Career Change

[prometheus578]

"Let's go.. spill the beans...."

Yeah, E. Liberty, cough it up.

I was gonna write the same thing last night, but didn't.
Wouldn't look good for the public to know that the Great Prometheus spends his time "stuffing envelopes", or has become a "Mystery Shopper".
Then I thought... "Maybe I'll just send E. Liberty a request for info through a PM, and then no one would find out....
No... Ed's known as the biggest blabber-mouth on the site...he'd tell everyone, anyway.
What to do... what to do...?

So anyway, Ed, what do you have for us?
I need something different.
I need an idea... something that I can do in my spare time.
Something that I can mass produce cheaply in my garage and sell for high bucks.
Oh, I've had my ideas over the years... specialty items.. fill a small niche, so to speak.
First it was.. specialty candles.
People send you a photo, you make a transparency of it, stick it to a candle, cover it with clear wax and ship it back.
Quick, easy and possably pofittable.
Upon research, though, it seems that that idea was already all over the internet.
Ok, next idea....
Nude coloring books. hey, why not, I can draw, etc.
Bachlorette parties and such, novelty gift, right?
Nope, already been done... those books are all over the place.
Same for the next idea, which was an offshoot of that... nude jigsaw puzzles.
(My mind works well, just is several years behind, I guess.)
A coupla months back, as we were all unemployed, myself, my ex-boss, our accountant and the parts girl were all sitting at Denny's lamenting our futures(they're all females) when I got my next inspiration....
Penis Pinatas!
Same market concept... novelty sex gifts.
We sat there for a few hours, figgerin'....
General design, construction process and costs.. the accountant figger'd the legal and distributing, etc.
How hard would it be to make paper mache things in my garage? (I even volunteered to be the model for the prototype)
"Whack a Weenie", etc.
We all then went to the local 'Lover's Package" store(sex shop joint) to continue our research.
Damn... if they didn't already have a wall full of those things!
I'm tired of wasting time thinking up ideas, and wasting time running around doing research.
Though it was quite an ego boost to walk into a sex shop accompanied by three women.
All the female shoppers in the store were given' me the eye.
"Hhmmm.. I wonder what makes that guy so special...?"

"I'm a famous penis model, ladies... Yeah Baby!"

So, E. Liberty.... waddya got fer us?

[Pat Kelly]

Originally posted by manshack_one
Fred, I just re-read that and I mean strange as in you being the same age as me when you had that decision to make. Not strange as in "what was that about?".

Pat, how often are you home? I've heard some people say they make up to $75K a year driving trucks and others say it ain't worth getting up for. Sounds like you've found one of the better companies to drive for. Are you long haul?

Does anyone work offshore on an oil rig?

The company I work for is called Dot Foods. All my dispatches are routed from and back to our local Distribution Center here in central Calif. We go up to Seattle WA, over to Idaho, down to San Diego, and Reno, Tahoe, Las Vegas.
Usually we get home 2 1/2 days a week. Typical week is leave Sunday for Pacific NW, get back Wed evening. Leave Thur am for So Cal and get back Fri night/Sat am. Repeat. We have 4 local drivers that do Sacramento and San Fran. I rode with them, too much work.
We deliver food to suppliers (Sysco for example). We unload our own trucks so there is physical work involved. The OTR is 1/2 days of driving, 1 day of throwing freight, 1/2 days of driving back home. Local guys throw freight everyday. Our $ comes from the deliveries. Average income from a delivery is $170. 4/5 deliveries in a day is some seroius money. Then get paid the milage driving in a newer truck with satallite radio an no boss looking over your shoulder. They guaranteed me $50k the 1st year. Everyone I've talked to made more than that.
Wed was my last day as a trainee. Today was my 1st day driving and working by myself. Made $200 in six hours without touching anything but the steering wheel (delivered 2 loads of pallets to a pallet yard). Sunday I take a loaded trailer to LA and swap it for an empty one. I take the empty one to Kraft Food and get it filled (with mac and cheese?) and bring it back. Should be back Mon night. Should make $300-400 in two days. They're starting me easy.
I am starting this new carreer at 48 years old. Four kids (16, 14, 6, 7)
<I should have posted this in my thread "Ya got yer ears on?">

[lsippell]

manshack_one,

I worked offshore as a rig electrician for several years in the mid '90's and loved it. I don't know what the pay is now, But I was making over $1800 a week and worked 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off. Occasionally the work was hard, 24 hours straight with only meal breaks when something major broke, but mostly in a two week shift I probably didn't work more than 25 or 30 hours, and a lot of times a lot less. And that is out of a 168 hour work shift (12 hr days). Spent most of my time reading, throwing welding rods at seagulls or putting on weight in the galley. If I hadn't injured a knee, I'd still be out there.

