OK, Kids. Come out of the closet. What do you guys do?

[Danieljt]

My husband dan took over the family farm at 19 after his father died of a heart attack at 47.i worked at a local hospital in the er as a unit clerk. I retired in April after 25 years. Two months later dan and I were both diagnosed with cancer. We have three wonderful sons who took over the farming. Dan will try to farm one more year and then turn it over to the boys. Our family has farmed since the 1800s. We both are looking for more years to musky fish up north.

[Sleen]

I'm a homeschooling mom.
I used to write database programs for a variety of companies both as an employee, and later as an independent consultant. These days I maintain only one application, on a volunteer basis. I have a BS in mechanical engineering, but programming has always been my passion. Chemo fried some brain cells, I'm sad to say.

My hobby is rubber stamping, and I've been on the design team of a couple of stamp companies pre-dx. Graphic arts is another passion of mine, and rubber stamps fit in nicely with that.

I like to write, too. Someday I'll blog my cancer story.

Celine

[O Stoma Mia]

BUMP 2017
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ӧʂɱ
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My buddy OSM just reminded me of this thread. I clicked on the link OSM gave me and re-found this thread, which I had totally forgotten about (even that I started it!) and it was so fun to read through it. Since we have SO MANY new members I thought I'd bump it up and see if anyone wants to add to it...

[Basil]

I'm a trial lawyer in Houston. My job description includes a lot of sitting on my butt doing research, taking depositions and sitting on wooden benches in courtrooms. That used to not bug me so much but now extended time on my rear end is encouraging cancer to come back.

[NHMike]

I'm a software engineer for a big computer company. I'm able to work in the office or from home and I've been working from home mostly during radiation and chemo. I go into the office a few times a week early in the morning when there aren't a lot of people around to avoid catching anything. My home technical setup is the same as the office setup (actually it's slightly better) so I can be productive in both places. I work with a lot of people in other parts of the country and world and very few people are in the office every day of the week (I used to be one of them).

I like playing tennis, running, weightlifting, stretching and Yoga. What annoys me a lot is that I might not be able to do the first two after getting through all of this.

[Aqx99]

I am a senior operator at a water treatment plant. I'm in charge of a shift of operators. We pump water from a nearby river and process it into drinking water. We run lab tests every two hours and bacteriology tests once a day (though I have avoided the bacteriology lab since I started treatment), making changes to chemical dosages as we find necessary. Most of the 12 hour shift is spent monitoring the plant and distribution system via computer and visual inspection.

[Shana]

I have managed a small hotel in the wine country north of San Francisco for the past 13 years. I had to take a medical leave in January after chemo put me in the hospital for over a month. I'd love to work again but the contact with the public/tourists puts me at risk when chemo compromises my immune system... maybe one day if I can get to "NED Land" I can go back to work... if not then I'll go to Hawaii!

[Volfan]

CNC lathe machinist
Absolutely love training the young guys the trade that are just starting out. These guys have helped so much with me going back to work making sure I don't overdo it.

[tarheelmom]

I run a high tech company that specializes in optics for semiconductors. It's intellectually very challenging but thankfully not physically difficult. I have found travel a little scary since reversal and I have yet to venture outside of North America. I have a trip to China coming up and I'm starting to get anxious about bathroom availability. I may cancel it if I get too stressed about it.

[benben]

I have my own small business that I created 14 years ago.
I design and manufacture (via local partnerships with fabrication facilities) custom computer enclosures, accessories, and networking housings.
I also package/ship, code / web design - back end automation programs, customer support etc..
Currently running just by myself and help from my 17 year old son. He's a good guy. Had 5 employees during it's peak.

Aside from that I also have crypto currency mining farms I operate as well as trade in crypto currencies.

And lastly landlord/owner to several rental properties.

[BIG ROB 69]

Sheet Metal Journeyman/Draftsman in Local 28 NY. Also, powerlifter/ martial artist most of my adult life, past 8 years dedicated to brazilian jiu jitsu. These have been on hold for the past 2 years. Now on disability/retired. Butt to Benben, I am interested in the cryptocurrency. Can you point me in the right direction?

[JudeD59]

I've done lots of things over the years. I started out doing complete inventories of mini-markets back when each item had to be counted by hand. After doing that for a while, I could look at a group of thirty or so items and just know how many there were. It was strange. And I used to count items in my dreams at night. Then I sold vacuum cleaners (hated that). I worked for a real estate company. And I waitressed at a nice restaurant where I had to wear very high heels with my uniform (ouch, ouch ouch).

After I started having babies and leaving the house was more difficult, I created my own tiny company where my hand-painted decorative items were sold at fairs and in shops. But I had been writing stories since first grade and knew that was my true passion. So in between painting and raising four rambunctious daughters, I scribbled down ideas that eventually turned into a bedtime story for the girls. I turned the bedtime story into a full length novel and I've been writing novels ever since. I have four published books and I'm working on two more at the moment. None of them are bestsellers or anything you would have heard of, but they got good reviews and are used in some classrooms. And the best part is the adorable fan letters I get from kids, especially after I visit their school.

I also spend a fair bit of my time managing some investment properties.

As for hobbies, I love to cook and develop new recipes, I love the outdoors especially boating, I'm good at throwing large parties and doing all the cooking and baking, I like playing video and computer games (esp Sims 4), and I can happily spend time watching classic movies or reading a good book. For an old broad, I'm good with technology. Instead of making jokes about how their mom can't work her phone, my girls call me when they have a tech question or problem. I have no idea why I understand it since I never studied computer science; it's just the way my brain works. I like food shopping where I can pick out my own meat, produce, herbs, etc. but I absolutely detest any other shopping. I would rather go to the dentist than take a trip to the mall. Online shopping was created specifically for me.

This is a great thread! Thanks for starting it, Bev!

Judy

[NZJay]

Unsure if I've posted in here before, but I'm a manager for a team of design engineers. Essentially a professional bully.

[AussieAssCancer]

I am a senior prosecutor for the State of New South Wales. I prosecute crimes such as Robbery, Sexual assaults, Murder, and driving offences involving fatalities.

In addition I prosecute any offence committed against children under 16yo.

The closest equivalent to the USA I imagine would be an Assistant DA, although we're not elected, and are completely independent from police/government etc.

Pretty much I'm a nerd

[susie0915]

I stay at home now. I worked in advertising for years until I became pregnant with my second child. I stayed home had some part time jobs along the way. I was working part time at an upscale department store when I was diagnosed. I worked through my chemoradiation until the last couple weeks. Then I went back to work until surgery. I haven't gone back to work since my surgery in September, 2016. I had complications after surgery (bowel blockage) and then chose not to work during chemotherapy. I had to be on my feet a lot and the unpredictability of my bowel issues didn't make it plausible. Now I've decided not to go back to work even though things are much better. I enjoy jogging, playing golf, and being with my family. Cancer kind of took my golf swing but I'm working on getting it back. Haven't missed a round or had to leave the course yet this summer. Last summer I left the course or didn't go quite often. Getting ready to go play now.