...So what does everybody actually do for a living?

Just curious here. I know we've got several engineers, at least one economist, a couple of students, a few sundry science types (yeah, I'm gonna get flamed by Keith for that one! ), etc.. Just wondered what everybody actually does when they're not here.

Personally (in case anybody actually cares), I'm a former student at Central Florida Community College in Ocala (got my A.A. last spring), and I'm still working there as a math tutor (those college prep courses are gonna kill me). This August, I move up to Atlanta to attend the Georgia Tech school of Aerospace Engineering. So the only things I currently have to my name is my guitar, my laptop, and my backpack. I'm broke, and I'm gonna live in a dorm room with some other guy I've never met. Did I mention I'm a college student?

Good question!
basically i have just finished my degree in information tech with computing! think ive screwd it up wanted a 2:2 but got a bit too drunk n may have had an impact! love all computer stuff realy! 14.5 grand in dept! dunno what to do, need a job!
Rob

I am a Systems Engineer for a big company. One of the most powerful supercomputing clusters in the world turns backflips at my command, but the users don't like it when I commandeer their processor cycles ...not that they can do anything about it because I AM the SuperUser HA HA HA HA HA! Mere mortals cower in my prescence!

I won't say anything else because Doc (and any other Vernor Vinge fanatics out there) might be able to ascertain my True Name with any more info.

I work for a company I'd rather not name (enemies and all) but have done pro-bono work for Space island Group and others.

I am an EMC test engineer with 20 years experience of working on mainly military projects (I'd have to shoot you if I gave details on some of them ). I now work freelance as a consultant predominantly for UK MoD and NATO on EMC specifications and test techniques, although I have worked for commercial customers as well. I have an Electronic engineering background and have been TEMPEST trained.

Here endith my CV before there is a knock on the door and some serious looking men drag me away in a dark car.

see what 2 weeks lying on a beach in the sun does to your wits, never should have giving so much information away.

:-Hold on a moment is that the door I here......

At my job I am working on commercial IT-projects regarding customer administration, decision support, accounting and sales organization.

Privately I am engaging in the bdvb regarding IT and education and local meetings called "Stammtisch", rowing (very engaged formerly), visting my closes friends and digitalizing my large archives regarding bdvb, sports club, income and financial affairs, journals, space topics, some other scientific interests, personal connections and a little bit more.

But this doesn't describe it really and completely because from all this a lot of roads and ways lead to other activities, talks, connections and ideas. I am very creative and avoid isolation of topics. Rgeadring science I am interdisciplinaryly oriented because I fell imprisoned and islotaed from reality if I didn't.

And I've read many novels, books about astronomy, history and philosophics ...



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

Heh... And who says engineers don't have a sense of humor! We've got one, just dry. Like the Badlands kinda dry.

Now for the answers to the posts (in chronological order):

Rob: I'm definitely gonna have you beat in the debt department. Out-of-state tuition is outright murder.

SawSS1Jun21: Afar as superusers go, one of the things I love about my laptop is that it runs on Mac OS X.4 Tiger which, of course, itself runs on solid BSD Unix. Meaning I have awe-inspiring power at my fingertips... If I could only actually finish reading Unix In A Nutshell...

publiusr: aww, c'mon. Seriously, I'd at least like to hear where you work. The mention of pretty much any name above 7-11 would gain you some measure of respect here.

Andy: Serious men in dark cars are over-rated. The one you've really got to worry about is the little old lady pushing the cart down the street: nobody ever pays any attention to that big lump underneath the grocery bags...........

Ekke: sounds like you've got a personal library somewhat like my own -- as in the bookshelves needed to store it take up about three-fourths of the wall space in the house/office/car/storage shed in the backyard...

I'am an Apprentice Aircraft Engineer with my countries airline, mainly concentrating on the narrow body fleet as they call it, so get to tinker with B737s, A320's, ATR72's, C130's (do the Maintenance on the USAF ones that fly down to Antarctica) and also play with the odd B767...

When I'm not at work you can usually find me having a quiet drink at the local pub! or tinkering with my model rockets, helping school kids launch there model rockets, also play abit of guitar and generally making the most of life while i'm still young!
Oh and trying not to spend all that money I earn on apprentice wages! (Easier said than done!)


Iain

Hello, spacecowboy,

you are right to some degree - it's a library of articles, documents, contracts and so on. I have a lot of books too but these I don't digitalize of course. The articles are about stars, galaxies, planets, quantum theory, probes, space vehicles, environmental pollution, linguistics, history, technologies, geology, psychology, philosophy, human evolution, robots and a li´ttle bit more. The most is abot planets, probes and what's related to them.

Some of the documents could be called articles too because they include reports about the life in my sports club - the authors are several members of that club.

All this I use again and again in discussions regardless of in the internet or by personal talk.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

Software engineer/project dude, working for a company called Linx in St Ives, Cambs, UK. We have just been bought by a big 'ole company from the USA, so expecting to be sacked and asset stripped any time soon.

In order to placate my more physical enegineering urges, I build cars in my garage, and race them every now and then - in between crashes. (www.jameslocost.co.uk).

Been interested in spaceflight for donkies years, and did actually visit and talk to Steve Bennett of Starchaser to see if I could do any pro bono work for him, but nothing came of it (too long a drive for weekend work, and they didnt need software at the time)

Have a largish library of SF books, a three year old called Arun, and an ex wife who wants all my money. Oh, and quite a few guitars. And a pregnant girlfriend. Crikey, the list goes on and on....

Any more info required?!!?? Or is that already MUCH too much!!!

James

I guess most people already know my job..

I'm one of the 3 owners (with my 2 brothers) of GabitaSoft, Belgian game development company.
I lead the Programming department (my 2 other brothers, each lead an other department), So I'm also the Lead programmer.

Just a boring ol' unemployed guy, since I quit repairing PCs for a living well over a year ago. Now that I'm done looking after my mother after her cancer surgery, I'm trying to figure out what to get into this time around. I might spend some time seeing if the disease I have (similar to rheumatoid arthritis, but fuses my spine slowly amongst other things) merits pursuing some kind of disability classification so I can get some extra help in finding something more meaningful to do than mindlessly tinker around with my cars when I can even move around adequately. Not sure what's left for me to do (especially with no formal training for anything) when I can't sit for long periods of time or do any heavy lifting or walk around a lot (very flat feet, on top of the back problem) or any of that kind of thing.

This weekend my "job" will be dodging another hurricane.

Well, as long as you keep as far away from home as possible, you'll be Perfectly Safe (Doug Adams reference, there).

I guess I'll have to read all of the big blue book again to figure that one out, 'cause I don't remember the reference.

Don't feel bad: the only reason I can make the reference is because I have recently re-read the Guide. In Young Zaphod Plays It Safe, a government group attempts to recover a "perfectly safe" ship loaded with extremely dangerous stuff -- only to find out said stuff is already gone...

And, since there's two more in the Atlantic now besides Emily (sucks for Panama, but she's their problem now), one of 'em's probably gonna slam into us.