What do you do / What did you do ?

[syco]

If this is out of line or maybe in the wrong place , please delete . I know most of you don't like me and that is perfectly fine . Just curious as to what ... career wise / personal if you choose .... the peoples of Epiphone Talk do on a daily basis . I realize some of you may be or are getting ready to retire , hence the title . Hope to gain a little insight into some of you if you choose to participate ... if not .... I'll be annoying ya later .


I'll try to keep it short and not bore ya . I spent 26 yrs in the United States Army . 12 years of that overseas . Took a disability / retirement as a 18 Bravo . Hence why I'm not as proficient a musician /guitarist as I should be . I currently work as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff in Oklahoma . I volunteer my free time at https://www.dalekgrahamveteransfoundation.org/ to help run vets to doctors appts , grocery store , or using my limited playing ability to entertain /comfort those that need it or just lend an ear to those that just want someone to talk to . When I'm not doing that or irritating all of you or the people on other forums , I'm just chilling at home with 5 dogs , 3 cats and whatever wildlife chooses to come close ..... usually birds & squirrels , but get the occasional deer and turkey's this time of year . Thanks for your time .

 

[soulman969]

Thanks syco. Long story for me.

From 1970-1974 I trained as apprentice optician fabricating and fitting eye wear and contact lenses. I became a certified optician in 1975. In late 1975 I was promoted to management and built a $2 mil a year business selling various ophthalmic and surgical instrumentation to eye specialists like optometrists and ophthalmologists.

I left that company in 1983, moved to Colorado and began a new career in the financial services field first as a Reg Rep/Stock Broker and then as a Financial Advisor and Principal of my own SEC Investment Advisory firm. I personally managed or advised on the management of over $22 mil in client assets and also did contract work for several other insurance, accounting, and law firms as a financial consultant.

I also trained other brokers on consultative selling and compliance issues and was also the Senior Compliance Officer of my own firm and two others.

In 2009 I transferred ownership in my firm and another to my partner before entering rehab for my bi-polarity and alcoholism. Upon my recovery I resumed doing part time consulting and analytical work but retired completely from money management. After two bouts with COVID and having long haul symptoms as well I retired from the financial services industry completely. It was time for something new.

I currently work for Otterproducts makers of Otterbox protection for smart phones and other technological devices as a Customer Support Rep. assisting our customers with new product purchases, warranty claims, shipping issues, and general problem solving. I enjoy helping people resolve problems. I work remotely from home. It keeps me involved day to day and my mind and body active. I'm not one to let age allow me to just fade away. For now it works for me.

 

[Paruwi]

here we go....

Immediately after my 3-year apprenticeship as a draftsman in an architect's office, I switched to a large plastic window manufacturer, first in the technical office, then in the field service.
I switched to 3-4 other window companies before starting my own business.
After almost 10 years of self-employment, I switched to a company that only produces fly screens.
I've been there for over 20 years now, and I'll stay there for the 3 years until I retire.

Home – Neher .de | The No. 1 in insect screening in Germany.

Neher offers a wide range of customised insect screens for all windows, doors and lightwells.

www.neher.de

We are one of the largest processors of the 'Neher system' and are active in southern Germany.
(by now I've sold fly-screens for more than 25 Million €, it will be more than 30 Million when I go)

Since it is hardly possible beforehand, I will probably start my journey to Japan as a pensioner to let the son of the company founder show me the Fujigen factory.

 

[Noodling Guitars]

If this is out of line or maybe in the wrong place , please delete . I know most of you don't like me and that is perfectly fine .

Really?? Here?? I always thought people appreciated your input and sharing. hrmm... anyway, glad you're still around!

