What Do You Do To Pay The Bills?

[kickflipjr]

The stuff I did was simple. bend, glue (melt together with acid), put rubber feet on it, and put it in a box.

[thisisntjared]

i recently started software development under a contract to Lockheed Martin and Raytheon until November 2009(and it will probably be renewed). i can't tell you anymore though...

[rh77]

Originally Posted by onegammyleg

Was the chief engineer for a small WRC team

No way! I absolute LOVE the WRC. I wish it was more popular here. Once a year we have the U.S. National Championship come through Missouri and I volunteered last year as a medic -- going again in February. For me, the world STOPS when the Rally comes to town. I don't care what is going on, I'm there.

Thread.

There was a Bio-Diesel Golf that got awesome FE and stayed mid-pack.

To the others:

It sounds like everyone is happy with their jobs/education situations. I've learned that is VERY important. You can't put a price-tag on job satisfaction.

RH77

[lindermant]

Originally Posted by onegammyleg

...if it runs and makes noise I love it...

[schmeep]

i make a living as a freelance illustrator, mostly advertising work but also books and other odds and ends. here is a link to my online portfolio if any of you are interested:

http://www.portfolios.com/beepbeep

i also work one or two days a week with a rental car agency, driving cars around, it's nice to get out of the house for a bit plus i get to test drive a wide variety of cars and also see how reliable different brands are-

ie- don't listen to what jd powers says- dont' buy a hyundai!!!

[rh77]

Originally Posted by schmeep

ie- don't listen to what jd powers says- dont' buy a hyundai!!!

Nice illustrations, BTW.

Also, with the rental car agency, I've found that I like the Kias better and Hyundai's quality isn't as good. Are Kias in the same boat?

-RH77

...and also, I think JD Powers and ASSociates are full of it.

[DracoFelis]

I work with computers for a living. The last few years I've been doing mostly database development, however my current projects are moving me towards web site tools.

BTW: Cars and computers might not seem like they have a lot in common (except possibly for the ECUs in the cars). But the common thread is that they are both "technology", and I'm a technology person. So learning the basics of what makes cars happy, is a lot easier (for me) than some might think. Because I already understand technology in general, so to understand cars I just had to learn the specific details of that technology (vs some other technologies I already understood). And why bother, you might ask? Two reasons: 1) If I learn something new, I've learned something (and continuing to learn is "a good thing" IMHO). and 2) If I learn the basics of a given field (that I'm not in), I can make much more informed decisions as a consumer (vs just "throwing up my hands" when the "experts" disagree on some subject in the field).

BTW: A mechanic I know once said that working on cars was just the practical application of physics. While that's probably an oversimplification, he has a point. A lot of the work on cars does involve physics in one form or another. And it seems that you can often "get it right" simply by solving the problem from a physics standpoint, without having to know what the "right way" to do things is (for example, many FE mods work by using physics principals to tune a car for more efficient results). Food for thought...

[BumblingB]

Originally Posted by The Toecutter

When I get out of college, I'll be working as an engineer making $50-70k/year, and living in a van. Imagine it: 3 years later, $100k Tesla Roadster parked outside a $500 van, electricity pwoered by a small solar array and wind turbine with a small battery bank as backup, and all debts paid. I might upgrade to a VW Vanagon, cheap trailer, or beat up RV depending on my needs.

Houses, electricity bills, water bills, and all that crap are over-rated.

I currently live in a trailer and will soon start building a house (after the garage). Actually it'll be a series of 400-500 sqft. "sheds" linked together. The first will be cob. Then I am considering papercrete, next strawbale and so on. Plenty of land and the wife and I are basically calling it our own little "Waco" - of course we're both loners so people aren't invited to hang out. The plan is to have everything self contained and use an assortment of earth friendly buildings to see which weathers best for our area.

I'll retire from my current job in 4 years - I just do a bit of this and that, for the most part teach people how to prepare hazardous materials so we don't have another ValueJet fiasco. I do some other stuff but it falls into thisisntjared's catagory.

[schmeep]

Also, with the rental car agency, I've found that I like the Kias better and Hyundai's quality isn't as good. Are Kias in the same boat?

both kia and hyundai seem to have the most problems of any cars in the fleet, whether it be plastic parts breaking, quarter panels not flush with the front bumper (two sonatas with this), wierd electrical issues, you name it, they run the gamut in quality issues.plus, i think the design and styling of the cars is totally second-rate, the styling is always borrowed from other manufacturers' successful models.
we usually delete cars from the fleet before they hit 40,000 km, so i'm not sure how they stand up in the long haul though
rental cars tend to get trashed, so it is probably a good barometer of quality.

part of the reason i bought a toyota was because the corrollas we have are NEVER in the shop, the biggest problem i have seen is they tend to lose the emblems on the front, and the covers that hide the holes where fog lights would go get knocked out, and some of the plastic parts break easily.

[thisisntjared]

Originally Posted by DracoFelis

Cars and computers might not seem like they have a lot in common (except possibly for the ECUs in the cars).

i disagree. cars and software have a lot in common. debugging both requires the perserverance and patience in finding the problem and solving. creating add-ons, or plug-ins requires solid understanding of the existing equipment/code and then your creative, yet logical ability to add to it. also, the amount of time you end up spending on a given project depends largely on your tools and how well you know how to use them. there are a bunch of similarities in which the way of thinking is complimentary to the other.