What do you do for a living?

[ErnieB]

I love this thread as I'm always interested in how people found their way through their professional life. Each story is unique and I find it super intriguing and interesting!

My professional life is super crazy as I've always chosen to follow my passion and turn it into a way to pay to feed my face . As a kid I was always outside and pursued interests in rock / ice climbing, mountain biking, hiking and basically anything outdoors. I worked at several outdoor gear retailers all throughout high school and college. Once I was out of school with an English literature / anthropology degree, I moved from Connecticut to Durango, CO to while taking a job working for Skip Barber Racing School (no location in Durango so I traveled to tracks throughout the country while keeping a residence in CO). My love for all things sports car / open wheel racing caused me to seek a career in motorsports. Over the years I worked for Skip Barber, Pro One Motorsports Formula Mazda Pro Series team, and Derek Daly Performance Driving Academy as well as moonlighting for any race team that would have me! Now I pay a small fortune to go as slow as possible! . I also worked as a mountain bike and 4 wheel drive tour guide for Kaibab Adventure Outfitters in Moab Utah (now Moab Cyclery / Escape Adventures). I moved to Las Vegas to take a full time position with Derek Daly Performance Driving Academy so I could hang my head on my own pillow more than 50 days a year. When 9/11 happened I started getting inquiries to teach driving courses for guys that were getting ready to deploy overseas. At this time I was shooting competitively in my spare time in USPSA, IDPA, and 3 gun events. I ended up meeting the director of training for FN America and was offered a role as training manager. This role parlayed into several other positions within FN (law enforcement training, less lethal project, shooting team member, and eventually moving up to a Director level position). After more than a decade at FN I took a position as President of Dead Air Silencers in Heber City Utah and was eventually promoted to CEO / partner which is my current role and hopefully where I retire from.

I look forward to meeting, driving trails, and camping with members of this community and hope to see some of you at the Grenadier Oktoberfest in Moab, Utah this October 10th-13th!

 

[IslandFalconer]

I’m an abatement falconer. And a Master falconer. I work at airports, vineyards, fruit crops, urban centers. I manage or control pest birds

 

[ErnieB]

I do absolutely nothing for a living.

I hope to have your job someday!

 

[parb]

I was unemployed for 2 weeks from my former job which was building autonomous vehicles. Technology worked but biz is tough in that sector.

Been 3 weeks in my new job. I was really hoping to take the summer off but my new boss was very insistent that I had to start right away.

I invent and make technology that engineers and mathematicians use to build artificial intelligence. Some people call this AI infrastructure.

 

[Tu Sugars]

I’m not sure if this thread will interest anyone, but I find peoples‘ careers and life’s professional journeys interesting. I’m not interested in your salary, corporate perks, bragging rights, or you simply trying to plug your own business, but what do you currently “do?” Or retired from? Or have done? I know @Stu_Barnes has lead an interesting life!

My Land Rover club is rather small but we’ve come from all different directions. We’ve helped one another out by sharing our various vocations and careers.

My path is a bit crooked. Made it through half an engineering degree but fell in love with journalism. Graduated with from Uni with a camera in hand and entered the newspaper and magazine business as a photojournalist. Shot for a few years, became an editor and department head and … burnt out by working too hard, for too little in a thankless, dying industry.

I managed to put all those math and engineering credits to use though, earning my teaching certificate and becoming a middle school (grades 6&7 so 12-13 YO) math teacher. I ultimately (and thankfully) escaped math and came full circle - I now teach photography and digital design to high school kids. I’m in my 20th year and can’t wait for summer!

So what about you?

Again, if you guys think this is lame, I’ll just can the thread. But we’re a true global community who’s diversity makes it great.

I am an early 50s child who went into the airline business. I got bored driving their bus containing insufferable passengers. I learned from old gents who had survived war that living life was a better adventure. I moved along and sold Coca-Cola and IBM - all sorts of exciting stuff, but one day, I found that I was still missing something. While I should pass on the knowledge my long-gone peers gave me, I feel the young, spoiled generations expect everything with little effort, so I now spend my life sorting out ineptitude and maybe their problem-solving, getting that new clever engineer or architect to think logically. I did not want "lockers" or fluffy stuff when I ordered my Grenadier. The simple basics don't break as much; excellent seats give us enough luxury, and would I use lockers? ... I have a business card; my title is "General Factotum"...
The printer rang to query the word. My response (somewhat terse) was, "Use your phone and Google it." A "General Factotum" must surely drive a Grenadier.

