Starting work when why and what?

I feel so dull!

Hotel porter, bar man in a few different bars through the late 90s to help me through uni and then into the professional job.

No initiations, certainly no nudity, very tame!

 

I heard two funny apprentice related stories, from two different sources.

The first one was at Ford my my friend and his mates decided to put someone's locker upright in the bog and fill it with scrap from the machine shop as a joke - they all went home laughing.

Major bollocking the next day - the cleaning lady had come the evening before to clean the bogs, saw the locker, tried to move it and got pinned in the cubicle. She apparently spent the night there, trapped.

The second one I find funnier - diesel fitters on Barry docks. One of the senior guys sounded like a right *****, he'd jury rigged a rivet gun and could fire at you for a laugh. After two weeks of this, they were sat having a brew in front this enormous heavy oil tank. Matey boy went past, firing at them hilariously then one of the blokes had an epiphany - he ran over and fetched one of those press thumb oil cans and squirted a perfect drop on the side of this tank....the oil then ran down from about head height in a perfect Duckhams oil stream.

They called matey boy back thinking he'd brick himself - he didn't - he walked over to the work bench, picked up rattle gun, picked up a self tapping bolt, went over to the tank and rattled it in, then simply walked off.

Everyone was aghast and too scared to say a word.

 

I've been pretty lucky with my work situation.
Left uni in 2010 after a 4 year Maths degree (one year working as a governmental statistician, about as exciting as it sounds!).
Not particularly sure what to do following my degree, the obvious ones of accountancy or teaching didn't appeal, so ended up applying for computer programming roles.
I then found a graduate scheme down in Poole at a small software house and got the job. Nearly 14 years later and I'm still here, having worked as initially a programmer (4 years), Pre-sales Engineer (3 years) and currently Solutions Architect.

 

You do see a lot of Maths grads down the Night Shelter. I give them what I can...

 

I left school in 78

With pretty useless grades
Took a job with the local dairy as a trainee
That didn’t last long after them refusing to pay me equal wage for doing the same job as the other guys,
Tried farm work that was just equally as bad
When it came to money,
Left that soon went on with Marley roof tiling gang fairly paid on that job while that lasted ,
Then it became thatchers eighty’s that was a real treat found various casual jobs
And then unemployment for a short while ,
I vowed never to be unemployed ever again and about 1986 got work as groundworker working on sewers and pumping stations working in trench boxes with a mate and a 1088 case poclain
Then Ended up working with static caravans for the last bit,
Nothing glamorous but I’d bought my houses payed off my mortgages by 48 .

 

After school took a HND in building, then worked for Leonard Faiclough as junior site engineer on the new m62 stretch building bridges. The head engineer made an almighty c**k up on a set of foundations which needed to be blasted out. Posh London lawyers came to take statements for the insurers and I thought “ that’s a cushy number” . Did the law exams and embarked on 4 years articles at £15 per week, doing cheap terraced houses up at night and w/e to get by. Law Society insisted HND was not equivalent to a degree ( 2 years articles)….after 3 years 4 months they changed their mind and I qualified. Went on to set up my own practice with 2 branches. Hated the job really so was lucky to sell one in 2003 and the second in 2005 . Effectively retired at 48 so very lucky as wouldn’t be able to give the businesses away today!

 

I left school before my exams 1979 I got a job as a working jeweler in the center of leeds, i mostly remember riding my push bike to work in the slipstream of all the buses..

28 new pounds a week..

At 18 i got a job in a bar/nightclub, that I really enjoyed...



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Left school at 16 and went straight into work and completed my apprenticeship as a motor mechanic .Went travelling for a few years and in-between done jobs I wanted to do such as lockeepers assistant on the River Thames , Holiday Rep in France for Eurocamp and Haven holidays for a couple of seasons then settled back into mechanics where I done my apprenticeship and that's where I have been for the last 20plus years . Not academic whatsoever but good with my hands and seem to have got by using common sense.

 

I went to Art School to avoid having a job and I was getting the princely sum of $22/week from the government.
That was when I discovered I also needed money for rent, food and drink and other substances.
Ended up working as a weekend labourer at Bonnie Doon Golf Club for $100/ weekend. 3.00 am starts 8.00 am finish.

 

Thankfully didn't have to endure any of that. Started as a shipwright apprentice at the age of 16, funnily there were some other apprentices within the intake of about 150 who hadn't been exactly friendly previously when at the same school, nowadays would have been classed as bullying. My dad was a shipyard welder and had been for many years, he knew everyone and those same kids never bothered me ever again. almost 8 years later I went to sea with the world's finest navy.

 

40 years ago this year I left school.
First ‘job’ I had was YTS Mechanics Course.
Second job was Fork lift driver at Mole Valley Farmers selling agricultural animal feed ( not farming moles in a valley).
Went on the dole for 8 months then worked at Cuprinol. Left there in ‘88 and started at Butler and Tanner Printers and Bookbinding co, on the 4th July ‘88.Stayed there and took a voluntary redundancy in 2002. Place closed down in 2006.I saw it coming, as it was next to Cuprinols, and I watched them ripping it down for houses… Worked at Frome Victoria Park for 43 weeks. I remembered it rained twice in that time. Started Scaffolding after that. Frome Scaffolding and then went to Bath Scaffolding, more pay, massive jobs. Left that and became a builders labourer for 9 months, then got fed up with working for people, so thought to myself “ What was the job I enjoyed most?”.
Which was working up the Park. So I formed Lay Lines Gardening Services. 20 years ago, next month.
Love it, and it’s not work if you are doing something you love. Beats paying for a gym, too!