what's your job?

[LionFish]

I work at Ford Motor Company
United Auto Workers Local682
I am a General Utility in the Trim Department, I for the most part cover absent co-workers. I make around 60K a year and pay 0 for insurance for my family I have Worked there for almost 6 years.

[fishbait]

i used to be on the other end of your job lionfish. i was a technician for a ford dealership for ten years. in other words i used to cuss your'e job!

[Sara]

Okay so I'm late on this post what a surprise. The last few weeks have been hell. Anyway. I am a Certified Medical Assistant. I work for an Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon. So I deal with snot, ear wax, and horrible bloody noses on a daily basis. I scrub in for surgeries with my Dr. The last one was a total laryngectomy on a cancer patient who is still smoking to this day. I love my job and most of my patients. Except when I have to give a Intramuscular shot in the ass and the old perverts decide to do a 360 and I get an eye full of old nuts. I also run our office allergy program a lot of what I do consists of drawing blood sending it in for analysis and and mixing custom allergy vials for patiens who get weekly shots for immunotherapy. I also give myself allergy shots. We also do a lot of botox injections to some really special women. I call them boho's, they are horribly vain and shallow. At least my boho's are. I make decent money. Enough that I can live comfortably, enjoy my reef and I'm going to buy a new car hopefully this weekend. I work mon-thur 8:30-5:30 and fri 8:30-12:30. That's it.

[Rcpilot]

Damn! Who would have guessed that me, Yote and SSalty were all in the same business?

I've been in the HVAC business for about 15yrs. Started out as an apprentice, changing out central A/C in Kansas City. Quit and went to work for a light commercial contractor after about 2yrs of changing A/C in houses. Learned how to fab duct and install duct and rooftops for that commercial contractor. Couple years doing that.

Moved to Colorado in 1996 and got a job as a Special Projects Journeyman. We did all the weird or complicated stuff in the Vail region. Figured out real quick that the only girls in Vail had hairy armpits and only showered twice a month. Let the mountains and moved to Denver in June 1998 and went to work for Sheetmetal Workers Local 9. GUTTED it out working for union shops for a little over 6yrs. Hated it. Lazy bastards.

Worked my way into foreman positions and eventually superintendant positions. Did some estimating and some Project Management.

Fell off a 6' step ladder in March 2005 and exploded my lower back. 3 surgeries later, I got 9 pieces of titanium in my lower back and I'm missing a disc. Decided I couldn't wear tools anymore, so I found a dumpster and chucked in everything but my cordless drill.

Got a job as a salesman for a small Mom & Pop residential shop after my back was healed enough to operate an office chair. Sold residential furnaces & A/C for about 8 months, but I couldn't take dealing with Mary and Jim Homeowner anymore. 99% of my experience in the industry was in commercial or industrial. So, dealing with homeowners and the boss at a Mom & Pop residential shop just about drove me postal. Felt like residential was sooooooooooooo beneath my qualifications.

Got a SCHWEEEEEET job as an estimator/salesman/Project Manager now. GREAT company and fantastic people to work with. They bought me a brand new 2007 Ford F-150 pickup, Dell laptop and camera. Had it all ready for me on my first day on the job.

I make a base salary of $45k per year with 4% commission on my sales and full medical, dental and eye for my entire family (2 rugrats and a finance officer) at no cost out of my pocket.

Sold a $204,000 industrial rooftop and exhaust job yesterday, so my boss told me to take Friday off.

Commercial & Industrial Heating Air Conditioning Denver - AC Mechanical & Engineering, LLC.

Biffy:
I know Terracon. I used to work as a lab rat when I was a teenager. Not for Terracon, but for one of their competitors. I know all about the geotechnical field. Soil sampling, proctors, compaction tests, unconfined compression tests with a Troxler Nuke, confined swell tests, asphalt extractions. Worked on the drill rig for a bit, but looked around a noticed that most of the guys were missing fingers--decided I wanted to keep mine, so got off the drill rig.

[Bifferwine]

Originally Posted by Rcpilot

Biffy: I know Terracon. I used to work as a lab rat when I was a teenager. Not for Terracon, but for one of their competitors. I know all about the geotechnical field. Soil sampling, proctors, compaction tests, unconfined compression tests with a Troxler Nuke, confined swell tests, asphalt extractions. Worked on the drill rig for a bit, but looked around a noticed that most of the guys were missing fingers--decided I wanted to keep mine, so got off the drill rig.

