The best thing about my job...

of course is the weekly paycheck.
Beyond that, it's the interesting documents we get to read and review.

And finally, it's the flexible schedule that permits 11.5 hours days, with a shortened Thursday and workweek freeing us up to pursue other options once our 40 hours are completed.

I'm not talking about jobs that have you working for 5 or so hours a day, 3 times a week, for 9 months at a time...

No tenure here, not many benefits either.
But it works for me --  I am able to sacrifice, live out of a commuter apartment, and maintain my expenses to live within my means while paying off the interest-free credit card loans I was forced to take during the economic hardship years when work was harder to find, and I am ashamed to say I was not making enough to pay my daily bills without credit.

The wolf will always be outside, close to the door, for me now.
I invested in education, in a time when that was no guarantee; that what you knew -- as compared to who you networked with -- was devalued.

Still, I celebrate my independence this year more than ever.
May you, and yours?, too have a happy holiday weekend, overcoming any obstacles, and carving out a place for yourself in our great nation.

Best Country on Earth, a democracy if we can maintain it,
and I am ever grateful to my own father, and mother, for making the journey and sacrifices necessary to make me a legal citizen from birth of this great land...

Yes, I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free...
And I won't forget the folks who worked
to ensure that right for me...
And I'll gladly stand Up! -- next to you?
and defend her, still today,
'cause there ain't no doubt I love this Land...
God Bless the U.S.A.*
~Greenwood, Lee.

(Not schmaltzy, or a war anthem, to me.)
See you back here next week, God willing...
-------------------

* From the lakes of Minnesota
to the hills of Tennesee...
Across the plains of Texas,
from sea to shining sea...
From Dee-troit down to Y'ouston,
from New Yawk to LA,
well there's pride in every American heart,
and it's time we stand and say...

Yes, I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free...
And I won't forget the folks who worked
to ensure that right for me...
And I'll gladly stand Up! -- next to you?
and defend her, still today,
'cause there ain't no doubt I love this Land...
God Bless ...the ... U.S.A. !