What do you do for a living?

[Flatlander]

Started as a Machine Operator, attended 4 year apprenticship for Machine Tool Repair(Pratt & Whitney) laid off after graduating.
Worked as Machine Tool Installer traveling around the country. Quit when traveling became to much. Went to night school back at PWA got my BS in business was a purchasing agent, laid off.
Started all over as a CSR answering phones, taking orders and entering them on a computer. Moved into field sales for a large metalworking Co. Best job ever, worked at most of the major gun mfg, aerospace and anything where you would cut metal. Hope to retire in 4 years or so if things go the right way.

[mongo]

Retired NYPD, Was Highway cop before retiring. Now just a crazy old man with too many guns that makes lots and lots of boolits, LOL

[dale2242]

Retired heavy equipment operator.
I was a dozer operator, building logging roads.
As a point of interest, I put over 20,000 hrs on one D8K....dale

[gmsharps]

I retired from the military with 21years 4 months and 19 days not that I was counting. I worked at Rod & Gun clubs partime i.e. Heidelberg and Rhein Main when I was stationed in Germany. I couldn't stay away from the military family and worked for GTE teaching a new communications system. I worked at a pawn shop getting it started into the sporting goods business for awhile but no money. I also worked for Sallie Mae doing Tech support on the phone and PC side. After that I followedthe wife to another Germany assignment and worked with a Computer Training Company. After our return I worked at Ft. Polk, LA as a system administrator but when the wife was due to transfer again I deceided to go over to the mideast and support the troops again doing what I know best in the communications field. Hopefully in the next year or so I can actually retire and pursue my passion of of casting boolits and launching them.

[Johnw...ski]

Thats a good question.

John

[Wal']

Born & raised in Tasmania [Devil country] moved to the mainland [Australia]at 21 yrs, traveled & worked most of the country, mostly heavy equipment, trucks, dozer's etc & a spell as a driller & powder monkey[explosives] which tends to keeps you lively & on your toe's.

Ended up working security, my own business on a mountain[Ski Resort] 40 + yrs back in the snow & why I haven't worked out as yet, left Tassy originally to get away from the damn rain & cold. rains there 364 days a year & drips of the tree's for the other day.

I guess having the ability to just brush the snow off rather then being drenched in the rain all winter had something to do with it.

Have been shooter my whole life, bought my first .22 rifle at 14, good paper run,

Mostly paper & steel targets these day's with the occasional deer hunt, getting harder each year.

Have reloaded the last 40yrs & have just got interested in casting my own boolits, will see how it goes, waiting patiently for my new casting gear to arrive.

[DRNurse1]

COLOR="green"]Wow! Great bunch of folks here. I have tried that retirement thing (twice: Teamsters and Navy) but the boss (read my wife) still lides to shop and m kids ar still young. I am NOT a physician (DR) rather a registered nurse working in a Trauma Center, but I am out of the bedside gig (miss it) and into the teaching/ coordinating one. Last November someone[s] (I think as a gag at the local gun club) wrote me in as a town auditor. Not much work and I am disappointed at the lack of ability I have to affect the skewed thought process in our town leaders. Maybe next year....[/COLOR]

[jlm223]

I am a supervisor in a galvanizing plant in Indiana, to bad I can't use zinc for boolits.

[MBTcustom]

At sixteen, I was running a woodshop, had made my own BP single shot pistols, and was a pretty fair hand making anything from raw materials. I was actualy confused about what vocation I should go for. All that making stuff was just...well...for FUN! All my 6 siblings and my parents are the highly educated, book reading, wine sipping types. My father is chief scientist of an aerospace company. I thought I needed to fit that mold. I was standing in front of a bonfire talking to an old friend of a friend (old then meant he was in his forties) and he asked me what I intended to do with my life. I told him my troubles. He asked me what I was good at. I gave him a short list. He said the haloed words "Maybe you should think about being a machinist".......
It was like a light came on.
I never thought about actually making a living with what I was good at.
So here I am sixteen years later, I make precision bearing assemblies that go into space and I run my own machine shop on the side.
I go to work early in the morning so that I can get paid to make shiny stuff the guys in lab coats put together, then I go home and make shiny stuff that goes boom until I'm too tired to think strait. Go to bed and do it all over again.
I love my life!!!!!!!!

