What is your daily job?

a reply to: rukia

I'm an electronics engineer for a government agency which is basically death to my soul. I can't leave it though because I make 5 times the money I've made doing anything else. I am just waiting for the day when I can afford to retire. I've been everything from a trash man to a purchasing agent to a school bus driver to a cabinet maker, and a luthier. I worked in antique furniture restoration and in a piano shop rebuilding old Steinways, etc. Also construction laborer, and in the copy room at a tech corp. that built satellites which is where I worked till 1980 when my first kid was born. In between here and there I gigged in a rock band which I am still doing today. Can't wait to retire and devote my days to the woodworking and musical projects I have going on the side.

Oh yeah, right out of college I was a patent examiner. I loved that job but the 6 hour daily commute back and forth was too much.

Geez.
I'm boring.
I just work in an office.
Worked my way up at one job, over 23 years, to be "Position Terminated" after a company buyout.
Worked in the Dairy equipment service industry for 3 years, but left for my current job, do to a seriously "toxic" environment.
(Trying to be polite there)

Now I work in the trucking industry, specializing in hauling for Farms. I handle HR and payroll
So far, so good. Fingers crossed I don't have to change again until retirement.

@ Myke Hey, I know that industry. Hubby was a mason laborer for several years.
Although, here in MI, he called it "babysitting" LOL

I was an industrial color matcher until last Christmas when I retired. I matched color in lacquers, polyurethanes and stains for manufacturers, designers, wood finishers and cabinet makers. Came up with colors and techniques for complex wood finishing.
Before that I built, repaired, and restored stringed instruments. Primarily guitars. Now I am back to that as well as working on a book about a world famous guitar company I once worked for. I will be 55 this year.

Had a few jobs etc.
Currently considering options.

There were very few jobs around when I left school - North East England in Thatcher's Britain - did a few 'fiddle' jobs here and there before doing a YOP as a Panel Beater.
Few more fiddle jobs including as a board marker in a Betting Shop. Ended up managing two shops for an independent bookmaker.
Few more fiddle jobs, first bit of door work - bouncer - then as a painter and decorator then as a spray painter.

I then worked as a Labourer and Riggers/Scaffolders mate in a yard on the Tees that built Oil Modules - had some great times.

I then got a job in a cardboard factory just 10 minutes walk from where I lived.
Started off on the worst job in the factory, progressed up to Charge Hand - spent 12 years I think on permanent night shift.
I started getting involved in Continuous Improvement and eventually became an accredited 6Sigma Black Belt and Business Improvement Manager.
During this time I also started my own small Security Company providing Doormen for pubs/clubs and events.

Spent a short time as a self-employed Business Improvement Consultant and then worked as a Production Manager of a factory.

I got sick of the travelling and commuting so I then had a change of tack and ran my own pubs for a few years.
For various reasons I gave that up - not least of all my health! - and I became semi-retired just doing a little bit of door work for friends and later some bar work.

That more or less takes me to where I am now - 56 years old and wondering what the hell to do with the rest of my life?

originally posted by: americanbuffalo1
I was an industrial color matcher until last Christmas when I retired. I matched color in lacquers, polyurethanes and stains for manufacturers, designers, wood finishers and cabinet makers. Came up with colors and techniques for complex wood finishing.
Before that I built, repaired, and restored stringed instruments. Primarily guitars. Now I am back to that as well as working on a book about a world famous guitar company I once worked for. I will be 55 this year.

That sounds so great, making guitars and you got the finishes down to a science too. Gibson, Fender guitars, do they still have that magic to them ? Mine do. Even Squier now out of Indonesia seems to have their own little magic to them.

originally posted by: chiefsmom
@ Myke Hey, I know that industry. Hubby was a mason laborer for several years.
Although, here in MI, he called it "babysitting" LOL

Lmao.

Yea, we can be quite demanding of our labourers, without good help, we're nothing.

We always bug them and say "You just bring us the stuff, we do all the work"

Jedi Knight.

