Do you enjoy your job?

[MossRoad]

I think investigating would be fascinating.

 

[Maxify55]

I think investigating would be fascinating.

Doing investigations is like eating dry white toast each and every morning for weeks or years on end.
The first day or two it's OK but you, then, begin to ask yourself: "Isn't there something else to go with it?"
Then on day three and EVERY day thereafter it's: "How do I get outta here?"
It's just not what you see on TV.
It's boring, boring, boring.
"Just the facts please?"
Jack Webb had it right on Dragnet eons ago.

 

[MossRoad]

Doing investigations is like eating dry white toast each and every morning for weeks or years on end.
The first day or two it's OK but you, then, begin to ask yourself: "Isn't there something else to go with it?"
Then on day three and EVERY day thereafter it's: "How do I get outta here?"
It's just not what you see on TV.
It's boring, boring, boring.
"Just the facts please?"
Jack Webb had it right
on Dragnet eons ago.

Interesting perspective. I've always been curious as to why things happen. Pretty much anything.

 

[k0ua]

Interesting perspective. I've always been curious as to why things happen. Pretty much anything.

I suppose you could think of a telephony/IT service guy is an investigator. As an example. You receive a service call from dispatch. "System is dead at xyz corporation". Sometimes that is all you get. Just a general idea of a fault with no further information.

So you begin an investigation as soon as you arrive on site. Actually you start playing scenarios thru your head on the drive over, such as what is their past history? Is is stormy now or in the last few minutes, could this be a lightning strike?, Pay attention to any utility work in the area as you draw near, could this simply be no power to the building? I have seen calls that stupid. The entire building without power, and yet they call and say the phone system in non-operational. So you walk into the equipment room. First sense to pay attention to is what do you smell? Anything burnt or smokey? Use your eyes. Any water coming down into the unit? I have seen that. And even sewer backup into the room. Yep. Wasn't pleasant. Say all of that is fine, then you continue your investigation to any power in the AC outlet, any power lights on? power supply status lamps or meters functional? And on and on. It is all a part of investigation.

 

[MossRoad]

I suppose you could think of a telephony/IT service guy is an investigator. As an example. You receive a service call from dispatch. "System is dead at xyz corporation". Sometimes that is all you get. Just a general idea of a fault with no further information.

So you begin an investigation as soon as you arrive on site. Actually you start playing scenarios thru your head on the drive over, such as what is their past history? Is is stormy now or in the last few minutes, could this be a lightning strike?, Pay attention to any utility work in the area as you draw near, could this simply be no power to the building? I have seen calls that stupid. The entire building without power, and yet they call and say the phone system in non-operational. So you walk into the equipment room. First sense to pay attention to is what do you smell? Anything burnt or smokey? Use your eyes. Any water coming down into the unit? I have seen that. And even sewer backup into the room. Yep. Wasn't pleasant. Say all of that is fine, then you continue your investigation to any power in the AC outlet, any power lights on? power supply status lamps or meters functional? And on and on. It is all a part of investigation.

My last job was 30 years at a newspaper in all aspects of production and facilities: people, machinery, computers, phones, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, etc...

"My computer isn't working." or "The machine isn't working." doesn't offer much to start with. So you develop a drill-down list of interrogation questions, and a drill-down list of troubleshooting procedures.

A mystery is particularly satisfying to solve. :thumbsup:

 

[k0ua]

My last job was 30 years at a newspaper in all aspects of production and facilities: people, machinery, computers, phones, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, etc...

"My computer isn't working." or "The machine isn't working." doesn't offer much to start with. So you develop a drill-down list of interrogation questions, and a drill-down list of troubleshooting procedures.

A mystery is particularly satisfying to solve. :thumbsup:

I always liked the ones where "my phone is dead". And they know all along what is wrong with it. They have meticulously cleaned the outside surfaces of the phone before you get there, and you take it apart and discover pop or coffee all inside of it. Then you give that that look and they shrink away and avert their eyes. The don't want to "get in trouble" so they won't tell what is wrong with the phone to save you any time, or know to bring a new one before you come... Noooo.. They want to pretend all innocence. Trust me the phone guy is gonna know.

 

[two_bit_score]

Doing investigations is like eating dry white toast each and every morning for weeks or years on end.
The first day or two it's OK but you, then, begin to ask yourself: "Isn't there something else to go with it?"
Then on day three and EVERY day thereafter it's: "How do I get outta here?"
It's just not what you see on TV.
It's boring, boring, boring.
"Just the facts please?"
Jack Webb had it right on Dragnet eons ago.

Interesting perspective. I've always been curious as to why things happen. Pretty much anything.

In arson investigation it would be that way. Everything always turned out to be 'electrical of unknown origin'. :laughing: jk


I never thought investigations was boring. Worked all kinds of white collar crime. It was very interesting.

 

[bindian]

I thought I would be a corporate pilot. A counselor from an aviation academy told my parnets and I that the best way to become a pilot was get your mechanic's license and hang out at the airport. So I did that and realized I liked working with my hands and loved rebuilding "bent" planes, while working 6 miles from home for a Piper and Mooney service center. While doing that, I saw where the corporate pilots waited and ate while waiting for their bosses. Vending machines and FBO customer lounges. They I got married and started working building sheetmetal parts for helicopter modifications. After two years of making parts from blueprints, I finally got moved out of the sheetmetal shop to airframe rebuild. That is where I fell in love in rebuilding wrecked and/or wore out helicopters. I excelled at reskinning Bell 206 tailbooms.

5 years later, the oil boom busted and took helicopter modifcation centers down with it. I got a mechanic job on DC-9s, we had 5 planes and worked out cargo customer's Boeing 727s. 5 years later they when Chapter 11. They got a job being a freighter mechanic babysitting US Post Office DC-9s and Emery Airfreight's Boeing 727. Got tired of that job cause it was just two of us mechanics in Houston and I wanted to throw my beeper away.

