I have been driving a truck "long Haul" for almost 33 years. Oct. 22, 1981 to be exact. Then in 2009 got the chance to work in Trenton, New Jersey because jobs in Michigan went to pot. One of the best jobs I have had until I found out up close what the "Fed" was all about. Yes I haul valuables if you want to call it that. In a facility like the Fed you get the feeling they do not care for those who only want to make an honest living. Bullet proof glass between yourself and any of their employees. you back into their docks offload monies into a room they have opened to you. Then they close the doors you have used and go into that room to make sure what is on the bill of lading is presented to them kind of like a verifying room. They walk out of that room into a larger room while closing the doors behind themselves. Once in the larger room they open doors outside to a hall and go out then close those doors. The doors you used are opened again and you proceed through. The second set they used to enter into the counting room are opened and you proceed to move these carts or bins into the large room. Once you have moved your freight into these bullet proof rooms you walk out and all the doors are shut. The last door those members of this establishment walked through are finally opened they walk in count whatever you brought them and sign the B.O.L's. They open the verifying room doors walk in and they slide the B.O.L.'s threw the doors under or between. That is the closest you get to their employees. All this time you and whomever are at the docks are being eyed. Hauling Pharmaceutical's is even more fun you either stay in your vehicle or in a holding pen as they load or offload. Do not get me wrong the company I work for have provided the skills I need to keep up with the competition and the best thing is it's non-union. Working in a state that unions are known for and living in a state "Michigan" where unions have destroyed their populace I guess that is the best competitive company I have worked for. Their philosophy we have the right to fire you and that is the last word makes this old Texan proud to work for them. In the Gulch you can bet hauling might still be first on the list, but I do make a mean "Enchilada Casserole" and other delicacies. You always have to have sustenance to keep up with the competition.

ok, what the hell...

One of my first jobs was a 'maintenance man' (or janitor) at a community pool I'd belonged to as a member previously. Great education on how people perceive you based on your job.

Spent a few summers as a technician at Lockheed Electronics in NJ, helping test circuits and implement solutions in a massive test system they were building for the US Navy. Pissed off more than a few engineers by solving problems they'd been beating their heads against the wall, pretty much by observing them and asking a few questions.

Quality Control inspector at what might have been the birthplace of Gavin Electronics. After a short time, I proposed to management that I could/should TEACH some of the assemblers 'how to solder' so that I wouldn't have to send so many parts back for rework. Almost taught myself out of that job before returning to college.

Semiconductor Applications engineer on power transistor components and circuits. Envisioned and helped build several pieces of test equipment which became 'lab standards' for our group so people would stop arguing over which test method gave the most accurate and 'true' readings. Mine. Collaborated with a team to build a multiple-testing unit which, interestingly enough, we called "The Galt 1 Test Set." We had several AR fans in the department, including the guy who introduced me to AS.

Then, marketing engineer for a power semiconductor line starting up at a company in Silicon Valley. Manufacturing couldn't fab a stable product and I came close to being fired when the field sales teams criticized me for 'writing bad specifications' for the product.

Moved to another division back when an entire division could be focused on computer terminals. In a few months I helped write several parts of a service manual for a forthcoming terminal as well help the design guys change some innards to make servicing faster and easier. Final coup was to discover, on my own, the root cause of a problem which had been costing millions of dollars in repairs and service calls on one particular model of our terminals. Unfortunately, for my solution, the product was being obsoleted by then. Should have started earlier.

Moved into Sales Support and product training for a minicomputer division and participated in the evolution from 16-bit computing to 32-bit architecture as well as RISC. Got lots of plaques and awards for being 'best teacher' over several years.

Was morphed into Product Manager on the sales side in 'the factory' for most of the RISC sub-product lines. Gave wonderful product overviews for major customers and sales reps. Something about being honest about what I knew and didn't know and trusting customers to understand that 'our plans may change, but this is what they are now...' , unlike most of the marketing folks creating the new products. Had lots of battles with management over that.

Offered a 'too good' retirement package and went home in 2002. Designed and had several home remodeling things built... a custom deck, kitchen layout and family room design. Then, of course, sold the house and moved to NC.

Designed my woodturning workshop for the crawl space under the house and helped solve some construction problems during the build, and for the past 3-4 years have been doing wood turning. When i'm not doing small maintenance and repairs around the house.

My forte's have tended to be Pattern Recognition suitable for problem identification and solution and good Visualization Skills for picturing the solution and helping implement it.

Virtually nobody seeks me out for such help, though I've become a sort of guru/consultant over the years for friends and neighbors.

Living off investment income and savings and Social Security now, doing anything I damned well please and not depending on anyone (else) for anything.

I love brainstorming and helping find solutions to problems, though I also have a poor record for 'implementation.' Good part of a team if you can stand occasional impatience and bluntness.

Owned a website I called "Blunt Consulting" for a while, as a lark.

Oh, and I like blogging and participating in conversations online. Particularly where I can ask questions other folks don't ask or downright don't WANT to be asked!

