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  #136  
Old 01-15-2021, 07:07 AM
jdrnd jdrnd is offline
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Originally Posted by Guitars44me View Post
"...when I instituted my Voluntary Vector Reduction program..."
Nice work. It is difficult to determine the specific polarizing coefficient tensor for the aligning vectors. I am duly impressed.
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  #137  
Old 01-15-2021, 08:48 AM
Bikewer Bikewer is offline
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Last Saturday was my last night as a police officer. I’d been so employed since 1968.
Spent 10 years with the local county police, and over 40 with the campus police at a major university here in St. Louis.

Mind, I’m not exactly retired; I took the “service officer” position as a sort of retirement job.
The service officer does car starts, lockouts, door alarms...All sorts of mundane jobs so that the police officers don’t get tied up doing them.

No gun.... I just carry a can of pepper spray and my radio.... So I feel a lot lighter now.
I think it’s been a pretty good ride. Never shot anyone, no “brutality” complaints, no scandals.
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  #138  
Old 01-15-2021, 09:10 AM
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no “brutality” complaints, no scandals.

Sorry you felt like you had to say that and thanks
for being a police officer... stay safe in your semi-retirement

-Mike
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  #139  
Old 01-15-2021, 11:31 AM
Skarsaune Skarsaune is offline
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30+ years as a manufacturing engineer, making auto parts, speakers, motorcycle parts, turbos, guns, tools.....it's been a good time. Teaching part time at the community college now too.
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  #140  
Old 01-15-2021, 03:20 PM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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Originally Posted by barefooter View Post
Retired as a Lieutenant in law enforcement (WVSP) and then returned to work as a civilian investigator conducting records audits for motor vehicle inspections. I also conducted polygraph examinations privately after retiring the first time. Now, 100% retired, that is unless you don't include the 'honey-do' chores. Today I enjoy helping family and friends with odds and ends around their homes.
Hey Tom, great to see you here again! I'm guessing that given your experience you don't need to use a polygraph to determine if a suspect is lying .
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  #141  
Old 01-15-2021, 07:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Bikewer View Post
Last Saturday was my last night as a police officer. I’d been so employed since 1968.
Spent 10 years with the local county police, and over 40 with the campus police at a major university here in St. Louis.

Mind, I’m not exactly retired; I took the “service officer” position as a sort of retirement job.
The service officer does car starts, lockouts, door alarms...All sorts of mundane jobs so that the police officers don’t get tied up doing them.

No gun.... I just carry a can of pepper spray and my radio.... So I feel a lot lighter now.
I think it’s been a pretty good ride. Never shot anyone, no “brutality” complaints, no scandals.
SLU UMSL or Wash?
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  #142  
Old 01-15-2021, 08:13 PM
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Kh1967 Kh1967 is offline
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Great thread!

Current: VP of Sales for a diagnostic imaging company.

Prior years, of which there have been many :

Tennis Instructor
Sales (Industrial)
Sales (Healthcare)
Sales Trainer (Healthcare)
Sales Manager (Healthcare)
Caregiver (mom and dad)
Business Owner (real estate)

It’s been a road...some better than others, but hands down the very best (and hardest) were the years I took care of my folks.
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  #143  
Old 01-16-2021, 08:38 AM
Bikewer Bikewer is offline
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SLU UMSL or Wash?
Wash U.....The “Harvard of the Midwest”.
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  #144  
Old 01-16-2021, 02:46 PM
Neil K Walk Neil K Walk is offline
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I am a jack of all trades and master of none. It started by joining the Navy out of high school and doing odd jobs during and after college:

Roadie (the job that ruined me off of becoming a professional musician)

Custodian (sweeping, mopping, polishing, plumbing)

Security Guard (everybody stands watch and it's usually extremely boring, especially during the overnights)

Maintenance Man (cleaning and maintaining firefighting equipment)

Professional Painter (usually dangling from a harness with an industrial strength spray rig)

Firefighter (with aviation crash and salvage training)

Aviation ground crew (chock and chain detail)

Landscaper

Busboy

Light Industrial Worker (assembly line/shipping & receiving)

Records Warehouse Auditor for Social Security (summer employment where we basically purged the files of dead people but it still required a civil service examination)

Blood Plasma Donor (don't judge, I was putting myself through college and needed money for groceries and automobile expenses - and yes, social spending and alcohol. The GI Bill and grants took care of my student expenses.)

