Thread: What Do You Do/What Did You Do?

Originally Posted by wvloony

my biggest chunk of advice to you is dont believe everything the recruiter tells you as the gospel truth, remember they have a quota, and will do what they need to do to fill it, and if your recruiter isnt quite as morally bound as others, you will be told some stories.

My parents' best friends growing up included an army recruiter husband-a lifer, Vietnam vet, etc. His words when I was a senior in high school: "You know how you can tell when a recruiter is lying to you? His mouth is open."

My first plan was to become an electrician, but after six months in school I dropped out and started to work as a caretaker at a hotel at the age of sixteen.
Went back to school after a few months and took mechanichal education, worked as a car mechanic a few years and for a couple years I worked as a bartender and bouncer at a local pub in the weekends.
Because of some injuries I got in a motorcycle accident when I was twenty I had to quit as a mechanich, started to work as a foreman in the same company and have been there, working my way up the last ten years to where I am now as a co-leader of the workshop.

Went to college to play football(D3 after a shoulder injury that kept me from D1) later I played rugby. Was a literature/history/teaching major. Poet Laureate of my college, head editor of the Lit magazine. Graduated in 03 with a BA. Moved from MA back to Pittsburgh PA. Got into sales, did that until 05. Signed onto the Navy to do something with my life. Navy booted me during medical for a paperwork screw up. Said screw it and started working at a lock down facility for children. Was fired after reporting a staff abusing a teen girl (staff happened to be the CFO's best friends son, later that CFO was fired for embezzlement) Moved to Phoenix to be near my brother. Started managing group homes and shelters. Went to my brothers company to start licensing foster homes for developmentally disabled children and adults. Was terminated from there for a resume error (i have a psych minor that i thought was declared turns out it wasnt, but really i was fired for having sex with my brothers boss and then not wanting a relationship) Went to another agency to license for DD children and adults. Finally i went to the agency I am currently at which licenses and monitors professional foster homes (homes that deal with children with serious mental illness). My daughter was born 2/1/11 and I was married 10/22/11.

Long time hunter and fisherman. Love guns, bows, and all sharp objects. Love motorcycles ( I have a 1976 honda 360 dream back in PA im working to ship out here) and I have 3 pitbulls whom I love.

Oh and I am an avid tattoo collector. Pretty much it I guess

Interesting group.
Law Enforcement for 25 years. Worked Patrol, traffic, Police Data Center Director (Y2K),Detective, Major crimes, Sergeant, Sergeant First Class, Lieutenant, retired.

Have been teaching in a Master's Degree program since 2000 at a University.

Now work for the Feds.

Originally Posted by Deerhunter1995

well guys i would have never guessed we has such a great and interesting set of work backrounds, to all the US military past and present i thank you and i hope to join your ranks.

Ain't THAT the truth! And as an Australian, I also join in thanking the American military personnel. I feel that we do rather shield ourselves under the American Bald Eagle's protecting wings, even if we might at times respectfully advise that a 'softer' approach might be taken. Plus having been lucky enough to work on exercise with the American Army, I can only say I love your Hummers, and your cams, but you need to learn to drink Aussie beer, WITHOUT it ending in wanting to get your M16 from the tent where you store them (stacked in a little tee pee configuration) at 0330 in the morning in Darwin and falling INTO them, rather embarassingly...

Just remember that, Deerhunter1995, when you join; you need to aclimatise by drinking real beer for a month before you come over for a joint exercise...Try importing some Coopers Sparkling Ale...

Originally Posted by wvloony

my biggest chunk of advice to you is dont believe everything the recruiter tells you as the gospel truth, remember they have a quota, and will do what they need to do to fill it, and if your recruiter isnt quite as morally bound as others, you will be told some stories.

i hear you there wv and the only good thing about my recruitor is he has known my uncle for since highdschool so he pretty much cut the bs be all you can be speach. lol


and carlo i will make a note of that to swich from american beer to aussie beer for a few allnighters before i go down under with you guys. wouldent want to embaress the rest of my squad. A wise marine once told me

A soldier will not drink and if he should drink he will not get drunk and if he should get drunk he will not stagger and if he should stager he will not fall down and if he should fall down he will do it in an orderly mannor and if he cant do it in an orderly mannor he will not drink.

Let's see... Went to college for electronics. Got hired right out of there to a large company. Found out that I hated it. Got a job fixing fork lifts and never looked back. That was 14 years ago. Now I run my own lift truck company.

In high school I worked anywhere that paid. I did the McD's thing for a few winters, worked at a bicycle shop selling bikes, worked at a summer camp for 7 summers in high school and college. Managed the on campus movie theater at college. I started ski patrolling in HS and volunteered for a few years. I've been a "Pro" for the last ten years. Can't beat getting paid to ski.

