Thread: What do or did you do for a living

I have been in the Autobody / Collision repair business since I was 20 (1976). Been self employed since 1987... one man wrecking crew. All business is done old school ( word of mouth ). Dealing with all the Major Insurance companies is always fun... But at 62 years old ,I still love my job. Worked on cars from the 50’s to the Present Day Range Rovers and all in between. Love taking in a wreck....and make it look like nothing happened...or restoring a 50 year old Muslcah !

Originally Posted by Orville

You know . . . they have these pills now.

Tell me about these pills.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

Tell me about these pills.

And we have another drug dealer!
:-)

I note with interest that most of us baby-boomers worked a wide variety of jobs
in our youth, but ultimately ended up in something "steady." That's unlike my
father and grandfather, who both pretty much started in one place and stayed
there until retirement.

My grandfather started working for Armour and Company, right after WW I, and
retired from the same company 40 years later. My father went to work in the
steel industry, right after WW II, and stuck with it until retirement.

My brothers and I have each had all sorts of jobs, but finally settled somewhere:
one brother in construction, one brother is real estate development, and me in
the Fire Service.

I'm the oldest, and retired first, as a Mobile Intensive Care Paramedic on a Fire
Department rescue unit. #2 brother just sold his precision surveying business,
and #3 has 2 years to go as a project manager, building retirement communities,
before pulling the pin.

The most on-the-job fun I ever had? Cable car gripman in San Francisco, for
3 years after college. That was before I got sick of the tourists, spent a couple
of years in a mountaineering school in Wyoming, and then joined the Fire
Department. After 4 years as a fireman, the department sent 9 of us to Stanford
Medical School, to become medics. 16 years of that, and I got out.

Now they pay me every month, like it or not. Ain't life grand?

I never knew being a dad was gonna be a 24hr job with stress levels elevated.
Just woke up at 3:30am to a sick 2yr old...

Projectile vomit right to my face in the eyes and in the mouth! Big Blast!

To those who have grown children I salute you.
Carry on.

University straight after high school; abattoir work in holidays, part time storeman in term time. Geophysical well logging in remote areas for 4 years after graduation followed by 1 yr in masters program back in the city. Then 8 years in state radiation control unit followed by 19 yrs as head RSO at a big university (as in 50000+ students). Consulting work since then - plus straight razor maintenance, modification and honing of course.

What was the most fun? The abattoirs were pretty amusing - you learn how to sharpen a knife and keep it that way, plus dodge really big sides of beef barrelling down the alley headed toward the chiller. The geophysical stuff had its moments too, specially when some idiot set fire to the mud pit after they'd been drilling on diesel during the night shift!

The science and safety work lacks a bit for funny moments in comparison but at least it's not life-endangering

Originally Posted by MikeT

I never knew being a dad was gonna be a 24hr job with stress levels elevated.
Just woke up at 3:30am to a sick 2yr old...

Projectile vomit right to my face in the eyes and in the mouth! Big Blast!

To those who have grown children I salute you.
Carry on.

Here we have the most important job of all! Been there, done that.Keep up the good work.

Parenting has been filled with trials and laughter. It has been a fun time overall. I’m happy to have a continued relationship with my now adult children. Still a lot of laughs and the odd challenge. I must say however it’s not for everyone.

I wiser person than I once told me that we can judge how well we parented by observing how our children raise their own.

It is also an opportunity to respond to their complaints about our grandkids with “I remember when you ...”

I also remember my grandmother’s curse that “you should have two like yourself.”

Originally Posted by petercp4e

I've always admired you guys who work with your hands, in the various trades, etc.

I'd say by the looks of those razors that you re-scaled with abalone, you've got the working with your hands thing down pat.

Pete <:-}

I appreciate the compliment, Pete-But really, I don't even change my own oil! I learned some basic shop and carpentry skills from 9 years of being a Scout leader, and I have learned from my mistakes on some razor rescales. I try to learn and apply something new with each new blade I do, and practice or figure out some new technique.

But these guys who do actual original restores (like Tom, Mike, Karl, or Garrison to name a few right off the top of my head), now THAT'S skill.