Just curious as to what ... career wise / personal if you choose .... the peoples of Epiphone Talk do on a daily basis . I realize some of you may be or are getting ready to retire , hence the title . Hope to gain a little insight into some of you if you choose to participate ... if not .... I'll be annoying ya later . I'll try to keep it short and not bore ya . I spent 26 yrs in the United States Army . 12 years of that overseas . Took a disability / retirement as a 18 Bravo . Hence why I'm not as proficient a musician /guitarist as I should be . I currently work as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff in Oklahoma . I volunteer my free time at https://www.dalekgrahamveteransfoundation.org/ to help run vets to doctors appts , grocery store , or using my limited playing ability to entertain /comfort those that need it or just lend an ear to those that just want someone to talk to . When I'm not doing that or irritating all of you or the people on other forums , I'm just chilling at home with 5 dogs , 3 cats and whatever wildlife chooses to come close ..... usually birds & squirrels , but get the occasional deer and turkey's this time of year . Thanks for your time .

I currently work in-house at an international financial institution and nowhere close to retirement - still gotta put kid through school. I spent a good amount of my college years doing music related work while studying, but really disliked session work. A lot of the people I played/worked with are still in the music/entertainment industry. I guess I just kinda gave up. All I wanted to do was write my own music and play stuff I wanted to play instead of having to deal with producers and artist bullcrap from emerging artists and/or whatever the project was. Pay was horrible too and I hated rehearsals. Ended up going to law school and found myself on Wall Street during the worst time possible - but was saved by having language skills. Moved around various parts of Asia.... and put aside music for quite a while to uh.... stream video games But that was back before monetization and doing stuff for profit was really a thing. Once the money thing started becoming viable for certain types of content creators, uninteresting channels like mine were almost phased out immediately (can't compete with cute high school girls that know how to do the idol thing and chat, sing and make funny noises). So I decided to get back into music again, but this time really just to play and buy guitars cause that's seems more interesting to me.

 

[Supersonic]

here we go....

Immediately after my 3-year apprenticeship as a draftsman in an architect's office, I switched to a large plastic window manufacturer, first in the technical office, then in the field service.
I switched to 3-4 other window companies before starting my own business.
After almost 10 years of self-employment, I switched to a company that only produces fly screens.
I've been there for over 20 years now, and I'll stay there for the 3 years until I retire.

Home – Neher .de | The No. 1 in insect screening in Germany.

Neher offers a wide range of customised insect screens for all windows, doors and lightwells.

www.neher.de

We are one of the largest processors of the 'Neher system' and are active in southern Germany.
(by now I've sold fly-screens for more than 25 Million €, it will be more than 30 Million when I go)

Since it is hardly possible beforehand, I will probably start my journey to Japan as a pensioner to let the son of the company founder show me the Fujigen factory.

I predict that in 10 years FGN will only be offering their guitars in one certain finish. Don't ever stop rocking Pete.

 

[Lancpudn]

I left school at 15 years old with no qualifications (I was never cut out for a academic career)

I'm a jack of all trades master of none really.

I started an engineering apprenticeship as a tool setter on milling machines/lathes etc at the local engineering factory towards end of the 1960's , It's were I met my missus & still married to that lovely lady

Apprentice wages were very poor & the work was moving overseas so I jumped ship & got a job on the drilling rigs, Not offshore rigs but on land drilling rigs working for the National Coal Board as it was back then doing investigation drilling work & core sampling of the coal seams prior to opencast mining, After a number of years in that job the work dried up & in the late 1970's jobs were getting scarce, I live in a blue collar cotton mill/mining area which were all closing down due to the cotton mill work going overseas & the mines coming to their end of life.

I then did a variety of jobs welding, car repair work, car spraying which wasn't full time work so I went down to the employment office & they were doing courses to get a HGV class 1 articulated licence so I signed up for a two week course & passed the 5 hour driving test & spent my remaining years driving semi's all over the country until retirement.

 

[Supersonic]

All of these stories are honestly fascinating to me. Some of them make me feel like I haven't lived life at all. I wish we could all sit and have a drink together sometime, but this place is the closest we'll ever get to that, so thank you internet.

 

[phonepi]

I was a R&D and Project Engineer working for various industries, services and even French Army, notably with ALSTOM.

But when this Flagship of the French industry has been torn to pieces and liquidated step by step by our different governments and EU organisations at a level of just above a mere subsistence, I was ashamed, disgusted and resigned before final collapse.

