I count beans. Seems like doing mundane work all day allows me to be more creative when I'm home. Working in a metal fab shop was the best. I was physically tired but my brain still had lots of energy left!

What do you mean you count beans? And what is a piping designer? I count chickens, then. And as you say, the mundane helps us want to tufa to our hearts content. I usually put in 2 hours a day work, rest is MY TIME. (there are days I work 24 hours, but they only come one day every 10 weeks!) And I have 6 days off every 10 weeks. Tufa Time with a cuppa. BB

Accountant/Bookkeeper :o) Can't remember why people sometimes call them bean counters but I like it. I guess the more literal interpretation is pretty funny though. :o)

I'm a school district secretary for the Transportation (school bus) department--the only clerical person among about 90 bus drivers and mechanics. I do everything from payroll to bus routing. The setting reminds me of the show, "Taxi." I often feel like the only normal person amid a bunch of loonies but I'm sure my coworkers would beg to differ.

Deb

This is interesting! Hope to hear from a few more tufaneers out there.

As a piping designer I basically layout piping for natural gas (no, not that kind!) or oil processing facitilies, a.k.a. 'gas plants'. Or put another way, I take flow diagrams and turn them into working drawings (sometimes 3D) so stuff can be built by a fabrication shop. Hmmmm.... does that make sense? Anyway, I've basically packed my piping toys and headed home, trying to make a change.

BB, you mean you wrangle poultry?

goofyj - that is quite a leap from working in a metal fab shop to counting beans! How did that happen?

Deb, sounds like your job requires exceptional organizational skills.

~GC

I am a social worker for the State of Washington,with the Division of Children and Family Services. I have been working with children and families for almost 30 years in this capacity. I am thankful for the new workers eager to try and address the serious difficulties that children and their families face. I have watched the different 'trends' of abuse, and the serious effects of neglect, alcohol, and various drugs. Methamphetamine is a DANGEROUS very serious drug, and affects ALL of us........If ever you have the opportunity to see a discussion about what is going on in your area regarding Children and Families or if a Meth Summit is presented in your area I encourage you to GO FOR IT, the community NEEDS to be educated.
Dena

GC-I've pretty much always done accounting with a couple of years of construction surveying. The fab shop was working during a strike. A very friendly strike where I would yell out the crack between the big doors to the strike line and the guys would explain to me how to do my job. lol I enjoyed it but always seem to gravitate back to the numbers game.

Dena-As a former foster parent-you are my HERO!! Most of "my" kids were coming from/going to residential treatment. Very draining for a single parent to say the least. I understand the meth problem but I really don't think the general public has any idea how bad it is. I try to educate people every chance I get. I now have relatives and friends (clean/sober) involved in the whole scene. Meth is so much more insideous than a lot of street drugs. How have you kept from burning out after 30 years? wow...

Joyce

I am in retail sales, have been for about 20 years. It is by no means my passion, but I work for a good company, get treated well, and make enough money to allow me to indulge myself in my fun stuff.Prior to that I worked in the fitness industry, which I really liked, but didnt like the income.I also used to be a foster parent . I live in a smaller city on Vancouver Island, thought there wasnt much of a drug problem here. I got an education from a girl I met on the junk forum, who lives here also. She works in the needle exchange program here, she has such sad and terrible stories to tell. There are real predators out there waiting to take advantage of people. Cindy

I used to work with mentally handicaped adults, then went to school to be a bean counter, couldn't find work that suited me after graduation. I am now working low profile security which is not what I want to do for long but it does pay the bills. Mostly I provide on site security for retail remodels and store upgrades. Some of my friends say I have an ideal job, I sit around a lot and get paid to watch men work.

Hi everyone...

I build artificial rock waterfalls, pools and spas for very wealthy people for a living. Has anyone here ever thought of using their creative talents with gardening/lanscape design/hypertufa/concrete as a means of employment? The rock sculpting industry is growing rapidly right now and this would be a good time to gain employment...

Just a thought.

Steve Goodale
Coastal Concepts

Steve,
It sounds like interesting, fun (if hard!) work. How would one go about getting into it? Concrete construction experience first, or could someone with mostly artistic experience move directly in to your line of work? How did you start?

I am a stay-at-home mom who's worked odd part-time jobs, but my kids are getting enormous and I will be looking for full-time work within the next five years. I may go into freelance writing, but also I've always adored artificial rock formation when I've seen it, especially on a grand scale. When we go to the zoo in Portland I get as much of a thrill from the winding cave-like "rock" passages as from any of the animals. I've saved magazine articles for years that have picturs & stories about rock-building. I believe I would really like to do this work; I'd mainly need the boldness to try for a job. And some concrete experience, I'm guessing, but, how much?

cheers,
Colleen

I'm a librarian of sorts; I work for a software company. I maintain and check out hardware that the software engineers use for testing the software. An odd sort those software and code writers. Not very hardware oriented. Anyway it pays well and is a great Co. to work for, and Austin is a great place to live.

