I build cars, and contrary to a rather spiffy advert (Honda's Cog!) it takes a bit more than rolling parts about! :)

I work on the management side of the house for a company that provides Satellite Telecommunications services to companies in remote locations. Very challenging and rewarding work. I love my job.

I make advertisements, promotional works and small commercial publications (the latest being the "NVM-special" wich was quite a succes and will be published two more time this year :) and such for a local newspaper in "Zuid-Holland". The newspaper is called "The Haagsche Courant. I also do some free-lance work for a "Dutch Anime-fan magazine called "Aniway", but that is work that i do for free, keeping a fulltime time job and paid freelance work is not an ideal combination, unless your happy with 12 to 16 hour working days, wich i am not. Bryce is actually a kind of a distraction for me :)

@jasonmit UofA = University of Arkansas And I agree, this is a very interesting thread. I expected to see most saying they are the geniuses who created amazing software by day or who were equally amazing 'tradition' artists. Sometimes I feel like I'm odd-man-out because of the standard of creativity around here. While I still feel a bit inferior and definitely humbled by the brilliance in this forum, I like that ya'll are really just people too. I know just what shadowdragonlord meant! :o) And Happy Birthday to all the July-ers. Looks like there's bunches of you.

I'm a technical writer. The company I work for makes Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers - a fancy peice of equipment to measure the currents in water. Fun place to work for, love the people, and my job. Been here 9 years. Don't get to use Bryce too much in my manuals, but I try every chance I get to put in a render. Peggy

This is a really cool survey. I kinda feel the way eelie thinks of it...how I was ready to hear all the new software you all came up with, or all the top-paying cushy jobs you all have...but wow, you all are just like me! I think this thread alone shows the support we have for each other because we're not afraid to say what we do. It also allows us to learn more about each other so we can kinda understand where a person is coming from. Alvin, I hear ya on the low IT job stuff...I'm still looking (along with 5,000 employment agencies for me) but still nothing. I have a 3-day temp job coming up where I'm making labels on a computer. I was thrilled when they told me because at least this time I'll be touching a keyboard and not restacking a semi full of Coke products or hauling a regulation-size hockey rink around. It's tough times, and here I thought Southern Cal was invincible to the weak economy...guess I was shamefully wrong. :( Hang in there man! :) I see everyone is listing what they did in the past...I'll elaborate for me. I started work at Wendy's in high school. That was one of those jobs where it was a thankless job, but I was the clown there which made it fun. We had fun because there was little turnover for a while. Met a couple of girls there I really liked but they always thought I was a great friend instead...haven't talked to them since basically...haha...how nice. Also, I used to work at an appliance store delivering a full range of appliances. My worst memory (but still love to talk about it) is having to hoist 125-gallon water heaters from basements...heavy as hell, had to have an electronic stair climber help us, which was hardly any help. My best memory was witnessing a hit and run (not good) but then when the guy took off, we got into a high speed chase through town and in the country (good stuff)...finally got him to veer off into a corn field after 45 minutes of chasing. I felt like a hero that day. Oh, and we did all the chasing with someone's refrigerator tied to the back of the Ford pickup that we were taking back for repairs (great stuff)...hehehe :) MD

Happy Birthday to all the July babies! I'm a project manager working in the legal field. I create CD's that contain the brief that attorney's write for submission to court, then hyperlink everything referenced in the brief. So basically all supporting paper documentation is on a single CD. Very much fun because cases can be very interesting. And I have to agree it is nice to get to know a bit more about everybody. :) Cie

Sheesh, forgot about previous jobs..lessee..hardware technician, software installer, PC temp work, security guard, Beverage maker (we're back to the mid-70's now..;), camp counselor (fired)..that's about it. Used to work on PC's at the local nuke plants, so I may have walked by one of you and had my bags searched..Mr. 'dawg', good thing to be in Wilmington, there's about 3,000 unemployed IT folks in the tri-county area..if ya think things are tough in Wilmington...;) but good luck, hope you find something soon..GE has a jet engine plant there, and one of the movie studios has some places there..ya never know.

