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About 15 yrs back. I was working in a job the paid me several times what i am making now. I hated the work. I spent every penny in my obscene pay packet on crap and toys. The crap did not fill the hole. Then i went to a random Chinese restaurant in the US (on the above company$$ btw) and got a fortune cookie that read: " A job will never pay more then the pay, a passion will always pay a fortune" (yes the bad English was part of it) The next day I put in my notice went back to school for a Wildlife biologist (PHD). I am one of the few that loved doing the school part. I started teaching/research and since then i have lived in 6 countries, been to place that no-one get to go to. I have seen/played with animals that most people only ever get to see via David Attenborough (I showed him a couple BTW). I was making a less then the obscene money but still good money. BUT Academia was not for me, I was on the right road but the wrong path, I was working too hard, too long and not loving it,,, it felt fake I could talk the talk but was not getting dirty.. I quit the ivory tower. Now I work for a NGO that pays little dollars wise, but I spend my days using both my brain and body and most importantly every day I am making a difference. I spend 1/2 my days out side, the other half being a nerd! I get paid a fortune. I will not lie some days i dont want to be there, I don't like every aspect of the job, i dont think that is possible to like every aspect. Sometimes there is stress (sometimes my fault) but even when i gripe and complain, i can step back and still smile as my complaints are kinda trivial in the grand scheme of things. So yeah i love my job and i am happy, I also have to come clean: i am a overland travel adict and would give it all up to travel if somehow I could pay the bills. |
I like most of the responses here will sound kind convoluted. I absolutly love both of my careers. My first career was spent flying airplanes for a living. I flew the Grand Canyon. I worked as a bush pilot on the north slope of Alaska, I stumbled into fixed wing medevac and Search & Rescue flying. God that was awesome. I was using my skills and my brain to have a direct and immediate impact on other people's lives. I've drank a lot in my day and never was able to drink myself into that much of a high. After the economy tanked, the medevac world became dark place. At least from my perspective. After one company closed their base, I interviewed with another where the Chief Pilot actually looked me in the eye and said "Fixed wing pilots screw the company. That's just what they do." I left the interview seriously questioning whether I wanted to work for that asshole. But it was the only job around.
So, I went back to school and became a medical imaging specialist. Fancy phrase to for an X-ray tech. Again, I love the work. I love using my brain to figure out how to get the an image on a trauma patient who's leg is folded over because the femur in fractured. Unfortunately the reality is, where I am, fulltime jobs in any field are rare as hens-teeth. I currently work for 5 different medical facilities. All of them on call with no guaranteed shifts and I'm struggling to pay down the debt from my career change. So, I can say I love what I do to make a living. Am not thrilled with some of the people I have to work for to make that living.... |
If this thread does nothing else, I hope it motivates all (me included) to go and find the career that they love..
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Nope I hate it... I'm glad to be quitting in April and hopefully on return from my trip becoming self-employed.
I have had some ****ed up experiences since starting here 3 years ago. - Insulted, sworn at, told to **** off, numerous time by numerous people because asking them to do something. Had enough off this that I rose 3 formal grievances in my time, nothing happened, or replaced by someone worse / just as bad. - Been off sick for 1 month with chest pains due to ''stress'' according to the docters, for been held responsible for other peoples failings. Ie Stock errors, On time deliveries. - Been held responsible for not been able to increase turn over and profit while production / manufactured not getting goods out of the door. Thus we have a poor reputation with delivery, so people scared of placing business. - Lastly, got a £200 bonus for saving the company £150,000 last year and on track to save them £250,000 + this year (Already saved £50,000) on purchasing materials, while increasing quality and processing time there spend is only £1.7 million per year and my salary is poor. It's about time I reap rewards of my effort. I really cannot how I'm still here. So no, I hate my job. :) |
Great post!!
Well I guess I’ve got a great job as a Project Coordinator in the Natural Gas industry. Conditions were quite good, but seeing that the company had moved on to full maturity, new projects were at a standstill. Being that work had become just the same old routine day in day out for the past 4-5 years, last summer, I decided to chuck 21 years of service with my company to pursue other opportunities. This led me to two jobs, one of which was in the U.S. (I am Canadian). The U.S. company not respecting their part of the contract, I decided to part ways last November. My old company knowing I was back and unemployed gave me a ring and offered to take me back. I accepted for a 3 month contract. The end of the contract over, the company offered to take me back with all of my previous advantages/conditions. Being a small company, I’ve got to state that when I left, this jolted upper management to rethink the direction the company was going. It is now in the process of looking to expand activities. It seems life has brought me back to my starting point. I decided to accept the offer and have a more ‘’Zen’’ attitude to the whole situation. So I have to agree that attitude is everything. I might not have the luxury of taking several months off to travel, but I still manage to take at least 2-3 weeks every summer to explore the North American continent. In the meantime, this job lets me pay my bills while searching for my dream job, which would be a ‘’fly in fly out’’ position as a field supervisor on a 28 day rotational schedule. In the end, as long as you have shelter over your head, food on the table and a little left over to enjoy life with friends over a few beers, I guess it’s not all that bad. Happy riding, |
been a nurse for 23 years, Hate it now. tried to get out a few times but the problem is, once you've got to a certain level it becomes difficult to move into something else as well paid.
