IBM after 30 years and was then a system programmer for a university. Retired from them in 2015.

I worked in a lot of customer-facing tech jobs, like systems engineer, and spent my last 17 years teaching for IBM (until they sold off the education division).

Then I taught as a consultant until last year. Health problems made me decide to totally retire.

where ever to do the courses. My manager was in Dallas.

PhD from MIT. Mother of 3, grandmother of 3. I live in a well known purple district on the edge of a big blue blob in the middle of a red state.

Food Safety Consultant!

Love, love, love retirement!

So now you know why I praise you all. Even all these years later, I want to scream, "Please let me back in my kitchen!!!!"

And sometimes rescue worker when called upon

Going from being led by two well respected physicists to the guy who wanted to eliminate the Department of Energy and even didn't know what they did.

Last time , as you may recall Schumer and Pelosi managed to get a great funding bill through Congress which pretty much restored cuts.

The initial president's budget request had drastic cuts which would have killed research in the country.

The political appointees are the idiots but luckily most of the career staff is still there and competent.

Your Secretary? NO! Emphatic NO.

Forensic mental health, part-time "add junk" faculty at state university.

Ever humble H20 Man.....

I have works in collections all over the world. Am currently working on a short story collection. I serve as the chairman of the board of directors of the Putnam Arts Council in NYS.

44 years GTE/AT&T/Lucent/Alcatel-Lucent ( now Nokia)

Published since 1991.

Now semi-retired due to health reasons.

Fairly successful, internationally-produced playwright but that pays so little I also work as a social media manager.

Retired Teacher

Flattering your audience is a good way to get positive responses.

So far we all seem to have given quite a bit to our world.

I am a number-crunching, detail-oriented, hyper-organized office managing machine, but I can flip to flaky artist weirdo mode at the drop of a hat, LOL.

I can also count beans with the best of them, which gives me an income so I can be a non-starving artist at my leisure.

My hubby, who completely shares my views, is a professor and still going strong, although he is 7 years older than me.

I've written about just about everything at one point or another.

Currently enjoying life by gardening, traveling a bit, and reading voraciously. Thank you for such an interesting question!

I have a PhD from SUNY@Buffalo.
I did a research fellowship at Mayo Clinic.
I have over a hundred publications in refereed journals.
I was a tenured Professor at an SEC university.

Retired neuroscientist interested in brain inflammation.

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Waitress, landscaper, gardener, CNA, cashier, too many odd jobs to count before becoming a mortician. Now disabled.

Chemistry and Physics. I also teach Astronomy and Introductory Meteorology. I'm a Cooperative Observer for the National Weather Service. The intelligence and legal communities are not unfamiliar to me from various experiences.

In my spare time (yeah, right!), I'm a writer/poet, and sometimes spend late evenings in "Elite: Dangerous" if I'm not digesting one of the eleventy-bazillion books in my "to read" collection. =)

I taught for 17 years after returning to school in my 40's. Philosophy: Philosophy 101, Ethics, Philosophy in Literature, Business Ethics, Environmental Ethics, and Feminism. I taught logic one semester and hated teaching it. Not "chatty" enough for me as I used a Socratic method (dialectic) to teach.

I loved teaching, but ALWAYS missed being in surgery to this day.

PhD in psychology. My day job for many years was as a secretary. Now retired.

Now freelance writer, water aerobics instructor and administrator of a small non profit hubby and I run out of our home.

(up to eighth grade) to pretty much any subject in humanities and the social sciences at any level (including high school and college).

I also do a lot of freelance editing and some freelance writing, and I have several popular websites where I post articles I write on a wide variety of subjects.

I used to have a dressmaking/tailoring shop, but I don't sew much any more because I am almost 68 and my hands and back don't handle it well these days.

For two years I worked long-distance as a PR writer, too. And when my kids were little I ran a home daycare, while doing those other jobs on the side, when they spent time at their dad's after our divorce.

17 years of teaching composition and tutoring and the work has become mind numbing. Now I want to start freelancing, perhaps in technical writing.

I started teaching as a TA in the late 90s. However, that was nothing to do with composition. That was Greek history and literature.

