Dressed as a transportational cyclist



"Cully_J" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> After asking that question, I'd like to know what others do for work.


I'm the AV Manager at a major metropolitan natural science museum. As you
can imagine, this is a place full of people who are intimately familiar with
the acceleration of habitat loss and the looming threat of climate change,
not as abstract talking points but as irrefutable facts. There are a *lot*
of bike commuters here.

RichC
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"Gooserider" <[email protected]> writes:

> B) I'm a dental assistant. Never thought I'd spend my days asking old people
> to put their dentures in my hand, but it beats digging ditches. :)


Digging ditches isn't really so bad, although I much prefer digging
out big, stubborn ol' tree stumps, or trenching for underground
sprinkler/irrigation systems. Hand-bombing gravel backfill is what
kills ya. Especially when the excavator operator thinks it's funny
to keep bringing you bucketfuls of gravel as fast as he can while
you're trying to keep up with him.

One day-labour stint in particular led to one of my worst rides
ever. I had to help dismantle some scaffolding over in North
Vancouver, where August weather can be pretty mercurial. The
day started out fair, but as I worked a light, misty drizzle
began. And it lingered on and on and on. It didn't rain hard,
but this precipitation had some sort of super soaking quality.
The scaffolding was setup going down a cliff. Everything
(including me, dirt magnet that I am) got muddy in short order.

I didn't have any raingear, but even if I did I wouldn't have
worn it because it would have been too hot, and liable to
snag on stuff, which isn't good when your standing on a 2x10
on top of a scaffold alongside a cliff with a 100' drop, and
having heavy scaffolding components passed up to you.

So I got to ride home in my soaked & muddy jeans and flannel
plaid shirt. Every pedal stroke drove that dank clamminess
deeper into the core of my being. I decided 6 hours @ $8.oo/hr
of that b.s. wasn't worth it. The only thing that cheered me
up was looking at the crowded rush hour buses whizzing by, and
being glad that I wasn't on them. Especially considering the
strange looks I was getting. I really did look like a drowned rat.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca
 
"Colorado Bicycler" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Cully_J" wrote in message
>
>>B) I'm a dental assistant. Never thought I'd spend my days asking old
>>people
>>to put their dentures in my hand, but it beats digging ditches. :)

>
> I guess I am one of those "old people" - thanks! - But I don't use
> dentures, but my sis does.
>
> I used to be "tired" but now I am "re tired"
>
> Even as "old" and "doddering" as we are, my wife (68) and I (66) we
> still manage to creak onto the bicycles and spindle our weak legs a few
> thousand miles per year. Sort of amazing, isn't it :eek:)


Hey, you haven't lived until you've seen someone suck half digested oatmeal
out of their denture before handing it to you.
 
Sounds like you have just the right mixture of caring, concern,
sympathy and understanding for your job!
 
On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 22:31:30 +0000, Cully_J wrote:

> Awesome Claire,
>
> You sound like a tough chick. And, if you don't mind me asking, "what do
> you do?"
>
> After asking that question, I'd like to know what others do for work.


It's taken me awhile to come up with a title for what I do, but here goes
-- "engineering communications consultant." I do both technical writing
and PR-type projects for all kinds of engineering and technology
companies. Of course these days it's mostly e-work. So (theoretically) I
can live where I want, and work from home.

I can't be too smug about my (mostly) car-free lifestyle, because I don't
really commute. If the weather or roads are bad, I just don't go
out!

Claire's definitely tougher than me, commuting in all that cold rain and
dark. I ride in that stuff too, but only when I feel like it.

Matt O.
 
Cully_J wrote:

> I'd like to know what others do for work.


Since last summer I've been programming slot machines here in Sin City.
Disadvantages: low wages, clueless management, zero opportunity for
advancement. Advantages: easy work, entertaining crew, three-mile
commute, indoor bike parking, and there's a gym and shower at work.

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)
 
Colorado Bicycler <[email protected]> wrote:

> Even as "old" and "doddering" as we are, my wife (68) and I (66) we
> still manage to creak onto the bicycles and spindle our weak legs a few
> thousand miles per year. Sort of amazing, isn't it :eek:)


With apologies to Finis Mitchell:

"You don't stop cycling because you get old. You get old because you
stop cycling."


Bill
 
"Colorado Bicycler" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sounds like you have just the right mixture of caring, concern,
> sympathy and understanding for your job!


