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I had the pleasure of visiting my local passport office today to collect one of my daughters passport. Being there reminded me I worked up the street for Revenue people thirty years ago. Very few complaints about swapping that for my present profession except had I stayed there, I would have only five years left to retire. However, I've had some great family holidays, including three in USA at Disney and enjoyed some nice things along the way. Probably could never have afforded any of it had I stayed in the old reliable Government job. So no real regrets
-------------------- Kevin Gaffney Artistik Signs Kinnegad County Westmeath Ireland 044-75187 kevingaffney@eircom.net Posts: 628 | From: Ireland | Registered: Oct 2003
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Well, I've driven about 5,000,000km, mostly in something that bent in the middle. Saw most of North America through the windshield of a Freightliner or Kenworth. Did the office thing for a few years ..... hated that & sold the business in '96. I still like to drive though .... my idea of a day off is 1000km of Trans Canada Highway in front of me, with no traffic. I hate traffic. I also hate red lights. From here to my sister's place in BC, it's 4100km & there are only 61 traffic lights if you go south of Calgary. Pure heaven.....
-------------------- Rodger MacMunn T.R. MacMunn & Sons C.P.207, Sharbot Lake, ON 613-279-1230 trmac@frontenac.net Posts: 472 | From: Sharbot Lake, Ontario | Registered: Nov 2003
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For me, I started out as a school teacher, then insurance salesman, auto body mechanic and then signmaker. The last one was the most enjoyable and most lucrative by far!
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
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Other than signs, my last real job was working at Camp Hope, a summer camp for mentally-challenged kids. Didn't pay much, but it sure put a different spin on how I look at the world.
My very first job (other than a lemonade stand) was a paper route when I was 8. From there, I ventured into the car wash biz, pizza cook, driver for a blind insurance salesman, landscaper, counselor at scout camp, auto paint delivery man, orderly at state mental hospital, house painter, doffer in a cotton mill, roadie for a band, t-shirt printer and 1 week at a Dairy Queen.
So far, my best profit margin was the lemonade stand.......
-------------------- www.signcreations.net Sonny Franks Lilburn, GA 770-923-9933 Posts: 4115 | From: Lilburn, GA USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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Sonny,I had suspicions about you as a squeezer...
[ July 19, 2011, 01:00 AM: Message edited by: jack wills ]
-------------------- Jack Wills Studio Design Works 1465 E.Hidalgo Circle Nye Beach / Newport, OR Posts: 2914 | From: Rocklin, CA. USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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horse farm, as a kid, learned a little sign painting in the 10-13 years, dairy farm most a my teens, construction laborer, my father was my boss 1st job. steel mill worker, military, back to steel mill after. quite the steel mill, worked as a draftsman for a BUTLER METAL BUILDING BUILDER. NAPA auto parts, counter, delivery, outside sales, store manager. worked in NAPA stores from MAINE, TO SARASOTA FL. 1985 i got fired from a car dealership parts dept............and since every job i ever had, my boss was DUMMER THEN ME........i said no more!!! dug out my brushes & paints.......and have never had a "JOB".....since then!!!!!! 66 and still doin.
[ July 19, 2011, 04:06 AM: Message edited by: old paint ]
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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insurance sales, warehouser for a nuts and bolt place(learned alot there bout nuts & bolts) homebuilder and then signs. With the exeption of the insurance job everything else helped me in sign business
If I had it to do over again, I would have quit high school and started signs then while at home with parents
-------------------- You ever notice how easily accessible people are when they are requiring your services but once they get invoice you can't reach them anymore
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After getting out of Camp Hope where Sonny was my counselor.
Joined the US Army Reserves 11B and went to school. Worked designing satellite systems at TRW and Hated it. Worked at Home Depot. Then started my Model design Company. Designed and Built Models for the Hobby and Movie industry.
(Insert small criminal career in here someplace)
After I was replaced by computers and cgi got into the sign business.
This is the cliffnotes version.. Full version will be on Comedy Central in 2015.
[ July 19, 2011, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: William DeBekker ]
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Last real job was a Federal undercover role infiltrating international drug traffickers. Last real big bust and shining spot on my career was in Savannah back in '87.
Then I went into signs.
-------------------- Wright Signs Wyandotte, Michigan Posts: 2785 | From: Wyandotte, MI USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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boat yard (same one 3x)antique car museum, drafting maps, book bindery, book printer, Union carpenter, maintenance at the local college, cabinetmaker (several of those, general demonstrations at a museum, sign painting now engraving- and they all added together as I've gone along!
