what do you do for a living?

:popcorn:

former Financial Analyst.

Part time carpenter.




Former part-time stunt double in adult movies. :evilgrin:

:hi: :D How ya doin', bridgit?

Advertising

And I'm sorry for you.
I'm a graphic artist at an agency.

also full time grad student in Library Science.

Specifically, HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C Health Educator.

I deliver auto parts to dealerships' shops. What do you do?

Also pick up and put out signs and supra locks, and deliver stuff between the two satellite offices and to various properties and meet with Section 8 inspectors and stuff.

:D

I hope to get a job as a statistical ecologist someday though.

I'm 51 and retired in January after 27 years as a painter; starting Grad School in August, to finish up an uncompleted MA in History.

:D

how come i didn't even know that?

:rofl:

:rofl:

:rofl:


:D

several deaf and hard of hearing clients in the past, as well as some head injury clients, and several paraplegic clients. Generally, though, my clients have non-paralyzing back injuries, upper and lower extremity injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc.

I have long had a desire to learn sign language (and there is a very good program here through the Seattle Community College system), but have not yet had the opportunity to take classes.

I worked in a pain clinic for 3 years with mostly people who had been declared disabled and were being treated for chronic pain.

The big thing was always (I think) that for many to have tried to do something new, they would have risked losing their disability, so they had a disincentive to change or try to be productive. So instead, they literally often wasted away. That is not to minimize most of them having true pain, it was just very sad to watch.

It's almost like a change happens once someone becomes the label "pain patient" vs. a person who has pain, or whatever else they might see themselves as. Their whole life becomes built around that one aspect. I admire you sis for your work you do and know that you are dealing with a situation that is very hard for people to deal with. Being disabled, vs. changing careers, and knowing when it is better to just be disabled vs. working is not an easy call many times.

:hug:

they are injured on the job and file a worker's compensation claim, they enter a big government system. They never see their claims managers; they only talk to them on occasion on the phone, or get correspondence from them. Often, by the time they get to me, they feel beaten down, because everyone has been telling them what to do, but often not explaining why, or anything.

I think that one of THE most important aspects of my job is educating people, primarily the worker, but sometimes the employers and even the doctors, about the system. I cannot tell you how many people I've had as clients over the years who, when I first meet them, are pissed, frustrated, etc. I take the time to explain the system to them, explain why they need to do certain things, what the possible consequences are for NOT going to the doc, etc., and the look on their faces is something to behold. I have had numerous clients tell me, "You are the first person who ever took the time to explain this stuff to me." And I tell them that they need to understand, they need to know their rights and responsibilities, and that up until then, they probably felt that everyone was telling them to jump, and their only response was supposed to be, "How high." And they all say, "YEAH! That's exactly how I've felt!"

I'll tell you, helping people understand what this system is about, how it works, etc., is the best part of my job. I've always felt I was a natural teacher, but I never had a desire to teach in the traditional sense of it. But there are many ways to teach, huh?

you are a natural teacher and teaching is a part of many things that people do, maybe all things that people do with others involve teaching.

You sound like the teaching you do with your clients is very important and it is sad that no one has told them more on the front end of things.

I'm proud of you sis!

I mean that

:hug:

I went through the program, and the result was I now have a small computer repair business. After I established myself I hooked back up with one of the counselors and she started hiring me to set up and repair computers for local rehab clients.

I love having the opportunity to work with the physically disadvantaged (being a wee bit disadvantaged myself)- it makes me feel good to give back a bit of myself to the cause. I've worked with the deaf, the blind, the wheelchair bound, and even the emotionally challenged. I can well understand the attraction of working in such a field as the one you chose. It's very fulfilling.

Not all my clients get retrained; some of them are able to return to work in their job of injury, sometimes the jobs can be modified to fit within whatever physical restrictions they have, sometimes the employer has a new job they can offer, and sometimes I find the client employable in a job they used to do.

It's sometimes a challenge to identify (with, ideally, the full participation of the client) a new job for which to train, but it's mostly a good challenge. And when one of my client's successfully completes a retraining program (either through formal education or on-the-job training), and then goes on to find work in their new field, it is so cool!