Had a plan to retire at 45 and go travelling by making money out of property. Made 80k which was enough, but then met my wife and now we have 2 kids, one 2 and one 12 so taking a pay cut to live the life isn't an option. Instead I'm bustin my balls to get the wife through uni. I spend my working life under unbelievable stress working for an employer that doesn't care and an unappreciative public. Everyday I read the press slagging of my industry and my profession. But I wouldn't change it for the dream I once had, because that didn't include the wife and kids and thats irreplaceable. I do what I have to do for my life outside of work but if I could. I'd leave work yesterday. |
love what i do
I can definitely say that i love my job. I began studying law in the early 70's and I have been working as a personal injury attorney for motorcyclists for almost 40 years now. I'm also an avid rider, so it gives me a great opportunity to stay connected socially and professionally with a community that i really have loved my entire life.
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I love the desert .. when the mercury it`s 40c me and the lizards are sitting on the rocks waiting for the sun to come out ,,,, so why in the HELL am i working in a sushi factory were it never tops 0c !!!! OH YEH training for this years trip to Iceland (and the money):freezing:
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I have worked as a teacher since 1997. I was drawn into special education, and bit by bit, started to hate it year after year. 2 years ago, I began working as a teacher in the Arizona prison system, and have pretty much loved every day of it. There are no school administration issues, no pain in the ass parents demanding everything, not much in the way of barriers anywhere. The students' stories are quite interesting, and I even get to work with some notorious criminals (as opposed to everyday, run of the mill criminals):2guns::gunsmilie::gun_bandana:
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I was a nurse and was almost destroyed by the system and the unbelievable politics, cynicism and disregard of my employers - that s to say, the managers. I quit at 40 and moved here to Spain where I basically duck and dive. All's fairly well although you get fed up being on the edge all the time when most of my old mates are beginning to retire on comfortable pensions while I'm still creeping along paying the mortgage I got here when I had a regular job and bought a little city apartment. If I'd stayed on I would have been able to retire last September with a biggish wad. That's quite a difficult one to swallow. So bear with it, maybe the wife and family is what you need to keep you focussed and live with the crap. I saw my wife through Uni too but don't set high expectations for yours - in general mature grads don't have a rosy career path ahead of them, better to do it genuinely for its own sake. I did that too much younger but at least in my case I learned to express myself in writing - well sort of :) I saw the British NHS needlessly slagged off on another biking forum the other day and it still made my blood boil. But don't let that get to, it's your life not theirs! Thanks for the topic Ted. Every time I come across one of your threads there is always fantastic debates from the questions that you pose - you should get a job on TV! Regs Simon |
good post spanish biker!! sadly, or not, I work agency and have for 16 years so no pension for me, but if I had stayed in the NHS I wouldn't have been able to do the trips I have so every cloud and all that!
I see the papers are now slagging of the nurses as a result of Stafford, despite it being squarely blamed on the management! Later this year I hope to do my offshore medics course. That will hopefully get me out of the hospital and into something else. My wife is doing a masters in translation. Translators do tend to be older but although it's well paid it's a tough profession to get into, but fingers crossed!! The NHS isn't without it's problems, I am not so blinkered as to believe that, but I absolutely do believe in it as a wonderful institiution, and when you see the health care of other countries, some of them supposedly developed, you realise just how fortunate we are. Like the Army (another great organisation I have belonged to) the NHS is least appreciated by the British People. If it's so bad, why do many foreign nurses come over here to work and why do we have such a problem with health tourism? |
Certainly in the UK I believe companies are going the same way, policies and procedures are stifling peoples inventiveness and free thinking, I used to enjoy my job with a passion, I had a feeling that I made a difference, that has been replaced with the micro-management of email, and an all encompassing quality system.
Stress and high staff turnover are worryingly high, but ignored, in short I survive my job for reasons purely financial. My tours get me away from this a couple of times a year, and I am very, very lucky to have being given another start in life with my new wife, who although is at university at the moment, is as committed as I am to downsizing in two years, and having a gap year (can middle aged people do that?). |
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it seems these days that every job, no matter how menial, has targets to meet, usually pushed by failed managers trying to improve their careers beyond their abilities by micromanaging and hassling the people 'under' them. |
Blimey Moggy 1968
read your first post and thought sounds like me.........but i work in another Govt Agency that seems to get slagged off quite alot recently too . Good news is i can retire with an ok pension and lump sum in three years - have paid the mortgage off and own my bike lock stock and barrel . Thanks to a sassy other half we dont have any debts either , so despite counting down the days i guess things are not all that bad . I know when i finish that it will be off to Chile to ride down to the end of the world , then pack my bags and off to see the rest of India with the wife . I wont have to even think about work for a year i guess , so will see the rest of Turkey and the Stans then find a nice bookshop that i can work in for three days a week , dealing with nice people that want to ask me nice things rather then wading through the dross that i currently spend my working day waist deep in . :thumbdown: This is assuming that i dont get blown up or poisoned going into another bloody Meth lab |
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nice:thumbup1: |
Personally i like the Nhs and most of the various staff ive met over the years - and as has already been said "it cant be that bad as everyone comes from all over the world to use it !! "
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For those that want to give the NHS a hard time, go and get some care elsewhere! I have worked in many countries, and never found anywhere that comes close, i was quite ill in Bolivia, and had to buy my medication before I went into the clinic in Oruru, and dearly wished I was in a UK hospital . My wife is in her last year of her degree to be an adult nurse, which for someone who has only been speaking English for 7 years is pretty amazing, and once she gets her PIN, we are off for the long one!!!!!!