-------------------- Catharine C. Kennedy CCK Graphics 1511 Route 28 Chatham Center, NY 12184 cck1620@taconic.net "Look at me, Look at me, Look at me now! I't's fun to have fun, But you have to know how!" Posts: 2173 | From: downtown Chatham Center, NY | Registered: Feb 2004
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First big job (after service) Experimental flight line for Boeing. We put all of the airlines co. planes lined up on the tarmac set up as they wanted.
Became a machinist, then toolmaker, then modelmaker for RCA Victor home instruments.Worked part time as a screen printer / painter apprentice at the same time evenings & weekends just to learn.
Phased into billboard painter and later got an official apprenticeship. During all this time I had been pinstriping for years.
Invented stuff, made clipart & fonts and did a few gigs as Marketing.
Now I'm back where I started!
Drawing and Painting pictures...
-------------------- Jack Wills Studio Design Works 1465 E.Hidalgo Circle Nye Beach / Newport, OR Posts: 2914 | From: Rocklin, CA. USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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Got my first lawnmower for my 9th birthday. House Painter, Carpenter(framing, then trim, then trim foreman) Heavy Equipment Operator, Mechanic, Construction General Supervisor.
I enjoyed them all, but lawnmowing(which payed the best) is the only one besides this that I have stayed with as long as 5 years. I've been doing this for a living for 24 years now, and I think I might try to stay with it a little longer.
-------------------- Don Hulsey Strokes by DON signs Utica, KY 270-275-9552 sbdsigns@aol.com
I've always been crazy... but it's kept me from going insane. Posts: 2274 | From: Utica, KY U.S.A. | Registered: Jan 1999
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My worst...Owned a wholesale Auto Auction in mid 80s. It is an eight day a week gig with many employee headaches. Lost 70k in six months, before I sold out. I was lucky to avoid BK.
My Favorite...owned a major art gallery in Santa Fe, NM. Loved it, but it cost 30k a month in overhead and was a bit stressful. Worked 14 hour days, seven days a week. I made money, but it cost me a wonderful marriage. Sold 300 of my own paintings and I learned what sells and what does not.
-------------------- Preston McCall 112 Rim Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 text: 5056607370 Posts: 1552 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Nov 1998
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I was a waitress all through HS & college. Was manager at the African American student union in the early 70's for several years at ISU (probably my strangest job!) Then taught Kdg.-HS art in small schools, Odell & Pontiac HS & Catholic grade school for 13 years. Worked at the public library as "Story hour lady" and FINALLY here in the shop for the last 20+ years. I have no regrets about being here and having a family business. I DON'T miss the bitching in the teacher lounge, the low pay, the kids that were jerks, getting dressed up in school clothes or having to answer to someone who knew nothing about what I was teaching but thought he should tell me how to do it. I miss the contact with kids & watching them enjoy art, the pension & insurance I would have had & getting a paycheck on a specific day and not "waiting to see what come in".
[ July 20, 2011, 09:51 AM: Message edited by: Jane Diaz ]
-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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Too many waitress gigs, bartender, picked grapes in Switzerland, Forest Service firefighter, USN (flight simulators), teechur, muralist and letterhead wannabee.
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First real job was at a hardware store for a year or so, then 3 months with conservation dept. summer fire crew, a couple years as the mechanic at local John Deere store, over 20 years at a beer wholesaler. They put in a sign shop and I ran that for a few years before going out on my own. Probably leaving the steady paycheck and benefits has been the most difficult, but working my own schedule has allowed me to spend time helping people that are no longer with us....so no regrets.
-------------------- Ace Graphics & Printing Camdenton, MO. USA
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Daily paper route (120 customers and not one paper tossed on a lawn.) Handicraft director at scout camp teaching leatherwork, basketry and carving. (14 years old) did it for 2 years. Dishwasher/pototao pealer etc at a diner. Punch press operator at P&WA for 2 summers. Machine operator at Corbin Ruswin (Making all kinds of locks) Work in a pattern and model shop. Teaching graphic arts and woodworking at Windsor High School. (also trak coach.....throws and jumps) Summer camp staff....program direstor and asst. camp director. After 9 years of teaching and a masters degree, I was eligible for food stamps. Started my carving business in '76 and took it full time in '79. Moved out of the city to the country in '80 and am still here carving. No regrets. The only thing I would do over is HS cause it was SOOOOO much fun!
