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What do you do in the "real world"?


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I've been curious lately about what people do for work here since we have such a diverse group of AR fans. For those that feel comfortable, let us know!

I started off in law enforcement while in college and then for my first few years after. I'm in the private sector now and work in computer forensics, information security, and all things that have to do with "digital discovery" .. the website of my company is at:

http://www.evidentdata.com

Mark

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For the last 26 years I have been employed by the federal government as an Inflight Refueling Technician or "boom operator" as it is more commonly called. I work aboard a Boeing KC-135E aerial refueling tanker, and insert the boom into receiver aircraft for inflight fuel transfer. The co-pilot actually turns on the air refueling pumps, so to call me a gas passer would be incorrect. I just connect the two airplanes, and then ensure that we STAY connected. Some people in the career field like to be called "boomers" but if I remember correctly, that was the name of the star of a dog movie. I am a federal employee, not a member of the U.S. Air Force. The AF would never have tolerated my act. For two years prior to that, I was a boom repair technician(a real Maytag repairman job).

There are other type tanker aircraft in the inventory (KC-10's), but they are crewed by guys that don't like girls.

"If it's not a Boeing, I AIN'T GOING!"

George

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I'M RETIRED NAVY started out as a old punch card main frame tech vacum tape drives and big chain printers got into micros then finished up as a weapons system tech now haveing fun putting the system together i picked up in italy 22 years ago on the base. shipped home AR9s they loved me

JIm GOD BLESS THE ONES IN HARMS WAY

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Guest dogmeninreno

I have always been interested in electronics. 4 years in the USAF during the early 60's tought me all about stationary power production equipment overseas and domestic. After discharge from the Air Force, I worked for General Motors building generator sets and control equipment. I started my own company and designed and manfactured generator controls and switchgear as an OEM for 35 years producing Custom controls, Scacd systems and primary switchgear up to 15KV and 4000 amps with 40+ employees all over the world until a nasty divorce shut that down. I have simce retired as a EE and moved to Reno, Nv. Dale.....

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Well, I'm 31 and a currently unemployed Supplier Development Engineer. Another (late) victim of the auto cutbacks.

I traveled around the world (USA, Europe, South America) developing raw materials and component supplier for a Tier 1 auto supplier. I'm a Materials Science grad from Purdue in '93. Believe it or not, the Space Shuttle got me into it. One of my Profs. in ENGR 100(Seminar) put up a picture of a Space Shuttle and said, "it doens't matter how good the ME or EE or Aero engineer was, if the materials fail, the shuttle is gone." How true.

My Senior project prof. was in the control room when Challenger went down. Heard he has never been the same since. He didn't like to discuss it.

Hobbies: 99 Mustang GT, 95 Kawasaki ZX-7, Stereo equipment(now back into cassette decks), and whatever else my Type-A, ADD-before it was popular- mind can stand.

Great topic!!!

Chris

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Gee- you guys have real jobs! I am the technical diector for a very small non- profit organization which runs a movie theatre- http://oakstreetcinema.org We started it 7- 8 years ago with a old closed theatre, old projectors, a mono sound system running a Dynaco st 120 amp into a Altec A-7 and a lot of work. We upgraded the sound with Dolby stereo when Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame came and did a fundraiser. Now I am working on finding a good subwoofer and improved surrround speakers. There's not a whole lot of money in it so I part time at the local Imax projection booth.

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I am currrently located in Oklahoma City, and work as a mechanical design engineer for the leading hard disk drive company. I graduated from the University of Illinois in 1982, with a BSME, and plan to finish a MS in Engineering and Technology Management (MSETM) from Oklahoma State University (OSU) in May.

That should free up sometime to work on my AR speakers (2pr AR9, pr AR91.5, pr AR93, pr AR18). My other "black hole" hobby is HO scale model railroading. See: http://www.comrail.org .

Latest large purchase, was an early birthday present for my wife; a PT Cruiser Turbo. A blast to drive, with an explosive amount of horsepower - 14 psi of boost does it.

Nigel

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Guest Barrydor

Nigel,

I am also an avid HO model railroader! Digitrax DCC, operations oriented & currently filling all of what was originally a 2-car garage.

My wife got a Toyota, no turbo . . . ;)

Barry

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Have enjoyed reading all the posts so far...

As for me, Spent four years overseas in the Field Artillery after graduating from college in 1975. Have spent most of my time since getting out of the Army in healthcare. Worked doing basic science research in Cardiology and Radiology while going back to school for a second Bachelor's degree in General Science. Then learned cardiac ultrasound and became the supervisor of a hospital echo lab. Worked on my MBA and moved into the medical informatics arena when our hopital implemented a new hospital information sytem back in '95. Made the complete jump over to IT after finishing my MBA and am currently the Manager of Clinical Applications at 500+ bed hospital in Omaha. Am responsible for the HIS (1500 workstations and 4000 users) as well as the integration and interfacing with peripheral departmental systems (36 current interfaces and growing). Pete

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Guest lmrosenthal

Hi Peter,

You live in Omaha? So do I, just south of Harrison St in the Sun Valley area. Would the hospital you work at be the newly renamed Creighton Medical Center? Just wondering. Interestingly enough, I worked at Creighton Memorial St. Joseph's Hospital in the mid-70's, went through the move from the old campus at 10th and Martha to the new facility on 30th. Maybe we should get together, swap stories, and listen to music? Let me know. My email is lmrosenthal@cox.net

Take care.

