Spinoff: What's the coolest job you've ever had?

[SuperChief]

The other thread had me thinking about some of the cool jobs some (or most) of you may have or have had in the past. So tell us: what's the coolest job you've ever had?

[chasedude]

None, If it's a job there's no cool to it.

[ChiTown]

Jerkin off hogs.......

[Dayze]

none. all mine have sucked.

I guess working as an intel guy on an aircraft carrier was cool/being attached to a F/A-18 hornet squadron was cool for a bit; until the 14 hour days set in....it wore off quick. but would've rather done so as a civilian.

[SuperChief]

None, If it's a job there's no cool to it.

Tell that to this guy.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/resources/2007/02/RonJeremy%5b1%5d.jpg

[ModSocks]

The height of my current profession was by far the coolest. Now that the economy has slowed, so has the coolness of my job.

[SuperChief]

The height of my current profession was by far the coolest. Now that the economy has slowed, so has the coolness of my job.

Elaborate, plz??

[ChiTown]

Actually, my job right now is awesome. I'm in the Oil & Gas biz. The volatility in the market has been great for myself and my partners.

[Fire Me Boy!]

I like what I'm doing a lot, but I wouldn't describe it as cool. The coolest: Film and theater critic. You just can't go wrong when you're paid OT and mileage to watch movies and plays for free.

[chasedude]

Tell that to this guy.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/resources/2007/02/RonJeremy%5b1%5d.jpg

If I had that job, it would be a different story.

[gblowfish]

I was General Manager of a college Rock n Roll station for 3 years. Most fun I've ever had and LOVED the job.

[loochy]

Tanning salon dude

I did this for 2 years in college. Nice, toned, and tanned booty galore.

[Pants]

Used to sell blow like a motherfucker. It was a pretty good job and I didn't even have to pay taxes!

[Sofa King]

Jerkin off hogs.......

Catching the semen from jerked off hogs......

[luv]

Probably the one I have right now. I enjoy it. I continually learn new things in a field I'm interested in, and this field is pretty secure.

[ModSocks]

Elaborate, plz??

When the economy was strong we use to build bad ass cars, our starting price was $150K.

...now we focus on general upgrades and repairs as well as selling parts nationaly, opposed to full on custom car builds.

About 2 months ago we rolled out a $300K build that was 2 years in the making.....most likely our last custom build we'll ever do.

[ModSocks]

When the economy was strong we use to build bad ass cars, our starting price was $150K.

...now we focus on general upgrades and repairs as well as selling parts nationaly, opposed to full on custom car builds.

About 2 months ago we rolled out a $300K build that was 2 years in the making.....most likely our last custom build we'll ever do.

I should ad that along with those cars and Money came car shows in Vegas, Florida, L.A, driving The Hot Rod Power Tour, doing big things with big companies like Turbonetics, March, Dynacorn, doing TV shows, Magazine articles, etc.

No more cars...no more big things.

[MOhillbilly]

I was jesus hitler for a spell.

[loochy]

I was jesus hitler for a spell.

how'd that work out for you?

[seclark]

installing communications equipment on towers.
sec

[MOhillbilly]

how'd that work out for you?

i was nailed to a cross witha nine milli.

[loochy]

i was nailed to a cross witha nine milli.

yeah, but did it pay well?

[CoMoChief]

Boatdock at Lake Jacomo Marina (working their rental boat fleet).

All of us dock guys were best friends....so when one got on, we got another hired, then an other, then all of a sudden, all of us were there totally staffed.....so whenever we went to work, we knew that it was always going to be with one of our friends...weekends all of us worked there, and we had the dockhand beer fund....many people came off from the lake and had extra beer (like a few per boat or somethin') and would donate to us (we were all in HS, very underage) but gave to us anyways.