Joe,
Makin Chip$ and Havin Fun!
-------------------- Joe Cieslowski Connecticut Woodcarvers Gallery P.O.Box 368 East Canaan CT 06024 jcieslowski@snet.net 860-824-0883 Posts: 2345 | From: East Canaan CT 06024 | Registered: Nov 2001
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Paper route at age thirteen. I attended route meetings weekly for over a year before a route came open. In the few years I threw the paper, I put every paper on the porch every day. Over twenty years later, as I tried to sell a sign to a real estate office, I ran into my old route manager, who had been promoted to director of circulation for the Dallas Times Herald. He told the staff I was the best carrier he ever had, which of course didn't stop the realtors from doing what they do best--rip off the sign company.
I did stints in janitorial, installing drywall, building maintenance, landscaping, driving an airfreight delivery truck, and painting before a broken leg got me into signs forty years ago. Maybe I should have fallen on my head instead.
[ July 20, 2011, 01:46 PM: Message edited by: David Harding ]
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Ran manufacturing operations for medical device companies (a couple). Then the standard occupation for the out-of-work executive, management consultant. Which landed me my final medical device company gig and a relocation to the SF Bay area. Facilities and purchasing management for a software developer. Last corporate job was in a 3rd party software manufacturer - absolutely the worst job on the planet! I swore off corporate after that. Spent 10 years doing contract administration-office management for a commercial-industrial general contractor (my downwardly mobile job) while also running my own little business, Flamingo Surprise. After the contractor started to go under I decided if I was going to spend every day worrying about money, it might as well be my own instead of his. A friend bought an awning shop and needed someone to paint a company name on one. My first commercial sign job: lettering 18" tall by 32-ft long on an awning valance. 6 years later the awning business is gone and I'm still doing signs.
-------------------- Kerry H Kerry's Signs Vallejo, CA Posts: 160 | From: Oakland, CA | Registered: Sep 2006
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I think the only thing I've never done is waitress.
greenhouse gas station record and tshirt transfer store sold Mary Kay cosmetics major dept. store in clothing, shoes, luggage, children's wear highway sign shop autographics shop print shop my own sign biz - current junk decorator and writer - current
Only regret is taking so dang long to figure out what I love doing.
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I graduated from college in 1979 with a journalism degree.
I was hired by a Massachusetts newspaper. On the drive back to Long Island I had an epiphany that I really didn't like sportswriting and what I really wanted to be was a signpainter.
Two weeks later I was working in a sign shop.
It took a year of practice before my brush work was sufficiently good to get a job as a letterer in a sign shop.
I had three good years as a letterer before computerized signmaking began making inroads.
I taught myself to carve.
Wasn't long before the computerized table router came about and took that niche away from me too.
Seems like I'm always being made obsolete, and my prices undercut. Today I lose truck jobs to vehicle wraps but I have no desire to get into digital printing. This profession has broken my heart and I lost my passion for it long ago. I barely make a living at it.
I do have regrets. I probably wouldn't have been happy as a writer either but I'd probably be making a better living at it by now.
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First paying job was at six years old when I began filling the "ice box" with drinks at an ice plant. I sorted and stacked the empties because folks would bring them back for a refund. I had to have a step ladder to reach into the large top opening chest filled with ice and drinks. Kept the ice loaded, too.
Worked at an ice plant pulling "cores", which nobody now would know how (and it's too hard to explain) during elementary school. OSHA wasn't around then.
Did my first paying sign at 10 (Poster - "Air Conditioned Inside") with letters having snow on top - from Speedball Lettering book. Paid ten cents. Was my last profitable job.
During Junior and Senior High I worked at a miniature golf course, service station, life guard, plowed gardens, painted houses, restored cars for my transportation, demolished houses for lumber, and painted signs.
After high school I worked in a furniture factory (most boring job in the world), went off to college and worked in the maintenance department of the school (Yard Bird - mowed, hoed, watered). Worked in screen printing shop and then landed a job with my mentor in his sign shop.
After graduation I taught public school - Junior High sciences, but still did signs after school, weekends, and holidays.
Then joined by brother Wayland in his shop as a sign painter. Did that for over 20 years.
Twenty years ago I opened Chapman Design Studio and here I am.
