This winter is going to be long..so..what do you do for a living ??

[seapuppy]

trying to keep this place going sometimes drives me and shrew nuts...we have alot of folks that lurk...never joining into the frey of things...which is sad cuz they probably have alot to offer....
so...in an attempt to get some to join....I was wondering since it's winter, and it's going to be a long ugly one at that..maybe we can introduce ourselves some....
so....the question is..what do you do for a living in the non-boating months...???..

or for a living.....??..which ever comes first.......

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for me..I work at the Boeing commercial aircraft company on the 787 dreamliner...I work in engineering in the Electromagnetic's Effects group where we're responsible for every part and structure of the airplanes qualification to meet FAA requirements against static, lightning. emi or any arcing that might cause damage, unwarranted aerodynamic inputs or damage to components....

everything from nuts and bolts to the engines gets qualified for the new plastic airplane...in my job I am the Certification focal to the authorized reps that sign off all the test/evaluation documentation....I'm the dummy in the group...most of these guys have masters or phd's....but I try to keep up with them....

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so..what do you do??? tell us a little about yourself....

SP

[biggerseagar]

I'll help get this party started.......... This will be my second winter of not doing squat. I have worked for two different railroad's since high school. My first job was working for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad...CNW. I worked as a Conductor/switchmen. I did that for 18 years and took a buy-out in 1992 thinking I never would never step back on a choo- choo again.......Well folks never say never! In 1993 I started working for the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railways....TPW. TPW is one of the oldest east-west railroads in the country. Again working as a conductor/switchmen.

If you have every worked for a railroad you know that as soon as they hire you they want to fire you. That is why most railroaders have what is called "Can insurance". You pay a monthly due for get a daily rate of $50.00 a day being off or as much as $200.00 a day for being off work. It is like having your our private unemployment insurance plus we also get the normal railroad unemployment to boot . All this is good until may of next year for me when all this runs out..

Never had to use my can insurance for 30 years of railroading until two years ago when as they say,"if I had bad luck I would have no luck at all. I had a incident to where I got 4 months off. Got back to work last Feb. of 2011 and in May of 2011 had another incident and got dismissed, fired, gone....Now I am a human being and we are make mistakes which of all the incidents no one was hurt or no damage was done. Such is life!

Well to segway into the present.........I have done or played catch-up with our house and everything else that I have ingnored from working 60 hour weeks for the last 5 or 6 years all since being off work since this May. I enjoyed a fantastic summer of boating with friends and family. I have got to know my grandchild, to make her laugh and giggle. All of this would of not happen if I would still be working. So here in a couple of months I should hear from the labor relations board and have take a trip up to Chicago for a hearing. And hopefully because the discipline that I received was "excessive"I might get my job back so I can work three more years and come December 1 ,2014 I can offically retire.

So to end this war and peace novel what am I doing this winter? Whatever my wife tells me what to do............ I going to watch the snow fall, maybe go ice fishing, take trips with my wife to see her daughter, get a movie or two and do my wood working projects to keep a smile on my face. Three years and counting...............

Roger

[shrew]

Hi my name is Shrew. I'll start from here. Most people associate the name with an old english word used to describe a woman given to violent, scolding, particularly nagging treatment, as in Shakespeare's play "The Taming of the Shrew". This is not the case. First of all, so as not contribute to any further confusion.....I'm a 40 yr. old guy. I ended up adding the definition to my signature (see below) a short while ago. I've had the name for over 20 years and many close friends still call me that to this day.

I graduated from college with a B.A. in Psychology/Minor in Sociology as we as B.A in Social Science/Minor in History. So it was obvious that when I went out into the world, Sales was the obvious choice. After about 6 years, a wedding and a house, I came to realize that being good at something and enjoying what you do are mutually exclusive topics. It was time to get back to what I realy enjoy. At this point it was obviously that with my college degrees and work experience computers was clearly what I was destined to be doing. If you're confused, so am I.

So, after taking a 25% pay cut I entered the world of computers as an entry level Help Desk Technician. I paid my dues for about 8 months when the entire IT staff was reduced to......me. I had no idea what most of our systems did or where they were. Why would I? I had spent my illustrious career to that point unlocking locking user accounts, unjamming printers and crawling un people's desks. (It sounds better on paper, trust me). Since there was nobody there to turn to, I spent the following months giving myself a crash course in System Administration. I did so well, I was promoted. I spent a number of years working as a System Admin. until I realized I was being paid as a Helpdesk with the responsibilities of a Sr. System Admin. Next Stop was to work in Technical Support for a software company.

Techical Support isn't quite what you might think. I work for a company that develops enterprise level software used by IT departments. SO our customer's are typically Your IT departments System Adminstrators. I've been handling issue escalations for a number of years. I work from home. I typically spend most of my day supporting our frontline support engineers. The remainder are customer issues that have been escalated from the frontline to the backline.