Dixiesmom

Well, I had a book store for several years which I closed due to the economy. I miss it terribly. I just work in a thrift store part time now, certainly nothing noble. I paint and craft because my heart and hands insist on it. It's very theraputic.

Amy

I own and manage a multi-dealer antique mall with over 30 venders and sell antiques on eBay, teach classes in fused glass, hypertufa and mosaics and do art shows, do gardening in the summer, interior painting and small carpentry jobs and tileing. I am A.D.D. and loving it! Where am I and what am I doing?????

Jo

Colleen,

The best way to start is to build small projects in your free time. A basic understanding of concrete can be attained through these forums and then all it takes is practice and imagination.
I started building swimming pools when I was barely a teenager. The specialized skill I had put me though school(electrical enginnering technology) and supported me on the side while I was pursuing electrical and plumbing trade certifications. I used to read pool magazines and see artificial rock masterpieces in resorts and mansions and dream of what you could do with the ability to build such things. Now I build them.
Start small, be patient and ask lots of questions.

Steve

Thanks, Steve, that's encouraging!

What have I *not* done? I've been a ms. fix-it, bookeeper, house painter, real estate agent, stay-at home-mum of four, managed a health food co-op, a small construction outfit, and a coffee roasting production department. Now I am working 2 afternoons a week as staff and bookeeper at my youngest son's democratic free school. As well, I want to tufa for a living, and I'm just starting. I am working my 27 page business and marketing plan, though. One step at a time! Rocks sounds great Coastal. I will add that to my "must figure out" list. I have designed and built (with DH) a mortar over straw bale wood-fired hot tub. So far, so good. I'm also looking for funding for an apprenticeship. If I get the funding, is coming out to Vancouver in the fall a possiblity?

Blooming

Name says it mostly. Have been a self employed gardener for 20 years after getting out of the hotel business. Work mostly on my own and do both interior and exterior projects. Design, installation and maintenance. Like small city yards the most and doing seasonal interior decor for hotels. My partner and I own a wine shop too. I mostly purchase all the accoutrement and do the displays where as he concentrates on the wine part.
And lastly, I SELL TUFA! It is becoming a bigger part of my income as I go along. Maybe, I will work in the rock sculting industry? I certainly have seen several local companies diong amazing work.

I am a retired hairdresser. My DH and I live in Florida. I weave baskets and sell at a few arts and crafts shows. I love taking care of my yard and growing things. I made some stepping stones a couple of years ago with cement and decorated them with broken terra cotta pot pieces. I didn't know what I was doing, but they turned out pretty well. Now I have an interest in hypertufa and haven't done anything yet, but do enjoy this forum.

I'm a "kept woman". Actually, my one child is grown, and for several years, until she passed away, I looked after my mother. My husband is a commercial fisherman and I run errands for him, and I am a wildlife rehabber. The animals take up a lot of time, but mostly I just do whatever I want to do...piddle and dawdle. ;))

I am resting on the laurels of a wonderful 30 year span, teaching biology to hormonally challenged teenagers. What fun that was!!!!!!!!!!! Man oh man!!!!!! I am still having fun, but no longer getting paid for it ..........

Vicki

Besides gleaning as much info from you folks you mean??? LOL I work for a wildfire protection agency and my job is supervisor of public education and fire dispatch. So if you like high stress, long hours, like to go in 500 different directions at the drop of a hat then this is the job for you. Being creative is a great way for me to unwind and relax at home. Can't take vacations during the summer months so I do projects at home.

I just finished over 7 years of graduate work trying to improve gene therapy in adult stem cells, and now I'm trying to design viruses that specifically target and kill cancer cells. The big picture sounds pretty interesting, but the day-to-day stuff is pretty mundane. Lab work is mostly exact measurements and careful record keeping so, when I get to play with tufa, I enjoy dabs-of-this and a-little-of-that type of measurements. I'm often tempted to make a go of it in the art world but many of my art projects have taken longer than my graduate work...I guess the left brain doesn't know what the right brain is doing :)

Wow. I just read this post over again. There are some very interesting people doing concrete/tufa here! I'm proud to be here among y'all! Yes. I still raise/count chickens. But I have this huge
FOR SALE
sign in my front yard. And I am thinking to myself,
"Now what do I do for the rest of my life?????"
This is truly a dilemma for me. I live in a rural area. And I want a fun job. Something I would really enjoy doing, and make enough money to support myself. I guess "I" am the only one who can figure this out. Gee, Justin. Your job is soooo important. I hope you do find the cure for cancer. Wouldn't that be great? (my late husband passed away from prostate cancer. We did a trial treatment at John Hopkins. We knew there was no cure for him, but if nobody did the available "trials", a cure may never be found.) Keep up the good work! BB

BB,

Sorry to hear about your husband and the fact that you're at such a crossroads in life. How rural is rural...ie, how far are you from the big city? I was thinking a Chicken Dude Ranch Bed and Breakfast sounds like fun???

