Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Work

No. No, it ISN'T. Not EVEN. We digress before we've even begun.

Blog-Bud Morgan tags us with an interesting sort of meme, to wit:
It’s simple. Just list all the jobs you’ve had in your life, in order. Don’t bust your brain: no durations or details are necessary, and feel free to omit anything that you feel might tend to incriminate you. I’m just curious. And when you’re done, tag another five bloggers you’re curious about.
Famous last words: “Don’t bust your brain.” Heh. This meme is not designed for the semi-elderly or folks that are otherwise memory-challenged... and God Forbid if you should be both. Obviously. But… here goes, as best as I can remember. Unpaid positions are so indicated, in parens.
Dish-washer, vacuum cleaner operator, maker of beds, babysitter… all for a pittance of an “allowance.”
Mower of lawns, leaf-raker, snow-shoveler, car washer… same salary as above.
Paper boy.
Apricot picker.
Landscaper’s apprentice… dispenser of grass seed, wheelbarrow operator, dump truck driver.
College student.
Cook @ Mickey Dee’s.
Basic trainee.
Trade school student. (in a manner of speaking)
Kitchen help… potato peeler, dishwasher, floor mopper, aka “KP.”
Latrine cleaner.
Buffer operator, First Class.
Close-order drill specialist. (the result of many punitive hours on the drill pad)
Radar repairman.
Gofer.
Antenna climber.
Grocery bagger (part time).
Bean field weed picker and other assorted dirty agricultural jobs Americans won’t do (part time).
Tire buster (part time and the only job I’ve ever been fired from).
Radar technician.
Surveillance systems technician. (aka electronic spook enabler on the periphery of the Evil Empire)
Motorcycle racer wannabee. (amateur, but I worked damned hard at it)
Radar technician, part deux.
Maintenance control center dispatcher.
Distributor/purveyor of herbal remedies. (part time)
Suicide prevention center counselor. (part time, volunteer)
Surveillance systems technician, part deux.
Deejay. (volunteer, part time)
Radar technician, yet again. (These positions were many and varied, thus multiple entries)
Engineering/installations team chief (radar).
Bar back.
Brothel inspector, various locations in SE Asia.
Maintenance quality control inspector. (not at ALL related to the entry immediately above. Wait. Check that. Related, but not in the way you might think. You’d be amazed at the wide variety of fuck-ups I encountered.)
Plans and programs manager. (NCOIC).
Classified materials custodian. (Have you ever held your breath for three years straight, Gentle Reader?)
Public affairs NCO, news release writer, photographer.
Editor, “The Visiting Fireman’s Guide to the Best Pubs Around RAF Uxbridge and Vicinity.”
Researcher for the above publication.
Motorcycle safety instructor. (part time, volunteer)
Proxy parent. (volunteer)
Staff weenie.
College student, part deux. (on the VA dole)
Small scale farmer… or maybe large scale gardener. (kinda like Chance)
Telecommunications specialist.
Technical writer.
Proposal writer.
Proposal team leader/manager.
Telecommunications engineer.
Software development/service management/service reporting manager.
Lamaze coach. (At age 52… Aiiieeee!)
Vagabond, two-lane blacktop edition. Coast to coast and border to border.
Staff weenie, operations policies and procedures.
IT operations manager.
Retiree. (BEST job I’ve EVER had)
Blogger (we use the term quite loosely).
And there ya have it… a checkered career, if there ever was one.
Tag-ees? I’ll wimp out here and say “play if ya wanna.” But I’d be VERY curious to see lists compiled by Lou, Jay, Doc, Phlegmmy, and Christina (Once again: no pressure. Play if’n ya wanna.). Daphne has already been tagged by Gerard (veddy eeen-ter-ess-teeng, his list) and I hope she plays.

