Work/Jobs

[paintballedbackin88]

I'm a certified hospice and palliative care LPN in Phoenix, AZ. Currently working as an after hours triage nurse, and have been a nurse for the last 25 years.

Used to work as an intensive comfort care hospice nurse in California, and reffed on the weekends at Field of Fire in Santa Clarita in 2015, before I moved to AZ in 2017 to take care of Mom.

Our goal is to manage issues related to the terminally ill and dying in their preferred setting. Ultimately, I try my best to prepare pt.'s and families for imminent death by guiding them through their final moments.

I will pronounce time of death, provide post mortem care to the deceased, and contact the designated funeral home for pick up and transport. We have teams consisting of chaplains and social works who also assist with bereavement.

Seeing death almost daily gives me perspective and allows me to be grateful for everything everyday, because...death.

Covid 19 has made pt. interaction more complex and risky, but patients were always coughing on me anyway when I worked in the hospital.

The intensity of working with death keeps me engaged, and knowing I can make a difference in someone's life is priceless. Families and other Healthcare professionals generally appreciate our role in the community. However, some still find the word "Hospice" to be quite terrifying.

I'm paid near the top of my scale, and jobs for hospice are in demand and growing as our population ages. I love my job, although I'd like to go back to working 8 hour shifts. Currently working 15 hour shifts on call from 5pm to 8am.

Playing paintball reminds me to be grateful for my continued health.

[ghilliesuit]

The work your doing is important and hopefully gratifying. But I imagine it has to be tough physically and emotionally. May I ask how you got started down that path of nursing?

Wish you the best in what I am sure are demanding times for your industry right now.

[Paintslinger16]

Unsung hero’s the whole field of Nursing, I have done many hairy things, seen things most people haven’t, but being a nurse and health care in Hospice..wow 🙏

[cellophane]

What do I do?
I work in architecture. Have a Bachelor of Architecture (professional degree, i.e. I can get licensed) and all the required hours but I've been a slacker and haven't taken my exams yet, so I'm not licensed. As far as day-to-day work goes it varies quite a bit. Overall I head up the limited in-house IT (the big stuff is outsourced), and am a BIM (Building Information Modeling) manager / design technologist, meaning I work with processes for modeling and documentation, troubleshooting, content creation, training, trying to get the ID-Ten-T's to understand that short-term shortcuts lead to long-term problems but that doesn't seem to sink in. I also do some schematic design, construction documents, construction admin, existing conditions verification, and most recently quite a few renderings.

Do I like it?
Depends on the day. I love the field and working with BIM, but I hate the type of projects we do and the race to the bottom mentality management has when it comes to the work itself. I'm proud of the work I've done with the software and knowledge base I have, but there are very few projects I've worked on that I would say I'm proud of, let alone even like.

Why do I stay?
I'm an idiot? I haven't really found anything else locally that fits the bill for what I want from my work. Pay is good where I currently am and I have some leeway in what I do and how I do it a good portion of the time. The times I don't things are run by an incompetent autocrat. Some hyperbole there but you catch my drift.


As far as what you are looking for-
Construction trades are all in high demand right now and frequently pay well. My parents live in the DFW area and they have told me multiple times that projects end up on hold because there isn't enough labor. The downside is you frequently have to work in all weather conditions and there can be some uncertainty depending on field and location. Training / schooling is frequently paid for by an apprenticeship of some sort so if you do go back to school you at least finish with no additional debt.

[shadow191]

Internal Consulting at a large bank - basically lead a team finding ways to do work more effectively/efficiently. Previously did similar work at one of the largest companies in US but focused on employee benefits side.

The work is interesting so I stay, basically every few months we put forth another initiative so things don't stay static. Also the money is really good but that's not primary reason. Wife and I have been fortunate to have always saved a lot and to have had well paying stable jobs so we were able to live below means without actually sacrificing. Early 40's and could probably FIRE anytime but if we did it today would require some lifestyle adjustment. If we hold out 4-5 more years could maintain lifestyle. Even then, not sure we would as we both like working.