I'll share a few of my favorite stories.

One client was a man who had sustained a head injury. It wasn't really severe (I don't work with those kinds of clients, as the severely head-injured are beyond the scope of what I do), but it certainly affected his ability to speak, he often had to search for the right word to use, but boy, was he willing to do whatever it took to rejoin the work force. He was working as an auto parts delivery person at the time of injury, when his vehicle was hit by another one. In the past, this man had done some work with the local public radio station. He knew a man who had a very, very small independent station in a small town just south of Seattle, so he went to see him and convinced him to teach him to do some of the technical aspects of doing a radio show. He could no longer do one himself, because of his difficulty in speaking. The owner and I worked together with this man, he successfully completed the training, and is still working in that job 7 years later.

Another client I had decided she wanted to train as an office administrator. She ended up getting hired by the technical college where she went to school for this.

My favorite story, though, is of a client who had always been a laborer, primarily in the construction industry. Because of a back injury, there was no way he could ever go back to that. He was at a loss as to what to do, and I worked very closely with him to try and identify a training goal. Because I got to know him so well, I had an "ah-ha" moment, and thought he would do well as a social service worker. When I told him, he looked at me as if I were nuts. But I kept at it, and talked him into observing a class in a program that teaches people to be SSA's. He was hooked. He went through the program at a local vocational school, then did an internship at a local outpatient mental health facility. He was so good at what he did that he ended up being hired by this facility, and went on to get a 4-year degree in psychology/social services. At the end of his one-year training that I was responsible for, he said, I don't know how you saw this in me, but you were absolutely right. I love this work. Now THAT made ME feel good!

Before the arthritis set in I was a landscaper- coincidentally, I worked in the field for 17 years before my legs gave out on me. I loved my work and was so disappointed when I had to stop working I entered a period of deep depression that lasted over a year.

Particularly among those, such as yourself, who have done a particular type of work for many years, and most especially, if they enjoyed what they were doing. I have a client right now who worked at the same company, in the same job, for 23 years. His back is shot; there is absolutely no way, per his doc and physical therapist, that this man will ever be able to return to that job.

He has just been referred back to me for plan development services. When I called him to let him know, he just kept saying, "(my name), I feel so lost. So lost. I don't know what I'm going to do." He is taking anti-depressants because of his loss of livelihood, and really, his loss of his sense of himself through his work.

He will undergo a vocational assessment, wherein he will have aptitude and interest testing, and hopefully, that will provide us with a starting point in brainstorming for ideas of what he might want to do, what he might want to train in as a new job. He really wants to go back to work, but I do get it that he feels lost.

I'm sure I'll be able to help him identify a new type of work to go into, but it may take awhile.

As for me, I have gone through several periods of burn-out, which is not uncommon in my field. Sometimes the governmental bureaucracy, the anger and frustration of the clients, the nastiness we get from some of the claims managers, just gets to us. But most of us recover from it, and carry on. I am just coming out of the worst period of burnout I've experienced. And I'm glad, because despite the frustrations I can feel, there is also a sense of reward that can come along with this job.

just thought Id say that as I rwead.

:hi:

Q

Can I send you a résumé????

(posted in wrong place)

After 25 years as a legal secretary/paralegal.

Adult Film Industry

:bounce:

at the moment.

Trying to decide if I want another contract office job or want to just hole up and write that book I've always wanted to write.

My SO is a PM for Direct TV. Hey, it's good money and we get FREE TV!!!

Or at least lower my DirecTV bill? :)

of higher quality so they can kill people mo better.

i hate it and am looking for a new job, but the market sucks.

RL

p.s. I write QA software for the defense industry...

with an MS Math, who's first job was analyzing machine gun spray patterns for Apache helicopters.

SHe quit after a while and went to work on the Shuttle program.

Anybody looking for a good tech in the DC area?

I'm a self-employed artist, but that sure as hell
doesn't add up to "a living" these days.

Sweetie has a good job that pays well, so she lets me keep
trying (and failing) at "making a living" with my arts & crafts
as long as I provide the logistical support for her life- cooking,
cleaning, laundry, etc.

