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Making Gold IRL
So I've always kinda figured that with as awesome as Aetolians are, and with the wide variety of interests represented here, we've probably got some people working some neat/interesting jobs. It's popped up in the past on the rage thread what people do, but I'm just kinda curious what you folks do to make that gold(cash) outside the game. Feel free to tell us what you like/don't like about it!
I'll start since it's only fair!
I work in a family-owned pharmacy chain of 5 stores. I'll be hitting 6 years there this June! I really like that it's taught me how important customer service is, and going that extra mile to keep your customers regular customers. When you're competing with the big-box companies like Rite Aid and CVS, that quality one-on-one sort of interaction is really one of the few things we can offer that they can't.
I also work as a management assistant for a company called Student Lodging Inc. here at school that owns two of the off-campus apartment complexes. All we really do is check each apartment in the blocks we're assigned once a month to make sure there are no animals/holes in the walls/dead fire extinguishers/dead smoke detectors. In addition to that we each have two duty nights where we sit in an office and walk rounds around the complexes every hour to make sure there aren't any out of control parties going on that'd likely have the cops called. We're supposed to kinda talk with the tenets and handle that so this place isn't in the police log.
That second job provides free rent though, so that's awesome!
So, what do the rest of you do?
I'll start since it's only fair!
I work in a family-owned pharmacy chain of 5 stores. I'll be hitting 6 years there this June! I really like that it's taught me how important customer service is, and going that extra mile to keep your customers regular customers. When you're competing with the big-box companies like Rite Aid and CVS, that quality one-on-one sort of interaction is really one of the few things we can offer that they can't.
I also work as a management assistant for a company called Student Lodging Inc. here at school that owns two of the off-campus apartment complexes. All we really do is check each apartment in the blocks we're assigned once a month to make sure there are no animals/holes in the walls/dead fire extinguishers/dead smoke detectors. In addition to that we each have two duty nights where we sit in an office and walk rounds around the complexes every hour to make sure there aren't any out of control parties going on that'd likely have the cops called. We're supposed to kinda talk with the tenets and handle that so this place isn't in the police log.
That second job provides free rent though, so that's awesome!
So, what do the rest of you do?
Feelings, sensations that you thought were dead. No squealin' remember, that it's all in your head.
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I've worked a lot of random jobs as well, mostly because my dad hired me out to people when I was younger - worked a concession stand for years, sold shaved ice and funnel cakes, worked in a bookstore, done screen printing, did video analysis for softball/baseball swings, helped with softball camps...I.T. Is my favorite so far though.
Previously:
Collected field data and did GIS mapping of about 1000 acres of farm fields that were joining a biodigester program. Fields needed to me certain parameters to allow spreading of effluent for fertilizer/water. (Biodigester uses manure and food waste to produce methane. Product is heat/electricity, waste is stabilized manure/compost)
Built reverse osmosis drinking water facilities (desalinization plants) in both the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. One was for the government, one was for the Atlantis hotel. The BVI one was building it while the old one was running, which meant doing work arounds, tying things in pressurized and live, and working with a very failing plant. The Bahamas one was already demolished when I arrived, and was all fresh new installs. Both plants operated at about 1.5 million gallons per day.
I was a grave digger for a stint.
I worked for 2 years at a wastewater facility, and also maintained the towns drinking water systems/reservoirs. Was a neat job I did in college. Used to pull apart pumps, fix/repair old and failing equipment, check waste water parameters, collect samples, check drinking water pH, flouride, and chlorine levels, check meters for pump hours and chemical levels. -a lot- of winterization. And do leachate sampling/gas sampling at our retired landfill. Did this till the town manager transferred me to cemetery crew.
I did a fellowship project in Costa Rica assisting scientists and research assistants with various pollinator and biomass studies of rural coffee bean production.
I used to work as an intern for a power distribution utility. We built and maintained all the infrastructure that took electricity from the powerplant to your local electric company. All substations and powerlines (Mostly 115kV-360ishkV) I used to help engineering with cad drawings, ran a forklift, assembled bids from various contractors, put together quotes for management, infrared photographed energized equipment, assist with maintenance an installs on live substations, put together and delivered utility pole hardware for linemen, plus various other tasks.
After that it's all highschool jobs. Deli, movie store, videogame store, dish washer, kitchen work, landscaping, construction, rec counselor, ect...
That being said I have just finished a chapter by being the manager of said events and fashion merchandising and am currently in a transfer program for store management and a significant raise, so that is a thing.
