# Life career: Love it or not?



## DoctorCosmonaut (Dec 10, 2009)

I was wondering what made ya'll go into the career you did? Was it for the money? Or because it was something you loved? (Loving making money doesn't county)


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## Shelly (Dec 10, 2009)

I have the best gig in the world. I work at home repairing guitars. I enjoy helping people make music, I got to stay home with my 3 kids when they were little, I only need to work about 4 hours a day which allows me time to work a little part time job at the elementary school where my wife teaches and my daughter attends.
I honestly believe God had a hand in all this. But that's another long story...


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## Yvonne G (Dec 10, 2009)

I went to work many, many years ago as a telephone operator, because it was an easy company to get hired on with, and I only had a high school education. Never intended to work there for so long, however, they had good benefits and job security. I stayed 30 years, going from operator to supervisor to draftsman in the Engineering department, and finally to Communications Engineer. It ended up being a great job. I really enjoyed it.


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## Isa (Dec 10, 2009)

For me, it was something I loved. I am interested in Finance since a long time. I love numbers and analysing them . I would have loved to work with animals too


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## alfiethetortoise (Dec 10, 2009)

I like working with children, and so hence became a teacher. Obviously, it wasen't the money as everyone knows how underpaid teachers are in the UK  but one day i dream of owning a bookshop, as i love books of all kinds. Again, it will probably not be very profitable as i'll end up buying all the books myself!


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## Kymiie (Dec 10, 2009)

When I am older I would love to become a holiday representative, thats my dream when I grow older!
For now im still studying in school!
xx


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## Yvonne G (Dec 10, 2009)

alfiethetortoise said:


> I like working with children, and so hence became a teacher. Obviously, it wasen't the money as everyone knows how underpaid teachers are in the UK  but one day i dream of owning a bookshop, as i love books of all kinds. Again, it will probably not be very profitable as i'll end up buying all the books myself!



No! If you OWN the shop, you get to read all the books for FREE!!!


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## Maggie Cummings (Dec 10, 2009)

I bounced around from job to job until someone suggested I become a truck driver because I like driving so much. So I went to school and took a 6 month course and graduated second in my class. I was a good truck driver. I fixed my truck up very comfortably and took my cat with me. I felt like every new dispatch was going to be an adventure, and it was. I LOVED truck driving and I seriously miss being out on the road. I saw so much stuff that I never would have seen. A moose once stopped my truck. A giant moose! Then he walked around smelling my truck...in the middle of the highway! Big Bubba walked on the ground in every state in the Union except Connecticut. How many cats can make that claim??? He had a run in with a prairie dog. That was really funny. I had so much fun and I got to go places I never would have gone to. I miss it, but I am too old now...


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## mctlong (Dec 10, 2009)

I've been working as an archaeologist for the past ten years and I love it. I chose this career because it allows me to spend time outdoors exploring sunny southern California.


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## terryo (Dec 10, 2009)

Well let's see...I have been a nurse, teacher, cleaning lady, chauffeur, barber, seamstress, activity organizer, referee, ghost writer, grocery shopper, cook, and councilor for 5 sons. I have never regretted it for a minute and had more fun and laughs through the years...along with some tears. Does this count......stay at home Mom?


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## Yvonne G (Dec 10, 2009)

You probably had the hardest "career" job of all of us, Terry!


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## Stephanie Logan (Dec 10, 2009)

This is a great thread! So many interesting non-tortoise details about the experts on this forum! A very diverse and experience-enriched group, I must say.

I'm with Terry on the professional mom thing, though I also think of myself as a professional student. I love learning and re-learning things (I could probably win big bucks on that show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? because I teach and re-teach that elementary school curriculum for a living now!).

I love reading history and have memorized quite a lot of useless bits of trivia, hence my love of the game Trivial Pursuit.


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## Kadaan (Dec 10, 2009)

My family got our first home computer in 1986 when I was in Kindergarten. I've always loved working on them so it was only natural for me to get into the field. My first job in high school was fixing computers at a local repair shop, and I went to college and got a BS in Computer Science. My first job landed me in Reno, NV doing scripting for video slot machines, and my second (and current) job has me in sunny So Cal working for my dream company (Blizzard Entertainment) with weather nice enough to raise tortoises .


