What's your career?

[mbeardsl]

I know a guy who had his house robed after responding to a thread just like this one.
In April, he let the Internet know he had a good job.
In may, he let the internet know he had a $5,000 bicycle in his garage.
in June, he told the whole wide web he would be out of town for a few weeks, to race on a gravel road from South to North for a few weeks.
In July, he returned home to an empty house.

You'd have to be awfully specific about quite a lot of info, and not have anyone checking on your house while away.

[THE LONG RANGER]

Quote from: chrisx on May 04, 2014, 01:38:46 PM
I know a guy who had his house robed after responding to a thread just like this one.
In April, he let the Internet know he had a good job.
In may, he let the internet know he had a $5,000 bicycle in his garage.
in June, he told the whole wide web he would be out of town for a few weeks, to race on a gravel road from South to North for a few weeks.
In July, he returned home to an empty house.

You'd have to be awfully specific about quite a lot of info, and not have anyone checking on your house while away.

When I'm not work on my anger management courses (part of the plea bargin, you see), I collect and distribute semi automatic weapons, and bread extremely large dogs, while keeping a slew of exotic cats on my property. My hobbies include motion detection systems and high-powered lasers.

[chrisx]

I have government contracts in genetic engineering.  We have laboratories at a place called Egor's Castle in Shawnee Heights, Kansas, and in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.  
The doors at my house are not locked.  I never forget to put bacon grease on the door knobs.
Guess which genetically modified animals I bring home with me?

seriously,
never post your income , or personal data, on the internet.

[dave54]

Retired from the feds in 2005 after 32 years.  Started a second career for local government, now looking forward to my 2nd pension.

[The DC]

"Legally disabled" Veteran (means "due to on the job spinal injuries-from 2001,I continued to work until 2008-unable to be able to work consistently enough to have reasonable expectation to hold/keep gainful employment enough to support himself/his family",but,obviously being a member here,I do have good days/weeks when nothing is "flared up" and I ride,as I have since a kid in the 70's/80's) US Army. Basically means I'm a house-dad :p

[PeteStaehling]

Nothing wrong with being careful, but I think folks blow this stuff out of proportion.  I seriously doubt that many break ins occur because of the victim's internet postings.  It just isn't the easiest way to find out that someone is a good target.

In April, he let the Internet know he had a good job.

Knowing that someone has a good job is easy enough to guess by just picking an affluent neighborhood.

In may, he let the internet know he had a $5,000 bicycle in his garage.

 

Nice bike?  I seriously doubt that all that many burglaries are bicycle oriented.
 

in June, he told the whole wide web he would be out of town for a few weeks, to race on a gravel road from South to North for a few weeks.

Whether anyone is home would be more easily and accurately determined by watching  homes to see which ones are empty.  Also knowing that I am away on a trip does not mean that I don't have a gun toting partner or a kid with 6 vicious pit bulls who are home.  I would guess that the majority of folks who post that they are out on an adventure do not have an empty house while they are away.

In July, he returned home to an empty house.

 

Which may or may not have had anything to do with his posting habits.  It is just as likely that it didn't.

[vivalavelo]

When I'm not work on my anger management courses (part of the plea bargin, you see), I collect and distribute semi automatic weapons, and bread extremely large dogs, while keeping a slew of exotic cats on my property. My hobbies include motion detection systems and high-powered lasers.

LR, I think you forgot to mention how your untamed beard holds a black belt in martial arts and has claimed many men's lives.

Nothing wrong with being careful, but I think folks blow this stuff out of proportion.  I seriously doubt that many break ins occur because of the victim's internet postings.  It just isn't the easiest way to find out that someone is a good target.

Knowing that someone has a good job is easy enough to guess by just picking an affluent neighborhood.
 

Nice bike?  I seriously doubt that all that many burglaries are bicycle oriented.
 
Whether anyone is home would be more easily and accurately determined by watching  homes to see which ones are empty.  Also knowing that I am away on a trip does not mean that I don't have a gun toting partner or a kid with 6 vicious pit bulls who are home.  I would guess that the majority of folks who post that they are out on an adventure do not have an empty house while they are away.
 

Which may or may not have had anything to do with his posting habits.  It is just as likely that it didn't.

Your fellow strava friends know when you're gone...
http://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/03/is-strava-leading-thieves-to-your-bike/

[mbeardsl]

LR, I think you forgot to mention how your untamed beard holds a black belt in martial arts and has claimed many men's lives.



Your fellow strava friends know when you're gone...
http://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/03/is-strava-leading-thieves-to-your-bike/

Yeah but they don't know when my cop wife is at home...

[Moyo]

Sorry to derail the whole conversation away from breakins and personal information on the internet,
but I'm really interested in finding a really well-paying, stable-ish seasonal job.
What I mean is I'd like to work a job for half of the year, pinny-pinching for six months and then spending the other half of the year traveling, touring, and with my family.
Only recently have I begun to try to calculate what a life like this would cost.
Many of you probably know about Nicholas Carman, who writes Gypsy by Trade.
Maybe there are some details left out, but in this interview (http://www.thebicyclestory.com/2014/05/nicholas-carman/#more-824)
he suggests that he manages a similar lifestyle on less than 15k a year.
His system may not work for me. I'm assuming you could live much more comfortably on more money and even scrape by with a bit less.

The question is:
Rather than settling down for six months and applying for jobs waiting tables, driving pedicabs, etc.
What are some well-paying positions that you could rely on to be there for you six months out of the year?