I've bounced around in my career quite a bit figuring out what it is I wanted. Went to school for Chemical Engineering and Biology as the plan was to go to med school. Then realized I didn't want to be a doctor and shortly thereafter realized I didn't want to be an Engineer. So graduated with a degree I've never used. Luckily started a business during college that did well (early '00s) so built that before selling it and was getting MBA at same time. Then went into wealth management for about 5 years, then benefits consulting, then program management which led to now. No idea what I may do next.

What is your current line of work?

What keeps you at your current job?

Do you like it?

I'm a little lost and on the cusp of a career change I think.

[Daniel Tiger]

Basically same job here. Just for a large asset manager. Studying for my six sigma black belt in March

[maggot]

Hey Nish, I can relate. Been in a bit of a career funk myself. I've bounced between careers (GIS, then BI, now CRM/ERP consulting), and don't really know where I should be. I have a tendency to work above my pay-grade and find myself in a position where the insane amount of work I put in becomes the expectation... but it's not sustainable.
The one thing I truly enjoy is "picking" things and flipping them online. I did at one point try doing that full time, but some bad luck landed me temporarily without an Ebay account... the primary place I was selling.
I wish you luck on the search.

What is your current line of work?
Project manager for a tiny consulting firm that services manufacturers' IT needs

What keeps you at your current job?
I don't really know. I've been looking, but I don't know what I'm looking for.

Do you like it?
Not particularly. High stress, high turnover, low pay.

[Nish]

Honestly, I'd keep this job as long as I needed if it wasn't for the move being on the horizon. Really just can't see restarting everything in a new area so far away and looking for the exact same job that I'm not happy with. Seems like a great chance to try something new.

[russc]

Used to work on the production/management side of a company that made some pretty famous kid's cartoons. I went back to school at 28 to study mechanical engineering, and I now do private sector research and development for the DoD.

Pay is low for the area. There's one company nearby that has been poaching our fresh engineers with a >40% pay bump, but I get to direct my own programs and work on some pretty insane stuff, that nobody with my experience would be handed otherwise.

[bellicose]

What shows, if if you don't mind me asking?

[russc]

My little pony was the big one, pound puppies was probably the next best-known.

[spikeball]

I am currently a Customer Service Manager for Guitar Center. Basically assistant store manager if I want to be fancy about it.

My career with the company is getting close to 15 years. December will mark it. I've held many different positions as well. That's part of what keeps me with the company; the ability to be flexible and have opportunity to move elsewhere in the country if I so desire, which I don't right now. I know my daily and weekly expectations quite well and that makes for a mostly low stress experience. Relatively easy if I do say so. The pay isn't super, but I've done some really cool things thanks to being with the company. Just being part of the music industry in a different way has given me things I would have never encountered on my own. I will say it's a lot of fun being around things I actually am passionate about and still enjoy. There's a value in that.

I like it about 75% of the time. Dealing with the general public as customers sucks a lot sometimes. Usually at the end of the day, or sometimes week, the situation is handled and I can move on. Still wish I got paid a little better though.
That's why I too am considering changing careers after this year. Originally I had wanted to be part of the corporate office with their Drum Department, but that environment changed drastically a few years ago, and I want nothing to do with it anymore. A store manager position is the next stop in the path with the company to get a substantial pay increase, but I see what they are put through these days, and I don't want that either.

I'll say this though, if any of you want or need to order any musical stuff from Guitar Center, please message me and I'll give you a discount on your quote if I can!

[Paintslinger16]

You ever been to the, House of Guitar in Rochester NY?

[Arthur]

I work in operations and human resource mgmt for large tech companies. Just got an offer from Dell, was happy with it until my mortgage company told me I need to make more money. Trying to buy a house while interviewing is a delight.

[ghilliesuit]

I feel that. I accepted my current position and had to delay starting for over a month so that I could switch after closing. Too much stress.