Why? Because I find something gross? Because I dared to use the term "old
people"? Guess what, Denver----people in their 70s ARE old. They aren't
young, and they certainly aren't middle aged(unless they plan to live to 140
or more). Being a bit sensitive, I think.
 
Yes, folks do get older. Even you.

And some folks who deal with them (and perhaps care for them) radiate
respect and concern, others don't.
 
Cully_J wrote:
> "Claire" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...


[snip tale: It's raining and I got a new job]

>
>
> Awesome Claire,
>
> You sound like a tough chick. And, if you don't mind me asking, "what do you
> do?"
>
> After asking that question, I'd like to know what others do for work.
>
> I'm a librarian.
>
> Cully_J
>
>


(1) Software design

(2) Instructor at local technical college (not instructing about
software design, however)

(3) Editor


Scott, many hats, little time
 
Cully_J wrote:

> After asking that question, I'd like to know what others do for work.


Lawyer. I thought there'd me more of us.

--
Paul Turner
 
Tom Keats <[email protected]> wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Gooserider" <[email protected]> writes:
>
>> B) I'm a dental assistant. Never thought I'd spend my days asking old people
>> to put their dentures in my hand, but it beats digging ditches. :)

>
> Digging ditches isn't really so bad, although I much prefer digging
> out big, stubborn ol' tree stumps, or trenching for underground
> sprinkler/irrigation systems. Hand-bombing gravel backfill is what
> kills ya. Especially when the excavator operator thinks it's funny
> to keep bringing you bucketfuls of gravel as fast as he can while
> you're trying to keep up with him.


My coworkers and I have discussed the merits of ditch digging. I think
I prefer lawn mowing or perhaps landscaping as a nice alternative to
software development. But ditch digging would likely be mentally
restful.

I bet nobody calls their gardener at 3am screaming about the bushes
needing trimming. "Mein Gott! If the privet hedges aren't pruned
immediately it will be an end to all things!"

--
Dane Buson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
A bore is someone who persists in holding his own views after we have
enlightened him with ours.
 
"Dane Buson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:p[email protected]...
>
> I bet nobody calls their gardener at 3am screaming about the bushes
> needing trimming. "Mein Gott! If the privet hedges aren't pruned
> immediately it will be an end to all things!"
>

And you'd lose that bet.
(My neighbor owns a small landscaping maintenance firm. This is a particular
problem in the winter, when they clear snow off lots and sidewalks because
there's no grass to be cut.)
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Dane Buson <[email protected]> writes:
>
> My coworkers and I have discussed the merits of ditch digging. I think
> I prefer lawn mowing or perhaps landscaping as a nice alternative to
> software development. But ditch digging would likely be mentally
> restful.


Spreading topsoil and rolling out turf (and doing it well) actually
takes a lot of skill & talent -- and a good, straight-shootin' eye.

I envy the folks who get the chance to design and build rockery
gardens on gnarly terrain.

Manual excavation can get downright archaeological or geological --
it's interesting. And it's a more exuberant and productive upper-body
exercise than pumpin' iron.

> I bet nobody calls their gardener at 3am screaming about the bushes
> needing trimming. "Mein Gott! If the privet hedges aren't pruned
> immediately it will be an end to all things!"


Aw, there's always somebody screaming about sumpthin' or other :)


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca
 
"Colorado Bicycler" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Yes, folks do get older. Even you.
>
> And some folks who deal with them (and perhaps care for them) radiate
> respect and concern, others don't.


Just because I say someone is old doesn't mean I don't give them the care
they deserve, and you have no basis to suggest otherwise. Do YOU brush your
teeth before you visit your dentist? I'm sure you would wipe your rear end
before a proctologist visit, so why not give the dental professional the
same courtesy? Respect is a two way street.
 
Gooserider wrote:
> "Colorado Bicycler" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Yes, folks do get older. Even you.
>>
>>And some folks who deal with them (and perhaps care for them) radiate
>>respect and concern, others don't.

>
>
> Just because I say someone is old doesn't mean I don't give them the care
> they deserve, and you have no basis to suggest otherwise. Do YOU brush your
> teeth before you visit your dentist? I'm sure you would wipe your rear end
> before a proctologist visit, so why not give the dental professional the
> same courtesy? Respect is a two way street.


Do you take your lithium before you visit your psychiatrist?
 

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