Modern Day Factotum

mjp

mjp

Founding member
I wasn't going to do this because I thought I'd only had a few jobs, but Carol made me do it, and when you sit and list them all out, it adds up. Crazy.

They are fairly chronological. Or as close to chronological as I can remember.

- Lookout on non-union construction sites using pirate union-workers
- Door-to-door candle sales
- Printer for an insurance company
- Sorted and delivered mail internally for an insurance company
- Ran an envelope stuffing machine for insurance company billing mailings (same company, I had a lot of different jobs there)
- Guitar player in punk bands (lots of money to be made there, let me tell you!)
- Building demolition (seems like a logical next step from punk)
- Cut backing boards (thick cardboard) for posters (so they could be shrink wrapped flat and sold as "art", rather than rolled and sold as crap)
- Copy and printing delivery in Century City
- Bindery worker (cutters, folders, collators, drilling (punching), binding, padding, you name a big, dangerous printing-related machine, I've run it)
- House painter, interior and exterior (cutter, the shittiest job on the crew)
- Collected unwanted bicycles for an organization that sent them to Central America to be fixed up and used as transportation
- Roofing, mostly on new construction (easier) with some existing commercial mixed in (harder)
- Live sound engineer (from clubs to outdoor venues up to 50,000 seats)
- Studio recording engineer, mixer, producer
- Guitar player in Reggae band
- Guitar player in a Reggae band in a movie (we only pretended to play, but the pay was real)
- Aged and stenciled original designs on wardrobe items for movies
- Daily cleaning of wardrobe items for various movies (see item #5 here - now that's Hollywood glamor for you)
- Wrangled extras for concert scenes in a movie
- Tech support for HTML software
- Tech support for web hosting company
- Support manager for four different web hosting companies
- Web site and database design
- Operations manager for two web hosting companies
 
justine

justine

stop the penistry
this is hilarious!
my list is nowhere near as cool or as long, for three reasons: i hate change, i'm a slow learner, and i'm not as OLD as some of you ;)

(in chronological order)

checkout girl
delivering/selling muffins/scones to big corporate buildings in the CBD
home help to grumpy old bitch with a degenerative spine disorder
teacher aide/cook at an under-5 childcare centre (hardest job EVER)
waitress (8 freakin' years now)
assistant drug dealer (more on the harvesting side rather than customer service, and i was WAY underpaid. also: trimming buds is sticky, messy, back breaking work, especially when you're doing it for some finnicky fuckhead, and i don't even like smoking pot)
truck counter at a landfill
student (yep, got paid a weekly allowance once i turned 24, but still have a huge student loan
shoe store assistant
 
esart

esart

esart.com
Founding member
Rubyred said:
...and i'm not as OLD as some of you ;)
Click to expand...

OLD is the new YOUNG.

...I forgot that MJP and I also ran an art gallery in 2002. Very little money, but it certainly was one of the most ambitious headaches of all time. Never again. ...Well, then again, maybe. I'll do it differently next time. Maybe only online.

Which reminds me of the all-encompassing, online zine we founded and ran from 99-2005-ish, called picklebird. We made money off the advertising, but not very much there either. Another headache.

I'm now in the process of resetting up picklebird.com as an archive of all the art and books we possess. It will be a giant database that I will make MJP set up for absolutely no pay. (I'm a bitch like that.) But in the long run, it's going to be a good way of documenting our Buk collection and tracking the information of the value of our art and manuscripts. In the meantime, I'm showing off some bits and pieces on the picklebird blog.

Okay, 'nuff shameless promotion. :D
 
mjp

mjp

Founding member
I like that. tracking "the value of our art and manuscripts." Makes us sound like wealthy industrialists!
 
Gerard K H Love

Gerard K H Love

Appreciate your friends
I have experience as:
Paper boy
Caddy
Bakery Clean up Doughnut frier
Bottle sorter
box boy
apprentice grocery clerk
factory set up
motor home assembly
-plumber
-flooring
-final finish
-electrician
mobile home production line assembly
tops-roof assembly
-electrician
-utility man
mobile service repair
electrician
Bar and restaurant supply sales pickles mayonnaise salad dresing etc.
Drug sales
Car salesman
-Chrysler Plymouth
-Honda
-Subaru
-Nissan
-Toyota
-Mercedes Benz
-Cadillac Buick Oldsmobile GMC Saturn
(hell everything but Ford)
Used Car Salesman and Sales Manager
Finance Manager- who else do you hate? it was me.
Fleet Manager Internet Sales Manager
Mortgage Loan Officer
Park Model and Used RV Sales
This is the condensed list but nothing like Father Luke who may win the contest.
If I had it to do over again...I'd do it again with a great deal of enthusiasm.
 