The NHS has some amazing and committed people who shouldn't be judged by what the bean counters are doing. good thread Ted, no holding off on the game plan, or any of the other travels in the interim! |
Exile
Yes middle age people ( that would be me ) can have Gap years . They can afford ( in most cases ) to insure what ever they ride due to their age too , which is very nice :thumbup1: Good luck to you mate is what i say |
This site is a life saver, humour and good advice at one www:thumbup1: made the first move the other day, map of the world :thumbup1: we're each making a very rough must see, must do list, and go from there!
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Sorry to have been so long - forgot I have to 'sign up' for notifications :( Yup, it was the Stafford thing that was attracting all the verbal on the other forum. That's the tip of the iceberg as I guess you know. No pension sounds a bit frightening - mine is going to be meagre enough - not that I'm suggesting that folks should live just for that, I wouldn't be here doing what I'm doing if I thought that, quite the reverse. But as you get older the reality sinks in a bit and the sooner you face that one the better (off) you will be. Good luck to Mrs Moggy with her career plans - as you say it's a difficult job to get into but the possibilities for living a good life abroad are there if she looks hard enough. I don't do translation as such but almost all of the information I use for work is sourced in Spanish - b****y hard work it is too but much better that trying to unravel some of the Spanish home grown translations of legal and technical stuff! I'm reminded of a board game we used to have when I was a kid, 'Careers' you plotted your career in oder to win points for Fame, Fortune or Happiness, the idea being that you had a strategy to get either big bucks for low chance or safe and steady, etc. - sadly for me nursing flopped on all three in the end :( - now I'm not famous - nor even infamous! - certainly not rich, but passably happy - at least now it's stopped raining and snowing for what seems like the first time since November! Great topic though! Regs Simon |
I've grown tired of my work. I still enjoy it, but I really want to do something else. Guess, that my interest has shifted over the years.
The issue is, I own half of the business and can't just pack up and leave. Basically I've got to find somebody to sell it to, as otherwise quite a few people would be out of a job and quite a few customers would be pissed off, too. Don't want that either. So I guess I'll chuck along and sure it pays the bills, until the opportunity for a sale comes along. And move off to new ventures then and more travelling again. /M |
I like my job but feel like i'm confined in the office cubical too much and don't do enough of the site work which I really enjoy. Only 2 months to go until I take 12 months off to travel the Americas, my longest holiday for the past 14 years has been 2 weeks :)
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nice! enjoy:thumbup1:
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---- Do i like my job? Unfortunatelly way too much. Therefore it isnt easy to find the time to travel. To quit a job when income and enjoyment is that high - is definitively not easy. Too when you have a girlfriend, who also love their job/career. But we have found a start with our transafrica, and know we are planning on the next (short) break. Surfy |
Job
I love my job. I get to travel and generally have as much time off as I need. I can plan for most things as long as I'm not needing a block of time exceeding a month off. If I do, then I have to organize things around that.
This occasionally 'away from home' aspect pays ok and allows me to fund my hobbies etc. I don't have the most up to date machinery these days but I love what I've got. My Dad told me when I was a kid that I should never dread going to work. I guess sometimes it can be a bind, but at 53 and still going strong I feel that his words were positive and I've tried to stick by them. I always tried to get something from it - even the crappy jobs I didn't much enjoy. I think this was the spirit of what he intended. These days it's a blast. I've never been out of work and always was able (with a little hardship and focus) to have the things I needed and some (most) of the things I wanted. So I guess I am happy working. Moss. |
My job is a mean's to an end, not the most exciting place in the world. But it pays for my fun at the weekend.
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I'm a secondary school teacher and I love my job. Not only is it, in my humble opinion, one of the most important jobs in society but it gives me the holidays to travel. I don't get paid as much as I thinkI should ( I've been teaching for 20 years and earn £31,000) but I certainly can't complain about the holidays. I'm off to Scandinavia for 5 weeks this summer.
This thread has been really interesting and it's encouraging to see that 25% in this poll love their jobs. However it is truly depressing to see so many people seem to hate their jobs. I can't think of anything more depressing (apart from unemployment I guess) |
I love what I do - I manage a luxury spa in a 5 star Hotel and over the years have done several pre-opening projects. I thrive on the stress that work creates. I do end up working a lot, however have learnt over time that I don't mind putting the time in and establishing myself as an expert in what I do and in turn have no problems leaving a job after a few years to do a bit more travelling and then starting the whole work thing again.
Dom., You didn't get to do the east coast of Canada yet. I have an extra bike for your next summer vacation. :scooter: |
I do my job as I am financially trapped and no other job would pay me what I earn for what I do.
I have just over 5 years left. The job pays for my biking trips my kids have all left home and when i finish I will be debt free have money in the bank a pension no ties and a wife that rides and wants to explore like me. I will stick at the grind because of the benefits do I enjoy it no not any longer would I walk away yes if I could. Thats why Im on this forum to gain experence insparation knowledge and know how so when I am free I will have the funds time and money to travel and explore. Just got to do the 5 years first. Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2 |
I've been enjoying myself at HU meets for years, but this is my first post on the HUBB - I think. No. It says, it is my fourth (must have been years ago). So, who am I to disagree?
