The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
QUESTION: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up, and what did you actually end up doing?
Talk about it….
Wanted to be a librarian but became a certified records manager. Not too much difference except the verity of subjects.
I loved horses and wanted to be a Cowgirl.
I became a Civil/Designer Draftsperson.
Started out going for business management and personnel, junior college then state school.
After six years came out with an AA degree and a PhD in partying.
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Eventually trained up as Union industrial electrician like Father.
Shocking how that sparks the imagination, right shorty.
Original G, Ha, Ha PhD in partying I like that. I might even qualify since the 2 years I was an au pair in Westport Ct and then 2 years after that (69 and 70) in NYC I did my share of partying.
Fish Squeezer
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Retired Fish Squeezer
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Ah….. What a Life !
i wanted to be a dog catcher cuz i hated dogs. i am now an engineer who hates dogs.
Thats weird, dogs are man’s best friend. Were you bitten by one?
When I was a kid I wanted to be a space astronaut so I can go to the moon but I ended up going to the sun It really hot there!
If you’re going to the sun, it’s best to go at night.
Or during an eclipse.
Not if you go at night.
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I wanted to be a pilot.
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Ended up as an avionics technician. Then graduated college and became a professional mechanical engineer.
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1. Wanted to be an astronaut (yeah I know) 2. Oceanographer … actually went the business management route in telecom
When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a teacher or a bus driver, and when I was a teenager, I wanted to be a CHP officer. When I grew up, and after a stint in the Marines, I went to work in the shipyard as an apprentice machinist. After 20 years working as a machinist, I retired and went to work at the Port of Oakland, assisting US Customs inspecting cargo, and used that money to work my way through college. After graduation, I went to work as an RN.
Priest … now part-time monk … among others.
When I was a kid I had no idea what I wanted to be. Don’t think I even thought about that. I ended up being a machinist, electrical troubleshooter, and printing press erector. I installed, repaired and gave operating instructions on small and large printing presses from San Diego to Alaska. When I was twenty I got a pilot’s license and thought for awhile of being an airline pilot. When I look back at that now I am so glad I didn’t do that. It sounds great but at times it has to be a miserable job. Even worse now. I liked what I did and can’t think of anything I would have rather done. The last press I moved and set up took six forty foot truck trailers to move from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Lots of satisfaction seeing it run when your done.
Did you ever work on the Contra Costa Times presses or SJ Mercury in Concord, Walnut Creek and San Jose?
I had the pleasure of never working on a big city newspaper press. They are not very clean. I have work on small town web newspaper presses. I also installed the first Chinese newspaper press installed in the country in SFs Chinatown. It was the worst machine I ever worked on. They learned a lot from the west by now. That was right after the Nixon trip to China. I have two friends that worked for the SF Newspaper Co. In the maintenance.department.
I “was” going to be a cop in the early 90’s. I graduated at the top of my academy, highly decorated with letters of recommendation from all the staff and instructors. I was told by every city I applied to, that if I was black, female, or literally ANYTHING other than a white male, they would hire me on the spot. Some went as far as coaching me to lie, but I’m not a Pocahontas if you know what I’m saying. Employers could say that to your face back in those days and not get sued. When the court FINALLY struck down this blatant racist idiocy called “Affirmative Action” which should be called “you don’t have to try, we have to hire from the bottom” I celebrated. Looking back, that was the best thing that could have happened to me. Most likely saved my life, and made me aware of what true racism really is. If you think about it, people got what they deserved. Instead of hiring the best, most qualified graduates, they had to hire people that literally could not read, write, spell, shoot, drive or think. Which, I’d say we’re seeing a lot of the results across the board of hiring the unqualified, even the man at the top of our country, who shouldn’t be doing anything more than washing his dentures and playing solitaire.
Growing up… the usual: Policeman, Fireman…Doctor…Lawyer. Eventually I made a ill informed decision to pursue Psychology around the age of 16, after taking a class for a semester. But by the time I graduated high school I tried to follow the sage advice to “Do what you love for a job, and you’ll never work a day in your life”. My hobby of building computers and helping friends and family with their computer problems, I instead pursued, IT Systems Engineer or Network Admin as my goal.
Literally 25 years later. Working in IT, but not as a Systems Admin. Instead I’m a Software Management Specilaist. Which is a fancy way of saying I manage our support systems software, and write scripts/code to make everything communicate and do what our IT staff need. Not far off… supporting the IT staff instead of everyone at a company. Much less static than on the user side. But I miss the simplicity of helping people as a ‘Technotherapist’.
Someday I’ll go back to that when I retire. There’s just something so fulfilling in helping people figure out how to work with their technology, instead of combating it.
