What do we do for a living?

[Lawrence]

Sadly the RAF Tornado fighter goes out of service on March 31st 2011, so there will no longer be a requirement for a simulator for it.  It is being replaced by Typhoon (or Eurofighter if you prefer) however, the Ministry of Defence have made another arse of it all and did not initially allow for a building for the new sim  , leaving a 2 year gap between simulators where I work (there are simulators down South for the guys to train on).

 

Whilst, as a trade, there are very few experienced SimTechs around, the company are not going to pay us for 2 years to sit around and do nothing and there are no gaps to be filled elsewhere, so time to polish up my cv!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

There are some interesting jobs on here.

 

For the last few years I have been a business analyst for a large insurance company - dividing my time between Crawley and London. The term business analyst has many and varied meanings depending on the industry in which you work and their approach. In my case, I define business processes and clarify specifications for new IT developments - in other words make sure that what is being designed and built actually matches what the business need (which is not necessarily what they want!), write test plans and feasibility studies etc.

 

Most BAs in our company (and in the insurance industry) come from an IT/techy background, but I don't. I started out working as a claims assessor before making the move. I feel a bit of a fraud sometimes because I know next to nothing about computers...

[Claude_Dreyfus]

My personal hero is Sir Humphrey Appleby what should ring a bell with some of the British forum members. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Humphrey_Appleby

 

Sir Humphrey is the Deity for all civil servants! 

[westfalen]

I love to ask people to guess what I do because no one ever guess it right due to my East Asian heritage...even with other East Asians.

 

In small towns USA, Canada and most of Europe: a cook, laundry services and convenience owner.

 

In large cities USA, Canada and Asia: student, financial services, IT.

 

Maybe I should just stick with the consensus 

In Australia you'd probably own a bakery, but I'm guessing that's not it either.

[westfalen]

I'm about to be unemployed for insubordination for refusing to drive a half hour in to work during a blizzard. Saturday is mandatory, and we were told, failure to report to work will result in termination.

 

That's awful to hear.  Too bad you don't have the services of JR Hokkaido, operating in blizzards is a walk in the park for them- they even give passengers excuse slips if trains are late, to hand to their employers.  I'll probably see those slips tomorrow morning, as a big storm is expected to hit tonight- students are bound to be tardy as a result.

I spent a week traveling in Hokkaido in February 2006 with snow higher than the roofs of the trains in places and I never missed a connection. With what I had come to know about Japan I was expecting it, but I still didn't believe it.

[jappomania]

Hi!

I see that you have all very interesting jobs

I, after 15 years of working with computer networks, have changed my job

I was system administrator and technical assistant to many small businesses that can not afford a full-time employee, is typical in Italy where small companies have no more than 15 employees.

now during the summer season I make pizza (I'm a certified Pizzaiolo, In Italy exist the School of Pizza http://www.pizzanew.it/scuola/)

I'm now on hold to help my parents sick, this is not a good time :-(

In the meantime I study while waiting to support the new Microsoft certification exams (maybe in the future I come back to work with computers but my dream is going in Tenerife and open a tipical italian Pizzeria)

 

ciao

Massimo

[Bernard]

I'm so glad that Westfallen started this thread because not only do we have various jobs but what is interesting is that we have all come together in a common interest, Japanese trains.

Where else would you find a baker (Massimo) discuss with a lawyer (Alpine) half way around the world, about whether the design of the new E5 is to their liking. Something that neither one could discuss with a person they work with or see everyday.

There are just so many examples of this type of interaction at the forum there isn't enough space to name them.

[to2leo]

I would like to see an embedded survey added to this thread too so that we can see the make-up of this forum.

[bc6]

Well my main job is that of an Computer Technician for a High School. I maintain a computer lab consisting of 24 desktops with 3 networked printers that teachers can reserve whenever they need to do internet based learning, etc. I also manage over 150 laptops in 6 mobile carts that are distributed throughout the school on a daily basis also on a reservation basis. I have various data entry tasks that need to be attended to regularly. I support 360 students and about 50 staff members from teachers to  with daily IT requests from helping a school secretary with printer troubleshooting  to enabling a Principals laptop to connect to the schools wireless network. My job is a very fast paced job being on your feet trying to fill peoples request regardless if its a last minute thing or if they placed a reservation using the online technology reservation form I made for the school.

[Bernard]

Well my main job is that of an Computer Technician for a High School. I maintain a computer lab consisting of 24 desktops with 3 networked printers that teachers can reserve whenever they need to do internet based learning, etc. I also manage over 150 laptops in 6 mobile carts that are distributed throughout the school on a daily basis also on a reservation basis. I have various data entry tasks that need to be attended to regularly. I support 360 students and about 50 staff members from teachers to  with daily IT requests from helping a school secretary with printer troubleshooting  to enabling a Principals laptop to connect to the schools wireless network. My job is a very fast paced job being on your feet trying to fill peoples request regardless if its a last minute thing or if they placed a reservation using the online technology reservation form I made for the school.

Any specific school and is it in the NY area? (My Brother, Al was a teacher and my wife Pam still is.)

[marknewton]

Like Westfalen, I run trains for a living. But I think his railway is probably a bit better organised than mine! 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[to2leo]

Well my job location and responsibilities will be changed soon.  Hopefully when I come back from vacation, I can breathe in some fresh air and do some exercises while walking to work.

