dr wogz
Fly caster
BOM Technician..
I maintained (a few) MRP & ERP systems, mainly dealing with Bills Of Materials.. BOM technician..
I maintained (a few) MRP & ERP systems, mainly dealing with Bills Of Materials.. BOM technician..
What do you do (or did) for a living?
- Thread starter NTP2
- Start date
Help Support The Rocketry Forum:
The Postal Service allows that?
Small package or bulk rate?
Male Prostitute. That's funny. What makes it funny to me is that after I became good friends with the two guys I met in England I started hearing stories. The other teachers would refer to my one friend as, Ron the DOD male prostitute.
Started by mowing lawns at 12.
Worked several hot South GA summers in the fields pollinating corn by hand, and did short stints in a dept. store and car sales.
But primarily:
From 13-27, worked in radio/stereo business installing CBs, alarm systems, cellular phones and car audio. Audio was the only one of those I had interest in. Left when it’s soul seemed to be disappearing. July ‘93.
Considering optometry school, I started in an optical surfacing lab in ‘93, and have been in the optical business since. Lab grunt, lab manager, new office opener, GM, licensed optician, etc. Practice manager is what HR says I am now.
Worked several hot South GA summers in the fields pollinating corn by hand, and did short stints in a dept. store and car sales.
But primarily:
From 13-27, worked in radio/stereo business installing CBs, alarm systems, cellular phones and car audio. Audio was the only one of those I had interest in. Left when it’s soul seemed to be disappearing. July ‘93.
Considering optometry school, I started in an optical surfacing lab in ‘93, and have been in the optical business since. Lab grunt, lab manager, new office opener, GM, licensed optician, etc. Practice manager is what HR says I am now.
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Any chance you service the tri-city area?
As I understand it spend an entire career at the Post Office and I heard they had a pretty good retirement plan. The rest of us have 401k's.
boatgeek
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I suppose I can add on paid jobs before college graduation:
Helped with the annual inventory at a US Embassy. Did you know that all of the State Department's property from desks to the Ambassador's china gets inventoried once a year?
Wrote a science column for the college newspaper. Stopped when I figured out that they wanted ~5 hours of research and writing for each column and wanted to pay me $4-5 for each column. It was fun, but not for $1/hour.
Taught sailing, gave sailing skill tests, and fixed boats at a college sailing club. Lots of volunteer time there too.
Worked in a small boatyard doing fiberglass and other work for a summer.
Worked in a sail loft making and repairing sails for a summer.
Interned at a small city's utilities department, mainly checking to make sure that new housing development projects wouldn't cause problems elsewhere in the water and sewer systems. The city had a pretty good system to make developers pay for problems they caused, even if it was a mile or more away from the project site.
Helped with the annual inventory at a US Embassy. Did you know that all of the State Department's property from desks to the Ambassador's china gets inventoried once a year?
Wrote a science column for the college newspaper. Stopped when I figured out that they wanted ~5 hours of research and writing for each column and wanted to pay me $4-5 for each column. It was fun, but not for $1/hour.
Taught sailing, gave sailing skill tests, and fixed boats at a college sailing club. Lots of volunteer time there too.
Worked in a small boatyard doing fiberglass and other work for a summer.
Worked in a sail loft making and repairing sails for a summer.
Interned at a small city's utilities department, mainly checking to make sure that new housing development projects wouldn't cause problems elsewhere in the water and sewer systems. The city had a pretty good system to make developers pay for problems they caused, even if it was a mile or more away from the project site.
Nurse: Dr, there's an invisible man in the waiting room!
Dr: Tell him I can't see him!!
i guess I did forget some of the short-term jobs that I did as when the recession hit in 74, as the job that I was working at which was cutting aluminum siding for an installation crew. we all got laid off and then after looking for jobs I ended up getting a job at a discount store which I considered to be one of the worst jobs I ever had as you had to go do all of the terrible jobs like cleaning up after some little 3-year-old kid pooped his pants and tracked it all up and down the aisles and picking up dirty diapers out of the parking lots in the morning.................But, I did meet my wife there.
