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Your Daily Question - 9th April
Tikay10
Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 161,196
After a slow start yesterday this actually worked quite well, so we'll continue for a bit. I know many of you are going crazy stuck indoors with no prospect of release for at least a few more weeks, so maybe this helps a tinsy winsy bit.
Yesterday's question got almost as many Views as the Results Thread, but took me 3 hours less to do.
Anyway, on to today's question....
Yesterday's question got almost as many Views as the Results Thread, but took me 3 hours less to do.
Anyway, on to today's question....
Comments
What line of work are or were you in?
How did you come to be in that line of work?
Do/did you enjoy it, if so, why?
NB - please remember this is the internet, so don't be putting stuff up that you don't want in the domain.
I work for Sky Poker. Not entirely sure what my official job title is anymore but lets say I do a bit of everything.
How did you come to be in that line of work?
I was working for a building society when a job came up for Sky Bet. I applied and was one of 20 people who went to an assessment day. There were 4 jobs on offer and I mentioned that I had a poker background (I played at university).
There weren't many people who were into poker and I managed to snag a job in the poker team. Incidentallly that day I was interviewed by my now wife. I like to think that isn't why I got the job, but I will take it.
Do/did you enjoy it, if so, why?
Yes I really enjoy my job. Working for SBG is fantastic and I feel very lucky to do a job that I enjoy. It's not all plain sailing, there are a lot of challenges that Sky Poker faces and I do have to work with James.
About 18 months ago now I was faced with possible redundancy, but fingers crossed the threat of that seems to have gone away and I suppose that is indirectly good news for the people who will read this.
Lastly the highlight of my job is working with Tikay.
As a lot of you will probs be aware I currently work for the green side in retail.
Started out as a Saturday cashier at Coral whilst at Uni and enjoyed it that much got a manager's job there pretty quick.
Ended up moving into food retail, KwikSave, as the money was a lot better.
Really enjoyed my time at Coral, 13 years, and have found food retail has changed massively since joining.
I do enjoy the diversity of the role and the fact no two days are ever the same, plus time goes soooooo fast.
Best part of job though has to be the banter with colleagues and customers alike, never go a day without laughing.
I followed my dad, I did a 5 year apprenticeship in shopfitting that's shopfitting not shoplifting, I left that cuz of working away and doing 14 hour days and went working with my dad on all kind of projects but mostly house bashing and that's what I do now
Do I like it..well, I did but not so much now I'm 52 now I've never had any job security, not in Stoke anyway it's different down south, and now my body is starting to give up with aches and pains so I never relish going work anymore it's just a necessity for money
Incidentally since we've been in lock down most of my pain has disappeared just goes to show what rest can do for the body
Great threads these Tikay
Then I realised we were better cooks than them so off to college myself, became a chef then 32 years in further education initially teaching 16-19 yr olds to become chefs.
challenging but great fun and the kids were on the whole wanting to learn and become adults!
Eventual promotions to Vice Principal of a college meant I became responsible for a £32m curriculum budget and ended up making over 55 lecturers redundant in my last year.....didn’t like this Job anymore so took early retirement at 55 and set up a thriving food business...well it was thriving till March 2020....
A am a corporate lawyer (solicitor) working in a city practice. I specialise in property law, but chose to practice in the insolvency field (I qualified in 2011 ... right in the mix of the 2008 global financial crisis).
My line of work essentially involves advising banks/financial institutions/insolvency practitioners and realising distressed properties.
How did you come to be in that line of work?
Not even ashamed to admit, it was a combination of reading John Grisham novels and watching Ally McBeal on television. I actually started my earlier life as a singer/actress and initially enrolled in drama school in that there London. I did one or two tv shows, a movie, a commercial and made one album, but quickly realised that whilst I was good enough to tread the boards in the local amateur dramatics, I was never going to put food on the table as a pro.
So we left drama school, came home and went to law school instead. Maybe my Sky alias should have been Elle_Woods....
Do/did you enjoy it, if so, why?
There is no sugar coating it, my job involves a lot of stress and long hours. But so long as I have to work (and let's face it, none of us "want" to work) then I cannot imagine doing anything else.