I’m the President /CEO of the construction company I founded with my father 40 years ago. I am also very active in local politics.

originally posted by: musicismagic

originally posted by: americanbuffalo1
I was an industrial color matcher until last Christmas when I retired. I matched color in lacquers, polyurethanes and stains for manufacturers, designers, wood finishers and cabinet makers. Came up with colors and techniques for complex wood finishing.
Before that I built, repaired, and restored stringed instruments. Primarily guitars. Now I am back to that as well as working on a book about a world famous guitar company I once worked for. I will be 55 this year.

That sounds so great, making guitars and you got the finishes down to a science too. Gibson, Fender guitars, do they still have that magic to them ? Mine do. Even Squier now out of Indonesia seems to have their own little magic to them.

I have been building guitars since I was 14. Gibson and Fender still make good guitars for having the huge production runs they do. Fender owns quite a few guitar brands these days. The Japanese and Korean made guitars are about equal in quality to the big production guitar companies presently.
I worked for Hamer guitars and then Washburn in the late 80's. I love guitars!!

until last Christmas when I retired

a reply to: americanbuffalo1

Nice to be able to retire at your age... Wish I could have, I have you by almost 10 years. My problem is that I remarried a young woman and she convinced me to have babies with her after we were married for 5 years... Now I have young kids in my mid '60s....

I also built guitars, first one was back in the late '70s.

a reply to: wtbengineer
I am quite fortunate to be where I am at in life at this point. I lost my wife to cancer in August of 2020. It was 7 years of her fighting and I cared for her day and night while working 55 hours a week. After she passed I had to search my soul and rediscover what drove me and here I am. She always felt guilty I gave up my interests to care for her. I always told her she was my first best interest and as long has I can care for her that would be priority.
Different priorities these days. I wish you the best. A family is a very worthwhile endeavour!

IT Manager for the College of Medicine at Central Michigan University. Would like to find a remote job and get out of higher ed though.

a reply to: americanbuffalo1

I'm sorry for your loss, you did well though as a husband. And you are right, I am blessed to have a big family. Got 5 kids all together and 5 grandkids. I didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't feel blessed to have them. It's just a challenge at my age. Thanks and best to you as well!

a reply to: wtbengineer
I get it! Definitely a challenge! A worthy challenge too!

a reply to: rukia

QA/RA Manager at a medical devices manufacturer. Background is mechanical engineering. Worked as a process engineer for several years before they learned I could read and write. Now I interpret regulations, design and implement lean QMS processes, and navigate the hellish regulatory landscape.

originally posted by: rukia
What do you guys do?

I'm retired.

If I do anything that resembles work ... I make precision ammunition for ranges beyond 600m.

I am retired and I am learning food science...and of course I plow, garden, and shovel snow. I also cook and make breakfast for the cats twice a day or more.

I can fix about anything but must evaluate if it is worth fixing it before starting on it. I have tools to do just about anything I want and can build just about anything out of wood with them. I have all the tools necessary to do mechanics work, paint cars, and cement work too...and have the skills to do them...but my body is pretty much worn out.

So basically, I am just a normal nutty guy with OCD and a lot of ability to create things I really do not need to create.

I am in editorial. Specifically I am now a production manager. I get orders from our clients, troubleshoot them, escalate the ones I can't fix, delegate jobs to proofers, manage workflow to track jobs through the system from order through press to QA and out the door through shipping. It's also my job to know backup every step as needed or call all hands on deck as needed. I manage 2 press runs every day.

I have had the same IT career for going on 30 years now which has been focused on Telecom , AV and Video Conferencing. I have applied that knowledge and experience in just about every vertical there is from Sales to CRMDebt Collection to the Defense Industry to Pediatric Healthcare and currently the video game industry. If it's a PBX or has dial tone I have probably worked on it or broken it , usually at the same time.. LOL

As a matter of fact, for about a 3 week period roughly 13 years ago if you called 1800-BestBuy you heard my voice since I was building their IVR or menus at the time and the professionally recorded greetings hadn't come in yet.

Currently I lead the world wide Real Time Communications Team for Activision Blizzard King which means I have engineers from across all 3 BU's that are on my team. Because everyone is from a different time zone I have effectively given up on sleep which I have backfilled with a lot of fun and way too much automation, RGB lighting and stereo gear for where I live. =)

a reply to: opethPA

Isn't it wild when you realize that people all over are seeing your handiwork without knowing it? I went through that when I was on our Barnes &Noble account. If I missed something, the whole country would see.