What do you do at your job?

[j1n]

So which branch of the Federal Government do you work for?

DoD... im being serious too lol

 

[PlexVector]

That's what I'm getting at. Photons are massless and thus MUST travel at the speed of light, while Earth has mass and CANNOT travel at the speed of light (thank Einstien and special relativity math for that). If the assumption here is that they all started at the same point, how did we creatures of mass catch up with those speedy photons?

Well its more like: the Galaxies aren't moving, but the fabric of space-time is stretching outward, which creates more space-time between the galaxies. For example lets create a 2-dimensional metaphor of the multi-dimensional universe; take a balloon and blow it up just a little. Then add random dots on the surface of the balloon, which represent the galaxies. Then start blowing the balloon up. The surface represents the expansion of the universe. As you will note that the galaxies appear to be moving away from each other as you increase the surface area of the balloon. Simple, yes?

Edit: So the balloon represents a 2-dimensional surface closed back on itself. So in theory if you took off into space from the north pole in a straight line outward you would eventually come back to the south pole.

Edit2: The big bang would not be located in the center of the balloon, but at the point on the surface the balloon is being blown into.

I'm making this up as I go, so beer with me on this...

 

[Rhumbline]

Well its more like: the Galaxies aren't moving, but the fabric of space-time is stretching outward, ...take a balloon and blow it up just a little. Then add random dots on the surface of the balloon, which represent the galaxies. Then start blowing the balloon up. The surface represents the expansion of the universe. As you will note that the galaxies appear to be moving away from each other as you increase the surface area of the balloon. Simple, yes?

Well, the dots on your balloon are actually moving away from each other, and they are moving in space as well. Take a string and measure the distance between two dots when the balloon is partially inflated. blow it up and measure again. they have moved apart.

Another previous job I had. Independent security consultant for museums. Designing access control, cctv, and alarm systems for museums around the country. Tons of fun, boss was a bit difficult, to be nice about it.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

I have degrees in Culinary Science, and Culinary Management. I have been in the hospitality field in some faction for quite some time. Hotels, Restaurants, Catering, and most recently School Food Service. I just switch careers and now sit at a cubicle placing orders for oncology drugs for medical facilities. Its an adjustment sitting all day to work... Either way my dream..and hopefully soon reality is to open a Tap Room style bar. I have potential investors and my business plan is almost done. I hope this works out...

 

[passedpawn]

Well its more like: the Galaxies aren't moving, but the fabric of space-time is stretching outward, which creates more space-time between the galaxies. For example lets create a 2-dimensional metaphor of the multi-dimensional universe; take a balloon and blow it up just a little. Then add random dots on the surface of the balloon, which represent the galaxies. Then start blowing the balloon up. The surface represents the expansion of the universe. As you will note that the galaxies appear to be moving away from each other as you increase the surface area of the balloon. Simple, yes?

Edit: So the balloon represents a 2-dimensional surface closed back on itself. So in thoery if you took off into space from the north pole in a straight line outward you would eventually come back to the south pole.

But what's outside the balloon? Yes, I see. But I don't like it one bit. Reminds me of a book I read a long time ago called Flatlands. The travels of a 3-dimensional creature in a 2 dimensional world, and the new perspective it gives, and the difficulty for the 3D guy to explain to the 2D creatures what a third dimension would look like.

Anyway, this stuff is not intuitive, but I guess it's the only way to make the math of the universe work. I'm going to rinse it out of my brain tonight with beer (I listen to a podcast all the time called Startalk, Neil deGrasse Tyson, so I can't escape it for long).

 

[PlexVector]

Well, the dots on your balloon are actually moving away from each other, and they are moving in space as well. Take a string and measure the distance between two dots when the balloon is partially inflated. blow it up and measure again. they have moved apart.

Another previous job I had. Independent security consultant for museums. Designing access control, cctv, and alarm systems for museums around the country. Tons of fun, boss was a bit difficult, to be nice about it.

Exactly!

Edit:

But what's outside the balloon?

Magic...

 

[iijakii]

Well-well look. I already told you: I deal with the god damn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?

