TripDeuces

As I go through the posts on CO I find it interesting some of the jobs people have had in the past or are in at the moment. We have rocket scientists (Joe P.), people who worked for GM in the past or the suppliers for GM, engine builders and technical guys (Cutlassefi), etc., etc. I thought I would start a fun post where all here could participate in and have some fun explaining theirs jobs and what was most fun for them. Maybe what you do now isn't even your favorite and you could let us peek behind the curtain.

I'll start it off. I've had many jobs throughout my life from suck to stellar but I'll stick to the good ones. I have a BA in Geology but never used it. When I was a junior in college the oil companies sent out a letter letting all geology majors know that unless you have a masters degree don't even bother applying. The oil crisis of 1975 caused a flood of people into geology and they were full up with new guys.
One day while strolling through the student union there was a group of Marine Corps recruiters looking for a few good men. I signed up right away for the pilot program. Messing with oil or flying an F-18, you do the math. All that studying took it's toll on my eyesight though and I failed the eye test by one, one! The Corps was awash with pilot candidates so you had to pick a combat MOS, military occupational specialty. I picked Artillery. You can't compare arty to flying but it was a rewarding experience that took me all over the planet and seeing things you've never seen before in person was very rewarding. I never used my geology degree but I sure did blow up a bunch of earth and rock, ha. It also gave me a path to the Marine Corps which I cherish to this day.
Once out of the Corps I never liked any of my civilian jobs and about 20 years into civilian life I had a freak accident that put me on disability for life. I can't complain and maybe it was a blessing in disguise because now I have the time to tackle my frame off restoration of my 66 Cutlass convertible. Some aspects of it are way out of my comfort zone but I'm determined to finish it within the next year or two.
That's my story, what do you have?

allyolds68

I've got a degree in Civil Engineering from UConn. I worked in the bridge construction business for about 25 years before switching over to the dark side..... now I take them down:




FWIW this is not how we usually do it. Normally we just drop them with a couple excavators with shears on them


For 6 of my first 25 years on the construction side I worked on the Big Dig in Boston. For better or worse it was probably the best career move I ever could have made. I've been pretty much able to do anything I want since then. I currently run the Estimating and Project Management team for a large demolition company based out of central NY

midnightleadfoot

The designers and engineers on the big dig should be shot.. it was outdated before they started..lol What a waste of money..


I've done the same job for 33 years.. almost 30 at same company.
boring, every day is a mirror of the last.. but it pays the bills..
I pick thing up, then put them down..

allyolds68

Though there was a lot of money wasted it wasn't the designers that are to blame. It was the politicians........


Practically everything designed was politically influenced


Think about that waste of money every time to go to Logan Airport. Before the Big Dig, on a Thursday or Friday evenings, it took upwards of 3 hours to drive the 13 miles to or from my home in Quincy to work at Logan.

Olds64

Currently I'm an electronics technician working for an FAA contractor at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in OKC. I have a BS in Automotive Technology and an MS in Industrial Management that I've never used. I joke with my friends that I should have done something exciting like being a lion tamer or a magician. I figure they have pretty stable jobs. I've been laid off twice by contracting companies since retruning from Afghanistan in 2014. I'm wondering if I'm going to be furloughed tomorrow with a government shutdown. GEEZ...

Joffroi

CS in Computer Engineer... do web/software programming and love it. Use to work in IT in telecom which was fun too. I've been lucky with each job and had fun co-workers which I think is half the battle.

joe_padavano

I'm a rocket ENGINEER! Reminds me of the saying that without engineers, science is just philosophy.

I've been doing this since 1980. I worked on the Galileo probe that went to Jupiter, a number of communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit, a couple of shuttle missions to recover and repair malfunctioning satellites in 1984-85, and I ran this launch vehicle program for eight years. Now I provide technical support to DARPA for new space-related programs. It's an absolute blast to go into Boeing and Lockheed and crap on them.

Don R.

I was an Interior Store Planning Manager for J C Penney for 38 years, now retired. The last 20 years were at the corporate office in Plano, TX. My job was to insert all the interior components of a department store into the building rectangle and meet both merchandising and design requirements, basically assembling a jigsaw puzzle where you control the shape of the pieces. I did this to literally millions of square feet over my career and I loved my job.

Inline

Well.. As my sig-line almost states, im an asfalt-worker. Currently driving cold milling machines, Wirtgen W100i and W200i to be exact.