I must have been asleep when they explained about the work ethic. (Very likely!) I've tried to penetrate the mysteries of work for years but have failed. That doesn't mean I like hanging around doing nothing; far from it. I'm a fidget. It's just that I don't like Work. I have a special aversion to my current work contract which says I have to sit behind a PC most days writing and editing pointless documents that no-one will read. Most of them won't even get published. Worse, I am surrounded by managers who think all this is 'meaningful' - or so they pretend. I dream that one day someone will tell me that my work had helped to save a life or has made an old person happy, but no-one ever does, and if they did, they would be lying. A couple of times a week I'm given a reprieve and get to facilitate meetings or give presentations. This is better. It gets my performance needs met. As I'm an ace bullshitter, there is some fun to be had here, especially when things go wrong and I have to make stuff up. Since my wife died (some years ago now) riding a bike is the only thing that convinces me that I inhabit a material, sensual world. Without a bike, I'm lost. I fret and bite my nails. I walk up and down. I spend precious hours logged onto facebook. I think they call this a dependency. To answer the topic question: I do the job, endure the tedium, and feel useless for six out of eight hours every day to feed my dependency. I get the bikes, the books, the food and the bills. I get to go on short trips and travel up to the UK HU meet. I had a revelation yesterday. It's time to move on! :scooter: P.S. Canazei1200. Yes. Exactly. I have four years left in the galleys. I'm chalking up the hull day by day. |
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Attending the HU last week was a great reminder that dreams can come true |
changed my life to new carrier , working and living in thailand now, doing what i like to most scuba instructor, yet im still to collect some moey buy some thumper with knobbies and the beggining of the rest of my life can start
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Love my job, the benefis and compensation are great, but there's that one person in the group that makes most days a living hell!
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Owned my own business and a paid for house in the US with the truck, suv, and bike...it was all right. Sold them all and moved to Kyrgyzstan. Love it! Starting a transportation/tourism company. Sure it's a lot of work...but hey, I live in Kyrgyzstan and my job just required me to help a nomadic family build their summer mountain yurt camp at 9000 ft (2750 meters) in the Tian Shan mountains...I'm not sure it really even qualifies as work:)
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Fun things to do while working your notice?
Well I quit last Monday. I've got three weeks of entertaining my shortly to be ex colleagues by brutal frankness with the customers and directors, going about the place whistling the music from The Great Escape and anything else I can think of that will be mildly fun without getting the reference changed from the one I wrote myself to a "Andy worked here from...to... (and we never quite managed to find a reason to sack him)". :rofl:
Suggestions on fun things to do while working your notice will be gratefully accepted. I've already talked the lad who'll be my temporary replacement into turning up in a tie on the day he's taking a couple of hours off for the dentists :innocent: (oddly, my stomach bug the week before I quit went off amazingly quickly :blushing: :innocent: ) I've then got a week of accrued holidays that my dear wife can't match less however long it takes me to get over the leaving do. I'm thinking two days mixed jobs and drinking tea/listening to the radio and three days getting miles on the Wee. :mchappy: Back roads of Scotland and Wales here I come :thumbup1: Then it's knuckle down to make the new boss happy :helpsmilie: and the lives of me and my new minions as easy and well rewarded as possible :thumbup1:. Maybe there is a job that doesn't seem like work? Not going to change my vote yet, I'd still rather pick the right 6 numbers and stop having to worry about the whole mess, but hopefully progress. Andy |
hi
I could write at great length on this subject. I'm retired now, I'm 62, finished at 54 as a uni lecturer in the uk. I disliked all of my 31 years in education, it was a means to an end, it paid ok, I could do it and I enjoyed good holidays. I got trapped in the career, I couldn't have broken free if I wanted to, the family needed feeding and the mortgage needed paying. The best time of my life has been my retirement. Every day, I choose what I do, don't have a lot of income, mind I have always enjoyed buying s/h bargains and doing things cheaply. Some sad people love their jobs and the job is their life, god help them, my philosophy was always the job got in the way of me doing the things I really wanted to do. Future generations will not be able to finish their working lives early as my wife and I did as you are paying for the excesses of my generation. I don't have any advice for you younger people, except sort it out for yourselves. |
I have not really been in the rat race for 10 years now and purely make enough money to feed the family and pay the bills, I have had all sorts of jobs and can turn my hands and brain to most things. My family is also a bit conjoined as my boys from a previous marriage live with me, my wife's disabled daughter from previous daughter lives with her and between us we have two other young daughters, one of whom has a severe heart condition.
