What is/was your occupation?

Many of us regulars have become virtual friends. Since all is fairly quiet on the western front around here, I thought it might be an opportunity for us to learn more about each other. In a few words, what is your occupation if you still work or what did you do before you retired? Throw in anything else you want to share about yourself if you so desire.

I was an ATT communications technician working on mainframes and broadband until I took very early retirement in 1999 when I was 50. The only claim to fame I have is, in my state I was the second female in that job position. I wish I'd been first, but what the hey. We can't all be be famous and the paycheck was the same. Since I quit, I have gotten old and fat on our 15 acres and outlived most of my friends. My old philosophy of always working my tail off to get everything done has changed to one of doing just what I have to. I put off everything I can. Why work when I can sit in my backyard, drink a cold beer and listen to the birds and the wind while avidly reading my Kindle. The work part of rural living will still be there tomorrow. The grass only grows back and laundry can be done when I run out of clothes.

Oh, I think I must participate and set a good example so this thread doesn't die.

I'm the VP of engineering at a communications company and I work in a wonderfully diverse environment. I am one of only three female engineers that I personally know. I sure wish there were more of us.

I spend a lot of time mentoring young engineers when they rotate through our company on work terms with their universities and it's very rewarding. Other than that, I like to mess with my computer, cook, bake, and do other stuff. I like to hang out here and try to answer questions, though I don't have the depth of knowledge that some of you folks have.

I guess my advice should be taken with a grain of salt. lol

I'm a Web Developer and Visual Artist. I also do some social media marketing for some clients and small businesses. :)

Physics education, but went into IT. I was a software developer and architect for large distributed systems (physics experiment data acquisition systems), embedded systems, device drivers, etc on custom micro kernels and Linux/Unix. A software engineer for telecommunications equipment management systems. Led development and operation teams for large scale in-house near-line storage systems (100s of on-demand Petabytes of scientific data in automated robotic tape libraries with tens of petabytes of integrated disk cache).

Retired for years now but I was a TV, video, recorder, domestic electronics repairer. Started off in 1962 as an apprentice with a TV/radio rental company called 'Rentaset', later to become merged and then renamed to Radio Rentals. Stayed with them for much of my working life, apart from the last 10 years of it when I went self-employed. A bench engineer mostly, fixing the items that had to be brought into the workshop. I also used to enjoy spells of going around customers houses as well. When self-employed, I looked after a number of local second-hand TV/video recorder sales shops. I took their more difficult repairs away to my own home-based workshop. All ancient history now and a way of life no longer around. Not much is repairable these days. ..or gets repaired even if it is.

So no grounding in computers at all. In fact, I used to wonder how people could spend hours sitting at the monitor so engrossed with what was on the screen. Then I bought one when I stopped work 26 years ago (aged 52) ...and now I know.

I had just started my 38th year in Public Works before retiring at 55. Five months later I went back part time and I'm still there.

I was an in home TV Technician (TV repairman ) for almost 30 years before retiring at 59 (the TV repair business died mostly). I was never educated in electronics. I started out on mechanical stuff (turntables, cassette tape players, speakers, etc.), then was offered other stuff and just went from there. I worked on Walkman, Amplifiers, CD players, Fax machines, Massage Chairs, Microwaves, Nintendo, Gameboy, Music keyboards...everything but TVs, lol

When the company I worked for had a slowdown and I was laid off, the service manager at a TV Dealer/servicer asked me if I wanted to try TVs. Back then everything was component level (Diodes, transistors, resistors, etc.). Eventually it became board level/modules. The beginning of the end started during the dot com bust when 1st Vizio appeared with low price TVs. Eventually there was a glut of cheap Chinese TV brands and the TV business became untenable

I got to see the glory years with new technologies coming fast and furious. Went from CRT direct view TVs to CRT projection, LCD, Plasma, LCD projection, HDILA, LCOS, DLP, Laser...eventually LCD and Plasma (flat panel) TVs won out, with Plasma going by the wayside. Since then, the OLED has been the only newcomer (Samsung has QLED, Quantum Dot...but they are LCD based)

A Guy

A little different path here.
I was a B52 Crew Chief from 1970 thru 1974, USAF.
Worked several years as a Tool and Die maker.
Went to work as a Millwright at a large aluminum rolling mill around 1976. I worked up to Maintenance crew foreman after five years.
Ten years later I moved into Maintenance Planning for the same company until I retired after 36 years.

@glasskuter

I think I should have done this : !!!!!!


Cheers
jimbo

Retired USAF for 20+ years as a [GroundRadioRepairmen] Worked in Geodetic Survey, Minuteman Missiles, Forward Air Controller with USArmy in Vietnam and once in a while worked in my given radio repair field for Air Trafic control towers, long haul HF, VLF. Back in Civilian life, Cad draftsman, Cable design for ATC control center rehab. Volunteer for Local Hospital for 13 years doing reports, spreadsheets. Served as Director for our HOA for 13 years. Now retired with 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 5 GGrand children and still married to the best woman ever for 60 years.