Larry

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Hi to everybody! I'm a little poor italian PLc programmer (28 years old). I often read this forum since the new year. My factory works for other industries that work for other industries so... we have made some control cabinets for some gas pumping station in Florida and Arizona for "Florida Gas Transmission" and "Transwestern Pipeline Company". My other interests are my Takamine with a digital on-board preamplifier (it'a an acoustic guitar), my black steinberger diMarzio equipped (the electrical one) and all the music. I've posted an argument about my AR48s with non original woofers (name: dam subject:AR48s woofer spec)...but no-one reply! Please help me.

Far from everybody...

dam

P.S. 1) I've got a 8 years old Fiat Punto, but it's TURBO(diesel)! 2) I live near Modena and my house is 15km far from FERRARI's building, wind gallery and autodrome.

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Guest Brian_D

New to this forum, but not to the world of AR's.

As my signature implies, I am a production supervisor at Sony Disc Manufacturing (Digital Audio Disc Corporation for you hoosiers). I supervise the printing of DVD's and CD's replicated in our facility.

We produce CD audio, CD ROM, DVD in the 5, 9, 10 and SACD formats. Our print floor includes both screen printing as well as offset print technologies.

I have an associates degree in printing technology, and a batchelors degree in printing management, both from Central Missouri State University. I also have a Masters degree in Industrial Technology Management from Indiana State university.

I have a wife, Winter and a daughter, Anneliese. My hobbies include a good bit of home improvement, my Triumph Spitfire, and of course, all things audio.

My AR experiences began with a friends pair of AR24's, hooked to a car stereo amplifier of all things. Since then I have owned a pair of AR3a's AR90's (both destroyed in a dorm fire) and now a pair of AR9's. I'm currently looking for a pair of 18s's for my home theater system.

If anyone has questions about CD's, DVD's printing or Macintosh Computers, I'm your man. Feel free to contact me.

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I'm a relatively new collector of vintage stereo equipment (approx 2 yrs). I'm 54 yrs old and a Lieutenant/Paramedic with a 1200 man County Fire-Rescue Department in South Florida. I first purchased a pair of AR 2ax's from a local speaker repair shop then found a lonely lost pair of 3a's in an old tv/stereo repair shop. Cleaned them up, had the woofers reconed, replaced a mid in one and one tweeter in another (acquired from some fellow members of this site) and love the end result. I now have the 3a's in my office/bunkroom using a Kenwood KA-7300 amp (to be replaced by a 9100) a Sansui TU-717 tuner, and a Sony CD player. The men here are envious. Great system for listening to jazz when not running calls.

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Systems Administrator for the phone co for 25 years. Before that, Electronic Warefare Operator in the ASA for 4 years where I got to see such exciting places as Turkey and Ethiopia. Thats where I got my AR3a's and 2ax's

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>I first purchased a pair of AR 2ax's from a local speaker repair

>shop then found a lonely lost pair of 3a's in an old tv/stereo

>repair shop. I now have the 3a's in my office/bunkroom using a

>Kenwood KA-7300 amp (to be replaced by a 9100) a Sansui TU-717

>tuner, and a Sony CD player. Great system for listening to jazz...

I also ran 1970's-vintage Kenwood integrateds with my AR's-- a great combination. My first AR speakers--2ax's purchased in 1972--were paired with a Kenwood 7002 (that replaced a Dyna SCA-80) and matching 7001 tuner. Later on, I used an 8100 amp/8300 tuner combo with 3a's, LST-2's, and AR-11's. The Kenwood amps never so much as hiccuped. As a matter of fact, I just gave the 8100/8300 pair away to a co-worker this past December, after 23 years of perfect service, complete with the original packing, owner's manuals, optional walnut side panels (complete with THEIR own original boxes!), and the original Kenwood 4-page color lit for the amp and tuner. Another co-worker said I could've gotten $400-500 for the pair on ebay in that kind of mint condition, but the smile on my friend's face when he won the "name-drawn-from-a-hat" contest was more than worth it. After 30-plus years of equipment collection, sometimes you have to pare the ranks down a little before the whole house gets overrun with stuff.

Steve F

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've been seriously debating whether to tell you guys what I do, or not.

If you promise you won't run me out of here I'll tell you.

Nothing as exciting as anything I've read, well, not in a life-threatening, command-of-power, highly skilled sort of way. . .

I'm a Registered Principal with an NASD member firm, read: stockbroker / securities salesman / financial adviser. 18 years. Feels like 50.

Bret

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>If you promise you won't run me out of here I'll tell you.

.