Then I went to French National Education as a teatcher... Just to end my career safely until retirement, which should occur in 2028, again thanks to an extension of the contribution period - desired against all - by our traitor, pusillanimous, lax, loose and demagogic successive French governments, for years.

P

 

[soulman969]

All of these stories are honestly fascinating to me. Some of them make me feel like I haven't lived life at all. I wish we could all sit and have a drink together sometime, but this place is the closest we'll ever get to that, so thank you internet.

Well it can be like getting together with your buddies for a drink if we keep it that way. That's always been my preference for how a forum should operate. We don't all need to agree any more than we would with our best friends and some good natured ribbing and a little friendly sarcasm can be funny too. It all comes down to knowing your friends, how far you can take it, and trusting they know when you're only playing around. Beer talk is what I've always called it.

 

[Darkness]

When I was too young to legally work I helped my aunt and uncle with their businesses. They sold clothing and shoes at a local swap meet on weekends, eventually saving the cash to open an electronics and furniture store. I helped them there setting up stereos and TV for demos and keeping the place clean. I didn't get paid much at all but it was good for me.

In high school I got a job at a pizza place. It was pretty terrible, enough to convince me that I didn't want to work around food. I got fired for not being a team player, but it was really that I wasn't a Lakers fan, and the fiance of the owners daughter didn't like me (but she did).

I worked at a shady dollar store under the table after that. 12 hour days 6 days per week for a measly sum of cash. I quit that after about 6 months.

I tried to go to college and got a part time job at a store that sold purified water, this may be a California thing. Picture a small store with a big filtration system and two 1500 gallon water tanks. A dozen stainless faucets on a long stainless countertop with a sink drain built in. People come in with 5 gallon jugs, I rinse/fill/wipe and carry them to their cars. I was also the defacto maintenance man there because I knew just enough about plumbing... just enough. My car died and I couldn't get to college for a few months.

As luck would have it we had a copper line leak in the ceiling one day. A customer of ours was a service plumber and I asked him how much to fix it. I told the owner, he said get it done and a side job was on after hours. I helped that guy with the repair and he was surprised. He invited me to work with him, so off I went.

From there I did service plumbing for seven years, replacing sewers, septic systems, water heaters, toilets, sinks, you name it. Lots of drain cleaning too, residential and commercial.

In 2007 the recession was hitting too hard and people couldn't afford the prices of big plumbing shops. I started working on my own a lot, side hustle. At the shop I worked 1pm to 10pm (and all night on call). I would see the morning shift guys still waiting on calls when my shift started. I'd drive to home depot or lowes, grab a random part and start stalking the aisles for those confused customers who don't know what parts they need. I would offer them some friendly advice and get an idea how capable they are of DIY, then tell them "I'm wrapping up a job nearby, if you'd like I can stop by to help you after. Here's my cell number, I only charge $xxx if it isn't through my shop." About 70% success rate I'd get the call within hours.

In 2009 I grew tired of being on call and never knowing how much money I'd make or if I would have a weekend. I got a job with a temp agency at a mortgage company, with the highest number of defaulted mortgages in America. Trouble was I could barely type, didn't know how to copy/paste, didn't know how email worked, and could barely navigate the internet. I thought I would be let go every day, but I caught on.

Over the first year I moved up a few positions and got hired direct. Then got talent scouted by a manager at another office and moved to LA to work for her. In short order I was a supervisor and training 28 people to work like I did, my team was awesome. I moved a few spots over the following 6 years, and in 2015 moved to a smaller but better paying mortgage company.

I again got scouted, this time by a VP who is very impressive herself. She gave me a job as a systems analyst, now I support a few lines of business with technology crap. It's pretty fun, every day is a puzzle to solve. It's so much fun that I'm still there, and still working for her.