I'm really CRAP at the "cleaning", but I make up for it in the kitchen.

but Viagra put me out of business! :mad:




Actually, I'm a plasma donor for flat screen tv's.








Okay.....I'm a songwriter/musician/artist and that's the truth!

:bounce: :bounce:

You know, the usual intuitive and mystical stuff.

You know, the usual intuitive and mystical stuff.

Cancer research specifically.

:wow:

And let me tell you, I spoil them rotten! Can't give edible treats (might mess up studies) but they get plenty of toys!

I also am a clinical social worker but I feel more like the former most days than the latter

...and give it to poor prople.

It's a cool job at the college on a day-to-day basis but our Corporate office and their BULLSHIT POWERTRIPPIN' POLITICS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

Local 98 I.B.E.W.

;)

Oh, I think I said too much. ;)

:hi:

Pay sucks but the benefits are sweeeeeeet.

that is cute

:hug:

;)

i bet you rock as a mommy too!

:yourock:

I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Horse breeder and trainer as well.

It's a tough job but somebody has to do it...

for what National Real Estate Investor magazine ranks as the 4th largest commercial real estate development firm in the country.

And trying to figure out WTF to do so I can retire in eight years to supplement Social Security. I'll not be able to put up with it until age 70.

Would-be writer...

I'm the pressroom bitch.

x(

Transportation

DBA, PC Tech, Network admin, business development, project manager, programmer. Whatever needs to be done I'm there to do it.

...for "gub-ment."

I'm putting on my Kevlar now.


Laura

One, a former neighbor, was a lawyer for the IRS. He later left it and went into an extremely successful private practice defending people accused to income tax evasion. He defended some extremely high-profile clients, including former Governor William Stratton and the late politician (Attorney General, I think) William J. Scott. The one whose wife turned him in after their divorce.

On the day that Scott died, all the minicam trucks gathered at the house across the street to interview the neighbor. He declined comment, as I recall. My mother and I were goggle-eyed at the goings-on. My father said that Scott had probably croaked. Which he had.

My sleepy Far North Side Chicago neighborhood's moment of fame....

Most of what I do relates to real estate valuation (real estate appraisal, actually) and working with property tax law.

My neighbors all ask my why their property taxes are so high. A couple of weeks ago I went to the local tap with my husband for dinner and I spent about thirty minutes talking to a guy that had been in my office a few months before on a property tax appeal. It was quite a congenial conversation because I had saved him some money by helping him with an appeal at state level.

It isn't always that congenial, however. I have been screamed at, sworn at, and I have had a couple of pretty freaky flat tires (knife blades broken off in them...) Our office (fleet) car has been vandalized a couple of times in the last few months, and I have actually had taxpayers (that I do not know!) call me AT HOME nights and weekends.

I know IRS folks and they have pretty sucky jobs. Mine doesn't suck--it just gets strange sometimes.

When I die I doubt the news crews will come out to do interviews.

:)

Laura

What a nightmare those years (yes, years!) were. Since I was already active in politics I always wondered if it was political payback (Reagan/GHW Bush years)....

I could have been one of those people at the Congressional hearings about prosecutorial abuse by the IRS. We have since (to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars) only employed a (vastly expensive) tax attorney firm to do our taxes every year since they guarantee their work and will defend it at no charge. We were told straight out by the IRS agents that handled our case that our file was now "red-flagged". This has caused us enormous financial hardship and pain but the fear of being audited again is worse.

The tax code in this country MUST change - what a crock, what a rip-off, what a sham. You of all people must know this. After thousands of dollars and hours (years!) spent the IRS and our tax attorney agreed that one pair of boots was improperly invoiced. One stinking pair of boots.

The IRS goes after vulnerable small businesses expecting them to cave and fork over more hard-earned cash. They know that most won't go through every invoice, every receipt, and won't retain high priced attorneys to fight.

Arrgh, even thinking about it again gets my blood pressure up!

engineering officer, merchant marine.

:rofl:

and get some of the worst situations handed to them.

:applause:

:hi:

I'm studying to be a Physician Assistant.

