do you like your job? is it mentally/physically hard?

No matter how good it is, its still wage slavery.

I wanna be a Elegant Layabout!

My job is mentally draining and doesn't interest me - but then, no job I've ever had has. I don't like work. I'm lazy. I'm one of the most industrious lazy slobs you'll ever come across because I'm terrified of being unemployed and not being able to find work, thus being trapped in poverty. Not because I'm avaricious or have expensive tastes; to the contrary, I live a supremely simple existence, I just like 'saving for a rainy day' (got 3 bank accounts).

So yeah, I hate work generally and, at nearly 55, I'm ready to retire (hehe, I've been ready since I was 17). I can't collect state pension till I'm 67, so 12 years...

Tip: GET A PRIVATE PENSION.

I am a project engineer (project manager) for a small(er) sized Medical Device Manufacturer. I only just graduated from Engineering school less than two years ago and this is my first "white collar" job. I have to say that it is extremely mentally draining. A 9 or 10 hour day leaves me completely drained and I have very little energy to do much after work.

In the past I have worked full time jobs in the construction, highway department and carpentry industry, and I would then work 3-5 hours a day after work on the farm (12+ hour days, 7 days a week) and I would not be nearly as drained as a 9 hour day as an engineer.

I'm only 24 and it really makes me wonder what my future will have in store if I am already draining this quickly.

oh boy. my job is lame. very mentally draining. i have never actually hated a job. before this one.

Interesting thread idea! Work is such a strange thing. My work history is bizarre to say the least. I started out at Dominos Pizza. I worked at one of the regularly top 3 stores in the USA and we regularly did 45k Friday night rush pizza nights. Now for all you non pizza people out there, 45k worth of pizza in 8 hours is a lot of freakin pizza. I did that all through high school and parts of college. Next I worked at a private day care. Every other male hired at that day care didn't last more than 2-3 months. I lasted 6 years. I taught every class minus the baby room and even did a stint in management for about a year. Somewhere in that time I pursued a bachelors of science in NYC with a focus on television and film production. I pursued that dream for 4 years with nominal success but was unable to constantly find work to pay back my $1200 a month college loan debt. So I sold out. I searched for jobs for a 2 years. Lived in my parents basement and finally found a company willing to give me a chance selling critical power equipment. I packed my car and moved from Virginia to Connecticut and figured it out. So I learned how to build data centers, mostly and did that for 3 years.
I found out I was getting fired because the company is basically going under so i started sending out more reumes. On a completely pipe dream I applied with GE and got the job as the northeast regional sales manager for critical power equipment. Now I'm almost 30 and have no idea what the hell I do. I have been doing the GE thing since May and spend most of my time terrified of what is to come tomorrow. I'm working harder than I have ever worked but in ways I didn't know even existed. Now I report to imaginary numbers at the end of a quarter. If I hit those numbers I am thanked. If I don't, well I don't know but I imagine it's horrible. They gave me a free car, they even pay for my internet and more than doubled my salary! And yet, often, I still feel very much like I totally sold out . I have carried 80 lbs batteries as a career and have been bitched at as a PA on Hollywood sets and at countless pizza delivery sites. They all suck... But nothing comes close to being 100% on your own. I only get to eat if I make my numbers. I literally have no one to ever blame but myself. Talk about a mind f$!%? I would take manual labor over the insanity that is east coast sales any day of the week if given the choice. But than t would take me 30+ years to pay off my college. Maybe now o can do it in 10 and actually go do something I am good at some day...

a reply to: Mugly

I love my job.

I am a locksmith, and although I do not get paid a vast amount, I love the work itself. There is something very satisfying to me, about solving a mechanical problem, especially when the end result is a better security solution for my customer. I happen to really like the customer service aspect of working life, although some customers are obviously harder to deal with than others. The combined elements of my work are all ones I really enjoy, so although I am not getting paid what I am worth (sacrifices must be made to maintain a small family business like this after all) I am getting my hands on interesting work to do, and interesting people to do it for!

