What do you do for a living

Doc Manhattan · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:17 pm

I'm an English teacher by trade, though right now I'm a full-time graduate student.

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behindbars1544 · Number of posts: 25 Registration date: 2008-12-15

Well as you may have already guessed I'm a Correctional Officer (7 years now). I am the committing officer on the 11-7 shift at our Intake facility. My position involves processing them as soon as the local departments drop them off. Yup, come to prison in R.I. during those hours and I’m the first smiling face you’ll encounter! Never a boring day here…

Hammer8 · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:59 pm

Heavy equipment operator. For the last 12 years or so I've been running an asphalt milling machine.

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Hermit · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:15 pm

Hammer8 wrote:

Heavy equipment operator. For the last 12 years or so I've been running an asphalt milling machine.

Oh, so you're the son of a bitch that keeps ripping up the damn roads. Laughing

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Hammer8 · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:41 pm

Quote:

Oh, so you're the son of a bitch that keeps ripping up the damn roads.

Stock answer: Everybody wants the improvements, but nobody wants the inconvenience!! Laughing

My wife laughs at me for cursing the highway workers when I'm the one sitting in construction traffic! Evil or Very Mad

Mikem · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:30 pm

Quality Control Supervisor for USAirways. Mechanics fix the planes and we make sure they did it right. Been in aviation 34 years now.

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Natch · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:49 pm

Teacher

Natch

bronxbill · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:21 am

Retired, just goofing off. Was in sales for over 35 years

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rick · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:56 am

Railroad Traffic Controller (Train Dispatcher) for Metrolink in Los Angeles.
15 years on the job, 15 to go.

the macdonald · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:16 am

I recruit Financial Planners and Insurance Producers for a few large clients.

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Wet Dottle · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:25 am

I am a physicist by training and do scientific research in water resources for a Federal agency. Sometimes I teach related courses at the university.

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puros_bran · Nightrider Number of posts: 5012 Registration date: 2007-12-11

According to Federal Classification I am unskilled Labor.

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Ol'Dawg · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:31 am

Retired forester/natural resource specialist including environmental compliance. Also worked as a park ranger and chief park ranger at several large federal projects. Did a lot of public education and interpretation in natural resources use/conservation, and water safety.

Jim

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LL · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:39 am

puros_bran wrote:

According to Federal Classification I am unskilled Labor.

Yep.

Especially amazing---and insulting---when the skills required are put directly to a test.

I found a show on Hulu called "Toughest Jobs" that ran a bunch of reality show types through their paces doing stuff like commercial crab fishing. There was a several-day training session for each job, then they were turned loose to do their best for the cameras. The one that was so difficult the episode didn't even get off the ground was driving a big rig. All they had to do was make a one way, 100 mile trip on an empty private road up north somewhere (might have been Alaska). The producers weren't allowed by law to take the contestants on a public highway.

Man, oh man, how they tried. Brought to tears with frustration because Reality Show Fame and Fortune was the prize, but they couldn't do it. Full load (80K lbs) and a series of steep, short hills stopped 'em in their tracks.

They didn't attempt to back the trucks at all, never mind park them or maneuver into a loading bay.

Then take the fact that driving a big truck is only a small part of the job---things like HAZMAT regs, load securement, DOT compliance, and so forth are where the gotchas lie. Loading and unloading is entirely the responsibility of the driver, btw. (Ever handled high pressure molten sulphur? 400+ degrees, and a single slip up can kill you most unpleasant way.)

The US Dept of Labor insists on calling "driving a truck" an unskilled job, though. Why? So it is exempt from overtime regulations. 14 hours a day is LEGAL, and several more than that is the reality. (The Teamsters faded away in general freight trucking when the industry was deregulated in the early 80's, so no protection there. Today's drivers are monitored every second by computer, and must follow computer-optimized and calculated schedules that flog them like sled dogs. The real world never matches the ideal conditions they assume.)

Truly, and without exaggeration, this country depends more on, and owes more to truck drivers than probably any other work group. Modern Life would not be possible without them.

Did I mention that it is statistically far more dangerous than being a cop or fireman?

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Puff Daddy · Subject: Re: What do you do for a living Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:10 pm

LL wrote:

... exempt from overtime regulations. 14 hours a day is LEGAL...The Teamsters faded away in general freight trucking when the industry was deregulated in the early 80's, so no protection there.

That's why, where the unions can legally operate, the Teamsters are again gaining strength. Slowly for sure, but growing once again (at least in my particular area and industry). If I wasn't getting paid hourly overtime and premium shift pay I'd walk away in a heartbeat and do something else.

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