBR (pistol caliber carbine short barreled rifle) and not a pistol. Then there's Steel Challenge that is pure speed shooting (accuracy does count) with virtually no movement. The younger shooters  speed of movement is no advantage in that and it shows. I do pretty good in that since all it requires (mostly) is swiveling at the hips.

Fascinating tale!  Competitive shooting interests me.  Don’t think it would quite be my bag but boy howdy, it’s fun to watch!  Seems you’ve  mentioned doing some long range bench shooting too?

With all sincerity, a Zen Buddhist monk.  

And that is where you leave it?  I think from your posts we all kind of get that zen vibe from you but I’m curious how and why that appeals to you.

I am not quite certain how to elaborate further, other than saying that I have always been extremely curious of the question, "who am I and where do I come from?".
Thus, the journey to better understand. 

I spent the last 30 years of my working life as in-house legal counsel in the oil and gas industry.  I focused primarily on upstream operations work and found it mostly pretty interesting, especially the people I worked with.  Early on in my legal career I joined a company that required that us legal folks take a 3 day course on geology for non-geologists.  I remember thinking, man, I'm too busy for this BS but it wasn't optional so I took it.  I found it to be fascinating and enjoyable and if I had taken a course like that earlier in my life there is a good chance that I would have become a geologist.  To this day I don't walk past a building with natural stone finish or stand in an elevator lobby also with natural stone without looking for (and usually finding) fossils of some ancient critter or other.  The whole idea of how a mineral got to be where it is and then the challenge of finding it, getting to it and hauling it out economically is fascinating and a lot of fun too. (see photo below - hint, its not oil)  It helped me gain a perspective on the business and the people I assisted in a broader context. 

 I've always thought it was odd that we ask our young people from a very early age what they want to be when they grow up but we take very little time or effort in informing them not just of the wide range of possibilities but also what those possibilities actually look like.  Most people follow a career path with little to no idea of what the day to day looks like on that path and are often sadly dismayed once they realize it - like lawyering which many go into because their parents want them to or it pays a lot of money or it looks cool on tv and then they realize that a lot of the actual practice can be mind numbingly dull.  Guess what?   Its called work for a reason! 

As some of you know, I was an allergy/immunology doctor, and although I really enjoyed interacting with patients, solving difficult and complex problems, and bringing some relief to those who were suffering, the profession itself was very stressful for me, especially since I entered it when I was almost 40 years old and had less energy and less tolerance for the institutional BS. I have really been happy in retirement for the last few years. I sometimes muse about what else I might have chosen as a career, and remembering how much I loved going as a child to the natural history museum in Los Angeles with my grandfather, who was a security guard there, I think I would have been very happy as a paleontologist or an archeologist. Even now I go every day to dinosaur and archeology news websites to read about the latest discoveries and theories, which fascinate me, and I've taken a couple online courses in the fields.

So what might you have chosen to do and enjoyed, other than what you actually ended up doing?

Knew you were a doc but had no idea what field.  Fascinating man you are John!  Paleontology and archeology would have fit your curious and sleuthing nature I’d guess.  Great post! (But all your posts are great).

Thanks for the post. I remember when I was in my 20s and was trying to live the '5 acres and independence' lifestyle, with cows, pigs, chickens, a fruit orchard, a large vegetable garden, wood heat, and homemade clothes, I told my grandfather during a visit to see them that I was thinking of being a farmer. He was FURIOUS because he had been a corn farmer in Iowa and had worked all his life so that his children could escape that life (which they did, my mother becoming a psychologist and her brother a lawyer/lobbyist); he saw my idea of farming as being a big backward step. My grandmother was not as angry about it, although she was still disappointed that I had not become a preacher as she had hoped all during my childhood.