What did you do before you were in aviation?

BuckNiner · Post by **BuckNiner** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:39 pm

-Planted trees on the westcoast for 9 seasons (got to see some awesome parts of the world in the off-season and paid for my all my flight training).

-Worked as a Divemaster in the Caribbean

-Bucked logs at a sawmill

-Worked the rigs in northern AB

Now that I'm in aviation I always remind myself that I could be on some slash covered cutblock on the coast scrambling up a 60 degree slope with 70 pounds of trees hanging off my hips in the pouring rain....in February no less! Makes aviation seem like a cakewalk!

dun my time · Post by **dun my time** » Wed May 02, 2007 7:38 pm

Gee, Reading some of these posts ofhardship and on and on made me realize that my choise sp of being the QA in the local whore house paid a lot more than joininging the local scramble to be the best yard ape in canada. My look at things

dr

West Coast Swell · Post by **West Coast Swell** » Wed May 02, 2007 8:50 pm

I was a roofer.

Dust Devil · Post by **Dust Devil** » Wed May 02, 2007 9:52 pm

BuckNiner wrote:-Planted trees on the westcoast for 9 seasons (got to see some awesome parts of the world in the off-season and paid for my all my flight training).

-Worked as a Divemaster in the Caribbean

-Bucked logs at a sawmill

-Worked the rigs in northern AB

Now that I'm in aviation I always remind myself that I could be on some slash covered cutblock on the coast scrambling up a 60 degree slope with 70 pounds of trees hanging off my hips in the pouring rain....in February no less! Makes aviation seem like a cakewalk!

Or shoveling sand out of the rig tank after a botched frac job. Or spinning 300 rods on a 35 degree day. Stripping jobs sucked ass too.

Aviation kicks ass.

water wings · Post by **water wings** » Thu May 03, 2007 10:01 am

ah what the Hell - here's what i did.
Not counting the Flight attendant gig (cus that IS avaition)
i was a Stable manager for show horses, a guitar playing story teller on a steam train, a museum guide, a photographer, in a rock band, a celtic folk star (oxy moron, i know) and a sammich & salad "artist"!!
The money maker was the Celtic thing during Christmas time. People are suckers for dreamy harp.

niko · Post by **niko** » Sun May 06, 2007 3:16 pm

CLguy wrote:Worked in a paper mill! Took me years in Aviation to make back the wage I gave up as an 18 year old.

OK where's the wine bottle, I'm getting depressed!!

The problem is you are a f**king OPS employee.

Bubbaganoosh · Post by **Bubbaganoosh** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:28 pm

Dust Devil wrote:
BuckNiner wrote:-Planted trees on the westcoast for 9 seasons (got to see some awesome parts of the world in the off-season and paid for my all my flight training).

-Worked as a Divemaster in the Caribbean

-Bucked logs at a sawmill

-Worked the rigs in northern AB

Or shoveling sand out of the rig tank after a botched frac job. Or spinning 300 rods on a 35 degree day. Stripping jobs sucked ass too.

Aviation kicks ass.

does that rig work suck as bad as it looks on the oln show "the rig"? I cant imagine any sane person doing that shit for a living.

BuckNiner · Post by **BuckNiner** » Tue May 08, 2007 5:32 am

I never thought the work was that bad. Two weeks in one week out was nice. The only time it sucked was if you had a driller that liked to scream and yell. If you had a good crew it could be a lot of fun. It was nice to make the move up to Roughneck from Leasehand though. That way YOU were the one bombing the leasehand with the rotten 2 litres of milk instead of getting bombed yourself hey DustDevil?

sameasyou · Post by **sameasyou** » Tue May 08, 2007 4:20 pm

Chartered Accountant...took me almost 15 yrs to make the same amount of money as I did in 1982....having said that, it's been a fun ride and absolutely no regrets

flap10 · Post by **flap10** » Tue May 08, 2007 5:33 pm

Navy for 5 yrs. Industrial electrician for 8 yrs. Flying twin otters is by far the most fun..

Bubbaganoosh · Post by **Bubbaganoosh** » Tue May 08, 2007 5:54 pm

BuckNiner wrote:I never thought the work was that bad. Two weeks in one week out was nice. The only time it sucked was if you had a driller that liked to scream and yell. If you had a good crew it could be a lot of fun. It was nice to make the move up to Roughneck from Leasehand though. That way YOU were the one bombing the leasehand with the rotten 2 litres of milk instead of getting bombed yourself hey DustDevil?

I get the impression that most of the rig pigs are crack heads (figuratively speaking) and that there is lots of peer pressure on your off time to stay stoned with the stoners and piss away your cheque as fast as you can. I guess it comes down to choices in the end, but I can see where a lot of guys in that biz end up down the crapper at about 30 something.