[LAH]

Retired heavy equipment operator.
I was a dozer operator, building logging roads.
As a point of interest, I put over 20,000 hrs on one D8K....dale

That's a few hours for a D8K.

[coloraydo]

Off and on heavy equipment operator in road construction, volunteer firefighter/EMT for 11 years, now a full time position with the department going on 12 years.

[keyhole]

Retired heavy equipment operator.
I was a dozer operator, building logging roads.
As a point of interest, I put over 20,000 hrs on one D8K....dale

When I was young (decades ago) I saw a D8 in action building fire line on a 50,000 acre forest fire. It was an impressive piece of machinery and operator. This was near Lake Chelan in eastern WA. Aug-Sept 1970.

just wondering... how many times would the engine need rebuilding when logging 20,000 hours?

Keyhole

[curator]

Taught high school (science) for a year after leaving the service (1st Infantry 11B50MOS S. Viet Nam-3rd Corps area 66-67) There are easier ways to make a living than dealing with LIB-women that pay better, so I left teaching after the first year. Started my own business (nursery/greenhouse/garden center) for 17 years, Sold business and started Environmental Management (tree-hugger) business in Florida (great job that actually paid me to go fishing and hunting) Sold this business in '98 to Engineering firm and went to work for local County Historical Museum managing their educational programs and historical reenactors. This job actually paid me to take care of their arsenal of historical replica firearms and train historical reenactors oversee their use and give lectures on local history. I retired from this “dream job” about 3 months ago. Now I "smelt" lead I accumulated over the last decade and cast boolits that I intend in shootng next weekend.

[AndreaCarrara]

Hi all,
worked as bartender & shop boy during summer vacations, joined first ship when I was 15 as deckboy, finished High School at 19, military service 18 months then I have been at sea on/off since 1985. Worked on all kind of tankers, from fresh water to crude oil, LPG,LNG, chemicals...Raised a daughter in between, spent half of my life at sea but it's good to go back home from time to time. Shooting helps to relieve stress & loneliness.
Pay is decent, given present situation in my country I'm one of the luckiest.

[Echo]

I build guns, and would take on another part time job away from home, if someone would be hiring in this area. I am also a freelance gynecologist.

You should check out the National Association of Amateur Gynocologists. It's worth looking into...

[dale2242]

Keyhole, It took 30yrs to put the 20K+ hrs on the D8. BTW, I also put 10K hrs on a D7G at the same time, pioneering and building the easier builds.
If I remember correctly the engine was rebuilt twice in that many years. It was in-framed once and removed once for a complete rebuild. It needed to be rebuilt again when I retired.
The under carraige was replaced at least 3 times. The under carraige is the tracks , rolls and track frame. The track frame was rebuilt a couple of times but never replaced. I`m sure I wore out 3-4 sets of extreme service tracks.
As you can imagine the dozer was well maintained to last that long.
All the levers were covered in hard plastic/rubber material that had worn to fit my hands....dale

[41 mag fan]

Keyhole, It took 30yrs to put the 20K+ hrs on the D8. BTW, I also put 10K hrs on a D7G at the same time, pioneering and building the easier builds.
If I remember correctly the engine was rebuilt twice in that many years. It was in-framed once and removed once for a complete rebuild. It needed to be rebuilt again when I retired.
The under carraige was replaced at least 3 times. The under carraige is the tracks , rolls and track frame. The track frame was rebuilt a couple of times but never replaced. I`m sure I wore out 3-4 sets of extreme service tracks.
As you can imagine the dozer was well maintained to last that long.
All the levers were covered in hard plastic/rubber material that had worn to fit my hands....dale

My ex step father now, used to run a D8 in the oil fields. At 7 yrs old, I was going with him, when the oil fields were booming in Il. At 8 yrs old he used to go sleep in the doghouse, while I drug in and set up sleds.
When the oil boom went bust, we used to clear woods for farmers with a cutter, till they got smart and bought their own to save money.

[linotype]

What do I do for a living?
I've jokingly said for years, "Any one I can and the dumb ones twice."

Seriously, many jobs over the years, including retired X-Ray tech and gunsmith. Plan to retire as an IT tech for a State University.