Hello all, my name is Damian, Im the Forum Owner and I live in Melbourne Australia, I am a forklift driver picker/packer and i love my job, i have a a computer Ops cert and Estate agent license but i didnt like being stuck in a office for the computer part and being a real estate agent was good money but it was a 24 hour 7 day a week job and somtimes i would get calls from the boss 2am in the morning :( so I quit after 3 weeks of that! then i got a job in a office with a company called ISS Express Lines and i was working with computers and other frieght worrys etc etc, my boss's were real pricks and really hard on there staff and I think thats way they had the biggest turn over of staff in the industry! somtimes people would only last a day or so heh, but anyway one day the factory was really busy and the boss asked me to help load some trucks with the forklift, I said yes but i had never driven one so i was starting to panic lol! but after about 30mins or so i got the hang of it and i was loveing it! i was soon helping out as much as i could then relized that this is the job for me. That was 5 years ago and i have never looked back, I now earn more moany than ever working for a company called Coles Myer and im pretty sure i would like to stay there for good!

I'm Matt. I live in Chicago. I'm a graphic designer by trade and I'm the operations manager for a small publisher, so i mainly design books these days.

i hope my boss doesn't read this, but i'm moving out west this summer, probably to San Francisco as my partner is getting his PhD in June and will be getting a job, probably outside of San Francisco, so San Francisco here we come. that's good cause i'm tired of my job and my current job is just a waste of an MFA... i want to be creative again!!!

my name is Wyatt. i live in california, and am currently a partner in a construction company.it's only my buddy and i right now,we specialize in remodels,mainly kitchens and baths.the work is demanding but rewarding and i like it so far.


hey Matt, so you're moving out to the left coast eh?:D

my name is Ben,still a student....
imalways told imaman of few words :D
oh yeh i also work at a LFS part time

DD

yeah. looks like we'll be moving out in late july/early august and it's about 90% certain we're heading to the bay area. i was scoping out places i'd like to live when i was out in march. damn, i love like 9th ave/irving in SF... on the N line, close to the botanical garden, great 'hood... just hope he makes enough money to afford my tastes! lol. when it gets closer, i might nag you here or on CF about places to live...

when we buy our fix-up, we're calling you... ;)

Hello, my name is Brandon and I live in Illinois (about 1 hour south of chicago). I am addicted to cichlids, heavy metal, and video games. Right now I dont have much of a job. I watch a few little kids for 150$ a week :(

My name is Steve. I live in Australia, Brisbane. Im a student in high school (yr 11) never had a part time job as I cant really commit. Play a lot of sport so it doesnt really give me a lot of free time. If I want more fish or tanks, I have to get a loan off mum and eventually pay it off, I always do though :lol:

Steve

I'm Melissa, aka Missy. I'm a 40 year old stay at home mom. I've got 4 kids of my own, 3 are still at home, all girls and 3 grown step-kids and 4 step-grandkids. I'm a cichlid addict! I've got 9 tanks, a cat and a dog. Its a busy dedicated life but it beats working outside the home. I worked for the Post Office in Dallas for 13 years but quit after a co-worker was shot and killed on the workroom floor. The money just wasn't worth it anymore after that. I've gone to college for Computer Science and I'm about 18 hours away from a degree but have no desire to go back to school and finish that up right now.

So other than that, I'm active on a couple of different boards including this one. I love learning and sharing what I've learned with others in the hobby. Its definately my passion!

I'm David, but prefer Dave, i live in a small town called Worksop in the uk. I work for a company called Whittakers which build large scale vehicles, specialising in horse boxes. So far im really unhappy int this job, each staff membver is a lying decietful cheat who only wants power.....i feel so different and vulnerable in this environment.

My passion is of course oddball fish, in total i hav 11 tanks, only one of them dosent have an oddball in it, all them have catfish in there tho! I also love to paint, and i while away most free evenings on a model, picture or tank decoration.

well thats enough about me............NEXT! :D

ok, oddball said next, and i havnt done one yet, so here goes! :D ....

My name is Ben too (Same as DwarfDude) and i study Marine Biology full time at Flinders University down in Adelaide, Australia! I live in the Adelaide hills so drive back and forth quite a bit. I dont have full time work, but have worked picking strawberries at a place called Beerenberg. Where surprisingly enough i earned alot of money!

Im into fish alot, but just keep tropicals at the mo. Im lookin to getting a SW tank or a lrage oddball tank some time in the near future! I hope to keep a reef system or a Giant gourami and some birchirs!

