Bizarre Jobs and Current Jobs

I sing opera! We could definitely but on a lovely show.

I bet people are seriously impressed when you bust out the opera.  I would be.

Not opera....but I can play this on mandolin (not as well of course)......if I still had a mandolin. Sold it....I only have an octave mandolin....which I don't practice. Thinking of going ukulele......

My wife can play the accordion, not as good as that.

I just started a new role in billing at the water company. Fun fact, currently you can only use one water company assigned to your region. April 2017- for business owners only, the market is opening and they can use anybody. Hence why I was recruited for my role. Prior to that I did tenant referencing...I couldn't run fast enough away.


I have a masters in public administration and bachelors in criminology.

I've worked a lot in the US with the YMCA, doing youth development roles. Loved them all.   Even got to travel abroad with the Y.  I've also managed a Starbucks, did every role possible in a restaurant, and my personal favourite was working at a local produce stand in high school. I know so much about fruits and vegetables


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You don't work for the major water company in London do you? 

I bet people are seriously impressed when you bust out the opera.  I would be.

*grins* yeah, they were. I don't talk about it too much anymore as I haven't had a chance to sing much lately. I can't  play the piano so warming up or practicing anything isn't exactly easy. My mom is going to bring some of my music books over for me when she comes to visit. I've spent a few hundred on them over the years...

I don't sound the the 'typical' Opera soprano with the big booming, back your throat sound. Mine's forward and bright which is difficult to find on youtube... I never recorded anything...

*grins* yeah, they were. I don't talk about it too much anymore as I haven't had a chance to sing much lately. I can't  play the piano so warming up or practicing anything isn't exactly easy. My mom is going to bring some of my music books over for me when she comes to visit. I've spent a few hundred on them over the years...

I don't sound the the 'typical' Opera soprano with the big booming, back your throat sound. Mine's forward and bright which is difficult to find on youtube... I never recorded anything...

The ENO's rehearsal studios are in in my neighbourhood, and a bunch of the singers live around here. I sometimes hear them practising from my home office -- always takes me pleasantly by surprise.

Wow, that is REALLY cool.

It's been a lot of fun. There were also the two times I mistakenly made viral websites -- one got me to Comic Con, the other made a nice little chunk of change -- but the pressure of producing on those was tough. Honestly, what I really want is to write speculative fiction novels. Nearly done with one that is of good enough quality to potentially query agents (the previous two were, shall we say, 'learning experiences').

I agree, I've just read a book :

Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Brings You 90% of Everything



Spoiler alert: Everything is now a race for the bottom, it's all about Indians and Philipinos who are ruthlessly exploited by the shipping industry. 

Here's another really great one:

Seized!: A Sea Captain's Adventures Battling Pirates and Recovering Stolen Ships in the World's Most Troubled Waters

It's about a guy who sneaks into foreign ports and steals back giant tankers that have been seized.

Deep Sea and Foreign Going is outstanding. This reminds me that she also wrote a book about sewage, and I really want to read that as well. Seized! is right up my alley. Thanks for that!

It's been a lot of fun. There were also the two times I mistakenly made viral websites -- one got me to Comic Con, the other made a nice little chunk of change -- but the pressure of producing on those was tough. Honestly, what I really want is to write speculative fiction novels. Nearly done with one that is of good enough quality to potentially query agents (the previous two were, shall we say, 'learning experiences').

Dang. Can I say how very impressed I am and how baldy I want to ask for details? You've done what so many people dream of doing. I've always wanted to go to Comic Con, I just never made it happen when it was a doable drive. haha. 12 hours is doable, isn't it? That's how long it took us to get to Anaheim to visit Disneyland.

If you're ever looking for a Beta Reader, I'd be happy to offer myself up. I love a good book. I tend to read fantasy and sci-fi, but I've been branching out into genres. I'm all about a good immersive narrative. One of my favourite books lately was 'The long way to a small angry planet' by Becky Chambers. After looking up what's considered speculative fiction, it's mostly what I read. A new term, always good to know!

The ENO's rehearsal studios are in in my neighbourhood, and a bunch of the singers live around here. I sometimes hear them practising from my home office -- always takes me pleasantly by surprise.

I miss it so very much. I loved spending time in the Performance Art building at my university. A good chunk of my friends were vocal performance majors and musical theatre students. Sometimes I think I should have gone that route in school...Or simply put in more work. No point in regrets, eh? Technically, I'm in my prime years if I got off my butt and did some work. I just... would hate to annoy my neighbours with opera practice and warm ups.

We've got many skills covered, especially physics and dance.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be either a novelist or a journalist. At 13, I wanted to be a TV/stage make-up artist. At 14, I claimed I hated science and would give it up as soon as I could (i.e. after GCSEs). At 16, I almost left school to go to dance college. At 18, I started my degree in theoretical physics .

