re: Coolest Job(s) You Ever Had....?

Oh man, I had a great one for three summers. I was a high school teacher for several years so my summers always involved some type of side work to make ends meet. A farmer in Vidalia, LA grew sweet corn and sold it to markets in Monroe, BR, Shreveport, NOLA, etc. It had to be kept cold, but instead of using a refrigerated truck, he bought a couple of ambulances and gutted the back. The AC back there kept it plenty cool. So I’d go to the shop in the morning, they’d load the corn (bags of of) in the back, and I’d cut out. I just drove around all day listening to my podcasts and delivering corn. Most awesome gig I ever had.

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You will never hear a professional. experience miner cussing MSHA like you will general industry workers cussing OSHA because there are very few miners who do not have some bone chilling experience...they fully understand that MSHA regulations were written with the blood of their friends and family who were miners before them.

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Everyone that we worked with in the mine knew someone that had died down there. They all had horrible stories of people getting sucked into conveyor belts, crushed by equipment, or when the mine exploded. I smoked at the time. They made it clear that if you brought any tobacco materials in the mine, you'd be escorted out and never allowed to return. Safety was priority number one and EVERYTHING else was secondary.

I got to go watch the longwall machine one day when we ran out of pipe early. I'll never forget watch them move the roof jacks and the ceiling collapsing behind them. Every now and then seeing a bright blue flame run across the ceiling.


Here's a cool video about what it was like. Only difference in the Oak Grove mine I was in, is that you had to ride down an elevator 1000' to get there and then another mile or more in a mine car.

Longwall Mining

Bus driver for minor league sports teams. Hockey, baseball, and Arena Football.

Attended upwards of 150 pro sports events in dozens of cities. NBA arenas down to barely larger than little league baseball fields.