But what do you DO?

[skybytch 273]

Not what's your job title, or even what's your job description. What do you do when you're at work?

Here's what I do on an average day

- move 20-50 yard bolts of fabric on and off of a cutting table
- measure and write on several different types and many different colors of fabric prior to cutting it into various shapes in various sizes using scissors and/or a rotary cutter (named Hercules)
- put some of those pieces of fabric into a two piece plastic embroidery hoop (this is known as "hooping"), put said hoop in place on an embroidery machine, put a disc in the drive, rethread a needle and push some buttons, rethread the needle again, push buttons, replace the bobbin, push buttons, rethread the needle again, push buttons, remove the hoop from the machine, remove the fabric from the hoop and then measure, draw on and cut it
- place pieces of fabric, webbing, velcro, zippers after first putting the zipper head(s) onto (into?) the chain, elastic and paperwork into a plastic bin and stacking it with the others on the shelf for the sewers to work their magic on
- put snaps on suits using a foot press, which is a great way to release excess aggression and anger
- inspect finished suits, which includes turning it inside out, looking at each seam, trimming and/or burning excess threads and verifying that the completed suit was built to the specs on the order form
- at least once a day drive the 1/4 mile to the sales office to drop off completed suits, pick up new orders and sexually harrass the rigger
- send faxes, check the email and answer the phone

Yes, I know this thread has been done before. Yes, I'm too lazy to search for it.

[AggieDave 6]

I introduce a decent number of whuffos to skydiving each weekend and during the week (620 tandems in under 2 years).

Some of them I teach and usually successfully complete Cat A and Cat B skydives.

I then work with various students on the ground with stuff like packing, canopy control, body positions, just about any thing a reasonably experienced skydiver would do to help a low time jumper and/or a student out.

On my days off, I'm usually found in the garage welding, fabricating and otherwise tinkering.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[skybytch 273]

No, Dave. What do you DO?

Assume that none of us know what a tandem instructor does, what a Cat A or Cat B skydive consists of or what an experienced skydiver would/could do to help a low time jumper out.

Details. It's the details I'm after here.

[AggieDave 6]

I take none skydivers, train them with the basic body position and what is to be expected on a first skydive, put a harness with 12 points of adjustment and 4 connections on them correctly to prevent them from falling out or being too uncomfortable. I then put on a parachute system with 6 handles and a much more complicated emergancy procedure, connect the student's harness to my harness with the 4 points of connection and jump out of an airplane at 13.5k feet. I bring the student to the earth safely so they have enjoyed a skydive and been introduced to what skydiving is on their introductory skydive with minimal training or commitment.

I also take similar students and train them how to read an altimeter, how to maintain a proper position, how to do proper arm turns (in the SDU fasion) while maintaining altitude awareness, then how to deploy the main canopy at the proper altitude. After which I hand them the steering toggles and teach them how to properly fly a modern canopy. As well as introduce landing patterns with proper turns and altitudes, the accuracy spot (the spot that doesn't move), how to identify a "good" canopy as well as how to flare (stop) the canopy and at what altitude to do so to conduct a proper and safe landing.

After that skydive I introduce them to a proper student skydve debrief, breaking down the skydive into a number of parts, including setup, count, lauch, flyaway, body position, etc. Thus finding some good in even the worst of skydives, and correctly identifying each part of the skydive that needs to be improved upon.

For a second jump of more instruction I reinforce what was taught on the first jump, then teach a student forward movement and proper leg position using more intensive neutral body position drills on the ground followed by forward movement drills by extending the legs and pointing the toes. The skydive is similar to the first more indepth tandem skydive, but I let the student fully fly the exit as well as give the count themselves. I also expect the student to identify the canopy (is it there, square, etc) with minimal assistance as well as locat the airport and identify other canopy traffic. They also inform me of the proper landing direction prior to boarding the aircraft. They tell me when to turn and how to turn for the landing pattern as well.

All in all its very successful in producing a confident and knowledgable student for their next step towards earning a USPA "A" license.