B.A. in English/Philosophy
Broke my back and retired after a 25 year career

5th/6th grade language arts.

After 20 years, a major corporation bought out the company and moved it to Texas, thus losing my job at an inconvenient age. I then opened my own business and operated it until retirement age.

In addition, my husband and I started a large hydroponic business, which was very successful until his death.

As a grandmother and great-grandmother of 25, I am spending a lot of time trying to keep up with the modern-day antics of our youth and the quickly changing world of electronics. Forever learning.

and then got an offer to work for a patent law firm where I worked for 20 some odd years.

Also now make jewelry in high carat gold and precious and semiprecious gems.

I was.

I cut my DC power installation teeth at Lucent. Currently a project supervisor for a large DC power eqpt company.

3 years in south Florida in the late 70’s then over the road since 1987 with a 4 year gap - 06 to 2010 - where I tried my hand at being a stockbroker

12 years in motor racing, 10 years hauling cars, now haul US Mail

Closing on 2 million accident free miles

than with this maniac!

I wouldn't ride in a truck with that asshole from my living room to the kitchen.

him in the cab!

Novelist/poet, published in both. Poet laureate at the city level.

I’m not terribly smart though, so I’m still part of admin at an analytic training institute.

BA in English/Philosophy; JD in 1985. Masters in European Union Law that I completed during an 8-year hiatus spent in Germany and Netherlands.

Amazed and impressed at how many retirees we count among our own. I always thought retirement was just a fantasy.

From 30+ years of being in a large oil company as a control board tech. and troubleshooter , analyst , and technical writer. Unfortunately had to retire earlier than expected from health issues. Miss it in some ways. It was always a great challenge.

Started my career at a big-city newspaper, but fell under the "last hired, first fired" rule when both of Chicago's afternoon newspapers went under within a few years of each other.

Everything from structural repairs to non-union destructive testing. Very satisfying work.

25 years of Federal Govt Service in the Legislative and Executive Branch and a short stint in State Government

yet

25 years, my own company. Started in I.T., then when that hit the skids after 9/11, transitioned to pharmaceutical/biotech/medical device. Scientists, engineers, manufacturing management, QA/QC.

almost 10 years now.

for a medical practice for 21 years. 6 years ago, my husband invented a product that found a niche and took off so I left my position to manage, market and ship that product. I appreciate the daily flexibility of working in a totally self employed family but it can be stressful at times....not to mention learning curve of working with your spouse.

Taught ceramics for several years, refinished furniture, caned chairs, repaired wicker, painted pysanky eggs, reared 4 children and half the neighborhood in the small town I lived in, designed and built a genealogy website for the county I live in which I still work on every day. I've been told by researchers it's the best county site in the country.

Built dollhouse furniture with drawers/doors that open and shut. Served on the town council. Kind of a jack of all trades, master of none, but enjoyed what I did to the max when I did it.

27 years of that soul sucking career was enough.

I'm also an aspiring screenwriter.

Only one of my stories has been published, and I have a self-published novel, so I guess it's "amateur sci-fi writer".

I worked at Locus for a bit and studied under Octavia Butler. She had the Republicans number in 1999.

She left this universe way too soon.

I feel like we are losing a lot of my favorites now, LeGuin, Dozois, Sheri Tepper...

I guess it goes with the milage.

I have degrees in both mathematics and nursing. I had to quit nursing in 1996 because I have health issues. I was an advocate for my kids who were in the special ed system. (They don't have severe disabilities, but just getting the small amount of help they needed was a full time job. For instance, one kid needed supervision during lunch because he was running with the wrong crowd. They wouldn't do it until they found out what my son was doing during lunch. After month's of complaining, mom shows up during lunch. My son was doing some illegal stuff during lunch. They would have never found out if I hadn't shown up. )

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Luckily I am married to hard working guy. I am helping out with my grandsons while my daughter and son-in-law get their careers going.

My last job (about 10 years ago) was as a day care teacher. Before that I did a variety of jobs:cleaning houses, vet assistant at an animal hospital, dog grooming and a bit of retail.

My grandkids and house keep me busy. I have physical issues that are keeping me out of the work force (mainly because of the jobs I have done in the past!).