Nursing has recently popped into my head (travel nursing, for example).
Teaching has a summer built in, and it is a career I'm personally interested in. However, I know that teachers rarely REALLY have the whole summer off and I'd like more than 3 months.
Park/Forest Service is another option. I have a background in interpretation and outdoor/environmental ed. I was a contract volunteer for the park service last year, and discovered that many of the rangers/park guides/maintenance are seasonal and are frequently furloughed for several months out of the year. This kind of fits the bill, but is unreliable as I could be working in many different and remote locations and could not expect a family to follow me around for this kind of seasonal work.

What else is out there that would allow you to only work six months out of every year (with confidence you'd be able to find work again the next year) and still make +$15-20k a year?

[mbeardsl]

Where do live, even regionally?  Would help with suggestions.  Background in education and?

[Moyo]

I mentioned in the previous post that I live in Texas, but I am willing to move just about anywhere.
Maybe my post was too long or not clearly written, but I meant for it to match the nature of the original poster.
By that I mean I'm trying to continue a very general brainstorming session rather than get specific recommendations for my area.

As to your second question, I don't understand.

[mbeardsl]

Sorry, didn't see that (still don't?).  Second part was poor wording, just asking what kind of background you had. Seemed like in education generally. Would maybe narrow down stuff but if you're just looking for any suggestion at all I'd suggest looking into just about ANY trade.  I'd assume you can find lots of seasonal construction oriented jobs for example.

If you're looking for office work I'm not sure what kind of enterprise would hire seasonally so would therefore say to look at temp agencies.  That would suck for year to year continuity though.

If you're a creative type there's options for making/producing and then selling stuff whether its art for arts sake or more utility based stuff you see a lot of metal and wood workers doing.

[Flounder]

After 20 years in the bike industry in one capacity or another I finally made a leap to journalism. I'm the senior editor for an international adventure travel magazine with both print and digital channels. I set my own hours and travel is only limited by deadlines, of which there are many. This year I've traveled to Baja, Colorado, leave for a month in Iceland soon, and will wrap up the year with a trip to Ecuador. Half of my trips are bicycle related, the other half typically motorcycle bound.

That's the upshot. The downside is the paycheck that is roughly half of what I made just a few years ago. We made a few lifestyle changes, which were needed anyway, to account for the lesser bucks, but it's worked out great so far.

[BryanKola]

I'm a 4th grade teacher in CO. I had a similar question about careers 5 years ago when the economy tanked. I was working corporate education and hated being behind a desk all day. I went back to school and got a degree in education. My main reasons were: I could work almost anywhere, it is very fulfilling work, and I can spend quality time with my kids. The time off helps to recoup and ride more too! I live very near amazing mtn bike trails (after moving from Denver) and really enjoy the community a school provides.

[hikernks]

Maybe you could try working nuclear outages.  Most are in the fall/winter/spring, plus you get to travel around a lot working at different plants.  There's a lot of different jobs available, too.  Might be something to check into!

[Payton MacDonald]

Professional musician.  www.paytonmacdonald.com. 

I mostly do experimental, avant-garde stuff, like John Cage, Lou Harrison, Berio, Stockhausen, et al.  I also compose music for various ensembles and I'm deeply involved with North Indian Hindustani classical music. 

I make most of my $$ as a tenured professor at a university, but I also tour internationally and get commissions for composing.  I love the teaching and the schedule is pretty awesome.  I have plenty of time to bikepack in the summer, though I do work non-stop, basically seven days a week, but I never think of it as work. 

I'm one of the lucky few who was able to turn my passion into a career. 

I love bikepacking, though.  It's by far the sport that most closely aligns with my general aesthetics.  I like the balance of the tech and the sweat, and the feeling of freedom is incredible.  It's just magic out there.

[12:00 RIDER]

jumping in on a 2 year old thread... shows you that I'm obsessed about this new discovery!
I've skimmed through this deep learning as I go.

I see a few teachers... I'm a 20 year vet of geography/world history/Strength Training and a football coach.
I'm posting in hopes of finding people with similar times off (fellow teachers?) that might want to do some rides on their time off.

I'm new and looking for people to hook up with/learn from.

I'd even be interested in HIRING a "Guide"!
Someone should start a business (wink) if there isn't already.

[Ailuropoda]

I'm an Emergency Physician. I work nights, usually 20-or-so a month.  I switched jobs to go to ten-hour shifts because the 12-hour shifts I usually work wouldn't have given me enough time to train for the Tour Divide, something I have been doing for the last eleven months.  I'm going back to my old job after the race.

For the last several months I've been riding pretty hard.   I get home at 0730, get up at about 1330, and most days I get out of the house by 1400 for what has turned into 40-50 miles a day.  On my days off I try to do longer rides.   My lovely girlfriend and future wife who is also a cyclist has supported during the whole process.

When I started a twenty-mile ride, even on a flat course with minimal elevation changes, would wear me out.   Now I can do fifty miles and still go in to work a night shift with no ill-effects.  The hundred mile days are still hard but would have been impossible six months ago.

 
I'm not getting burned out but I confess that I'm tired of devoting so much time to training at the expense of everything else.

[steve-in-kville]

I work in a warehouse, bulk food distributor to be exact. I start early in the morning but I'm home by 2:30pm or so. I'm able to ride to work about 11 months out of the year.

[vikb]

I do PM and Quality consulting. Right now I work 30hrs/wk Mon-Wed and have 4 days off. I take about 5 weeks off at the moment, but I am planning to bump that up to 4 months+/yr once I have saved a bit more money.