 

[Tom109]

I am an early 50s child who went into the airline business. I got bored driving their bus containing insufferable passengers. I learned from old gents who had survived war that living life was a better adventure. I moved along and sold Coca-Cola and IBM - all sorts of exciting stuff, but one day, I found that I was still missing something. While I should pass on the knowledge my long-gone peers gave me, I feel the young, spoiled generations expect everything with little effort, so I now spend my life sorting out ineptitude and maybe their problem-solving, getting that new clever engineer or architect to think logically. I did not want "lockers" or fluffy stuff when I ordered my Grenadier. The simple basics don't break as much; excellent seats give us enough luxury, and would I use lockers? ... I have a business card; my title is "General Factotum"...
The printer rang to query the word. My response (somewhat terse) was, "Use your phone and Google it." A "General Factotum" must surely drive a Grenadier.

From one GF to another, I wholeheartedly concur!

 

[Winterhawk]

I don't do anything anymore except to try and enjoy life! Been retired for 12 years, but used to be Turbocharging Systems Engineer. Always loved forced induction, and built or bought 9 different forced induction cars. In 1973 I Turbocharged a 1972 Ford Pinto 2 liter. Damn, that was 51 years ago! Also had a 84 SVO Mustang, couple Lotus's, Ford Lightning, AMG SLK32, 92 and 93 Miata MX5's, and an 02 WRX. The Grenadier seems like a natural to add to that list of forced induction vehicles.

 

[Lord Ripon USA]

I don't do anything anymore except to try and enjoy life! Been retired for 12 years, but used to be Turbocharging Systems Engineer. Always loved forced induction, and built or bought 9 different forced induction cars. In 1973 I Turbocharged a 1972 Ford Pinto 2 liter. Damn, that was 51 years ago! Also had a 84 SVO Mustang, couple Lotus's, Ford Lightning, AMG SLK32, 92 and 93 Miata MX5's, and an 02 WRX. The Grenadier seems like a natural to add to that list of forced induction vehicles.

Wild.
I had one of those pinto kits in ‘81. Ran as much water as gas!

 

[Cheshire cat]

I don't do anything anymore except to try and enjoy life! Been retired for 12 years, but used to be Turbocharging Systems Engineer. Always loved forced induction, and built or bought 9 different forced induction cars. In 1973 I Turbocharged a 1972 Ford Pinto 2 liter. Damn, that was 51 years ago! Also had a 84 SVO Mustang, couple Lotus's, Ford Lightning, AMG SLK32, 92 and 93 Miata MX5's, and an 02 WRX. The Grenadier seems like a natural to add to that list of forced induction vehicles.

I remember as a 15 year old, visiting my uncle in New Jersey. He owned a powder blue Pinto.

 

[Back in Black]

Dropped out of college (art) after one semester. Didn't want to be a starving artist! Mostly been working since age 14 at almost anything that came my way. For the last 40 years I've been a business application programmer (COBOL, RPG, php, etc.) for large, global corporations. Self-employed, semi-retired now. Still work as an artist as well, just not starving...

 

[emax]

An RPG colleague. How nice is this?

Currently, @67 yrs, still on RPG-ILE (but missing the good old fixed format of RPG). On an AS400 with 3800 users all over Germany.

 

[Bayford]

I remember as a 15 year old, visiting my uncle in New Jersey. He owned a powder blue Pinto.

A Ford Pinto was the first car I bought in 1984 in San Francisco registration 1MRV 327.

S**t brown colour with front wings in red primer. Fortunately the rear end had not been hit...Cost me $300 drove it across the US and sold it 3 months later at JFK airport for $50 to a guy waiting for a taxi at the airport. It was a horrible car but it never went wrong and I guess you always look back fondly on your first.

 

[Catpaw4x4]

A Ford Pinto was the first car I bought in 1984 in San Francisco registration 1MRV 327.

S**t brown colour with front wings in red primer. Fortunately the rear end had not been hit...Cost me $300 drove it across the US and sold it 3 months later at JFK airport for $50 to a guy waiting for a taxi at the airport. It was a horrible car but it never went wrong and I guess you always look back fondly on your first.

