Occupations?

[BGood]

I really like your work Jean. Are you still painting for yourself now?

Love your room!

Thanks and no I don't. Stopped 2 years ago. When you've done it all your life, I don't see myself painting just to stack them up. I have a big enough inventory as is. I play my guitars instead, more instantly rewarding.

 

[Lancpudn]

Bit of a jack of all trades master of none I left school age 15, I was never cut out to be an academic, I hated the place.
The 50's/60's was corporal punishment central in those days and rarely a week went by without a caning for the slightest of infringements.
I finished school on Friday & started on Monday morning at the local engineering factory as an apprentice tool setter on lathes, My work environment was like this, I had to set up these lathes with different tooling for different jobs It was deafening place to be, No wonder I'm hard of hearing these days.

I left after 5 years as apprentices wages were really poor, back in the day i got £4.10/- =$5.89=4Aus 8.22 for a 40 hour week.
One thing that everybody my age did back then was to chuck your weekly pay packet on the table on Friday & your Mam or Dad gave you some money back. Nobody had much in those days and it was expected of you to cough up your keep. Nobody in our street had a car or even a telephone In fact when I left home to make my way in the world at 19 years of age they still didn't have a telephone, How times have changed.

I went to the employment office to see what they had on offer and I got a job working on drilling rigs for the NCB National coal Board drilling for coal seams for open cast mining all over the country. It eventually came to an end after 8 years & I went back to the employment office where they were giving training for class1 HGV / Class 8 semi licence.

I went on that course & passed the test and spent 35 years driving all over the place in mostly Volvos FH / Mercedes actros tractor units.

I drove those until age 55 when I failed the three yearly HGV main medical which everyone has to go through with chronic back problems & they revoked my commercial licence. It coincided with my parents ill health & I had to spend a lot of time with my sister looking after them.

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

It was deafening place to be, No wonder I'm hard of hearing these days.

The Lovely & Charmin Mrs. Cowboy insists I'm deaf from my soundman & roadie days. I deny I'm deaf (and an audiologist She insisted I see agreed: "Your hearing is pretty good for a man your age." "Good! She swears I'm deaf from my years as a R&R soundman." "Oh - in that case, your hearing is perfect!") - but in the last couple years I have been getting some tinnitus - I do not, however credit that to doing sound (or playing guitar, or lying on the floor with the speakers from the portable 8-track player sitting against my ears, the years on a rifle range without ear-pro, etc., etc.); that I blame on the 2 stints of factory work & the decades of the constant noise of the trucks.

35 years driving all over the place in mostly Volvos FH / Mercedes actros tractor units.

Volvo & Mercedes were my number 1 & 2 favorite trucks, respectively (Mack & International were the worst).

I drove those until age 55 when I failed the three yearly HGV main medical which everyone has to go through with chronic back problems & they revoked my commercial licence.

All the truckdrivers without chronic back pain, raise your hands. Anyone? Hello? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Oct 12, I go in for my 3rd surgery. They'll remove the hardware from the fusion at L-3/L-4, drill little holes in L-2 through 5, stick what sounds to be a miniature Dremel tool or Roto Rooter through to grind out the bone so there's room for my spinal cord, then bolt L-2/5 together. I'm just trying not to wonder - if the bone has closed it up so there's space between it & the cord, how in the hell is he going to keep that thing from chewing up the cord along with the bone?????

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

. I'm just trying not to wonder - if the bone has closed it up so there's space between it & the cord, how in the hell is he going to keep that thing from chewing up the cord along with the bone?????

Of course that should read "....if there's no space...."

 

[Digger]

And I will add - my father (retired - obviously - Professor of chemistry) has always said no man can do his job properly without a pocketknife.

Over the course of the experiences listed above, I have found that to be quite true; I have carried a knife every day (barring court or airplanes - and once upon a time on planes, too) since I got a Cub Scout knife on my 8th birthday, and in every job I have had, I have found it extremely useful if not actually indispensable.

We aren’t allowed to carry knives here and if caught with one it’s up to the Copper if he charges you. I do have a nice Ka Bar folder which is useful around the property but otherwise it lives in my soft tool bag.