 

[Otto99]

I wanted to be a music teacher and majored in music in college, but near the end of school, I’d seen too many potentially great teachers get shafted by parent infighting, skimpy budgets, and general apathy toward the music program. During this time, I’d also started producing and hosting the bulk of classical music programming at the college’s public radio station, realized I was good at it, and it allowed me to bring - ahem- several years of musical knowledge to the table. I switched to Journalism, Radio-TV as a major, and started my career in broadcasting, which branched into newspaper, and I was managing editor of the local paper. When my ex-wife and I divorced, I left it all behind and moved to Cocoa Beach, FL, where I had friends from college as a support group. The goal was to score a job in the space industry, and after a few months, got a position with General Dynamics as an engineering clerk, which meant I shepherded all the revised drawings for launch tower and support facilities through the approval process, made the revised blueprints, and delivered them to the pad. I also learned I had a knack for graphic design, and made flyers and other designs for company use. I got to go a lot of places on Kennedy Space Center many will never see. Then the Berlin Wall fell, and merchants of death like General Dynamics saw their military profits slide. We were the only division not involved with defense in any way, but the layoffs started. I grabbed a similar position with Harris Space Systems, but it didn’t pan out long term with layoffs happening there as well. I returned to West Kentucky, restarted my news career as news director for local radio stations, then was hired by the county government as the Director of Public Information, or the county mouthpiece as I called it. I decided to open my own ad agency, using all the journalism, broadcast, and graphic design knowledge I’d accrued, and considering it wasn’t a big town, was quite successful. Then I met the bride, she was offered a job here in Memphis at the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, and I took a position with a small but prestigious design firm, working with high ups at FedEx, International Paper, and other firms with communication issues, speeches, and presentations. One of my PowerPoint slideshows was shown at a Nobel Prize ceremony one year on water conservation and how water will become a valuable commodity in the near future. Left that job for a major step up with the state’s representative with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, making graphics, web design, presentations, and revamping the corporate image. As time wore on, it became rather toxic in the work environment, so I started with a large real estate auction house, doing pretty much the same thing. The real estate bubble burst, and the company that hosted the auction firm’s website offered me a remote position taking care of auction companies web sites and other things across the US. Their reasoning was I was one of a handful of their clients who actually knew what they did. That was great until the owner died, his wife lost all interest in keeping it afloat, and I was forced into early retirement. That didn’t sit well, so I found a way to again relight the graphic design thing, and started making etched designs for plaquards, jewelry, whatever I could get a design on, and selling it at dog agility trials when we did that, and local festivals and markets. Then I started with abstract painting. Still etching and slinging paint around, and while I’m not getting rich, the bills get paid, so all in all it’s been an interesting ride.

 

[neepheid]

I've been an IT/Computer guy all my working days (and been a leisure time computer geek since the age of about 8). Currently do second line support for a University, been there a while now, 15 years maybe. All gets a bit of a blur when it becomes "more than 10"

I enjoy my job, it's low stress, I rarely have to do any work outwith the normal 9-5 and the pension is decent. Intending to stay here until I retire. It's not much to talk about though - if you want someone to leave you alone at a party, just say "I work in IT"

 

[syco]

Appreciate all of you giving a bit of insight into the lives you had led thus far . . Truly interesting !

 

[BGood]

I've always been kind a black sheep, going against the grain. My dad being a entrepreneur wanted his sons to take up the business. It wasn't for me, I had too much of an artist mind, long hair, played R&R and made images. Cut your hair and get real job was what he kept telling me, but not in an aggressive way. Out of 8 kids, I was "the one" that had a mind of its own.

But while I stayed home (until 18) he let me be. As I was still studying, I spent my summers airbrushing motorcycles. Reproduced album covers on rich kids bedroom walls and ceilings, things like that. He saw I could do something else than what he knew about. He respected that and paid for my art school and eventually was proud of saying, this is my son, the artist.

When I left home, I did menial jobs here and there. I played in different bands as a bassist, did some gigs but nothing that'd pay the rent and at the same time seriously started painting. After a while, I had to decide between music or painting to make a living. I figured that if I didn't make it in the music business, it could be because of things out of my control. In painting, I was my own mind, own boss. If I failed, it was mea culpa.

So I quit the band, married the drummer's girl (my avatar photo) and bought more brushes and paint jars. I did illustration for publicity companies until the computer started replacing brushes. That was a good paying period. Before long, my own work was starting to sell well, so I pretty much stopped doing illustration. That was in 1980. I made painting my living since then. Stopped 4 years ago, because the market just died. Gallery representing me were closing one after the other and I didn't feel like chasing that market anymore.