I travel all over the country at employeers cost, and sleep at hotels, and get to see places. Not that "exciting", but i like it. Best part, due to our winter, i have 3 to 5 months vacation every year, as long as winter lasts. We do so long days at summer that financially i have no problems to be unemployed whole winter. And have no problem to spend the time doing snow-work at yard, repairing house, and heating sauna. And every now and then working on my Cutlass too.

lshlsh2

Growing up worked at the family business(Plant Nursery). Left got a degree in Photography, then found out the grass was not greener. Went back to the family business and been there for about 30 years. I really enjoy it, at least most days.

Charlie Jones

I started out as a "mechanic's helper " and general "flunky" in a Chevrolet , Pontiac , and Buick agency in 1966 while I was in high school .
In 1969 "Uncle Sam" was tapping on my shoulder . I decided to " aim high " and enlisted in the Air Force . I became a " crew chief " (mechanic) on F-4 "Phantom" jet fighters . It was an exciting four years as I got to know three of the five "aces" of the Vietnam war .
After the war , I worked at a variety of auto mechanic jobs until 1985 when I "crossed trained " into Diesel trucks and buses . I retired in 2012 , but I still maintain a small shop where I work on my (and sometimes other people's ) cars .

1970greensupreme

Started out as a Ford mechanic at a dealer in the mid 80's at 19 after a year of tech school Went on to work for the former Echlin Manufacturing Company. They were an auto parts manufacturer. Echlin during that time owned Accel, Mallory, Mr. Gasket which included Hurst, Digital fuel injection, RAM, Borg Warner, Raybestos among others. I worked in product developement and had the opportunity to run engine dyno's, flow benches, Emission cells, build test fixtures, torture testing of automotive parts. We were in the infant stage of installing fuel injection with stand alone ECM's The last 4 yrs there I was given an engineering title and was in charge of brake testing with dyno's that simulated vehicles as well as data systems and analysis in street cars. The last 18 yrs I'm self employed and do contract work for auto manufacturer and aftermarket warranty companies

2blu442

Started my career in Forestry on a fire crew in 1978. At 30 years old I decided I needed a degree to have the career I wanted, so I worked part time and went to school part time for 7 years. I got a BS in Forest Management. I still did fire fighting in the summer, but I moved through a number of different positions with the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. I wound up as a Civil Engineering Tech for the last 20 years of my career. I worked on low volume logging roads most of the time, building & maintaining them. I pulled the plug and retired the end of 2016. Now much of my attention is spent on playing with the car hobby, digging in the garden and puttering on home improvement projects.

Koda

I've got a BS in mechanical engineering, which I use some, and an MS in the same, which I don't really use and I'm a production engineer for Toyota. My company is the overall company over all the US plants, and my position is an engineer that identifies, budgets, specs, buys, trials, installs, and hands over new or modified equipment to handle the changing needs of the plants, like to build faster, model change of the car on the line, new lines, and different model cars being put on a different line. I'm specifically in Assembly, which is bolting things together, filling them with fluids, and getting the car running.


I was recently assigned to a two year assignment to the plant directly, which involves more direct support to running production lines. Don't care for it much; it was forced, and I view it as disrespectful to do such a thing to a long-time employee. I'll do a good job, but I'll be looking for nice raises and bonuses, or I may look for a job where the employer is more grateful to have me.

midnightleadfoot

Like hell it did.. rockland to logan was 25 minutes every night at 8pm.


as for the designers vs political.. I'm sure it is both to blame..

allyolds68

How quickly you forget what it was like to get through the city and to/from Logan in the Sumner and Callahan on Thursday and Friday nights prior to the Ted Williams Tunnel opening.

Did you even have a driver's license before 1995? Because if you did you would remember what that commute used to be like

Local Hero

I have a bachelors degree in Communications specializing in TV and video production.

I worked at an independent video production company right out of college for two years, learning as many roles as I could, until the owners decided to shut it down and use the money to upgrade one of their other business interests. At the time Cellular was just taking off. (showing my age here)

I freelanced for nearly a year before landing in one of the then Big 8 accounting firms in their Corporate Communications department. It is now one of the Big 4 after several mergers and the Anderson/Enron fiasco. I was there exactly 25 years mostly working as a video editor and producer, when I learned that the company was going to shut down our department and outsource our duties to a company in London.

That was last April. However, I've been contracting back to them since working on projects that would have otherwise fallen through the cracks. I've been able to name my own hourly rate and have a flexible schedule. Luckily I have the benefits covered through my wife's job.

