What do you do for living (or used to)?

Terry M - 3CK (Chicago) said:
@Jim K thanks for the respectful explanation (instead of just dismissing me or calling me an idiot).

impressive that you manage that many acres, the commodities and hedging on top of the actual operation.

Bad ass.
How far South are you in IL? Do you know the 310 you tuber guy from KARR?
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Near Champaign, if you know where that is. Arguably the best soils in the world.
 
azblackbird said:
If you don’t mind me asking what was your average yield on your corn this year?
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Everything is way late this year. I'm working on beans now, hoping to get most of the corn out next week. The one field I did get out made 225, which I was very happy with given the year. Two years ago that field made 270.
 
@Jim K even Madison knows where Champaign is now!

I grew up in Chicago and have been to Champaign several times with my dad who managed property taxes for ATT/Illinois Bell/Ameritech/SBC/ATT as well as when working for Arthur Andersen and now in my current gig we have clients in Central Illinois.

Respect to you and blue skies. Good luck with the Kitfox off the farm strip! Seems a noble goal.
 
I started working when I was 9 and haven't stopped since, although I did semi-retire about 10 years ago. Therefore, I've had many, many jobs, with several major (but gradual) career changes; and many more short-term jobs I took merely for the experience of doing something different for a while, with no intention of making careers out of them.

That's why I never doubted Henning when he talked of his many experiences. I always considered him a kindred spirit who had a career (in his case, two careers) to pay the bills, and many more jobs that he did more for the experience than the money.

Some highlights of my job history:

Childhood

First job (ages 9 to 12): Shipping Clerk (later Shipping Manager) at a sweatshop in Brooklyn.

Second job (ages 12 to 17, for two different employers): Bicycle / Moped / Minibike Mechanic.

Sidelines (ages 10 - 17): TV and Appliance Repairer, Window Washer, Car Tuner-Upper, Purchased Things Put-Togetherer, Dog Boarder.​

Adulthood

Military: Seaman / Rescue Swimmer / Boat Coxswain / Drug Interdicter / EMT

The following jobs overlapped considerably, mainly depending on demand, season, and how bored I was:

Pest Exterminator
Fumigator (Grain, Silos, Ships, Boxcars, and Buildings)
Mosquito and Rat Counter (seriously)
Wildlife Trapper and Relocator
Railroad Weed Control Technician
EVDO Installer
Antenna Tower Installer
Computer Technician
Web Developer​

Sidelines, Temporary Jobs, and Volunteer Jobs: Aircraft Mechanic, EMT / Paramedic, Outreach Worker for a church, Substance Abuse Counselor, STD Counselor, Fork Lift Operator, Folksinger, Stock Photographer, Videographer, Roadie, Carpenter / Cabinetmaker, Truck Driver, Cab Driver, Plow Driver.​

And probably other stuff that I'm forgetting.

For the past 20 years I've been doing mainly computer-related stuff. But I do like to try things out. There's a lot of interesting stuff out there. There's more than meets the eye to any job, no matter how simple it may appear.

If I were a child today, I'm sure I'd be diagnosed with ADHD. I've always looked for new experiences just for the sheer joy of it. Nowadays, they'd say that was because I was seeking to fight off the boredom of daily life and would give me a pill to kill my enthusiasm. But I say having a boring life is a choice. Go out and do something new if you're bored. Or take a pill and miss it all.

The interesting thing is that the mechanical, electrical, electronics, and avionics training I received in high school wound up being the most useful knowledge I ever learned. It was what enabled me to make a living during lean times, and to transition into IT relatively easily back when hardware knowledge was still the most important thing. It also has saved me many thousands of dollars by enabling me to fix most stuff myself.

College, in the end, turned out to be a huge waste of my time and Uncle Sam's money.

Rich
 
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Amazing how many engineering and IT nerds we have on PoA! :)
 
Mechanical engineer doing qualification and R&D testing on hydraulic filtration components for aircraft (Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, etc.).
 
Retired Airline Pilot of 35 years. Navy Pilot before that.
 
Coca-Cola employee then chem sprayer (lawncare) then CFI now regional trash hauler having a blast.
 
Jim K said:
Everything is way late this year. I'm working on beans now, hoping to get most of the corn out next week. The one field I did get out made 225, which I was very happy with given the year. Two years ago that field made 270.
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Feeder corn or ethanol? Neighbors averaged 300+ bushel this year. One uses no till with sub terrain irrigation and direct nutrient injection. The other uses till with human sewage sludge and sprinklers. Their fields adjoin each other so they like to compete to see who can get the most yields each year.
 
I have held a lot of different jobs. Mostly blue-collar until I was well into my forties. Worked two years as a metallurgical lab technician at Pratt & Whitney's research facility in West Palm Beach. Years as a foreman in high-end composite shops. That was in the 70s. Got into construction, engineering construction, underground work mostly in the late 1970s. I stuck with that, starting in the ditch with a shovel and ending up managing an underground division. Then started working for Miami-Dade County as an inspector for underground construction, went back to school and got my civil engineering degree. I worked about sixteen years as a civil engineer, mostly doing environmental work with the EPA and FDEP. Took an early retirement to do airplane stuff and ended up getting my A&P. Now I'm semi-retired and work on some airplanes for fun (and money).

Edit: Not to mention all the miscellaneous stuff. I've been working full time since I was 12 years old. When I was 14 I was actually apprenticed to a commercial washing machine repairman. I've worked as an independent auto mechanic in the 1980s and around the turn of the millennium, I did some computer work on the side, building and managing a Novell network and later on refurbishing laptops for resale on eBay.
 