I went on strike 25/4/2007 from a career in student accommodation management.
Though the actual moment was when having shrugged from that role and actually taking a week of holiday with the children, i took them to a poor suburb in our major city and our spending money was stolen on day one. What did it for me was the accom receptionist telling me the poor people would make good use of it.

I made a deliberate plan in shrugging to reinvent manager-me into an administrator.

Now i am a low level admin.

In the gulch i would be with Susanne producing the food in the garden. Not mucking about with pretty flowers. Growing food. we need her bees.

And if you kill the meat i will gut and dress and cook it.

If you want to compete - race me. I do a mean 5km and 10km by foot and a not-bad orienteer. On the day of the worst of our earthquakes i did a shit load of running. Then i ran home. Cars and buses sure werent going anywhere. I did.

I know lots of us are into engines, but, y'know.... Feet.

I'll go from Systems Engineering/Enterprise Architecture to Bee Keeping, no problem.

Pre-moocher - worked in a number of private businesses. Unfortunately, most of the owners were not business minded, and shops fell more often than not. Tried a couple times to float a loan to buy the failing shops, but the banks said I was too young or too inexperienced, and my folks told me that since most businesses fail, I was better off... (Ahhh, were I not so young, and especially naïve, eh??)

So, to keep me from that "folly", my folks applied some pull, called in a few favors and got for me a civil service career position, where, of course, I started as labor - yes, the poor downtrodden abused union member - started making friends and applying my own pull from favors, and mooched my way to Supervisor.

Then... thank God... I found a copy of a book I'd been "forbidden" to read as "subversive" in High School. Overnight (almost literally - I'm a fast reader!) , it absolutely shook me to my core, changed me in ways I had forgotten over the previous decades... it was my mirror, and I saw within it what I had become, and what had to change, much as meeting Hank Rearden changed Tony.

Fast forward to Now. I *do* still work in Civil Service, tho as a producer, not a moocher (something I'm *very* proud of, BTW.) We (my other half and I) took our "retirement savings" and bought an 1870's forge (and 1970's cabin) and using skills I learned decades ago working for other people, I started a small side business repairing (and making) custom machinery. It is slowly but steadily growing, and in the meanwhile, we've taken up Beekeeping for fun and the sweet gold of Honey, with the intent of a meadery later this season... We're expanding the "forge" to take on new projects (most recently, pre-war car and machinery repairs - fun stuff!) and the dollars are growing.

Some look forward to retirement as a time to sit back, collect the free money, and spend their waning years in relaxation and idleness... I look forward to it as it will give more time to plunge our business ahead, at light speed, into a prosperous and profitable future. ;-)

I'm pushing 65 and semi-retired, currently own two duplicate bridge clubs. I can certainly continue in that vein, directing and teaching the game, as well as other careers I've had in the past: chauffeur, sailing captain and instructor, commercial pilot with multi-engine and instrument ratings, photo-journalist, television producer, radio producer and DJ, musician (sax, clarinet, piano, guitar, and bass) and stage actor. I'm also a certified firearms instructor, and if there's a need for it, I have enough firearms and ammo to supply a decent-sized platoon. (Or a crew of pirates!)

In the book there generally are three jobs, not two, for each Gulch resident. First, there is "Used to be." Hugh Akston used to be a professor of philosophy. Then there is the "day job" outside the Gulch. Hugh flips burgers. Does it very well. Inside the gulch, though, he's presumably still a philosopher.

I trained as a pathologist. FIfteen years ago I was a laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital.

In the Gulch I could help Dr. Hendrix run a laboratory for clinical diagnosis and research. Failing that, I would sign on as a rough carpenter, or maybe as a militiaman, assigned to guard the perimeter.

OK - I'm halfway to the Gulch already. No problem putting a large inventory of rare books up for auction and repurposing the proceeds to farming. Might go to Chile.

I'm a potter. I could supply all the needs of the valley. From dishes for eating to such articles of ceramic the valley would need. From ceramic insulators for electric lines to flower pots to artistic decorations.

I'd love to set up a new studio in the valley's art district.

In the outside world, I am retired, with a daughter starting college this summer (Art Institute-Dallas). In the Gulch, I am a gadfly who buzzes about stirring discussion, mostly cordial, sometimes vituperative, but in the main, fun. I can saw a board, hit a nail (sometimes using a hammer), cut down a tree, split wood, use an idiot stick, parse a sentence, cook a solid meal and make bread. Then I get to the hard stuff.

Didn't the Gulch do almost no trade with the outside world? So in a Gulch I would probably do general equipment repair. I would be learning how to print parts on a 3D printer. I would hope the equipment repair would lead to see some problems that start with something being broken and not being able to buy a replacement, but which are actually opportunities to do something a new way. But most of the time, I would be doing a lot of less-exciting tech, electrician, and IT work, at least until a more advanced economy developed.

I really hope someone creates a micronation like the Gulch BUT not cut off from the world. My wife could attend a legal conference on the seastead and my kids could go to a one-day hackerspace classes on UAVs or Python. They could also have a waterpark for kids in the evening, and rooftop bar with Indian developers drinking tea, some Israeli program managers who license software from a firm on the seastead, a bunch of attorneys there for the conference, and a few rich kids from Germany sipping drinks with Ketamine talking about Herman Hesse.