11 comments:

  1. Holy crap, what a list! Very impressive and interesting, but what about details?! I'll play along, but I'll have to wrack my brain and jog all those memories loose...;)

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  2. Ok Buck, here's my list. I worked on it all night (slow night at work). Sure brought back a lot of memories! I'm sure I've forgotten something but for what it's worth... here it is:
    babysitter
    grocery stock clerk/cashier
    department store clerk/cashier
    house cleaner/private homes
    semi truck driver
    condo prep/cleaner for new owners
    apartment cleaning business/self employed
    fabric store clerk
    bartender
    receptionist
    secretary
    chemical refinery laborer
    large scale janitorial services (floor machines)
    house painter
    small parts assembly
    punch press operator
    roto rooter drain cleaner
    student
    cab dispatcher
    cab driver
    administrative assistant
    restaurant bookkeeper
    hotel desk clerk
    hotel accounts receivable
    mental health insurance billing manager
    bagel baker/donut shop clerk
    airport gift shop cashier
    county dispatcher/911 operator
    Lord have mercy.

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  3. Son of a gun! I was just coming over here to tag you!

    I'm leaving you on my list anyway, consider yourself double tapped, my friend. ;-)

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  4. Buck, I believe there a number of those jobs that I could list for myself!! Gofer was one that I was never fond of but until I made alittle rank it was my primary function in life, along with being skilled in 30 cup coffee making!!

    Have a Wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

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  5. Good lord - my list would be so boring. Even the, ahem, extra-curricular stuff would be boring.

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  6. Christina: Details? You want details? It was all I could do to come up with abbreviated job titles, LOL! ;-)

    That's what I liked about the instructions for this one... "no durations or details are necessary." Thank God.

    Alison! What a list, Girl! We have a couple of jobs in common, I see.

    Daphne sez: I'm leaving you on my list anyway, consider yourself double tapped, my friend. ;-)

    More like double tapped-out, Daphne... ;-)

    I can't wait to see your list (but I will)!

    Dale sez: I believe there a number of those jobs that I could list for myself!! Gofer was one that I was never fond of but until I made a little rank it was my primary function in life, along with being skilled in 30 cup coffee making!!

    Yup... I DO relate to that, most especially the coffee making!

    Merry Christmas to you and the family, Dale!

    Kris: I doubt you could ever be boring, Sweet Lady! Are ya gonna play?

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  7. Thanks for partaking, friend. And for the link back.

    I knew you'd be a great taggee, although I didn't fully anticipate how much good stuff would be on there. Rather like holding one mirror up to another one.

    I really lucked out. Got into the business of figuring out why this "word processor" didn't talk to that dot-matrix printer, when I should've been asking people if they'd like fries-with-that.

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  8. Nice to see that you never passed up on the grunt work either. And are more broadly skilled than you generally admit. I'm finding dependable help scarce - you ain't up for hire, is you? grin

    Have a merry Christmas, Buck! (yeah ... I know).

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  9. Morgan sez: I really lucked out.

    That's me all over, too. Especially in the Phase II career (post-USAF)... which came about largely by accident (a friend of a friend, and all that). And a lot of damned hard work, too... mustn't forget that. I'm thinking you have the same sort of story, Morgan.

    Lin sez: Nice to see that you never passed up on the grunt work either. And are more broadly skilled than you generally admit. I'm finding dependable help scarce - you ain't up for hire, is you? grin

    It's semi-amazing what one will do when the baby needs new shoes and you're making a pittance of a living. I did LOTS of grunt work early on, and not a small amount of it in later life, as well.

    As far as being "for hire?" Well, perhaps we should talk. Rumor has it you're a damned fine cook... ;-)

    Merry Christmas to you, Lin. Let's pray 2009 is a MUCH better year.

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  10. Buck - I might. But not tonite - long day with the in laws. I'm about to hit the hay to start it all over again with my family for tomorrow.

    Then it's a 3-day weekend wherein I may get some rest, let my hip calm down a bit and do some nice blogging.

    This one will take some thought though - seriously it will be boring.

    In the meantime, I know you prefer your holiday to be a quiet day - so I wish you a merry day of solitude and peace.

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  11. Kris: Thanks for the good wishes... and have a Merry Christmas!

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