 

[Digger]

Started out in the trades. Pipeline work to be exact, for a number of years following in the footsteps of many family members before me. Getting tired of the road I joined a local close to home and completed my Steamfitter/Pipefitter apprenticeship in a buildings and trade local. Everything was going great until the crash of '09. Had an opportunity to work in Canada (Alberta) so I took it. Was a great experience. Anyway I came back home to the states in '16. Now I am working for a huge property management company in an engineer role. I was fortunate enough to stay employed throughout this Covid mess. Nuthin' fancy!

It doesn’t need to be fancy DD, just pay the bills. At least you’ve seen some countryside and as you say, still have a job. Well done!

 

[Digger]

The Lovely & Charmin Mrs. Cowboy insists I'm deaf from my soundman & roadie days. I deny I'm deaf (and an audiologist She insisted I see agreed: "Your hearing is pretty good for a man your age." "Good! She swears I'm deaf from my years as a R&R soundman." "Oh - in that case, your hearing is perfect!") - but in the last couple years I have been getting some tinnitus - I do not, however credit that to doing sound (or playing guitar, or lying on the floor with the speakers from the portable 8-track player sitting against my ears, the years on a rifle range without ear-pro, etc., etc.); that I blame on the 2 stints of factory work & the decades of the constant noise of the trucks.



Volvo & Mercedes were my number 1 & 2 favorite trucks, respectively (Mack & International were the worst).



All the truckdrivers without chronic back pain, raise your hands. Anyone? Hello? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Oct 12, I go in for my 3rd surgery. They'll remove the hardware from the fusion at L-3/L-4, drill little holes in L-2 through 5, stick what sounds to be a miniature Dremel tool or Roto Rooter through to grind out the bone so there's room for my spinal cord, then bolt L-2/5 together. I'm just trying not to wonder - if the bone has closed it up so there's space between it & the cord, how in the hell is he going to keep that thing from chewing up the cord along with the bone?????

My hearing stared to be a problem in my early 50’s and I ended up with hearing aids for the first time. Tinnitus at times has been debilitating but thankfully these days has just been annoying. Mine has been attributed to my time in Vietnam, but who knows? Thankfully in the last few months I’ve got some better hearing aids and they have made life bearable.

I’ve had serious back problems for perhaps 15 years or more but struggle around still doing stuff around the property though in pain despite the meds. Unlike you I lack the courage to have a corrective operation.

Good luck with it and thanks for contributing here.

 

[Digger]

Bit of a jack of all trades master of none I left school age 15, I was never cut out to be an academic, I hated the place.
The 50's/60's was corporal punishment central in those days and rarely a week went by without a caning for the slightest of infringements.
I finished school on Friday & started on Monday morning at the local engineering factory as an apprentice tool setter on lathes, My work environment was like this, I had to set up these lathes with different tooling for different jobs It was deafening place to be, No wonder I'm hard of hearing these days.

I left after 5 years as apprentices wages were really poor, back in the day i got £4.10/- =$5.89=4Aus 8.22 for a 40 hour week.
One thing that everybody my age did back then was to chuck your weekly pay packet on the table on Friday & your Mam or Dad gave you some money back. Nobody had much in those days and it was expected of you to cough up your keep. Nobody in our street had a car or even a telephone In fact when I left home to make my way in the world at 19 years of age they still didn't have a telephone, How times have changed.

I went to the employment office to see what they had on offer and I got a job working on drilling rigs for the NCB National coal Board drilling for coal seams for open cast mining all over the country. It eventually came to an end after 8 years & I went back to the employment office where they were giving training for class1 HGV / Class 8 semi licence.

I went on that course & passed the test and spent 35 years driving all over the place in mostly Volvos FH / Mercedes actros tractor units.

I drove those until age 55 when I failed the three yearly HGV main medical which everyone has to go through with chronic back problems & they revoked my commercial licence. It coincided with my parents ill health & I had to spend a lot of time with my sister looking after them.

You had some variety too then Ian and saw a lot of your lovely country!

