What is your 9 to 5??

[heynonny]

I have wondered what everyone here does for a living. Associate you with your avatars, questions, replys, , , What I mean is, Tell us what you do, without setting yourself up to get fired, arrested, indited, divorced, or worse. You know, if you do something that only about 14 people in the USA do, you probably shouldnt tell us.

I happen to be a 'grade checker', I work with heavy equiptment moving vast amounts of dirt on big jobs and not so much on small jobs. For those who dont know, I set up the lathes with colored ribbons on them so the equiptment operators know where to scrape up and where to dump the dirt . For the operators, its all visiual, different colors = different depths of cut or fill (white = 1 ft etc) I ran the stuff for many years, loaders, dozers, excacaters, etc, and I can say that this trade is hard on the body. Thats why I got off, and got on the ground. Biggest jobs: A little over 1 sq. mile and moved 1,000,000 cu.yards dirt a month for one year. and a 14 ft. diameter pipe to fill a reseviour. Worked on replacing +(realigning) a 100 year old rail road line,
Power plants, housing tracts etc. Anyway, time to retire after almost 40 years

-hey-

Been there, probably broke it, doing that

[Godstilla]

I'm in quality control for the beverage industry.

[jdonly1]

Own and drive a school bus and drive trucks in between the school run for a local company(most days)
Owned a bakery for over ten years,was good to sell it and get back to a normal life

[Hawke]

Run a printing press.

[blanikdog]

Started a toolmaking apprenticeship at 16 and hated it. Then went into maintenance fitter, then cemented Tungsten carbide sales and hated that too. After several divorces went to university and became an archaeologist. Only took forty years to find a job I loved. Now retired, and loving it.

blanik

[goinbroke2]

Officially I'm a tank mechanic, but I've been promoted enough now that all I do is supervise/run the shop. 25 years has pretty much beat the living shit out of my body so I guess it's a good thing I run a desk now.

[Mud]

I'm an engineer for a custom cabinet shop. We work in the high end market. All the oddball and super custom stuff that can't be automated ends up on my desk. I figure out how to make it work and then prepare prints, write CNC router programming, and a handful of other things. It's my job to source materials and specialized labor, too. Currently helping the company develop a line of green products and interior concrete products.

Started this job after destroying my back. Used to be a furniture builder and carpenter. Loved the furniture, but carpentry was the bread and butter.

-Mud

[pintoshine]

I lead a team of software developers. I design and implement global package information systems for the largest small package delivery company in the world.
I have built systems that churn through 2 billion package transactions a week. Some of the systems I interface with track 266 airlines 24/7 and have a ship in the air every minute of the day. I am always on call and seldom get to drink because of it. The largest customer of the systems I build is a giant robotic system called WorldPort which sorts up to 1.5 million packages a day in two cycles with an 8 hour time out between cycles. Yes that is 750K in 4 hours. I have seen it pushed to 1M packages in 4 hours.
We just went through a round of upgrades to increase the capability to 350K/hour.
When I am not involved in an active development cycle, I am pretty much sitting waiting for things to break. Luckily We run a much tighter testing program than Micro$oft. I have a lot of idle time sometimes. This summer was a no spare time cycle. I am glad to be back.

[blind drunk]

Self employed sourdough bread baker. Self taught. Bake other things too.

[punkin]

I lead a team of software developers. I design and implement global package information systems for the largest small package delivery company in the world.
I have built systems that churn through 2 billion package transactions a week. Some of the systems I interface with track 266 airlines 24/7 and have a ship in the air every minute of the day. I am always on call and seldom get to drink because of it. The largest customer of the systems I build is a giant robotic system called WorldPort which sorts up to 1.5 million packages a day in two cycles with an 8 hour time out between cycles. Yes that is 750K in 4 hours. I have seen it pushed to 1M packages in 4 hours.
We just went through a round of upgrades to increase the capability to 350K/hour.
When I am not involved in an active development cycle, I am pretty much sitting waiting for things to break. Luckily We run a much tighter testing program than Micro$oft. I have a lot of idle time sometimes. This summer was a no spare time cycle. I am glad to be back.

That's amazing pint. no wonder govt's/agencies have such a hard time chasing drugs/bombs/contraband/illegal imports. To think it's just one company in one country...

Used to be a furniture builder and carpenter.

I've tried my hand at bush furniture, Mud...it's some of the best pieces in our house, but i'm a lazy sander and i've only had a go at bolt together stuff, even though i took designs and adapted em, i'd hang my head round a tradesman. But still, it'll pass down to the grandkids for what it's worth, not like shop bought stuff that's fucked in five years...


This is a slab dining table, 7' by a bit more than 3'. australian bluegum...

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The same recipe (my trial run) as a coffe table. I can vouch that two people can dance on it...

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This ones a simple shelf to hold the telly up. Made from scrap Rosewood planks that the cabinet makers think are too bush for them and go for nicks at the auctions...

Designed to fit what it fits, where it goes...

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[jdonly1]

Got some nice looken stuff there punkin

[minime]

This is a slab dining table, 7' by a bit more than 3'. australian bluegum...

Hey punkin, after seeing your outdoor kitchen/bar I thought you were a spit and polish kind of guy. Your table and chairs are outstanding! That exactly the kind of stuff I love. I'm not one for a highly polished look and I love simple well built pieces. The through tenons on the chairs are stunning!
I once built a set of bunks for my brother with through tenons pinned on the outside. The bugger sold them and I never did get a photo. Damn it was a gorgeous piece of furniture.
Hat's off to you punkin. We are on the same page

BTW, I'm a recently retired accountant wondering what the hell I'm going to do with the rest o my life.

