what do you "do"?

[prof.fate]

I"m an older person that's part of the 'new economy'..LOL

to the OP - yes, I do drive a school bus with kids on it. Started doing that about a month ago - paid training and all that good stuff to get my CDL/airbrake/P/School Bus endorsements. Been filling in and training since then - gotten to drive a variety of buses - BB transits, thomas saf-t-liners, IC CE's, new (under 5k miles still smells new - my profile pic bus) up to 135k miles, 66 to 78 passenger sizes.

Everywhere from interstate to alley's, one lane country roads, three point turns (6 a day some days).

And I've had my own photography studio since 2005 - but that's a dying industry, so I've added DJ and the now bus driving, and jan-april I do income tax returns, and next year will also likely add a contract for grass cutting.

Past 'careers' have been mechanic/service writer/service manager/parts person for 15 years in car and powersports dealerships, 5 years in RE sales, 2 in car sales, 5 in motorcycle sales, 2 years residential electrician, i've remodeled a few houses (just about everything..footings, brick, framing, siding, roofing, plumber, septic/leech field, drywayll, flooring) too. Plus a number of years of food service work in just about every position.

College degree in management.

[RxMedicated]

Computer analyst for last 28 years...in a 8x8 cubicle...a bus is going to be a huge upgrade Will setup a small computer desk to shield from retirement shock!

[AlleyCat67]

Get you some cubicle walls and fasten them to the walls of your bus.... with the short wall to the front. Spend 8 hours a day on your computer in there and all will be well.

[RxMedicated]

If there is a cubicle in my bus..i'll only go in it if i'm paid..and have decent med benefits!

[yellowxj]

I work for the Florida Dept of Transportation. Currently I process permits for connections to state roads but I recently was a highway inspector. The families first love was Jeeping. The Cherokee was the last best AMC design. The family's current Jeep...

My daughters jeep we just finished converting from 2wd...

My wifes last Jeep

And lastly, me at work...standing in I-75, forcing traffic from three lanes to one by myself at a fresh accident scene ...trade secret...dont make eye contact with the people driving by, they'll want to stop and ask what happened ahead.


Jeep, bus, repeat.

[EastCoastCB]

We got an XJ the first year the 4.0 was available and put nearly 400k on it before giving it to a friend of the family. Its still running and used during hunting season.
I also had a 96 that was great. They were awesome machines for what they were.

[Tango]

Still driving my '95 Cherokee Sport.

[Scott Marcano]

I'm an RN, but I'd like to teach SCUBA for a living, we shall see here in the next year or two.

[mikeypj]

Medically retired, formerly 25 yrs in printing industry.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[n.page.86]

The Company I work for is an International Transportation provider with many different divisions. I'm in charge of maintenance at a Special Needs Terminal for a fleet of almost 100 School buses. I currently have a mixture of buses in my fleet. We primarily have Freightliner/Thomas C2's with Cummins 6.7 and Allisons. We still have a handful of Internationals with both the single turbo Maxx force 7's and twin turbo Maxx force 7's. As well as a few Freightliner FS-65's with Cat C7's and an Allison as our spares. Oh and one lonely IC short bus with a VT365 and IC's famous all power brake system. All of our buses aside from the FS-65's have AC (joy), all aside from the FS-65's and the one IC are air brake. All our W/C buses have air ride. I also have the joy of maintaining about 50 Ricon and Braun W/C lifts.

I was given the challenge of turning this shop around about a year ago and in that year we have gone from a 82% Dot rate to a 98.1%. I strive for 100%, but we have 4 Braun Clearview lifts that malfunction 1 out of 4 times they are operated (poor, poor design). Our PM compliance went from 78% to 100%. And our shop rank went from 262 out of 468 shops nationwide to currently 19th. I'm pretty proud of my crew.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Tango

Still driving my '95 Cherokee Sport.

we had XJ's as company vehicles for years till they stopped making them... we ran 300k on those 4.0's with no issues.. only thing that killed one was one of our employees that ran the temp off the scale just to get home to his beer from a job site...

