What do you do, and how did you end up there?

NOHOME wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: Stay at home dad, so....nothing? Schooling as a geological engineer/geophysicist. My wife is a geo eng as well. I worked collecting the data she used to drill oil wells. She got paid more, loved working behind a desk making important decisions. I loathed the same. I quit two days before my first was born and I've been the main man since day one for all four of my kids. Kids are 4, 6, 8, and 10 now. Not every day is a bed of roses and there are things I've had to delay/give up, which is true of anyone idiotic enough to have four kids. I love my life, but you can't exactly plan for something like this, it just sort of happens.

So you were a Doodlebuger in a previous life?

Not really. I did a bit of it, but only so I knew what was going on out there. I did rapid data quality control. This was back when data had to be physically shipped from the field to the office every couple of days. Rubbermaid containers of magnetic tape. I would run the data through geometry checks and sweep correlation and basic preprocessing to make sure that anything that had to be re-shot could get done before the spread moved. 12-15 hours a day seven days a week running computers in hotel rooms.
Changing diapers was way better.

unevolved wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: Stay at home dad, so....nothing? Schooling as a geological engineer/geophysicist. My wife is a geo eng as well. I worked collecting the data she used to drill oil wells. She got paid more, loved working behind a desk making important decisions. I loathed the same. I quit two days before my first was born and I've been the main man since day one for all four of my kids. Kids are 4, 6, 8, and 10 now. Not every day is a bed of roses and there are things I've had to delay/give up, which is true of anyone idiotic enough to have four kids. I love my life, but you can't exactly plan for something like this, it just sort of happens.

That's fascinating. My wife just went through a big career change and we've discussed that potential path. We're quite a few years behind you, but it's interested to hear.

This is old. They're 6,8,10 and 12 now. Remember, marriage, and raising kids, is a team sport. You're working as a pair for the success of the unit. I've got a friend who is an incredible engineer, but his wife is a more incredible doctor. He's fun to talk to about this.

Yeah, I saw the timestamp and did the math, but figured it was probably still valid. So you gave up working in industry completely? I don't think I could do that.

Aerospace stuff then automotive research and development stuff. Then became part owner of a bar/comedy club. The club eventually went belly up.

Now I do industrial machine design and prototyping.

i work facility/machinery maintenance. currently and happily at Coca-Cola. was at usairways before, and hated it. alot of it was union issues, but it was just a crap job. good news is they paid for a LOT of training that got me my current gig. my crew maintains the entire facility, from the doors and toilets to the production equipment and PLC/electrical systems. i RARELY do the same thing twice, which is good, cause i bore VERY easily. i've seen people do production manufacturing, 8-12 hrs a day, and i would hang myself. i need to be moving, thinking, fixing, fabricating, learning or blowing stuff up to keep my mind from wandering. honestly, i'm sure i have undiagnosed ADD.

i got here by riding my dads coat tails into his facility back in 06, knowing nothing about everything, and thinking the opposite. it took 5 years for some of the greatest guys i've ever known to get me to the point i am at now. i have no formal training, but i can out repair, out diagnose, and usually out engineer the engineering team here. i owe that to some VERY patient crew leads in my early industrial maintenance days. i can see a problem before it is a problem, and i don't think that just happens. quality training and experience are required to get there.

im pretty happy with my career, my income level, and my future.

my wife is a manager at a commercial drapery shop. she deals with bitchy women and moron installers and rude customers. i couldn't do an hour at her job, and we both know it. but, she loves it. shes in charge, and thats good for both of us. we have twins, 2yrs old. she stayed home with them for a year, but the stress was too much for both of us, and we almost lost it all (ALL) over it. the week she went back to work, life improved, and has done so steadily since. its not the extra money, though thats great too, its her chance to talk to other people, and have things to share with me, like i have for her after work. when she didn't have that, we got at each other fast. sure, babysitting costs almost half of what she makes, but the kids are better rounded being with other kids, and shes happier, which makes me happier, so i wouldn't care if babysitting was the same as she made.

were in our late 20's, earning what the average couple in their 40's makes, so were proud of that. we're not rich, but we have money to do what we love, and keep the bill collectors from calling.

well, thats what i do, and how i got there.

-J0N

I'm still going to college as a theater major, but during summers and winters I'm the intern here at Grassroots. I've been working summers here since before senior year of high school, and it's pretty fun I guess. I'd try to work on shows over the summers, but community theater doesn't put ramen in the dorm room

In reply to KatieSuddard:

You missed the part about "how did you end up there"...

...oh, wait!

So you are the GRM drama queen in training?In reply to KatieSuddard:

I guess you could say that

Thread is so old, I've had a bit of a job change.

I now develop customer service strategy for large delivery company. It is much more dynamic and impactful than my last role; but my god the stress.

Two years ago.. Operations/Customer service for a Jet engine manufacturer. Today, Office strategy weenie.

Me too... Since my post in 2012 I got divorced and moved back in with mom and dad. They're retired and not home much so its kind of a good setup.

Since the divorce I have dedicated myself to working hard to make money, then taking glorious trips. I worked at Home Depot again for a little, made some money remodeling homes, and traveled a good bit. Mostly US and Canada til now, but I booked a Costa Rica trip in Feb/March and I'm trying to set up an Italy trip around Christmastime-ish. Other travel wishes include UK, Iceland, and Asia. Long term wishes include Australia/New Zealand and Eastern europe. But I won't stop until I've been to all continents.

Still wanting to finish my Master's in Counseling. $150 per hour gross sounds good to me.

good luck dude … live it while you can

nicksta43 wrote:

nicksta43 wrote: None of your damned buisness.