Came back to the local airport doing sheetmetal on Swearingen Metro IV and Mitisubsi MU2 turboprops. I hated that job. Was the last mechanic there as they went out of business. I was there 2 years.

Then I finally got my lifetime job of 28 years working on all models of the Boeing 737 for Southwest Airlines. The hardest part of this job was getting to and from work, as I lived 62 miles from the hangar at Hobby in Houston.

Then Covid 19 hit and I took off 4 months voluntary with half pay, then took retirement with 3700 other co workers last month. I realized I loved the job and coworkers, but didn't want to make that drive any longer. I got 12 months pay and 12 months paid up insurance to retire, so I took the money and ran, at age 62.

Now, I just play (some people actually pay me to play) with my sawmill, excavator and tractor while watching my ducks land on my ponds. Life is good and I am blessed.
hugs, Brandi

 

[daugen]

this thread is a testimony to why TBN is so interesting, so many folks with tremendous talent and experiences.

I always wanted to be a teacher, but getting out of college during the Vietnam War nixxed that, no jobs to be had. Tried to volunteer for alternate service as a lifelong pacifist/Quaker and struck out there too. Had a psychiatry minor in college and wanted to volunteer in psych wards, but those jobs were filled too. Even though my draft number was very high, always thought we should all do something for our country. So I went into insurance industry as an underwriter and corporate teacher/trainer for Travelers insurance, and with that knowledge came back to my home town as an independent insurance agent, buying out the agency several years afterwards. Great time in my life, was a volunteer fireman for ten years, my partner in business was the Chief, and our office was a block from the fire house. Great small town life style.

Got to really dislike insurance industry primarily because the insurance companies IMHO were poorly managed and they whipsawed my clients with ever changing regulations, huge price increases and arbitrary cancellations. Made me feel bad about myself. So I bought the town's Radio Shack and what fun I had with that. It was a franchise so basically I could do what I wanted and I made it into an upmarket adult toy store, computers (Tandy 1000), stereos, r/c cars, cell phones (could not keep 1600 dollar Motorola and Panasonic bag phones in stock), went to Toy Fair in NYC every winter and picked out new toys and gadgets to sell for next year. But my marriage fell apart and so did the desire to be within those enclosed walls.

Later on in my early 50's I went back to school for three years and got my CFP, and became a kind of financial doctor to families and small businesses, mostly within the Quaker faith community North of Philadelphia. While I had my stock broker licenses like other registered reps, I made one quarter of what they earned because I didn't want to manage money for families, rather wanted to show them how to put their kids through college, how to retire, and also enjoyed the analytical part of evaluating their savings portfolios to see if their brokers were doing a good job for them.
This was the career I enjoyed the most, felt I was helping others the most, was trusted and respected. If the client, mostly older women, couldn't afford my flat fee, I spent one night with them over their kitchen table (where I did all my work, never in the office) and my fee was a plate of home made oatmeal raisin cookies and a mug of Earl Grey tea. That was my pro bono work, learned that from parents who were both lawyers, who did no criminal or PI work.

What allowed me to hop around a bunch was never having children. I don't think I would have taken as many chances if I had, but I was always a good earner. Three years as a yacht broker in Ft Lauderdale working for Richard Merritt, three years installing Schlumberger electronic measuring equipment on power plant turbines, did a bunch of fun things. And when I retired was able to do one of my last bucket list items, growing food for the needy, and spent a few years growing literally tons of vegetables for local food pantry. Great excuse to own some nice Massey tractors...:thumbsup:

Job I liked the least was General Manager of a public records firm in NJ, providing search products into title industry. Had 170 people reporting to me, basically I did everything but manage the large IT department, that the owner did. And when the owner hired a new President over me my last year, and that little worm gave me a bad annual review holding me responsible for things that were absolutely out of my control and fully under the control of the owner, I said enough, and gave my notice. Years later he apologized to me, said he really wished he had handled things differently and known what he knew then. Lot of stress in that job, a zero defect environment where huge amounts of time and energy spent on QC to avoid any mistakes at all.

I think the most helpful experience I had was my first job off the farm, bussing tables at local French restaurant. Learning to deal with the public at an early age really helped me later on.

 

[MossRoad]

I always liked the ones where "my phone is dead". And they know all along what is wrong with it. They have meticulously cleaned the outside surfaces of the phone before you get there, and you take it apart and discover pop or coffee all inside of it. Then you give that that look and they shrink away and avert their eyes. The don't want to "get in trouble" so they won't tell what is wrong with the phone to save you any time, or know to bring a new one before you come... Noooo.. They want to pretend all innocence. Trust me the phone guy is gonna know.

Ain't that the truth!!! :laughing:

Man, do I and my coworkers have the stories like that...

Best one I have is from my coworker, Tom. He got called for a desktop PC not working in a remote office. He drives up there and the guy is sitting at his desk and tells him the computer just stopped working. So before picking it up and swapping it out and bringing it back, right there on the guy's desk, he opens it up. There's a butter knife laying on the motherboard! A full-on regular old metal butterknife, completely inside the computer, laying on the mother board, shorting who knows what out!

He looks on the break area table in the center of the office and there's 4 forks, 4 spoons, and 3 butter knives.

So he motions for the guy to come over here by his desk and points inside the computer and says "I think I found your problem."

Then Tom just stood there looking at the guy for several moments until the guy final broke. He said the machine was making a horrible noise from somewhere inside for days and days and he couldn't take it anymore as it was driving him nuts. So he tipped it up and started jamming the butter knife in and out of the openings on the back..... and he dropped it, and it fell into the machine. When he set the pc back down flat, it want "POOF!" and stopped working.