My first car was a second hand 72 Ford Courier manual (Mazda B series), repainted dark red (not far off from today's QR!) from original yellow (I feel blessed!) with a Montgomery Ward (who remembers them??) after market A/C that could drain engine power at any point of stopping. Father thought it would be a good car for my travels to College. Added both oil and brake fluid before any distance trip (>50 miles ). Drove it for 3 yrs. What a "Life" experience!!
Cheers!

 

[Back in Black]

An RPG colleague. How nice is this?

Currently, @67 yrs, still on RPG-ILE (but missing the good old fixed format of RPG). On an AS400 with 3800 users all over Germany.

Hey, we're the same age! AS400/iSeries - best box ever! I've spent most of my career on them (going back to Silverlake with IBM).

 

[pmatusov]

Background in Physics and Electronics
14 years in Physical Oceanography (in Russia and at SIO) as a physicist/remote sensing
22 years in General Atomics as a physicist/remote sensing
along with those,
7 years in an agricultural startup doing hyperspectral crop analysis as a physicist/data scientist.
Had my crop of fun places:
First college internship - at a Russia's equivalent of HARP
Second college internship - ended up looking for pieces of KAL-007, on board of a large fishing trawler, famous for sinking a Soviet submarine K-56 .
At SIO - spent more than a couple of months on R/P FLIP, including on 9/11/01, and many flights on N43RF.
Some other fun stuff and places.

 

[Zimm]

Background in Physics and Electronics
14 years in Physical Oceanography (in Russia and at SIO) as a physicist/remote sensing
22 years in General Atomics as a physicist/remote sensing
along with those,
7 years in an agricultural startup doing hyperspectral crop analysis as a physicist/data scientist.
Had my crop of fun places:
First college internship - at a Russia's equivalent of HARP
Second college internship - ended up looking for pieces of KAL-007, on board of a large fishing trawler, famous for sinking a Soviet submarine K-56 .
At SIO - spent more than a couple of months on R/P FLIP, including on 9/11/01, and many flights on N43RF.
Some other fun stuff and places.

Just your average everyday Joe, working on locating atomic weaponry wordwide....

 

[emax]

Hey, we're the same age! AS400/iSeries - best box ever! I've spent most of my career on them (going back to Silverlake with IBM).

SILVERLAKE!

Music in my ears!
Never thought I'd hear this fabulous project name again.

Those were the days ...


And yes: The absoluteley best box ever. Bulletproof, performant, reliable.

 

[FlyersFan76]

Simply put I build gas stations.

A little more detailed would be we sell all the equipment from the tank to the nozzle and everything in between. Fuel oil bulk plant equipment. Commercial Industrial energy equipment.

Service what breaks at a gas station. Credit card reader, nozzle drive offs, etc.

 

[ForceV4]

I’m not sure if this thread will interest anyone, but I find peoples‘ careers and life’s professional journeys interesting. I’m not interested in your salary, corporate perks, bragging rights, or you simply trying to plug your own business, but what do you currently “do?” Or retired from? Or have done? I know @Stu_Barnes has lead an interesting life!

My Land Rover club is rather small but we’ve come from all different directions. We’ve helped one another out by sharing our various vocations and careers.

My path is a bit crooked. Made it through half an engineering degree but fell in love with journalism. Graduated with from Uni with a camera in hand and entered the newspaper and magazine business as a photojournalist. Shot for a few years, became an editor and department head and … burnt out by working too hard, for too little in a thankless, dying industry.

I managed to put all those math and engineering credits to use though, earning my teaching certificate and becoming a middle school (grades 6&7 so 12-13 YO) math teacher. I ultimately (and thankfully) escaped math and came full circle - I now teach photography and digital design to high school kids. I’m in my 20th year and can’t wait for summer!

So what about you?

Again, if you guys think this is lame, I’ll just can the thread. But we’re a true global community who’s diversity makes it great.

Biomedical Specialist in Cancer Treatment Machines

 

[ColoradoMike]

Retired in 2010 from the USAF (flew AC and MC130s). Fly fished for years and then worked for an aviation firm until a couple of years ago. Enjoying life and REALLY loving our Grenadier!