mjp

mjp

Founding member
We are art collectors on a small scale. We get a lot of art in trade, we luck into a lot of things...now it's just a matter of some of our friends becoming world-famous and we're set. ;)

But seriously, there isn't one piece of art in the house that we picked up thinking, "Let's get this, it will be really valuable someday!" It's all just stuff that we like. That is the value of it, to me. I get to look at it instead of an empty wall or a KISS poster.

Even books - the only thing I can say that I bought cheap knowing I would sell for more later were Bukowski poem manuscripts. That worked out quite well for a lot of people, I think. But I'm keeping the ones I still have, so we're back to just having things around because we like them.
 
1fsh2fsh

1fsh2fsh

I think that I think too much
Founding member
I was going to list all of the jobs that I've had in the last 45 yrs. or so.. but as I was going over them in my head it just got too damn depressing, and besides I'm not that good with all of these damn keys. but yeah, I can count about 25 with out thinking real hard. and one of them I stuck at for 25 yrs. where the hell did all that money go? I think that I'll go get a drink now....god, I'm so tired......
 
mjp

mjp

Founding member
1fsh2fsh said:
where the hell did all that money go?
Click to expand...
Isn't it a bitch when social security or whoever sends you that green paper ever year with your lifetime earnings and "contributions" to social security listed? I added up the money I've made once and it was a large amount...you know, if you got it at one time. Over a quarter of a million dollars. But a pittance on average. That was a few years ago. Wonder where I'm at now.

Such a bad deal, trading that money for your life.

And that 3 or 4 hundred thousand wouldn't even buy the house I rent. It'd be a 50% down payment. What the fuck.
 
CarversDog

CarversDog

RIP
Michael, after paying into the system for decades I've been on Social Security Disability for 8 years now. They give me Medicare with no co-payment for my meds, which is good, but I only earn, after my medical deductible, $860 a month and I'm only allowed to earn around $600 per month on top of that. Not much of a living and sometimes leads one to -- cough, cough -- earn a little money -- look the other way -- under the table.
 
Father Luke

Father Luke

Founding member
According to the government statistics provided for
me in my social security lifetime earnings sheet, I
have lived on ten dollars a day for the last thirty
two years.

Let me break that down for you:

120,000 - Total lifetime earnings since age 16
3,750 - average earnings per year
10.27 to live on each day


Let's say there have been some lean times.

I've learned how to be frugal.
 
CarversDog

CarversDog

RIP
Well, Roni, I'm not a gambler, never have been, and I do my drinking at home, so Vegas isn't much of a temptation for me; add into the equation that the Vegas Strip is a 20 minute drive from my house. I may as well be living in Podunk, Ohio.
 
roni

roni

:-))




well, last November I was invited to a wedding in Vegas, spent a weekend there, and though I hadn't expected this: I liked it a lot.

Especially that you get ALL DRINKS FREE while you gamble (no matter how Save you play)!

You can sit down at a Roulette-table, play only Dozens or Rows, bet only 5 bucks every time (even 1 buck allowed at some casinos but I didn't come down THAT low), flirt with some girls ( - sometimes), win&lose, get up more or less even. Maybe you've lost (=paid) up to 20 bucks, but had 5 Margueritas and two hours of fun in the meantime.

I know of much worse ways to spend your money.
 
jordan

jordan

lothario speedwagon
here's mine- i'm expecting it to be pretty short.

caddy (f/t every summer for 7 years)
caretaker for an autistic kid (p/t for a year)
assistant debate coach (p/t for 4 years)
guitar center salesman (f/t for 3 months)
graduate student/teaching assistant (f/t for 2 years)
bike shop salesman (f/t for 18 months)
operations manager for small software company (f/t for 2 years)
project manager for medical kit company (f/t for 8 months... so far)
 
strangegirl

strangegirl

okay here's my list
I am sure I have forgotten something I always do.