I'm now a chimney sweep and have been for 3 years. At the time, I started it for family reasons, as the kids have regular hospital appointments, so it fitted in well, but what i didn't realise once I'd started up, how seasonal the work is, i.e. I don't get a lot of work from Feb through to August, so therefore this gives me plenty of time for biking/travelling, also customers are usually more than prepared to wait until I'm back from a trek which is great. But from now and until Christmas I'm flat out, so tend to make my money during this period and keep some back for the remainder of the year, aprt from October, when I take a 10 day break(Pyrenees in Oct 2013 :thumbup1:) Just too many wage whores about who moan about being time poor, but are usually money rich. You only get one life, so live it I say |
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I think I'm becoming one of them... But without the money rich part doh |
I'm time poor money poordoh
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you and me both matey! Regards Reggie |
Finally a place to have a good rant......:thumbup1: I retired from the police force (sorry service) in 2004 after 23 years faithful service. Glad to be out of "the job" I loved as it's changed so much now. :( I served in the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) for 9 years and the Metropolitan Police (London) for the remaining 14 years. I rode a bike in the Special Escort Group for nearly 6 years and came out with the rank of Chief Inspector. I now refer to the modern police service simply as "Toy Town". When I joined the force in 1980, most officers were ex-squaddies with an inbuilt sense of public service. They also mostly looked the part - tall, lean, fit and appeared the kind of person you wouldn't want to mess with. In those days it wasn't possible to join the force if you had any kind of criminal conviction and apart from a few bad apples they were all decent, honest hardworking thief takers (officers that enjoyed protecting the public and lived to put the baddies behind bars). Most of those old-timers have been ethnically cleansed from the new modern service and replaced with "robots". A huge proportion of those now serving as police officers simply wouldn't have made the grade in the (good) old days. Senior police officers now exist to produce piles of inane paperwork. Political Correctness (regarding minorities etc) and Health & Safety has utterly ruined the job I gave my life to. I always refused to attend pointless Diversity Courses. I believe there is a 4 foot policeman serving in the Lincolnshire force! Last week while walking the streets of Tower Hamlets in London I saw with my own eyes a women police officer (WPC) who must have weighed 30 stone! Her waist was almost as wide as the "top of the range" car she was driving! doh Some women police officers even wear men's peaked caps instead of their own model! A peaked cap with hair poking from the sides looks utterly ridiculous. Their senior officers even encourage this kind of idiocy... Dial 999 these days and you're likely to get a couple of timid looking little girls turn up driving a top of the range executive car. Their little heads (bless them), poke just above the steering wheel. :nono: The uniform used to be a smart blue tunic and trousers with a white shirt and tie. The uniform now is a quasi-military black uniform based it would seem on Nazi Germany. Basically it's a soldiers uniform - hob nail boots with trousers tucked etc. The uniform is designed to be intimidating but this is a daft way to interact with the general public (the people who pay their wages and the people they are supposed to SERVE). When dealing with "Joe Public" they look and act hard men but when dealing with real criminals they turn into Social Workers! :( The main problem with the modern police model is this - the decent, law abiding people who are supposed to be protected (served) by these officers are now being treated as POTENTIAL CRIMINALS and law breakers. Huge surveillance databases are being amassed to criminalize the law abiding, tax paying, white, middle classes (the people who our left-leaning political masters really despise). These databases include the details of law abiding citizens who have never been convicted of a criminal offence. :( These days it's all about generating revenue for local government and above all, TEACHING US WHOSE BOSS! Things have become so bad that personally I would never phone them unless I needed a crime number for an insurance claim! doh Nothing will improve until our (failed) political masters start to make an example of wrongdoers - there needs to be proper deterrents in place to PUNISH criminals instead of rewarding wrong-doing. I could cry....doh |
there's a policeman (I use the old fashioned term deliberately!) in our town. We call him the proper copper.
He's probably in his 50s, clearly ex military. he stands over 6 feet tall, ram rod straight with a neat trimmed military moustache. He wears an old style uniform, Tunic and proper helmet, not a Tackleberry belt! He carries himself with such dignity he appears to float around the town! If I was a 14 year old scrote, he'd scare the bejeezus out of me. He commands respect without saying or doing anything except being himself. |
Translators Only
Hey Moggy 1968, my wife is also a translator. She is Spanish but has her PhD (Doctorate) from Syracuse University, New York. We live in Buenos Aires, north coast of Spain and at our ranch in Arizona, USA. Currently in Argentina. Elisa posts as rosa del desierto on the HUBB has translated various NY Times Best Sellers and many other books, journal articles and scientific papers, etc etc etc.......
Frankly, her work load is very heavy and she has many requests for native speakers of English translations into other languages. What are the languages your wife translates? Contact via PM or this tread... Gracias xfiltrate eat, drink and learn as many languages as you can. |
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She is just starting the second year of her masters, but she is a little daunted by how to get started in the business. Any tips your wife may have would be much appreciated, PM me if you like have one on mebeer |
Kentfallen
Spare a thought for the rest of us poor sods who are still in the job............with less then three years to go i thought i saw a light at the end of the tunnel but someone turned the torch off !! Still despite being medically downgraded which was a kick in the nuts , i am at least still able to work and have avoided the pension issues which most of my colleagues have fallen foul of . Most people i work with cant believe i used to have a whistle in my tunic and would dare to ram someones car to stop them fleeing the scene....................too Life on mars apparently . I meet lots of people my age - like most of the guys on this thread , you included Touring Ted ( lol ) and think it could always be worse :( On the bright side i still have two arms , two legs , most of my health , a cool missus and friends and of course :scooter: |
and your own teeth?
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Errrrrrrr , all except one :thumbup1:
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I'll love my jobs much better when i can view them in hindsight.
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I've got 2 jobs at the moment...but if I am honest I find it really hard to settle down! Ideally I'd be travelling the world and seeing as many places as possible, and discovering all kinds of different cultures! But lets be realistic, to do that you need a heck load of money, and how do you get it? It's a vicious circle :(
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I have the best job ever. I set my own schedule and do as I please. I have no boss and nothing to stop me from going at a whim. I am retired.
