telling me I had to go to the university my brothers went to. I was offered a full ride basketball scholarship elsewhere but they wouldn't hear of it. So, I went and rebelled, I flunked out and became a state trooper. I grew up in that job and I went back to college in Omaha, not Lincoln (where I flunked out) and got my degree. Many years later I got my masters and Phd in Economics.

Best job I ever had...

I actually love being a PA more than I loved being a tanker, but at least as a PA I don't have sergeants screaming at me all the time.

Of course, I was young in my late 20s.

The protease inhibitors. When Magic Johnson went on TV to say his life had been saved, I was a (tiny, but still vital) part of that.

My current job was great until the current attack on science took hold.

Balloon twister. It was my main source of income forvover 10 years (also did freelance computer programming ). COVID shut down both for me so I got a job at the Red Cross through my SIL, which is a lot of sitting around honestly so I do a lot of craft work like crochet there, and twisting is back as a side gig. I'm in my 50s and had a health scare in January and no longer feel the need to be part of the rat race.

I really only had 2 jobs.
Research chemist/R&D Manager & process integrity director.
The titles changed at times, but it was still those same 2 roles.
I can't say I favored one over the other.
The only other job I had was at a banquet hall where I was a janitor & ran the fish fry on Fridays. (HS & college) Didn't hate it, but I wouldn't wanted to have done that my whole life

but I hated the business side of things.

Convention Services Manager at a luxury hotel in L.A.

It was SO stressful but I was young (in my 20's) and had a lot of energy. It was like being a show runner on a show or a stage manager for a play. I loved it! I also loved being Reservations Manager at another resort hotel in TX.

I worked in a two-person county bureau, away from the noise of the main office.

My job in medical logistics involved a number of positions. While in Germany, in the 90s, my OIC assigned me the task of inventorying 10 war readiness projects, reporting everything as excess, and then shipping the items and projects to other bases. I lead a group of six composed of NCOs and junior enlisted whom the OIC didn't think much of or have faith in. I showed them how we'd do the job and assigned each of the one of the projects. As we began one project, everyone would follow the orders of the person in-charge of that project regardless of rank. The first person was a Buck Sergeant (one of the last in the AF) who didn't want to be in-charge but I wouldn't let her back out of it. After she completed her project and shipped it out she came to me and said "That was fun. Can I do another." The others completed their projects in-turn and we completed everything ahead of schedule. It was rewarding to see troops grow in their confidence and capabilities.

Challenging!
THOSE were the days!

Total blast

for 37 years, at a gas/electric utility. Had a lot of duties, learned so much. Trenching machine operator, pipeline welder, corrosion control field tech, emergency responder, appliance repair, pipefitter, I had a blast, made a good living. Best job I could have hoped for. I retired a couple years ago, now I work part time, stocking building materials at Menards, it's a pretty fun job too.

Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Never did it before, but I loved it. This was 2008 to 2010.

I got guests for the host by making cold calls. Politicians, authors, actors, regular people doing extraordinary things, etc. (Shameless name-dropping: Ted Sorensen, Jim Hightower, Greg Palast, Carl Reiner, George McGovern)

My guy could get a book from a publisher and just breathe it in one day and be ready for the interview.

I also marketed commercial time and wrote script.

When the show was on, I monitored for quality, e.g., if a mistake was made, I'd IM the host and he'd correct it on the air. I'd also scour online for late-breaking news to broadcast.

While there were three other talk shows on the air as we were, there were times we beat them with breaking news. For example, we were the first to broadcast that SC Governor Mark Sanford was missing and provided updates during that broadcast.

And we were one of the few radio shows that had former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman (several times) to give him air time for the corruption that put him in prison.

No other job can ever give me the satisfaction I got from this experience.

I loved Air America. Sigh.

We were broadcasting on WVNJ.

Worked in a small company making high end teak furniture I designed and then built the prototypes. Also built jigs and fixtures for production efficiency.

It hit all the problem solving and creativity drive that I enjoy in work. The company grew rapidly and with that started getting toxic with management power plays. One day after 13 years I quit after having another run in with the toxic VP.

Ended up starting my own shop doing custom work still going 21 years later.

A year after I quit I emailed the VP thanking him for giving me the motivation to expand my horizons.

They went out of business 3 years later, jumped ship at the right time.

I don't know if see TV commercials, but there's one for ?managing your business. It's an African-American wood furniture designer. So you see her little prototype, then the finished piece.

From the Arctic circle, northern Europe, ports of call all over the Mediterranean, Aegean and Caribbean seas. From the French Riviera to the Greek islands, young, single and having a blast.

at another office, where there was just me and one other person. It was so quiet and laid-back; just what I needed after the former job. I had just enough work to keep busy, but not be overwhelmed. The phone hardly rang. Plus, there was this incredible food place right down the street that I loved to go to.

So, you know - catalogs. The things you get in the mail showing you items to buy. All around ones, or dedicated to clothing, jewelry, home goods, electronics, computers etc.

I worked for a small catalog house with an in studio set up, and photography dept. I mostly set up jewelry and watches in a small room to the side; puting togther the designed display from the Art Dept in the front. On occasion helped with buying design items, or with setting up hard goods in the main room, helping the photographer adjust the set up I'd be looking through the 8 x 10 inch camera, even designed one small catalog when the Art Director was away (they knew I'd been a graphic designer).

Anyway, we had an annual Holiday Party for our clients, suppliers. One year's theme was generally winter. There was always a set up to photograph the guests.
My boss came up with a cut out Santa's reindeer bobbing on a light stand, with a jingle bell strap around it's neck. It'd be against a winter landscapre scene.

Well, guess who got to do all that?!
•Found a great reindeer drawing at the library.
•Traced it, and we blew up close to life size, put onto foam core ( strong papers sandwiching a foam "core" of various widths. This was ? 3/4" inch).
•Cut out, painted! Attached to light stand.
•Then painted a 8 ft x ? 10 ft winter scene of which I was on a wooden board held up by ?hobby horses to do the top half. I wish I'd been able to paint it better.

Through much of this, I was thinking: "I can't believe I'm getting paid for this!!!

It wasn't always easy, but mostly quite fun!