How physical is your job?

bluelifer

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I miss having a physical job. Through high school and early college I did a lot of farm and construction work. Then I shifted to restaurant work, which, while not physically demanding, kept me active. After a few years of doing the heavy lifting in our family business, I now find myself sitting at a desk the majority of the day.

I suppose most jobs in general are less phyisically demanding than they once were, but sitting at this desk everyday is starting to wear me out.
 

AustinTXCat

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Jan 7, 2003
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<----- Systems Analyst. Hence my reason for cycling/walking all over north Austin and nearly everywhere else I go. When I started this job back in late 2010, more physical work was involved. No longer true these days.
 

bluelifer

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<----- Systems Analyst. Hence my reason for cycling/walking all over north Austin and nearly everywhere else I go. When I started this job back in late 2010, more physical work was involved. No longer true these days.

I understand that. I never exercised outside of sports, but lately I've almost been craving it. I'm currently running about a mile through the woods every morning and following that up with splitting wood and chopping roots by hand.
 
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ukalumni00

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Jun 22, 2005
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I've done hard work and I've done easy work.

Easy is better. That's where I am now.
Same here. I have my days where I would like to be doing something like construction or something along those lines, but then I sit back and realize how good I have it now.
 

BlueRaider22

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It's not very physical, but can be. There are times that I will join in with the exercises with my patients....but most of the time I don't.

Strangely enough I used to work construction and farm work. I do miss parts of it. When I worked a physical job, I would go home at the end of the day exhausted.......but I didn't use my mind a ton, so even though I was physically exhausted I did cross-word puzzles and watched Jeopardy. Now, it's the other way around. I get home and mentally I'm exhausted but physically I'm fine. There are times during work these days that I wish I could turn off my brain and just work.....
 

WildcatFan1982

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I work the front desk of a hotel. I just stand there. Not demanding. Now the past 3 weeks we spent getting the hotel ready to open? Exhausting.
 

DSmith21

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Not very but back in the 80's...
 
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My job is mostly a desk job, but I have to deal with the athletic facilities from time to time since there is no such thing as a director of athletic facilities at the vast majority of D3 schools.
 

bluelifer

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Any mail carriers in here? Seems like that would be a pretty sweet gig.

Stroll around the neighborhood, soaking up the rays and feeling the cool morning breeze. Your typical interaction with the general public might be a quick hi and bye, or maybe a toss of the tennis ball for Mrs. Johnson's golden retriever. The route keeps you active, but doesn't break your body down. I think I missed my calling.
 
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Any mail carriers in here? Seems like that would be a pretty sweet gig.

Stroll around the neighborhood, soaking up the rays and feeling the cool morning breeze. Your typical interaction with the general public might be a quick hi and bye, or maybe a toss of the tennis ball for Mrs. Johnson's golden retriever. The route keeps you active, but doesn't break your body down. I think I missed my calling.
Most residential mail routes don't involve getting out of the vehicle unless something doesn't fit in the mailbox.

My dad was a mail carrier back when there were mail routes that still involved doing it on foot because the mailboxes were beside the front door. Couldn't get out of that job quick enough. In between having to deal with decrepit houses, dogs that could have still been wild animals, weather that was most often unpleasant, and then add on top of all that all the people who are evil/mean/inconsiderate, there wasn't a whole lot to like about the job.

And now the modern mail carrier gets to deal with dwindling job security due to the US Postal Service failing, which such uncontrollable forces as threats of eliminating another day of mail delivery, mailing centers being eliminated, longer mail routes so they can cut even more jobs, etc.
 

bluelifer

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Most residential mail routes don't involve getting out of the vehicle unless something doesn't fit in the mailbox.

My dad was a mail carrier back when there were mail routes that still involved doing it on foot because the mailboxes were beside the front door. Couldn't get out of that job quick enough. In between having to deal with decrepit houses, dogs that could have still been wild animals, weather that was most often unpleasant, and then add on top of all that all the people who are evil/mean/inconsiderate, there wasn't a whole lot to like about the job.

I choose not to believe any of that. Don't ruin this fantasy for me.
 
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And mail carriers will eventually get replaced with drones. Book it. Will happen within the next 50 years if USPS hasn't gone completely bankrupt.
 

wildcatadam6

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I drive a lot, and it's actually quite taxing. Back is starting to give me fits. Hope I can do it another ten or twelve years, then I'll do something else.
 

domino79

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Most residential mail routes don't involve getting out of the vehicle unless something doesn't fit in the mailbox.

My dad was a mail carrier back when there were mail routes that still involved doing it on foot because the mailboxes were beside the front door. Couldn't get out of that job quick enough. In between having to deal with decrepit houses, dogs that could have still been wild animals, weather that was most often unpleasant, and then add on top of all that all the people who are evil/mean/inconsiderate, there wasn't a whole lot to like about the job.

Those were the parts I liked when I delivered for FedEx. I liked to see how far into the day I could go sprinting in and out of each residence before I gave out. The only drawback were the customers who liked to take up your time discussing mundane BS, and even that wasn't as bad as cranenecks in traffic holding up lights to check their phones.