[Mud]

but i'm a lazy sander

Who isn't? It's a necessary evil.

I built and sold fairly simple items. People where I live wanted something fit their homes, so a lot of the commissions had minimal embellishment. My spec work often had decorative inlays or carvings, special wood, that sort of thing. It never sold well, but I liked to flex the artistic muscles occasionally. Doing everything of necessity can leave you unable to do anything else after a while.

I don't have any pics on this computer but if I remember I'll upload some later. If anyone is interested.

-Mud

[punkin]

I'd like to take credit for the chairs, but the only thing i can claim on them is the tens of hours we spent looking for the right ones to purchase Minime. Proper woodworking joints are beyond my ambition, all my furniture so far has been either welded together or bolts together. The tables all mine though.



Can't really say to much about what i do for a crust without giving away more about myself than i want to. There's a fair few here that have probably put enough pieces together already to have an opinion.

[The Chemist]

Duh...I'm a chemist with a company that sells a product and technology for the rapid, but real, aging of distilled spirits. No, you can't have any...it's strictly a "trade-only" affair...sorry.

I used to work in Biochemistry and then Anesthesiology Research...I was a bunny surgeon...

[smokerscully1]

Worked as a meat cutter for several years, thought I'd get into something a litte easier on the body so I went into construction rubbing concrete mostly. Never claimed to be real smart.
Gettin old and wore out so mostly I just take people huntin and fishing now.

[minime]

but i'm a lazy sander

I don't have any pics on this computer but if I remember I'll upload some later. If anyone is interested.
-Mud

Always interested Mud.
Most of my stuff has been given away or lost to an ex-wife in a divorce settlement. I used to be quite prolific but not so much any more. Retirement might just re-kindle my interest and I still have all the equipment.

[Barney Fife]

I study trees and woods, from the leaf to the individual fibers and cells. When not at work, I can be found in my woodworking shop making high end, ummm, stuff(sorry, can't get more/too specific!), or makin' rum and/or whisky.

[BW Redneck]

When I was young, I worked at a fertilizer plant. I was the guy that crawled inside the bin and broke up any blockages (often with explosives, but not on the ammonium nitrate! ) I've seen some of the fastest and worst corrosion you could imagine. I remember leaving an aluminum scoop shovel inside one of the bins and returning the next day to find nothing but a pile of white dust and wooden handle.

Now, I'm a self-employed farmer whose schedule is dictated entirely by the weather and my never-drying, never-draining soil.

[violentblue]

I used to push pencil at an engineering firm, I quit about a year ago to become a realestate agent, bad timing, so I may go to work for an architectural firm as a project manager.

[eternalfrost]

physics grad student

[Hillbilly Rebel]

Semi-retired, self employed attorney. One other full time job and one other part time job for which I receive W-2s. In my spare time I farm, raising sheep and hay.

[maoule]

...product manager/service engineer for a poultry processing equipment co. I design...check that, redesign/modify equipment ('cause the design engineers said it worked perfect on the computer) that does all sorts of unimaginable (assuming your imagination is normal ) things to chickens. Then, travel all over installing, training and fixing.

[Trapperjones]

I trap minnows & leeches. Use to fur but everyone knows that story!I also guide for fishermen, hunters, berry & mushroom pickers and tourists looking for wilderness outings. I believe in makin it yourself and show others how to make biodiesel from seed oil and waste cooking oil. Now if I could only figure out how to run my outboard motor on ethanol then I'd only need to bring fuel for me and the motor!

[gs_moonshine]

I work in a factory making insulation. Nothing to exciting

[I-GOR]

Duh...I'm a chemist with a company that sells a product and technology for the rapid, but real, aging of distilled spirits. No, you can't have any...it's strictly a "trade-only" affair...sorry.

Oh Chemist - you're such a tease! What with that white lab coat and all.......

[big worm]

live bait ,organic farming...worked in chemical plant for years till i had enough.

[Mud]

Here's something I made early on. In the background is my first shop in half a borrowed garage. What a mess.

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This cabinet hangs in my office now. It's my favorite piece. It's not quite like something James Krenov would have made, but maybe one of his students. The case & door frame are quartersawn red oak and the door panel is spalted maple with walnut muntins. I bought that maple slab at a sawmill and saved it for 2 years waiting for a good project. The black line and grayish tone looks vaguely like tall grass. The cove molding was cut from solid oak by angling it across a tablesaw blade. The bottom is attached with wedged through tenons. The back is recessed 3/4" to make room for a beveled cleat. It just lifts off a matching cleat on the wall so there's no exposed fasteners anywhere.

Spalted maple dorr cabinet final pull-small.JPG (3.04 KiB) Viewed 4671 times

This is a close up of the pull. It's carved from a walnut scrap, has a sea shell sort of shape and a random gouged texture.

The whole thing is finished with linseed oil and wax. It's held up well although the door warps just a hair seasonally.

gun cabinet - small.JPG (9.58 KiB) Viewed 4677 times

This is a gun cabinet. It's solid maple with a lacquer finish. It has locking doors and drawers, holds 7 long guns and has room for lots of handguns and ammo. The reveals around the doors aren't so obvious without a camera flash.

Some of my best stuff left the shop without getting pics. Like a 3' round birdseye maple pedestal table... But that's like talking about the fish that got away.

-Mud

[minime]

The cove molding was cut from solid oak by angling it across a tablesaw blade.
-Mud

Used that method more than once then sanded 'till the hands were raw It's a labor of love.
Nice work Mud.

[Dutchmancreek]

I'm a retired engineer.....besides this hobby I have a blacksmith shop, make bacon and sausages, barbecue and smoke meats....oh, and take a nap every afternoon.