So I’m back at The Citadel, getting ready for a new year of the old job — medieval literature professor and all that — but I come back from Colorado with a new job, too. The preparation for it has been a big reason for my silence this summer, in addition to the fact I spend a good chunk of my time too far out in the wilds of the West to have internet or even (gasp!) cellular service, of course.
If you know me only as a writer or a professor, the new job surely will sound strange. My brother and I — and our saintly patient wives — are for at least a while slipping into management of the family business that our dad started as a “hobby” in his retirement: 4xGuard.
We’d already been doing some work for 4xG — redesigning its website and logo, working through new product design, and just generally talking through issues as they came up — but things are much more official now. Yes, I am now collecting a paycheck to help design and sell skidplates and other off-road accessories for Jeeps.
Strange for a specialist in medieval literature, I suppose, though it does sort of make sense when you think about it. After all, what 4xGuard makes is simply the modern equivalent of this:
The new job means a bit less free time in my life, obviously, but it’s also something I really enjoy doing. Plus, well, it gives me a good excuse to build new goodies for my Commander. It’s work, right?
Very cool!
I am confused about one part of your post.
“The new job means a bit less free time in my life”
Exactly when did you have any free time to begin with? Or are you counting sleep as “free time”?
That logo is almost as good as the one you did for Orca Pool Service.
Sleep is free time, sure. Plus, there’s those five minutes before dinner that I never know what to do with…