This episode, The Dirt Bag Diaries, is brought to you by Patagonia, makers of high quality

clothing and gear for outdoor sports, world travel, and daily lives with the harmony

with nature.

Visit them on the web at Patagonia.com.

Some more than once, I've gotten emails from listeners wondering just exactly how you

end up with a job like mine.

A dream job they say, and I have to laugh, don't get me wrong, I love what I do, I'm

lucky, but I laugh because no job, no matter how cool it might sound, is perfect.

That's why you get paid money to do it.

There's always a catch, a nagging boss, gossiping co-workers, crummy benefits, dream jobs

don't exist.

But let's say that your job was climbing 14,000 foot mountain.

And let's say it's not any old peak, it's the Matterhorn.

A peak so perfect in its architecture, so imposing in its presence that has come to define

what a mountain looks like.

You could just stand atop a magical place while millions of tourists mill around below

and stare up at you with longing and admiration.

That would be a cool job.

But a perfect one?

A bit by the end of the summer, your knees would probably be killing you, and Switzerland's

alps have some pretty cummy weather, so you'd probably end up freezing your butt off a

few times.

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