Ended up coming out of school in time for the worst recession since the Depression, did what I could to survive. That's where I learned to fix cars, it was either do that or walk to work. Ended up becoming a Chemical Process Operator at the local nickel plant, did that for 30 years, and am now a Training and Development Coordinator in the same outfit. That's my "day job". Side jobs include vintage car appraiser and watch repair/builder. I'm still learning on the watches, but now I fix more than I wreck. Right now I'm trying to retrieve an 1883 Waltham pocket watch that had a hairspring issue, it's just come out of the bath and is ready for reassembly. Already replaced a mainspring in another Waltham a few minutes ago, it's now happily ticking away on my bench.
I'm retired now and in a Witness Protection Program so I can't tell ya nothin' ! Let's just say I did very well, but I can't tell ya how well, so let's drop it ! FORGEDABOUDIT ! ! !
Phone company technician for the past 23. Before that, I had a brain dead factory job right out of high school.
Ha! Total thug. He was actually getting arraigned for a murder charge in this picture. He shot a guy and dragged the body to the train track, where it ended up severed in half. Subsequently, he ended up with a not guilty and I haven't seen him around town since his trial. I'm thinking he may have moved.
I have an Electronics Technician degree from one of the first tech schools in the country. Hired in to Delco Electronics as a radio repairman on the first digital seek/scan radios offered in cars. Went on to be an Engineering tech.....then got in to skilled trades as an Electrician..... never had to be an apprentice and work under a Journeyman because of my background and experience. 20+ years as a UAW Journeyman working on everything from Ion implanters with deadly voltages/gases to every form of radiation known to man..Infra red/x-ray/laser/radioactive/microwave...you name it.....and every type of electronic test system/support equipment/production line(actually everything powered by electricity!) ...GenRad testers were a bitch....the last 5 years i was the electrician for the prototype lab(maintained one of the first PANASERT chip shooters every made...fastest in the world)......30 YEARS of working at the Silicon valley of the mid-west....and they let it all slip away...... Forced to retire in 2006....i did not work for 5 years other than some odd jobs and projects . Now...for the last 7 years i am the Brewery/Restaurant maintenance man at the best place in town ! Half Moon Restaurant and Brewery Kokomo ,IN......yelp it ! Peace WildBill p.s......retired at 51...it's been good....re-retiring is in the future.
Car mechanic by trade ( can still quote dwell, firing order and timing for Holden 6cyl engines) Got into warehousing, a bit of purchasing. Been in the RV industry for 25 odd years now. Worked at Dometic for 11 years. Now I work for a mate in the same game. I turn up, fix stuff and go home. No office politics, no 50 phone call days, no waking up at 3AM wondering "did I get that part to XYZ" I do about 20 hrs a week. Mind you, if I'd been told when I started work at 18 that I'd still be on the tools at nearly 60, I'd have gone home in tears...
I'm an Officer in the City Fire Dept. riding up in the big red truck. Been doing it for nearly 39 years. Before that, an electrician for 6 years starting out as an apprentice in 1974.
Attended a vocational school for 2 years to be a mechanic, even went to a local college before graduating taking courses with the goal to get a specialty in Dodge/ Jeep. After all of that I ended up working for a local cable company, it was actually a pretty sweet gig. Enlisted in the military early 04 and ended up doing 7 years. Got out and worked for Fastenal while I was getting my degree.. Spent the last 8 working for Uncle Sam doing a variety of projects, and with any luck I'll retire from there when the time comes. Sprinkled in between that is about a dozen or so odd jobs to get by.
Yesterday I was typing "who remembers" I accidently back spaced between the "o" and "r" it cracked me up, try it
I was a Federal Labor Investigator - after 34.5 years of 50-60 hr workweeks and getting a new boss who didn't have my back, I retired at 55. I'll never work again. UticaGeoff
Marine scientist....but no money to be made there....too many volunteers, interns. So ended up in FDA seafood inspection....close enough....
Love this thread... Real people, working real jobs. I am a HVAC Contractor but work for the University Of Florida Health. I run one of the smaller chiller plants (six thousand tons of cooling capapcity) on campus that cools Shands Hospital and Cancer Center. Been a contractor for 30+ years and am considering retiring as I am 66. My wife also works for UF captioning classes for deaf students. Rachael is 7 years younger than me and loves what she does, says she won't retire so we carpool to work and I may never get to retire but I have it made there so no complaints. Mikey
It was the most fun job I ever had. Made tons of cash. No possible way to smoke up the profits. In one house( there were several) I had a drive through window. House sat right on the edge of an ally. Friends would drive up to the dining room window to get the order. It wasnt until I expanded my product line to that white powder did I start to get into all the related trouble a business like that can attract.In less than 2 years I was sitting behind bars sweating out my addiction. It lead me to where I am in life today and that in itself makes it worth it.
