Bassists with "Risky" or "Dangerous" day time jobs

kissmybASS01 · #1 04-02-2008, 06:10 PM

Greetings group,

I'm interested to hear from any other bassists (or guitarists) who have risky or dangerous day time jobs. I'm talking about risks to your playing abilities - especially close to "gig times."

Me personally, I work in a small kitchen cabinetry shop. I regularly use chop and table saws and have had some "minor" kickbacks, and use nail guns, staplers and the like. I've squished my fingers a couple of times, many cuts, scrapes, finger puncture wounds, minor bleeding ,etc.

Close to performances, I always want to stay at home with my hands wrapped in oven mitts

Your turn!

troy2003 · #2 04-02-2008, 06:40 PM

I do restarant equipment repair.I tend to get a lot of burns and cuts on finger tips.Burns I can handle for the most part,but the cuts right on the tip of the finger sure suckI have a hard time playing with band-aids.

iamlowsound · #3 04-02-2008, 07:58 PM

I am a framer about 90% of the time, odd jobs the rest of the time. I use all kinds of saws, nailers, hammers, skid-steers, drills, you name it, I use it. I have never injured a finger or hand too bad, but I have whacked them with hammers a few times. I almost died today because I slid down a two story roof, caught myself on the eavestrough.

lowsound

FPS · #4 04-02-2008, 08:12 PM

I work at a Hydrogen plant, we make several million SCF daily. Our customer pumps it up to 5,000 psig right next door.

They have a bunker with very thick walls for a control room. We have a thin metal trailer for a control room. If anything ever happens I won't have to worry about my hands or anything else.

kissmybASS01 · #5 04-02-2008, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPS

I work at a Hydrogen plant, we make several million SCF daily. Our customer pumps it up to 5,000 psig right next door.

They have a bunker with very thick walls for a control room. We have a thin metal trailer for a control room. If anything ever happens I won't have to worry about my hands or anything else.

Yikes! Now that's dangerous! I'm guessing smoking is a no-no at your workplace

BuffaloBass · #6 04-03-2008, 04:56 AM

Well, used to be Airborne. Does that count as dangerous.?

Now I run $$$ portfolios. Cushy duty until the "walls" on Wall Street start cracking and crumbling. The "hazardous" duty performed earlier helps me keep persepctive and my head on straight at all times.

Mr. Black · #7 04-03-2008, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPS

I work at a Hydrogen plant, we make several million SCF daily. Our customer pumps it up to 5,000 psig right next door.

They have a bunker with very thick walls for a control room. We have a thin metal trailer for a control room. If anything ever happens I won't have to worry about my hands or anything else.

I do Industrial inspection. Mainly oil refineries and chemical plants. I have a unit like that right next to my office

....

If any of you drive by any refineries or plants, take a look at them. All those columns and piping racks you see is where I make my dough. I get to monkey around and inside of those on a daily basis.

I just don't look down.

Naturekev · #8 04-03-2008, 12:00 PM

I work as a machinist. I've had lots of injuries to my fingers that have made playing difficult. A few years ago, I had to get a friend to take my place at a show after I severely injured two of my fingers at work.

JKT · #9 04-03-2008, 12:08 PM

I run a large wildlife rehabilitation center. Bites are potential hazard but training and common sense keeps you safe.
I'm also a falconer and there is some potential there too I guess.

JKT

mjolnir · #10 04-03-2008, 12:21 PM

Not sure how well this applies, but I'm an IT tech at a heating and cooling plant. Everything's computerized these days, so that means there's computers all over the place in the main plant area, some in very strange, very high up places. When they break, IT sends me (I'm the b**** of the IT department, you see...). Ain't no safety nets on a boiler computer with the main processor sitting on a narrow catwalk three stories up with the boiler right behind you running at temperatures I don't even wanna think about...

jive1 · #11 04-03-2008, 12:22 PM

Never had a dangerous job like what you guys mentioned, but I used to play a lot of basketball. As is the case with playing hoops, it's not difficult to jam a finger or two. My bandmates would hate it if I played ball the day of a gig, because of the couple of times I showed up to a gig with taped up fingers.

NJL · #12 04-03-2008, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jive1

Never had a dangerous job like what you guys mentioned, but I used to play a lot of basketball. As is the case with playing hoops, it's not difficult to jam a finger or two. My bandmates would hate it if I played ball the day of a gig, because of the couple of times I showed up to a gig with taped up fingers.

street ball is WAY more dangerous than boxing... jmho

69nites · #13 04-03-2008, 12:26 PM

I'm a welder

aside from the small burns I've never had an injury on the job.

