[Flatheadhunter33]

Good morning everyone! I hope that this post finds everyone in good spirits (if not good then at least decent:wink.

I just wanted to start a thread talking about our different professions. When I look at someone's listed occupation by their avatar, I wonder to myself if that person is happy with what they do? When I was growing up, I used to think that the "American Dream" was to be rich or well off. After getting out into the world and joining the Marine Corps at 17, I started to learn that for most, the "dream" is more geared towards being able to live life on your own terms and being financially sound in the process. Once when I was a young Lance Corporal, I met a fellow Marine who was on his way out from active duty. I asked him what his plans were once he got out and his reply was that he had no plans...just gonna collect unemployment and take some time off then wander around the country doing whatever. To me at the time, that was about the worst idea possible!

I asked him "How can you do that? Dont you want to make some money so you can have nice things?"

His reply to that was "Nope. if I never make a million bucks, I will be okay with that. I dont need money to be happy."

I thought about that conversation for a long time. I still think about it today because it kind of changed my life and the way I viewed things...I have started to realize that for me, the "American Dream" really is about doing what you love to do and being able to make a living from it!

If you love what you do for a living, does Monday morning come as a dread to you? Do you look forward to Friday and Saturdays as "time away from that place"?

After almost 17yrs of service, I am slowly starting to realize how close to retirement I am. I love being a Marine. I have worked with some really great people. Some I consider family. I am tired of some things though. I have deployed more times to more places than I care to mention. Some great memories and some I try to forget. Lord willing, soon I will be 37yrs old and looking for another job here in Az.
Kind of scares me a little when I think of what I will do next with my life. My wife says that I can take some time off and kick back but I know better...there is no way that I can sit back and not do anything. Gotta keep going to make the monthly bills. She asked me what I want to do and I told her that I really dont know...kind of the same look that I gave my mom and guidance counselor in my last year of high school:smile2:. Seriously though, I have a few things Im looking into. I just want time to be able to do stuff my family more than anything...and maybe be able to afford a nice boat with all the lastest gadgets:smile2::wink:.

Anyhow, how many of you out there are doing for a living what you really love to do (it's not a question of how much money you make)?
How long have you been at it and most importantly (in my opinion) how does it affect other aspects of your life?

 

[SSgt Fishslayer]

i chose my profession. now if i could choose the pay as well, then things would be much easier. i like what i do. i like being around my Marines and i am proud of what i have accomplished in the amount of time i have been in. i know many Marines that get out and have no real plans for the future. alot of time they go back to doing the things that they were doing before they came in, and have not really made much of a change. there are a few that have really improved themselves and get out and make good money doing the same things they were doing while they were enlisted. i for one am going to finish my Career and hopefully get out and become a JROTC instrustor. But i have at least 12 years to make my mind up about that.

 

[postbeetle]

Dameon, I like ya Lad, and I hope you know that. No BS. Just one kind of man to another kind of man. We are all men, equal in all ways. Some of us got a little more hair under our belt than others, but that comes with age.

I want to answer you now but I ain't gonna do it just now. I want to see what others say. You have asked a question I have thought about for 45 years. One I haven't yet found the answer to.

Thanks for asking it. John.

 

[catfishjohn]

I hate mine. I never wanted to become disabled. I'm too young for this crap!!!

 

[BIG GEORGE]

What I'm doin now is there to fill a gap. My other job that I gave 20 years to became a drag. So I left. Start gettin the pension from that this year. Operatin a train just kinda fell into my lap. Not my career of choice but a dam good job. Never gave much thought to what kinda work I did. Just knew and was raised to understand that it was my job to be a hard workin contributin individual. Life has no time for slackers and half steppers. Besides I could'nt get a job as a water ride tester. LOL! Plain and simple. I was raised to believe that a man without a job wasn't worth a dam. And regardless of what ya do, do it well. Even if its shovelin crap. I raised all three of my sons with the same beliefs and they are all hard workin responsable men.

 

[Mark J]

I like my career.
I've always worked with my hands since I was a little kid.
At about 7 Santa brought me a real workbench with big vice mounted to it. That was my grand dad's vice at some point.

First public job I had I was 15 and went to work framing 3 story apartments in the summer. I worked for a neighbor and he sure wasn't telling my real age.
I would drive his truck about 3 miles every morning to fill up all the coolers with ice and all the diesel tanks with no license. He wasnt telling if I wasn't.
That job got me going.
I grew bored with school. I got out at lunch everday on a work release program. I was doing electrical work for another neighbor.
Eventually I just started showing up for work at 8AM like everybody else.
School didnt have nothing for me.