Interestingly enough, my parents supported every one of those ideas - when I was interested in make-up/beautician stuff, my mum researched the qualifications needed and looked into work experience for me (I ended up doing work experience at a newspaper instead). When I wanted to go to dance college, my mum organised an audition for me for the Bristol School of Dancing. I'm sure she knew that it would be a waste of my academic potential, but she didn't say anything to me about it, she was just supportive, which was really cool . I guess she probably knew deep down that I wouldn't end up doing any of those things anyway .

Football fans relationship with the clubs, past and present, and where traditional media lies in it (because sports clubs are increasingly using their own media and no longer rely on traditional media like they once did).

Have you thought about starting a blog of your own that analyses these things weekly? E.g. how clubs control their media narrative, how these things play out during negotiations with individual players, examine historical changes in the way certain groups of fans relate to their teams (fans v Wenger springs immediately to mind), that sort of thing. There are times where you can very clearly see public opinion shift, guided by the club's hand. That kind of niche insight doesn't exist in current or new media around football, and I think there are a lot of football fans who would be into reading it (or maybe my husband and I are your target audience of two).

Like Liam Neeson, you have a very specific set of skills, and there's no reason to be afraid to develop yourself as the go-to expert on the topic. (Except, of course, the usual self-doubts, but literally everyone suffers from those, so you can ignore them.)

I forgot one funny job I had in the summer during college- I worked in an amusement park taking pictures of people as they walked in.  Then we'd sell them the pictures in little plastic viewers.   I took about 2500 pictures every morning with the assistance of tons of coffee. 

One bizarre thing I learned is that all the black people wanted an additional picture of them standing by themselves.  This was before selfies and when a picture needed to be developed and printed.  White people rarely asked for this.  I can't figure out why, although I accept that I reinforced it by just going ahead and offering to take individual pictures of black people. 

Overall, it was a great job.

Have you thought about starting a blog of your own that analyses these things weekly? E.g. how clubs control their media narrative, how these things play out during negotiations with individual players, examine historical changes in the way certain groups of fans relate to their teams (fans v Wenger springs immediately to mind), that sort of thing. There are times where you can very clearly see public opinion shift, guided by the club's hand. That kind of niche insight doesn't exist in current or new media around football, and I think there are a lot of football fans who would be into reading it (or maybe my husband and I are your target audience of two).

Like Liam Neeson, you have a very specific set of skills, and there's no reason to be afraid to develop yourself as the go-to expert on the topic. (Except, of course, the usual self-doubts, but literally everyone suffers from those, so you can ignore them.)

That's a great idea and could easily lead to a dream job.

Have you thought about starting a blog of your own that analyses these things weekly? E.g. how clubs control their media narrative, how these things play out during negotiations with individual players, examine historical changes in the way certain groups of fans relate to their teams (fans v Wenger springs immediately to mind), that sort of thing. There are times where you can very clearly see public opinion shift, guided by the club's hand. That kind of niche insight doesn't exist in current or new media around football, and I think there are a lot of football fans who would be into reading it (or maybe my husband and I are your target audience of two).

Actually no I havent but that is a very good idea I think! May need to look into this more.

It was really interesting when Fergie was still at United. His relationship with the media is famous for being a bit rough, even banning them from any pre- and post-match interviews. Fergie was fined a few times for refusing to talk with the media. It's in their contracts.

Wenger is an interesting one right now. No doubt he is feeling the pressure. I have not actually seen any pre-match interviews this week (or even post-match after last week's defeat to Liverpool) but I am sure it must be awkward. Mourinho is also a good one to watch, if only for the entertainment value.

It would be good to delve into weekly. One thing about my thesis was that I had to have a cut off of what to write about. There were new things coming up all the time! I could've continued it for ages (glad I didn't though. I was pleased to see the back of it when I turned it in)!

Actually no I havent but that is a very good idea I think! May need to look into this more.

It was really interesting when Fergie was still at United. His relationship with the media is famous for being a bit rough, even banning them from any pre- and post-match interviews. Fergie was fined a few times for refusing to talk with the media. It's in their contracts.

Wenger is an interesting one right now. No doubt he is feeling the pressure. I have not actually seen any pre-match interviews this week (or even post-match after last week's defeat to Liverpool) but I am sure it must be awkward. Mourinho is also a good one to watch, if only for the entertainment value.

It would be good to delve into weekly. One thing about my thesis was that I had to have a cut off of what to write about. There were new things coming up all the time! I could've continued it for ages (glad I didn't though. I was pleased to see the back of it when I turned it in)!

The hardest part will be picking a killer URL. After that, you do what you do best, push through SEO and social media, do some networking ... you could eventually gather your best material and pitch a book. 

I'm interested in the evolution at Liverpool over the last few years: Rafa was persona non grata by the end, King Kenny could do no wrong because of his historical relationship with the fans (and yet was a disaster), Brendan was an about-face from that and, now, there's the magnificent Kloppo. My husband is the Liverpool fan (I'm Arsenal), but it has been absolutely fascinating to watch from an academic perspective. The football world is in desperate need of your insight!