I'm currently working on a proposal that would allow me to contract through another internal department that could possibly lead me back to a full-time spot at the same company doing the same thing. That would allow me to continue to build upon my 25 years trying to get closer to the almighty 30 year mark.

Probably the highlight of those 25 years was getting to meet and talk cars with Jay Leno while backstage at an Awards Banquet for entrepreneurs that I was working behind the scenes on.

midnightleadfoot

did that run from 1987 through 2000 every night..
6 days a week.

cfair

Spent 11 years working in consumer credit analytics (aka credit scoring) with banks, credit bureaus, and insurance companies. Then company management changed for the worse and I headed to some big banks to teach their employees how to do it. That turned 2 weeks of international travel per month for 15 years, during which time my kids got older quick. I quit last year to be around before they get out of high school and disappear.

It was a great gig to work with people from 40 or so countries and treat the planet like a small ball. I saw a lot of the worlds great sights along the way. Feels great to be done for now, home with family, and time to do Oldsmo-projects.

jharsh

I graduated High School in 1977 and went straight into the Army. I enlisted as a UH-1 Helicopter Mechanic and did that for several years before becoming a mechanic on UH-60 Blackhawk's.
After about 13 years I decided it would be more fun to fly helicopters than sit behind a desk, so at the age of 30 I went to flight school. Was a UH-60 Maintenance Test Pilot for the next 17 years before retiring from the Army with 30 years.
Had the fortune to see so many countries, some good, and some not so good. I would say my best time in the Army was as a Pilot for the Beirut Air Bridge. We were based in Cyprus and would deliver whatever the Embassy needed in Lebanon.
After I retired from the Army I got a job as a Contractor doing basically the same thing I did in the Army, but the Pay is better, and the places I go are too. Would not change a thing.

oldcutlass

Jim, my brother in law did the same as you through the Arkansas Nat, Guard, about the same time frame. He retired from the Guard a few years ago I believe as a CWO5 and also from his civilian job. Living the good life, he earned it.

rcorrigan5

Fortunately, I had several choices when I graduated from high school but the two big ones were either West Point or the Coast Guard Academy. I chose CGA and graduated by the skin of my teeth. Speaking of rocket engineers, my dad always used to say that at CGA I was training to be an astronaut and, for my major, I was "taking up space"! Anyway, I did graduate - obtained a BS in general engineering with an emphasis in math, was a ship driver for the USCG for 27 years (either assigned to a ship or trained ships from the beach). Went back to school on one of my shore assignments and got an MBA. It was a pretty good stretch of time, especially when on a ship you had a successful search and rescue case - found and brought home people who otherwise would have not have survived. Retired from the USCG in 2000 and managed/maintained a 20-unit apartment complex owned by my dad and me. Came time to retire again in 2015 so sold the apartment complex and now the wife and I just enjoy our granddaughter and our two 4-4-2 convertibles!

Randy C.

TripDeuces

Fantastic, great stories all!
If possible let's not let politics and small pissing contests fester. I too am passionate about those subjects but I'd like to keep this light. Just for the record, I've traveled the Big Dig several times and it was a nightmare. Personally I blame the politicians. Engineers know their job but politicians don't.

oldspackrat

I tried college for a year or so & decided SCREW writing all those papers & unnecessary(to me) BS they wanted me to do so I quit there & went to Lincoln Technical Institute (Mechanic school) shortly after that & graduated with 3.92 gpa, honors, & perfect attendance. I turned wrenches at various dealerships, a forklift shop, & construction shop till 2009. The economy slowed that year & I was the newest tech & they let me go. I had been selling/dealing Cutlass parts as a side hobby for several years for play money to restore my Rallye 350 & Vista Cruiser SX & slowly turned my hobby into a business. I've been doing it full time since '09 & am making more money (not getting rich) than any of my previous "jobs" & love what I do 95% of the time & get to meet great people & help them make their cars nicer than before. I've expanded my parts sales to also restoring the gauges & interior rear view mirrors & stay pretty busy doing all of the above. I read about what some of you other guys have done & am a bit envious of some of it but I'm sure it is not all fun & games either.