Pakled...yeah, I'm gonna give the movie studios a call this week, hopefully something opens up there either as an extra or what the hell, maybe they have some sort of need for computer people...hahah...who knows. I hope to find something. I know they're bringing in GE headquarters here soon for the Nuke Division or something, it's been in the news. Haven't heard more on that yet. MD

I was born a poor white boy in the middle of a blizzard... :) Ok. Seriously - I'm a LAN Administrator for Lexicon, Inc. in Bedford, Massachusetts, which is a subsidiary of Harman Industries. We make high-end sound-gear for home theaters, such as receivers and DVD players. By high end, I mean our DVD player costs $8000. That's the right amount of zeroes there. Lexicon also makes signal processors and reverb units for recording studios, but that's all done in Utah. Previous to this I have been: tour guide for the Boston Tea Party sign-maker for Charrette night manager for Tower Records petroleum transfer engineer (read: gas station attendant)

Well guys, I clean windows for a living. Great in the summer but bone chilling in the winter. I've only been doing it for 8 months, I just fancied a change from my last job in a health spa. That I stuck at for 6 years, the pay was shite and unsociable hours. The only perk was meeting Johanne Cruyff. For all those that don't follow football (soccer) he was one of the best players the world has ever seen. Work to me is just a way of paying the bills, I prefer to spend my time Brycing, listening to music, and watching movies. Born to chill that's me.

Reading the previous it is clear that I must be the official Lazy Old Fart amongst the Brycers here! Left school at 16 (1972) before taking exams and blagg"d my way into a job as Data control clerk in a Stockbrokers. Basically I took care of the punched tape that ran the programs for dealing. I had no idea what I was doing! One year later I was working in a publishers dealing with the advertising and ( believe it or not! ) painting the big advertising safety curtains that they used to have in theatres. Two years later I enrolled at St Martins School of Art here in London. Got in on the strength of my portfolio ( my file was stamped "Academically Deficient*. Those were the days when one could get a full grant for tuition and living expenses. Great stuff! Half way through my BA I started doing freelance work designing and painting theatre backdrops and staging for fashion shows. One company that I did work for went bust, so I bought the staging equipment and did fashion shows for ten years. After junking the fashion shows ( the fashion folks were really flaky! ), I moved into designing and building exhibition stands at trade fairs etc. I only do about 8 weeks of design work a year now, I earn my crust as a consultant, which basically means I charge a lot of money to tell people the bleeding obvious! It's my unwavering confidence that I am right, that keeps my clients in line, that, and the fact that I can charge 600 a day for talking and 5000.00 just for a concept, keeps my interest going. At the moment me and my sister ( she is a printmaker ) are caring for my cranky old mother and building an extension to the house that is fully adapted for a wheelchair-bound mischief maker. All along I have also sold my paintings but have never had the time to get sorted with enough back catalogue of work to make the transition into full time painting and exhibiting. I plan to change that in the next couple of years. At 48, there is still time to do the stuff I want to. The plan is to design and build a home in the country and retire from the Rat-Race in London. Painting and gardening= Bliss! Can't wait!

eelie: Cool. Around here, UofA is University of Arizona, my former university's (Arizona State University) rival. So I can still speak to you. ;-)

woohoo! Think Im the only pizza delivery man here :-) ...wait, I shouldnt be proud of that should I? :- I'm 21 and yes a pizza delivery man for the wonderful company of Dominos. I go to the art isntitute here in Portland, OR and have to live at home so i can afford to go to school. Really lookin forward to moving out for the 2nd and last time (previously attended school on eastern side of my state.) Bout it for me at the moment :-)

Great thread, Eyecon! We really are a diverse bunch. I'm a physiotherapist (or, for those in the US, I think they say physical therapist instead). Basically, when you all get carpal tunnel syndrome from too much Brycing, I can help. Used to be an ambulance attendant/driver (hi EricofSD), worked with handicapped (both mental & physical) kids, did casualty simulation, and teach chess. I work for a hospital in Toronto (where I am also the coordinator for the program that I work in).

How do you top all this? Right! I was an astonaut, and then a nuclear physisistist, I spent 2 years working as a brain surgeon, then an Admiral on a Nuclear aircraft carrier, while running the bank of England I did a bit of ......just kidding! Wow, you just never can tell from the crazeeness that goes on here that people have real jobs...or sadly not as the case may be....

