Uncle Ebenezer

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...&postcount=137

Primula

^Is one of those guys Sultan of Swing?

SultanOfSwing

That answers it pretty well!

I make my money playing covers though, needless to say.

SultanOfSwing

I'm the bald one.

Primula

You should have said I'm the cute one!

SultanOfSwing

I'm sure my bandmate will be glad to hear that

He isn't playing on the song. All my YouTube videos have photos of old gigs and that because all the songs were recorded before I moved here and no videos exist of me playing them. All the music is played by me.

Primula

Good stuff!

SultanOfSwing

Cheers. Of course now I want to rewrite half of those old ones but that's because I haven't finished any of my new ones.

Mr Weeze

Not completely, but I would say mischaracterized it in places.

Work to live:

Most people to varying degrees, even those who enjoy what they are doing.

Live to work:

Show signs of addiction. Those are the ones who suffer personally - marriages, families, can't retire, etc.

I love the industry I'm in, and (for the most part) I love my job. I happen to also be in an industry that is well paid, but I don't go into work for the money. I wouldn't volunteer for extra work, but if sh!t needs doing then and there, I'll do a 12 hour day, work a weekend, get to the heliport & stay up 48 hours when I thought it was just going to be another day when I need to. But it has to be worth it - I won't do it because it is expected or I need to. I would say that is drive as opposed to an addiction, and that is the bit you miss out.

People are driven to do all sorts of things - play instruments well, improve their golf game, play footy. Living for it is an entirely different thing - change the word work for alcohol or cocaine or gambling and see what you think of. I wouldn't call any of that positive.

My tuppence, anyway...

elop

Yes I agree, but doesn't that apply to everyone? If you don't enjoy the work, or the money then there is no incentive - there has to be at least one of those, in whichever category - preferably both, but I understand that it is not always the case

I get the impression you're describing mainly office jobs. I could see it as an addition if someone were working in the most depressive of offices with no natural light and somehow they still wanted to work extra even without money incentives. Addiction is where you're doing something you hate, but you think you like it and need it. I recently discovered that I don't actually like smoking and yet I do it anyway and quite frequently...that's addiction. So personally I would say that work to live would be closer to addition as its not really something you want to do.

If a mechanic tinkered with cars outside his core hours, people wouldn't call him driven or addicted, but his activities would probably be seen as a hobby - therefore given his job involves the same it is also his hobby. Why would this concept not apply if the tinkering happens in an office, rather than a garage - that's just geography.


I don't really understand the difference. No matter what people do it won't be the only thing that they do. Perhaps its a 21st century thing where life is only considered things that don't involve sitting in front of a screen. Damn, I'm starting to sound old, I'm only 30, I swear
I also do things outside work but I see living as both.

Let me give that a try.....
I went into the office today to do some cocaine, but there was no one there due to the weekend so I went home and I as able to do at least 4 hours of cocaine without interruption which I then emailed to my cocaine manager ready for a full day of cocaine on Monday.....oh dear....


One last thought.... if you met someone for the first time and they asked you to describe your life....would you start to describing the golf that you do every other Sunday, or the work that you do everyday? If the latter, wouldn't that imply that work is the main part of your life?

Beaverstate

you don't need to enjoy the work or the money for an incentive to work. How about living expenses? Or were you born with the silver spoon in your mouth?

elop

Errrr....living expenses are from money (last I checked), and I've already mentioned money as an incentive. Unless you have both money and living expenses as seperate incentives, in which case I may not be the one with the proverbial silver spoon

Noorah101

"Describe your life" is too vague. If someone asked me to "describe your life", I would say "my life is really great, I'm very happy, I have very few worries and stresses, and I feel my life is very well-balanced." I wouldn't offhand mention either work nor hobbies in answer to that question. The question would have to be more specific, actually asking about one or the other, in order to provoke a response describing my work vs my hobbies.

Rene

cindyabs

I was raised with a VERY strong work ethic and when I lost my job a few years ago and the ensuing struggle to find another one really shook me up. If I were more of a homebody it would have been easier, but I'm not so it sucked.

elop

the question is vague for a reason-you've just met. i think the question youve answered is...how are you?

another way of asking is....who are you, or what's ur story and questions to the same effect...
i would normally expect something like....i'm a police officer/bartender etc....rather than place of birth or wellbeing.

when i meet someone the question i'm normally asked after my name is what i do for which my answer would be as above.

what would your first question/expected answer be after you find out only someones name....lets assume from their accent its obvous where they're from.