I just noticed this topic so i might as well contribute ;)

When i finished school i didnt know what i wanted to do and to tell you the truth im still trying to find that out :unsure:
1.Worked at a chicken take-away shop for a little while [never again]
2.Worked at a medical centre [not to bad, pretty boring]
3.I had done hairdressing for a little while until i realised i dont have the passion for this so i didnt want to waste my time for no reason so i got out of that. Which sucks cause i loved interacting with the clients.
4.Ive had jobs here and there but not worht mentioning ;)
5. I had completed my business admin 3 course while working for a printing company, NEVER AGAIN! The worst industry to work in and the boss's being pricks dont help so i left there after 1yr. Im surprised i lasted that long.
6. Im now doing reception/admin also assisting customer service. Its not bad it certianly does get boring, but in my situation its a good thing because it gives me time to sort out the house paper work, to call for quotes, search the net etc etc but the bad side is sometimes i go insane with the bordness but i cant really pick up my stuff and find another job as that wont be a good idea seeing we just bought a house.
Im looking into doing a nail course so when me and Damian [Vip] move into our house i can do a little set up outside and start off doing friends and family also dropping off some broachers in the letter box's. I think it would be awesome to work from home. YES i will have a little fish tank in my salon :)

Hey, My name is Tim. I am living in Buffalo N.Y. I am 22. Live with my dad and work at a nursing home almost full time, while attending the university of buffalo full time while i work on getting my bachelors degree in communication. I have a degree in business already. I have a 70 Gallon lake malawi cichlid tank, and my recently started 45 gallon planted tank. I have been in the hobby for like 12 years and have had almost only success.

Meh...everyone else is doing it...


My name is Darlene, I live in New Jersey...and I'm 14 (almost 15). I am a tropical fish fanatic. I know more about fishies then my school work. Its my passion...And I'm also Halo 2 fanatic (Gamer). I'm good with arts and I go fishing on my spare time. I own a 55 gallon tank with many Angles, I'm wishing to breed them when they come of age. I work at a local fish store...lol. Brief profile but sums it up.

And I love dots ....... :laugh:

Hi, my name is Andrew, I live in a small town on long island. I know too much about fish for a 13 year old (Actually 14 in 2 months) as I've had cichlids since I was 7, and my own tank since I was 5 or 6 :unsure: I'm also very intelligent and mature for my age...my classmates seem so inferior :D

I like odd fish, odd anabantoides (Bettas :throwup: ), catfish, and NW cichlids :D
I also play halo 2 a lot, but I'm going to go outside more as it warms up in NY :)

your only 13? dude you act like your 25 or somthing, well at least thats how old i thought you were..

:lol: I've been told that from other people on internet forums :P

*Huggles* :hug:

Im hooked on GT4

LOL, i thouhgt u were older! hahaha. The guys on AE thought i was older too...... :unsure: Dunno why! dummy

Thats basically the same with em really, except i turned 14 three days ago and i i got into tropicals when i was little aswell but only year or two ago i got into cichlids :)

oh and i dont live in NY(i luive in Aus) and yes....my class mates are inferior :P

DD

Hi my name is Sharon and i live in massena ny. I currently am working part time at a local fish store. Ive been into fish for 3 yrs now. I currently have 4 fishtanks and 12 bettas.

DD ur only 14?? ur still a baby :D

yeah, I'm more then twice DD's age and he nose more than twice than me, i'm feeling inferior now dummy

I work as an residential building estimator stuck behind this PC all day everyday I need the fish and GOD for my sanity not necessarily in that order :D

Hi,
I'm Dorothy, 30 somthing. My hubby installs satellite tv systems and I deal with all his paperwork and customers so I'm a stay at home mom and secretary. We have 2 kids, my daughter just turned 18 in April and my son will be 17 in July. We have an 8 yr old German Shepard/ Chow cross -DUDE and 3 Guinea Pigs - Solo Ojo, Patches, and MgGoo. We are currently in MN but are moving to Alabama.

thats pretty cool Dorothy, i would love to have my own company and my g/f do the paper work for me, I bet the job brings you guys close togeather, and post a pic of that dog!

Hiya,

Im Stephen from Sydney, Australia. Im currently an IT student in Tafe and I grad in a few days. Wanted to do Marine Biology in QLD uni but my HSC (Higher School Cert) score wasnt high enough, so im doing IT and Networking. Hope to study in Uni one day.