Still applicable.

I guess it's time to open up a little bit.

Many mistakes were made. Many.

Man, I posted in this thread over a year ago... Funny to think back to then, and where I thought I'd be now. And how vastly wrong I was.

So I guess updated version is I got sick of O&G, got sick of Houston, took a pay cut, and moved to Motorsports.

This looks fun. Left college with a business degree in '11. First job out of school was Service Writer at a dealership group. Was lined up long term to take over as service manager. Decided I couldn't take dealing with jerk customers and boredom. Left after one year to join the automotive aftermarket in research.

Did that for a year and now I write and take photos for a engineering blog highlighting our companies product development. Not bad, but the repetition is starting to get to me. Just waiting for GRM to scoop me up for their staff team.

-John

I'm a full-time student. To get where I am today, all one needed was to be raised in a middle class family. God, I sound like an entitled prick when I put it that way.

G_Body_Man wrote: I'm a full-time student. To get where I am today, all one needed was to be raised in a middle class family. God, I sound like an entitled prick when I put it that way.

You and me both. Going for 5 years to graduate with Mechanical engineering, staying wide awake at night trying to figure out what the berkeley I'm going to do when I get out.

Changed jobs a year ago. The previous guy in this position died. And the guy before him. And now I'm not feeling all that well.

Oddly enough, it's the Health & Safety Guy position.

Not too long ago I also was one of those middle class full time students. I got a degree in Music and Audio Engineering. After college I came back to Michigan (because of a girl I thought I was going to marry ) instead of moving to Nashville like everyone else who graduated from my program. I did an internship at a recording studio in Rochester Hills and decided I didn't want to spend the rest of my life recording small time hip hop artists and kids who think their crappy hardcore band is awesome because their parents paid for studio time. Somewhere in there the girl left and I ended up working part time on the midnight stock crew at Kroger and, through being in the right place at the right time, teaching music stuff and guitar lessons at a small private school. That was not a super fun schedule.

Fast forward a few years to and I'm working full time as a leadership mentor with a new school that I helped start last summer and still teaching music a few hours a week at the old place. This is the first time I've been in a position where I can see myself staying for more than a couple seasons. I feel like I might have found something resembling the beginning of a career. It's been an interesting ride so far.

classicJackets wrote:

G_Body_Man wrote: I'm a full-time student. To get where I am today, all one needed was to be raised in a middle class family. God, I sound like an entitled prick when I put it that way.

You and me both. Going for 5 years to graduate with Mechanical engineering, staying wide awake at night trying to figure out what the berkeley I'm going to do when I get out.

Hey, at least you're learning useful and diverse skills. Better than some people I know staying awake at night wondering what they're going to do with their liberal arts degrees.

I'm an automation engineer at a biotech company that does cancer diagnostics.

How did I end up here? Well, mostly by chance. My first real job as a lab tech (I have a biology degree) was really boring, and we had some automation and nobody knew how to program it, so I started playing around in my free time. Eventually that led to a promotion at that company, and then leaving for a much, much better job in every way at my current company. Seems like most people in my field have just ended up here without really trying, but it's a decently interesting job and the company I work for is great.

I was still a working stiff when this thread started. Now I'm retired. Other than just getting old, this is how I got here: Got out of HS in the sixties, and by the early seventies I was working as a machinist/toolmaker and welder, and going to school nights studying engineering. I'd been interested in cars and racing since around eight, and figured being a machinist and welder would help me achieve my goal of building my own race cars. And I was good at machining and welding. Finally got the engineering degree in '74 but needed more 'scarole and went to work as a mfg. engineer developing process plans and CNC programs (NC in those days). In the late seventies I needed more 'scarole again and transitioned to the commercial side of business. I spent the next 35 years in technical sales, product management, and marketing for machine tool and industrial measuring machine manufacturers. Never did get around to building my own race cars, but I have no regrets. I had an interesting and fun (at times) career. A great advantage to doing what I did was the ability to do quite a bit of travel, domestic and European. I've been in a lot of automotive and aircraft manufacturing plants "creating solutions" to their manufacturing problems (i.e., promoting and selling products). On business trips to Germany I drove the Nurburgring (VW Turbo Golf that belonged to our German subsidiary), and saw vintage races there as well. I also saw a track day at Hockenheim. In England I saw vintage races at Brands Hatch and a track day at Thruxton. I've been in the huge Fiat plant outside Turin, Italy several times, as well as Giugiaro's Italdesign facility (recently acquired by VW Group).

This is extremely abbreviated and leaves a lot of great (my opinion) stuff out. But I don't want it to seem like I'm bragging. I was just fortunate to have had a great, lucky career.

You'd think being retired would be boring after all that, but I don't miss the stress. And after a year and a half of retirement I still manage to keep busy every day (which includes writing this diatribe!). My wife Annie retires next year and that will make me even busier.

This thread is incredibly cool because it not only allows others to see how we've progressed but it allows ourselves to see the same. I look back at my old posts and how my outlook has changed. I'm still restless about where I'll settle down, but I'm not so worried about money anymore. More worried about happiness and free time, two things that are hard to achieve whilst pursuing a career, paying off debt and saving.

unevolved wrote: Yeah, I saw the timestamp and did the math, but figured it was probably still valid. So you gave up working in industry completely? I don't think I could do that.

I like this old post, mostly because the update has you completely giving up on O&G.

Still hanging out not working. Kids are another year older. My annual summer away with the kids has reinforced that Mrs. Deuce thinks it's worth it for me to be at her beck and call. I'm cool with that.

I'm still at the same place that I was on page 1 Only then it seemed I still enjoyed it.