>

>I'm a Registered Principal with an NASD member firm, read:

>stockbroker / securities salesman / financial adviser.

>

>Bret

That's ok, Bret. Anyone who loves classic AR speakers has a permanent pass in my book. One of our best friends is a financial advisor for AE, and we don't hold it against them!

Unfortunately, as Warren Buffet said yesterday, the hangover (of the bad market) may last as long as the binge (of the 90's).

It helps one keep things in perspective: Health and happiness of your family and friends, good music on old ARs, and you've got it made.

Steve F.

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Guest Jstas

Well, since I'm new here, this is probably the best way to get to know everyone and for everyone to get to know me!

I live pretty close to ToastedAlmond. Not more than 20 minutes away and he was the one who sent me here anyway! I've held a variety of positions in the "real world". I started out as a rifle range instructor about 10-11 years ago and spent 2 years doing that. After that I was a camp ranger for a local Boy Scout camp. I was a rifle instuctor at the same camp for the 2 years before that. I was also on camp staff management because I was the program director for the rifle range. After that, I drove a commercial truck for a local small store chain between thier stores and the warehouse. That job was bunk for the pay they were giving me so I moved on. Got a job part time working as a stock clerk in a retail chain and was also working on weekends baking bagels with a friend at his bagel shop(s). After that was done, I started working part time at a parts counter in a local auto parts store. That was a good and bad move. It was good because I finally got to use to my vast array of automotive knowledge but it was bad because it gave me cheap access to car parts. I ended up with a pretty fast Mustang and came pretty close to getting myself into some deep trouble with it. While I was in school, I managed to land a job working where I work now, part time. About 2 months before I graduated, I was given a very nice offer by my manager to come and work full-time. I've been here ever since, about 7 years now.

So where is here? Well, I went to school at Drexel University in Philadelphia and started working part time for Lockheed Martin as a Project Manager and now I am a Systems Administrator/DBA on a very large computer system (4500+ clients with a 270 MB database managing 3.5 TB of data). I get to travel a good deal also due to off-site support needs. We build radar systems and integrate weapons systems here for the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Army plus some private/commercial sector stuff like the National Weather Service. I work directly with the engineers, supporting the work they do. I am not allowed to say much more about it or even tell you why I am not allowed to say much more about it. Those of you with military experience probably already know why so I will leave it at that.

I'm a certifiable gearhead with a penchant for anything automotive. I have a natural ability to understand circuits and electrical stuff and I have always been a hands on person with a knack for hardware or any kind. I am an audiophile at heart mainly because my experience as a musician playing in a 20 piece jazz band has cursed me with a very discerning and critical ear. I have way too many hobbies and even more that I would like to get into, just not enough money to go around. I am looking to be buying my first house in another year or so and I am also engaged to be wed next year so you can understand why the cash flow is tight. Oh, and if anyone cares, some have mentioned thier pride and joy too. On September 10, 2001 I purchased a 2001 Ford SVT F-150 Lightning. The next day was that dreadful day but I know I will never forget the day I got the truck.

You can read more about it at my partially-completed-because-I'm-also-lazy website at http://users.snip.net/~jrjr

OK, sorry that was so long.

Oh yeah, and I'm only 25.

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I'm new to the group and new to ARs via my latest find. Quite a gang and a load of knowledge here and I respect that. I'm a geologist (environmental consulting - 14 years). Lookin' for all the stuff folks used to not know (or admit) was bad to pour or bury in the ground/water. Not a tree hugger, just a realist.

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I am in the Non Pressure Roof Cleaning Business here in the Tampa , Florida area.

My web site is www.saferoofcleaning.com , I got out of corporate amerika, I was with Motorola, got tired of kissing butt, politics, etc.

I wish I would have done this sooner !

Thank you for this board, and thanks to all the patient nice people who have welcomed me here !

Chris

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Worked for Tandberg as West Coast Service manager after graduating from college with a BSEE degree.

Went on to work at UCLA Medical School designing equipment for Auditory Neurophysiology research and then across the freeway to the Westwood VA Hospital setting up a research facility for Audiology and Speech Pathology. Did a short stint back at UCLA in Phonetics. The last 15 years have been spent working at a company manufacturing a cochlear implant device.

I still have the AR4x speakers that I bought in 1966. Lately, I have been acquiring products that represent the design work of Henry Kloss: KLH Fives, Large Advents, an AR1W, some of his radios, the KLH Eighteen tuner and Cambridge Soundworks Model Sixes, among others.

Bob

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Wow

All these tech people, I have been a baker in N.J. for 28 years.

Have a seasonal shop in a beach resort,which leaves me time to tinker around and get yelled at by my wife for not doing the "list".

Brian O

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Guest Jstas

>Wow

>All these tech people, I have been a baker in N.J. for 28

>years.

>Have a seasonal shop in a beach resort,which leaves me time to

>tinker around and get yelled at by my wife for not doing the

>"list".

>Brian O

Nothing wrong with a baker man! If it wasn't for bakers, I probaboy souldn't have the 15 extra pounds that I do!

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