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what do you do ...?

moontheloon

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,592
Location
NJ
I spend so much time here that I feel like I know some of you...

I was wondering if any of you would feel comfortable talking about what you do for a living ... I'm curious ... and I feel like it will help me connect with your posts and pictures

... and to keep it about hats ... is there a piece of headwear you are required to wear for your occupation ?

I'll start by telling what some of you already know ... I'm a working musician/drummer/percussionist

I do supplement a bit of my income via teaching ... I have 58 students that I teach at my studio

I play all styles of music ... whatever they pay me to play ... I prefer to play trio or quartet jazz mostly these days ... but unfortunately it does not pay all that much

the rock, country, blues, R&B, pop gigs and teaching pays the bills... while the jazz gigs maybe put gas in the car and soothe my soul

... I'd love to hear about you guys if you feel comfortable about it
 

DOGMAN

One Too Many
Messages
1,625
Location
Northeast Ohio
Moon,I don't have to wear a hat to work in but I do.I found my passion in life working with animals.I was a veterinarian technician and ran a 350 dog boarding kennel from 1990 to 2001.I had my wife come work at the kennel in 1992,I knew I wanted to own a boarding kennel someday.I was also training dogs,birds and cats for pay starting in the mid 1990s.My father once told me I was already training my dog and the neighbors dogs by 6 years old.Had my 1st dog that was my responsibilty at 5 years old.My dream came true 2001 when we got our own boarding kennel.I still also train only as much as I want for extra money. That extra money helps pay for my hat habit.
 

foamy

A-List Customer
Messages
364
Location
Eastern Shore of Maryland
Hello Moon, you've been one of my major infuences in hats and I appreciate it.

I was an art director and illustrator when I worked at ad agencies in and around Philly and NJ, from late '79 til '04. Now, I'm a designer/illustrator in DC, commuting from the Eastern Shore (It's a long commute). I kind of always knew what I was going to do, as art and design was and has been the only thing I'm even remotely good at.

Started off sign painting and truck lettering as a kid (14–15) then got into silk screening, which got me my first art directors job. I've been plying the trade ever since and it's still the only thing I can do well, except for sailing and I can't make any money at that. Perhaps if I were younger...

No hat required for my occupation, but a beret is a kind of indicator.
 
Messages
19,408
Location
Funkytown, USA
Well, I haven't been too evasive about my work, but to be specific, I'm a project manager doing contract research for a large, not-for-profit Research, Development, Testing and Engineering (RDT&E) company. I mostly perform research and do qualification studies for the USAF and other DoD agencies. I focus on identifying and testing new materials and technologies for aircraft, mostly coatings and corrosion preventative measures. I do my little part to keep 'em in the air.

A hat is not required.

I aspire to be a retired eccentric.
 
Messages
10,829
Location
vancouver, canada
Thank you Moon for this great thread. I am currently a Site Technician for an environmental engineering company specializing in air quality and hazardous material monitoring. It is about a 3 day a week contract job as I "retired" 12 years ago and got bored. My career was as a Sales Engineer for an large US industrial valve manufacturer. I spent my career in mines, pulp mills and waste water treatment plants all over the Pac North West and British Columbia. They closed my office down and I retired. Found this current job 7 years ago and I love it. I have a younger wife (5 years) and she wants to work another year before pulling the pin so I will continue to work as well. After a career in sales with budgets, quotas and sales managers this current job is a wonder. I just show up where and when, do the job, and go home. When I am done, I am done. No customers angry about delivery, no sales managers asking why I missed my number this month, just clients happy to see me as the first step in the solution to their problem. In my spare time I am returning to write and complete my first book and shop for hats. Life is very good.
 

rclark

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,272
Location
Central Texas
"I'm a semi-professional race car driver and an amateur tattoo artist." - Reese Bobby

