Reconcilable Differences

This week's main topic is "Jobs We Were Terrible At."

• Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code DIFFS at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
• ExpressVPN: High-Speed, Secure & Anonymous VPN Service. Get 3 months free with a 1-year package.

This week kicks off with John confronting Merlin about his lack of a checklist and Merlin confronting John about his paltry micturition. This leads to Merlin explaining why he's a recycling whale who deliberately withholds his bounty from one particular Tusken Raider. Going to the bathroom can be a sleep-extinction event.

John's kids can't print, and now it's his fault. Merlin's kid still can't activate planning mode. There are generally concerns about declaring "done." Preparedness drills and contingency protocols are implemented. John worries that his children will die of exposure. Everybody's pretty much done with buying nice clothes.

Suddenly, John gets all aggressive about getting to the main topic, and Merlin has a terrible time adjusting. He's supposed to be ready for anything, and now John has gotten thrown off his rhythm.

No spoilers provided here except to say that John wanted a job related to computers, and Merlin wasn't as good as he thought at one of his favorite and canonical jobs. Lots of good talk about understanding (or misunderstanding) your own expertise, and trying to learn something useful from "failure."

Finally, John utterly eviscerates Merlin's links on behalf of you, the listener.

(Recorded on Tuesday, May 7, 2019.)

• Audio Editor: Jim Metzendorf
  
• Admin Assistance: Kerry Provenzano
  
• Music: Merlin Mann
• The Suits: Stephen Hackett, Myke Hurley

Listener @themillsap found the comic Merlin was thinking of! Thank you, Listener @themillsap!

Finally, the boys tackle the topic of jobs. First jobs, early jobs, what they did or didn't learn from them, and how their younger work lives shaped their later future employment choices.