I hope the seats in those trucks were comfy otherwise it would have been hell! As it happens I’m having trouble getting in and out of the Honda now...too bloody low! Cars are ridiculous prices here (as are most things) and I love to trade my XR6 on a 4 door ute as they are higher and certainly useful for getting things for the property or to cart things to Mallacoota. Toyota Hi Lux starts at $50,000 here and goes up. Most utes with any comfort are in that vicinity and more. I’m not going to pay that amount for a bloody car! I’ve got the money but it’s just not worth it to me...tight arse?

Thanks for your story mate!

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

I’ve had serious back problems for perhaps 15 years or more but struggle around still doing stuff around the property though in pain despite the meds. Unlike you I lack the courage to have a corrective operation.

Good luck with it and thanks for contributing here.

Courage? I'm scared sh**less, and was for each of the other 2 as well; it's less having courage to go under the knife than lacking courage to deal with the ongoing pain; at this point 4 daily doses of 2 different opioids, plus cannabis, leaves me where I can pretty much walk if I go slow (in the AM before the first dose kicks in, it would be a long stretch to call my ambulation "walking"; "hobbling" would be too optimistic a term).

And thanks muchly for the good wishes!

 

[Digger]

Courage? I'm scared sh**less, and was for each of the other 2 as well; it's less having courage to go under the knife than lacking courage to deal with the ongoing pain; at this point 4 daily doses of 2 different opioids, plus cannabis, leaves me where I can pretty much walk if I go slow (in the AM before the first dose kicks in, it would be a long stretch to call my ambulation "walking"; "hobbling" would be too optimistic a term).

And thanks muchly for the good wishes!

As I said, I’m sorry that it’s so tough for you. My thoughts are with you.

 

[Lancpudn]

You had some variety too then Ian and saw a lot of your lovely country!

I hope the seats in those trucks were comfy otherwise it would have been hell! As it happens I’m having trouble getting in and out of the Honda now...too bloody low! Cars are ridiculous prices here (as are most things) and I love to trade my XR6 on a 4 door ute as they are higher and certainly useful for getting things for the property or to cart things to Mallacoota. Toyota Hi Lux starts at $50,000 here and goes up. Most utes with any comfort are in that vicinity and more. I’m not going to pay that amount for a bloody car! I’ve got the money but it’s just not worth it to me...tight arse?

Thanks for your story mate!

I love my old Rover 75 it's still in my garage, Beautiful car but way to low to the ground to get in & out of, The reason I got the Kia Niro hybrid was the height of the seats, It's not a big SUV but a cross over type car which fits the bill for me.

This Kia Niro lease ends in February 2021 and if I can manage it I'll try to get the MG ZS ev, I know it doesn't have the heritage it once had since the Chinese SAIC people took it over from MG Rover in the mid 1990's but they're doing lease deals I just might be able to afford.

The days of me working on my cars are over, I just want to get in them, turn the key & go these days.

 

[Otto99]

I love my old Rover 75 it's still in my garage, Beautiful car but way to low to the ground to get in & out of.

Yeah, I’m guilty of putting lowering springs on my car, and that makes that seat bottom a long way down on mornings when the hip or sciatica is acting up. I wanted to build a little track monster just in time for all the car clubs, including mine, to stop doing track events.

 

[Digger]

We have 2 low cars and thats about to end as it’s getting too hard getting in and out!

 

[Steven Westberg]

With so many restrictions on most of, us discussion is getting a bit slow so perhaps something to discuss is what we’ve done for a living, or what we are still doing for a living. Get to know each other a bit better maybe? I’ll start.

My first job was with a local Bayside hardware store and I started in general builders hardware and worked my way “upstairs” to appliances. Back in 1967 that involved briquette solid fuel heaters and accessories....Grin~

Later that year I was conscripted and went into the army for 2 1/2 years.

After a short stint back with the hardware I managed to get a job as a sales representative with an appliance manufacturer and spent much of my time in rural areas away most of 3 weeks out of 4.

Over the years I had a variety of reps jobs with different manufacturers selling a lot of things but I couldn’t ever settle, staying perhaps 1 to 2 years and getting bored once it was working best it could. Apparently this can be typical of Vietnam veterans? I seldom had to look for a new position as I was mostly headhunted by other companies. I had 16 jobs during my working years.

As time went on my positions shifted more to sales management and then management.

