Bottom of the barrel

[paradismd]

Since this is the Introductions section, might as well introduce myself properly without holding anything back.

As I sit here going on my 6th year of trying to secure a job that will help support my family, I find myself shattered against the figurative rock that I used to be during my time as a US Marine. I have tried many paths to try and secure my place in the world including getting a degree in Information Technology with a focus on Networking (mainly Cisco products), getting a couple jobs in different industries to try and work my way up, and even starting my own business. It could be said that I'm a jack of many trades as I've done things in Culinary Arts, Inventory Management (supply, purchasing, receiving, stocking, etc), Technical Consulting, Retail, Help Desk, Data Entry, QA testing for EA, Research and Development, Customer Service, and Medical Assembly. I am constantly creating spreadsheets for different reasons in Microsoft Excel and creating databases to support personal programming projects I've worked on.

Now I can hear the questions resonating in your mind. Why not pick one of those fields and commit to excelling at it? Why aren't you pursuing a career with the degree that you worked for? Why not just get any job while you figure out what you want to do? Why not go back to school to further your degree or pursue one that's more fitting?

Well, here are the answers. None of those fields that I listed fulfill my number-crunching abilities, need for constant challenge, strong analytical thinking, solid attention to detail, and affinity for creativity. To be honest, I don't even know what kind of career out there would encompass all those things. Obviously, geographic location does play a part in physical jobs. I live in upstate New York and 90% of the jobs around here are in Retail. So why not get a job in Retail? I do not like people. Not all people, but a lot of people. Why? People are superficial, selfish, rude, and immature. Why immature? Tell a customer they can't have something and they pitch a fit like a baby that got their rattle taken away. I am not an eggshell stepper. I don't deal well with sugar-coating things for people so they don't get their fragile feelings hurt. And lastly, I do not have the means to return to school to start over yet again.

I found this site in my efforts to find alternatives to waiting for all those potential employers who don't even feel the need to be courteous enough to those who do apply to give them a generic response. I do not have the ability to relocate at this point either, so I would like to take advantage of the Internet to make some money if I can. I have done a lot of research into Steve's topics on building an E-business, making money with a blog site, and the Site Build It! tool. It sounds like something I would like to do, but then another problem is posed. What do I focus on? I'm very passionate about professional football (American), video games, movies, and Culinary Arts. I have a lot of knowledge about all those things, but do I have enough to support a long-term blog site or E-business?

Hopefully there is somebody on this planet that might be able to shed some light on my situation and help me figure out a way to provide for my wife and 4 year old daughter.