Mr. Black · #14 04-03-2008, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjolnir

Not sure how well this applies, but I'm an IT tech at a heating and cooling plant. Everything's computerized these days, so that means there's computers all over the place in the main plant area, some in very strange, very high up places. When they break, IT sends me (I'm the b**** of the IT department, you see...). Ain't no safety nets on a boiler computer with the main processor sitting on a narrow catwalk three stories up with the boiler right behind you running at temperatures I don't even wanna think about...

We had to run ultrasonics (determines thickness) on circuit of large bore (36"- 48" diameter) piping going into a series of forced air fan coolers (approximately 6 foot in diameter giant fans which force air across a series of product filled tubing).

The kicker was that the piping ran above the fans which blow directly up. To add to that the piping was running in the range of 400 degrees.

The fans were blowing air that was equivelent to standing in front of a 6 ft tall hairdryer.

You would think that you would sweat your ass off in that situation, but you don't. It pretty much evaporates as soon as it comes out of the pores. When the day ends you feel like you stuck your face in a sandbox because of all the salt deposits that are left on your face & neck.

Pays good though

.....

Phalex · #15 04-03-2008, 12:43 PM

I used to run a band saw at a metal fabrication facility. I never got bit but one of my compadres did.

Spector_Ray · #16 04-03-2008, 12:56 PM

I'm a letter carrier/Associate Supervisor of Customer Services which means I have to deal with dogs and jerks all day long.

Bassic83 · #17 04-03-2008, 03:08 PM

I work in a gas-fired power plant. I'm always around 138KV lines, boilers that leak high-pressure steam, 6-inch gas-supply lines, not to mention the loud noises when a steam or gas relief valve goes off- 140db (had one today). Also, today's relief valve seriously ticked off a bee colony nearby, who flew right at Unit 3 in a swarm. There was about 4-5,000 bees swarming on a 6-inch steam pipe!

They all died when they got hit by a blast of hot, soapy water.

We also have four aggressive types of wasps and hornets nesting out here.

But the most dangerous part of working here is the chemical plants surrounding us. I'm on the Houston Ship Channel, and there are many refineries and chem plants all around...and they has incidences...sometimes.

Edit- forgot about the dangers of the turbines themselves- if any of the blades on the wheels let go at speed (3600 RPM) there is a good possibility that they can travel up to a mile, depending on when they let go and what (or who) they hit...

Bassic83 · #18 04-03-2008, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spector_Ray

I'm a letter carrier/Associate Supervisor of Customer Services which means I have to deal with dogs and jerks all day long.

If you don't deliver my tax refund check, I'monna sic my dawg Buford on you...!

Seriously, people underestimate the dangers of being a letter carrier. It's not fun work. I tip my mailman around Christmastime, he is usually amazed by that. Everyone used to do that when/where I grew up, though...

kvane · #19 04-03-2008, 03:21 PM

I work for Wilhelmsen Ships Services (Unitor) as a driver (CDL class A), we supply welding products, chemicals, and compressed gas cylinders to vessels along side the peir. Well, the only way that most ships can on-load is via their cranes. Needless to say, it is a dangerous environment to your life. Constantly around forklifts, cranes, onboard foreign vessels... I work as safely as possible, but sometimes the job just "has to get done." I've been nearly crushed 3 times, almost lost fingers/hands on numerous occassions, and have been lucky as hell not losing a foot or two in the process. Ahhh, day jobs...

The Lurker · #20 04-03-2008, 03:22 PM

I'm an environmental scientist; I do a lot of hazmat cleanups and compliance stuff in factories.

I've almost been blown up once during a gas tank cleanup; the soil was wringing-wet with gasoline, and the backhoe's bucket struck a spark on a stone-- the gas vapors in the hole ignited, VOOOMP, in a huge fireball.

Also, it's not really risky, but it is frelling disgusting-- I've worked on a couple industrial poultry farms over the last couple years. The stink of turkey carcasses that have been buried in an anaerobic environment (in this case, 30' deep pits) for 20+ years is indescribable-- they don't rot away to dry bones, they stay in the 'runny' stage..... the coops had over a foot of accumulated turkey poop on the floors.