EA 117 Gaming Community

Some of you are pretty private, but I'd love to hear what you guys do (or did) for work.

I got ticketed as an electrician, spent 7 months on my couch after a downturn here, got scooped up by a commercial property management company doing maintenance. I do a bit of everything for them but once in awhile I get to be an electrician again on smaller projects around the properties.

I finished installing parking pedestals in one of our lots this week and I'm pretty proud of how they turned out. For those who may be unfamiliar, it gets so cold here in the winter that oil freezes a bit so we have "block heaters" on our vehicles. Little resistors under the oil pan to keep viscosity low. You plug in once it dips below -30 Communist Units (-22 Freedom Units). Ergo, our tenants get electrified parking stalls.
Most installs are EMT conduit because it is cheap and get wrecked every year. The nice thing about being in-house for the company is I avoid markups on material so I can order nicer stuff. Found some nice raised pedestals to accommodate IPLCs (Intelligent Parking Lot Controllers, they can be programmed to only power what is plugged it at certain temperatures for certain increments at a time to save money) and they have a 45 degree angle which means I don't have to install bubbles covers on them to get destroyed.
I also used flexible liquid tight conduit to allow for shifting of the conduit and barriers as the temperature fluctuates between 40 and -40 throughout the year. This will help prevent snapped/pulled apart couplings which ends up shorting wires. Most clients of contractors don't want to pay for this stuff so I'm thrilled to be able to engineer my own install that will survive more than one winter.

And this lot is downtown so we get meth heads pooping everywhere. There was a big turd in the lot while I was working. Seriously, it is so common that the general maintenance guy has a dedicated poop shovel.

Nice try, HRD. Next time poop in the restroom like everyone else. Srsly only a 15m (50 freedom feet) walk.

I just said meth heads poop everywhere. Never stated it wasn't me personally!

Looks like a San Fransiscan local made it up north in that third photo..

I'm an...(embarassed squirm) trophy husband. But I have skills...in nas.

I'll take some pics and do a write up later. Gotta find some poop though! You do networking stuff too or is that not part of the property management HRD?

Dude if my wife was rolling in six figures (average dual income here, not even wealth) I would love to do the stay at home Dad thing.
No networking. I just fix the stuff everybody fucks up.

My wife doesn't make *that* much. Mainly we just live really simply with minimal expenses. Pretty much no rent.

But her job is pretty tit nonetheless. She only has to work in the field about 2 partial days a week, and we're good on that.

I'm also a putterer arounder. I'll post some pics soon. Mainly just cut shit down on the farm here, big (trees) and small (grass.) And of course fix and make our own stuff. My sailboat is soooo close to being ready to not sail all winter... :/

Blink will commute to Bangs hockey games via Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee river… in his sailboat.

River comes 1 block from the rink.. it’ll be perfect blinko

I have a varied work history considering that I've been in the adult workforce for 49 years.
I've been an Avionics tech (black boxes) for fighter aircraft, machinist, estimator/draftsman for a commercial wood products company, residential interior finisher/restoration, and for the past 12 years I've been a technical consultant for electronic health records (EHR).
My wife is a Teacher.

~ tona

tona, how did you go from tools and construction to computer nerdery?
Avionics tech sounds like it would have been a neat job!

Before the tumor made me unreliable, I worked in the quality assurance field. Started in hydraulic seals, then computer/electronic cables and switch box's. Spent the bulk of my career (17 yrs) in the power protection industry working on and with back up power supplies ranging from 1 kva to over 1000 kva. Last few years was working on high end movie screens (Stewart Filmscreen Co.) They even had two 'Oscars' for film technology. One of them was right in the front lobby. And now I am a gimpy house husband with a wife who has a damn fine paying job.

oTTo

Otto, I know! Let's start a clan: [HouseMan] or [HouseHuz]

Let's start a clan: [HouseMan] or [HouseHuz] [HoHubbys]

Fixed that for you.

HairyRussianDude wrote: ↑September 12th, 2021, 12:22 pm tona, how did you go from tools and construction to computer nerdery?
Avionics tech sounds like it would have been a neat job!

Does 2009 ring a bell?

~ tona

ps - Avionics tech was my MOS in the Marine Corps...F4 Fantoms, A-4 Skyhawks, EA-6b Prowlers
pss: you being Canadian, might not know how the US economy shot craps in 2009.
I was drafing for a Commercial Wood Products Company. We had seen designers and architects being laid off a good 8 months prior so we knew it was coming. I had 10 projects on my desk in January 2009.
When those were completed, I was laid off...at 56. So I reinvented myself and ended up in the Health Industry after being blue-collar my entire work life.

Hey Blink, I think Trench just insinuated that we are married to ho's - should we be pissed?