babysitter, it's a litigate job, i made money
janitor for theatre
usher (theatre)
prop mistress (theatre)
sound designer (theatre)
light technician (theatre)
drug dealer, back in the days of the 5$ lids, i was in high school what can i say.
Front of house sound mixer - the tubes
monitor mixer - the tubes
roadie, guitar tech, keyboard tech, drum tech - the tubes
road manager - the tubes
studio recording engineer
assistant recording engineer
bike messenger, on scooter
dog groomer
small boat - 18' to 43' - cleaner/maintence
hardware store employee
tele-marketer - 3 days
sold pots and pans - 2 days
tower video employee in hollywood, it was great negotiating with movie stars about late fees because they were to fucked up to return their video, actually pretty fun job
audio technician - SF state univ
home care provider
Lecture/ Audio instructor, still do this part time
managed italian food booth - renaissance faire novato ca
food booth employee
musician, had my band strangegirl, but i did make some income
singer , i am currently doing this right now
Sound editor (film) - current
Sound Designer (Film) - current


that's it.
 
esart

esart

esart.com
Founding member
strangegirl said:
tower video employee in hollywood, it was great negotiating with movie stars about late fees because they were to fucked up to return their video, actually pretty fun job
Click to expand...

hey strangegirl, what years did you work at tower?
 
Gerard K H Love

Gerard K H Love

Appreciate your friends
Wow! I forgot about my 11 months in the Air Force.
Defensive fire control systems operator on B52s. Honorable discharge thanks to my x wife. The fancy job title means gunner.
 
strangegirl

strangegirl

esart said:
hey strangegirl, what years did you work and tower?
Click to expand...

I am rattling my brain because it has been awhile.
I believe it was 1987. The first 6 months or so.
Wow that was a while ago.
Sometimes I forget how old i am.
I guess that's a good thing.:)

Oh and i forgot I was a wiring tech for 7 months too.
Not in LA.
 
esart

esart

esart.com
Founding member
strangegirl said:
I am rattling my brain because it has been awhile.
I believe it was 1987. The first 6 months or so.
Wow that was a while ago.
Sometimes I forget how old i am.
I guess that's a good thing.:)
Click to expand...

did you know the display artist named billy? a cute blond with a cobain kind of vibe? he was just starting to read bukowski. he was bringing his books into work with him, showing his co-workers "Love is a Dog from Hell."

it is a good thing you forget how old you are. gives me a reason to start forgetting myself.
 
strangegirl

strangegirl

esart said:
did you know the display artist named billy? a cute blond with a cobain kind of vibe? he was just starting to read bukowski. he was bringing his books into work with him, showing his co-workers "Love is a Dog from Hell."
Click to expand...
You know i can't say i do. It was definitely a colorful group who worked with me at the time.

esart said:
it is a good thing you forget how old you are. gives me a reason to start forgetting myself.
Click to expand...
my mother use to tell me when i was a kid that no woman aged past 29, so i will forever be 29, in my head of course, and of course i won't let go of any pertinent knowledge i may have acquired in all these years.
i have to actually ask them to card me now days. hee hee:D
 
jmoshea

jmoshea

These are pretty much in order:

Messenger - delivered plane tickets to all 5 NYC boroughs via the subway
Trade Support - @ an electronic trading broker in NYC
Bar-back - at Wetlands (now closed) NYC in the 90s
Bouncer - Wetlands, Several clubs on or near Lansdowne St - Boston
Factory Worker - inspecting electronic boards for flaws
Accounts Payable - Filenes Basment in Boston
Emerging Markets Fixed Income Desk - Citigroup in midtown Manhattan
Secretary - temp (after being fired from Citi)
Advisory Services - independent broker dealer in San Diego
Relationship Manager - financial services company Jersey City
Accounts Receivable - Plastics factory - Puerto Rico
Marketing - Bell Helicopter dealership - Puerto Rico
Ops Manager - financial services - Chicago

Poet - with the publishing of first chapbook, November, 2007 (actually, since freshman year in college)
 
HenryChinaski

HenryChinaski

Founding member
ahahahahah this thread is out of control these days.
still have the job. been there for almost two months. saving up to go see Buke's grave.

anyways, since we're all doin it, here's a list.

cabinet frame builder for cabinet factory
roofing laborer
fast food
cook at a mexican cafe
poultry plant worker, WORST EVER
head chainman for a land surveyor
stock-boy in a grocery store
cook in a steakhouse
sold vacuums door to door
landscaper
desk work for landsurveying company
telemarketer
worked for a contractor building shelters for parks
ditch digger
trash pickup (don't ask)
owner/operator (books from the underground)
 
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