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Spent the last 26 years in a job that pays the bills and then some.
I used to like it...haven't enjoyed it for 6 or 8 years now. I hate the person I've become and mostly blame myself for letting this job shape me into something I barely recognize. I'm eligible to retire with a great pension in a year...I'll decide what to do when I get there. I'll stay away mirrors until then. |
About to start a totally new career on a Drillship working a month on, a month off. I have a son and partner so this has not been an easy decision but I'm excited.
I'm hoping that working Offshore will give me the balance I'm looking for without the risks associated with working for yourself. I don't think I could ever work a regular 9-5 mon-Fri with hardly any time off. I worked for myself for over 10 years running a climbing/Mountaineering shop which was great for a while, sadly I had to fold it last year, I lost everything, and I mean everything. Your own business can be the best and worst thing in the world. Being away from your home and family for 28 days, working 12hour shifts, 7 days a week isn't great but 28 days off to do what I want is great ! in search of balance….. |
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Good luck in the new job. Something I've considering myself. |
Yup - way to go.
Currently leaning on the 2 in 8 job currently hovering about...... shed load more time to ride......shed load. |
Have to say, I don't work at all... not anymore.
It is not a reason, that I do not want to.. Oh, I want, but can't. So, I'm retired in early ages. Part of me like this situation, even my working moral yell something else. |
These poll results make me happy. I thought much less people would be doing their dream job. I am happy that they have found it and there is hope for those of us still searching! (and inspiration for those who aren't.)
Its easy, when you are young and poor and want to get out of living at home, or simply want to be able to afford decent food and treats for yourself, to be seduced into that first offer of a higher paycheck, whatever the job is. And we are kept satisfied, partially, but never really allow ourselves to DO all we might have done, or FEEL all we might have felt. Like anything, to live to the max, requires risks. Maybe getting out of the UK is one idea ... BBC News - UK workers are 'less happy' than their global peers :palm: |
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Having just returned from a 4 week trip to New Zealand visiting family and exploring trails on a small bike, the last 5 days back in the office have been a killer. Remove the people I work with and the company (that has been falling apart over the last 2 yrs), I actually like the work I do. Time to find a way to do it elsewhere, possibly in NZ
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Ted
You've opened up a right can of worms with this topic, haven't you? lol It's interesting to read about other people's thoughts about their jobs and their lives in general but for some reason no one has thought to mention garlic bread.....it's the future! |
Gaaarrrrrllic bread!!!! As Peter Kay would say ;) ?
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lol, that's the one Ted!
What are you doing at the moment? Are you working and planning a new trip? |
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Ted
you forgot to tell everyone about your part time appearances in my dodgy seymour butts rides just about everything including a harley , wearing only leather chaps rip off series of films ?c? Am working on the one where you play a bmw mechanic and some fit polish lady enters the workshop and it all goes southwards from there ....................... and they say theres no life after being in the rozzers !! |
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Ted
Whats a Dvd ? This is a Vcr ( top loading version ) production :thumbup1: . are there any particular bits you want ahem "air brushing " by the way ? |
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I am at work. Computer in one pannier, work clothes and bike stuff in the other. get paid per km, travel allowance to operate the bike and write bike allowance of against tax :mchappy:
30-40000 km per year on bikes, many of which I get paid for, of which I get a fixed rate no matter what I drive, as well as for the hours spent travelling. Who says I must get from site to site by tar road? Corporate office life in a suit is no life for a man. A suit is for my funeral. Come to think of it, a life time in an office in a suit is a funeral. A lingering death. Worked in south America, and all over Africa as well. Never in cities. In Ghana was in remote areas and was offered a 4x4 or a dirt bike. Guess which I chose he he. Why spend my own money travelling around when I can get paid to do it? and get paid for nice hotels when in towns as well. Doesn't make sense to me to save money to go places when I can get my trip paid, my time paid and extend my stay a bit to tour some. Saw a lot of Europe and America this way as well. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...402-wa0003.jpg |
Sounds like the only thing you need a secretary!
I can service anything, fix punctures, have GPS, camping and cooking equipment, all riding gear, I excel at finding pubs, I'm ugly as, don't shag the boss, prefer KTM's, can start immediately :thumbup1: On a serious note. Congratulations, sounds like you've nailed it :Beach: |
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Ted |
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PS. WTF is a Kradmelder ? |
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Getting fed up with the job, me and wife split up, sorting myself out, planning a trip for May next year to get away. bier
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Good luck! |
Retired for 4 weeks
I did the same basic job for 30 yrs then went into the management end of it.. was getting more and more of a bureaucratic nite mare so i pulled out and retired.. now things are great.. :scooter:bier:Beach:
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I do the dullest job in the world (health and Safety) but it gives me the money and motivation to go out and get dirty. beer Without work, no money, without money, no new toys and adventure.
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Backup
Finally voted so thought I'd fill the gaps
Haven't read the whole thread yet so apologies if repeating After many years dossing around all over the place I fell into international teaching. I now have a massive laugh every day, get decent money that allows saving and travelling and generally take a year off to travel ( 4x4. Bike or trekking) every 3 to 5 years. Ok no ids an no house but get your priorities right Life is bloody great,,, especially as I'm in one of those years off now |
I'm 53 and got fed up with the whole work morgage thing....so the the kids have grown up and off our hands it's time to sell up.