Got married while we were both still in school, 47 years ago. Wife became a renown biologist-ecologist working in conservation. Both self employed all that time.

I was always good at finding ways to get what I needed without getting money out of my pocket.

I started windsurfing early 80's and after buying my first board and rig, I felt it could cost me an arm and a leg to satisfy that new passion. So I started a windsurfing business with my brother and a friend. I would do boat shows, rep on the beach, import contacts, all the fun part, and left the direct sale thing to them. I was the one building up the trademark. Then I could have any gear I wanted as a team rider. When things went south with that, another windsurf shop grabbed me as their team rider.

15 years ago, to snowboard for free, I became a volunteer snowboard patrol at my local ski hill.

Etcetera ...

I bought my first electric six strings 10 years ago and restarted making music, but by/for myself. Wife still likes it, she says it's like listening to the kids we never had, making noise in the basement. Again, by buying low, fixing and selling high, or trading, I now have nice music gear that cost me maybe 10% of its worth.

As some of you have seen before, this is my website: jeangaudet.ca

EDIT.
Forgot one facet. Being handy at building and fixing things, I often worked for friends that needed a hand. The first two houses we bought, I fixed and modified to our needs and likes. Like with music gear, we bought low and sold high. The third house, where we now live for the past 25 years, I built from scratch with two better carpenter than I. I learned a lot there and entirely built 3 more on a remote island in the Gulf of St-Lawrence. One was for us and is our summer escape ... yes, windsurfing still at 69.

 

[soulman969]

Syco, your thread is a big hit thanks to all who've posted and made it just a little easier to get to know and understand who we all are as just plain folks outside of our musical world here. Thanks to all and keep 'em coming.

 

[syco]

My Children .....

Phannie



Thelma ....



WYN ( What's Your Name ) stray I adopted .......




Princess Sophia ( L ) , Lulu ( R )

 

[Otto99]

My fur and feather babies. Portia the Pug, then top left Bjird Ironbeak, top right Her Royal Highness BeBop, and bottom Benedict Cumberbudge.

 

[Whitefang]

I'm a retired autoworker. Spent a combined 26 years at GM starting at the Cadillac main plant on Clark St. in Detroit. When that plant closed I went to their powertrain plant in Livonia, MI and took a disability retirement in '96. All the while raising two daughters then remarrying after 14 years with the first wife, and the next 30 with wife no.2 until her death in 2018.

Whitefang

 

[Otto99]

I'm a retired autoworker. Spent a combined 26 years at GM starting at the Cadillac main plant on Clark St. in Detroit. When that plant closed I went to their powertrain plant in Livonia, MI and took a disability retirement in '96. All the while raising two daughters then remarrying after 14 years with the first wife, and the next 30 with wife no.2 until her death in 2018.

Whitefang

I had a BMW club officer conference at the Dearborn Inn in 2012, and the NAIAS (North American International Auto Show) was right before it began. My beloved family popped for Media Day tickets on Thursday, where we were allowed to get in the cars and really take a look. I found Detroit to be a wonderful city to explore, although downtown was kinda deserted. Even so, I felt safe, and the hotel I chose (the Detroit Inn) was very near the Renaissance Center, and fringes of Greektown. I had a ball eating Greek food, playing in the casino, and visiting the watering holes. The hotel assigned a cabbie to you, and he was most accommodating wink nudge.

 

[Whitefang]

True. Detroit isn't as scary as some would try to tell you, but there are a few neighborhoods I'd advise you to avoid. But they're nowhere near where you said you were staying. Greektown has been a "destination spot" for many years and where the casino is now was once a multi-level shopping center called "Trapper's Alley" (nothing to do with the M*A*S*H character ) Named so for it's history of being where trappers in the 19 century would take their pelts to sell in the city. In 1989 I spent most of that December as the Santa on it's 5th floor. That was a fun gig. My wife and I would often frequent the casino, but I haven't been there since her stroke and then passing.

Whitefang