Jobs Jobs and more Jobs

By Josh Reighley on August 13, 2007 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

A list of odd jobs I have had:

Lawn Mower: When I was a Jr. high kid, I mowed some lawns for spare spending money. Mostly for my violin teacher.

Newspaper boy: Delivered the Spokane Chronicle when I was in Jr. Hi. Also delivered the Valley Herald. Both of these have been absorbed into other papers.

Janitor: In High School, I worked for a janitorial company cleaning various businesses. The highlight came every other week when I got to sweep the entire floor of a trucking company's warehouse.

Tele-marketer: For 3 or 4 days I worked in a smoke filled room trying to sell coupon books. I think I sold one for 20 bucks over 4 days.

Dishwasher: Back in the early 1990's the airlines used to actually serve lousy food on actual dishes. I washed those dishes for a summer. This job made my shoes really stink!

Sewer-pipe installer. I worked for 4 10 hour days burying sewer pipe for a new mobile home park.

Head hasher: At my fraternity house, I supervised the clean up of the kitchen after meals. I was also responsible for cooking on the weekends. (Noel Bailey made sure that I knew that he ate at McDonalds every day that I cooked)

Plastic bottle maker. Temp job, worked for a couple weeks in a factory that made various plastic bottles... Really neat stuff. I managed to keep all of my fingers. I have made gallon Pickle jars, milk cartons, refillable sport drink containers, honey bear bottles.

Lighting louver assembler. You know those stainless steel reflective louvers above your cubicle? yep, I might have built that one.

Beer drinker. I got paid 10 bucks once to drink a bottle of 'Red Dog' and tell Coors what I thought of it. My wife had just met, and I where co-workers in this venture. We left the tavern with more money than we came in with... (That doesn't happen often does it??)

Wood cutter: I worked for a summer in a cut-stock facility making parts for wooden windows. There where a lot of fun tasks like pulling 20 foot boards off a ripsaw and sorting them by width. For a couple of days I actually had a job cutting the boards. That was by far the most math intensive job I have ever had. You had to look at a 20 foot section of wood, detect all of the defects, and figure out how to cut them out in the most economically beneficial combination. It was very hard. Speaking Vietnamese would have been beneficial, as English was not spoken much on that line..

House measurer: I spent two summers measuring houses. The insurance company wanted to make sure that they had a good understanding of what they had insured, so they hired a bunch of college kids to drive around, take photographs and measurements.

Robot operator. I worked for 22 months in a Clean Room environment operating robotic machines that welded some metal subcomponents for Microprocessors. 12 hour rotating graveyard shifts are fun!

Electronics assembler. I spent 3 years putting together meter reading equipment. For about a year and a half, I built radio devices that fit in electric meters and could send the reading to a hand held computer, a vehicle based computer, or a fixed network. The last half of my career there, I helped assemble computers that mounted on utility poles and read meters for an entire neighborhood.

Cardboard polish remover. I had a temp job once scraping a varnish off of cardboard packaging.. They accidently put the polish where the glue went, so the package wouldn't stay assembled. Worked there for a half day, then they figured out how to do the job with power tools..

Software tester: As an intern, I spent the last year of my college years testing Online banking software.

Trade show busboy: Ran around the convention center collecting trash for a day. My feet still hurt when I think about it. This was temp job I worked for a day between my internship and my real job. I found out I got hired about halfway though my workday.

I am pretty sure I forgot a few... Oh well, doubt anyone cares...

Comments

A list of odd jobs I have had: Lawn Mower: When I was a Jr. high kid, I mowed some lawns for spare spending money. Mostly for my violin teacher. Newspaper boy: Delivered the Spokane Chronicle when I was in Jr. Hi. Also delivered the Valley Herald. Both of these have been absorbed into other papers. Janitor: In High School, I worked for a janitorial company cleaning various businesses. The highlight came every other week when I got to sweep the entire floor of a trucking company's warehouse. Tele-marketer: For 3 or 4 days I worked in a smoke filled room trying to sell coupon books. I think I sold one for 20 bucks over 4 days. Dishwasher: Back in the early 1990's the airlines used to actually serve lousy food on actual dishes. I washed those dishes for a summer. This job made my shoes really stink! Sewer-pipe installer. I worked for 4 10 hour days burying sewer pipe for a new mobile home park. Head hasher: At my fraternity house, I supervised the clean up of the kitchen after meals. I was also responsible for cooking on the weekends. (Noel Bailey made sure that I knew that he ate at McDonalds every day that I cooked) Plastic bottle maker. Temp job, worked for a couple weeks in a factory that made various plastic bottles... Really neat stuff. I managed to keep all of my fingers. I have made gallon Pickle jars, milk cartons, refillable sport drink containers, honey bear bottles. Lighting louver assembler. You know those stainless steel reflective louvers above your cubicle? yep, I might have built that one. Beer drinker. I got paid 10 bucks once to drink a bottle of 'Red Dog' and tell Coors what I thought of it. My wife had just met, and I where co-workers in this venture. We left the tavern with more money than we came in with... (That doesn't happen often does it??) Wood cutter: I worked for a summer in a cut-stock facility making parts for wooden windows. There where a lot of fun tasks like pulling 20 foot boards off a ripsaw and sorting them by width. For a couple of days I actually had a job cutting the boards. That was by far the most math intensive job I have ever had. You had to look at a 20 foot section of wood, detect all of the defects, and figure out how to cut them out in the most economically beneficial combination. It was very hard. Speaking Vietnamese would have been beneficial, as English was not spoken much on that line.. House measurer: I spent two summers measuring houses. The insurance company wanted to make sure that they had a good understanding of what they had insured, so they hired a bunch of college kids to drive around, take photographs and measurements. Robot operator. I worked for 22 months in a Clean Room environment operating robotic machines that welded some metal subcomponents for Microprocessors. 12 hour rotating graveyard shifts are fun! Electronics assembler. I spent 3 years putting together meter reading equipment. For about a year and a half, I built radio devices that fit in electric meters and could send the reading to a hand held computer, a vehicle based computer, or a fixed network. The last half of my career there, I helped assemble computers that mounted on utility poles and read meters for an entire neighborhood. Cardboard polish remover. I had a temp job once scraping a varnish off of cardboard packaging.. They accidently put the polish where the glue went, so the package wouldn't stay assembled. Worked there for a half day, then they figured out how to do the job with power tools.. Software tester: As an intern, I spent the last year of my college years testing Online banking software. Trade show busboy: Ran around the convention center collecting trash for a day. My feet still hurt when I think about it. This was temp job I worked for a day between my internship and my real job. I found out I got hired about halfway though my workday. I am pretty sure I forgot a few... Oh well, doubt anyone cares...