Edited to add: while i have been unemployed, I took this time to finally finish up my AA degree. It is not much, may or may not help when I try to get back to work, but I think it set a good example for my kids and grandkids.

33 years of work experience. Seven with the DoD and a defense contractor. The remaining with a OEM on and off road vehicle parts manufacturer and an off road OEM. Work as an individual contributor in a mid-level roll which I hope to retire out of in 13 years when I am 68. Unfortunately my employer may have other plans.

Sorry to screw up your curve.

You know things I wouldn't

In Telecom. Cable TV side.

A Democrat in a sea of red farmers, some who will be out of business by next spring because of the collapse of grain prices...

Currently enjoying gardening, bird watching, poker play some, enjoy slot play at times! Nice to read all the responses!

But have a double major (BS) in library science and anthropology - I wanted to work in a museum but graduated in the late 1970s to hiring freezes.

Now I spend my time with genealogy and needlework since the horses and the farm work beat me up so much over the years I simply cannot do that work anymore.

Phd in rhetoric. She teaches Enlglish and does all the technical writing for college she works for. My oldest daughter is an astrophysicist, has worked for NASA for twenty years. She just got back
From Italy working on a new geration of X-ray telescope. It is supposed to be launched this year.

Congratulations!

What were you breeding (fellow horse and small farm owner).

now mostly playing with and teaching my 2 year old grandson.

Focus: Traumatic Brain Injury

well,got to be careful,flunked it five times in the last fifteen years. Retired from the Food Service and Grocery industry Sales Business to Business.

So much for having a Chemical Engineering Degree,could not handle the four walls Routine,had to be with like people.

But I also coach gymnastics and capoeira a bit, plus teaching myself to code as I'd like to switch careers.

Right now I have 4 classes left and I am looking to transfer to a major university.

Out here in Los Angeles.
Not retired and no plans to do so at the moment.

Was Pricing Analyst for McDonald/Douglas and saw firsthand how our tax dollars are wasted. Moved back east and became Office/Household Manager for two brothers who owned major corporation. After company buyout, had successful career in real estate. Raised two wonderful, productive, successful sons, both now married w/families.

A Democrat since first registering, I am the daughter of a lifelong Republican father and a mother who voted as she was told.

nt

published author of activity books for caretakers of Alzheimer’s patients and family members.

Former teacher (including being the lead teacher in a juvenile detention center). Former employment specialist for adults with disabilities. Former In-Home Safety and Reunification Services Specialist for child welfare clients. Former this, former that--including blue collar jobs.

Still working and trying to decide how much longer. The advent of EMR (Electronic Medical Records) has taken away a lot of the fun of my job, as I now feel more like a data entry clerk than a clinician.

I've taught nursing students and the baccalaureate and master's degree levels a couple of time over my long career. The main thing that keeps me working is my love of doing well baby exams. Not quite ready to give that up. Won't miss the teenagers though.

The thread on the new planet with the very strong magnetism was very humbling.

I'm a retired bookkeeper/accountant and I've often wondered "What does this <often brilliant> DU poster do for a living?"
Thanks for starting this thread. I think it's a first for DU.

The response has blown me away. We are certainly a diverse group of people who not only share a common political ideology we also have a commonality in giving through our professions.
Maybe next week we can delve into what are our hobbies and outside interests?

i work in testing for a large microprocessor company.

raised five children, back to school, masters degree, retired Vice President of major financial firm

Audited non-profits, state governments, health care providers, VA hospitals.

Currently doing people and portrait photography: model portfolio, wedding, portraits.

In beautiful East Tennessee. While surrounded by a lot of Conservatives, I do see a change in the area. I can go an entire week without seeing one Trump bumper sticker. That is very telling for around here.

I also worked part time for community colleges to train new apprentices.

Teaching the trades forward.

Chief Architect at one of the major computer corporations, former Chief Scientist at NASA, 5 patents, many published papers, etc. Did my own startup 15 years ago... sold it to another company.

Formerly a scuba diving instructor (many many years ago now). Lived in the Caribbean.

Former university instructor... for 4 years.

Nearing retirement at this point.