[Diesel imp]

What is your current line of work?[ I drive semi truck for the countries largest producer of greek yogurt ]

What keeps you at your current job?[ Pay, I make well over union wages for a non union job and its a 4 day work week with my benefits costing me about 100 bucks a week ]

Do you like it?[ I'd rather not work and collect a paycheck but it beats cleaning porta-potties ]

I'm a little lost and on the cusp of a career change I think.

.............

[DocsMachine]

What is your current line of work?

-In 1998, I turned my hobby of working on and modifying paintball guns, into a full-time job. Gave myself a year; if at the end of that year, I was either starving to death or had grown tired of it, I'd go back to a "real" job. Twenty-three years later, I'm still here.

Around 2015, I turned my other hobby, drawing a daily webcomic, into a full-time job as well. So I now have two full-time and two part-time jobs: full-time Airsmith and Cartoonist, part time manufacturer and publisher.

What keeps you at your current job?

-One, I love this stuff. Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but I've always been fairly creative, and very hands-on. Was stick-welding at 10, using an acetylene torch at 11, rebuilt my first small engine at 12, and my first full size engine- which is still running today, by the way- at 14. The airsmithing not only lets me play with small, clever mechanical devices (without the paperwork and legal issues of firearms) but also allows me to be creative, doing body milling, making custom grips, or even just figuring out how to repair something that's considered unrepairable.

And two, I make a terrible employee. I very much prefer working to my own pace- which is often frantic- and working when I want to work. I'm not a good fit to rigid schedules, artificial deadlines, and idiot "you'll do it MY way because I said so!" bosses.

On the comic, I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil, and have always had at least what I thought was a good sense of humor. Once I discovered webcomics, that sort of thing was a natural, and with the later advent of crowdfunding like Patreon, I was finally able to make a small income off it, too.

Do you like it?

-Wouldn't trade it for the world. Still not making much money at it, and likely never will, but it's endlessly interesting. I love taking something broken and making it work again, or taking a block of raw material and making something cool and unique out of it.

I'm a little lost and on the cusp of a career change I think.

-I won't blow smoke up your skirt and say I haven't been in that same boat. I knew going in that this would never be a big moneymaking franchise, and there have been more than a few years along there where I grossed less than $12K a year.

But as above, I virtually always enjoyed what I was doing, even if I didn't make much at it.

I have had several offers over the years to go back to the oilfield- not to toot that horn again, but I am basically a Master Machinist. One of those offers was for the North Slope- two weeks on, two weeks off, $80K starting. By this point I'd be making twice that... for half a year's work.

But, it'd also be boring, repetitive work. Rethreading endless stacks of drill stem, repairing yet another pump shaft, rebushing yet another pump housing. And usually under the clock, with a foreman looking over your shoulder, tapping his foot and checking his watch because some critical system is down and it's costing the company $50,000 an hour.

The money would be much better, but the aggravation level would also be a lot higher. And there's a lot more to life than money.

Doc.

[Deus Machina]

Nish knows, but I'll add this for everyone else.
I'm in mortuary and medical examiner transport. People die in the hospital, I go pick up the bag. Grandma on home hospice care, I give my condolences to the family, shroud her, and take her to the funeral home. Someone highsides a motorcycle on the freeway or takes a left turn for the right-side offramp, I go out and pick up the pieces and manhandle them and all their new joints out of the wreckage. Biggy Smalls impression? I get the call. Kurt Cobain impersonator? Weekly occurrence. Someone doesn't have any family to check on them and they're in the house long enough that the downwind neighbors call it in? I put on one of those white jumpsuits and scoop what I can into a bag.
There's not a week without a story. I've seen some stuff.

What keeps me there? You try finding enough people to do this job. "Job security" doesn't even cover it. Not only are we nearly unfireable, there's been exactly two weeks this year I haven't been on overtime by Wednesday.