Yeah I don't work in the geotech department, I work in the environmental department. Meaning I have to dress up for work, and they don't . When I run out of environmental work, sometimes I'll go out in the lab and help out the geotech people. But I'm not strong enough to do proctors, thank god!

[yote]

Dude,I'm in the wrong end of the HVAC bussiness.

[DesoShade]

Me? Well, I work with a temporary staffing agency. eh. It's got no benefits and isn't very stable work since it's only temporary work. I only get paid $7 an hour and the work is usually not so fun work that nobody else wants to do. I paid $80 for my 30 gallon tank and another $60 for equipment, crushed coral and things. I hope it won't be as expensive once everthing is up and running.

[Bifferwine]

Is it too late to return the crushed coral? It will end up looking like crap because gunk and detritus gets stuck in it. This will lead to nitrate and algae problems. Not to mention, you can't keep fish or animals that dig or bury themselves in the sand. Switch to aragonite sand if it's not too late.

[MikMcgyver]

I am a custom Home Theater Installer. I do everything from 26" lcd flat panels to 103" Panasonic plasma televisions. We do a lot of custom Projector setups up to 16' across. Full Sound systems, whole home audio, home automation ( ever wanted to turn on your AC on the way home from your phone?) security systems, custom remote controls to control every tv in your house... Pretty much anything that has to do with electronic entertainment, we do... Its only me and one other guy... Any questions please feel free to ask, I like HT stuff as much as I like SW fish stuff, although I know a lot more about Home Theater then SW fish, but i'm learning... Peace

[Rcpilot]

Originally Posted by yote

Dude,I'm in the wrong end of the HVAC bussiness.

Yup.

I worked in the field for almost 15yrs. I learned a helluva lot and was always pushing to advance my position. I took on a lot of responsabilities that other tinners wouldn't or couldn't do. I always looked for ways to show my superiors that I wasn't just a "duct monkey" and that I had a brain that could make life easier for them, if they would just allow me to use it.

I got abused here and there. I worked my ass off for less money than I deserved. But, I was always moving forward. Moving on. As soon as somebody stuck their thumb on me and told me I had advanced as far as I could go--I was down the road and moving on to a better job.

NO LOYALTY!!!!!

Companies are just using us for labor and we're just using them for a paycheck. When it comes time for layoffs or cutbacks--do they give you 2 weeks notice? HELL NO!! They come out at 2:30pm and hand you a check. "Sorry buddy."

I was always on the move. Every couple years.

I NEVER saw myself as a salesman though. Everyone has such negative attitudes about salesmen. Who would want that job? Slimy used car salesman--thats what I always thought about sales people.

Untill I sold my first $10,000 job and raked in a nice 7% commission on it. YEAH!! Who's yer daddy!?!?!?!?!?!

Selling turned out to be the most fun I've ever had!! I got a brand new truck and I drive around with the A/C on. I talk to clients and I do system design. Draw a few fittings, do a little math on CFM and velocity. EASY AS PIE.

I get a giggle out of selling stuff. And now I have a job where I work with heavy commercial or industrial clients. They don't really care how much it costs. If it works--they'll hire you to send a crew in and do it. It's that easy. Industrial clients work WITH you instead of against you like a property manager or a restaurant owner that is always brow-beating you about the price.

I kind of got forced into sales because of my back. But, it turned out to be just another rung on the ladder. I'll admit, sales is POSITIVELY the hardest job I've ever had in HVAC. It DID NOT come naturally to me. I've been to 4 classes that cost me --on average-- $2500 per class. Those were 40hr bootcamp type classes and sales seminars. It's all about knowing your product and delivering what you promise. First time you hose a client--your done. Word gets around nowadays.

But, I make decent money. I don't have to work outside in the heat or cold. I can stop and take a break anytime I want. I really have nobody looking over my shoulder. I get to use indoor toilets instead of those nasty port-o-lets on the jobsite. I don't have to wear workboots and stomp around outside in the mud. I can take a 3hr lunch with a client and use the company credit card to pay for it. (not everyday, but maybe twice a month)

Not a bad gig if you can just talk to people. Thats all sales is -- talking to people. It helps if you really know your product. Clients can smell BS a mile away.