What's the best job you ever had, and why?

Pay, what’s that? Because I’ve done everything from vaccinating chickens, bucking 110lb hay bales in 100+deg heat to swamping peaches as summer jobs I got what DIDN’T want to do. Menial repetitive making toothpick outta logs kinda stuff. Straight out of high school I fell into apprenticing to a guy rebuilding VW air cooled engines and the combo of learning new stuff and the guy I learned from were just about my dream job. But his crazy wife thought I was taking work from his lazy worthless sons which he knew wasn’t true. After working on a rice ranch where I was working on every kind of equipment new to antique and doing fabrication I realized I’d rather build than repair.

But not for another 20yrs would I get out of auto repair and go to fruit/veg packing equipment. I got a temp job working for the biggest independent orange house in the US installing a sizer. Great boss(hands off, smart and supportive) and after another guy and I did the impossible in 1/4 the time they kept us just going from one project to another for two years. The guy I was working with basically wanted the job to himself and ran me off. i went from there to a big manufacturer of fruit and veg equipment and worked my way into being the R&D mechanic working directly engineering developing machines for production, then making the special jigs and tools and training a crew to make them. Then on to the next big project. Having come close I know what makes me happy but management always finds a way to make it into ash in my mouth. Theirs was incessant cuts to benny’s, non existent wage increase only the offer of longer hours instead of actual raises. When they finally broke me my side hustle went live and I walked.

I’m working 1/3 as much and making 3x as much doing what I want when I want. Best job ever, better late than never.
 
I've loved just about all my jobs, research lab technician, apprentice, then machinist and shop foreman. Didn't love being a shop owner that much, too much stress, not enough fun. The last 20+ years I've been repairing computers for small business and people in their homes. It's the best! People are always glad to see me and sometimes I can please three women in one day.
 
MrWhoopee said:
I've loved just about all my jobs, research lab technician, apprentice, then machinist and shop foreman. Didn't love being a shop owner that much, too much stress, not enough fun. The last 20+ years I've been repairing computers for small business and people in their homes. It's the best! People are always glad to see me and sometimes I can please three women in one day.
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You my man are a STUD!


Cutting oil is my blood.
 
lordbeezer said:
Army 4 years. That wasn’t going to be it. Service tech 20 years at ford dealers up and down the east coast. Last 7 parts and service director. Made good money and had a ball. Got the wild hair up my a:: went to police academy. Worked long hours for lower pay. Helped people when I could. Locked up the ones that needed it. Made assistant chief. After many years. Didn’t like desk duty. Back to patrol. Loved going to work. So my favorite. Had to retire when had stage 4 cancer after 20.
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Interesting,
I went into the parts dept. of my dad’s Ford dealership in 1975. Spent five years, went into sales for one year then left.
Worked corporate Hertz fir a couple years as a regional parts mgr, left that to be a parts manager for a Ford dealer, p&s director, GM and spent 35 years there, then retired.
It was a pay check.

My favorite job was in between peddling parts I was a plant manager for a baseball mfg. company in Haiti. Worked on machines and production equipment. Couldn’t wait to get to work!!
 
MrWhoopee said:
I've loved just about all my jobs, research lab technician, apprentice, then machinist and shop foreman. Didn't love being a shop owner that much, too much stress, not enough fun. The last 20+ years I've been repairing computers for small business and people in their homes. It's the best! People are always glad to see me and sometimes I can please three women in one day.
Click to expand...
You want to expand on your way with women?
 
Avionics tech, US Air Force, 27+ years. I joined when I was 17 to learn electronics. The best parts were early on when I was at the top of my craft turning a wrench, and later as a manager when I could pass on what I had learned. Lots of highs and lows along the way.
 
Well on the machine end of it , I had my own shop (started 84'-2010) I scored a customer that was selling high end hunting rifles . I made a lot of stuff for them (tooling and parts) , the part that was fun was what they called a recoil arrester . It was a tube that screwed onto the business end of the barrel it had holes in the side of of the tube drilled radially all around . I made thousands of them and paid off the CNC mill .
Right the most fun job I ever had . That would be racing my Speedway bike 6 nights a week (76') in Socal . I didn't make much money but it was fun .
005 by mark westi, on Flickr
 
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