There are so many jobs that need to be done in this world and some of them aren’t well advertised and just aren’t for the average Joe. Some of them take college degrees and some of them do not. Some of them take years to achieve a certain amount of excellence whilst some of them just take a lot of intestinal fortitude and nothing more. Now, had I thought about it earlier in life I might have signed up for a position like this guy in the picture. I like heights, I can change a light bulb and the money ain’t half bad.
The bottom falls out of my stomach just looking at such pics. Regarding your question: I would like to work in a professional kitchen and an honest-to-goodness pizzeria. I know there are so many techniques I could learn. I want someone to show me how to toss dough. I want to learn how to tell if meats & fish are done (and the degree of doneness) by touch. I did volunteer work alongside contractors and picked up so much in that field, I'd like to do more of it...I'm really good at skim-coating drywall now. I've always done stuff around the house and done various projects but could always enhance the basic skill-set. I helped build ramps and bump out porches & decks, but never got to learn how to design & layout (I should have asked.) I used to work on small engines (lawn mowers, chain saws, etc.) I'd like to do that again under somebody's tutelage, and learn small diesel engines (tractors) at the same time. Learning outboard motors would be a plus. I would like to work in a custom sewing environment so I could learn the basics on how to repair my own clothes and make the easy (but expensive) stuff like window treatments.
I owned the first pizza joint in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Only opened from 3:00 PM to 0300 AM, and made great money and sold the place and recipes for a ton to a guy who opened 3 more throughout New Orleans. So far as throwing dough, I learned to toss pizza dough by using a square, lightly dampened towel. (no waste). Hint: Start off like you’re trying to spin a basketball.
There are high tension power lines visible from my back yard and periodically they are inspected with a helicopter and occasionally with a workman hanging from a cable.
I saw a video of a guy who was monkey strapped to an extended platform from what looked like a UH1-D helicopter. He was replacing the big colored warning balls on a high tension wire system. Adrenaline rush supreme!! One that I might stand away from though is a bridge painter. It’s not the heights that would bother me but I absolutely hate painting.
Why not? Once you get the hang of controlling the towel, you can practice whilst sitting down and watching a movie. When you get real good you’ll be able to spin and toss with one hand and eat a slice with the other.
I'll have to try this. I can never get the hang of making a perfect circle (also applies to pie crusts and Italian bread dough) and I just bought a 10 pak of cotton diapers to use as cheap kitchen linens (100% cotton for $1.50 each.) I can sacrifice one to The Cause.
One job I thought I might like to do when I was younger was to be a lumberjack. A pancake eatin’, axe wielding, checkered shirt wearing likeness of Paul Bunyan. Yeah, I know it doesn’t really fit the topic of “little known jobs” but then again, there are only certain areas in the U.S. where lumberjacks are a big thing. Don’t get me wrong now, I have felled quite a few trees and split quite a few logs in my time so I’m no stranger to a chainsaw or an axe. I’ve worn pole climbers and tree climbers and as I wrote before, I like heights but when one thinks about it, the stats are that lumberjacks have the most dangerous jobs in the world. As of now, 91 out of 100,000 meet their demise whilst on the job and the number of permanently injured lumberjacks is astronomical compared to any other job except maybe for slaughterhouse workers. Even though those guys (and gals nowadays) know what they’re doing, there’s probably a tree looming out there who wants some payback and this very week will probably claim that life in a most deadly way.
I did that for a few months. En route to California from Michigan, my friend's jeep broke down and we had to wait for a part. While we were waiting, we found a job with a bridge crew in Iowa. After a couple of weeks, I learned that we could take pretty much any job on the crew that we thought we could do, and which didn't require a license, so we made a point of reporting early and getting in the harness to paint the bridge. It was a safe job and it couldn't be easier. It involved sitting in a harness, painting a section, then lowering yourself down or moving to the left or right on cables, whichever was necessary. We ended up working on three bridges in Iowa before moving on to California.
Would one of them have been the bridge from Davenport to Rock Island? Kind of one of those monster bridges if I recall.
I don't think so. I know the first one we did was a bridge over the Iowa River, near Homestead. After that, we traveled with the construction company to a couple of others. One of them was close enough that we remained in the house we had rented in Homestead, but the other was further away. From there, they were going off somewhere we didn't want to go and, since the jeep has long been fixed, we continued on to California.
I don't think I would want to work as a lumberjack. I once worked with a crew of them and I don't want to work that hard...especially now.