Much like poker, my job involves a lot of problem solving and applying logic to scenarios. And every case is different. Variety is the spice of life shall we say!
Routemaster bus driver in London.
It was the time Thatcher was puttin the boot into everybody north of the Watford Gap and Tebbit told everybody to get on their bike, I was in my early twenties so ah jumped on an overnight bus to London to find fame and fortune.
I had enough money for a cheap wee hotel for about a week, The first thing I did was find a job centre, I found one in Victoria Street, I knew they were lookin for bus drivers and posties because they were advertisin in papers up the road so I applied fo both jobs. In the job centres in London at the time they had a board with casual jobs so ah filled ma bits started work in the city later that day, all you needed was a suit, overcoat and a map, loads a money.
Anyhow got both jobs and chose the bus driver, trainin was great fun, me, a former miner fae Derby and a Greek waiter, passed ma test in Streatham, got suited an booted, wee hat, badge and everythin, was told ma 2 routes ( no 9 /11 buses, basically tourist routes ) with instructions that the next day I was to sit up stairs in the front of the bus and note landmarks and the like, so ah did this a couple of times and that was my route trainin.
I loved drivin the buses, ah had mare **** ups than Stan Butler, ma first day ah got lost and ended up in Stamford Bridge car park just as the game ended and the fans were comin oot, they were tryin to smash the windaes, passengers all screamin, had to press ma emergency button to the polis, total nightmare, could go on but I'll leave there lol.
I am a Communications Engineer for an Electricity DNO. Our main line of work is providing comms ccts using Fibre, Microwave Radio, VHF etc. that are used for protection, monitoring and remote switching of the electricity network. We also carry out some work for 3rd party customers as well as building our own IP network for corporate use.
How did you come to be in that line of work?
After finishing school I joined the Army as an Electronics Technician, however life got in the way, my girlfriend became pregnant and did not want to be a military wife so I left after 5 years service. Unfortunately this meant I only had half the modules required for the civvy qualification (ONC). So I was driving lorries for a few years before deciding to go to college part time to study for a HNC in Electrical Engineering. I thought this would then allow me to breeze into a new job. It didn't. So, I joined my current company as an Adult apprentice resulting in us having to tighten our belts for a couple of years. It all worked out in the end though.
Do/did you enjoy it, if so, why?
Yeah, I love my job. Every day is different as we work on a wide variety of equipment. I particualry enjoy working on faults as this is where you learn the most. The blokes I work with are a good bunch too and if there is ever anything you are struggling with there is always somebody with more experience you can call for advice.
Carer for alcoholics
BMX rider
Bar/restaurant general and area manager
Tequila/Rum Ambassador
Wine merchant
Personal Trainer
And now I work in a bank four days a week, its more fun than it sounds actually. I ended up doing this due to severe back problems (probably due to my BMX days) and having to give up the fitness industry. In the eight months off on sick I managed to somehow keep myself afloat from poker.
cheffing...
I’ve got some mushrooms but there’s no cooking instructions and don’t have any garlic butter either booo
Any suggestions for cooking them as only ever had them
In restraunts before! They are closed cup mushrooms
This is beyond terrific, it's just great to learn a little about what we all do & how we came to be doing it.
Keep it coming please.
The good news. If your advice kills anyone, looks like you have access to a Solicitor and an ex-Solicitor.
The bad news. Looks like both of them know naff all about Criminal Law
Buying and selling the banks money on an average day about 200million dollars a side.
I traded Dollar v Deutsche Mark and later Dollar v Swiss Franc.
Great buzz in the trading room very stressful but 4 pints every lunchtime helped calm the nerves.
Earned well but not life changing money. However final salary pension will be handy in retirement.
Peaked a bit early and never found anything to match that period.
Mid life crisis later I worked in mortgage finance and then for Betfred for 6 years those roulette machines should of been banned years ago ruined many many lives.
Now taken control of my destiny and run a very small cleaning company.
Regrets I have a few. But it was never boring.
Good luck to all.
