Divemedic's recent post on getting his MBA made me think back on how often I had to change directions on my own path of life.
I started working in my mom's gift and craft shop when I was 11-12, kept doing it until she retired in 1990 and sold the business. I also worked at Sears and at a fast-food place as well.
When the economy in Cali went under in the late 80's/early 90's, I moved with my folks to Las Vegas, and started the grind again. Tried telemarketing (which I suck at because I wasn't any good at conning people out of their life savings), then worked at 7-Eleven until I got stabbed during a robbery in February 1994. Kept at it for a bit then decided enough was enough and trained to be a locksmith (mail correspondence course from NRI Schools - any other Gen X/boomers remember them?), then got a job at a lock manufacturer assembling custom high-security cabinet locks. I thought I had it made, then they laid me off after 2 months.
So time for another direction, I went to work as a ramp service agent at the airport. That was fun and it actually got me in very decent shape for awhile. I then moved over to air cargo as a cargo customer service agent, which seemed to fit my aptitude decently. Would have stayed but management was just getting toxic. I then got an offer from another company and moved to their place, getting little better pay, and eventually moving up to supervisor.
Then 9/11 hit, and it was just not the same...
Also, love decided to rear its head, I fell in love with a lady online, and totally upset the apple cart and moved to Vermont to be with her.
Things up there were really rough for a bit (desert rats don't handle ice and snow well, y'know), but I managed with various temp jobs, eventually scoring a position with IBM at their chip plant near Burlington. Very well paid and decent opportunities. However, things with the girlfriend went south, plus my dad had a stroke and both parents really wanted me to come home. So I moved back to Vegas in the summer of 2004, and having no other real prospects, decided to go to school and get a degree like my mom had urged me to.
So did a help desk gig for DirecTV for a bit to get the ball rolling while I attended classes, then moved to a local PC shop as a bench tech to start applying what I was learning in school. Then I became a telecom tech at the convention center and learned more practical stuff about networking that I could have had in school. Unfortunately, although I was only 'part-time', I was literally working 40-50 hours a week but no benefits, so needed to ditch that.
More to come later...
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