[ToniBabelony]

I'm still a student living off from taxpayer's money. However, after summer I have to start repaying it as I've finished my study and have to start working. It's gonna be tough to find a job in this climate. Anyways, I'm not going to live for my job, as I'm planning to start a creative-multimedia studio with some friends. Websites, music, animation, etc. and experiment with brewing beer :3

[to2leo]

Hey Bernard, will you be going to the Vancouver Winter Olympics?  I really wish I can go but oh well there's always Toronto  :laughing7:

 

Toni, the job market is tough anywhere except in the BRIC countries.  I know you will get what you are pursuing eventually!

[Bernard]

Hey Bernard, will you be going to the Vancouver Winter Olympics?  I really wish I can go but oh well there's always Toronto  :laughing7:

 

 

 

Boy Leo what a memory you have. Yes I will be filming the Vancouver Olympics and I'm leaving this Sunday. What is really great about working with my group is that we will "round robin" with other crews the events we cover. No one crew will be stuck at one event for the entire Olympics we'll get to see almost every event. The one thing though, I am assigned to film all the figure skating, a sport I've been following since Peggy Flemming competed in at the 1968 Grenoble, France Olympics.

Leo - to be honest, you will see more of the games on television than you would if you were there. The best part of the games is meeting people from all parts of the world, it's like being an international exchange student for 17 days. For that I highly recommend going to an Olympics.

There are certain events as a spectator I would skip and that would be Bobsled, luge and skeleton. The track is mostly enclosed so that the sun does melt the ice or that dirt doesn't blow on to the track. What fans do go find themselves looking up at the big video board all the time because when the competitors finish their runs they are wisked away by officials for weigh ins that are done inside.

In all, it's a great experience and I think the Canadian people are going to put on an amazing games!!

[ToniBabelony]

Toni, the job market is tough anywhere except in the BRIC countries.  I know you will get what you are pursuing eventually!

 

Well, I'm not sure yet what kind of job I'm looking for, but firstly I'd like to have a relaxing job where I can earn a living and do creative stuff next to it. In the long we plan to earn a living with our creative products, but that's a thought for later.

[westfalen]

Like Westfalen, I run trains for a living. But I think his railway is probably a bit better organised than mine!  

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

It used to be.   We hardly have a day these days without the system being brought to a halt by something that could have been fixed in a few minutes once being drawn out by red tape, eg; the paperwork and safety procedures for electricians to go trackside to fix a faulty signal or points could take a couple of hours even though they might be standing there ready to go. As another example the Gold Coast line used to be inspected by a Track Supervisor in a Hi-rail truck following a passenger service, no fuss, no delays, then all of a sudden someone decides they can't do this anymore. A couple of weeks ago I took part in the new procedure, which came about after infrastructure threatened to 'red flag' the line if they couldn't inspect it. Three days a week a train runs empty from Mayne to Beenleigh, picks up the track supervisor then heads for Varsity Lakes and back at 40kmh in one direction, drops the trackie back at Beenleigh and then returns empty to Mayne. A 180km non-revenue run for a train and a full shift for the crew. When I worked it we were held twice on the 40kmh run to let following trains overtake us on the other track, while this was happening the opposing trains were delayed 10-15 minutes as both tracks were occupied, the trackie said he hadn't ever seen this happen while they were using the hi-rail.

 

And no one knows yet how we are going to end up after the government finishes selling bits of QR, they keep adding new parts as they go. I notice that EMU's and SMU's being overhauled are now coming out of the shops minus the QR logos, whether that's a forecast of things to come who knows?

[IST]

I am a risk analyst at a lease company, but we do not finance trains. Currently it is snowing and I see the following from my desk (see below). On the left side of the picture you can see a tram and over it, behind the trees is the Danube.

[westfalen]

A couple of views from my 'office' window.

 

The second one's not snow but a recent dust storm, about the closest we get here.

[IST]

A couple of views from my 'office' window.

 

Hmm, we should change. 

[to2leo]

Hey Bernard,

That's great news, is there a channel or documentary title that we should look out for to see your team's work?

 

I cannot make it to Vancouver as I will be in East Asia and Australia for pretty much Feb to mid March but there always the Internet to get connected to the actions.  Too bad, I just got the HD box and has to miss the Olympics footage.  Oh well~

 

@IST and Westfalen, I really like the views from my office window idea. Cannot wait to see more!

[CaptOblivious]

I don't have a window, so here is my view (from a few steps back). My view outside is through y'all's photos (and the map of Tokyo on the left).

[Bernard]

Hey Bernard,

That's great news, is there a channel or documentary title that we should look out for to see your team's work?

 

I cannot make it to Vancouver as I will be in East Asia and Australia for pretty much Feb to mid March but there always the Internet to get connected to the actions.  Too bad, I just got the HD box and has to miss the Olympics footage.  Oh well~

 

 

Leo - Our film will air on Showtime but we don't have an actual air date as of yet, I'm thinking 6 months after the games are over. We have to do interviews and travel to different counties to get them so it takes time.

[disturbman]

I don't have a window, so here is my view (from a few steps back). My view outside is through y'all's photos (and the map of Tokyo on the left).

 

And, on the big screen,, a view of the forum. Nicely done Don!

[stevenh]

I'm impressed, to say the least, at the assortment of job titles here. to2leo, you've gotta come clean though, what do you do for a living?

 

My days were spent writing code for Goverment Departments here in Australia. Software Engineer by trade, but I wouldn't call what the government wants engineering... They could do with a lot of help from Claude Dreyfus who would need to tell them what they need, rather than what they think they need... but I could go on for hours.

 

I've recently moved to Melbourne, internally via work, and now do a little less development (resorting to writing test cases) and a lot more test coordination. It's actually quite a nice change (I'll be back to dev again soon enough) to be doing more troubleshooting than development, but it's not challenging enough...