Forum members' careers

Sorry for your loss also.

BS and Master’s in electrical engineering (and math, bs anyway); did Ted stuff (fpga and asic design) for 8 years in telecom and other non-audio industries.

Got the crazy idea to go to law school. Worked at the biggest patent law firm in the world for about 10years. My small kids at time thought I lived at the office (when she visited office for first time in costume on Halloween she asked me if I slept there), so I knew it was time for a change. Solo practitioner last 8 years; kinda semi retired feels like compared to before.

The legal training is probably why I sometimes come off as argumentative on here (ha, maybe all the time). Not intentional, but law school kinda does that to you……

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My brothers have developed a bunch of cancer late in our lives (me excluded to this point, though I’m not holding my breath), though our parents had none - whereas she and her family were generally annoying by never being sick a day in their lives.

I’m sure she was anticipating my demise in advance of hers for a long time, as most wives do. As I anticipated predeceasing her. Then the tables were suddenly turned.

Suffice to say that I’m sort of a Buddhist at this point.:man_shrugging:t2:

We’ll see if I can turn that into a career😂

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I am way off, often–off. But I have this feeling that you’re a good soul, Mr Beef.
But as I said, I could be wrong. Like the time I tried caviar, thinking it must be good.

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I may be fishy, but I ain’t caviar, bruh.:cowboy_hat_face: But very kind of you Ron.

Apologies, all - this got sorta heavy for a Monday. Though I can’t tell a Monday from a Saturday these days.:man_shrugging:t2:

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A lot of career engineer forum members from all sorts of fields very impressive! I can’t claim to be a college educated engineer but I am a fire apparatus engineer not sure if that counts.

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At 28 years old I quit the retail management career path I was then on, and opened a small enthusiast bicycle shop in 1992. With not a lot of start-up capitol but a lot of enthusiasm, a solid grounding in merchandising and inventory control, and some great industry mentors- I was off to a good start. The business has grown a lot over the years but managed to retain the fun, inclusive, and welcoming vibe it began with. Today I have an awesome team that largely run the shop without me but I still love what I do. I guess you’d call me semi-retired but at 57 I wouldn’t say that out loud in front of the wife!

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The bicycle sales saw a huge surge last year and I’m not sure if they have slowed down yet! Great sport/hobby!

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I graduated college in 1996 (history) and then attended graduate school in journalism, specifically photojournalism. After that, I worked at a daily newspaper and as a stringer for the Associated Press for two years but it was obvious the news game was shifting DRAMATICALLY so, thanks to a few mentors and a year of coursework, I transitioned into software dev, primarily mobile for enterprise.

Around 2009, I moved into program management, still software.

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Yes, I only wish my industry had somehow been magically able to meet the massive increase in demand for bicycles spurred by Covid… Today almost all bike sales are deposits on bikes which won’t be produced and delivered for a year or more. And the backlog shows no sign of lessening any time soon.

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That’s why my wife & I guard our Pivot 5.5 Carbons like they were newborn children.

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Do you build and sell custom bicycles or do you sell brands like Specialized, Trek, etc…?

I’m in the bicycle space, too. I own a coaching firm with clients ranging from European professionals to fondo enthusiasts, and I run a nonprofit-supported youth development program for elite young riders.

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Yes to the first question and yes also to Trek. Also Salsa and Electra along with a smattering of more exotic frame-up builds. We have a very capable workshop and are an official Shimano Certified Service Center. We are one of the few IBD’s that perform all suspension work including nitrogen in Fox Shox in-house.

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Another engineer here – I’m 82 and the first record I bought was a 78rpm shellac disc when I was in my teens. I joined EMI (the record company in Hayes) as a graduate apprentice in 1960 and took advantage of previews of new classical releases that were played at lunchtime recitals, and also of generous staff discounts on LPs. I wasn’t engaged in any work connected with the recording business, but instead spent my time in their computer department, which was all too soon hived off to a major UK computer manufacturer where I spent the rest of my career. Like most of the people in the department, I built my first quality amplifier from designs for a 10-watt solid state amp by Tobey and Dinsdale published in Wireless World in 1961. Working very much in a digital world, I was delighted to buy my first CD player on the first day they were released in the UK in March 1983. Alas, the shop didn’t yet have any CDs to sell, but they took pity on me and loaned me one of their advance demo copies - a Sony recording of Dvorak’s cello concerto. After many years in a technical support role in training and on service desks, I retired early at 60, and now devote much of my time to the audio hobby, listening to music (live and recorded), digital panoramic photography, cycling, and helping friends with their PC woes.

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I love the salsa bikes! A coworker has a Salsa Fargo. I like the pugsley!

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As I read this I was looking at our Team Fat Chance Yo Eddy and Yo Betty. Prized possessions!

@MTB_Vince: And to think I have two spare Trek bikes, maybe it is time to put them up for sale? What do you think?

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I did the LSAT in London without knowing I was meant to prepare for it. Did quite well and shortly thereafter met a couple of trainee lawyers in LA who looked like corpses and hadn’t had a minute off work since starting 2 years earlier. Fortunately Harvard Law School sent me a a rather condescending rejection letter shortly thereafter. I consider it a lucky escape.

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I served on several academic and doctoral committees with law professors and agree they do think in different ways. At least in the office. Over a glass of wine they become human again.

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