I myself have over the years had 8 wranglers.. from YJ's to TJ's to JK's

-Christopher

[jacobszall]

right now, I work at a sub shop. I'll save a few thousand, spend a few months on the road.. get a food service job/farm work/anything I can get my hands on, then move out again

[ol trunt]

Can't fault the life style--its all good. Just be SURE to get the necessary "quarters" into the social security program or whatever the new guy in DC comes up with!!! Retirement comes way quicker than you'd ever guess. While I'd hate to try to live on my SSI, that with my regular 8 to 5 retirement allows me to play with my toys.
Jack

[Scott Marcano]

coolness, good luck.

[leadsled01]

City worker. Municipal Electric Dept. Lineman for 11 years, now I'm a utilityman after a 35 foot fall.

[Lamacose]

Retired from the USCG in 2005 after 27 years. Currently working for a New Orleans marine transportation company that specializes in vessels related to the Offshore Oil & Gas Industry.

[mikeypj]

Originally Posted by mikeypj

Medically retired, formerly 25 yrs in printing industry.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Lets update this..10 yrs Army signal corps. 25 years in printing last 10 yrs as a plant manager. Fell off a catwalk onto a airpump and broke my back. I loved the industry, but sadly the old iron is rapidly becoming a thing of the past as digital printing is faster and cheaper. The Guttenberg Bible was the first ink on paper with movable type done in 1455, in 2005 the extinction of that form of printing truly began.

The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow, if I can.” –J.R.R. Tolkien

[Phatman]

Originally Posted by wonderkaty

hello again y'all,
I was sitting there today, in my overly stiffling, hopefully temporary cubicle and I started wondering what you all "do" for a living. I am imagining there is a pretty diverse base of people out there.... does anyone actually drive a bus with kids to school?

I'll start: I myself am a recent college graduate (how long can I claim being a graduate as my "profession"?) and am temping, as said above, in an office. doing data entry.... ALL DAY. I aspire to do something creative and outdoorsy someday. either that, or marry rich. a girl has got to dream.

Hey Wonderkaty, I retired from the Houston Police Dept. 11 years ago as an electrician. Went back to work to start an electrical dept. at The City of Pearland. I am a professional cabinet builder and getting ready to retire from Pearland and build cabinets full time. Having fun converting my skoolie.

[madapple]

Hello,
I work for the dept of defense and am currently in Bagram Afghanistan until Nov of 2017 at which time I will coming back to my home in Indiana and retirement!!! Yea , I am 62. I will be buying a rear engine bus and converting it to travel in. I am working as an electrician here on base. I have been lurking here for a year now and can't wait to get started!!!
Merry Christmas,, from Afghanistan

[cheryl_ann44]

Originally Posted by Tango

There aren't many jobs I haven't had over the years but have been an artist for most of them. Was in advertising for nearly 25 years, now sculpt cement & concrete and run a studio-warehouse for artists. I also teach the weird, esoteric art form known as Faux Bois in different parts of the country which is one reason for the skoolie. It will be a combination mobile retirement home and teaching lab.

Tango, I had to use Wikipedia to know what that was--for the rest of you that may not want to admit you did not know:

Faux bois (from the French for false wood) refers to the artistic imitation of wood or wood grains in various media.

Thanks for teaching me something today!

As to what I do, well many years ago I started in the data processing dept of a oil well mfg company, then the Air Force as a Digital Navigation and Tactics Specialist (worked on/gave training on the F-15 flight simulator), office clerical, licensed insurance sales, cross-country driver of 18-wheelers, legal secretary/paralegal for the last 15+ years. I have been laid off twice in the last two years due to the lack of work in some legal fields, and am currently doing contract work for law firms.

I bought my bus last February and due to lack of funding have not gotten very far on the conversion but am still dreaming and planning and buying as I can.