I'm a lucky man, but that doesn't mean I won't complain.

I just stood outside here at work listening to the fireworks. I couldn't see any being stuck in the hills, but the loud booms were enjoyable enough. It made me jealous to think that the Pretty Girl, my friends, and family were all sitting around enjoying the sights and smells of our Independence Day as I was stuck at work answering calls from disgruntled customers half way around the world.

I am blessed to have this job as it is a good one; however it's days like these that make me question if my work-life balance is worth the extra pay I get to take a graveyard shift. When you work nights you have to make many sacrifices, sleep being the main one, in order to enjoy a social life.

Imagine if you will trying to plan a dinner with friends. If you're a 9-5er it's pretty simple. Take a day out of any seven and you can attend such an event with ease. When you work a 4x10 grave shift you have three days to choose from. Then you have to factor in seeing the rest of your friends and family. Alone time does not exist for you.

When I have such thoughts about how I sometimes loathe the business I have chosen I think back to a rafting trip I took years ago. I went into an outhouse near the launch site which had a sign that said "Please do not throw pop cans in here. They are difficult to remove." Whoever has that job seriously needs to consider if removing aluminum from human waste is really an enriching career.

Then again I could find work assisting supermodels into swimwear, but I'll count my blessings.

"Those who won our independence… valued liberty as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty." - Louis D. Brandeis

Fireworks game