UPDATE: Now 7 GGrand children

I've worked quite a few jobs, but my #1 favorite was a Fund Raising company in Fort Smith, Arkansas! We would set up fundraisers for public school groups, such as band, choir, etc. . I worked there for almost 5 years. It was stressful, but awesome. I got let go. I was falsely accused of stealing money right after a newhire was brought in. Now i'm disabled

In the spirit of support for this thread, and in hopes that it won't just die:

I was a professor of linguistics for twenty-five years, and taught in Sierra Leone, West Africa, for a year, and in Lanzhou and Beijing, China, for two years during my tenure at Queen's University at Kingston in Ontario. After I took early retirement at 50, I set up an academic editing business that did quite well for over ten years, and employed five other editors for much of that time. All of our editing was done on computers, and all of our manuscripts travelled by FTP. I called the business The Editor's DeskTop.

Through old university engineering colleagues who had connections in industry, I lucked into some fairly productive part-time freelance IT work for the local offices of two major international corporations. I really enjoyed that work, but after about five years, the corporations both changed ownership, and the new corporate management brought in full-time IT departments, so I was back to editing manuscripts full time until I grew tired enough of that to taper down and then close that business.

Now I'm a pensioner, an avid reader, a computing learner and sometimes helper, and the chief cook and bottle-washer here at home in the country north of Kingston. My wonderful wife and I have a few acres of partially wooded land out here, and some of our favorite neighbors are cows.

I have really enjoyed my affiliation with the W7, W10, and now W11 forums, and I'm looking forward to at least a few more years of active participation here at Elevenforum.com.

Here goes: -

Lived in the UK all my life. Retired since 2013 but previously spent 6 years as a Product Development Engineer of scientific glassware products. Then as a Mechanical Design Engineer with 5 years designing industrial chimneys up to 200 feet tall, 16 years in Nuclear Waste Management and Decommissioning, 3 years in Petro-Chemicals and 10 years in Chemicals industry.

In 1965 we used pencils to draw lines and compasses to draw circles on paper on A0 size drawing boards. We used plastic or wooden scale rulers to draw to scale. We used slide rules to calculate, which gave way to calculators. In fact I went in Derby 'Museum of Making' only six weeks ago and I saw equipment that I used to use. The exact slide rule and professional Drawing Office drawing tools. How scary.

Then in 1990 the whole world changed and I found myself having to learn to draw all over again using computer aided design (AutoCAD) and looking at my designs on a screen instead of paper on a drawing board. I was aged 45 (so yes, I am 77 now) and forced to evolve or get left behind and lose my job. The entire concept of how to draw changed. Also, the concept of printing out the drawing onto a plotting machine was new. Over the years I have seen much change from DOS through Windows 3.1 to 11.

I remember having to use a keyboard and get used to typing using word processors. People began to do their own typing. It was the end of the typing pool.

I remember one guy who could not adapt from using pencil and paper to using computers and he lost his well-paid job to work on the shop floor packing boxes for 1/3rd of his previous wages. He said he was happy but I am glad I was able to adapt.

Long live these forums.

Professor of Educational theory and practice.

British Army for 17 years and then Security industry for 25 years. Some great jobs, a few crappy. I get up now when I want and go to bed when I want - ahhhhhh Retirement is bliss.

Not as many participated in this thread as I had hoped, but I appreciate those of you who did. Most of you have led a much more interesting life than me and seem to be much better educated. All the varied life experiences give valued perspectives in any open forum. IMO, the key is that none of us are ever too old to learn from each other and contribute in whatever way we can, both here and in our communities.

Oh wow, I just spotted this thread lol, I guess better late then never. As of 1977 I did 23 years in the U.S. Air Force as an Aircraft Maintenance Technician (Aircraft Crew Chief) and Aircraft Maintenance Superintendent. First aircraft I crewed was the old F-4E Phantom in addition to the T-38, F-15C, F-15E, and A-10. I saw a couple other USAF vets as well as other military vets in the thread. After that I did 18 years with the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier. Now I'm an old retired guy with a bad back and hip lol.

Computer Engineer. Developement area. Started developing almost 30 years ago. COBOL, dBase, Clipper. Do you remember?. Then in the early 2000 I graduated in Computer Engineering. But I always kept myself away from management, because I prefer the coding part, now PHP developer plus some javascript and jquery, now learning Laravel and I consider myself somehow geek, like watching anime and casual player "Anno 1800" I love it.

I retired with my wife 2 years ago, from a very lucrative mining career here in Western Australia. My wife had been mining for 15 years,(thanks to me. I talked her into it) and myself for 33 years. We were FIFO (Fly in Fly out) workers, who would work 2 weeks on site then have a week off. It was a great lifestyle and we are now reaping the benefits.

glasskuter said:

Most of you have led a much more interesting life than me and seem to be much better educated.

Click to expand...

Some of the smartest people I know have never been to college. Life experience is more important IMHO. School only gives you the tools to work in your chosen profession as a starting point. Where you go from there depends on your work ethic and innate skill. They don't teach that at school.