What’s your Profession

R&D Electronics stuff till I retired about 15 yrs ago.
Edit: I see everybody has gone into more detail (except Ian).
Navy missile tech just missed Cuba crisis, then missed Nam. 4 yrs in school, estimating commercial electrical projects to pay the bills. Then design missile guidance radar and IR. Avionic surveillance radio for several AFs. Kinda started the walk-thru metal detector bruhaha, couple Olympics. Bunch of telecom and medical stuff. Basically lots of fun.
Cousin says I'm very very distantly related to the guy who invented BW & Color TV, on Mom's side. Interesting guy.

before my stroke i was a heavy equipment operator and a laborer in water and sewer main lines. i was far from the best operator, i was an average operator. backhoe, dump truck, articulated dump truck, roller, excavator and many more. as a laborer i was a pipefitter, concrete work, roofs, flagman, water and sewer services, carpenter, masonry....and a whole lot more.

i was a jack of all trades, master of none.

Retired. Was a migrant worker AKA construction boilermaker. worked in several states and 3 countries, I was/am really blessed that I could make living doing something Ienjoyed.

I retired in 2016.
I'm not really sure how to explain my work career when I had a full time job? ... (1985-2003)
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The short version is Electrician/Electronic Tech.
But more accurately, I was a "assistant to the regional manager" in a factory type setting...otherwise known as #2 (pardon the pun).
While I had the credentials of Electronic Tech and the knowledge to do Electrician type work, and I could work in either department of the Company, but honestly, I was the Gopher (brown noser) to the Big Boss and did pretty much anything and everything he needed done...mostly things that no one else could or would do...or maybe things that everyone else would do if they "had" too, LOL.
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I left that full time job in 2003, and started building Industrial electric/electronic control panels as a Independent Contractor, for some of the companies that got screwed over by the Company I left.

Soldier, undercover narc and then State Police Officer before becoming a Firefighter in Ohio. Moved my family west and ran a ranch for a year, great lifestyle but terrible pay and no benefits. Then 24 years as a Firefighter/Medic/HazMat commander. Medical retirement then 18 years as an Environmental Chemist for the State Haz/Mat team.

Been fully retired 10 years now and loving my new life.

Six jobs in the first 6 months after leaving school at age17, then 33+ years in the plywood manufacturing industry. Active elected rep for the IWA union, I.E. Safety Director etc. for more than half that time. Then, during the economic downturn in the 80"s I set up and ran an advocate service for unemployed/disadvantaged/disabled folks as a function of the BC Federation of Labor. I oversaw 8 centers plus my own throughout BC. We did appeals from Unemployment, Welfare, Pensions and any other problem experienced by unemployed folks, Union or not. I developed (reluctantly) and ran a food bank from 1981 to 1991 (part time) with periods of work in the mill and working to place workers who had been put out of work through plant/mill closures. In 1991 I secured an "Order in Council" appointment to the Worker's Compensation Review Board, as a Labor representative, on an administrative panel that made binding decisions on decisions of the WCB regarding workers and employers. In 2001 I advanced to the position of Vice Chair, which I held to retirement in 2004. I then worked from home for 2 years as a contract Vice Chair for 2 years, finally retiring in 2006. Life is GREAT!!!

Dang Ric . . . to do all that you must be old-er.

I am loving all the responses and reading about everyone

Yep, pretty interesting. Some of it I already knew, just didn't know Ric was in his late 90's.

I used to be a college professor who taught both sociology and cultural anthropology. After retiring, I worked on several tourist railroads: Now that was an education!

same job since 1975 (man Im ready to retire) though more responsibility over the years, Lubricant, industrial machine fluids product manager. I formulate, trouble shoot and solve lubricant problems mostly machining fluids. Married 45 years have 1 daughter moved back home at 25 which is nice for wife she is kinda over me LOL.

Professionally, I'm part of a team that facilitates the transcontinental migration of piscatorial species. My specialty is in navigation and expedited facilitation of said migration.

Now that I've had a suitable amount of laxatives, my occupation is truckdriver that hauls mostly cryogenically treated fish.

I'm a retired mechanical engineer and I was fortunate to work for the same company for 40 years. I worked every facet of the company's business and it was always interesting. I did some traveling in the U.S. and overseas a little bit. Almost all of the people I worked with were wonderful.

My Profession was Certified Professional Commercial Photographer for 50 years ( 1973 to 2023) with the same company.
It was a profession that I loved and now miss. Met a lot of nice people and went a lot of neat places! Published internationally a number of times, but those were the days!
Jim

Was a 3 year tank crewman (71-74) and going to be a "lifer" until God intervened. No regrets.
Went to Bible School / College in 76 and have been an Independent Baptist Church Planter Missionary since 1982 and in Peru since 1986. Will transition to U.S. church planting (SW Arizona) this year and participate with God in starting one more Baptist Church.

Army officer for 24 years. Retired in 2012 and been teaching JROTC ever since, four years at a school in Topela and the past 7 1/2 in Junction City just outside Fort Riley.

I still kind of marvel at the fact that I get paid to do some of the things I do. Love these kids and have kind of found a renewed enthusiasm I was losing for it this year.

Husband, father, and parts wrangler for an airplane shop.

I used to count by 5 for a living. Now I help oversee 150 pharmacies across Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota. Ever herd cats?

What I don’t do is sleep well. Maybe in 4-5 years.

I was an A&P mechanic. Then I car guyed a couple years built of houses for someone else.
Then I spent 22 years humping ammo for uncle , all 5 branches , 22 LR to MOAB .
These days I'm just a chicken offal guard .

I guess I woke up one morning when I was about 17 and wanted to raise kids the rest of my life . I've had at least 1 17 or less since my first came home 7/18/85 , usually 2-3 . They're 2, almost 4,5,&14 these days . My baby is 35 .

Graphic Arts & Printing. My last two years of HS, I took several courses in printing and photography and ended up going to the local college and getting my degree in printing. I worked for the college for a couple of years after graduation, running the school's print shop, producing all their needed publications. Left there after a couple of years and went to work for a commercial screen printer, where I did hand color separations from the artwork of various products we produce, such as beach towels, bath towels, hand towels and kitchen goods such as port holder and oven mitts. I eventually ended with the position of making all the screens used in the printing process. It was fun, but I missed the printing industry.

I ended up leaving there after about five years and went to work for a small family own printing company when I spent the next twenty-five years as a four color stripper, platemaker, camera and darkroom, color scanner operator before I was laid off during the Bush recession. It took me about a year to find another job, the economy sucked and nobody was hiring, but I ended up working at a package printing company on the 12 hr. night shift burning printing plates on Heidelberg Suprasetters for the large sheet fed and web presses as well as making flexible photopolymer plates for our two flexo presses. The company was bought out in 2008 split up and most of us lost our jobs to foreign companies, so after about a year's layoff I ended up working for a small copy shop here in town for the next ten years, running presses, doing various bindery jobs and running the mail room.

Currently, I'm working for an envelope mfg. and printing company, we produce and print other things as well, but envelopes of all types and sizes are a lot of it. I usually run a 45" ITOH computer programmable paper cutter, do various bindery jobs and run our old 1970s envelope latexing machine, it puts the self sticking gum on the flaps, it has to be set up each time for the type and size of envelope you're running which can vary from as few as 500 to 100K. I retired at 62, but I still work there, I'll be 65 in Jan. but I only work about thirty hours a week.

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