We had 2 huge coolers in the shed where all of our supplies were, we kept it on ice all day and kept adding to it, by the end of the day (8pm or so) both coolers would be full with more to spare. We'd take the boat out after work and would let the park rangers know so they didn't get suspicious when they would come by and see a rental boat missing....but we'd get hammered out there, stay the night....come in to work the next day....rinse wash repeat...

probably the best 4-5 summers of my life. VERY fun. Lots of booze, bitches, swimming, boating, being outdoors.....shit was awesome then.

[MOhillbilly]

how'd that work out for you?

had the world in my palm til the jews took it from me.

[Radar Chief]

The one I'm still working.

[epitome1170]

Current one is the one I am most happy with, but in no way would I describe it as cool.

[vailpass]

I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom.

[phisherman]

The one I'm still working.

same here. love my current job.

[BigVE]

Back in the late 80's and early 90's I worked for a market research company out of Burbank CA. It was basically a telemarketing type of place that called people from across the U.S. and asked them watch a TV show that evening...the intent was to ONLY ask them to watch the TV show and watch it as they would any other show but then we would call them back, ask only a few questions about the TV show and then 50 questions about the commercials that aired during the show. Not so interesting/cool, I know...but my job was to pre-screen the commercials and arrange show times with all the local cable affiliates. It was kinda cool being able to see many of the commercials on TV later on that we I had pre-screened months beforehand. Also, I was 19/20 years old, lived in a small college town and the majority of the employees were hot college chics. Cool job, decent money and an ever refreshing buffet of college hotties...I loved it.

[BWillie]

Computer monitor in college computer lab at University of Iowa. I literally didn't have to do anything. I worked about 10-15 hours a week. I just sat there, did my homework, looked at sports crap, played poker. If there was any question at all, all I had to do was get the computer #, go back to my desk, plug that in and the one smart computer dude on campus would remote connect to the computer and fix it. Then I would go back to sitting on my perch doing nothing. I made like $7 an hour, but who gives a shit.

[tooge]

greatest job ever? the last night for me at Pizza Hut

[Delaney37]

1. My current job because I still have it after all the layoffs
2. Driving the grain truck for my grandpa at age 13. Met my first girlfriend in the truck line at the elevator. She was 16 and built. Best summer I ever had.

[Rain Man]

My job now is a neverending procession of projects, some more interesting than others. Some of my more interesting projects include testing romance novel cover designs, driving around interviewing people in their homes on Long Island about how they plan vacations, and driving around doing interviews in rural West Virginia.

Intellectually, I had an interesting project once where I had to develop profiles of the African American population in every county of the United States - over 3,000 counties - and then develop a mathematical optimization model to identify the six counties that in combination best represent the diversity of America's African American population.

Back when I was in the defense industry, I was on a project once where we had the big life-size simulators where real F-15 cockpits were inside 30-foot domes, and the scenes were projected onto the inner surface of the dome. They'd have dogfights against people nearby who were playing Soviet pilots, and I got to watch. Then my job was to take the big computer tapes (tapes back then) to a mainframe computer for processing overnight. Since it took all night, I would work some odd schedule like 4 to midnight, and my only job was to switch out tapes from time to time. I hung out and did crossword puzzles and stuff, and then got paid extra because it was a second-shift job.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Teacher.

[DaFace]

I shied away from calling it a job in the other thread, but I'm gonna go with "pyrotechnician" on this one.

[MIAdragon]

Was an anti terrorism analyst

[TimeForWasp]

Teacher.

Adam Teacher?? Did he enjoy it? Did he write a story about it?

[Pitt Gorilla]

College professor. I love going to work every day.

[TimeForWasp]

I'll never forget the adventure I had in the early to mid 80s as a helicopter mechanic on Tuna seiners.


<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ktho8yL2Oj0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Jenson71]

Tractor driver for a detasseling crew. It was fun (course, driving was an exception to the rule of walking). I had a good job at UNI in the tutoring program. Just got to study history with grateful students for 10 hrs/wk.

