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Cultivate Simple 51: Get a Job

October 28th, 2013

In this episode we discuss jobs, the jobs we had as kids, the jobs we did in college, the jobs we have done in our adult lives.

One of our favorite recipes is Ginger Beef Stir Fry, you can use any vegetables you have on hand and make it seasonal.
Curling 14

10 Comments to “Cultivate Simple 51: Get a Job”
  1. DebbieB on October 28, 2013 at 12:11 pm

    My first paid job (besides babysitting for my mom’s friends as a young teen) was as a fletcher. My dad owned Bowhunter’s Haven, a supply shop for bowhunters. I went there nearly every afternoon in high school and made the arrows. The shafts were anodized aluminum, and the “feathers” were plastic. I had a large round turntable with 3 dozen clamp devices screwed to the top around the edge. I placed an arrow shaft in the clamp device, then applied glue to the edge of the plastic ‘feather’ and clamped it to the shaft, then rotated the table to put the next device in front of me. When I got round to the first one I’d done, it was dry enough to rotate it in its clamp to accept the next ‘feather’. Each shaft got 3 feathers, equally placed around the shaft. When they were completely dry, I glued the ‘nock’ into the end. I made 3 dozen arrows every afternoon, and I was paid a glorious $6 per dozen plus an hourly minimum wage (a whopping $2.30). I loved that job. I also worked in a movie theater in the evenings, selling tickets and popcorn. After I got married and started having babies, I stayed home until they were ready for kindergarten, then went to work in a fulltime daycare center in the infant room. 25 years of rocking babies and changing diapers, then I retired from that to stay home and take care of our house and cats. I weave and spin, filling the time that’s not taken up with cleaning and cooking. It’s a good life!

    Reply to DebbieB's comment

    • PennyAshevilleNC on October 29, 2013 at 8:27 am

      What an interesting job as a fletcher– reading about that made me feel like I was watching How It’s Made :)

      Reply to PennyAshevilleNC's comment

      • DebbieB on November 1, 2013 at 8:19 pm

        Whoops, I did get carried away a little with the details, didn’t I? :)

        to DebbieB's comment

      • Susy on November 1, 2013 at 8:27 pm

        We like details!

        to Susy's comment

  2. Jennifer Fisk on October 28, 2013 at 3:12 pm

    My first paid job came after I failed to successfully complete my Freshman year at college. Dad wanted to teach me a lesson so I went to work for him at a plant that made replacement distributor caps and rotors. You haven’t lived until you’ve spent days attaching the brass contact to thousands of rotors. After that summer, I got much better grades in college.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  3. Misti on October 28, 2013 at 5:52 pm

    I would never have imagined Susy working at VS! I haven’t shopped there in a long time, but I used to go several times a year.

    My first job was when I was 12. I worked T & Th during the summer at a church’s mother’s day out program. Two other girls and I rotated throughout the classrooms from babies on up, to give the teachers a break for 30 minutes. On our break we’d walk up to the drug store to get candy and sodas. Aside from other babysitting gigs, which I didn’t do too much of, I then did some more summer work I think the summer of 14/15 doing data entry for a couple who had a business in their home. After that I went full force with good ‘ol retail in the form of Subway and Hallmark. Certain songs from the 90s trigger my Subway memories very vividly and I still straighten card racks if I see them messy.

    It was fun to hear a different version of yourselves.

    Reply to Misti's comment

  4. Wendy on October 28, 2013 at 11:25 pm

    This was a fun episode–it was intriguing to see how many of your jobs/interests when you were younger foreshadowed what you’re doing today! I never really had any unique jobs in high school and college–mainly office work, preschool teaching assistant, and being a reader for different teachers and professors. I also did a stint as a janitor when I was a freshman in college (it taught me to really appreciate a clean public restroom). Then it was on to full-time elementary school teaching, and now mostly full-time mom–but there are still many things I want to try!

    Reply to Wendy's comment

  5. PennyAshevilleNC on October 29, 2013 at 8:29 am

    Catering and food service/bartending taught me so much about how to be clean and efficient in the kitchen… and how to stand up for a long time (haha). My second job in college at a frame shop was one that though short lived, taught me skills about framing and caring for artwork that this artist has used many times!! VS, reallly??? :)

    Reply to PennyAshevilleNC's comment

  6. Olivia on November 1, 2013 at 5:34 am

    Wow, both of you have had such a variety of jobs – in contrast, i have had two main jobs. I worked as a pool lifeguard during high school and uni, then after uni i have been a science technician, and been researching milk for the past couple of years. Probably not normal jobs though – I enjoy doing experiments and not being in a office all day.

    I have been thinking back to the year in review podcast. I’m curious if you would have to winter stock in a barn over winter with snow being on the ground all winter. I’m in NZ where cows and sheep are outdoors year round (and just get a little hay or silage as supplementary feed). I vote for sheep – I am biased though – the smell of calf/lamb milk powder brings back great memories of bottle feeding the orphan lambs.

    Reply to Olivia's comment

  7. angie h on November 23, 2013 at 11:23 pm

    I babysat from time to time for family (especially babysitting my sisters). My first job I was 12 and I would wash dishes at a local bar where my mom waited tables. I would do it here and there on the weekends. And when I was 14 I bussed tables at a mexican restaurant called Pancho’s on a very part time basis. At 15, I hostessed and cashiered there until I was 18 and started waiting tables. In college I was a teaching assistant. I interned doing geotechnical engineering/construction QA work and worked there after my BS. Now I am a lady of leisure and a part time instructor for intro geology labs at a regional college campus…possibly doing a lecture soon.

    I wish I would have done a variety of things. Since I was 14 I’ve worked, and I’ve only worked at 6 places. I especially regret not trying a lot of different internships.

    In contrast to me, my Brian had a ton of different jobs when he was young-busyboy, paper boy, sandblasting monuments, concrete, machine shop, factory, landscaping, mold remediation, duct cleaning, construction…

    Reply to angie h's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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