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Is your job interesting


Square Wheels

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or just a paycheck?

I currently am doing two positions.  My official position is in compliance of a highly regulated department.  It's challenging and sometimes interesting.  On an interim basis, I am also the department's director.  The last guy barely put in 40 hours, probably more around 35.  Plus lots of vacation and days off.  I typically work 50, last week 60.  I was there for 15 hours yesterday, plus email every weekend.  I like it, but am getting tired of cleaning up the messes and trying to repair the people he broke.  I look forward to a time we are moving ahead again.

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After working an interesting fast paced rat race job for almost thirty years, I thought I'd welcome the less mentally strenuous environment (and shorter commute) of this job. But not so much. A job is still a job. And I still have to wake up and go there if I want a pay check. And some mornings its harder than others. A boring, non challenging job, makes for a very very looong day. :(

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48 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

Were you scared the first time you recovered a body?  I would have been.

No, actually it was relief.  Finding bodies can be difficult at times.  Finding one is what we are aiming for.  The first time in zero viz was weird.

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It used to be.  I got to work on stuff that's in orbit, at the south pole, in your computer and phone, used every day in the battlefield, and other stuff that you will never hear about.  Every day was a new "doesn't exist and can you make it happen day"

That was until the end when we got bought by a Silicone Valley Tech Co and the prototype people got turned into manufacturing engineers responsible for putting a cheaper electronic component in a product to reduce costs.

Then of course.........no job

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19 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

No, actually it was relief.  Finding bodies can be difficult at times.  Finding one is what we are aiming for.  The first time in zero viz was weird.

...+1. Going into a room or house filled with smoke and feeling around on the floor for something soft like a body is definitely an odd sensation.

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You guys know I had a job and a boss that I hated. I left that industry and landed a good job with good people (well except one freak ?) but got sucked back into my old industry.  But instead of being a provider I'm the end user.

I have a Director level position and the scope is growing tremendously.  I've also taken a more business first and not mission first mentality and have already saved the company close to $100k annually by better utilization of vendors (I came from their world so those fuckers aren't getting away with sheot).  So far so good, I get along really well with my boss and his boss, the relationships I'm building with other dept heads is going well, I'm being told I'm much more collaborative and easier to work with than my predecessor.  The pay and benefits are better, commute is shorter and I rarely get calls after hours.

I just hope I don't screw this up or the company goes south...

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My two careers were interesting and both involved much more than 40 hour weeks.

The first was as an industrial research chemist where I rose to Chief Chemist of a now-gone subsidiary of Dow Chemical, Minerec, where I developed synthetic techniques for a lot of interesting stuff from biodegradable pesticides to pharmaceutical intermediates to a component of the fuel in the Tomahawk Cruise Missile.  The downside was that bench chemists in the 1980's had the shortest lifespans of college graduates - when I went for a run on Saturdays I could taste the chemicals I'd been working with.

That led to moving to a less prestigious position as High School Teacher in Chemistry and Physics and taking night classes until I had my Advanced Teaching Certificate.  But, with my background, I soon became Lead Gifted and Talented Teacher for Chemistry and Physics in Maryland's largest high school and I also, at various times, coached the fast-pitch Varsity Softball, Track, and Cross-Country teams as well as the Chess Club/Team and the Science Club and a team for the annual U. of Maryland Chemathon.

There were headaches -sometimes serious ones - like there are in any job, but constantly new things were going on and most of the time they kept me looking forward to each day. To this day in retirement, I'll sometimes buy something like shoes and it will be rung up at 75% of what it's supposed to, where the cashier will answer my startled look with, "I have to give the employee discount to a teacher from my high school!"

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It is interesting. Never the same day twice. 

My job consists of hanging and managing signs in our store. I am definitely under paid for what I do, but I also have the freedom and NO ONE asked about what all i do all day. I can literally walk around the store all day with my hands in my pockets and people will think I am working and not question it.

I spent all day Friday watching movies in my office without anyone questioning it. My boss even came in, talked to me about a few things and didnt question a thing.

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My job is only interesting when someone else is having a really, really bad day. 

Fortunately, that doesn't happen very often. 

I'm  still doing a lot of catch-up on things that had never been done, or were done once & never maintained, while still trying to move some things forward. While it holds my interest, I'd hesitate to say any of it is interesting. 

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5 hours ago, Wilbur said:

A lot of us old guys actually don't adapt well to technology.  You really have to take an interest in it to enjoy it and get the benefits out of it.   

I would also think that while travelling to new and exotic places and expanding your own horizons, after the first couple years or so -- travelling has got to get old and tiring. It's like that with anything.  If you do something enough, it all becomes rote.  But if I were out on the road (jet stream?) a lot, I know I'd want to be home more.

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I'm sick of the factory life. Some days I just want to punch some people in the face and walk out the door for good. 

I wanted to make a change soon but the insurance costs to get something comparable to what we have now would expensive. 

 

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Yes it is. I still get to spend a decent amount of time in the woods for a manager. Part of that is due to a great bunch of people that I work with. There are times when the politics of managing public lands is a pita but that goes with the territory.

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I’ve found all my work interesting. The truck driving just was too many hours for someone who is married and has kids.

The forge work was hot and heavy and dirty but I liked it and was very good at it.

My work now is really interesting. More so in the summer. I control what I do, if I don’t want to do something I don’t do it. It all pays the same. I volunteer working with special needs kids. They are all different and some are quite a challenge.

I also do a lot of work with a fishing pole, a kayak or three, some bikes, a zero turn mower, and a chainsaw. I still workout at the gym and swim laps. 

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