midnightleadfoot

No pissing match here, sorry if I looked that way. just drove that road rte 3 to 128 into logan nightly, no idea how Quincy that is about half way closer could ever take 3 hours.. but if it did for him that sucks. I didn't have that problem.. only if there was a ball game anda concert on a Friday or sat night was it a r.p.i.t.a. but was the traffic lack of flow from the roadway or a wreck . The thing is the traffic before the big dig and after isn't any better or worse. still takes 25 minutes when I have to drive that run at 8pm. now getting home on a Friday in the summer at anytime after noon is a problem but that is everyone heading for the cape going rte3 south, nothing with boston.
I'm again sure some of the blame is on the politicians, but they paid millions to engineering firms to advise on the project, they contracted and hired them because they'd know better than a suit(S) on beacon hill. But I'm sure the Rose Kennedy green way was one of the beacon hills ideas/wants demands.. among others..
Now those that had to try to drive through Boston during the daytime rush hours while it was being done, That was a postal road rage waiting to happen, Got stuck on the north of boston at 7am many a time and it was smarter to pull off until 10am and then work through..
Part of the mess now is the lame, required for fed road dollars car pool lane, Great idea half@$$ed. That should start where it does Braintree split and go all the way to Andrew square exit if not farther and been 2 lanes, making the off peak rush hour side 2 lanes and not 3.


Again if the post before this seemed course sorrywasn't ment to be., dealing with a raging migraine for 3 days. now.


Just posting to try to pass the time, No driving with it ,as eye focus isn't very good, and I don't want to endanger others. peace

TripDeuces

That's cool Midnightleadfoot, we all have those days but without migraines. I'm a victim of migraines occasionally also. I hope you have a good neurologist.
I think all big city traffic sucks no matter where. Where I live used to be the country but traffic gets worse yearly it seems, oh well.

midnightleadfoot

Nice.. job you love is always a plus..
I'd have loved to see the world on uncle Sam's dime, but sadly it was not in the cards.. Failed the physical for , are you ready for this. Flat feet & Mild (if there can be, think they were just being kind with the mild part lol)Dyslexia . I guess when not in war time that is a thing, I always wondered if it was 5/9 years later when desert storm was going on if I'd failed for that..

midnightleadfoot

Never lived in the country.. If I ever hit the lottery, I will.. but never have..
Smallish sized towns 15-35 miles from Boston has been the area mostly,when living in That state and none of it I'd call country..

edzolz

Best job I ever had was as a design engineer on the SSC project. For those who don't remember that was the Super Conducting Supercollider. Our great government spent over 3.5 billion (with a B) on this project just to shut it down because of politics. then another 3 Billion (another B) tearing out all of the equipment that I and a group of other engineers designed and built. I was there from the beginning, my employee number was 67 and was there until the last piece was either scrapped or sent to other scientific labs.

Olds64

Very cool!

I just watched a YouTube video yesterday on the Tevatron, SSC and LHC. They also interviewed Niel DeGrasse Tyson. It's a bummer that the SSC got the axe. I've never seen the location where it was supposed to be but my understanding is that it's near Waxahachie, TX. My dad; Oldsguy, lives near there in Red Oak.

rktolds

I am a Certified Athletic Trainer at a local high school. I teach Biology and Sports Med during the day and cover all athletics from Aug to June. I am there to diagnose, treat,rehab and refer to physician as needed. The coolest job I've had in the 18 years as an ATC would be as an Ergonomic Analyst for a PT clinic. One job took us to a lyme mine in Missouri. We evaluated jobs down in the mine, including riding in a 60 ton dump truck.
The coolest part about my current job is competing for and winning State Championships. In 18 years I've been around over 40 (some are the first in their family to go) kids that have gone on to play college sports. One is currently in the NFL.

Olds Scott

I was employed in the motion picture business for 35 years. Started as a set builder and finished as a construction coordinator. Did most of my time doing television shows like Lois and Clark, West Wing, Chuck. Mostly big set builds towards the end of my career. Enjoyed my job until it was time to retire. Don't regret retirement a bit.

Tedd Thompson

After high school in 1966 the war was pretty much winding it's way up and if you weren't in collage with a deferment you were in the military. I applied for and got the only trade school deferment given at that time from Butte countyCa.for the Colorado School of Trades. I became a gun smith knowing that upon completion I would probably get drafted in the service with a job in ordnance of some kind. Smithing is better than ground pounding being my major thoughts.

Well after graduation I received my draft notice and passed my pre induction physical with flying colors and was notified to report to Oakland for my induction.... Guess what I failed my induction physical. Me and one other guy rode home on a bus that had 60 empty seats.

