Call me a Fool

[Breedlove]

I seem to buy a lot of tools from a big box tool store . So for me buying tools is like buying new toys . So I walked into my favorite store Saturday and what do I see (help wanted . )

I know it is probably crazy but I think I could work in a store like this , haven't worked retail since I was a kid .

So I go to the online application , they actually ask on the application if you are over 40 yrs old , also what year I graduated from college . The online app is set up that you cannot decline this information . Probably get trashed but for a short time I felt badder then Steve Earle !

 

[target2019]

Apply at one of the Lowes stores that are closing. Maybe you'll get laid off real quick, and have enough credits for UI.
I used to be a tool collector. So long ago, but I recall the fun in trying to improve the outcome with another tool.

 

[Choices]

Lord help me, I left a stressful office job and worked at one of those places.....for a bit. Problem was it was not well managed, lots of waste. I had been a stock holder for years, sold my stock.
It wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be

 

[RunningBum]

You're a fool. ( you asked us to call you that!)

But my dad thought the same thing. Two weeks of working bad hours as the newbie, and doing some fairly heavy lifting, he'd had enough. It wasn't just puttering down the aisles, helping people with some neat stuff. Very little, in fact.

Worse, he felt like he couldn't go back in the store for whatever reason, so he lost his hobby place to go. That part probably wouldn't apply to many.

Maybe your experience will be different, but don't count on it.

 

[Breedlove]

I don't think anything will come of it , I just need to get more music gigs . Also tons of work !

 

[Red Badger]

Lord help me, I left a stressful office job and worked at one of those places.....for a bit. Problem was it was not well managed, lots of waste. I had been a stock holder for years, sold my stock.
It wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be

After I ruled out consulting as a retirement "side hustle," I thought about the Lowes/HD gig.

I would have a boss.

Some customers would be @ssholes.

I would have my schedule dictated

I would have a short, but perhaps not brief, commute.

I concluded that "side hustles" are jobs and I didn't need nor want one. At the soup kitchen, only the first would applies - - and only loosely. So that's my side hustle!

 

[Red Badger]

Also, what RB said. I'd lose my hobby place where sometimes I go just to cruise the isles for interesting/hobby stuff.

 

[Breedlove]

I did a consulting job for a local retail company when I first retired . It was fine at first , I was to establish their policies and procedures for their operation and Supply Chain. It started as fun but wow it became a real mess . The company wanted to redo their POS /barcoding system but they wanted employees to be able to change prices , set new part numbers,disassemble complete units to sell components . Company did close to 50M yearly but looked like a junkyard …..still does

 

[Jerry1]

I. Outdoor only imagine doing something like that at a small hardware store where the boss/owner recognized that you’re there to help customers. Sure, there will be other things that need to be done but the focus and understanding should be to help customers. Problem - finding a small store that still exists today. Good luck.

 

[aja8888]

An old guy working in Lowes or HD is asking for trouble.

You would be "on the bottom" and have the worst hours (say 5:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 3 days per week), have no benefits (you are part time), be lifting heavy stuff or unloading trucks, and have a 25 year old female boss who hated her father.

 

[Choices]

I concluded that "side hustles" are jobs and I didn't need nor want one. At the soup kitchen, only the first would applies - - and only loosely. So that's my side hustle! [/QUOTE]

Funny thing, Red Badger, I left this gig for a volunteer stint at a soup kitchen! It was way more rewarding

 

[JDARNELL]

In 2014 I did audits for drug companies counting salesmen samples for closeout. Good money for 30 min work. I still get the emails so last night I looked at them and thought hey this would be good for me to make a little for spring bike trip with the guys. I then looked at the 3 exams I had to pass with 100%. Nope not interested. Barrier to entry way too high for someone FIRE’d

 

[EastWest Gal]

I seem to buy a lot of tools from a big box tool store . So for me buying tools is like buying new toys . So I walked into my favorite store Saturday and what do I see (help wanted . )

I know it is probably crazy but I think I could work in a store like this , haven't worked retail since I was a kid .

So I go to the online application , they actually ask on the application if you are over 40 yrs old , also what year I graduated from college . The online app is set up that you cannot decline this information . Probably get trashed but for a short time I felt badder then Steve Earle !

One of my DH’s friends got kicked out of IT in 2008. Home Depot saved him. Benefits, training, stayed with him through a DUI and subsequent heart attack due to having to bicycle everywhere when he didn’t have his license. I think Home Depot likes older workers who have proved their consistency.

He’s been there for years. Coming from a high stress occupation (physician, pediatric hospitalist) my current dream job is to water plants in a garden center. Part time.[emoji846]

 

[broadway]

my current dream job is to water plants in a garden center. Part time.[emoji846]

You may not be an employee of Lowes or Home Depot.


