You are underemployed. What would I do if I were you? Apply for a trucker driving license and only deliver locally. How do I know to do that? Because (1) I'm a good driver (sure you are too), and (2) had friends that pivoted from home repair (at which they were great, but tired of unpredictability and nonpayers) to driving trucks (together, as a team, father/daughter, but one can go solo, and most drivers do), now (father/daughter trucking team) they make a lot more money (like combined $110,000-ish to 125,000-ish, predictably). Just deliver locally, which will reduce your pay, unfortunately but save your car. Be sure to wear a back support if you're loading and unloading say beer kegs. But then you are home with the kids and wife every day. You can get a scholarship for trucker school, often run by the community college nights and weekends, which in the Poconos runs about $4,000 back in 2020's (they did get 2 scholarships). How long will it take? Ah, about 2-4 months, depending. Suggestion 2: customer service jobs, from home. One makes $16/hour for customer service using Salesforce. Lot less wear-and-tear on you and the car. So where does one find that? Indeed, or these types of websites (link below). Suggestion 3: bus driver, commercial or school (or any mass transit used in your area. Look on the county/state/city website for government jobs and on school district website for bus driver or school equipment supervisor (my bro in law had this job and was responsible for a lot of school equipment and buses, too). Fourth suggestion (out of left field); run homeschool/daycare from home. Coordinate with other local homeschoolers groups. This is becoming a movement since home school avoids a lot of the nonsense. Now this may require more real estate than you have. Home schooling is becoming a cottage industry but it takes real estate. Fifth suggestion: substitute teacher. There is a lack of male sub teachers. You will be appreciated by all those little boys without fathers in the home in particular. This is a grueling job, but I doubt you'll have a free day from the moment you sign up to be a sub teacher. Sixth suggestion: go to local job fairs and you will probably find something good. Check Craigslist "gigs." Seventh suggestion: become a property manager. A lot of people leave their second homes vacant and want someone to check on their homes to make sure there's nothing amiss. Yes, there are cameras and security systems, but it is nice to have a property manager, too. Really rich people use property managers to have the house cleaned and maintained when they are away. If you go this route, give your biz card to every realtor in the location you're willing to manage property in. You can also become a rental property MANAGER, using rental software. This requires probably a not-too-hard state license that would take a few months to pass test on. Warning: real estate in turmoil, but everyone rental managers in high demand, and you'd probably get a good inside deal on a house to rent yourself from a client. Do not forget the goverment websites, either. They are a pain in the neck, I know, but someone is getting those jobs, which often pay better than private industry. Very hard to get a local Federal job, but you never know. My adult children had no success on the federal government job site, however, and gave up. I knew how they could get in, but they wouldn't listen. And how can you get in? Volunteer first. So, say you want to work for the VA. Well, go volunteer at the local VA hospital. Those patients are very lonely, and need help sincing their computer to their cell phone, etc., they need help. Then you get hired first opening for an admin job. It's true, this would have worked for 2 of my adult children, but they bailed on me (long story) even though one I volunteered with for two years (she did get a job offer, but it required more driving than she was willing to do--it was a homeless shelter that required driving around offering to pick up homeless off the street). I think state, city, county, local type jobs a bit easier to get than fed jobs.
Fascinating perspective. I appreciate the vignettes.
Definitely fodder for the mill, keep writing
You are underemployed. What would I do if I were you? Apply for a trucker driving license and only deliver locally. How do I know to do that? Because (1) I'm a good driver (sure you are too), and (2) had friends that pivoted from home repair (at which they were great, but tired of unpredictability and nonpayers) to driving trucks (together, as a team, father/daughter, but one can go solo, and most drivers do), now (father/daughter trucking team) they make a lot more money (like combined $110,000-ish to 125,000-ish, predictably). Just deliver locally, which will reduce your pay, unfortunately but save your car. Be sure to wear a back support if you're loading and unloading say beer kegs. But then you are home with the kids and wife every day. You can get a scholarship for trucker school, often run by the community college nights and weekends, which in the Poconos runs about $4,000 back in 2020's (they did get 2 scholarships). How long will it take? Ah, about 2-4 months, depending. Suggestion 2: customer service jobs, from home. One makes $16/hour for customer service using Salesforce. Lot less wear-and-tear on you and the car. So where does one find that? Indeed, or these types of websites (link below). Suggestion 3: bus driver, commercial or school (or any mass transit used in your area. Look on the county/state/city website for government jobs and on school district website for bus driver or school equipment supervisor (my bro in law had this job and was responsible for a lot of school equipment and buses, too). Fourth suggestion (out of left field); run homeschool/daycare from home. Coordinate with other local homeschoolers groups. This is becoming a movement since home school avoids a lot of the nonsense. Now this may require more real estate than you have. Home schooling is becoming a cottage industry but it takes real estate. Fifth suggestion: substitute teacher. There is a lack of male sub teachers. You will be appreciated by all those little boys without fathers in the home in particular. This is a grueling job, but I doubt you'll have a free day from the moment you sign up to be a sub teacher. Sixth suggestion: go to local job fairs and you will probably find something good. Check Craigslist "gigs." Seventh suggestion: become a property manager. A lot of people leave their second homes vacant and want someone to check on their homes to make sure there's nothing amiss. Yes, there are cameras and security systems, but it is nice to have a property manager, too. Really rich people use property managers to have the house cleaned and maintained when they are away. If you go this route, give your biz card to every realtor in the location you're willing to manage property in. You can also become a rental property MANAGER, using rental software. This requires probably a not-too-hard state license that would take a few months to pass test on. Warning: real estate in turmoil, but everyone rental managers in high demand, and you'd probably get a good inside deal on a house to rent yourself from a client. Do not forget the goverment websites, either. They are a pain in the neck, I know, but someone is getting those jobs, which often pay better than private industry. Very hard to get a local Federal job, but you never know. My adult children had no success on the federal government job site, however, and gave up. I knew how they could get in, but they wouldn't listen. And how can you get in? Volunteer first. So, say you want to work for the VA. Well, go volunteer at the local VA hospital. Those patients are very lonely, and need help sincing their computer to their cell phone, etc., they need help. Then you get hired first opening for an admin job. It's true, this would have worked for 2 of my adult children, but they bailed on me (long story) even though one I volunteered with for two years (she did get a job offer, but it required more driving than she was willing to do--it was a homeless shelter that required driving around offering to pick up homeless off the street). I think state, city, county, local type jobs a bit easier to get than fed jobs.
Good luck.
https://www.thebalancemoney.com/top-best-job-websites-2064080