I wish I could find the cure, but every little step forward seems like an eternity, until you look around at all of the progress everyone else is making...that's research. I enjoy coming up with creative new ideas, I just wish I could get to the point where other people do the testing to see if they fly :)

I hope you find a new career that you love!

regards, Justin

ROFLMAO. Justin, you mean convert chicken houses into rooms for guests? Kinda see how the "other chicken" lived? That would be funny. Don't know if I could ever get the smell out! In the summer, we have misters that mist the chicks to keep them cool. NOTHING smells worse than a wet chicken! I am about 3 hours from Baltimore or Washington. Only 45 minutes from the Ocean City, MD, beach resort. If I didn't think the salt in the sand would be a problem, I could do "Sand Cast Your Body on the Beach" while you wait. HEY. NOT a BAD IDEA, maybe!! I have used the Quick Setting concrete, sets up in 15 minutes, sets up very hard . HMMMMMM. Still laughing, but, hey, there are possibilities!! Brainstorming is a good way to come up with the best ideas sometimes. I can see cars leaving with full body casts strung on the tops of cars like surf boards!!! LOL!! BB

Ha! I don't know about making them sleep there, but you could charge them to work for you roundin' up dem chickens. You know, like one of those city slickers cowboy dude ranches :) I think your sand cast body boards would be a bigger hit :) Maybe you could make some concrete water wings and life jackets as gags, too. I hope you enjoy whatever you end up doing! Justin

Ya'll are toooo funny :-) What an interesting group of people tufa-ing. I was a bartender for 31 years and now I own a little lounge, mostly after work crowd in the day, and a mixture, 21 t0 70 year olds at night. We live in the sticks and love every minute of it! We live 36 miles from Baton Rouge, I come to town 4 or 5 days a week.
bonnie

ButterflyBush, something will come along for you to do for the rest of your life that is perfect, and you'll wonder why you never thought of it in the first place. You just have to be patient because it can only happen at the right moment, and the right moment is almost never when you think it should be.

I've raised three awesome kids, and I have a degree in electrical engineering. I've worked in computer repair, support, networking, database management and design, and software development.

Now I'm a CNA, or certified nursing assistant (and by the way, I'm pretty sure I can name at least three odors that make wet chickens smell downright heavenly in comparison!), and third-year nursing student.

So I know all about change, and about trying to figure out what to do next, and how the answer never comes when you want it to but it always comes when you most need it and are ready to take it on. Hang in there. It will happen!

-Ruth Rogers

Hi everyone!
I am a locomotive engineer most of the time, a crazy mudslinger the rest of the time. My husband says I'm addicted and loony, but happy. I think he thinks I'm out there sniffin' the admix or somethin'. I always come back in the house excited over some new idea or project I'm working on. I wish I could do this for a living. Give me a minute and I might figure out how to make it happen.

I love that there are so many other mudslingers out there willing the help each other with our passion.

Mary

WOW....hehehehe hello everyone:) It has been a very long time since my last visit to tufa!!! After reading all this, I have to say...What a fun group:)
As for me..my background also is colorfull:) But, my education and certifications: Auto Mechanic, automotive repair shop owner (now closed) auto Painter, bodyperson, oh yah and I owned nightclubs for 7yrs, have a business managment background, and worked at a bank.
I had to quit working any 9-5 jobs but I have been able to keep my...two weekends a month job as a firearms instructor, I teach classes for the state DLNR
(department of land and natural resources)
This is the only work I do now, but mostly I am a stay at home mom. I had to give up working for a while.
My 2nd son was born with birth defect (severe bylateral clubfoot).
Also, a week before my son was born my husband had just gotten out of the hospital after having triple bypass heart sergery. (he had a heart attack at work)
Tufa saved my sanity!!! hehehe:) my husband made me quit for about a year now, and just the other day said he was ok with me getting back into doing it again:)

TA DA and so here I am:) I have learned so much from this place:) I love bieng back:)

Ps. Please forgive any spelling errors...It's about 12:30pm here in Hawaii, and I have to hurry and get some tuffa time in before everyone gets up!!! heheheh
Carole

Hi All, It has been ages since I last spoke with this group. After reading this post I felt I have gotten to know you better. I am a teacher, a house painter, a stained glass and mosaic artist, and my husband and I own a concrete statuary business in Wyo. And in my spare time I tufa. Some of the items I have made were for mosaic projects, some for fun and some to sell. My favorite is a rhubarb leaf water fountain (5 leaves in all).
I like the idea of doing the faux water falls,and pools like coastal-concepts. But I'm not sure if it is practical considering Wyo. weather. Things are slow this time of year so I might start a few new tufa projects. Thanks for letting me get to know you all better. MSW

Hi, Ya'll....I love this place...just joined a couple of days ago, but been lurking for a few months. I'm retired from nursing...home care. And cared for two dear husbands..been widowed twice. Just bought a house last year so that my daughter and ll year old granddaughter could live with me...we have great fun. Never dreamed I'd ever have another garden...shade garden under the gingko tree..great leaves for the hypertofu stepping stones. and I'm making hypertofu garden stones to line the walk next to the house. BTW..just planted 700 periwinkle plants with 300 to go...my poor knees. Sharon IN