Occupation

[treeslayer]

I was a security guard in a large factory that made construction equipment. the place was over a mile long and a quarter mile wide in places. because it was out of the city we were the firemen, EMS, hazardous materials clean up and response, confined space monitors and rescue along with testing and maintenance on several different types of fire suppression systems. 24 hrs. a day 7 day a week job. people from the department i worked in have been in that factory 24/7 since it opened in 1946. the picture is of some of the guys on the in-plant ambulance that we used pick up the people that got hurt inside the plant, small and fast. that handsome devil third from the right, facing backwards is a much younger version of me.

[woodbutcher74]

I am an electronics technician. For the last 30 years I have worked for a family owned authorized Motorola dealer. We are both sales and service. Our main source of revenue is installing and maintaining 911 systems in our area. When I first started the equipment still had tubes. Now almost everything is digital and is PC based. 

[Immortan D]

I went to law school, got my degree. But I've worked as a software developer my whole life.

[Brendon_t]

On 8/4/2018 at 5:21 AM, ..Kev said:

I like the prompt coop.

After my first career in the Marine Corps ended, I moved into finance and settled as a Financial Advisor and Options Trader  managing investments for large high net worth families and small institutions.  Being in LA, the hours are great because I'm at my desk at 5, no traffic and usually out of the office by 2:30 giving me time to pick the kids up for school a few days a week. 

[Bmac]

On 8/4/2018 at 11:28 PM, K Cooper said:

I’m surprised to see that so far, there are no legal ( attorneys, judges etc. ) or medical folks on here that seek woodworking as a stress relief. Thanks to everyone for responding. I expect to hear from many more of you. 

Being new as a poster on this forum, I did mention in a journal that I was a dentist. I grew up on the family dairy farm and part of me really wanted to farm, but I took the "easy" route and became a dentist. I still love working outside, building things, working with my hands, and gardening, all from my past as growing up on a farm.

I run a one man operation as a dentist and get to make my schedule. Of course dealing with patients, staff, and running a business keeps me on my toes when I'm in the office. Out of the office my time in the shop is very stress relieving. 

Along with running a dental practice I coach High School baseball. This is another passion of mine and playing college baseball opened many doors for me. Helping at the high school level is very rewarding and you can have an impact on young men.

My profession may make some of you squirm, but it has allowed me my independence and freedom to pursue my other hobbies.

[Minnesota Steve]

I'm a software developer.   I've worked in a number of different industries I guess.   Soil survey mapping, insurance companies, banks, mortgages, digital cinema, and now recycled auto parts.

I took up woodworking as a way to do something at home that didn't involve sitting at a desk.

 

[legenddc]

I sit behind a desk all day doing marketing. Starting to look for something new but will probably stay in the same type of roll.

Was brainstorming earlier about what else I could do but couldn't come up with anything.

[MattF]

I play a Manufacturing Engineer(no degree) for a tech company in Redmond Washington. Company has been around for 6 years, and I just had my 5 year anniversary. Prior to this I spent 8 years in the Navy as an electronics technician. After that had a few jobs as field technician/engineer and then landed at the company I am with now as a lab technician. Luckily I have been given ample resources and and enough rope to climb the ladder within the company. Spent 2.5 years as a tech and have advanced to where I am today.  We design and manufacture flat panel satellite antennas/terminals. I wear a lot of different hats: tooling design, part design, quality assurance, factory support, process development, vendor qualification and yada yada yada. 

[Keggers]

I retired at 50 and started a small lumber company. I ship wood all over the U.S - mostly walnut and cherry.

[gee-dub]

After spending more than half my life in data network engineering I am holding my breath for retirement.  It's been a great ride but, the world has moved on.  Having 24 year-old double-masters degree "kids" working for you is humbling. To quote more people than you can list. . . "I'm too old for this". 

[DerekMPBS]

I am the network and systems administrator for a local building center/home center.  We have two locations, Pullman, WA and Moscow, ID, and I take care of all the computer and network hardware in both locations.  It's great to get a discount on materials and tools, but it encourages me to spend more than I should...

[JohnDi]

Store manager for a large supermarket chain. Started as a meatcutter for 30 years and couldn't take the cold anymore.

[wdwerker]

My grandfather was a butcher & he moved up into management of a meat packing plant. Unfortunately he passed on before I was a teen so my memories are faint. 

[thatCharlieDude]

I play at being a CS college professor but my real job is bossing around my wife, kids and dogs. 

And when I say boss around I mean being bossed around by them

[wtnhighlander]

8 hours ago, gee-dub said:

After spending more than half my life in data network engineering I am holding my breath for retirement.  It's been a great ride but, the world has moved on.  Having 24 year-old double-masters degree "kids" working for you is humbling. To quote more people than you can list. . . "I'm too old for this". 