No regrets. Fortunately, I get to do what I love every day. The passion is not as strong now as before and I don't have the financial security of some, but I have been blessed all my life with stuff that is important to me. Contentment is a gift that is not bought. There have been bumps and potholes along the way, but I am blessed with a loving (and forgiving) wife and family. My faith allows me to look forward to a life beyond this one.
[ July 21, 2011, 12:48 PM: Message edited by: Raymond Chapman ]
-------------------- Chapman Sign Studio Temple, Texas chapmanstudio@sbcglobal.net Posts: 6306 | From: Temple, Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I forgot my worst job....one summer during college I worked at a sewing factory. In the winter they sewed the summer cotton bathrobes and in the summer they sewed the quilted and fleecy bathrobes. SO in the dead heat of summer I am sewing like a mad woman, as fast as I can, trying to make quota of FOURTEEN heavy housecoats a day, sweltering away with a whole factory of middle aged women! The boss was a lady too, BRUTAL, cranky and mean. She tried to fire me about two weeks in, because I wasn't making quota and the lady next to me (her best seamstress) said she would quit if I didn't get a better chance than two weeks. (The lady next to me was my aunt's best friends. My aunt worked there too.) The only job that was worse out there was my aunt IRONED all the housecoats! I HATED that job! It was worse than detasseling corn or walking beans!!
[ July 21, 2011, 05:05 PM: Message edited by: Jane Diaz ]
-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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I made money as a kid washing walls and venetian blinds, being a kitchen hand and clean up at neighbors dinner parties,. During college :waiting tables, cooking in the college cafeteria, summer camp kitchen manager (worse boss going), After college,,, dietitian, cafeteria manager, food production manager in a large hospital kitchen, built roof trusses and reroofed a couple of houses, framed up a florida room, worked in a green house transplanting plants, berry picker on a Smuckers farm in Oregon, then Ernie started to sign business in 1993 ( which is the best job yet. I don't like the design work, but love the fabrication)
-------------------- Jack Wills Studio Design Works 1465 E.Hidalgo Circle Nye Beach / Newport, OR Posts: 2914 | From: Rocklin, CA. USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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First job waitress at a Chinese restaurant- ticked me off cause when u went to the back to pick up orders they would point, laugh and make blonde jokes in Chinese Worked briefly at a grocery store, then warehose work for a Photograhers mail order business, then on to bigger and better at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Trailer Park in Bayfield, where I held the prestigious position of gate keeper/store and yardsman scheduler/security. After college graduation I was a graphic artist in the Toronto area for about 5 years then moved back to small town Ontario where I worked for the LCBO for 13 years. Rather like asking a pedophile to babysit. While I was slaving with the Liquor Board I started Wildwood Signs. 5 years later I quit the Board to do Signs full time. Here I am 18 years later witchin and a whinin about the best job I could ever have. Torn between when do I get to retire and I will never retire just change direction again.
-------------------- Deri Russell Wildwood Signs Hanover, Ontario
You're just jealous 'cause the little voices only talk to me. Posts: 1904 | From: Hanover, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Dec 1998
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I don't know David. On one hand, I would have loved to have stormed out of that place but I really needed the $ for college and my parents would have had a fit if I had gotten fired. And at that point it got to be a challenge. I was going to show that cranky old boss that I was up to the task and she wasn't going to intimidate me. It's didn't hurt that the lady next to me was my protector though. :-) I probably would have been pounding the bricks were it not for her! Later on she fixed me up with her son, who was a rich farmer but he was also a dork. We did a round of disco places and I then I went back to college and moved on.
-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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Brent, that is a hard job to explain to kids...."you did what? Why" It did suck! We used to wear garbage bags with holes cut in them for our arms & neck in the morning so we didn't get all wet from the dew and then in the afternoon we'd walk in our swin suits cause ot was so hot. That wasn't the best either because the corn leaves could slash your skin as you walked. The best part about that job was after it was over for the day, we all hit the pond for a swim!!
-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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Did a lot of stuff growing up, 3 farms, car wash, housepainting, roofing, handyman,cutting cordwood etc but been at sign painting for most of 35 years. My second paying sign job was as the city sign painter...it drove me crazy because of the (lack of) work ethic there, but if I'd stuck it out I could've retired 10 years ago and been halfway thru my second career by now. Ah well...hinsight being 20/20 and all
-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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