[TimeForWasp]

I found an old Video of a tuna boat we were always in competition with. I remember the name of the boat, the Skipper and the First mate. If my memory serves me right, after they cleared the helicopter from the net after it crashed, they cut the floats and let it sink for the insurance. The fishing industry was a small world and you hear all the stories. Most of these fishermen knew each other. alot of them from the old country. Portugal, Italy .

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qPzaAmF8kIk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[shorman22]

Prolly my volunteer job now, Where I write scouting reports for ku bball & get to intend any practice I want too

[Rasputin]

I got a pretty damn cool job. I get to do some pretty cool things. I can go fishing, play video games, watch TV, watch Chiefs football. There setting up a trip for us to go to Nascar in KC in october (pits). Hopefully we can go to a Chiefs game but I would may have to beg for that too happen.

Get to sit around at the office drink coffee, play bingo on fridays. Bowling on wendays. I think it's a pretty cool gig I got.

[wutamess]

Tattooing... It's more of a hobby and where else can you make $300+ for 3 hours of work and people actually pay you to hurt them?

I love doing it. The only downside is it hurts my back if I go too long at one time.

[LVNHACK]

Without a doubt, the one I have now...Explosive Detection Dog Handler....looking for things that go BOOM! gives me wood...My girl & I at a checkpoint in Baghdad last Thanksgiving day

[CrazyPhuD]

Fluffer for a lesbian porno.

[TimeForWasp]

Without a doubt, the one I have now...Explosive Detection Dog Handler....looking for things that go BOOM! gives me wood...My girl & I at a checkpoint in Baghdad last Thanksgiving day

Cool.

As long as the dog does't fetch the bomb and bring it back to ya.

[JD10367]

1990-1995: Working the planetarium star console at the Boston Museum of Science during Laserium^TM laser light shows. Got paid to twirl the Zeiss projector and control the stars as well as hit strobes during the music, and spend an hour listening to Rush, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, or whatever the show theme was.

Second to that is the job I've been doing for 20+ years (alongside that one for a while, and solely for the most part): Chief Projectionist at an IMAX Theater (1990-present). Million-dollar technology, impressive moving machinery. Films six feet across and 700 pounds, film moving at six feet a second, two 15,000-watt lamps as bright as the sun that might kill you if they blew up in front of you without protection, 60-foot high by 89-foot wide screen, 12,000-watt sound system. Run around for 30 minutes getting it all ready, then surf the Web and drink coffee while watching the film out the window: the perfect blend of technically impressive yet fucking easy once you're trained. Even when things go wrong, it's interesting to fix. Too bad it all comes to an end soon, as all movie theaters are going digital... :(

[NewChief]

When I was 16, my uncle (an insurance agent) had to update all of his rural home policy holders. This involved someone finding the house, going to the house, measuring the outside of it and making a rough sketch on graph paper, and answering a variety of questions (AC? Gas/Electric heater, etc..). I landed the job, and I was in heaven. Drive around dirt roads in an air-conditioned truck, listening to music, looking for houses, then get out for about 15 minutes of work. Back in the truck and on to the next house.

I'd hate the job now, but it was fun then.

I also worked as a copywriter for Sierra Trading Post (http://www.sierratradingpost.com/). I'm a gearhead, and I would have on average 20 pieces of cool outdoor gear crossing my desk on any given day that I had to write a description for. That usually involved doing a lot of research on any given piece of gear, which was also fun because it was hard to find information on a lot of the stuff since it might be a closeout. I also got an additional 30% off their already crazy low prices.

I really like teaching, though, and wouldn't trade it for anything, though talk to me in May, and I may sing a different song.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

As a software engineer, I get to work from home 3-4 times a week. That's pretty cool, even if working still sucks in general.