Seriously, lighting up, listening to Joseph Campbell on audible and darting in and out of traffic delivering small packages on a warm summer day was close to transcendent.
 
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Those were the parts I liked when I delivered for FedEx. I liked to see how far into the day I could go sprinting in and out of each residence before I gave out. The only drawback were the customers who liked to take up your time discussing mundane BS, and even that wasn't as bad as cranenecks in traffic holding up lights to check their phones.

Seriously, lighting up, listening to Joseph Campbell on audible and darting in and out of traffic delivering small packages on a warm summer day was close to transcendent.
Won't be saying that when a dog attacks you and you get sued by the owners because you tried to protect yourself, you fall in a hole in a porch of a house because the floor gives out, or you nearly get shot.
 
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Oh, and I forgot the people constantly berating you for their social security welfare, or whatever other government bailout checks they receive, then threatening or assaulting you because you are "hiding" or "stealing" it from them when the reality is it just hasn't arrived yet.
 

domino79

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Won't be saying that when a dog attacks you and you get sued by the owners because you tried to protect yourself, you fall in a hole in a porch of a house because the floor gives out, or you nearly get shot.

Other than getting shot, literally all that stuff has happened to me. It's not a bad job unless you're a sad sack.
 

domino79

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Oh, and I forgot the people constantly berating you for their social security welfare, or whatever other government bailout checks they receive, then threatening or assaulting you because you are "hiding" or "stealing" it from them when the reality is it just hasn't arrived yet.

That's called Dealing With the Public, warts and all.

Maybe your old man just couldn't hack it. Glad he got out of it.
 
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That's called Dealing With the Public, warts and all.

Maybe your old man just couldn't hack it. Glad he got out of it.
He could hack it, being a mail carrier is the bottom (or very near the bottom) of the totem pole in nearly every business that delivers though because it's not a skilled position to stick a piece of mail in a mailbox. He could get the same amount of physical labor (and nowadays it would be more physical labor given most routes don;t involve getting out of the vehicle) with much better working conditions and for better pay by working at the post office instead of on a mail route.
 

domino79

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Sorry, but FedEX just isn't the same as USPS bro. You don't have to revisit the exact same places five days a week year round like a USPS mail carriers.

And with that, I know you don't what in the hell you're talking about. I saw many residences multiple times a week, and small to large businesses daily operating out of brick and mortar and homes. I took every route Lexington had from Cynthiana to Berea, Bardstown to Morehead. Stop making USPS to be like some kind of special forces unit. They deliver the mail. Or try to to, when they're not feeding their dick-licking sons a bunch of delusional ********.
 
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And with that, I know you don't what in the hell you're talking about. I saw many residences multiple times a week, and small to large businesses daily operating out of brick and mortar and homes. I took every route Lexington had from Cynthiana to Berea, Bardstown to Morehead. Stop making USPS to be like some kind of special forces unit. They deliver the mail. Or try to to, when they're not feeding their dick-licking sons a bunch of delusional ********.
So you are telling me you went to every single household on your route every single day 5 days a week? That's the way it is with USPS, that's not the way it is with FedEx, UPS, DHL, and whatever other delivery services there are.

But yes, I reckon it is delusional that my dad was nearly shot and had to go to court to testify over it. I reckon he, the witnesses, and the lawyers were just making up all this **** for the the ***** and giggles. Idiot.

At least now I am reminded why FedEX is a second class operation compared to UPS.
 

domino79

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Here's the deal: I could do what your daddy tried to do, but he couldn't do what I did well.
 

Ron Mehico

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Here's the deal: I could do what your daddy tried to do, but he couldn't do what I did well.

Although I've thoroughly enjoyed your alls back and forth, pretty much 80% of the population could do what both his dad and you did well, mental handicaps included.
 

UKGrad93

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I'm mostly at a desk, but somedays I can end up walking several miles since I work on a college campus.
 

Pawpaw42

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Been working in a steel mill for the past 20+ years, hot as heck year round, and I'm starting to get old.
 

MegaBlue05

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My right index finger gets a great workout with all the clicking it does.

The rest of me, not so much.

I work a desk job and it beats the hell out of every manual labor job (farm work, factory/warehouse work) I ever had.
 

We-Todd-Did

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Not really physical and becoming less so as time goes on. I started using a pedometer to assess my true laziness. If I try I can get 6k steps a day which isn't too bad.
 

I need this

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I've often thought being a stocker at Kroger or whereeverthef on a night shift would be baller. Limited involvement with the riff raff. Throw some head phones on and go about your business. There is a 98% chance it isn't like this at all and its completely miserable, but whatever.
 

bluelifer

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I've often thought being a stocker at Kroger or whereeverthef on a night shift would be baller. Limited involvement with the riff raff. Throw some head phones on and go about your business. There is a 98% chance it isn't like this at all and its completely miserable, but whatever.

Pick a store that isn't easy to walk to. That's key in limiting your exposure to riff raff. Better yet, spend a summer stocking shelves at a Save-A-Lot, that'll really make you appreciate everything you have.