Ok Lisa, I'm tired of typing...

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[crutch 0]

You know Dave, I do the same thing, but reading it that way makes it sound like work! I like your first response MUCH better!

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

but reading it that way makes it sound like work!

Ah, it can be work, but man oh man, you know what I'm talking about...its sooo much fun.
Even the Cat A and Cat B training usually only take about 30-40 minutes, an introductory tandem only takes about 5 minutes and that includes putting the harness on the student.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[d_squared431 0]

I work 10-12 hour days and start them by making a pot of much needed coffee. Get coffee for all the co-workers who drink it(coffee makes people happy in the morning, which makes my day better)For the first hour I cover the front office till the receptionist gets in. That consists of doing all the paperwork, calling insurances, collecting money, and making appointments and answering the phones. Once the front office person gets in I then take a chart from the rack and start rooming patients. Based on what they are there for I either take x-rays, draw labs, give shots, suppositories, collect urine, etc. I stock the rooms in between patients then it is time for the lunch runs if we aren't to busy. It varies from day to day though. All based on what the patients are there for and what time of year it is.

---

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[PsychoBob 0]

Talk to airplanes. Take a break. Go back to the tower and talk to other airplanes. Take a break. Go back to the tower and talk other airplanes.

"I'm not a gynecologist but I will take a look at it"
RB #1295, Smokey Sister #1, HellFish #658, Dirty Sanchez #194, Muff Brothers #3834, POPS #9614, Orfun Foster-Parent?"

[bodypilot1 0]

Pack, jump, pack, jump, pack, jump, pack, jump, trash pack.



Be safe.
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[slug 1]

Hi Bytch

Here's what I do on an average day. (We're retired)

Let the dogs out, let the dogs in let the dogs out, let the dogs in.......

Feed & water the dogs, Pick up dog poop, vacumn dog hair off the carpet.Empty vacumn

Do whatever else the Boss (wife) tells me to do, Work on the house, take a nap, eat what ever the boss fix's for me.

Gotta go........ the dogs want out again.

R.I.P.

[BGill 0]

-put on purple Smoothie King shirt which reads "Smooth Operator" on the right sleeve (damn right i paid extra for that)
-clock in, count money, switch drawers with previous supervisor.
-"welcome to smoothie king, what can i get for ya? size? any extras in that? and your name sir/ma'am? take this down to the register and it'll be ready in just a sec"
-put various fruits, juices, purees, ice creams, sorbets, powders, etc into blenders with ice and blend. pour in cup, put on lid, call customers name.
-ring up customer.
-get bored. read men's health magazine briefly.
-more customers.
-clean up mess customers make (customers like to tear up straw wrappers and throw them on the floor. i hate frat boys)
-tidy up the store.
repeat all night long
-clean up the store for good. count money. deposit money. clock out.
-take off my purple shirt and go home

[bodypilot1 0]

So you can take longer naps, try this!



Be safe.
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[AggieDave 6]

Sweet.

I want a 32oz high protein bannana/almond with "muscle builder" mixed in.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[grue 1]

On the average summer day, when I'm not in school:

I get up at around 10am, go "Fuck", and roll out of bed, throw on a pair of bright red swim trunks with "GUARD" on the left thigh, grab a tank top, sunglasses, whistle, and a hat.

Once I arrive at the pool, I go inside, turn on the lights, start up the pumps for the waterslides, zero the registers, and take a nap for half an hour until my guards show up.

Once we're opened up, I generally just sit out on the deck and make sure my lifeguards aren't being complete fuckups. I tell kids not to run, and on occasion sprint across the tarmac, dive into the water, and pull some asshat out of trouble.

Once or twice a day, I'll do minor first aid when Tommy Tardboat trips on the tarmac whilst running, and needs a cut or scrape fixed up.