I set up a gun shop and did general gun smithing at night and worked a bunch of construction type day jobs for most of a year . I kept the shop mostly open for probably 30 years. It never paid the mortgage but the side money took me all over the western US and Alaska on hunting fishing trips.

I finally settled on a job in the coatings and paint industry (Albeaco Distributors) as a labor and worked my way up to sales and management.In 1977 or so I and two others bought that business and ran it till 1986 when we sold it to GMG. I went to work for that company for some where around 20 years where upon it sold to a outfit called Lancaster Distributors. The big ones were eating up the little ones at that time. I was laid off from Lancaster (or was fired) after they over expanded and ran out of money.It was time to leave as I was completely burnt out by that time.I RETIRED..... Best Job I have ever had! There are a bunch of other side jobs business ventures that I didn't mention but those mentioned are the main events.... Tedd

oldsmobiledave

I have a Masters degree in Geology & after bouncing around in the mining industry exploring for base metals & diamonds for 5 years I came to Oil and Gas in 1993.


I have since spent the last 25 years drilling oil & natural gas wells and have been involved in drilling over 450 wells. My deepest was 5108m (16754 feet).

83hurstguy

I'm a mechanical engineer with a master's degree and PE license. I started in automotive as an intern, didn't really like it, ended up working for a company that fabricates custom components and filtration/cooling systems for nuclear power plants which was really fun but didn't compensate well for the hours work. I moved on from there to an Engineering firm, providing design/project engineering services to nuclear plants, which is what I still do. We've completed some pretty cool projects with containment cooling system replacements, seen a lot of areas of plants most people don't get to visit.

Some of the work is pretty cool and challenging, some is tedious and not as interesting; there's a lot of desk time spent at a computer. The power market is in a tough spot right now due to low prices, which means most of the big/interesting projects are on hold. It pays the bills and funds the Olds project, so I can't complain.

flatlander442

tripDeuse can relate to part of your story, after high school bummed around for one year decided to go into the military and join the coast guard like my uncles took all my test and 2 weeks later went to be sworn into the coast guard and 1 week later ended up in the marine corp boot camp( should never have stopped and talked to that marine recruiter ) Missed pilots training by so many points. I applied to be a photographer, or tanks like my uncle who died on normany but after advanced infantry training I was assigned to a artillery unit at 29 plams calif. with a 8" inch self propelled unit as a fire direction controller/ forward observer and drove the co as his driver most of the time. After marine corp was a teamster for 41 years. Semper Fi. I have a 66 442 tri-power car that i'm restoring. thanks

marxjunk

best job i ever had? dish washer at a family owned Greek restaurant...no responsibility and beautiful women everywhere..Greek women are hot....just sayin..had a bad *** 71 GTO...all my money was mine...and was just a great time in my life..

now..life long bodyman that moved into sales..i sell body shop equipment.. have been in "the business" as a tech, and management etc since 1982...

have a degree..never made me a dollar, but gave me the skills needed to be professional, and how to network and communicate..i'd never do it again, but glad i did..school was hard for me...but i worked hard..and got thru it in a respectful manner

the 2 constants in my life have been body work, and old cars..

the more old cars and parts i have the happier i am...

midnightleadfoot

I'll have 30 years in soon, And the job is mind numbing, I just don't know if I have the go nadds to jump ship to the un known.. And start over fresh.. It's easy to want, but the house/family/bills makes it a mighty scary thought..

TripDeuces

I can relate to all that. Arty may not have been my first choice but I always strived to be the best at what I did. The pilot thing hurt because I aced every flight test, flight physical, etc up to that point only to be sidelined by one miss. That's the real world though and the Marine Corps doesn't hand out 'Participation Trophies'.
I started as a Forward Observer also and then became the 1st Fire Direction Officer, FDO. I went to Parris Island after that and pushed 6 series of recruits through before becoming the Executive Officer for one of the companies of the 2nd Battalion there. I too spent 6 weeks at Twenty Nine Palms for the run up to the Med. One of the biggest thrills was launching the anti-tank Copperhead round down range. Loaded with super charge 8 it literally lifted a 9 ton cannon off the ground and took your breathe away from 100 feet away. A 155mm isn't on par with an 8 inch but still fun. Good times.

I love the stories and diversity I'm reading so far. I really do love this country.

Koda

I hear the PE test is the hardest test you'll ever take as an engineer. I can't do it since I can't get the recommendations and work under the PE in my current field. I kind of wish I could, I really should spend a year relearning all my courses; forgotten so much.