However, work is not what defines me. Obviously I like to boat in the summer. I grew up on boats. My parents had several express cruisers when I was growing up. We spent every single weekend from Friday to Sunday living on the boats. This is why I continue to do it to this day. I've been married to the same admiral for over 15 yrs. We have no children.

I also enjoy fishing, camping, hiking/backpacking, target shooting, riding my dirtbike (woods riding, no track). In the winter months I like to downhill ski, backcountry ski (this is like crosscountry but with no groomed trails. The skiis are wider and have edges like downhill skis), ice climb, mountaineering (I hike and climb all winter as well). Indor activities include a variety of card and board games. In teh winter the admiral and I end up doing about 6-7 puzzles.

[CountryME]

They call me CountryME. As in Mechanical Engineer who grew up a country boy. I am a Mechanical Engineer by training at the prestigious Union College in Upstate NY. However, I have been had the privilege to be employed as a DoD Civilian in the job of Nuclear Engineer for the past 10 years at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and I have been a engineering supervisor for the past two. Now this is a pretty cool job, as I get to work on multi-million dollar submarines during the week. The group at the shipyard is a great bunch of guys doing their best to fix these ships so the sailors can kill bad guys and blow stuff up. The only bad part is watching the boats travel up and down the river on hot summer days while I'm at work.

In the winter, speed is my passion. I race cars on frozen lakes in Maine as part of NMIRA (New Meadows Ice Racing Association). It's really fun to race door to door on ice without spending a lot of cash. This winter however, I will be staying closer to home as my 3rd baby is due in 2 weeks (a girl this time) and I will be devoting my off time to my family.

-JP

[ccruser1]

Hi everyone, this is ccruser1 a name I picked up so long ago I really can't remember how I got it. I think it was from the "CB radio" days.
I work as a service technician installing and maintaining computerized chemical dispensing equipment on commercial dish washers and laundry machines. My home base is Cape Cod and I work out of my home. Being "on-call" 24/7 with the exception of 2 weekends a month makes for a very busy lifestyle, especially during our busy summer months. Why then the boat? I have been boating for near as long as I can remember so it is a life style that is difficult if not impossible to give up. Actually, I use the boat as my sanctuary for peace and quiet from my 16 year old grandson who lives with me and my wife. (I am too old for that) I used to enjoy a quiet day of fishing with my parents in Buzzards Bay but it seems they caught every flounder in the bay as my wife and I watched from our boat 10 feet away from theirs. This being said, I got used to just sitting out on the water which is pretty much what we now do. We just bought our newest boat , a Maxum 2300SCR in really sweet shape and plan to venture out next summer to Martha's Vinyard and Cuttyhunk as well as other nice inlets in the area.
I would love to be able to take advantage of the long winter lay-up to make some improvements to her (Judy Ann ll) but in spite of the warmer than usual 60 degree temps so far I know reality is just around the corner and I just can't bring myself to unwrap her and get involved with anything at this point. I have always hated this time of year knowing that there are sooo many freezing cold, snowy,wet, windy days ahead of us before we can even think of uncovering and getting ready for a new season.
Retirement is just a few years away and once that happens we will be out of here and head south to the Carolina's sans any grand children.As for now, I drive by the mostly empty marina a few times a week and just think warm thoughts.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.

[jeffmeans]

I make my living as an independent contractor for commercial telecommunications companies. I find them Customers, and they pay me a commission... about 75% of my company's income is residually-based, but nonetheless the economy has certainly taken a toll on our business. Residual income is great, but not if the end-Customers keep going out of business! Anyway, I represent nearly every telecom company you've heard of, most you haven't... cable companies too. Been doing this since the Telecom Act of 1996, and do enjoy the freedom of time it gets me. I work out of my home and enjoy spending time with our two little boys (ages 6 and 7 now)... they're kind of a new "set" of kids for me, as children from a previous marriage are all grown and gone or in college. I've got mixed emotions about the boys growing up and "taking time" from our boating, but there's only one thing I enjoy more than being on our 29' 2001 Maxum... and that's coaching the boys' sports (football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, etc...) So missing time on the boat isn't going to be that big of a deal in the future as they get older I've concluded. Although I control most of my time, I DO have to answer my phone 24x7x365... so there are trade-offs. For instance, there's no WAY I could leave my emails and phone calls for more than... I'll say 72 hours. So the vacations that regularly-employed people can take are just not an option for me (but I wouldn't have it any other way, as a quick phone call or answering an email in 30 or 40 minutes of time out of a day is an easy trade-off compared to having someone else control my time).

