Whats your day job?

I own a Antique restoration shop where my son and I practice the various arts of refinishing, restoring, conservation and a lot more. One of these days I need to sit down and write out the various hobbies I've dabbled in.
 
Radiologic Technologist. I do Xrays, CT scans and, yes even the dreaded MRI scans that everyone loves so much. I get to look at peoples insides without cutting them open and hopefully help them in some way.

It has nothing to do with woodworking, but I have done CT scans of burls and an MRI of an apple log. Never claimed I was sane.
 
Retired in 2000 from graphic arts company after 42 years as a maintenance supervisor worked on plating equipment and engraving machines and associated equipment. I have been doing woodworking since I got out of high school, still trying to learn how it's done.
 
15 years as a house painter and the last 28 years doing computer support and retiring September 2013. I specialized on finishing interior woodwork when I was a house painter.
 
I retired 2 years ago from GE due to my sudden deafness. I worked for GE with intelligent guys and gals like Don Orr but from the service side. I began working on CT scanners in November of 1976 for a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. I got promoted to management but stepped down after a little over a year. I didn't have the stomach for corporate politics and refused to go against my moral values. I stepped back down to a systems engineer position and worked that until we were sold to GE Medical Systems in 1986. I worked as a field service engineer for GE for 24 years until I awoke deaf. I installed and maintained primarily MR scanners, CT scanners and some x-ray.

Woodworking is a hobby. I am a rank amateur. (With heavy emphasis on the word "rank"!)
 
Last edited:
Quality and Safety Mgr for a countertop company and also within that I do Auto CAD work here. 15 years worth of it and I think I have done every job here.
 
I have been self employed since i dont know when probably going back to the early 90's. Started out in Electronics Engineering and migrated over the years into all sorts. Sales, marketing, General Management and Product Development. BTDT got the T shirts. Nowdays i run my own business advisory service for SME's (small medium enterprises) mostly privately owned. However i am first and foremost a serial entrepreneur so i have several other projects on the go at once.

My woodworking interest originates from School days and from DIY. I used to have electronics as a hobby until it became my job. So i have no intention of damaging my woodworking hobby by getting into doing woodworking for a living. Besides with my productivity in woodworking i would starve to death.:rofl:
 
I work for a local company that manufactures ice cream novelty products such as ice cream bars, drumsticks, push-ups, ice cream sandwiches etc. We sell all over the country. I'm a mechanic... it is my job to maintain, repair and rebuild the manufacturing equipment. Been there for 32 years.

I also operate my own photography business shooting freelance assignments for newspapers and magazines. Done lots of weddings, high school and collage (Purdue) sports, proms, graduations and seniors. Been doing this for past 15 years.

Woodworking didn't start until about 20 years ago but is something that has always been fun for me. Having the space to do it though has always an issue. Joining this group has been the best "woodworking" experience for me. Lots of knowledgeable people here.
 
Last edited:
I'm a technical writer/editor, writing user documentation for computer software. I write the manuals nobody reads. With the exception of a couple of years of unemployment, I've been doing this kind of thing for about 20 years. Currently working for a subcontractor working for a contractor working for the Indian Health Service, working with a team that's developing new medical record software for Federal and Tribal sites nationwide. (The Veterans Administration and several other other government agencies are also looking at some of the software we have done.)

Prior to being a tech writer I was a construction inspector/project administrator (primarily civil engineering stuff), and before that I was a professional musician and guitar teacher.

Been woodworking off and on since I was a kid. My initial woodworking education was in high school woodshop, but I've learned most of what I know over the past 7 or 8 years from a combination of internet forums and real-life experience.
 
Whats your day job?

Curious what folks day job is (in general terms)?.....Retired optometrist
How or if it has anything to do with woodworking?..Nothing​

This probably sounds dumb. The main reason I wanted to have my own practice and office was so I could regulate my work hours. I was a dedicated hobbyist. I have had a bucket full of hobbies. Some of the more sublime were things like jewelry making, painting, pottery making, photography and similar. On the other end I did power boat racing (one time), flying (mostly sedate), played with "boy toy" automobiles (not so sedate), amateur pistol and rifle target shooting. And a whole bunch of other things. You get the idea---hobby of all types, master of none.

My son Glenn got me interested in woodworking 4 or 5 years ago. I had no concept of what a "wood butcher" I was when making something, until Glenn got me interested in real woodworking.

What is really crazy is that I had more time for hobbies when I was in practice than I have now that I am retired.

Oh yes, I babble a lot on FWW/

Enjoy,

JimB​
 
Last edited:
Retired teacher and now have two jobs. I own and operate a cabinet shop and sell curriculum for a company that provides secondary and post secondary career and technical education materials.
 
27 years USAF retired in '92. Since then a state licensed Landscape Architect working with engineering and architectural firms doing landscape architecture and land planning (site design and conceptual plans, special use permits, rezoning, site plans, landscape plans, lighting design, etc.) Now semi-retired consultant doing same. Inherited love of woodworking from my dad, although it comes in handy designing trellises , pergolas, decks, fences kitchens and other outdoor structures.
 
currently unemployed, prior was in the printing industry for 28yrs doing prepress work,computer.
proir to that and during was in construction as a carpenter and also worked in a foundry pouring iron and brass for ten years and worked on a dairy farm at the same time.. the wood working aspect came from school and i worked in a lumber yard as a kid, always wanted to be a carpenter and have played with wood in some form since child hood,, my woodworking has evolved threw this and other forums help and threw experience.
 
I taught Technology Education (Industrial Arts) for 32 years and took early retirement in 2009. Since then, I have been a self-employed carpenter/handyman doing small remodeling projects and repairs.

Ike
 
Paramedic for 29 years, no end in sight for now. Woodworking (when I actually do any) is purely an exercise in futility, born out of necessiity, and given to the dubious, sometimes sold to the unwitting.:D
 
I've been a professional woodworker since 1970. My shop sizes varied from the floor of the second bedroom of a two bedroom apartment, to 15,000 sq.ft. For the most part work alone or with one or two helpers. I always had the visions of a large shop at full tilt, and that's when I set up the 15K shop and up to 27 employees. It's that old adage of be careful what you ask for.

My work consists of whatever comes in the door. It varies from kitchen and bath cabinets to medical offices, law offices, banks, retail stores, restaurants, bars. For several years I also taught woodworking, cabinetmaking and finishing at night for adult education. I mostly now do consulting for local shops and online clients...some of those are forum members. I can say it's been a hard line of work, very stressful, and plays havoc with health issues.



MikesMasterLogo2.gif

movingplane1.gif

.
 
Many careers over the years. Two major. Telco for 15 years until divestiture in the early '80's. Self-employed woodworker for 24 years. Custom furniture designer/builder, teacher, author, speaker at national shows. Retired in '04. Flunked retirement. Currently an ordained ELCA minister.

Woodworker since I was 7. Many shops over the years. Currently tools are packed and I am designing a shop trailer to take with me as I move from site to site - every 1-2 years. Trying to start a hobby here.
 
Top