A few weeks away from the property being sold and everything else gone on eBay and boot fairs ( it's amazing what tat people will buy!) That's it... The mrs and me head off into the rest of the world in our 1994 Toyota. We have a rough idea of where we want to go, but are not really planning things in great detail..... Min 2 years, Max 5, but who knows?? People have asked the usual stuff, such as " what about when you get back?" to which I have no answer....maybe we won't go back. It may feel strange to be " homeless" it may not....I guess we will find out soon enough....:D |
Tonka
I personally wouldnt worry about the future , it has a strange way of sorting itself out . It s more than likely that you and the Mrs will eventually find the place that you both think " we could live here " and the rest will follow :funmeteryes: . Anyway the most interesting people i have met on my travels are those like yourself and people who do odd jobs , have no fixed abode and just save up ready for the next trip :scooter: Enjoy !! |
Do I like my job?
Definitely NOT! currently working as a Project Officer in the NHS; No I don't know what that is either, which is part of the problem! :helpsmilie: It doesn't help that I was made redundant in March (also from the NHS) and so took this job as an alternative to being out of work although it did mean a substantial reduction in salary. Luckily the mortgage was paid off last year and i'm single(ish) again so beginning to think a job where I can get more time to ride my bike would suit me better.... just not sure what it is yet :confused1: The one good thing about my current job is the 34 mile commute to work, as I use the bike and there are several (nice and twisty) alternative routes to choose :smile3: |
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I have owned my own company for the last 12 years. I am done. Everything I am doing right now is to make my company more salable. That will take me two years, which is about the life expectancy of my dog, Bear. Once Bear is gone, then the business will be gone right after. Unless someone makes me an offer between now and then that I cannot refuse.
Then.....everything goes into storage, and I will head out. It is unknown where I will be going or for how long. There will be no destinations, only journeys. I will live my two great passions. Motorcycling and Photography. I shall spend as much of rest of my life that I can, working at wearing out motorcycle tires. |
Work life balance
Some interesting reading and debates here..
Well I’ve been working for a large international company for the past 28 years. For the first 15 ish years the job was enjoyable as we worked close to the product (Aircraft Design and manufacture) and had plenty of hands on experience. Nowadays, everything is sub contracted out so we have basically become project managers and the focus seems to be more about producing pretty forceast charts and KPI’s + working to unrealistic timescales and budgets. My move into management over 10 years ago seemed like a good idea at the time for career progression etc but looking back in hindsight, the stress and hassle wasn’t worth it. Yes it’s a good job with reasonable pay and final salary pension...BUT… do I enjoy it… the answer is NO.. but… I wouldn’t be able to pay the mortgage etc doing a job I’d enjoy but probably on a lot less money. (unless I can have Kradmelder’s job that is ) Luckily I’ve got a pretty understanding wife who lets me do the things I enjoy in my spare time . We planned that when the kids grow up we can do a lot more traveling on the bike together and see different parts of the world. Our kids are now 21 and 16…so by now we should have had a lot more freedom…. well that was until we adopted a young lad who we’d been fostering for a couple of years. So… our big plans are on hold for a while but seeing his smile and happiness everyday makes it all worthwhile . And on the plus side he loves the bike scene and has already been on a few rallys etc.. so hopefully I’ll have a long term future travelling companion with him as well So back to the original question… I can’t say I truly enjoy my job but it’s safe and secure and allows me to lead a reasonable life and have fun on the way. Shiit happens at times but we adapt and move on. The thing I find really sad is when I attend many retirement presentations for people who dedicate their life to work and then retire with no hobbies or plans and end up passing away a year or two later. Life is too short for work work and no play.. so I try to plan the work life balance in the direction I want it to go. Happy travels every one :scooter: bier Bones |
You're a good man, Bones.
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My two pennies worth
I agree, a very good thread:
Here goes, I'll keep it short and not bore you to death: Joined the Navy at 15, spent my first 3 years on a ship (HMS Hermoine), my last appraisal from my divisional officer was "Cowie is a stormy Scotsman who likes his women and his drink, I recommend him for the Submarine service!" So after 21 years on subs I retired (with a small pension), started working offshore on a Seismic research vessel, worked on 5 ships in the CGG fleet, 5 weeks on 5 weeks off, good salary, worked all over the world, currently on the good ship Viking in the Gulf of Mexico, due home August 1st. Pretty busy at times, straight 35 12 hour shifts. 58 now, hopefully I can retire in 2 years and do some seroius touring. Great wife of 35 years, 2 sons and 2 grandkids. Been to a few HUBB and GSER meetings and met a fantastic bunch of people, too maany to mention. Thank you to all that know me (and have tasted my wares) jeiger Hope to see you soon. :thumbup1: Jake Seisobs 2012 1200 GSA 1977 Norton 850 Commando Distiller of a fine brand of rocket fuel :taz: |
No Moaning n Groaning
The reason why so many of us are discontent, is that we no longer feel much accomplishment. Society has moved too many of us into service oriented jobs. We no longer really create anything.
