Desk Jobs and Sim-Fishing

It's really not as bad as it was 20 years ago...sitting at a desk and moving papers around, talking on the phone, and the endless emails. Office jobs for folks who would rather be living the dream and fishing full time can be better than you may think. Not everybody can fish 300 days a year, unless you are an often out of work fishing guide or a super trust funder. Let's go over a few of the many ways you too can turn your painfully boring and mindless day job into not only a productive, but a gratifying fly rodding fantasy desk jockey. We'll call it Sim-fishing.

First let's confirm the positive benefits of a 40 hr per week career. Paycheck,medical-dental, retirement, ability to have normal marital relations, house, 3 cars, and a $1200 BBQ on your back porch. You may have 2-5 weeks off a year and can travel to cool and reclusive fishing hideaways, that's nice. These are very good things to have, the most important being security.

Here are but a few ideas to make your maligned office existence personally satisfying.

• Internet. A wealth of fly fishing sites. Blogs galore, You Tube (at least an hour a day on this alone), trip planning for your next vacation to the Missouri, checking out water projections, fishing reports, and emailing like minded people. That's a whole lot of time to suck up in any given day. Thank Al Gore for inventing this mind blowing tool. Suggestion: Subscribe to RSS feeds so your not the last one to get the latest news!



• Have a fly rod in the car for lunchtime casting. Nearly every parking lot has a small patch of grass, use it. Try taking the garbage out twice daily and stealing 5 minutes of distance casting practice.



• Hide a small vise in your desk. If you remember those old desks with the slide out typewriter shelf you are getting older, but they have the perfect stowable location for mid-day tying fixes. Just tell your boss your psychologist prescribed 30 minutes of stress free activity per work day. Use the Internet to create an authentic replication of a doctors note.



• The magazine inside of the TPS Report trick. This is an old gag, but still effective. The Drake magazine fits neatly inside the dry like toast document staring at you on your desk. Simply slip inside, recline, look interested, and enjoy.



• 1000 mile stare. Works every time. Let your mind wander and take a mental vacation, (see blog Go to your Happy Place ) save for late afternoons when you are worthless anyway. If supervisor asks what you are doing...have premade asskissing answer prepared.

I'm sure while taking paid office fishing allowances you will think of even more ways to create a positive work environment. Isn't that what every boss strives for, a healthy dynamic? If you think about it, it would do the whole office good if you embraced just a few of these practices. Go ahead and enjoy your desk job. Just make sure to include a little personal health and never stop Sim-fishing.