ken cummings

I am trying for a job as a lab tech at a winery 14 miles from my home with a decent commute. They are a subsidiary of another winery some 23 miles one way, 300 feet of climbing, and a wide shoulder on a scenic road almost the entire way there. Where the road is narrow there is a good alternate with a little more climbing. Max temps are in the 80s and there is measureable snow maybe once in 50 years. About 30 inches of rain a year from November to April. There are showers at the winery. Wish me well. What is the best potential job you have ever run across for yourself?

-=(8)=-

I wish the best for you, Ken !!
I had the best possible job in the 80's......I worked for a band
and did freelance art ! A great life !
When my SOn made his unexpected appearance and a real job was
neccassary that all ended


That job, with that commute...Wow. doesnt get much better than that !
Again, best wishes on good stuff coming your way !

pinkrobe

Bastard.

Wheels4

good luck Ken... hope it works well for ya.

as for my best opportunity: It just happened for me about 2 weeks ago. I applied for an Accounting Internship and actually got it. making the equivalent of 3 more dollars an hour(compared to the bank job I had before I went back to school for accounting).

Slow Train

I can picture the commute to work.

But how are you going to make it home after all the sampling**********

michaelnel

My new job is pretty cool. I am building race motorcycles at A&A Racing. No streetbikes, no cruisers, just flat trackers and supermoto racebikes.

Well, I think it's fun anyway!

Wheels4

that would be a cool job... of course, I'm not mechanically inclined

michaelnel

Fortunately, I am. ;-)

bkbroil

Good Luck!

Best job: I worked for myself as an independent contractor for three years until about 7 months ago. I worked out of my house and went out on my bike EVERY DAY -- took a nap EVERY DAY -- it was wonderful! But...all good things must come to an end...things got a little dicey and work wasn't as easy to come by...so I had to give it up and get a full time employee position.

2nd Best Job: The position I have now is 20 miles from my house and it's all MUP right up to the gym next to my office. (Complete with showers and monthly lockers)

Worst Job: Vice President of a software company, worked 7:00am to 9:00pm EVERY DAY.. Enough to put me in the hospital twice with pneumonia at the ripe old age of 33!

jyossarian

+1,000,000

-=(8)=-

I used to be involved in shorttrack in the 70's
My friend and I would load up my converted Elsinore 250 and
his Bultaco 200 and do 1/4 mile and Scrambles tracks in district 6.

buzzman

Congrats on the new job! I love that the bike commute is figured into the equation of what makes a good job for others. I freelanced for 25 years but a few years ago accepted an artist in residence position at a college because I would finally have a more consistent commute.

It also is a factor in where I've chosen to live. I bought my condo based on it's proximity to the bike path (and bus lines) and it's a huge factor for me in the "happiness quotient". And it's funny I wanted at least a 20 mile round trip commute and didn't consider condos that were too close to work.

I can't imagine car commuting 45 minutes or more a day in comparison to my bike rides. I guess I've finally admitted to the fact that I design my life around my bike rides.

slvoid

Whatever you do... do not take the position as a cork soaker...

cgchambers

I used to live in Charlotte NC, NOT the most commuter friendly place around. I worked about 40+ miles of interstate away from my house, not possible to commute. My bikes did not see much use for quite a while. I was able to move to DC for a "dream job" where I lived 8 miles by bike trail away from work. Job is in IT working with a great team. Love the commuting and being able to travel, hate the area. But, love being able to commute though, no matter where I go now the commute by bike is a requirement!

LittleBigMan

Notice Ken said absolutely nothing about the job itself, except "lab tech at a winery."

It's all about the ride!

oboeguy

I had a summer / part-time job in NJ for a while which was about a ten mile ride away to Edgewater from where I was living at the time in Manhattan. Small company, my own cube where the bike would sit, rollers on Riverside Drive each way, nice, steep climb up to the GWB on the way back. It was awesome!

About equal was another summer job up in Westchester where I had to ride about 2 miles to the commuter rail, take the bike on the train ($5 lifetime permit), and then ride 7-8 tough miles of sharp up and down short climbs -- if it wasn't for the lack of cobble stones I'd think I was riding the Tour of Flanders every day. There were very few cars for most of this route and the scenery was better than the ride for the other job but the train ride was a bit of a drag (and made for a pretty time-consuming commute). I'd bring the laptop almost every day to make good use of the time on the train.

ken cummings

Wineries around here are so friendly to cyclists that many of them have bike parking by their tasting rooms and sell insulated bags you can carry like a messenger. One old place even still sells jug wine. You could fill your Camelback with chilled red or white wine. A lot of the wines I see are never sold outside of this area.

Edit: LittleBigman: The job is mostly chemical tests of wine samples - you know quality control. A fringe benefit in some places is when other wineries want to sell you bulk wine to sell under your lable. They usually send two or three sample bottles. The senior staff usually can't take the extra bottles as an outsider could say that affected their judgement. One harvest I was biking home with 3 or 4 free bottles a week. I gave my brother the chardonnay and kept the Johannesberg Reislings.

bmike

I think I'm in my dream job now.

I work primarily with architects and engineers designing timber frame homes and larger commercial heavy timber structures. I travel throughout the northeast, and am starting to develop our western office in SLC, so I get to travel and play in Park City and SLC environs once every 2 months.

I used to work in main office and shop in western New York. I've since gotten burned out, moved to Vermont and opened a sattelite office. 1 mile from home, in an old restored timber frame with a bookstore and cafe downstairs. Large front porch on the office, so with my wireless set up I do email from the rocking chairs at the cafe, when the weather is nice. Excellent, yet hilly riding here in Vermont, and the skiing, snow shoeing, and hiking is fantastic. 2.5 hours from Boston, 3 from NYC...