[frankotank]

back in the late 90's I was riding the software engineer contracting wave. after several gigs with differenct companies I landed at Sprint for an 8 month gig to Y2K their system. Took me less than a month to complete, but at Sprint they have a use it or lose it mentality so I had nothing to do for 7 months and they wouldn't give me any work no matter how much I bugged them. so I got paid good money for coming in and doing whatever I wanted. read books, surf internet....whatever. I remember bitching about it back then because it got old. grass is always greener on the other side I guess, but right now I'm thinking.....those were the days!

[Rain Man]

Without a doubt, the one I have now...Explosive Detection Dog Handler....looking for things that go BOOM! gives me wood...My girl & I at a checkpoint in Baghdad last Thanksgiving day

Are you the one on the right?

[Rain Man]

Tattooing... It's more of a hobby and where else can you make $300+ for 3 hours of work and people actually pay you to hurt them?

I love doing it. The only downside is it hurts my back if I go too long at one time.


Given that dominatrix jobs are hard to come by, it sounds like a good second choice for your interests.

[Radar Chief]

Are you the one on the right?

I assumed he’s the one with the shorter ears.
I know, that doesn’t help much either.

[SuperChief]

I guess I failed to mention my "coolest" job. While I'm only in my early 20's and have a ways to go to find that really cool job, I've had a few that were fun.

About 3 years ago or so I was involved with acting and promotion of a television show in Hollywierd. It was intense. The acting portion of the job was incredibly satisfying, as I have always loved acting on stage and on film. The pomotion part was the craziest. I went on a trip to LA with the producer, director, and writer to meet up with some folks and talk some biz. We ended up getting a few big name celebs signed on to the show (even Reuters, Hollywood Reporter, Yahoo! News, etc. picked up the story), but it all fell through in the end because of financial reasons, i.e. the recession. This was truly one of the coolest jobs I've ever had.

[MOhillbilly]

I'll never forget the adventure I had in the early to mid 80s as a helicopter mechanic on Tuna seiners.


<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ktho8yL2Oj0" allowfullscreen="" width="420" frameborder="0" height="345"></iframe>


what the heck was this about?

[RockChalk]

what the heck was this about?

Behind the scenes footage of Jaws?

[Lonewolf Ed]

Just before I turned 18, my martial arts instructor asked me if I wanted to be an assistant instructor, so I accepted. For two years, I taught introductory lessons, eventually became head instructor of the children's class, was his chief assistant for the adult class, and would get to practice whatever new techniques and styles he discovered before classes started. An elbow injury ended all that. I didn't make much money, maybe 80 to 100 dollars a month, but it was the best and coolest job I ever had.

[seclark]

first year of college i had a job buffing floors in the girls dorm(before coed). just supposed to work the hallways. the girls rooms were off limits. fuckers fired me after 2 weeks:mad:
sec

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

The one I have now

[Dartgod]

Boatdock at Lake Jacomo Marina (working their rental boat fleet).

All of us dock guys were best friends....so when one got on, we got another hired, then an other, then all of a sudden, all of us were there totally staffed.....so whenever we went to work, we knew that it was always going to be with one of our friends...weekends all of us worked there, and we had the dockhand beer fund....many people came off from the lake and had extra beer (like a few per boat or somethin') and would donate to us (we were all in HS, very underage) but gave to us anyways.

We had 2 huge coolers in the shed where all of our supplies were, we kept it on ice all day and kept adding to it, by the end of the day (8pm or so) both coolers would be full with more to spare. We'd take the boat out after work and would let the park rangers know so they didn't get suspicious when they would come by and see a rental boat missing....but we'd get hammered out there, stay the night....come in to work the next day....rinse wash repeat...

probably the best 4-5 summers of my life. VERY fun. Lots of booze, bitches, swimming, boating, being outdoors.....shit was awesome then.
When was this? I also worked on the dock for a couple of summers...back in late '70s.

[LVNHACK]

Are you the one on the right?

No

[TimeForWasp]

what the heck was this about?

I used to work on the helicopters on tuna boats. I just wanted to show a video of the helicopters doing their job. I couldn't find the perfect video.