I went straight to the community college took a prelimnary test and then the GED test and graduated with honors. No classes.

I followed my path in the electrical field. It grew and expanded to sales to project managing, estimating, working back in the field, service work, and getting my NC electrical contracting license.
Today its lead me off on a side path. I work on contract to a major corporation as a machine tech. Primarily jet engine turbine and fan balancers.
You have to have some sort of background in electrical and controls.
I'll probally sail this ship into the sunset if I can hang on. I like going to work and sometimes dont like coming home.
You have that sense of worth. When production stops I AM THE MAN!
you get a real sense of accomplishment.

Better yet, this is a great retirement gig. A good place to ride the waves for the next 20-25 years while nursing a body that has been through the hell of years of construction related activity like climbing, falling, breaking bones, and a back surgery.
Now I can stay in school taking courses planning for the what ifs and the tomorrows.

With Autocad atleast I can lay in bed on my back with one arm and no legs and make a living. I might not get rich but I can survive.

At 40 years old its all about survival and preservation. You have to make your statement and mark early on while you are young.

 

[baitchunker]

dameon.

i hate to tell ya bro. but, after the corps nothing in the "real world" will feel as rewarding. or even make sense at times. i know many marine's that are out as well as some that are still in, and even a couple retired. including my pa-in law. oh yeah and me too. the general concensus is that the marine corps shows a man a reality that the normal working world just doesnt provide. it is fullfilling. even the most disgruntled "poop birds" get out and realize this as fact. the problem is "normal jobs" offer a whole new reality. the transition is not an easy one.

b4 the corps, i worked in the same line of work as my dad, and his dad, and so-on. we were mostly a family of tree men. one form or fashion. from framing houses to residential tree removal, logging, etc. with occasional farm work for extra cash. i joined to get away from that. i half way planned on becoming a game warden when i got out. i pursued that career pretty hard while working at my current job. which just kinda fell into my lap. when i had made it through all of the interviews and tests except for the last one b4 you get accepted into thier training program, i went to my employer and told them that if i passed i would be putting in my notice on account of my dream job. my boss looked me dead in the face and said "thats not your dream job. guiding for our big lumber customers all hunting season, and actually getting to hunt with them, that is your dream job." he told me i could work at the plant during the year and spend hunting season at our hunting camp entertaining customers. plus i make more money than most state GW's that have been doing it 20 years. he was right.
i dont particularly like my job, but i dont dislike it. my work ethic has allowed me to move up fairly well, with the distinct possibility of moving up enough to really feel "financially comfortable". granted, running a wood preservative treating plant is still kinda related to the tree thing, but at least now i have an office with a pc, and internet. i guess it all falls into place one way or another.

the big thing for me was that i absolutely did not wanna fall back into the same ruts as my past. and so far i havent. i know how the rumor mill is, but i allways heard you air wingers had "technical skills" in your jobs. it seems like that would help you land a better job on the outside. not a whole lotta call for amphibeaous machine gunners.

you are in az, have you thought about border patrol?

at any rate, i think for most ppl a job just kinda happens. i dont know too many ppl that are doing what they imagined themselves doing. i know a whole lotta ppl who retire from places they never really intended on staying at. i reckon its just random.

J.D.

 

[richard dunbar]

I'm in the army. Been doin it for going on 21 yrs. I used to love it. But latley I find myself saying well thats it I'm done Not one more yr. And thats only because they changed the standards in basic training and none of the kids they send us have any home training any more. There was only 2 things ever that i wanted to do with my life. One was be in the Army and two was get paid to guide people on fishing trips. Well 90 days after I get back from Iraq this time, I'm done. No more Army and I'm gonna try and start a guide business. Wish me luck

 

[ryang]

I tried when I got out to collect unempoyment that lasted about 1 month I was bored stiff. Just so you know when you get ready to get out there should be a class call TAP that is required to take prior to getting out. Your state might have one also Ohio is OTAP which is given by the VA. I went to one and got a job right off the bat, unfortunatly it was for selling life ins. I am not a salesman LOL at least not in that respect. I was able to get a job with the Governernment as a GS-4 (clerk) and tried my hand at getting higher in the ranks which didnt work out too well but I was able to get a job as a government contractor thru a friend of mine doing programming. I was able to do it but I didnt like it and after a couple of years I was laid off. I was able to get a job as a contractor with the company that Im with now and eventually got hired on as a full time employee. I started doing helpdesk stuff then moved to an Advocate position which I didnt like but I was laid off from that anyways :smile2:, I was able to stay in the company by finding my current job doing PC support which I like. I do like my Sat/Sun but Mondays are no longer a pain for me.

