I did the odd jobs as a kid-I didnāt get an allowance. If you wanted sething, you earned it through workā¦somwthing thats lost on some youth these days. I mowed lawns, washing cars, cleaning houses, house sitting, landscraping, selling plums from our fruit trees. I had a spell of major medical issues in 2004 to 2008, but before that I spent time as an electriaians apprentice, then after that as a landscape laborer (i have a lot of respect for those guys!). After barely surviving my medical issues and 3 1/2 years of rehab, I went to college and got a BS degree and AA. I didnāt get a job in that field, but spend 3 years in between odd jobs as an IT tech and a sales account manager for a specialized paddle sports retailer before landing a job in the medical administration field.
A vaccine ended my life and career. 15k per month in meds is keeping me in a near zombie like state. Hell of a life. Watch out for the vaccines they can kill or worse. There are things your body can do that are far worse then death.
Iām an maritime engineer now working in a powerplant as an engineer. Been there since 2016. Quit working on ships because itās hard for a family man. I donāt complain. Salary is at least as good today and I get to go home every day.
Iām a technician at a large semiconductor fab in Oregon. Specifically, I work with high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition equipment used to deposit dielectric thin films on the wafers. Been here for eight years. Prior to this, I spent six years in the navy as a sonar technician.
Well, lets seeā¦
1973 - 1975 mowed yards as a young kidā¦
1975 - 1995 worked family farm (small) with Dad. Learned to rebuild engines, big and small, learned to weld various metals and machines, learned a lot about cattle, and crop production.
1983 - 1985 all electric grain bin troubleshooting and repair. Quit when I should have diedā¦ Ice, rain and 440 3 phase do not mix with humans. University
1986 - 1988 more University, worked for the mid-wests first Matsushita factory repair center component level VCR, TV and early video camera repair, component level RC craft repairs and sponsered racing.
1989 - 1990 Managed a PC repair shop and worked a repair desk. Side work on early computer networks.
1989 - 1995 worked weekends with a commercial ammo reloader, learned production level ammo loading, high and low volume casting and more customer service interactions.
1990 - present. Network Engineer at a major D1 University. Doing routers. switches, TDM DACS, Sonet, manage 280 network facilities, engineer and design power and HVAC for 7 large facilities and about 270 small network rooms.
I am 56 this fall and could have retired last yearā¦ I am really planning to next summer. I am not sure what the next chapter of my life will bringā¦ I may return to work as a farm hand, I really miss the work and the people. I got my first computer in 1982 and have worked tech in some way since them and I am really approaching tech burn-out. But, a couple of standing offers on the edge of tech and power work are really calling to me as well. Many of my jobs have involved extensive and direct ācustomerā interaction, I really do like customer service.
I had the usual jobs as a kid, cutting grass etc., etc.
High school summer jobs I worked as construction labor.
Went to college & did several things during that timeā¦ all at night. Worked as a janitor for a couple years, a Bakery, Goodyear tire & Rubber.
Graduated & taught Jr. High School for 28 years.
During that time I did various different 2nd & summer jobs through those years.
Mechanic (mostly trucks & heavy equipment.), 18 Wheeler driver (tankers, flats, & boxes), labor building houses, remodeled a few places, sales (I sucked at that.), & managed a storage unit place my buddy owned.
About 10 years before retiring from teaching in 2005 I became a USCG Licensed Master & started running boats for pay in the summers. Then did that full time after I retired from teaching.
Slowed down about 4 years ago & just run boats occasionally now.
In other wordsā¦ a Jack of many trades, but master of only a few.
Sometimes lived the dreamā¦ a few times the nightmare.
IT Systems Engineer for a large US ISP/Telecom. I manage provisioning automation systems that setup and teardown voice/data/video services for subscribers nationwide on a variety of hardware as well as wearing the Business Analyst hat assisting with projects and plumbing the depths of the database. Prior I managed provisioning fallout, supported installation, and for a brief stretch did helpdesk for customers.
Iāve been doing this work for 17 years now. I miss my prior career in manufacturing where I did mechanical/electrical design.
The work is stable, the pay is reasonable, but telecom is not an industry Iād recommend presently - slow growth, byzantine processes, and the increasing liabilities of legacy copper networks.
I can only imagine what Damage 440v can cause ā I had a Miter Saw setup on a damp floor and cut the cord āsomehow the ground fault never tripped āall I remember is seeing like sparks behind my eyes and there was chicken scratch marks in the saw dust on the floor where I was trying to get away from the saw ā My helper said it was only a duration of a few seconds āFelt longer than that to me :person_facepalming:
I spent 5 years as a chemist until Clinton and the āPeace Dividendsā put the company I worked for under with all the cancelled military contracts. Last 27 years as a Deputy sheriff but Iām retiring this week. No idea what the future really holds.
I work with major wire-line carriers often, their siloāed operations make them so hard to deal with. My interaction with them mostly is on the data side of the house with metro and sw-wan transports. I do still have ties into the TDM world. Yes, the giants are starting to feel the pain of ancient copper plants and dwindling service use and infrastructure repairs costs going so high.
Chops, it was a bad combination of an inexperienced rural lineman, a mistake on my part and days of driving nearly freezing rain. Oddly enough the 30 foot fall is what saved my life. Second degree burns on my hands and knees and weeks of pain to follow. I would never work in that dangerous industry again. Metal grain bins, everything is a conductor, everything is always urgent, everything fails in the worst weather and high voltage is brutal when a combination of mistakes are made.
It isnāt any prettier from the inside looking out. So many disparate legacy networks and legacy backend systems held together with gafferās tape and bailing wire.
Barring improbable positive changes in the market my group had to tell the business no more new voice products - havenāt made a profit on voice since before I started with the company and the federal incentives are disappearing.
Good news is that the fiber networks are humming along. Bad news is that some ~20 years after the first large-scale fiber-to-the-prem rollouts theyāre still costly to deploy.
Complete polar opposites. I worked in a lab knowing what my monthly retinue would be. Deputy, I was lucky to know what was for lunch. Problem solving skill set as a chemist does help in the field. I enjoyed both, more job satisfaction from being a Deputy.