Daggers
Making metal railings - The job involved unloading long lengths of metal and dragging them into the workshop ( no fork lift )
“ Cropping “ them to length , then welding with arc welder
The best bit was Dipping them in Red Lead paint ( Health and safety hadn’t been invented)
We worked on ‘Piece work’ and I was chuffed when my wages reached £10 a week, which I handed over to my dad and got 30 bob a week spends.
Working down t’ Pit
Yes, rats get down the shafts, and try to eat your jackbit.
Worked in the hygiene dept in a Pie Factory
The ladies ( for want of a better word) were absolute fiends , I was 20 ish and not equipped to deal with older ladies who want your body, loved every minute 😊
^ That was oop north
Below is down South
Starting work in the hotels, my good lady loved my tight black trousers which I wore when waitering ( by loved , I mean she absolute slaughtered me lol)
Worked in a pub
That part is a bit of a blur.
In my 30’s I started work in a joinery firm ( Unlike the ‘ Carpenter ‘ Sean, @stokefc 😉)
Love the work, it’s so satisfying seeing the end product that ‘ Carpenters’ install on site 😉
6 months in the Goverment introduced youth training schemes, so I was gotten rid of and someone got my job under YTS .
My next Job was a few shelf stacking jobs, tomato picking and I ended up doing a 2 year stint at Kipling Cakes in Manchester.
I made the pastry for Jam Tarts.
My Dad was forman on Jaffa cakes.
My Mum worked on Jam tarts , My Brother in-law worked in Hygene.
I moved to Eastbourne when Norman Tebbit said we were to get on our bikes.
Then Seasonal Hotel work, Sheet metal wark, Postman.
I soon noticed that southern people didnt understand "quick-wit" , their word was bolshie. I couldnt hold a job down in my early 20's. Then i grew up a little.
Ive since done 12 years sheet metalwork, 10 years building work.
Exhibition installations for the last 7-8 years. Before the lockdown that is , before my employer abandonded us all.
Its an enjoyable job.
Its taken me to Geneva for Lotus , Koln for Pfizer , Goodwood for Aston Martin , Paris for UAE , Barcelona for Intel , Geneva for Bombardier and many more places i would never normally get to.
I did a biology degree with the intention of going into fishery management but there weren't any jobs when I left university. I worked on the night staff of a bus depot for a few months, which was OK, as a young lad I got to drive coaches and double deckers, which was fun. Then worked for an off licence, during that time I saw an advert for trainee managers in a fishing magazine. I went along and it was actually an insurance company looking for self employed salesmen, well I didn't join them but did join another insurance company, Abbey Life.
I was there for about 2 years during which time I realised that there was more to life than working for one company, I also didn't agree with the cold calling and target orientated culture. I was then poached by an IFA firm and, to cut a long story short, went out on my own a year or so later. I've been an IFA ever since.
Over the years I have built up a good business with nice clients that I enjoy working with. I don't like the reams of paperwork and onerous regulation and it's a sad reflection of the industry that probably less than 20% of my working week is actually 'client facing' (even less at the moment as everything is being done remotely).
I live in East Sussex just along from Eastbourne which appears to be a hot bed of Sky poker players, I knew @tomgoodun lived there but didn't know @mumsie was a local too.
Mushroom risotto, which I'm having tonight!
Dont wash them, just check they have no loose dirt on, brush off
Slice them into 50grms of butter, ideally with a chopped onion(shallots better) add a cup of rice (ideally arborio but long grain will suffice..) stir the rice around until it is coated with the butter,
2 stock cubes and 1litre of stock
add a small ladle of hot veg(or chicken) stock and stir and let it boil and reduce, add another ladle, stirring all the time and repeat until the rice is cooked
( to make a normal risotto they say 16 small ladles of stock, once every 45 seconds, totalling approx 12-15 mins)
Once the rice is cooked, add grated cheese to taste( again should be parmesan) and add another 25grms butter and stir through....
fresh thyme helps but any dried herbs you have and like...
then let it sit for about 3-5 mins to let the rice absorb the last of the stock and it should have the texture of a thick rice pudding....
ENJOY!