I majored in visual communications and got really in to photography. I manged a small eatery for a year right after college and then did electronics retail for just shy of two years. Then I started working for a major language learning software company as a photo assistant and worked my way up to assistant/photographer which meant that I not only did set design/lighting/grunt work for the other photographers but I did it for my own shoots as well. I even got to be the lead photographer for an endangered language project spending a couple weeks on a reservation in LA.
Then after three years of consistently meeting our deadlines they laid off 3/4 of the production staff as they had no work for us on the short term horizon.
So I did some freelance work here and there and skied my butt off. Took me from Jan-Sept of that year to find a full time job so I was a stay at home dad and whenever I could I snuck out and did some fly fishing. Had a lot of fun on little mountain streams chasing trout (well, anything that would take the fly).
I skied full time from Jan-March and in May I found a part time job working in a residential home with adults with intellectual disabilities. I did personal care and cooked dinner and that type of stuff.
In September of that year I put in for a management position in that agency and now manage two apartment buildings that are assisted living for adults with ID. I serve 13 adults who are on a pretty broad spectrum but they live relatively independently in two bedroom apartments just like any other adult (albeit with a staff around to pass medications and assist as needed). I do a lot of chauffeuring to work, appointments etc. The most exciting part, so far, is seeing one of the fellows through the process of getting married.

Originally Posted by Deerhunter1995

i hear you there wv and the only good thing about my recruitor is he has known my uncle for since highdschool so he pretty much cut the bs be all you can be speach. lol


and carlo i will make a note of that to swich from american beer to aussie beer for a few allnighters before i go down under with you guys. wouldent want to embaress the rest of my squad. A wise marine once told me

A soldier will not drink and if he should drink he will not get drunk and if he should get drunk he will not stagger and if he should stager he will not fall down and if he should fall down he will do it in an orderly mannor and if he cant do it in an orderly mannor he will not drink.

Hi Deerhunter, I like that quote!

And one should always remember your mates will carry you home. Though I DO remember a certain night in Darwin, and lots of bottles of Gin, and us carrying a mate out of the mess (bar). I don't think we did him a great service, as we had him on our shoulders and as we spun around with him we bashed his head on a metal pole. Luckily he was too drunk to notice.

Joining the Army was the best thing I ever did. I've been out for more yours than I was in, but it will never, ever leave me; it is a part of who I am. The Army is a great 'leveler' a bit like a football team; an 'even playing field'. You either shape up, or you ship out. I get the idea you'll ship up, you sound very capable, a lot more so than some namby-pamby city fellows would be.

But can I offer you some advice? One thing I didn't think of was WHY I was joining, just seemed the ads on TV made it sound like a cool job, all the 'be a man' type stuff. And it did 'make me a man'. But ask yourself this question: "Can I go where the Government tells me to go and kill who the Government tells me to kill?" I asked that question when I was nominated to go to the Gulf (1st Gulf war). I didn't end up going, though I did the training. Of course I would have gone, but I started to lose faith in my Government. I will defend my wife, my kids, my dogs, (my razors?) against anyone. But jetting off to the other side of the world takes a massive amount of guts. Leaving your loved ones (as they did in the World Wars) and NOT being able to stay and defend them directly, would be hard. I'm not saying it's not right. I'm not saying I couldn't do it. Just ask yourself that one, simple question. I know you know this, but the Army is not a job. It's a service, it's a sacrifice, especially in these difficult times.

Originally Posted by bharner

In high school I worked anywhere that paid. I did the McD's thing for a few winters, worked at a bicycle shop selling bikes, worked at a summer camp for 7 summers in high school and college. Managed the on campus movie theater at college. I started ski patrolling in HS and volunteered for a few years. I've been a "Pro" for the last ten years. Can't beat getting paid to ski.

I majored in visual communications and got really in to photography. I manged a small eatery for a year right after college and then did electronics retail for just shy of two years. Then I started working for a major language learning software company as a photo assistant and worked my way up to assistant/photographer which meant that I not only did set design/lighting/grunt work for the other photographers but I did it for my own shoots as well. I even got to be the lead photographer for an endangered language project spending a couple weeks on a reservation in LA.
Then after three years of consistently meeting our deadlines they laid off 3/4 of the production staff as they had no work for us on the short term horizon.
So I did some freelance work here and there and skied my butt off. Took me from Jan-Sept of that year to find a full time job so I was a stay at home dad and whenever I could I snuck out and did some fly fishing. Had a lot of fun on little mountain streams chasing trout (well, anything that would take the fly).
I skied full time from Jan-March and in May I found a part time job working in a residential home with adults with intellectual disabilities. I did personal care and cooked dinner and that type of stuff.
In September of that year I put in for a management position in that agency and now manage two apartment buildings that are assisted living for adults with ID. I serve 13 adults who are on a pretty broad spectrum but they live relatively independently in two bedroom apartments just like any other adult (albeit with a staff around to pass medications and assist as needed). I do a lot of chauffeuring to work, appointments etc. The most exciting part, so far, is seeing one of the fellows through the process of getting married.

You have a very noble job, and I'm not talking about the fishing and skiing! I've gotta Google VA (is that Vancouver?)