Director of IT on the business card, but basically a Linux Sys Admin.
 
Cattle rancher, oil patch, moving company and courier company owner when younger. Ad agency and internet company owner for the last 30 years. Now drive an 18 wheeler delivering cow vitamins just for a change of pace and to see what having a real job is like again. ;)
 
- Started off 30 years ago as an Aircraft Electrician/Avionics Specialist (Air Force)
- After 12 years, then moved on to be a First Sergeant (Air Force senior enlisted minion)
- Finished up college, and became an Aerospace Physiologist 13 years ago (Yes, Air Force) (altitude chambers, human factors, aircraft accident investigations, etc.)
- Still doing that... Somewhere along the way picked up A&P/IA, FCC license, and other useful alphabet soup...
- Thinking about what comes next, as I watch all my friends retire and go to airline jobs... Currently around 1100 hrs Inst/Comm myself.

V/r,
 
Recovering Public School Biology Teacher - Now a Vice Principal and Education Professor.
Lucky enough to own a C-182 to take me above the madness.
 
Broadcast Engineer (though I duck when I say that since it’s not REAL engineering like the other folks in here). Basically I design, install, maintain, operate, and teach others to operate systems to make radio/TV/webcasts.

In my free time I build/fix stuff (airplane, houses) and pick up freelance audio and video recording/editing work, or plan and direct video for classical music ensembles. Never a dull moment.
 
jwyatt said:
Broadcast Engineer (though I duck when I say that since it’s not REAL engineering like the other folks in here).
...
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Hey, we all know that the only REAL engineers are up in the cab of a locomotive!
 
saddletramp said:
I've done so many things for income but have never been very good at any of them. Started out as an 18 year-old CFI in the 70's. Flew full-time for about 7 years. I was in my mid-twenties with all the ratings & 3,000 hours, & couldn't find a decent flying job. In early 80's started selling farm machinery & still so that as my primary income. I've also been a cop, insurance salesman, & owned two FBO's. Oh, my wife & I have also operate a small wine business. We make a few hundred cases of wine a year.

Now while still selling green & yellow pieces of iron to farmers, I own & operate a soaring operation. I have a two-place sailplane & my 182 is the tow plane. We have lot's of fun but don't make much money.

I'm considering retirement & flying on the side to supplement my income.

Life is a blast & I'm excited to see what is yet to come.
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when I want to retire and can’t afford it I hope I’m as satisfied with the journey as you are now.
 
I have been a janitor, a window washer, ranch hand(stall cleaner mostly!!!), accountant, garbageman, company officer, commercial real estate developer, volunteer(BSA, private school parent), retiree, Aviation Club Mentor
 
azblackbird said:
Feeder corn or ethanol? Neighbors averaged 300+ bushel this year. One uses no till with sub terrain irrigation and direct nutrient injection. The other uses till with human sewage sludge and sprinklers. Their fields adjoin each other so they like to compete to see who can get the most yields each year.
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Mostly #2 yellow. Goes to local elevator and they market it. Much of the corn in this area goes to ADM in Decatur and goes into corn sweeteners and other products. Some feed, some export, some ethanol.

I also grow non-GMO white corn that goes into tortillas and corn chips.

Very little irrigation here; not economic as the wells have to be pretty deep.
 
iflyvfr said:
In my cart! Are you the author? Writing fiction well is a cross between a gift and an artform. I tried it in college as a non-fiction writing major and knew soon enough I didn't have that gene.
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Yep, I have a whole series of action adventure novels. I can actually switch back and forth between technical writing, which I do a lot of for work, and fiction. I've always been great at writing short stories, but I never really put a full length novel together until 2015. There are actually two writers by the same pen name, the other guy (two working as a pair, actually) showed up about a year later. My books are on my Amazon page.

I can't say I do great, but then again I do better than 99% of self-published authors out there, the vast majority of whom only sell one copy to their mother and that's it. It's kind of rewarding when people you don't know are buying your books, and I've sold a few hundred copies so far. A couple of my fans are bugging me to crank out my next one, which is in the works. It will take a while though.

The character Bruce Highland is a former MI agent who made it up the chain from enlisted Infantry to via warrant officer school. I wasn't an MI agent myself, but I was the Infantry guy getting the briefings on avoiding Soviet and East German spy rings from the local MI Agent along with the rest of the unit, so I knew what this guy did on a daily basis fairly well. You will find a lot of back stories reaching back in to the cold war era.
 
kayoh190 said:
Amazing how many engineering and IT nerds we have on PoA! :)
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Ya think? What better intersection between "ridiculously overpaid" and "affinity for unreliable gadgets" but nerds? :D

/quasi-retired coder nerd
/I get a contract when I want to buy a new toy for my airplane, then quit when the check clears
 
Engineer who’s flipped between design, analysis, testing, customer support, and project management.

I don’t enjoy work every day, but at least 90% of the time it’s a blast. Cool technology to use, fun toys to play with, and a lot of really bright people to work with.
 
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Terry M - 3CK (Chicago) said:
@azblackbird human sludge? Is that legal fertilizer for food stocks?
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The majority of the corn around here is strictly for livestock. We have a lot of big dairies and feedlots around this part of the country. There’s a huge beef packing plant, and a milk and cheese plant not more than a few miles from my house.
 
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