What do you do for work/living?

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by akfiredude

We may just wind up buying new if they are still in production when the time comes to pull the plug.

we're gonna assume that you meant "trigger"....

[akfiredude]

In my line of work one never knows for sure but to me pulling the plug or the trigger means the same thing, my career will be coming to an end.

Sometimes I feel like an excited school girl waiting for prom when I think about the next phase of life and cruising the desert SW in a SMB!

[Ultralite]

Desk jockey in a corporation, slowly withering under the fluorescent lights

[macmcintire]

This has been a very interesting read. Some very impressive credentials of some highly skilled professionals and some even more impressive credentials of those who have found a way to make enough money to buy a SMB doing outdoor activities and other things that they love. As for me, I am a workaholic. I owned my first business, a restaurant, when I was 15 years old. I had 24 employees. I opened the restaurant in the morning, then went to school, worked the lunch break, went back to school, and then worked until closing after school. Later, after going to college, I taught high school during the day and was a police officer at night. Then I became a mental health educator and had a daily radio show and weekly television show that I hosted discussing mental health issues. I also did marriage counseling in my spare time. I then went to American Express where I eventually became the EVP of Human Resources. For the past 25 years I have owned and operated a now Wyoming-based training and consulting firm that helps companies define their strategic focus, align their internal effort, and gain the commitment of their workforce to achieve long-term profitability and growth. I am the author of five books and hundreds of articles and I hold four patents. I travel about 60 - 80% of my time for work, which, sadly, leaves very little time to spend in my SMB. One of these days I'm going to slow down and sit on the bank of a slow moving stream and just watch the water go by.

[JohnandMandi]

Another application developer here. I did a short 5-6 year stint as a lead developer and deputy CIO then was recruited to a less stressful higher paying job with my current employer. I'm still a lead but only over the organization's web based and commerce systems. I'm an extrovert so I stick out in my profession.

Mandi is a CPA. She received her MS in taxation but works in criminal justice information security compliance. She has been fortunate to work in three different organizations with her best friend. They keep recruiting each other as they move around.

Many years ago I was hired as a manager at a retail clothing store and met this wonderful new sales associate to whom I am now married. It was the only time I could actually tell her what to do, she listened then as well as she does now!

We're entering another period of reinvention so who knows what we'll do next.

-John

[LenS]

Retired mechanical engineer. Worked in aerospace (Apollo, military electronics, etc), farm equipment for a bit, and finally settled at GM Cadillac Div. Retired at age 57as a group manager (baby setting young engineers). We always have loved camping and the out of doors and still do. Now add grandchildren to that list. Life is good.

[rallypanam]

Originally Posted by macmcintire

This has been a very interesting read. Some very impressive credentials of some highly skilled professionals and some even more impressive credentials of those who have found a way to make enough money to buy a SMB doing outdoor activities and other things that they love. As for me, I am a workaholic. I owned my first business, a restaurant, when I was 15 years old. I had 24 employees. I opened the restaurant in the morning, then went to school, worked the lunch break, went back to school, and then worked until closing after school. Later, after going to college, I taught high school during the day and was a police officer at night. Then I became a mental health educator and had a daily radio show and weekly television show that I hosted discussing mental health issues. I also did marriage counseling in my spare time. I then went to American Express where I eventually became the EVP of Human Resources. For the past 25 years I have owned and operated a now Wyoming-based training and consulting firm that helps companies define their strategic focus, align their internal effort, and gain the commitment of their workforce to achieve long-term profitability and growth. I am the author of five books and hundreds of articles and I hold four patents. I travel about 60 - 80% of my time for work, which, sadly, leaves very little time to spend in my SMB. One of these days I'm going to slow down and sit on the bank of a slow moving stream and just watch the water go by.

It made me exhausted just reading this.

[Viejo]

Originally Posted by macmcintire

... One of these days I'm going to slow down and sit on the bank of a slow moving stream and just watch the water go by.

Mac - Given your resume, I'd say that's about as likely as your other famous quote, "Then I'll be finished spending money on my SMB."

But good luck with both.

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by rallypanam

It made me exhausted just reading this.

Met too! Dang Mac, take a vacation!

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by LenS

Retired mechanical engineer....... and finally settled at GM Cadillac Div.

My first engineering job was at the Hamtramck (Pol-town) plant.........in 1985....