Better pay, and I'll get to diagnose patients and write prescriptions.

So, show me where it hurts. O8)

Okay, now take off your clothes. :+

National service. Yes, I'm insane.

I tutor kids in underperforming public schools. It's really good work. When I'm not in school, my service time is spent with an anti-poverty/anti-racist organization. And I run free ELL classes for a local church.

I said I would only do it one year, but it's my second year. In August, I need to find a job that breaks five figures. Yeesh.

...and wannabe law student depending on my LSAT scores and ability to get aid.

If not that, I'll take the Customs Broker exam *shrug*

At night, I'm Batman!

:7

and a new one at that

have you taken your nursing license now too?

:woohoo:

but they promoted me this week to line cook. I am waiting out the pastry chef position cuz the current PC informed me that she is leaving soon and she has recommended me for the slot.

yippee.

It's not my choice of career right now , but i love to cook and I adore the restaurant and I know and love all the people I work with. Anyway, it pays the bills til i get that one hit song written...

Plus I get to nibble on rare cheeses and veggies (ever eat sheep's milk cheese or see purple potatoes?) and shrimp and trout and creme brulee so what's not to love there? And on a good night, the owner let's us sample the wine/liquor/beer selection ;)

:P

I shoulda done this a lot sooner.

getting my masters in health education...but right now I'm not doing anything for a living :P

:eyes:

oh yeah, and single mom:)

All real estate related stuff, mostly in the mortgage markets. It's pretty arcane except the stuff most people recognize, like buying and selling mortgages and investments in commercial properties.

Which is a far cry from my previous careers as tabloid tipster, dog biscuit baker & fifth-grade teacher.

The odd part is I enjoy this work the most, so far.

part-time law professor.

Basically, I torture 1L's and do research for other law professors. :)

I call it prematurely retired.

Looking for a job was like beating my head against the wall.

Broken down former court reporter with law degree; before that, I was a legal secretary.

Court reporting career cratered and I was burned out in 1994 and just couldn't take the stress & abuse from lawyers and judges any more.

and part-time corporate communications consultant for my ne'er-do-well husband's business. :rofl: :spray:

i will have to ask my attorney if
i am covered by the presiden's executive order. It makes sense that it actually does cover somebody, but its not altogether clear who it actually covers anymore. So, until then, it must remain classified.

American Federation of Musicians Local 72-147

organization. Currently I'm getting rid of millions of dollars to well-deserving people. And no, please don't ask me for any, there are a billion criteria that I must follow. It's really a tough and stressful job.

I am responsible for both quality assurance and research and development at my company.

It can be a damned fine gig when you've the whole summer off. :P The actual "school" part is bull, however.

you may know my work if you watch late night television.

A bunch of this and that in my IT Dept.

:hi:

I hate programming with the fiery passion that burns with the heat of a thousand white hot suns :grr:! So I'm going back to school in August and going culianary cause I love cooking and I'm damn good at it.

For a public radio station.

Hence the name

I am currently engaged as the piano player in a whorehouse.

I tell people that, and they always say the same thing: "It could be worse. You could sell lumber at Home Depot."

Home Teaching.

English and ELD.

Both at the secondary level.

the 2D variety (ex-Disney). Now I'm hoping to do my own children's books.

A Dem of course, so I get to actually shape policy in some small way, work on and propose legislation (some of which has passed!), work with elected officials at pretty much all levels of government- town, county state and federal and I do a bunch of constituent work as well. The Legislator I work for is a terrific guy- accessible, bright, not at all full of himself and he lets me tell him if he starts to get a bit puffed up- It is a great job-

I test weapons systems.

I'm a graphic artist at an ad agency.
But I'm also a painter and activist.

So glad I got that MA.

Needless to say I really love to comment on threads about nuclear power. Helps when one actually knows what they're talking about.

but i used to do LOTS of things-

laborer
ironworker
carpenter
travel agent
store detective
marionetteer

to name a few...

So I mooch off of others and skulk my way through life.

I prefer the fatherhood gig. The pay and benefits are great -- just can't pay the bills with them. :-)

Someone has to do it.