Louis

[manshack_one]

So how does that work out with the salary exactly? 1800 per week but you're only working 6 months a year (2 on/2 off). So you multiply 1800 * 24 to get 43200 per year?

[lsippell]

Correct, but your off 26 weeks a year!!!!!

Louis

[manshack_one]

I just get this feeling I'd end up spending more money than i do now because I have the time at the house twiddling my thumbs and would want to go and do things. Or buy stuff for the house and work on projects. But If my xs1100 was running right I'd only be spending gas money!

[CruisingRam]

Originally posted by manshack_one
I just get this feeling I'd end up spending more money than i do now because I have the time at the house twiddling my thumbs and would want to go and do things. Or buy stuff for the house and work on projects. But If my xs1100 was running right I'd only be spending gas money!

I might suggest Alaska- even lots of IT state jobs up here that pay well.

I am going back to school myself, getting out of the medical field and into the project management/facilities management field instead. Certified welder now, and will soon be a certified welding inspector.

You should really look into it- we have a pretty hoppin' economy and can arguably be called teh "land of the last opporutunty"

[Dragonrider]

http://belo.com/careers/openings.x2

We've got a slew of openings for tech types...I know for a fact there's a bunch more that aren't listed here...

[Special Ed]

Career change

"Yeah, E. Liberty, cough it up."

Y’know Prom, you’ve got way too much time on your hands. I don’t. I don’t have time to engage in your sophomoric cynical, sarcastic BS. I am responding to a brother of XS who is looking for a career change, and home based business is one of the fastest growing fields of commerce. Any one, even Prom, who is sincerely interested in learning what I have in the past several years of inquiry into this area can PM me.
Otherwise piss off: I have better thing to do.

E.Liberty

[fredintoon]

Hi 'shack,
the thing about working for wages is, that's all you gotta do, work for wages. The rest of your time is your own to spend with your family, your bikes, whatever.
Go into business for yourself and you will find that it consumes all the hours God made and that you don't own a business, it owns you.

[trbig]

Wow Ed,

Where did that come from? I've read Pro's post a couple times to see what I missed, but can't find what it is that pissed you off. Seemed to me like he actually wanted to know wht it is you do. I was curious also...


Tod

P.S. Tried a PM, but your box is full.

[planedick]

Ed a grump?

Could be that home based business has turned Ed into a grump. He wasn't that way last time I saw him!!!!!

I have to say that I am a business owner and I wish I had started at least 20 yrs sooner. I worked for others for so many years and never got what I deserved. Since I started working for me I have discovered that I am in control and can make as much or as little as I want. I will admit that the first couple of years were trying.

[mro]

Go into business for yourself and you will find that it consumes all the hours God made and that you don't own a business, it owns you.

On the one hand, having your own business is liberating.
On the other it can dominate your life.

Does not matter if you own the company or work for one, it should be just a means to an end. Very easy to get wrapped up with work to the point where more important things get pushed aside. For those that it’s a struggle just to make ends meet, you still need to make time for the important things in life. There is a limited amount of time allowed each soul to live and once the day is done, it’s but a memory.


mro

[CruisingRam]

Originally posted by mro

On the one hand, having your own business is liberating.
On the other it can dominate your life.

Does not matter if you own the company or work for one, it should be just a means to an end. Very easy to get wrapped up with work to the point where more important things get pushed aside. For those that it’s a struggle just to make ends meet, you still need to make time for the important things in life. There is a limited amount of time allowed each soul to live and once the day is done, it’s but a memory.


mro

Ah, the joys of owning your own business and having no one to answer to but yourself, and of course, no one to blame but yourself

Best thing about having your own business- you always know when you are going to be paid. Worst part about owning your own business, you always know when you are going to be paid.

[manshack_one]

I would love to take the option of starting my own business full time. But there isn't a banker alive crazy enough to loan me startup capital. I really like the idea of offshore work because of the time at home that you get where you're free from a schedule. Work hard and play hard. and I'm sure my computer skills would come in to play fairly quickly. I can learn to do anything related to drilling oil and the compensation can't be beat unless you're personal business just booms. Then again working offshore is going to be more reliable than your own business because you know when that check is coming in. Honestly though i'd be worried about overspending in my off time because of sitting around twiddling my thumbs looking for something to do would turn into project time. Like replacing flooring, adding on to the house, remodeling the kitchen, stuff like that.

If i didn't have 3 kids under the age of 8 and a mortgage payment to consider I'd start my business immediately. My job right now is boring but it pays the bills (and that's about all it does). It's steady and I never have to worry about when the check is going to hit the bank. Mostly I don't like the idea that I'm 31 and this is as far as I'll ever go with my career.