About once a week, some irate parent with her head so far up her arse that she can see her lungs will whinge about something that nobody really has any control over, like, say, a lightning storm rolling in half an hour after she got here, and she wants a refund, dammit. Tough, because we neither know nor particularly care when you actually came in, and maybe you should check the weather before you leave.

About midday, I'll get bored and start playing pranks on my guards, such as replacing sunblock with toothpaste, or my new favourite, the "freeze their stuff in a giant block of ice".

At the end of the day, I go into responsible mode, and take care of all the money and stuff, sign everyone's timecards, make them clean up the facilities, and send 'em home. I turn off the slides and lights, lock up, then I swing downtown to drop off the deposit bag, and head home for the night, where I plop down on the LoveSac™ and watch some TV or a movie.

I'd say in a given day, I do about fifteen minutes of real, actual work. I bill the city for about 10 hours.

cavete terrae.

[BGill 0]

no fuckin way!!!!!!!!

you know of the King? dude, thats awesome! i've been working there for a little over 4 years now. best smoothies ever.

try the gladiator protein smoothie. you get your choice of 2 fruits in there. or try adding in strawberries into yours, thats a good combo. or peanut butter. theres tons of good ways to adapt that one. come by DC some time and i'll make one for you on the house

[AggieDave 6]

Yup, we've got one in College Station that I always stop by (well, truthfully, I stop when I can spare the money) after a workout.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[n23x 0]

-show up approximately whenever the hell i feel like it.

-check out all machining centers and lathes to ensure non of them crapped out during the day.

-fix whatever machining centers the operators broke today (there's usually at least one)

-write down machine run times, see how much work the operators (slightly dumber than monkeys) did.

-see what's next on the parts list.

-bring up the code, or if there isn't any, bring up the solid model of the part and generate the code.

-find the soft jaws for the part, or, if there aren't any write a program to make new ones.

-load new tools as necessary, and run the part to make sure nothing blows up and the parts are to spec.

-prep a bunch of stock for the operators (morons) to run during the day.

-look at pornos on the internets.

-watch tv.

-do a little assembly, and then head home to take a nap.

It's tough work, but somebody has to do it.

.jim

"Don't touch my fucking Easter eggs, I'll be back monday." ~JTFC

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

First of all, I really like the depth of this question. Good job thinking it up, Skybytch.
I often like to ask people what they enjoy when I meet them, not, "What do you do to earn a living?" After all, many of us would not do what we do for work if we did not have the need of earning a paycheck. I mean, a whitwater raft guide might still do that, but would insurance salesmen sell insurance for fun?

I work as a proofreader in the ad department of a newspaper.
I work at a desk with a Mac computer. I go up to our work rack where there are big manila envelopes arranged by day. These "jackets" each contain an individual ad that will be running in the newspaper. The "layout" of each ad is contained in the jacket. I take the work back to my desk and open the ads documents on my computer based on a six-digit "insertion order number." This is the serial number for the ad as it goes through our system.

A "Mac Operator" has built the ad on our Adobe program (InDesign) to the specifications of the layout. They have placed the photos and text where they are supposed to be. It is my job to compare what they typed with what was asked for on the layout that was given to us by the advertiser. I frequently have to correct errors, some minor and some major, so I need to know how to use the program to build ads at least as well as the Mac Operators do -- more so, because I need to do sleuthing many times in order to figure out just how they did something wrong. After I have finished a given ad, I release it to our dispatcher, who logs the ad and sends it off to be placed on the page that they use to make the plates for the press. I am the last person to check the ads for errors before they run in the paper.

I hate to sound immodest about it, but I EXCEL at doing what I do. It's pretty well recognized that I am significantly better and more accurate than the rest of the proofreaders I work with. (I have had several years in which I went without a single revenue-loss error attributed to me -- and numerous years with perhaps only one or two!) I have this mind and eye for details. I don't stop proofreading when I leave work -- it's not something that can be shut off. I do, however, stop getting paid for it after I clock out.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[BGill 0]

well in that case just remember to keep your punch card going. every 10th one will be discounted or free.