Like it? I've seen some good stuff. The great-great-grandfather whose family greeted us to the party in his honor. Some people just know to celebrate what they created and left behind rather than break down because they're gone. That's cool. Sometimes we complain because it's nasty work; the 250-pound guy living in the loft and ended up leaking through the ceiling, or the 400-pounder in a sailboat. Usually it kind of hurts, and I just have to put on the strength and power through. Kind of makes a nihilist out of you.
But I help take the weight off the families how I can. And at least I don't get customers yelling at me.

Still beats the heck out of going back to retail.

[SignOfZeta]

My girlfriend is a nurse. I could never do what guys like you and her do. You’re all angels, as far as I’m concerned.

[bellicose]

Are you in charge of clean up of the area, or just retrieval of the body?

[Deus Machina]

Plenty of crazy stories.
Nurses have it worse, IMO. It's one thing to just move a body and be sympathetic, it's something completely different to meet the person before they're no longer there.

I'm just in charge of the transport. Move the body off the scene and to the funeral home or medical examiner, sometimes take along medications or the like (for the ME) or personal items and selected clothing (for funeral homes, and they actually prefer the family bring those to their office instead) and paperwork.
Cleaning up is a different job, for a company certified for bio work. But if it's not evidence or soaked into anything but clothing/bedding, we'll gladly take soiled nonvaluables to be disposed of--every facility is required to have an accessible biohazard bin--or wipe up what we can.
It's our goal to leave a place (physically) as close as we can as if someone had just moved out. If we can handle it so the family doesn't have to deal with cleaning up after grandpa slips out of the tub and hits his head, we try to spare them.

[JeeperCreeper]

I'm the lead foreman for a drywall company (arguably the best one in the area. We do alot of big custom homes) It sucks but it pays the bills. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up

[cellophane]

I oddly like doing drywall. Wouldn't want to do it everyday, but something about mudding is relaxing on a small scale. I will say I am always super impressed at how fast a good mudder is, even without the cool gizmos.
related note- we did some work on an old church downtown and I spent a little time talking with the guy that was restoring the plaster work. That is super cool as well.

[Jordan]

Auto mechanic, going on 20 years now.

I don't mind it, most of the time, but would much rather do something else. I'm stuck at this point, though... can't afford to take a paycut and start over as an apprentice, and have no post-secondary education other than tradeschool.

[SignOfZeta]

There’s always development. There must be some decent sized OEMs to milk up there. You’d have to move to whatever town they’re all in though, somewhere in Ontario probably.

[Pyrate Jim]

Retired. I spend my days doing what pleases me.

Don't get me wrong, I still keep busy doing what needs to be done.
Living on a tree farm means a few weeks in the Spring planting seedlings, Summers dropping the standing dead and splitting it up for Winter firewood.
But there have been other little projects like moving stones to make a swimming hole in the creek for the grandkids to swim, and creating a sluiceway out of it to run a water turbine.

[Grendel]

I'm heading there the plan is 5 more years then early retire. My wife and I are planning on doing some subsistence farming and doing some work on the side. I have my eye on setting up a small sawyer operation to support my woodworking and sell some to offset some expenses. Subsistence gardening, orchard and raising chickens, pig and goats. I plan on being a hermit that gives his granddaughter a rural education

[Tarsun2]

it always seems to me that when you (people in general) find a job that they love, it dosent pay well.
but
people that make a good amount, hate the job their at or lean to love it for the $.

how great the world would be if everyone didnt have to worry about $ working at a job that they loved to do... think of how much nicer people would be lol

[Raleighpaintball.com]

What is your current line of work? I own a brewery!

What keeps you at your current job? Free Beer!

Do you like it? See answer to question above

http://www.cloudsbrewing.com

[Nish]

ONe of the places we are actually looking at is Alamance county.

[cellophane]

What?! A local brewery that doesn't have 90% IPAs?!? Your stouts look pretty tasty, too bad it is like a 9-hour drive...

[Falcon16]

Your midnight delight stout sounds right up my alley. I'll have to stop in sometime when cross border travel is allowed again and it's only a bit of a detour on my drive down to Atlanta.