Now I wanted to become a Police Officer/Highway Patrol or Firefighter but other circumstances prevented that.

 

[Flatheadhunter33]

i know how the rumor mill is, but i allways heard you air wingers had "technical skills" in your jobs. it seems like that would help you land a better job on the outside. J.D.

one of the options that I have been considering for a while is work for a company at a local Army base (YPG). The work sort of relates to what I do now and it's a 4 day work week type of job with Friday, Saturday and Sunday off unless you want ther over time. That's alot of time for fishing:smile2:! Boeing also has a team here that is always looking for workers....

 

[baitchunker]

that sounds like a pretty good spot to start a new chapter of life. you can allways evolve from there. besides i can tell ya from experience, the 4 day work week is the good Lord's gift to fishermen!

 

[skawez]

I chose my Profession been at it for 8 years at first it was the best job i ever had ive always CHOSE what i did from working in the brick yard which i also liked to welding and operating machinery in construction. but for some reason or another i had to be outdoors and i had to be moving i couldn't "stay" in one place too long it got "old" so a inside job i liked didn't move me enough. i had to get out and find something new. when i got into Trucking it was great the open road but every time i came home it seemed as though i had another son or daughter. so i had to figure out how to do what i loved and be home. now i drive 70 miles one way to work then while at work another 3-500 and then back home every day. i get to see all the different places, im on the move, im outside and i never am in one place to long not to mention i get a "paid vacation" from december thru march each year for all the hunting and fishing i can handle. for me choosing this was the best decision i ever made.

 

[olefin]

Great post and thread Dameon!

Yes, I did chose my career and loved all 32 years. I recently posted about how I felt about it here in Shawn's thread.

 

[Mac-b]

Brother Dameon, I got out of the US Navy in Jan. 1960 and applied to a college in my home state. I had saved some money, purchased me a 1960 Chevy Convertible and had my GI benefits for college. Got accepted and lasted less than six months (the girls liked my car and I liked the girls), when my God Father, big shot with the school call me in and had a heart to heart talk with me. Ends result was that I was not ready for higher education at that time. Lucked out and got myself a job as a real estate appraiser trainee. Did that for almost five years and then went back to college and got what I needed to be a successful appraiser. From 1972 until 1999 I had my own company and had as many as ten appraiser (male and female) working for me when I retired. Never once did I dread Monday mornings until the last three years.

Down side to owning my own company is that I did not take a vacation for twenty plus years. I was all work and no play and that is one of my regrets. But, I try every day now to make up for it by living on a lake and fishing whenever I want too or when someone else wants to go fishing.

Something I have observed is that if you can find a niche type job, you can be ahead of the crowd. I have a neighbor who got laid off from a big textile company and him and his wife found themselves a niche type situtation. Since he knew textile machinery and equipment and his wife was a programmer, they set themselves up a web site and advertised textile equipment on the site and sold it thru out the world. They would take an option on the equipment, leave it in the plant until they got a buyer. Then crate it and ship it out to various locations thru out the world. That is what I mean by finding a niche market. So, with your time left in the service, use your grey matter to find yourself a niche situtation. It sure beats working for the other man.

Thanks for serving your country and the best to you in the days ahead.

 

[JimmyJonny]

I've been doing aluminum work since I was a boy, I honestly don't remember not doing it. My great, grandfather was a builder all the way up to my dad. I myself have done it all but decided to do exterior work only.

Do I like it....? Yea, I do, I take old homes and make them look brand new. We don't just cover things up like most, we make them straight and solid again. It fills up my pride just fine.

Oh, maybe I don't like it..... Well there is things like weather, competition on wages, and the wear on my bones, LOL.

Would I do it all over again ? ...that's a big fat no. I'm only 40 and my body is shot. In fact I go into surgery sometime after March 18th. After that I don't know what I'm gonna do for sure, maybe sales, we shall see what way the good Lord pushes me ; ) For the last year I've been a stay home full time dad, that's one job I will never get tired of....


-Jim-

 

[loanwizard]

I wish this would be moved to my thread. This is a great thread and a great motivator.

I can't imagine doing anything else. My career IS my life and anyone who knows me knows that. My wife says when I stop coming up with ideas, when I stop trying to make anything I like a valid business she will know that I am sick.