I'm a high school student, but I design web pages so I'm ridiculously rich for my age group(but I've earned it!!).

mloates...worked at a hospital in Toronto? Did you have to deal with SARS directly? MD

MadDog, Yup, had to deal with SARS--the masks, the screening, the whole bit. However, the program that I am with is for out-patients (people not staying in the hospital), so we actually moved our program to another location so that we could continue to function. Many other programs were not as lucky (some had to shut down totally). Having said all that, SARS really wasn't as bad as many people think--I definitely wasn't walking around the city wearing a mask, etc. It was tough for the city, though. Lots of businesses were hit hard and many will not recover.

Here i was expecting that my job was like a big bore! but hey! where can you find a job that makes you go to patrties every wendnesday, fridays and saturdays and pays you at 2,000 to 5,000 a night? thats my job... wanna do architectural stuff, like i was supposed to do yet tides are against me nowadays.... mostly what i do for work is play music, talk on air, play more music for 4 hours. i also do a few Emcee/hosting jobs for a variety of programs that pays quite well, and make radio commercials/ads for different business firms with a nifty lil program called COOL EDIT, its a nice audio editing program. WOW! i was like expecting to see... "Hi im a computer guru making great images and programs since i was a baby" stuff, but later realized that WE ARE ALL HUMANS! yeah... ordinary people with extra ordinary skill and a love for art! Im going to save this thread it makes me feel good all over... and tnc for the support guys... makes me feel good since my computer is still down and out... one more day, one more day...

Attached Link: http://www.academicsuperstore.com/

Self employed Communication Tech, ( for 25 years now )

I am a design engineer responsible for the electrical systems and avionics on the commercial Bell Helicopters. Previously I was one of the folks responsible for the overall combat system design and it's integration (both functionally andf physically) into the Canadian Navy's City class frigates. Also worked on the mod's requyired to adapt the EH101 helicopter for Canadian Armed forces use. Back through High school and University (both degrees) I ran the darkroom/graphics design/layout (and occasionally a press) of a Commercial job printer. Bryce is my spare time safety valve. (I also do exotic stuff (over at 'rotica) and B&W figure photography - it's my uncle's fault! he got me hooked on nudes, he was a painter).

...and I still can't typ!

Well, now that we're also dwelling in the past - and doing asides - I'll add that I have a BA from Southern Cal in Business Administration (done me no good), I'm an ordained minister (just married some friends of mine three weeks ago - 105 degrees in the shade at 1700 hrs!!!) Sambucus - when I was twenty, I worked in a gun store in Hollywood, sold Stalone a $1200 shotgun. He suffers from "Little Man Syndrome", he stands 5'6" wearing heels... and he does wear heels... Stephano - can you get me a good translation of Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum? I lost the story about half-way through, don't know if it was the translator or Eco himself... Rochr - there was a similar thread quite a while ago where you also protested to be an alien. I'm thinking your either Michael Jackson or Bill Gates... so you may be right. Brendon - I REALLY want to become a consultant. Here, you usually take an early retirement package, the company finds out that no one knows what you know, so they hire you back at twice the wage... how do you avoid the wait? Digitalphotography - Physics? I thought UC Davis was Ag and Viticulture... Do you ever go to Sudwerks?

I worked for Burger King during High School. Part way through college I did assembly in an underfunded venture to make subliminal suggestion devices to go into stereos at businesses. Did you know that the phrase "mommy and I are one" played under music will make women loose weight? After school I made B4C control pellets for reactors for about 4 years. The NRC shut down all reactors in the area for about two years which effectively shut us down. I spent about 9 months building bearings for SKF until the plant closed and went to Mexico. The next 18 months I did 6 paper routes. I was up at 2am and drove through two neighborhoods, then room to room at a hospital til 10am. The change I made was usually enough to buy me breakfast from the machines on the second floor. I then did the early edition of the afternoon paper downtown on foot going up 24 flights of stairs with a 60 pound bag I covered about 24 miles a day. I did the final driving route and finished about 5pm. I got on with the post office as a substitute carrier for Saturdays and gave up one of the paper routes. About 6 months later I got on at ORNL in fracture mechanics. I was still to low on seniority to get a full time postal route so I stayed on till they could train another sub. I've been at the national lab every since. I did charpy and crack arrest testing on heavy section steel (boilers basically). After it became painfully obvious that we would never build another nuclear reactor again Fracture Mechanics was dissolved and I joined the Ceramic Surface Systems group where I made Silicon Carbide composites. We changed our name to Surface Processing and Mechanics (thats SPAM). I've worked on a bipolar plate that was licensed to porvair for Hydrogen Fuel Cells. I worked with Rick to make the green bullets that nukeboy uses. Every three to five years the programs change. It's always intresting, but the pay sucks. Because I'm not a PhD I get treated like the bishop's bastard.