Gee-dub, don't put much stock in those double masters. I am contstantly amazed that some of the highly-educated youngsters we've hired in recent years managed to find their way through the front gate. Obviously, logic and reasoning are not part of their cirriculum. And obtaining 2 master degrees by age 24 leaves no time learn anything practical about life, at all.

Kids shouldn't be in such a hurry to use up their student loans....

[Chestnut]

1 hour ago, wtnhighlander said:

Gee-dub, don't put much stock in those double masters. I am contstantly amazed that some of the highly-educated youngsters we've hired in recent years managed to find their way through the front gate. Obviously, logic and reasoning are not part of their cirriculum. And obtaining 2 master degrees by age 24 leaves no time learn anything practical about life, at all.

Kids shouldn't be in such a hurry to use up their student loans....

I can't count how many times I've had my friends with higher degrees call me and ask me how to do something. I always have the same rude response. For example my friend asked me how to do a small landscaping block wall and was worried about doing it himself. I asked him if landscapers need to get a 4 year degree in shoveling and a masters degree in stacking blocks. He tackled the wall and it looks fantastic.

[gee-dub]

9 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

Gee-dub, don't put much stock in those double masters. I am contstantly amazed that some of the highly-educated youngsters we've hired in recent years managed to find their way through the front gate. Obviously, logic and reasoning are not part of their cirriculum. And obtaining 2 master degrees by age 24 leaves no time learn anything practical about life, at all.

Kids shouldn't be in such a hurry to use up their student loans....

I try not to be one of those guys that tells tales of the "old days" to those I mentor or manage.  However, it is more true every day that I work with some of the dumbest smart people around and it is hard to resist.  I am surprised at how far someone can come in their career knowing so little about how this stuff actually works. 

When I started out, 1200 bps (yes, a whole 1200 bits every second) was pretty fast.  We now run bundled 100 Gbps links between sites and move terabytes of payload as a matter of course.  My career has been an endless stream of amazing developments.  I've enjoyed going to work for over 35 years and I consider that a gift.  

[wtnhighlander]

8 hours ago, Chestnut said:

I can't count how many times I've had my friends with higher degrees call me and ask me how to do something. I always have the same rude response. For example my friend asked me how to do a small landscaping block wall and was worried about doing it himself. I asked him if landscapers need to get a 4 year degree in shoveling and a masters degree in stacking blocks. He tackled the wall and it looks fantastic.

No doubt. I don't discount the intelligence of these people I've had to work with, but the lack of practical knowledge is apalling. 

[davewyo]

Most of my life I've worked in restaurants and I've been in landscaping/irrigation. For the last twenty years I was a "caretaker" which consisted of handyman and go-fer type work. I was laid off from that gig about eight months ago.

 

For the last six months I've been an apprentice machinist. I'm learning to rebuild torque converters for automatic transmissions.

[Tpt life]

I don’t fault the scholars. We have preached at them that education is the be all, end all. They have pursued school but never taken practical labor jobs...where many of us developed practical know how in jr high and high school. Society created this. 

[Pondhockey]

Retired from reliability engineering, quality engineering and management (degrees are all in statistics/quantitative methods.)  Mostly in high tech, but finished my career at an electric utility.  Was never afraid to ask questions of, or collaborate with a non-degreed expert!  (An awful lot of all or our education was OTJ.)

 

[Pondhockey]

17 hours ago, JohnDi said:

Store manager for a large supermarket chain. Started as a meatcutter for 30 years and couldn't take the cold anymore.

My dad worked for Swift and Company.  I spent 8 weeks one summer as an apprentice meat cutter (they let me go when it was time to go union.)  All I ever cut was chickens (and I ground meat.)  But I could cut a chicken with any knife in the shop by the time they let me go (a favorite harassment was to tell me "oh, I need that knife - here,  you can use this one.)

[Chet]

5 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

I don't discount the intelligence of these people I've had to work with, but the lack of practical knowledge is apalling

I think that some of this is the fault of all the testing that students have to do to prove the worth of the teacher so consequently the teachers were forced to teach to the test and this removed all the critical thinking form the class room.

[Tpt life]

2 minutes ago, Chet said:

I think that some of this is the fault of all the testing that students have to do to prove the worth of the teacher so consequently the teachers were forced to teach to the test and this removed all the critical thinking form the class room.

Research shows, those teachers screwed up. Teaching less to mastery enhances critical thinking and is improving testing scores across subject areas. This is how Singapore kicks our butts with 1/10 the curriculum.  Look for trending here to change. 

[AJ_Engineer]

I'm a structural engineer working for a large contractor currently building a major highway. I've worked on large infrastructure projects, energy, oil & gas, hydro, water and wastewater jobs.