Freelance Graphic Artist (3D Illustration with a focus on architectural renderings and interior design; sort of an extended internship that grew directly from my senior thesis in digital media in advertising and marketing. This predated social media for self promotion and high speed Internet access for more efficient delivery of services so when I moved for economic reasons work dried up)

Data Entry clerk in billing, accounts receivable, loan processing (various temp jobs I held when my first freelance efforts proved fruitless)

Desktop Publisher/Digital Typesetter (a temporary but very technical position that went permanent but I eventually lost that job to a corporate merger and subsequent downsizing)

Mortgage Loan Processing clerk and coordinator (sort of a go-between been the bank underwriters, property appraisers and government insurance agencies such as HUD/FHA and the VA. It provided me with the opportunity to learn all the ins and outs of MicroSoft Office and enroll in an MS certification program for website design and administration.)

Freelance Graphic Designer (brochure and flyer design but job went uncompensated due to an ethically challenged client that subsequently soured me on doing freelance work without some sort of advocacy and legal represenation)

Web Designer (I also maintained a web site for the same ethically challenged client)

Website and email Administrator (even after the same ethically challenged client hired another designer who wouldn't pester him to pay his bills he strung me along because technically *my* name and billing information was on the service contract with the ISP. "The Art of the Deal," as it were.)


Though I worked a lot of jobs I would say that none lasted longer than 3 years so they never became a career. Now I'm a stay at home dad and homemaker (which needs to be called something else entirely, though my interpretation of it does also include carpentry, plumbing, and light electrical.)
Since my eldest has a developmental delay, I was also his nurse/caretaker (sometimes more than 20 hours each day with some parent training in ABA as well as using my former clerical experience to advocate for him with various government agencies, charities, schools, institutions and sometimes even law enforcement.

So yeah, when people look at me and ask "what do you do?" I usually brush it off as an attempt for people to talk down on me. Most couldn't walk a mile in my shoes. I suppose I could blame myself for being a "ship without a rudder" but I count myself lucky that I married up. My wife's career has been steady and she just broke into the executive level with over 25 years of experience in IT.
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  #145  
Old 01-17-2021, 07:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Mandobart View Post
Joined the USN at 17. Nuclear power program. Electronics Technician and Reactor Operator. Submarines, and also did a tour as an instructor.

Got out and went to college, got a BSME. Worked as a design and plant engineer for about 13 years, then went into Operations at a commercial boiling water reactor plant. Spent two more years training for and getting a senior reactor operator licence from the NRC. Became a Control Room Supervisor and Shift Manager (responsible for all aspects of safe operation, maintenance, physical security of the station).

Went back to training operators for two years (similar to what I did as a navy trainer). Them back to the control room. The pay and benefits are very good. Its shiftwork - I'm going in tonight for 12 hours ($$ doubletime!).

We put 1200 MW on the grid (enough to power Seattle) so I'm "essential". Not something that can be done remotely from home. My job has not been impacted by the year's events - turns out we'll always need to power stores, toilet paper plants, gas stations and hospitals.

All told I've been working in the nuclear power and propulsion business for 40 years. Working nights, holidays, weekends, maintaining my license (ongoing training and testing, medical and psych evals, background checks, drug/alcohol testing, etc.) is more than many people are willing to put up with. I've always said find a necessary good or service that others find too hard, too dangerous, too dirty, too boring, too unglamorous, etc. and you'll never be without a job. Its worked for me.

Looking at retirement in 3 to 5 years. It takes longer than that to train my replacement.
As an American, I and hopefully the state of Washington thank you for your service! I also thank everyone else here who has been in the military or served with law enforcement.

I worked as a teenager in two marinas. The first stint was the dirty work (washing boats, cutting grass, painting boat bottoms, etc.). The second was working for a Bertram Yacht dealer rigging 28’-58’ sport fishing boats. That was fun for the most part and I got to run the boats, pretty cool for someone 19-21 years old.