Along the way I sold hot water systems, toilet cisterns, solid fuel cookers and heaters, electric stoves, refrigerators (Kelvinator), advanced locking systems (for goals/jails), automatic door openers, room air conditioners, small appliance Mgr. (Pye) That job involved hiring training and organising a team of female demonstrators in major department stores. (That could be fun at times I can tell you) I worked for Pye through the release of colour TV here and that was an interesting time.

In the 90’s I snagged my dream job working for a manufacturer in NSW that made a range of CB radios and communications equipment. That also involved a division that marketed marine electronics. My hobby was radio communications, both CB and Ham radio so this suited me well.
I was there 6 years this time, longest ever! Because of my radio knowledge I was promoted and allowed to have a lot of input into new products. I could have moved to Sydney to manage the radio division but had too many ties where we were to take that opportunity. It was great until I developed chronic asthma which saw me in hospital for weeks and in the end I was too crook to keep working.

HAVE YOU FALLEN ASLEEP YET?

After some recovery I started with one of my retailers and spent the next few years building our place in the field of remote area communications for people travelling and working in the outback. Much of this involved High Frequency radio with access to the Royal Flying Doctor network. Along the way we, the owner and I, snagged the distribution rights to the Aussie brand of Codan which was a world leader in synthesised HF radio equipment. (You see those big chunky antenna systems on military and UN vehicles...they were the ones) That took me back into wholesaling again as well as retail. We set up and supported a distribution network around Victoria and in Tasmania. I ended up running training courses in HF radio, as HF atmospheric radio wave propagation needs to be understood to use this equipment properly. I did talks for 4WD spanning a weekend once a year and sometimes attracting 300 or so people in respect of the Toyota 4WD club, at least. We would teach them about their radios, installation, antennas etc. I trained some military, university field staff, ABC outdoors production units and hundreds of private people wanting to travel into remote areas.

I did talks for 4WD spanning a weekend once a year and usually attracting 300 or so people in respect of the Toyota 4WD club, at least. We would teach them about their radios, installation, antennas etc.

Over the years I had a period selling real estate and studied at nights gaining all but 2 subjects needed to open my own real estate business (2/16) but working 7 days a week and studying for at least 4 nights was hard on a new relationship and I pulled out eventually and went back to a regular job.

I left the retail communications company to move to the country after 7 years and was shortly after put on a TPI pension by DVA, the highest disability level they have and I haven’t had a job since.

That was 20 years ago and before I was forced to retire we ran a primary production business on the property growing mainly gum leaf foliage for the florist industry wholesale. Once I was made TPI I dropped out as I wasn’t allowed to work for other than pocket money and Gael continued on supplying local florists until arthritis in her hands put paid to that as well.

So you can see that I’ve had a variety of occupations, many challenging but mostly all interesting.
I count myself lucky for that.

Anyone else?

I was in bands in high school. Then became a live stage stage hand at a 1600 seat venue. Then I transferred to grip and electrics on movies and tv. Like Barnaby Jones and The Incredible Hulk. I worked one academy award movie called “Coming Home”.
Then I got married and started repairing movie theatre projection systems for a fortune 500 movie exhibition company. 43 years later I retired last January 1st and I have been “on restriction” ever since.
In the last 2 yearS I have learned to play six string open key slide and had a luthier build two sliders for me. An all Koa Wood Weissenborn and a solid body electric (think David Lindsey) of solidchambered maple.
Now I am writing and recording on YouTube. Just turned 66 in August.

 

[Steven Westberg]

Thanks and no I don't. Stopped 2 years ago. When you've done it all your life, I don't see myself painting just to stack them up. I have a big enough inventory as is. I play my guitars instead, more instantly rewarding.

my dad was a painter too. I like painters minds!

 

[soulman969]

We aren’t allowed to carry knives here and if caught with one it’s up to the Copper if he charges you. I do have a nice Ka Bar folder which is useful around the property but otherwise it lives in my soft tool bag.

Amazing.....yet where I was born and raised (Chicago) dozens are getting shot each week and the FBI just arrested a half dozen or more lunatic militia types who were plotting to kidnap the governor of Michigan simply because they didn't like her mask up or social distance orders.

These last few years have been like the dumbing down of America.