What strange things have you done to stretch your income during hard times?

theotherwaldo

theotherwaldo

Well-known member
Joe Biden's announcement today that he's going to run again reminded me of some of the ways that I tried to help my family during previous hard times, like the one that he wants to put us through.
Here are a few of the odder ones:
  • Recycling. I used to cruise the streets of Los Angeles in my truck, picking up cardboard, newsprint, metals and re-sellables. It actually paid more than basic wage, even when you factor in the 16 to 20 hour days. This involved having police helicopters spotlight me as I worked the streets and alleys of the Hollywood hills and similar places.
  • Breaking up storage lots. I used to hit rural auctions and buy up the stuff that nobody else wanted. I made some great scores, like pallets of Mercedes Benz halogen headlight assemblies that had been removed from newly imported cars because they hadn't been legal yet for one dollar per pallet.
  • Opportunism. Lots of examples, like finding a whole row of condemned 1920's garages (under 1920's apartments) that were stuffed with things like hundreds of antique shopping carts that sold for at least $25 each. Just keep your eyes open and grab opportunity when it wanders by.
  • Panning for gold. Dad and I paid for my middle sister's birth and medical care in gold.
There are many other things that I have done to support my family over the years.
All of it was honorable, although some bits were technically illegal.
I hope that all of you can survive the coming hard times at least as well as I did.
 
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theotherwaldo

theotherwaldo

Well-known member
"Odd" odd jobs that I have done through the years:
  • Scrub pots in junior high school to pay for my "free" lunches. This served me as good training for working at Shoney's, Morrison's and Jacksonville State U. when nothing else was available.
  • Bussing tables and doing room service at the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel.
  • Running the concessions stand at a porn theater while attending night school.
  • Running a street sweeper at a large mall.
  • Working as a carny for Davis Shows during the county fair season.
  • Being a security guard at logging road construction sites in the mountains of Oregon.
  • Working as a roofer.
  • Building kilns, stills and digging foundations as a work-study at a community college.
  • Night janitor at several businesses.
  • Contract postal clerk for the holiday season - twice.
  • Electrician's assistant for a major folk-rock band for a couple of tours.
  • Grubbed gladiola bulbs.
  • Bucked hay bales.
  • Assembled soft-bound law books.
  • Did ADA assessments and updated the drawings of the buildings of the University of Alabama.
  • Did update of the records and drawings during the construction of the Perry Class frigates at Todd Pacific L.A. - San Pedro. Also made aerial maps and preliminary drawings for installation of the Ship Lift system.
  • Detailed structural steel drawings for the cooling towers for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.
  • And, for the last 25 years, I've been a public librarian.
There are others, but these spring to mind... .
 
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theotherwaldo

theotherwaldo

Well-known member
Family businesses that I worked at, all of which failed:
  • Fruit stand in Merlin Junction, Oregon.
  • Signal gas station, ditto.
  • Richfield gas station in Portland, Oregon.
  • Laundromat in Milwaukee, Oregon.
  • Tropical fish and pet store, Grants Pass, Oregon.
Most of the failures happened because Dad got bored and screwed things up.
 
theotherwaldo

theotherwaldo

Well-known member
Honorable mention:
  • Ran a Texaco station alone at night just off I-5, across from the old Portland Coliseum.
  • Did shipping and receiving for a Radio Shack repair depot.
  • Worked at a tree service.
  • Worked as a home repair contractor.
  • Worked in a couple of auto parts warehouses.
I'll leave it at that for now... .
 
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