No forgot to also delivered dry cleaning for 2 weeks to fill in for God it went on vacation and also the job that I had at Phelps Dodge Magnet Wire Company were they put the insulation coating on bare copper wire.
cat5752
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I was a 19 Echo then a 19 Kilo, from the M60 Patton, to the A1, A3 then the XM1, M1 M1IP and when I got off of them we were on the latest version of the M1A1. I never could believe, still can't, that I would get paid to do this. It's hell on your back, knees and hearing, but I wouldn't have traded it for the world. 
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Andy: thanks for the pictures It's nice to hear of someone who really loved what they did for living while serving your country.
cat5752
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I miss it every day Marty. Not the bullshit, but the people. There is no feeling of power that compares to standing 10 feet off the ground, going very fast with a cannon that will defeat anything.Andy: thanks for the pictures It's nice to hear of someone who really loved what they did for living while serving your country.
Should have included more beautiful pictures of the tanks you were in! Very cool machines.
cat5752
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Enjoy. They are a lot of fun. Hard on your body, but man it is fun.Should have included more beautiful pictures of the tanks you were in! Very cool machines.
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cbrarick
Wildman CT
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worked my way up to sous chef
started as a volunteer firefighter / EMT in 1980
spent 9 years in the navy, got out as a nuclear power plant supervisor, mechanical (EOOW) with additional designations as ESWS, Ship's Damage Control Officer (Nimitz class carriers), Ships 3M systems coordinator, and Nuclear quality control petty officer. Worked part time at a friends' pet store when in port.
Got out after getting hurt and drove a trash truck
Went back to school to bag BSN, MSN, PhD and a post doc in pharmaeconomics
Worked as a clinician and worked up to partner / Director of clinical research
Opened my own office with others, became CEO and purchased several other practices
Purchased Tru-core which I still do
Started Wildman CT which I still do
Finished my American dream by retiring early from clinical practice. Got an amazing buy-out.
Now i have time for my rocketry stuff, as well as my volunteer stuff.
started as a volunteer firefighter / EMT in 1980
spent 9 years in the navy, got out as a nuclear power plant supervisor, mechanical (EOOW) with additional designations as ESWS, Ship's Damage Control Officer (Nimitz class carriers), Ships 3M systems coordinator, and Nuclear quality control petty officer. Worked part time at a friends' pet store when in port.
Got out after getting hurt and drove a trash truck
Went back to school to bag BSN, MSN, PhD and a post doc in pharmaeconomics
Worked as a clinician and worked up to partner / Director of clinical research
Opened my own office with others, became CEO and purchased several other practices
Purchased Tru-core which I still do
Started Wildman CT which I still do
Finished my American dream by retiring early from clinical practice. Got an amazing buy-out.
Now i have time for my rocketry stuff, as well as my volunteer stuff.
you went from driving a trash truck to a CEO?
GrouchoDuke
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Lawn mower kid
Busboy & Waiter
Airport line boy
NASA aerospace engineer
Indie software developer (#1 game in the App Store back in the day!)
USAF fighter pilot & test pilot
757/767 pilot
Electronics hardware/firmware designer
Whiskey taster
Homeschool STEM teacher
Most importantly: husband & dad
Busboy & Waiter
Airport line boy
NASA aerospace engineer
Indie software developer (#1 game in the App Store back in the day!)
USAF fighter pilot & test pilot
757/767 pilot
Electronics hardware/firmware designer
Whiskey taster
Homeschool STEM teacher
Most importantly: husband & dad
DJRNY
well it has fins and took off like a rocket....
Leading up to grad school I worked as a farmhand, carpenter/mason, forklift driver, fuel jockey at a truck stop, janitor, handyman, and lab technician. After I got my PhD in chemistry I worked in the R&D division of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. doing analytical methods development for a short time, then spent 32 years at IBM initially doing materials & process development and transformed over time into a technical team leader. Now I go fishing, have a hobby business making knives, go fishing, love being Grandpa, and go fishing. So in the end it all worked out!
NTP2
Well-Known Member
What was it?
cbrarick
Wildman CT
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yes. I can say I truly lived the American Dream. Not too many leave home as a teenager and get PhD's either, but I believe that with hard work and determination there is no limits as to what you can accomplish in a field you have true talent in.you went from driving a trash truck to a CEO?
GrouchoDuke
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Air Hockey. I had a few others in the App Store top 10 & also had a game bundled with the HTC Vive VR headset after it launched. Good times!
I worked for the company for 10 yrs but cant add any details, sorry!