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## sammi (Dec 10, 2009)

Currently I'm in the restaurant industry, and I'm pretty happy. The company I'm with absolutely loves me, and I've gotten pretty far with them in the past year that I've been there [I was part of the original group that helped open their newest restaurant]. Eventually I want to do 2 things: Become an author and publish my own books, and start my own business [crafting] from home [I knit, sew, cross stitch, and make other various things].


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## tortoisenerd (Dec 11, 2009)

I'm an engineer in the aircraft industry. I went into it because I love it, but it also pays well, especially considering I am just out of college. win-win!


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## Rhyno47 (Dec 11, 2009)

Herpetologist (in progress)


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## Stephanie Logan (Dec 12, 2009)

tortoisenerd said:


> I'm an engineer in the aircraft industry. I went into it because I love it, but it also pays well, especially considering I am just out of college. win-win!



Cool! My middle daughter is in her sophomore year at CU majoring in aerospace engineering and minoring in electrical engineering. What school did you go to? Did you find it relatively quick and easy to land a job right out of college? What state are you working in?


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## BethyB1022 (Dec 12, 2009)

I was a high school teacher for three years and then I moved into clinical social work. So far so good, I still have one more year in grad school and then I am done with my MSW, yay! Right now I work with the geriatric population and their families doing adjustment, grief, and bereavment counseling. It is rewarding, but for sure not financially!


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## Sulcatatortoiseman (Dec 12, 2009)

Kadaan said:


> My family got our first home computer in 1986 when I was in Kindergarten. I've always loved working on them so it was only natural for me to get into the field. My first job in high school was fixing computers at a local repair shop, and I went to college and got a BS in Computer Science. My first job landed me in Reno, NV doing scripting for video slot machines, and my second (and current) job has me in sunny So Cal working for my dream company (Blizzard Entertainment) with weather nice enough to raise tortoises .



Lol kadaan i used to be addicted to WOW


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## jlyoncc1 (Dec 13, 2009)

I have worked retail, secretarial, deli clerk and various other things. I am still trying to figure out what I am going to be when I "Grow Up". Currently I do home daycare so that I can raise my children. Oh yeah - I am also a domestic "Goddess".


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## Stephanie Logan (Dec 13, 2009)

jlyoncc1 said:


> Oh yeah - I am also a domestic "Goddess".



Hahaha, I love that term...I think it originated with Roseann Barr. Every year on our tax return, my husband lists "heavy equipment operator" for his occupation, and I am the "domestic goddess!" 

Apparently the IRS has a sense of humor, as they've never questioned these.


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## Jacqui (Dec 15, 2009)

As a young person, I dreamed of being a vet and a dog handler but life took me in different directions. I was a stay at home Mom until all were out of Elementary school. I then went to work at WalMart just part time to support my critters. That turned into being the overnight customer service manager which I loved. The customers were great and became my extended family, but I never liked many of the politics and favortism shown by various upper management. I think I would have stayed there until I retired, IF I hadn't met my husband.

Jeff is a long distance truck driver. We got married and he tried to work at a nearby job, but the call of the semis became to strong, so he went back over the road. I realized I was soon like the lady on a country song with nothing to hold but the cell phone. He convinced me to try driving semis, which I had once (before children) toyed with the idea of doing.

I admit, it was hard for me to learn to drive. Backing and parking still seem totally backward to me. Yet it's a job that has opened me to a world I never dreamed existed. Each day I wake up looking forward to new suprises and wonders to see.

I haven't gotten to see my moose yet, unlike Maggie. I've seen wild wolves, big horn sheep, elk, wild pig, porcupines and so much more. I drove across a bridge with two dolphins swimming next to me. In the middle of a snow storm we crested Elk Mountain and saw elk. Not one, not two, not even two dozen, but well over 100 wild elk herded together and grazing while snow was falling around them.

