[Bobling]

Right, well, *shuffle*, erm..so...*cough*.

This is a bit of a shot in the dark but thought I would give it a go - I am sure the combined knowledge of UKB is bound to turn up something interesting. 

Having settled back into life in the UK after a few years seeing the world I am bored.  The job which I am doing now, and which I did before I left to go away, leaves me cold (University Admin). The thought of spending 48 weeks a year for the next 30 years sitting at a desk, buried in spreadsheets, student databases and academic intrigue and politics makes me want to pack my bag and shoot off back round the world  .  Unfortunately family circumstances dictate otherwise.

So I have been doing some reevaluation of what I want to do and  have started to investigate some options.  Something I want to find out more about is Forestry as this ticks all my boxes (had we stayed in New Zealand I would have made a bee-line for their Park Ranger School as soon as possible but that's another story).  However retraining at this stage in my life is going to require money, time and effort and I want to try and make sure I am making an informed decision before I dive in.

In short are there any Foresters or people who work with Foresters out there on UKB who could pm me their contact details so I can pick your brains? (or do it on the thread if you fancy and we can share the love)?

OR (and I suspect this will be more productive) is there anyone else out there on UKB who has chucked in an office job because they just couldn't stand being desk bound any more (I have a hazy memory of you saying somewhere you did this Bubba)?  If so what did you chuck it in for?  Are you enjoying it?

OR is there anyone who hasn't chucked their office job in 'cos they never had one in the first place, but works outdoors, enjoys it and wants to give us a quick precis of what you do? 

I'm all ears (or eyes) and appreciate any help I can get to help me get on with this next phase of my life   

I guess this is the right place for this topic - I can't see anywhere more appropriate but no doubt it will get moved if there is somewhere.

[clm]

obi wan knows a tree surgeon. Forestry was something i considered when a sixth former. Works out that guys with chainsaws earn fuck all and everyone else works at...a desk. Be a part time baker like jim.

[Baron]

Hijack:

Hemmed in by moaning normaltons. The Man constantly trying to fuck you hard in the arse. Never tells you this in the job description. How do you get some payback and stick it to the fuckers? Share the knowledge...

[Jim]

Yes, chainsaw weilding is a not very well paid job and is hard work as well. Not that I've tried but what I've been told.
My job suck balls as well and I can't bare to think about the next 30years making bread but as jobs go its not badly paid, mind numbing at times, plenty of time off is the real benafit but have to work 12 hour shifts.
Lets face it, unless your really lucky and actually enjoy working for the man, or have won the lottery or born with silver spoon etc... then work is going to suck arse and just generally get in the way of having a good time/spending time with your family.
saying that I do have a laugh at work some times
Here's to (at least) 30 more years of crap 

[GCW]

Does anyone on here really enjoy their job?
Or is it just a way to make cash to pay for fuel to go bouldering?

[nik at work]

I quite enjoy parts of my work, and as time goes on I am getting to do those parts more and more. Mind you I'll not be doing it for the next 30 years.

[Bobling]

Does anyone on here really enjoy their job?
Or is it just a way to make cash to pay for fuel to go bouldering?

My sister-in-law became a bar-tender in a swanky cocktail bar a few years ago after years of retail.  She lives for work now!  Its f**king annoying.

Seriously if numb resignation to wasting the best years of my life in a boring 9-5 is what it comes down to I am outta here.  There must be another way!

[Jim]

yes, the dole

[northerngreg]

OR (and I suspect this will be more productive) is there anyone else out there on UKB who has chucked in an office job because they just couldn't stand being desk bound any more (I have a hazy memory of you saying somewhere you did this Bubba)?  If so what did you chuck it in for?  Are you enjoying it?

I spent 4 years getting a Masters in Mechanical Engineering only to discover that I absolutely hated my engineering job. For all my life previously, I had been well handy at dismantling things and learning about how everything worked. Of all my mates at uni, I was the one who was a born engineer. However, the career as a graduate engineer was nothing as I expected - it was all about sitting at a computer, drawing CAD designs and writing reports. It was complete bullshit. And then one day:

Argument with manager + mug of tea thrown through stud wall + quitting on the spot = better life

I then went to lodge with a mate for a few days down south. I never moved back. Since then, I've set up a bike workshop which has gone from strength to strength. I am now my own boss, work whatever hours I want, climb when I want and thoroughly enjoy my job. I've learnt that quality of life comes first. I swear I will never work for anyone again. The freedom of self employment is amazing as long as you have the self discipline not to abuse it!

[GCW]

The freedom of self employment is amazing as long as you have the self discipline not to abuse it!

Yeah, some people just go out climbing every day.  It even gets to the stage of telling the wife that you're working when you're actually sneaking off bouldering. 

[clm]

i like my job. Jobs are hard and tiring and usually a bit shit. Thats why they give you money for doing them.

[Bobling]

Argument with manager + mug of tea thrown through stud wall + quitting on the spot = better life

And the crowd goes wild!  More of this please

I *think* I could scrape by buying and selling on Warhammer miniatures on flea-bay.  It is certainly more fun than working for someone else - and I'd be my own boss which would be excellent...I'd have to spend hours and hours at boot sales though...