Then I became a geologist, then taught for 20yrs. Ignore the first part. Then unfortunately was in a severe car accident and my life pretty much changed for the worse, I'm still trying to move through it 7 yrs later. Trying to get back into my old hobby of 40 yrs. even though I can hardly walk anymore. six fused vert. and spinal cord damage, chronic pain belly down. no fun guys. I cant cary anything and can't go get my own rockets anymore. Going to have to beg a friend or my brother to help me out with that. Before my accident I had gotten my L3 and wanted to do a space shot (long way from NYS). One step at a time I guess.
Then I became a geologist, then taught for 20yrs. Ignore the first part. Then unfortunately was in a severe car accident and my life pretty much changed for the worse, I'm still trying to move through it 7 yrs later. Trying to get back into my old hobby of 40 yrs. even though I can hardly walk anymore. six fused vert. and spinal cord damage, chronic pain belly down. no fun guys. I cant cary anything and can't go get my own rockets anymore. Going to have to beg a friend or my brother to help me out with that. Before my accident I had gotten my L3 and wanted to do a space shot (long way from NYS). One step at a time I guess.
jhornsby3
Active Member
I worked in the Furniture Repair world in my 20's. Worked for most of the big name makers as a in-home service technician. Lost that to the free trade agreement, as everything made here in the states moved to china or someplaceastan. Went to school and got a degree in Heavy Civil Construction. Everything from drawing up plans to surveying a site for building to finish grading the site for foundation pour. Worked for a few good companies until one really screwed their management teams out of pay in a Idaho employment law loophole. So moved to the Permian Basin and worked as a heavy equipment operator/ truck driver and continued training when it was offered for Gas and Oil pipeline, OSHA40 and Waterline Services, after a deal fell through out at Spaceport America. I turned down a job out at the White Sands test track as a surveyor when I good friend didn't want to leave his surveyor position with a small company in Alamogordo, NM. Still wish we could have teamed up on that one. Most surveyed stretch of land in the world.
Left the oil fields after my mother passed and dad's health took a turn. Sold everything and headed back to Oregon, where after 5 years now, dad's health is better but life is running out. The VA in PDX, really knows who I am now. I still operate equipment when needed for folks when I can. Just to keep proficient. All of my certifications, really means nothing in this great state. It's easier to pay a non journeyman, 22 year old kid with 32 years of experience $60 or more an hour than a 50+ year old $20 with certs, until he proves himself. At least I'm home and caring for my father. Thats the important thing.
Left the oil fields after my mother passed and dad's health took a turn. Sold everything and headed back to Oregon, where after 5 years now, dad's health is better but life is running out. The VA in PDX, really knows who I am now. I still operate equipment when needed for folks when I can. Just to keep proficient. All of my certifications, really means nothing in this great state. It's easier to pay a non journeyman, 22 year old kid with 32 years of experience $60 or more an hour than a 50+ year old $20 with certs, until he proves himself. At least I'm home and caring for my father. Thats the important thing.
Associate Laboratory Director
Los Alamos National Laboratory
and External Leadership Board for the
School of Engineering University of New Mexico
Los Alamos National Laboratory
and External Leadership Board for the
School of Engineering University of New Mexico
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Bussed tables at the local steak house…
Loaded plates at the local steak house…
Cooked steaks at the local steak house…
Painted Barns around where I grew up…
Worked on a framing crew where I learned things about houses that I still use today as a homeowner…
Drove a freight truck between my Dad’s two toy stores…
Repaired early IBM PCs at a University…
Spliced fiber-optic cables across the eastern seaboard…
Oh, and got an Electrical Engineering Degree from Duke while doing all that stuff.
Then got a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Caltech.
Worked for 15 years in various engineering jobs on the east coast…building systems for the Navy.
Moved to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to build spaceships.
Built / Developed Software / Tested / Delivered 20 Scientific GPS Receivers (sub-cm accuracy)
Built hardware that’s now roving around on Mars
Started watching people work…
Led a team that built a communications testbed on the ISS…
Led a team that built and flew the most accurate Atomic Clock to ever fly in space…
Led a team that is completing a mission to survey the entire universe in 100 channels of IR light…
“Retired” from leading space missions due to stress and heart rhythm issues…
Now formulating new technology demonstration spaceflights for future NASA missions.