Just Kiddin'

oTTo

Otto Kontrol wrote: ↑September 12th, 2021, 12:58 pm Spent the bulk of my career (17 yrs) in the power protection industry working on and with back up power supplies ranging from 1 kva to over 1000

Generators? UPS? I never worked with any high voltage. Light commercial and residential. The data and fire alarm helped land me my current job though!

Otto Kontrol wrote: ↑September 12th, 2021, 12:58 pm And now I am a gimpy house husband with a wife who has a damn fine paying job.

Just let her use your face as a chair whenever she wants and ride that train buddy!

tonawandares wrote: ↑September 13th, 2021, 8:39 am Does 2009 ring a bell?

~ tona

ps - Avionics tech was my MOS in the Marine Corps...F4 Fantoms, A-4 Skyhawks, EA-6b Prowlers
pss: you being Canadian, might not know how the US economy shot craps in 2009.
I was drafing for a Commercial Wood Products Company. We had seen designers and architects being laid off a good 8 months prior so we knew it was coming. I had 10 projects on my desk in January 2009.
When those were completed, I was laid off...at 56. So I reinvented myself and ended up in the Health Industry after being blue-collar my entire work life.

Our news is very, very Americanized. I often know more about what is going on south of the border than in my own country. Although we're usually pretty boring so I guess news outlets need filler.
I remember that crash, when your bankers tanked the country and got handed cash instead of cuffs. Should have done like Iceland and jailed the bastards.
We didn't get affected financially (our downturn was about 6 years ago due to commodities crashing) but our banks said "shit, we don't want to do what the states did and have everybody lose their house and put us on the hook" and implemented some stringent financial "stress tests" when applying for a mortgage. I like the concept but they weren't realistic with what people can and can't afford due to rent being so high. "Yeah we can't approve you for that $1200/mnth mortgage. Just stick to paying $2000/mnth in rent and try again later." I was lucky and found a broker who pulled some greasy magic and got us approved for an older home in a good area. Even with my life ins, home ins, and property tax I'm paying $500~/mnth less than rent for a similar home.
Your working life sounds cool.

We built UPS's. Company started as EPE (Emergency Power Engineering. Was bought out by Merlin Gerin, Sold to Square D, Split off onto our own as MGE and is finally is now part of Schneider Electric.

oTTo

I am a Journeyman Tool and Die maker since 1999. There is a 100% chance if you live in the US or Canada that you have purchased something that has gone through a machine tool I was involved with. I can't really think of an industry that I've not made something for honestly...I've made bone taps long ago and most recently built a bunch of the tooling that makes the 2020 mid-engine corvette body parts. Easily a 3 year project as those particular set of engineers were not "rushing" an entire vehicle re-design. Currently been doing body panel tooling for the new Bronco and Raptor.
I love my job...most days. I can say outside of being a highly paid musician nothing I would rather do.

My girlfriend says that "You just make shit out of thin air" and that's pretty accurate...except I use metal and stuff.

toolman wrote: ↑October 16th, 2021, 10:59 am I am a Journeyman Tool and Die maker since 1999.

Well that sounds awful...


...awfully fun. I would have been fired already for the number of tool steel door stops & other thing-a-ma-jigs I made and took home.

That sounds interesting toolman!
I don't have the patience for work that needs that kind of precision. If I mount an electrical box 1/4" out, it isn't noticeable.

Make me some custom lineman pliers. I'm only half kidding.

Ok...I'll throw my two cents worth in. Longest career was selling roof and floor trusses for residential and commerical for appx 30 years until the shit hit the fan. Ended up selling Real Estate which is what I currently still do. Have devoted a LOT of my time volunteering for various causes...26 year volunteer FF now retired from that about four years ago. Spent quite a bit of time in murdered missing people cases such as Kelli Bordeaux and James Chambers, Jr.. Both cases you can actually view on Dateline. One just recently aired called "The Bridge". I fly under the radar on such so you may have to just guess who I am on the program...LOL..as I told them when it filmed I wasn't big on being on TV or the general public knowing much about my involvment in the case. Spent about as much time on that case in the past seven years as I have killing some of you assholes...(J/K).

ButtBreathSenior wrote: ↑October 17th, 2021, 5:03 pm Spent quite a bit of time in murdered missing people cases such as Kelli Bordeaux and James Chambers, Jr.. Both cases you can actually view on Dateline. One just recently aired called "The Bridge". I fly under the radar on such so you may have to just guess who I am on the program...

I think I figured it out. You had mentioned being "a friend of the PI", and the the only friend of his I saw on the show was his loyal cadaver dog Kaz, so...

woof-woof

~ tona

Damn Trench....don't out me like that!

I still kill people, just not for the Army.