The things we will do for a paycheck

Yeah memes

Loll

Anyway back to the theme I was trying to start, my last job meant handling hazardous materials and while all the outlets had to be spark-proof, my co-workers would smoke outside the open windows. All so you could have longer lasting flavor in your gum. (and a few other products)

I sold cars for a year. I feel ya.

Yes. Being a son. Loll

The younger one I might add

Guessing you are still young? I'm a grandfather of two now.

Yeah. Still in highschool. That's nice, what ages?

9 and soon to be 6. My youngest is 31 (I am the youngest too)

Nice. So you understand the pain of having the reputation that has been placed on your last name thrust upon you?

My sister was the head of her class, my brother was not. So I filtered between be like one, but not the other. Instead I just have been myself and funny enough, despite my sister being an award winning author, I make more than both of them. It's kinda funny being considered an expert in your field after being just another worker for so many years.

Only advice I can really give you is education should not be wasted even if your teachers can't teach. In my fifties and having to use algebra again. Languages? Learning Spanish because I work with a lot of Spanish speakers and later this year I will be going to China for work. Last year it was England for a month and I had to go to college to graduate high school.

Ah. Thanks. I'm in precalc and Spanish 3 currently. What books has your sister ritten?

Written

Staying anonymous is kinda hard when you list your sister's name. Anyway it's basically chicklit, but I know a couple of authors that have read it and they say she is good. Just don't plan on making a living from it. She's a Liberian now. Pretty sad that teaching college paid less.

Ah. But that's still cool. You get. Get to go to some countries that most people will never go to, or get the chance to go too

Spent a month in England last year and heading to China in December, but just for 11 days.

That's cool. I wish I could go to England. Maybe find some relatives, refine my accent, and just hang out

Father is from Scotland. Been before, but ran up for a weekend to see family.

I can highly recommend York in England and Edinburgh in Scotland for tourists. Very walking friendly areas.

Thanks, I'll be sure to visit there if I get the chance to go.

I'll be able to refine both accents

Oh. So you are the professor and she is the author?

No. I’m a quality tech for a multinational corporation and my sister use to teach English at college. But unless you are a professor, you are an adjunct and get paid squat.

In the contracting world that I came from, we did a lot of things that were really not safe, but you did what you had to do to get the job done. I was young and dumb at the time, and invincible in my mind. Climbed off of a scaffold 60 feet up to fish a wire once, stood on a 2x4 on top of a climbing stair to very awkwardly install a conduit too. Probably inhaled a lifetime worth of asbestos and insulation along the way. But hey, it paid off and I'm now in a much better place large in part due to my field experience.

One of my best friends use to be a roofer. Then his scaffolding collapsed from three stories up. He landed on his feet. When I approached him about working with me he was working three part time jobs to get by because he couldn’t stand too long or sit to long. Now he’s an R&D tech for us and doing well, but still will have problems the rest of his life with his back and feet.

Back problems yikes I know @ that. Wish I'd filed for disability when I got my injury instead of continually powering thru like a Damn idiot with meds and PT.

After college and before my first professional job, I was a bicycle messenger in San Francisco.

There were a few close calls for me but I never got hurt. Others were not so lucky.

On Market St. there were vent grates for the Muni and BART trains below. We called them cheese graters.

I’ve seen something like that. I was talking to a friend that worked on cars and another tech was under the hood of a person’s car when the driver turned it over to “help” him find the problem. Lucky his hands weren’t in the wrong place!