I wanted to be a chef or Indiana Jones. I went to culinary school and did catering for years. Still waiting to take up the mantle of Indiana Jones….
A pirate, an astronaut, what ever my imagination gave me at the moment ” Thank god I did not cut a leg off and poke out one eye” I wanted to be a superhero…. I guess I may have done that…..jobs great….wouldn’t change anything.
Wanted to live like the “Idle Rich”
Finally made it and life is good. 😉
A cult leader…..good work if you can find it.
start a religion…what could possibly go wrong.
An officer in the US Army Airborne-Ranger (scroll) and a police officer.
By the time I got my degree I was married and became a Deputy Sheriff and later a police sergeant.
I wanted to be a waffle iron repairman but it was a little too technical for me so I became a Doctor.
Tell us about the pharma creeps …ya know … those beautiful women who bring in fresh pasteries and gourmet coffee … along with bags of silver & gold … and samples … dirty, dirty, dirty industry.
@ JoJo….. Like Penny?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s_-z9qTw80
I had different dreams growing up. I did not want to stay where I grew up, unless I could marry a rich farmer so I would have maids. If you married a regular farmer, you worked in the field, had to milk the cows, (they could get mean and kick you) so that was my first ambition. I knew I wanted to travel and see the world. As I got older I moved to Copenhagen and got a job at an insurance office. I was so bored sitting in front of a typewriter all day. So I decided to become a kindergarten teacher, (age 2 to 7 and in Denmark it actually pays a living wage). I got work in a kindergarten which was a requirement before you could even apply to the teachers college. Then because i didn’t have enough schooling I had to attend a boarding school, this is where, along with friends I decided to go to Israel and work on a kibbutz. The next summer we (2 girl friends from Israel) went to Iceland for the summer. I got back to Denmark (after hitchhiking and staying in Youth Hostels through Northern Europe) in September, I knew I wouln’t get into the teachers college for at least a year, since admission is only once a year. I wanted to improve my English, and see more of the world so I applied for a job as an au pair and got the job. Thus arriving in US in early 1967. The rest is history, after being an au pair for 2 years, I moved to New York and got an office job!! That was the price I paid for leaving Denmark. Later on I worked for American Express Travel Agency in NYC. When I got married and moved to SF I started to take early childhood education, however then I had my daughter and decided I didn’t really like othe people’s kids. I worked as a staffing coordinated for a home care agency in Palo Alto for 5 years and liked it very much, that let me to get my insurance license and sell long term care insurance which I liked as well. Unfortunately when they economy collapsed in 08 so did my busines (it was commission only) so now I’m kind of stuck at Macy’s, which is okay. I love my customers and co workers, I have other income so I don’t have to live on a retail salary. I sell a little insurance now and then and might want to get more serious about it. Standing all day is sometimes hard since I have a bad back.
P.S. Perhaps you can gather from my posts here on Claycord, I dreamt of becoming a writer. I alway read a lot, and I did really well at creative writing, but of course that is not enough to make it as a successful writer. I do keep journals and my emails to friends and family are longer than mosts.
Remember to get a good proofreader.
In the fifth grade I decided to become an aerospace engineer and work for NASA, which I did. The semester before I got my engineering degree I decided that I would like to teach at a university after I got some experience as an engineer, which I’m doing now. I had other thoughts while in college, including professional race car driver, astronaut and airline pilot, but I have “the engineer’s brain.”
I wanted to be happy and explore life and all its wonders now I just want it all to end.
Isn’t there more wonders for you to explore? Even as we get older and can;t perhaps do what we used to, we can still find things to explore. Living in this area there are so many places that can be visited on a day trip or a few overnight stays. Sonoma, Napa the Sonoma coast line. The Gold Country have many little gems, can be done in one day or a overnight stay over.
Hey Jim,
I want to be like you.
If I’m a member of the club, can I get the saline instead of the clot shot?
I just enjoyed being a kid. Have been working and earning a paycheck since the age of 14.5 when I started at The Pizzamaker off Denkinger when it was a dead end road. Since then I have been a piano restoration technician, office clerk, hazardous waste remediation technician, truck driver, and equipment operator. Now am getting ready to wrap up working life after 18 years at a desk job. On the job training has served me well. It’s been a fun ride…except the time I flipped a water truck. That pretty much sucked.
I was a Truck nut as a kid! Had a backyard full of toy trucks. Always wanted to be a truck mechanic or even a truck driver. Over 20 years of truck and heavy equipment mechanic work before 20 more years of Fleet Management positions in two big companies. Still enjoyed driving and wrenching on all kinds of vehicles. Retired now; but still love those Big Rigs!
I was born a girl.
But always wanted to be a boy. Good thing my parents named me Pat.