The type of Gulch you're talking about, though, is about a thousand miles northeast of Irkutsk. In that kind of place, you have to learn to be jack of all trades and enjoy borscht and cucumbers-- no indulgent tourists with the vacation/conferences.

In the outside world I perform home and landscape maintenance, tend my garden, cook for myself and friends, and work on a "script" (for a film) about "Going Galt" in Argentina.

In the Gulch I perform home and landscape maintenance, tend my garden, cook for myself and friends, and work on a "script" (for a stage play) about "Going Galt" in Argentina

in the outside world I am a business manager and author. In the "Gulch" I promote the movies, Ayn Rand, the philosophy of Objectivism...and facilitate discussions

I'd do what I do now. Massage ..deep tissue , sewing and massive vegetable gardening and canning. I'd sell my veggies to the local diner and put my name and number on the diners bulletin board for clothes repair, ironing, laundry, baby sitting,house cleaning, weeding.. anything...I've never not had a job( since I was 12) I've been completely self employed for 21 years and always had side jobs when employed for others. I'd have to get to The Gulch and see whats up and where there's a profit to be made.

I handle injury claims for an auto insurance company, which basically means that I try to outfox the looters (people who think they deserve something for nothing as well as their attorneys and chiropractors). I'm not sure what I would do in Galt's Gulch. Any suggestions?

Economics and poli science instructor...now!
Fruit tree tender, grafter and pruner. Would be willing to teach the new generation.

Although technically "retired", my husband, a CPA, and I are always busy. He continues to work three days a week in finance for an international manufacturer. He says he does not know what else he would do. However, he still tills a mean garden, while I freeze the products. In the past we have added a raised covered cedar deck to our homes, ourselves. This year, we went Usonian and redid our kitchen walls in cedar and stone, he does good woodworking. I do mean stone work. That finished, he changed the color of the soffits while I did the same with all the window frames. Before I retired, I worked in computers, then in accounting and finally in journalism. We still run a very small business at home for accounting, where I am the IT person.
My dad always said "Don't own anything you can't work on." Well, cars have moved beyond the days I changed my old Vette's breather element, but the philosophy is a good one. The more we can and are willing to tackle, the more we are free. I also am the toilet fixer. I sew also.
In a the Gulch, I would be known as one who spreads the word about history repeating itself if one fails to remember it, while doing anything that needs done. My husband is the same way. Need it done, he is there to give it a try.

I have had several careers in my 80 years. Musician, photographer, store owner, writer, publisher. In the Gulch, and being 25 again, I would follow the dream I hadn't the courage to do back then; I would compose music. I hope that there would be artists, writers, actors, musicians in as much abundance as scientists, tradesmen and shopkeepers.

I'm a computer programmer. I specialize in cyber security, data warehousing, data analysis and scenario generators for understanding the outcomes from choices made. In Galt's Gulch I could head up a cyber unit to gather intelligence or generate a cyber attack. I could create scenario generators for coming up with the best strategies for almost any purpose.
Galt's Gulch needs creative people like me.
I can create revenue generating software.....
I also love gardening and have tried to use natural remedies to combat pests. .I think a garden should be a work of art. I am very interested in soil restoration and building very economical greenhouses. I am also an artist and a gourmet cook. It's all about blending your components to make something elegant, balanced and beautiful.

In my present job, post retirement, I work for banks as a courier. I have done auto repair (mostly imports), auto parts sales/store manager, mental health worker, sheet rock work, state welfare eligibility specialist(mostly elderly/disabled). Maybe I could be a taxi driver in the gulch, or turn wrenches again, I love to drive, and I listen well. Or wash dishes.

I was a dentist. With a little brush up I could deliver a mean root canal - and other treatments. I am now a business manager, well versed in dealing with government and in public relations. I could possibly be a manager of some sort or a photographer ( I have won many local and regional awards for my photography).

Well currently I teach professors how to teach their classes on the LCMS here at the community college that I work at along with teaching a few entry level computer classes. In the past I have worked with my hands in many different fields to include lumber, construction, dairy and the military working with high explosives and truck driving. So in the Gulch I could be a jack of all trades and fill in anywhere my skills would be the most productive. As a hobby I make 1 off pictures in ceramic tile with my one of a kind hand built wet scroll saw.

I haven't seen any people yet who want to start fast food joints or any pizza delivery people either as Shrug jobs or in Atlantis.

Because my university has increased its enrollment so much in recent years, our career placement within 6 months has gone down from 98% to 95%. This isn't bad considering how bad the economy is, but to prevent it from going down further, both of my departments concluded we should do more to help our students get jobs. Consequently, I now put together a newsletter with chemical, biomedical, and materials engineering jobs, news, seminars, etc. Info on 3D printing and nanotech are also featured in the newsletter. Today's sample is at
http://my.fit.edu/~jbrenner/aiche033114....
If you want added to the list, e-mail me at jbrenner@fit.edu