Graduated with a BSME and worked for Chevron in a plant that manufactured lube oil and gasoline additives. Was the primary mechanical engineer for the unit that manufactured the Chevron’s very effective gasoline additive that (dirty secret) the other oil companies bought and used in their gasoline blends. Broke out from that to become a manufacturer’s representative for companies making dry bulk solids processing equipment. It’s one of the best small business models you can have since the overhead/operating costs are low. If you work hard, you can do well financially and it always seems fun. 31 years later, I’m an owner/partner, looking to retire in 6-8 years.
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Last edited by SprintBob; 01-17-2021 at 08:09 AM.
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  #146  
Old 01-17-2021, 11:30 AM
barefooter barefooter is offline
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Hey Tom, great to see you here again! I'm guessing that given your experience you don't need to use a polygraph to determine if a suspect is lying .
Hey Dru; Thanks for the welcome back. You made me smile with your comment regarding detecting deception. In the profession it became easy to identify who was most likely the one hiding factual information while interviewing them. Likewise when just hanging out with others in a casual environment, it is sometimes best to try to ignore some things. haha... I will say though that I gained a lot of satisfaction being able to conduct polygraph examinations in law enforcement as well as privately. It is always a great feeling knowing that you played a part in seeing justice served for both, the innocent and the guilty. Have a good day my friend.
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  #147  
Old 01-18-2021, 10:50 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Like just about everyone here, I did all sorts of odd jobs as a kid -- life guarding, lawn cutting. As an engineering student I did a lot of drafting and surveying work. I got a mechanical engineering degree in 1970. I first worked in aerospace for 3 years, then worked with the nuclear navy for 5 years for one of the main reactor plant prime contractors, including going through nuclear power school. At some point when I was working at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard I got an offer to work as chief engineer for a very small pump manufacturer in Washington state. So I gave that a try and ended up retiring from full time work from that company (now considerably larger) in 2016. I still work part time for that company remotely an average of 7-10 hours per week. I am so invested in that company after working with them for 42 years and I enjoy the work.

Being a "chief engineer" for a small manufacturing company involves work in just about every field there is: not just engineering, but advertising, sales, training, some finance work, and a fair amount of legal work with attorneys. (I have a fair number of patents.) I did a great deal of technical writing and wrote all our manuals. I had an interesting career.

I do enjoy having a lot more time available for music these days now that I am retired from full time work. But I do miss the intensity and excitement of so much of the work I retired from. But... nothing lasts forever.

Somewhere in the middle of my engineering career my wife and I started our own music business. She worked at this full time while I held my engineering job. Our family performed about 30 community concerts and school programs across the Pacific Northwest over about 7 years. Our 3 children were part of the show.

I have enjoyed reading through this entire thread! It's interesting to read about the careers of so many people I know here from their forum names.

- Glenn
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Last edited by Glennwillow; 01-18-2021 at 11:35 AM.
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  #148  
Old 01-19-2021, 10:16 AM
Neil K Walk Neil K Walk is offline
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Yo Kerbie,

I can talk your ear off as I enjoy talking to pilots... Tho my first love was playing music, my second was airplanes; which is why I went in Marines at 17 yrs old and worked in avionics on A-4 Skyhawks. I was too blind to be a pilot, but I got to be around jets all day. I did front seat in a T-4 Caravan as well as a Stearman biplane which was a gas. Then did some helo's and Cessna's all as a civilian when I got out of the USMC.

Congrats on a way cool career! ...so what is your fav bird to fly? I always liked the regional MD-95/Boeing 717. I've flown in them a bunch and when I could rap a bit with the pilots, they always loved them. A lot of power at takeoff I noticed, like a jacked Mustang LOL! Very reliable, excellent safety record too!!

eric
I see your location is Florida's First Coast. I did my time in the Navy out of Mayport about 30 years ago on the Forrestal. I'm not a pilot but I was an aviation boatswain's mate (handler.) I was ship's company in the air department but A-4s were long gone by then. We still had A-6's and A-7's back in those days. I really hated the latter; the landing gear was hard to work around with tie down chains and I understand that the design was mimicked on the F/A-18. I swear there must have been some reg that stated they couldn't be airworthy if they didn't leak hydraulic fluid. Also, very often we had to yell at the mechanics because they'd always leave the ends of the 440V power outlets laying in a puddle (the concept of grounding does not exist on a ship.) Thank God for the cutoff switch or else there'd be a class Charlie fire surrounded by a bunch of "screaming alphas." We only had one other Forrest Fire on my watch and that turned out to be arson.
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  #149  
Old 01-19-2021, 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Bikewer View Post
Last Saturday was my last night as a police officer. I’d been so employed since 1968.
Spent 10 years with the local county police, and over 40 with the campus police at a major university here in St. Louis.

Mind, I’m not exactly retired; I took the “service officer” position as a sort of retirement job.
The service officer does car starts, lockouts, door alarms...All sorts of mundane jobs so that the police officers don’t get tied up doing them.

No gun.... I just carry a can of pepper spray and my radio.... So I feel a lot lighter now.
I think it’s been a pretty good ride. Never shot anyone, no “brutality” complaints, no scandals.
Congrats, Bikewer, you made it! Well done!

I was 33 years in law enforcement myself, with the largest sheriff's office in Nebraska (which wasn't really all that big...). I knew it was time to go when I had the best job on the department but just didn't much care anymore. Luckily, my pension was there for me and I was able to retire and turn my job over to my excellent sergeant, who got himself promoted and took over for me.

It was a good ride and I could write a book about it. But I've been happily retired for 10 years now.
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