You would be surprised how much I use lessons that I learned in the first eight items in this list when doing the last few items of the list…
Good luck in your future engineering journey…NTP will be a growth field in the future, if we can afford it.
Loaded plates at the local steak house…
Cooked steaks at the local steak house…
Painted Barns around where I grew up…
Worked on a framing crew where I learned things about houses that I still use today as a homeowner…
Drove a freight truck between my Dad’s two toy stores…
Repaired early IBM PCs at a University…
Spliced fiber-optic cables across the eastern seaboard…
Oh, and got an Electrical Engineering Degree from Duke while doing all that stuff.
Then got a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Caltech.
Worked for 15 years in various engineering jobs on the east coast…building systems for the Navy.
Moved to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to build spaceships.
Built / Developed Software / Tested / Delivered 20 Scientific GPS Receivers (sub-cm accuracy)
Built hardware that’s now roving around on Mars
Started watching people work…
Led a team that built a communications testbed on the ISS…
Led a team that built and flew the most accurate Atomic Clock to ever fly in space…
Led a team that is completing a mission to survey the entire universe in 100 channels of IR light…
“Retired” from leading space missions due to stress and heart rhythm issues…
Now formulating new technology demonstration spaceflights for future NASA missions.
You would be surprised how much I use lessons that I learned in the first eight items in this list when doing the last few items of the list…
Good luck in your future engineering journey…NTP will be a growth field in the future, if we can afford it.
WOW
RocketDestroyer
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I spent one summer while I was in college collecting Scolytus Grandus (Grand Fir Bark Beetle) for a professor's doctoral project. We set up large sheets of cardboard, with a sticky substance on them, and stapled to wooden posts. We went to every trap once a week and collected all of the Scolytus Grandus to take back and catalog. Bigest problem was the bears would get into the traps and get the traps stuck to them. They would rub on the trees to try and get the trap off of them. We would find bits and pieces of the cardboard and hair stuck to trees and brush all around the area where the trap had been. So then we would hike back to the truck and get whatever we needed to replace that trap. In early August the Forest Service accidentally sprayed some of his research areas while trying to kill the Tussock Moth and wiped out most of his project. We knew something was wrong when we suddenly stopped finding any bugs in the affected areas. He was in the 6th year of a 10 year project at that point.
Then I got loaned out to another research project shooting the tops out of Lodge Pole Pine trees. We had 10 trees in each research plot. We would start shooting at 2AM to collect and measure the pressure required to cause the sap to just start to bubble out of a small twig. (The theory was that they could tell how much stress the tree was under.) We had lots of flashlights, a pressure chamber, nitrogen tank, and a shotgun. There was a lot of brush in the area we were working in so one guy would shot the tree to knock down some branches from the upper crown and the other would hold the flashlights and also try to catch the branches before they hit the ground and got lost in the undergrowth. We had to finish the entire course before the first direct sunlight hit the tops of the trees. When we finished we would go to the nearest town and have breakfast. Then it was back out and shoot all the trees over and over again until dinner time. Then back out to shoot them all one more time after the sun went off the tops of the trees. The next day we would move to the next area and repeat. Our shoulders were so sore by the time the weekend came around we never wanted to see a shotgun again. Thankfully we only had to do this job for 2 weeks before it was time to go back to school for the fall.
Then I got loaned out to another research project shooting the tops out of Lodge Pole Pine trees. We had 10 trees in each research plot. We would start shooting at 2AM to collect and measure the pressure required to cause the sap to just start to bubble out of a small twig. (The theory was that they could tell how much stress the tree was under.) We had lots of flashlights, a pressure chamber, nitrogen tank, and a shotgun. There was a lot of brush in the area we were working in so one guy would shot the tree to knock down some branches from the upper crown and the other would hold the flashlights and also try to catch the branches before they hit the ground and got lost in the undergrowth. We had to finish the entire course before the first direct sunlight hit the tops of the trees. When we finished we would go to the nearest town and have breakfast. Then it was back out and shoot all the trees over and over again until dinner time. Then back out to shoot them all one more time after the sun went off the tops of the trees. The next day we would move to the next area and repeat. Our shoulders were so sore by the time the weekend came around we never wanted to see a shotgun again. Thankfully we only had to do this job for 2 weeks before it was time to go back to school for the fall.