In our part of the country there's excellent lakes for boating, we moor Endless Summer on Lake Coeur D' Alene in Northern Idaho... just across the border from where we live outside of Spokane, WA. Much of my work is done while on this little 29' boat, being somewhat of a techy-guy I've made sure my business can be "portable" like that. I don't really need a desk (nor OFFICE for that matter) to do business, just a laptop and a smartphone and I'm ready to go. We had a major set-back about five years ago (our largest vendor chose to stop our ongoing commissions, which we sued and eventually settled) and have been struggling to get back to where we were back in 2007. But boating is something I grew up on, and have a passion for. I love being on the water, snorkling, water-skiing, tubing (we tow our JetSki behind Endless Summer), swimming and so on... and having a way to stay out on a buoy or on the hook for overnight is fantastic.

I don't know what I'd do if I had to go back and get a real job, I'll be 49 years old in February and the fear of losing my freedom is a constant reminder to keep my business profitable. Since Friday the 13th of September, 1996... I've been self-employed (well, now we're an S-Corp) and can't recommend it highly enough to anyone else looking to make such a change.

[rens914]

Hi Guys
I'm a casino manager, at this moment we are rebuilding the gaming area. This project started last july and will be finished in march 2012. i am one of the organisers.

At home i have been doing some things too. have been rebuilding our roof (making it more wind and weather proof), redoing our 2nd bathroom, finishing the kitchen (placed a new one last year) and at this moment changing the radiators on the top floor

In the meanwhile i try to save some time for my wife, my big dane, the gim, and reading at least 2 books a month.
have winterised the boat myself and it's sitting next to my garage

have been doing a lot of other things before
having a passion for speed i have owned some supercars (lambo, ferrari, esprit v8, tuscan s and several porkers), went skiing a few times each winter, owned a MV agusta to use on the track and complished a few 1/2 triathlons
but all that ended after getting old
both knee's are gone
that's why i have a boat know. (it's an old people thing :0)))
will be going to sail in waters of belize with tradewinds in december 2012

think i'm going to have a nice troubleless breakdown in april 2012 - 2018

rens

[Jerryh3]

I'm a configuration manager. I maintain engineering documentation for communication systems. Yes, it really is as exciting as it sounds.

[9Ball]

I am a Retired(1993) Navy H-53 Crew Chief(AD-1) and now I am Deputy Assistant Program Manager for Logistics, for the CH-53K. I work for Naval Air Systems in Patuxent River, MD. The Ground Test Vehicle is being built in West Palm Beach, Elec power gets turned on for the 1st time next week, and Hyd Power is expected to go on next month. Been on this program for 3 yrs now and it’s great to see it starting to come together.

I retire in 5 yrs, and want to retire in Florida, so if anyone knows of a Logistics job in FL let me know..LOL


Todd

[Jerryh3]

Originally Posted by 9Ball

I am a Retired(1993) Navy H-53 Crew Chief(AD-1) and now I am Deputy Assistant Program Manager for Logistics, for the CH-53K. I work for Naval Air Systems in Patuxent River, MD. The Ground Test Vehicle is being built in West Palm Beach, Elec power gets turned on for the 1st time next week, and Hyd Power is expected to go on next month. Been on this program for 3 yrs now and it’s great to see it starting to come together.

I retire in 5 yrs, and want to retire in Florida, so if anyone knows of a Logistics job in FL let me know..LOL


Todd

One(well, at least one) of the systems I work with is in that. Small world.

[9Ball]

Originally Posted by Jerryh3

One(well, at least one) of the systems I work with is in that. Small world.

Which one, I also worked on S-2D, C-1, T-28, C-131, C-121, and V-22(FSD)

Todd

[Jerryh3]

Originally Posted by 9Ball

Which one, I also worked on S-2D, C-1, T-28, C-131, C-121, and V-22(FSD)

Todd

ISWICS, the crew comm system.

[ed & inge]

hello everyone,

my name is ed, 49 years old, en my wife is inge, 50 years young.......for 15 years i had 2 bycicle shops until i sold them in 2001 and then took a sabattical year (or 5). after the sabattical was over i became a busdriver in my home town almere in the netherlands. inge works as chief P&O....our hobby is boating..... and untill a year ago motor riding (we both had a suzuki intruder c800cl) but because of illness and a lot of operations from me we had to end this. so now we boat a little bit to everywere and nowere and sitting in the sun getting a colour on our skin......we also go to italy every year......during the times not being at work or on the boat we spend a lot of time in the sauna......and in bubble pooles......

at this moment we have the 2400 sc3 cuddy of 2009.......but we are looking for bigger....again ( all ready had the 2855 and the 3055 of bayliner some years ago)

greatz, ed

[muddy]

i work in a gold mine been there for 30yrs,underground constuction,steel,wood,cement,welding$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$