(this is so awesome, i know there are smoothie kings nationwide but i didnt know people actually went to them

• Quote

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

It's pretty well recognized that I am significantly better and more accurate than the rest of the proofreaders I work with. (I have had several years in which I went without a single revenue-loss error attributed to me -- and numerous years with perhaps only one or two!) I have this mind and eye for details. I don't stop proofreading when I leave work -- it's not something that can be shut off. I do, however, stop getting paid for it after I clock out.

Oh man, DZ.com has got to really piss you off sometimes then. I mean, everyone is typing so fast amd naking spelling as well as errors grammatically.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

well in that case just remember to keep your punch card going. every 10th one will be discounted or free.

Not here, they had such a problem with counterfeit cards that they quit taking them 100% here. Folks from Houston were coming up with their cards that they made (which had a slightly different stamp) and were getting them passed off. Basically the Smoothie King here was loosing many thousands of dollars due to it and said "fuck it."

Oh well, they quit taking checks too, but since the guy that runs it recognizes me and knows that I've been coming to his shop off and on for 6 years he still lets me write checks.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

Quote

Oh man, DZ.com has got to really piss you off sometimes then. I mean, everyone is typing so fast amd naking spelling as well as errors grammatically.

It's not so bad, really. I used to freak out about it and get on people's cases about typos and stuff. Now I just let it go. No one wants to be corrected about stupid details that don't mean much. It's social, it's not life-and-death, right?
Actually, dropzone.com is not the worst. Check out some of the "hippie" posting boards on the 'net and you will see some near-illiterates, and you will lose all faith in the schools, and in the youth that are the world's future.

By far the most articulate, literate, intelligent-seeming posters I have found reside at thehighroad.org, which is a pro-gun message board. You will find some VERY intelligent, well-written posts there.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[grue 1]

Quote

Oh man, DZ.com has got to really piss you off sometimes then. I mean, everyone is typing so fast amd naking spelling as well as errors grammatically.

I dunno about him, but I go completely batshit fucking loco at some of the stuff I see on internet forums and in instant messenger applications. I think I once told my father something along the lines of "If you send me another instant message with 'u' or 'ur' in it, I'll set you on fire and beat you to death with the limbs of a homeless man," to which he replied with "Ur gonna die first, u fuck."

My father is just like me, only older He's even non-whuffo

cavete terrae.

[grue 1]

Quote

well in that case just remember to keep your punch card going. every 10th one will be discounted or free.

(this is so awesome, i know there are smoothie kings nationwide but i didnt know people actually went to them

There's one next to Chick Fil A at the mall here, I've never been there. I'll try it, and if I don't like it... make your peace with god, I'll hunt you down and... ask you to take me to the DZ.

cavete terrae.

[GratefulDreamer 0]

So...I wake up at 8 go to class till 10:30, after that I go sit on my butt in the basement Student Health Center and hope to God that someone gets bitten by a rabid frat boy because it would liven things up a bit...get yelled at by my boss (who doubles as a second mom) for skydiving saying I am going to kill myself, and for taking her real daughter on a tandem. Go to class and then go back to work to sit a little longer and catch every sickness that walks through the door then someone gets angry and ugly with me because we don't have an X-ray machine in the back to check out their stubbed toe....

Fight with an ancient MAC to check dz.com, and to just feel connected to the world above then study,study,study

Then have a discussion with the 80 year old nun/nurse (who still does not believe that I jump by myself and that I have a license) about why I like to jump out of airplanes in my spare time...I asked her why she liked to pray to God in her spare time and she laughed at me : )

I go get the mail and take a field trip around campus and find a friend to chat it up with for about 20 min ( I have great job security, b/c I am the only worker) and really make the most of the $5.15 I am getting paid.

Then I go sit in the library till 2am thinking about the next time I am going to be able to jump

All in all I like my crap job because it puts money into my skydiving account and I can study all day long which is not a bad deal at all

-Tammy, Pink Mafia Sister #190
Pink Mafia Tunnel Sister #20