To Nukeboy, UC Davis started way, way back as a agricultural university. Now, the university is the ONLY Vet school in CA along with its own Med School and Med. Center. I am iffy about their physics program...it is close to home!!! 30 min. drive from Sacramento.

I've been a teacher for the past 7 years, but now I'm seriously thinking of going into translation - I'm supposed to have all the qualifications needed, so Josselin

I've been a police officer and SWAT Team sniper for 8 years in an urban North Jersey City. Currently working narcotics. Yeah, I keep rather busy, hence the lack of any postings since the beginning of Spring. That's when business picks up. We were busy as hell after 9/11 and I was right in the middle of Ground Zero after it happened. An experience which will stay with me for the rest of my life and one that I am glad that none of you had to experience. It changes you. Changes you forever.

All these people with interesting jobs, or even jobs at all. I used to be a contract manager for a very large cleaning company, but for the last 18 months or so I have been a carer, which in the UK means you are there 24/7 for almost no money. The alternative would be for the old lady (93 and mother-out-law) to go into a care home, and for me to get my life back. Oh well at least I get to spend lots of time with my computer, and hopefully improve my art.

Well.. Actually I'm video department manager for French company , I also work as a designer for a big game company ( s..y ) and for some french TV programs. rest of the time I do a lot of music and work with my brother on some musical videos..I try to save time to take care of my beautifull wife and my 3 kids.. I'm 36 years old.

Boomer, very interesting career there. We all thank you for being there to help out at Ground Zero, what a tragic mess that was. :( You're a SWAT sniper, eh? :) I always thought that would be a cool job, but very very detailed and accurate (of course.) What's it like sniping if you don't mind me asking? MD

Not a problem, MadDog. Everyone gets satisfaction out of their job in one way or another. I get satisfaction by coming to this forum on a daily basis and seeing everyones postings/names here on a semi daily basis. That's one way I know you're all alive and well. Sniping....very exhausitng. It may not seem like it, but the mental AND physical stress drains you. The two are intertwined and to help me deal with it, I hit the gym 5 times a week. You have to concentrate and stay extremely focused for long periods of time sometimes. I've never had to shoot anybody and I hope that I never have to, either. But yeah, it's a pretty cool job.

Boomer - I took the sniper course at Quantico on the M82A SASR which we've now deployed, what a blast (litterally)! Stay Safe!

What I would give to use that puppy. Most of my shots are are no more than 200 yards tops. Granted, the shot HAS TO BE a 1 inch by 3 inch area to hit the no reflex zone. I can do the shot up around 700 yards with the gear (standard issue) I have now. But hell, with a .50, I can take my same point of aim and take of the whole thing. You be careful, too, Nukeboy. I know you get the same intel I do, so...just be careful.

Man, interesting stuff! I like sniping on Team Fortress Classic but that's nothing compared to real life stuff. Being able to hit a target that small from that far away...absolutely amazing! It'd be fun to just try once to see what it's like. I couldn't make a career out of it...but I thank you guys for being part of the force that protects all of us! :) MD

Well, I actually do work for a computer game company and do some of the graphics work. I also do the customer service stuff and occasionally update one of the websites. I have a BA in Anthropology, and some classes in html and computer programming, no art though. My previous jobs have been processing payments for a hospital, secretary to a lawyer, and adding information to databases for the university (a laboratory and the library). With some people out of work, and others working two jobs, I won't moan about wanting to get paid more. ;) Lin