What do you do (or did you do) for a living?

I don't think what we do to pay the bills defines us, but it does ofyen say a lot about our skills and mentality. I usually find it interesting to know what folks spend 1/4 of their time doing. So what do you do?

 

Industrial maintenance technician...30 plus years

 

I work in the sewer, mostly. I install and maintain meters that monitor the flow, usually relative to rainfall, to determine where stormwater is getting into the system and costing taxpayers money at the processing plant. We also clean sewer lines, smoke-test for leaks, test and meter storm and freshwater systems, but mainly I spend my time driving from manhole to manhole with a computer to verify accuracy, change batteries, clear obstructions and gather the data.
I also just started landscaping part-time for a little extra money as theres not a lot of sewer monitoring work during the dry summers, but thats just a temporary gig.

 

Interesting, ever see any alligators or ghost ?


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Sadly no. Just the occasional rat and LOTS of bloodworms. And hoards of roaches when we go to CA, the size of your thumb.

We did find a large traffic cone wedged in one of our weirs one time. And my boss keeps finding jewelry (he has the authority to spend the extra time looking for it down there). He has a rather large gold ring he casted from his 'sewergold.'

 

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I never thought about lost jewelry, one of the perks..


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Some of the city workers in the less busy areas we've worked at actually suppliment their income by dredging the sewers for jewelry (on the sly, of course). Theres a lot of gold down there... if you can find it.

 

Don't want to.get off track here, but I remember a story of a guy making a good living in New York City, with a small paint brush looking for emeralds , diamonds in the cracks between side walks out side jewelry stores and upscale areas




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Law enforcement.

I was a military policeman in the Army for 3 years in the 70s. I was a Deputy Sheriff for a couple of years after that and then changed over to a police department. Retired from that 9 years ago, and have been teaching part time at my state's police academy since my retirement. I think of myself as semi-retired. Including all, 43 years in the business.

 

I met a guy that did that in Oregon lol!

Except he didnt seem to be making a very good living. The 'diamonds' he was collecting were just broken glass, and he was either mentally ill, going through drug withdrawls or both. But he seemed to be enjoying himself...

 

Have you ever found any supermarket carts 'down there'? I saw a cartoon once - a mountaineer was just getting his chin over the summit and there was a Tesco cart half covered by snow!

 

not yet, tho im a bit surprised. statistically, there *should* be some

 

Blimey who'd spend time in a sewer grovelling around in the unspeakable looking for jewelry - I mean what are the chances? You could literally spend a lifetime doing it and never get lucky once.

 

Had a few careers in my time. Nowdays, I am working diligently on mastering retirement.

 

I am a convenience store cashier in a mall. We sell things like cigarettes, lottery tickets, phone cards, mobility vouchers, Visa/Mastercard gift cards, and of course, candies, chocolates, and various kinds of drinks.

 

but if ur down there anyway, might as well look

 

I had two different careers. I first spent 7 years as a police officer in the suburbs of Detroit. I decided to re-join the human race and became an insurance claims adjuster. I retired after 20 years of doing that in 1989 at the age of 55.

 

I work in aviation. Building airplanes now, used to fix them. Unfortunately I still have to wait another 20 years before I can retire.

 

Financial controller. You know, the nasty one who takes away everyone's budgets.

 

It seems like we have a lot of posters here with really well-paid, high-powered jobs (except me).

 

I'm a physicist by degree and have my own company. I design new systems and processes for industry, do troubleshooting, mods, re-engineering... Lots of R&D work and get to see some really cool stuff - probably had to sign several hundred confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements over the years. I know so many secrets that I couldn't tell you what they are.

 

Yes, but it would take some physical effort - it wouldn't be floating on top of the . . . I'll leave the rest to your imagination lest I see my breakfast again! :barf:

 

Many dentures?