I remember crystally my 20's when I partied way too much and basically scared my mother for 4 or 5 years. I got in a fight in a bar one night and the guy told me, Shawn you ought to use that mouth to do better things than get your a$$ kicked. Those words were prophetic.... so were his fists....
I got started in sales and travelled Boston, Providence, Hartford, NYC.... it was a love affair that has never ended. Sales and business are in my blood. I got homesick and found the car business. Amazingly enough I was turned down at each of the places I eventually got the bulk of my experience from. I bought many self improvement courses but the best one was Carelton Sheets.
While I have been RICHLY blessed in my life, I also believed with a passion and actively search for opportunity even today.

 

[catfishcrazy256]

I like what I do FISH lol !

 

[poisonpits]

i guess you could call me a jack of all trades and master of none.first job was at age 13 skiding logs with a mule.ive worked oil feild,construction.foundry,roofing,you name it ive probably done it.only job ive ever had i realy loved was commercial fishing in texas.then some people got it in their heads i and my coharts in crime were catching their fish and got trout and redfish put on the sports fishing only list.i had to go back to working in a foundry till i was to wore out to work any more.doctor told me to find a job where i could lay down,sitdown,and stand up a while.i ask him where he thought i could find a job like that and he said they got them all over washinton.i got a job at a vets office and then got chance to go to school and bought a dog grooming shop that was in the vets office.7 years later i retired and now i got the perfect job.wheather permitting i fish 6 days a week unless i got friends in on the weekend then i fish 7 days a week.god i wish i had done this earlier in life.

 

[Arkansascatman777]

First of all I would like to say thanks and my hat is off to all of you who chose a career in the military.:0a31:

There was 9 of us kids and one of my younger brothers went into the marines for 8 years after he graduated high school. Out of the 9 there was one of us that was smart enough to get a scholarship to college. And no it wasn't me:smile2:. I started working at a young age at different odd jobs up until about 14 or so. When I turned 15 I was old enough to get into what they called the CETA program at the time and worked at a housing authority through the summer and at a hospital during the school year. Also at 15 a life changing event happened that I won't get into here but the end result left me and one of my older sisters to raise one little sister and two little brothers. Worked for a brick, rock and block layer for awile. Hauled hay, cut, split and hauled wood just anything to make some money. Kept enough money for gas and something to eat and gave the rest to my older sister for bills and the younger kids needs. Never had any illusions of going to college but paid enough attention in school the last 3 years to get a high school deploma. After graduation in 1980 I got two different factory jobs and just couldn't stand being in one spot all day doing the same thing. Up until then I had always worked outside. A friend of mine told me the City was hiring so I put in for a job and got it in 1981. This was not the job that a kid dreams about as a kidoooh:, but at first it was a job that paid well and had great benifits. Not only did I not pick this job but I at the time didn't even know there was such a thing as a wastewater plant. Over time I have worked my way up and now I am over one of the two plant that the City of Fort Smith has. I guess you could say this job found me but I'm glad it did. Turns out this is a very interesting job and there is a lot more to running one of these plants than most people think. I'm directly responsible for the quality of water that is discharged into the Arkansa river and as someone who also fishes and uses this waterway it's a job that I take seriously. Anyone ever in the area and would like to take a tour of our facility, I would be glad to show you around.

 

[vfourmax]

This is an interesting thread, I think in reality there are many of us that find things that we can be comfortable doing but yet I expect there are very few that would not have desires to do something different than what they do given the right chance or opportunity.

Over the span of my half century I have done many different things and most had certian rewarding aspects in one way or another. Some were monetary, some were the perks or maybe the freedoms that particuliar job involved, some maybe just the atmosphere or the people that you associated with or met during the course of your career. Personally I have found that over the years that what you find important or what are the priorities in life change and that also goes along the career line as well. From a personal standpoint perhaps in some ways I would have been better served to work in one place for 40 years, but yet I have been able to experience much more in life and I think life has been more interesting by doing different things in different areas and fields. Heck you only go around once and I am not finished yet!

When I was younger it was not uncommon to work 60-70 hour weeks as it provided more $$$$ to be able to buy whatever toy that I had the interest in at the time. Over my life I have had some sharp cars, some bad boats and motorcycles and some fast women, I worked hard and I played just as hard but now I do not have the desire to keep the same pace, I just want a truck that will do what I need it to do, same goes for my boat, do not care about new and fancy, just solid and fit into what I want it to do, women, well I won't touch that one as they have cost me the most over the years!

I know what I would like to do for a living but there is not much opportunity in the area I live to do what I want to do, don't care about owning much anymore maybe its time to relocate, just need enough these days to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head and leave enough extra to be able to go fishin, but even that seems to be harder in todays times than ever before!