I saw ads on Craigslist for an unamed company that grew potted plants sold at Lowes or Home Depot, and they were looking for people to go to those stores to water them.

 

[NW-Bound]

One of my DH’s friends got kicked out of IT in 2008. Home Depot saved him. Benefits, training, stayed with him through a DUI and subsequent heart attack due to having to bicycle everywhere when he didn’t have his license. I think Home Depot likes older workers who have proved their consistency.

He’s been there for years. Coming from a high stress occupation (physician, pediatric hospitalist) my current dream job is to water plants in a garden center. Part time.[emoji846]

If you do not need money, how 'bout doing your own gardening in your backyard?

My wife is into gardening a lot more than I am - I am just helping out with harder but less frequent work like tilling the soil. We only have a normal urban lot, but if my wife has 1 acre, I think she will manage to fill it with trees and plants.

 

[38Chevy454]

An old guy working in Lowes or HD is asking for trouble.

You would be "on the bottom" and have the worst hours (say 5:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 3 days per week), have no benefits (you are part time), be lifting heavy stuff or unloading trucks, and have a 25 year old female boss who hated her father.

I have a friend that retired and needed some money, got a job at Home Depot. This is exactly right, he went in very early and stocked shelves as his primary job responsibility. He did not need benefits, just wanted to get more money. He did say that the local mgmt was not that good, but did work with him on schedule flexibility. Overall he made a little over min wage, and really did not like the job.

 

[HighOnLife]

Try it!

 

[marko]

When I first RE'd I thought I'd get a small nothing job. The owner of the store told me "What's wrong with you? You're doing what everyone else wants to do!"

 

[travelover]

When I first retired, I w*rked for Habitat for Humanity first rehabbing, then building new houses. It quickly became a j*b and they bugged me to take on more responsibility and a tighter schedule. The final straw was doing a final touch up job on a house while the new owner's quickly moved in boyfriend sat on his a$$ and watched TV. I didn't hustle my whole life to serve some loser. YMMV

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

...I concluded that "side hustles" are jobs...

Shhhh!!!! Don't tell that to those that are "retired" yet still have a [-]"side hustle"[/-] J-O-B...

 

[HI Bill]

Ok, as a former fool (you asked for it): You're a fool! Trying to make a hobby into a job makes it no longer a hobby.

I love to scuba dive. I went through several classes and finally made it to the professional level. After a few classes where I was responsible for people's safety, carrying tanks, and working, I decided to give up being a professional diver. Even the professionals talk about 'fun dives', which means dives where they're not teaching, and not leading clients on dives. I went back to diving for fun, and for me, and I still love it!

Don't let your hobby become your work, or it won't be fun anymore (maybe this doesn't apply to everyone/everything, but there's always that risk).

 

[NYEXPAT]

Thankfully, the young wife still has 20-25 good years left in her! If after that she wants a side hustle and I am still above ground, I probably wouldn't/couldn't object.

 

[Red Badger]

I concluded that "side hustles" are jobs and I didn't need nor want one. At the soup kitchen, only the first would applies - - and only loosely. So that's my side hustle!

Funny thing, Red Badger, I left this gig for a volunteer stint at a soup kitchen! It was way more rewarding

Oh Yeah!!!

We have members here (ER.org) that go to the major catastrophes and assist masses in getting as close to normal as possible. That's more than I can take on. But supporting the less fortunate in my hood is very rewarding. We have a lot of folks in our rather affluent area that life chose to bless in very challenging ways. As a veteran, I tell them, "I've got your six." Overall, the gratitude can be tearful.

 

[audreyh1]

Ok, as a former fool (you asked for it): You're a fool! Trying to make a hobby into a job makes it no longer a hobby.

I love to scuba dive. I went through several classes and finally made it to the professional level. After a few classes where I was responsible for people's safety, carrying tanks, and working, I decided to give up being a professional diver. Even the professionals talk about 'fun dives', which means dives where they're not teaching, and not leading clients on dives. I went back to diving for fun, and for me, and I still love it!

Don't let your hobby become your work, or it won't be fun anymore (maybe this doesn't apply to everyone/everything, but there's always that risk).

Yep - pretty much why we never tried to earn money at our photography in spite of being constantly urged to do so because our work was so "professional". Figured it would ruin the experience and I'm quite sure it would have.

People still constantly pester DH to teach photography classes, and he pretty much answers "no way".

 

[FreeBear]

Yep, into water stuff and photo too. Casual bystander occasionally offer that we "do it for a living". Maybe I should reply that "this is living", doing it for fun. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm afraid of personal liability, esp. With water sport guiding... To much stress, worse than my old day j*b.