VancouverGranite.Com
Because pictures are worth 1000 words. Or something.
Being a small, family-owned business, my position does a little bit of everything. Sales, management, book-keeping, design, occasional installation, slacking off while RPing....
I was also a licensed massage therapist for a spell as well.
Here's a video of someone (not me!) latching pipe from the board. He's 50-52 ft. in the air here, but you go up to 80 ft in the rod basket. This is my favorite part of my job. I usually put on headphones, blast music, and zone out and think about Aetolia for the next 2-4 hours.
There are no walls to block the wind and no ceiling to stop the rain or snow and we only very rarely shut down for either. It's hard, the hours suck, the conditions are worse, and the majority of my co-workers have a couple felonies for being stupid.
I absolutely love my job though.
- enrolled nurse (just a base education)
- licensed massage and healthcare therapist (still licensed!)
- 3 years as a warehouse hand with mechanical supervising responsibilities (sorting incoming and outgoing packages to the region, making sure the equipment is serviced and functioning). As soon as I got my driver's license I started as a package distributor (deliveries and pick-ups within certain sections of the city, and more) at the same place. Complete workout every work day for about 8-15 hours a day!
- 1-2 years as a telephone operator for 2 large taxi companies (booking taxis as well as directing traffic at the slightly smaller company)
- 5 years on and off as a Cab driver (both normal taxi and the community service kind for elderly and disabled)
- 3 years as a Customer service/information desk/administrator - We had a new environmental tax system set up in Stockholm, where drivers had to pay a fee to pass into the center of the city by car. It was set up to reduce traffic, obviously. However, despite information, the public was not quite ready for this, so as a member of the information and customer service staff, I got some very interesting calls. It takes quite a bit pf patience to handle 10 minutes of being yelled at in stride and then proceed to sort their problems with a smile on the face and also making them feel happy with the service. This was later changed into a Telemarketing job, which was my death. That's what made me move on to the next step in my life - University studies!
Currently studying to become a teacher in English and Geography (ages 13-19) and at this final stage I am out working full time as a substitute teacher or at least grabbing as many hours as I can. At the same time, I am trying to finish my final essays to graduate.
In between all these things, as well as doubling or trippling a few jobs, I've worked as a:
- park service worker at a campsite (cleaning, customer service, rentals, restaurant work, park work etc.)
- salesrep (ice cream van)
- restaurant assistant (Route 66)
- Teacher (basic computer stuff like Office to noobs)
- Caretaker at child care centers
- Black Jack dealer (incl. Roulette, craps and 3-card Poker)
Previously, I worked social security disability/permanency planning/public benefits for the homeless (typically, but not always, AIDS/HIV afflicted) of Miami, Florida. I also worked immigration law with Haitians after the 2010 earthquake (that was intense).
Before thatttttt.... I was a grant writer for a state university. While there I also wrote some grants for some local food banks/transitional housing nonprofits as well.
Ocassionally I man the phone for the rape crisis center on campus and direct people toward services/people who can help them. While I was in high school, I was a baker and could bake some mean cupcakes. I still bake, though not professionally.
"To be awkward or unkempt, to talk or move wrongly is to be a dangerous giant, a destroyer of worlds...any accurately improper move can poke through the thin sleeve of immediate reality." - Erving Goffman
My sister has down syndrome and now lives in a wonderful community
http://heartbeet.org/
My major place of employment since I've started taking jobs has been my local college. When going for my associates, I was a work study and office support for the Records Office (so. much. filing). I was responsible for ensuring names were spelled correctly on diplomas, too.
After graduation, I was the Quarter to Semester Data Entry Specialist. A fancy title that meant I took all the quarter courses, and inputted them into the database in the new semester fields. Every. Single. Course. we offered.
After THAT and to current day, I work in the Testing Center and Accommodation Services as an office specialist and testing proctor. I essentially monitor tests for other colleges, for Pearson Vue, for ACT, and for our college professors who teach online courses, or whose students missed classes, OR whose students require testing accommodations.
I have an assortment of other responsibilities and projects: I coordinate and help design our library displays and events, which are different every term; serve on campus-wide committees to help make our college the best community it can be; work with faculty to curate the resources they and their students need; collaborate with my colleagues to make our library awesome (and it really is). Oh, and on Friday mornings I go to a local school and read with second graders.
"The smell of dusty fur, sweet smoke, waiting and patience, a thing that time cannot kill. The moth that candles won't burn."