While motorcycle travel can be an escape, providing you leave your problems at home, the nitty gritty of 'what have you done lately' comes back to haunt us. The book, "Shop Class As Soulcraft" by Matthew Crawford is a good read for understanding as to why so many of us lack enthusiasm. How many of us find satisfaction in putting on that farkle bike modification or putting together a cook set/medical kit? Afterwards, there is the true joy of having accomplished something. Due soon to retire, I am fortunate to have certain skills that can be used to help others. As much as I love the road, I'm sure that in time that too can get tiring without some goal in mind. That is what makes it a pilgrimage not just a ride. |
Ok mythoughts.
I did like my job then I kind of got bored with it. It was a good job, reasonably stable and a good pension. But after éà years I was just going through the motions for the money. About 6 weeks ago I left, now I am riding my motorcycle through Africa. It is new, very different and at the moment a bit overwhelming at times. But I have wanted to travel since before my job. For the moment I feel good just wandering, I was never really a money person and I think this helps. So now I have no job. In some ways I hope something comes along as I travel. |
hopefully about to enjoy it a lot more!! 25 years as a nurse, the last 10 or so in the Emergency Department. Hate my job, hate the nobbers I have to deal with
BUT just got a new job:D start in Sept working for an Aeromed firm. Office based three days a week organising the medical side of getting people back to the UK who have managed to get sick or damage themselves. Outside of that if I want I can do the Aeromeds myself. Now, as I will be one of the people that allocates the jobs, that means I can send myself off on the jobs I fancy:clap: Not exactly travelling free as a bird, but beats the crap out of the ED on a saturday night!! |
Good luck to you moggy , hopefully I will joining you in a couple of months , if our hr dept can get its act together
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what will you be doing Chris?
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Well if i can get out by Oct , then off to Morocco for a month , then me and the mrs want to visit Grenada in Dec . I then want a little job till may / june when i will take off the whole summer and whizz off on the bike ............. what about you ??
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I only have to give 4 weeks notice and need my salary until the house is ready to rent out. A discovery of serious damp has made a massive hole in my budget and departure plans but work should start next week and I have a vague date of November :D It's painful not being able to tell folk at work I'm leaving so I thought I'd post here instead :) Currently, I plan to stay in NZ for 5-6 months investigating the job market and figuring out if I'd like to live there. If renting is working that'll do me for another 6 months. I'm not selling my bike in the UK and already have a bike in NZ so who knows where I go from there.... :mchappy: |
Well if you dont do it , then you will never know :thumbup1: Good on you , whats the worse that could happen ......................... Answers on a post card
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Phoenix, I know the feeling..
Its very easy for folk to say "just do it".. Life is seldom that simple. Leaving a job,career or other normalities behind does require some thought and planning. The reality for most of us is that we will return to our homes and need jobs, places to live or whatever etc. A wise man once told me.. "Its like a game of chess".. You need have all your pieces in place and a well thought out strategy before risking your Queen on a checkmate manoeuvre.. It makes a lot of sense if you think about it.. |
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depends where the aeromed takes me!! hopefully next year though we will be doing our first proper family trip, now the truck rebuild is finished and my daughter is old enough (4). thinking probably Romania. I would like to do morocco but want to do Romania while it is still Romania, before it goes the way of Poland and becomes like Germany! I don't think Morocco will be changing quite so quickly so may do that the year after. A lifetime of trips rather than the trip of a lifetime |
I'm in the public eye 24/7, generally I enjoy my work as It is important and necessary. However, as I age many things are more important; meeting new people away from my profession, seeing new places, travel on my motorcycle and at times, simply sitting quietly watching humming birds. ;-)
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Romania was very pretty and i enjoyed what i saw of it , think you will like it . Nice thing is you dont have to rush ............... unfortunately we did which was a shame .
To be honest the biggest thing for me is that i dont have to buy a return ticket , which after all this time is quite a shock...............Unfortunately the Mrs will only get two weeks away over Dec , whilst i can stay on :thumbup1: I found a cracking room , lodging at someones house , on the beach , near a harbour for £60 a week !!!! Which means even more cash for game fishing , which i love almost as much as the Mrs or bike ( had to put that as she reads this forum too ) . Will have to find a little job some time as im a little too young to stop completely , but it will be something i can drop and then go off and discover somewhere else . |
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I just got back the last job I actually liked! Can I change my vote from utterly ****Ed off to something short of "off to ride the world" please?
A small lesson for any office managers or corporate big wigs; think of how your employees get through the day. Exhibit A is a large US corporation whose white shirted execs all seem to be called Chuck. These idiots think bikes are only ridden by tatood sorts to and from pool halls. On top of such ideas as unpaid overtime they therefore got rid of the bike parking, subsidised train tickets and showers for the Lycra brigade. Exhibit B is a large German corporation whose jeans and cowboy booted team leaders make sure any sort of transport facility is supported, have flexible hours etc. Guess which one has 150℅ annual staff turnover? A nice little ride on the Guzzi on sunny mornings is going to put me in the mood to work. Just need to find a longer route home. Andy |
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Well at long last thats it - am off at the end of the month , badge handed in - finished . Have booked the ferry to Spain and off for a longish visit to Maroc :funmeteryes: . On getting back have to sort the Xmas hols out , so lots of tablet time in the coffee shops :D. Pity it didnt happen a couple of months earlier but there you go - it now means i can do what i like next summer :scooter:Palanga beach here i come .
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