Jobs through my life so far

A co-worker and I were chatting about jobs and how many we have had. If I remember correctly and the 10 year age difference than us he has still had more jobs or at least applied to more than I have.

We were talking about how hard it is for some to find jobs and that in my mind it has been relatively easy. This isn’t going to be a post about how to make your job search easy. Maybe I’ve just landed a job/gig/contract when its needed and not when I wanted it.

  1. Before I was could get a work permit (15yr and younger) I worked with my dad sometimes in a commercial cleaning business he owned for a while. Their office was next to a Monster Truck shop which was cool. I remember cleaning a commercial printing press company. That place was cool too.
  2. Then he got me a 2 month intern job at an auto shop
  3. I mowed neighbors lawns with my school friend James (1st side hustle)
  4. 1st job I had was the 1st I applied to. Fast food at der Wienerschnitzel. YES, I worked at the Wonderful World of Wet and Wild Weenies. I only took that job because the Ralph’s grocery store wasn’t hiring at the time. 6ish months later I applied at Ralph’s and was hired. Started as bagging groceries and worked up to cashier and then left.
  5. I can’t remember exactly next but i worked there through end of highschool and a little after
  6. Then I joined the USMC in 92 until 95 I was in the reserves.
  7. After boot camp there was a short 6 month stint at UPS unloading trailers at 3am-7am
  8. I worked at Racing Beat for I think about a year or so taking phone sales orders
  9. I finished up at Orange Coast College and transfered to Cypress to take some automotive courses
  10. 1994 ish I turned that into a job at an auto shop in huntington beach. Then the business shut down.
  11. 1995 ish My neighbor and co-worker started his own shop and I went to work for him
  12. Painted my own motorcycle (had 2 crotch rockets)
  13. Got tired of automotive and learned I can figure this computer shit out
    well i learned that in early 90’s when I was building my own computers
  14. 1996 went to a fly by night tech school.
    Got my A+ certification (grand fathered lifetime cert)
    Got my MCSE
    Learned then than most certification holders didn’t know shit
  15. While working at the school I got jobs moving computers for moving companies because it was too hard for most people. I got paid to plug the cords in
  16. Did some sidehustle wiring jobs
  17. 1997 Started working at CO-OP Network. This started as a contract job and turned into a full time job.
  18. Did some side hustle work in tech here and there
  19. 2000 months after getting married took another contract job with SAIC that turned into a perm job on the British Petroleum contract until Jan 2005 when I was laid off. I would say i was missing work Bob 😉
  20. 2005 until Jan 2016 I freelanced all sorts of tech work, network management, WordPress stuff.
    Didn’t even manage this well and never built it into a full business and then shit happened and had to take a job.
  21. There was a coffee business here for a couple of years Diesel Brew with my brother
  22. Jan 2016. Applied to not many jobs. 1 called me back within 1 day, interview the next day offered the job by end of week and started February 1st 2016. Still here working this job
  23. While doing this job there have been some side hustles but have stopped most of them. I don’t want do tech shit on the side for people when I do it all day
  24. Hobbies with a little income currently is woodworking

What is the point of this post?

It’s more of a thought to why have I been so lucky to have an easy job journey. Do I look at all these jobs that I basically landed pretty easily as though I’m special? Not at all. It’s more of how the hell did I pull this off. I have no clue really.

Where do I go from here?

I don’t really want to keep doing tech. I don’t have any REAL desire to start up my own “tech” thing again. Even though I do keep having this nagging thought of creating a ecommerce startup kit that is more than just a website. But it is just a thought I keep tossing around. Something similar to Quick and Dirty Website (dot) com.

I do not see my wood turning hobby becoming a thing to sell product. That isn’t a viable business at this time to make a significant income and then my enjoyment in making things becomes a chore.

I do have a very large project I am working on that I have not shared on any socials yet but I may soon. This project is huge and I probably have another month before I am done.

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Loren Nason

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