And yes, it can be physically hard, with sharp metal all over the place and what have you, and it does require exertion. It can also be mentally taxing, especially when the mechanism one is working on, is not one that has been encountered before. I really love stripping down locks and fixing them, figuring out where the damage is and correcting it, replacing parts, and all that. Love it!

a reply to: TrueBrit

thats cool.
would have been a nice trade to get into...
btw, can you make me a sweet ass bump key?

a reply to: Mugly

Hmmm... Someone has been on YouTube I see!

The long and short of it is, that yes I am physically capable of it, and no, I cannot do it. It would be improper for a locksmith to give a bump key to anyone who is not also a locksmith!

a reply to: TrueBrit

i was just playing around.
ive known about bump keys for a bit.

a reply to: Mugly



Bump keys are tricky bastards. You have to have the right one for the lock type, you can't just use any old one on most locks these days. With key ways becoming more and more varied every year, the number of bump keys one might want to carry as a locksmith goes up, and up, and up all of the time.

I tend to bypass the barrel entirely on jobs these days, because there is less chance of damaging the customers door or locks that way, and it means I do not have to fiddle about with a ring full of bump keys all the time!

I work with electricity and while most of the time i am working remote from it a few times a day i am working hands on live , and i love it . Yes it sounds like i take it for granted but i dont . The extra level you go to while working live is quite exhilarating . There can be no mistakes , nothing done out of order , no short-cuts . Now the gas pipes we work around scare the crap out of me . 80 g plus so i do ok . But it isnt all about the money .

originally posted by: TrueBrit
I tend to bypass the barrel entirely on jobs these days...

Have you begun to employee the highly practiced law enforcement method utilized in the United States to gain entry, just blow it off the hinges with a battering ram?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Yeah... My customers would love that!

"Well Sir, Madam, your door is open. Also, your dog is dead and you need a carpenter in here sometime soon. That will be sixty pounds please!" *racks slide on entry shotgun*

a reply to: TrueBrit

Your forgot to taze them a few times.

You would make a crappy SWAT team member.

a reply to: Mugly

I can truthfully say that on most days I love my job. I am a server administrator for a large company. I do something different almost every single day and as soon as I learn something it's time to upgrade Although that can be very frustrating it is also very rewarding. It seems like there is something new to learn every single day. I'm lucky because for the most part I am surrounded by great people that I work with. Having a great IT support crew could honestly make or break my job. I have been here for over 16 years (in my current position for over 2). I started as a call-in help desk support and then went back to school while working here. I'm so glad I put in the effort because I can't imagine doing anything else!

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I would.

I prefer accuracy over volume, stealth over shock and awe, compassion over my own safety. I am a human being, not an animal. I would be the worst SWAT member ever born.

Luckily, I am both British, and severely distrustful of all mortal authority, meaning that it is unlikely to set me back to far, being such a crappy candidate for a SWAT team!

originally posted by: HUMBLEONE
No matter how good it is, its still wage slavery.

I wanna be a Elegant Layabout!

Wasn't wage slavery to me , I never paid attention to what I was paid or how much an hour , all I knew is the money was direct deposited twice a month . I loved my job , retired now , and miss it every day .

On point , I worked on the river . I started out as a deckhand and worked my way up to Chief Engineer in short order. Both jobs were strenuous mentally and physically . As a deckhand , You always had to pay attention to what you were doing , know your surroundings , know your job or you could lose a limb or out and out die . And physically , it was at times back breaking . Took a lot out of you slinging barge rigging and lock lines around . You walked steel , coal filled barges in the heat of Summer where there was no escape from the heat and ice covered barges in the Winter . You worked a minimum of 12 hours a day (most of the times around 18 hours) and you were away from home for weeks at a time . As an engineer , it was both mentally/physically strenuous . You were in charge of everything on the boat from engines , plumbing , electrical , welding to fixing a door knob on a crew members berth .

When I at home on my days off , I was ready to get back to the boat as my time off wound down . Only so much of sitting around I could take . I would not have had any other job . Actually , most of us did not consider it "work" or a "job" , it was a way of life to us . We visited our families at their home , and then returned back to our home (the river) when our off time was up .

As I said above , I never paid attention to what I was paid , didn't care . I knew I ,or the wife I should say, had a lot of nice stuff . So I made great money , but money was and still is unimportant to me . I just enjoyed working , this retirement thing is for the birds . I could go back and work under the table but I would be taking a job from a young man with a family .