I learned that no two mountains look a like. I had pictured them all like the Rockies in Colorado. Instead you have ones in Washington that are just so green, even the trees have moss on them. Some are sharp edged rocks while others gently smoothly curve. Some look like baking chocolate that has had some child sawing into it, but never making a complete cut thru.

I have gotten to learn the Statue of Liberty is smaller and greener then I ever guessed. Met and enjoyed visits with Yvonne, Dee, Norman and a few other tortoise folks. I have learned how each of us can think of something simple like a tree, yet because of where we live, we each in our mind's eye see something different. What I thought of as fall colors, are no where near the beauty of the ones in the east with their subtle and also brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges and all the blushes in between.

I have learned that some how, my mind and body can always recognize the feel, smell, and sights that are my own wonderful state of Nebraska. I just some how always sense the change when I cross the state line.

The only problem with my job is it takes me away from the thing I love the most...my home. Not the building, but the critters and my brats (children) and even just the ability to go outside to watch butterflies gliding from one bloom to another, to smell my roses, pick and eat a tomato fresh from my garden, listen to the song of the cardinals, or stare with wonder at stars close enough to believe you could actually reach out and touch them.

When I am home I miss life on the road. When on the road I dream of being home.


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## DoctorCosmonaut (Dec 15, 2009)

I love how colorful and different all the careers and positions and experiences everyone has had. I'm really glad I asked


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## ChiKat (Dec 17, 2009)

I'm student teaching in a kindergarten classroom next semester and then I will officially be DONE with school. Then I have to find a job as an elementary school teacher!
Obviously I'm not in it for the money  
I can't wait to have my own classroom


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## dmmj (Dec 17, 2009)

I have had several jobs over the years. Worked at TJ Maxx, worked for wells fargo, worked for a floor cleaning company, worked for sav-on's (no longer exists) I enjoy two things in life besides turtles and tortoise, I like to farm and cook/bake. Neither of those do I get paid for. I work as a real estate agent. no longer do, my choice, I also own a vending machine company, and sell on ebay and amazon. I am loking into opening a baklery in my home town, but I am concrned about the cost of starting one 30 to 35K estimate so far. I would love to bake though and get paid for it. I would also love to raise turtles and tortoises and get paid for it, but if I was to try and sell hatchlings I don't think I could get rid of any myself, one reason why I never worked in a pet store.


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## Maggie Cummings (Dec 17, 2009)

Jacqui said:


> As a young person, I dreamed of being a vet and a dog handler but life took me in different directions. I was a stay at home Mom until all were out of Elementary school. I then went to work at WalMart just part time to support my critters. That turned into being the overnight customer service manager which I loved. The customers were great and became my extended family, but I never liked many of the politics and favortism shown by various upper management. I think I would have stayed there until I retired, IF I hadn't met my husband.
> 
> Jeff is a long distance truck driver. We got married and he tried to work at a nearby job, but the call of the semis became to strong, so he went back over the road. I realized I was soon like the lady on a country song with nothing to hold but the cell phone. He convinced me to try driving semis, which I had once (before children) toyed with the idea of doing.
> 
> ...




I was an over the road driver for about 10 years before my accident, and I can feel the love you have for the job when reading your post.
I always made sure my day ended early enough to watch the soaps, I mostly drove at night. And I made myself back into 5 parking spaces everyday when I was done. 5 spots and that kept me on top of the game. I've made money with other drivers just have backing contests to pass the time. I love driving and really miss being on the road...exit 107 Big Springs Nebraska...good pancakes!!!


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## terryo (Dec 17, 2009)

maggie3fan said:


> Jacqui said:
> 
> 
> > As a young person, I dreamed of being a vet and a dog handler but life took me in different directions. I was a stay at home Mom until all were out of Elementary school. I then went to work at WalMart just part time to support my critters. That turned into being the overnight customer service manager which I loved. The customers were great and became my extended family, but I never liked many of the politics and favortism shown by various upper management. I think I would have stayed there until I retired, IF I hadn't met my husband.
> ...



You guys....wow! It's like reading a story that I didn't want to end.


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