 

[smitty8202]

United States Marine. Don't really think i need to explain much more than that.

 

[fourfarthing]

I head up the accountants that account for investments in private companies and then tell eveyone how much their investment in our company that invests is worth. Then the stock market tells us what its really worth. Then we do it again. dollar dollar bill y'all.

 

[apshaffer]

I am a fisheries biologist. I coordinate the experimental tagging of around 15-20 million juvenile salmon annually. They are tagged when they about 4 inches long prior to them migrating out to the ocean. They get caught in commercial and sport fisheries from California to Alaska a few years later and sampled for tags. The tags are extracted, read, and the data is inputted into a coast-wide database. From the tag recovery data, you can calculate harvest rates, contributions to different fisheries, survival rates, see migration patterns, escapement rates, stock assessment, etc. The data from the tags are the basis for Pacific salmon management.

 

[Newsman]

United States Marine. Don't really think i need to explain much more than that.

Semper-Fi, Marine! Thank you for your service!

 

[btbnl]

But what's outside the balloon? Yes, I see. But I don't like it one bit. Reminds me of a book I read a long time ago called Flatlands. The travels of a 3-dimensional creature in a 2 dimensional world, and the new perspective it gives, and the difficulty for the 3D guy to explain to the 2D creatures what a third dimension would look like.

Anyway, this stuff is not intuitive, but I guess it's the only way to make the math of the universe work. I'm going to rinse it out of my brain tonight with beer (I listen to a podcast all the time called Startalk, Neil deGrasse Tyson, so I can't escape it for long).

Another important difference (and this goes back to the inadequacy of any analogy) is that the closed 2D balloon surface is embedded within a 3D Universe, whereas a finite 3D Universe doesn't need a 4th (spatial) dimension to bend in to close back on itself.

 

[norsk]

Retired therapist, NP, and president of SLO Veterans For Peace seeking to end war, use of Killer Drones, Pax Americana, and support of homeless veterans and those with PTSD and other mental health issues...

 

[BentBrewer]

It's important to have a job that makes a difference, boys. That's why I manually masturbate caged animals for artificial insemination.

Nice to see at least one other person involved in animal husbandry.

I'm a farrier.
I clean, knife, and trim horses feet to balance their movement. Heat either a premade shoe, or straight stock, and shape it to fit the trimmed foot. Then (after cooling) I nail it on, set clinches, and make it purty for the client. I know as much, (sometimes more) about the distal equine limb as the vets do. I am able to speak to the vets in doctor-ese, as well as simplifying things for the non-medically trained clients so they can understand the three page printout that the vet gave them.

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Not sure what exactly to call myself, I guess it's outsourced IT

I am in IT and work for a small company that does computer/network/cloud service support for other small businesses (40 employees or less) in our area. Those companies either don't need or can't afford a full time IT staff. Makes for an interesting mix of clients; doctors, lawyers, CPAs and manufacturers of all sorts of crazy things.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

United States Marine. Don't really think i need to explain much more than that.

You might...I saw three types of Marines in Iraq. One amazing but frightening (want them between me and the bad guys). One good but would still trust a newborn with (still want them between me and the bad guys...just want to have a beer with him/her after). One that, well, made me ashamed they had the Eagle, Globe and Anchor in their zip code (thankfully rare) let alone on their uniform.

Regardless, I still thank them all for their service.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Nice to see at least one other person involved in animal husbandry.

I'm a farrier.
I clean, knife, and trim horses feet to balance their movement. Heat either a premade shoe, or straight stock, and shape it to fit the trimmed foot. Then (after cooling) I nail it on, set clinches, and make it purty for the client. I know as much, (sometimes more) about the distal equine limb as the vets do. I am able to speak to the vets in doctor-ese, as well as simplifying things for the non-medically trained clients so they can understand the three page printout that the vet gave them.