[clm]

Argument with manager + mug of tea thrown through stud wall + quitting on the spot = better life

And the crowd goes wild!  More of this please

I *think* I could scrape by buying and selling on Warhammer miniatures on flea-bay.  It is certainly more fun than working for someone else - and I'd be my own boss which would be excellent...I'd have to spend hours and hours at boot sales though...

Are you fiend?

[Zods Beard]

I started a forestry course in my teens and soon quit after I realised how hard it was and how much you earn (fuck all). Working in the forest was v.hard, long days and felling tree's was back breaking. Add in the safety kit which made you sweat like a dog, I was in a t-shirt and safety pants in -4 temps, and it would be the living end in summer. I think I was felling 9-10 trees a day was told you'd be expected to clear 4 or 5 times that, and you get paid by the tree. Not that it would be all about logging.

Tried a bit of tree surgery, but found that being 90 foot up on the top a slimy, green tree with a chainsaw didn't agree with me. Plus there's muchos certificate's to get, so it was pretty pricey.

Competition for jobs with the Forestry agency was very high too, and paid fuck all. I'm so glad I now have a desk job.

[andy popp]

Does anyone on here really enjoy their job?
Or is it just a way to make cash to pay for fuel to go bouldering?

Yes, I enjoy my job.

[GraemeA]

Mine's not too bad either. Although I do have to work with a complete cunt (see Balls to Fiend thread) 

[Bobling]

Not that it would be all about logging.

Exactly - have a look at the job specs on the Forestry Commission's website (for example http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7YBKMN) and chainsaws hardly come into it....I'm not pretending that timber and timber production isn't an important part of forestry but there's a lot of other stuff going on too - how much of the National Parks are used for timber production? They all need rangers.

Of course when I escape back to Tassie then we start talking about logging, but that's a way away yet.

[Falling Down]

i like my job. Jobs are hard and tiring and usually a bit shit. Thats why they give you money for doing them.

Quite...

Mine's pretty high pressured but most of the time the buck starts and stops with me so it's largely down to my own making whether I'm having a bad time or not. 

[Joepicalli]

Does anyone on here really enjoy their job?
Or is it just a way to make cash to pay for fuel to go bouldering?

Yeah I do. I abseil down old buildings and save them with my bare hands. If I won the lottery tomorrow I'd finish the job I was on for free; then go climbing, for a while... ... ... Then come back and do exactly what I do now, maby see if I could could be useful in Petra or on the rock churches of Ethiopia but deffo keep on working.

[Bobling]

Does anyone on here really enjoy their job?
Or is it just a way to make cash to pay for fuel to go bouldering?

Yeah I do. I abseil down old buildings and save them with my bare hands. If I won the lottery tomorrow I'd finish the job I was on for free; then go climbing, for a while... ... ... Then come back and do exactly what I do now, maby see if I could could be useful in Petra or on the rock churches of Ethiopia but deffo keep on working.

Fantastic - it is possible! 

[erm, sam]

I also like my job. It took me a while to settle in this career, didn't get a proper job till 28 or something, but since then I've been working for the man (and woman) and been pretty happy.

[AndyR]

Does anyone on here really enjoy their job?
Or is it just a way to make cash to pay for fuel to go bouldering?

Yes, I enjoy my job.

Ditto.

[GraemeA]

Joe is being economical with the truth. If he won the lottery tomorrow (bizarre in itself as there is no draw tomorrow) Joe would go climbing, drink the finest wines available to humanity, shag the finest whores around and take more drugs than is possible (this lot might take a while). Only then would he contemplate going back to work for free, but whilst contemplating he would commission some truly twisted pr0n that involved the re-animated corpse of Audrey Hepburn, Gregorian chants and small large breasted Provençal boulderers (and himself of course). And then he would go back to work but would have a very long lunch break every day.

(And yes I am a bit  )

[Joepicalli]

Only then would he contemplate going back to work for free, but whilst contemplating he would commission some truly twisted pr0n that involved the re-animated corpse of Audrey Hepburn, Gregorian chants and small large breasted Provençal boulderers (and himself of course). And then he would go back to work but would have a very long lunch break every day.

(And yes I am a bit  )

You've obviously been drinking you forgot to include the GF in the melee of bodies and early medieval music.
Check y'mails, sober and lets get what we can before the vat gets raised. And she's small and small breasted which is part of her infinite charm.

[GraemeA]

Hey Joe, I didn't want to mention V the GF in the background in the dominatrix get up, but if you insist  And Gregorian chants are definitely mentioned.

And my apologies to the Minx for suggesting she was anything other than perfectly proportioned.

Check your mails and pay me some cash. BBR don't anser calls from drunken northerners at midnight so I can't arrange delivery until tomorrow. Hic.

It's dark therefore I have been drinking. LED (or something like that). Hic again. Ps the Jadot Savigny Les Beaune 2005 tastes better now than 6 months back, only problem is I don't know if I have much left