Actually, I am a real estate and business law attorney. I really enjoy working with small business owners to help them set up and operate their business in an efficient manner and in such a way as to avoid litigation as much as possible. Contract drafting and review is my happy place. I've also been a licensed real estate agent/broker for 20+ years but rarely use my license which is currently inactive. I'm also a baseball/softball dad in the evenings and on weekends. I love watching my kids play the sport that they love and seeing them maturing into good people both on and off the diamond.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,772
Location
New Forest
I'm a glorified truck driver, well sort of. You don't need a licence to drive a truck to do the work I did before retirement, but it helps. For more years than I care to remember, I worked for an international logistics company. They had many and various contracts such as Home Goods, Supermarkets, Breweries, Pharmaceuticals and so on. When you see a truck in a popular livery, chances are it's a logistic company that has supplied the vehicle along with the warehouse and staff. I ran the Argos contract for a number of years. Then I was posted, they called it promoted, to run The Newcastle and Scottish brewery distribution. From there I ran a supermarket distribution centre, the client being Tesco and from there, I ran the sortation hub for one of the UK's large parcel companies. In 1996 my company sold off it's logistic division and I moved onto another conglomerate called The NFC. National Freight Company. It only lasted two years, UPS came in and bought the company within the division that I worked for. At 52, as I was then, I was much too old, so out you go.
A blessing in disguise really, I started up on my own, a year later my brother joined me, and we never looked back. We did much the same as I had done in the corporate field, only on a smaller scale. We survived two clients going bankrupt, taking us for ten grand and eight grand respectively, then a few years ago, following the loss of our largest contract, we started to wind the business down, selling off the trucks and delivery vans. Now and then I am still asked to help with cover, which I do on a freelance basis, but retirement has brought regular sleep, the ability to indulge in the kitchen, I do so enjoy cooking and helping her in many ways has freed her up to indulge in her passion for dressmaking, she also makes a mean shirt. My wife retired four years ago after a lifetime as a paramedic in the ambulance service.
 

Bob Roberts

I'll Lock Up
Messages
11,201
Location
milford ct
Played bass in a soul/r & b/ rock band for abt 5yrs then worked in AM radio doing sales/programming then transitioning into artist management and development including direction/booking/promotion and event planning for the next 20. Currently breeding/raising/selling exotic birds and have been for the last 20yrs.
 
Last edited:

Bob Roberts

I'll Lock Up
Messages
11,201
Location
milford ct
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Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 

emigran

Practically Family
Messages
719
Location
USA NEW JERSEY
Acupuncture, Manual Therapy, Chinese Medicinal Herbs... been practicing and studying more than three decades... Spent a year in China studying in hospitals .. less in Japan.
AND... previously a professional drummer... worked 6 nights a week for 15+ years and lived to talk about it...!!!
 

Knotten

Practically Family
Messages
829
Location
Salt Lake City
I'm a newspaper columnist, focusing primarily on politics and social issues in a twice weekly column. I also do a humor column on Mondays. I frankly think it's the greatest gig in the world and I wonder sometimes how I lucked into it. I majored in journalism in the early '80s, worked briefly for UPI in New York City until they were sold in the summer of '82, then covered sports for a small daily in Oklahoma before getting a job as a cop reporter in Las Vegas. Some people love that beat. It just made me depressed. Dead bodies, strange characters and tough-guy cops day after day sort of wore me down. After three years, I jumped at a chance to move to Salt Lake and cover government and politics. I did that for eight years before moving to the editorial pages. In 2010, we suffered huge layoffs. I was the editorial page editor at the time. I somehow survived the layoffs, but new management brought in a new opinion editor. I was asked what I would like to do. That was a cinch. I told them I wanted to write columns full-time, with the world as my beat. They agreed. Now I just have to hope newspapers survive another 10 years, when I can retire.
Most importantly, I've been married to the world's most wonderful woman for 34 years this coming July. We have five great kids and four grandkids so far.
I don't have to wear a hat for my job, but it's become a part of my brand. Because of what I do, I occasionally find myself on air or being asked to speak at functions. I always bring a fedora.
 
Spent the last 28 years in Information Technology -- the last 25 with a major outdoor/sporting-goods retailer headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. I help keep "bubba" well stocked with rubber worms. I am not required to wear a hat, but have been enjoying doing so for the last few months.

Prior to that career I spent 13 years in the restaurant trade working in high-end establishments in both the front and back of the house. My last position was as executive chef, but the nights and weekend work (with three kids at this point) pushed me back to school. My hope is to retire to the "farm" in the next few years or at least telecommute from there.
 

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