A dying breed that luckily can never completely disappear completely.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

in the steel yard I cut and loaded steel for customers, loaded and unloaded trucks, inspected incoming and out going loads (and lots of paper work), made a flocc ton of different types of bolts and threaded products, maintained saws, threaders, and forklifts, and managed a small crew. I hated the weekly meetings. all the other department heads couldn't take a tattooed home brewer with a mohawk seriously. none of the rest of them did any physical labor and had decent offices. I had a small block room with poor heat and no cooling.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Short version: I make order from data chaos. I normally start as a Cost Engineer but almost always end up organizing data for other Cost Engineers because corporate systems that cannot talk to each other...at all.

 

[toolboxales]

Heavy equipment field service technician. I get paid well to drive around and troubleshoot/repair heavy equipment. But also have 40k invested in tools....

 

[Kampenken]

Finance manager for an equipment leasing company. Some analytical spreadsheet work, fits in the way my mind works, but too much repetitive reporting every month. Pay is good, benefits are great (33 days off / yr + holidays). Some times very busy, but always the work has low intrinsic value- unlike my gf's work on oncology studies, man trying to cure cancer (or at least put in longer remission periods). Of course she deals with all the BS too that comes along with these doctor's egos.

 

[schiersteinbrewing]

Worked as a Paramedic for a 911 EMS service and moonlight for private ambulance service. Then went to 911 dispatch. Now I am a Technology Coordinator for a school district, which is really just a fancy name for computer janitor. It just me for 1200 users, 800 wired devices, 300 mobile devices, 3 phone systems, countless printers, projectors, and SmartBoards. If it has a circuit board in it they call me to fix it.

This is one request I received today: "I'm trying to plug speakers into my computer. I see a plug for headphones and microphone but not speakers. "

I still pick up EMS shifts here and there to keep my skills up. I would go back to EMS in a heart beat.

 

[PhinneyWoodBrews]

The secret process doesn't make your cheap shampoo/conditioner/bodywash/lotion/2n1/3n1 any better. Their trade secret is in the design of what is essentially an inline blending system. It just makes it so they can mix it faster and thus cheaper.

Typically the blending process is done in large purpose built blending tanks. It takes a few hours to mix a batch. Plus the floor space of a mixing tank, plus the cost to purchase the mixing tank. The entire blending system they have is about the size of a large desk. The actual mixing area is about the size of an apple. Pretty nifty. Wish I could tell you more.

Cool beans!

 

[CrimsonYeti]

Manufacturing Engineer for a tier 1 auto supplier. Mainly Controls engineering with robotics and plc work. Some actual mechanical stuff involved. I setup new equipment from drawings and basically do all the programming work. I also taught basic Robotics for awhile at an adult education center for 4 yrs.

 

[Newsman]

(SNIP)

This is one request I received today: "I'm trying to plug speakers into my computer. I see a plug for headphones and microphone but not speakers. "

GOD, I don't miss those types of questions! "Here's your sign!"

 

[Natdavis777]

I pump people full of chemicals and expose them to a notable amount of radiation. Not what then entire job entails, but covers the majority.

 

[arturo7]

Loaf

 

[BentBrewer]

A dying breed that luckily can never completely disappear completely.

Not as dying as one might think. Merely invisible. Much like custom carpentry, stoneworking, thatching, or blacksmithing. (The last of which, I do at the local state park every Friday.)

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Another important difference (and this goes back to the inadequacy of any analogy) is that the closed 2D balloon surface is embedded within a 3D Universe, whereas a finite 3D Universe doesn't need a 4th (spatial) dimension to bend in to close back on itself.

The real question should be if time can close back in on itself. Nothing, not even silly math, exists without time.



When and/or where does time end...?

 

[markusreadus]

Research fellow at an Australian university. I find ways of using computing to investigate biological systems. Mainly, I create simulations of things like the bacteria in the gut and how they respond to changing diets, and hence how your health is affected. I also use machine learning to predict things like disease susceptibility based on screening and medical measurements.

It's a good job, intellectually demanding, can be solitary but I'm getting a bit more senior which means I'm getting people working for me (so I get to set up projects and collaborations, rather than doing the work directly). Down side is fixed term contracts, perpetual cuts to funding, and academia has become insanely competitive. You've got to work very hard to stay ahead now. I hit the weekend pretty burned out, and then brew + drink beer