I have been growing up with fish around me, my dad was a hardcore fish breeder until he had me...he used to breed tropicals...mainly goldfish, angels and discus. When I was born and upto 12 years old, i remember my dad teaching me how to breed discus, had over 30 tanks full of breeding pairs. I got my first pair of discus when i was about 5 and i was able to breed it when i was about 8 years old. Quite an interesting part of my life. Back then Discus was very expensive...babies were about $500 and pairs are like a few K. But after i turned 12 my dad got bored of Discus and sold it all, and got cichlids. Now Im 19...turning 20 in 2 days (13th June) and currently keeping 2 tanks of marines and 2 planted tropical tanks.

I used to work part time @ a lfs but had some bad times there so i quit and help my parents out @ their chinese video store. All I do now is browse forums all day, make gundam models, gaming, work or go LFS :P

I see eveyones opening up a bit so why not. Iam 20 and i live in NSW Australia

I have been working at woolworths for a couple of years. I know sounds lame but i have learnt alot of people skills working here, got something in common VIP i work in nightfill at the moment i see you pick and pack my dodgy pallets of stock lol.

I have no idea what i want to do but since ive been keeping fish im thinking of studying marine biology i hated it at school but now its really my favourite hobby and would love to make a living out of it.

i'm michael and i live in Denver, CO. i'm 42 and have been keeping Cichlids off and on for the last 20 years, mostly on. i work as a Caterer and stay pretty busy with that. in addition i keep 6 tanks with mostly Central and South American including 1 Discus tank. looking farward to getting to know you guys.

Hi, My name is Sabrina

I have a degree in Office Admin and I am going back to school to become a lawyer. I do my husband's paperwork cause he owns his own company. I live in Alberta, Canada. I have four kids that are 5yrs old, 5 yrs old, 4 yr old, and 22 month old.

I have two tanks of tropical fish. One is a 38 gallon and one is a 20 gallon and one Betta. I have red tail sharks, albino, loach, algae eater, angelfish, black mollies, spotted mollies. I have been involved in fish for five years now. This is my first try at Tropical I used to have a Saltwater tank.

I look forward to getting to know you guys.

Glad to have you at TFC SABRINA :bighug: You must be a smart cookie :)

My name is Josie, or you can call me Jo, or my forum thinger, Jols.
I'm 20, will be 21 in October, and I live in Iowa. Right now I 'live' in Waukon with my boyfriend *small 'hick' town* but when he goes to the Navy I shall reside with my parents once again, which they live about 10 min. outside of town. The address w/ them is Postville, but I went to Waukon for school, so I feel I'm more of a Waukon person. :) Only good thing about that is free meals *lol, I get them during the nights I do chores anyho!* Also, I get to have my cat, Dainty again! She lives out there with my mum's cat Mr. Tibbs. She is also a-ok with my fish, I had bettas in the past. Never thouched them..A+ for her. :)
I currently work on the family farm, most week nights except Fridays and Saturdays. I milk cows, and used to 'toss' hay and straw bales ;)
I also work on Sundays at a small retail store called Pamida, which I call 'Fun'mida as I really hate it. :D
My main job now is at Main Street Stylist in Decorah, Iowa.
I went to Cosmetology school at N.I.C.C in Calmar, IA. I took my experior and Iowa Law exam the 21st of June, and just started my new job as a licensed Cosmetologist the 8th of July ^__^
Also, I'm a full-fledged talkaholic...just thought I'd add that in ;)

Well as I already said somewhere else, I'm a 50-something grey haired lady with 1007 bettas....

HA HA HA
Just kidding.

Actually, I'm a 31 year old mom. I have a spoiled rotten son - he's 13. (Yup, I started out really early so I can get him on out of the house while I'm still young. heh heh heh!) We do lots of stuff together - we play video games, sports, biking and causing trouble. :bitchslap:

I also have 2 guinea piggies who I ADORE and 18 bettas (6 females, 12 males). I ALSO totally adore my fish too. :wub:

ANYWAY... I am a backend java web applications developer for a large consumer products company called Fiskars in Madison, Wisconsin... I do everything from DNS management to project management. My job is very fast paced and I really enjoy the job. (MOST days anyway) Everyone teases me cuz I'm such a computer geek.
I also play volleyball and kicball almost all year around . (I live in Wisconsin so I can't really play any outdoor sports here in the winter except ice fishing) ;)

Okay BM, I really am a 50+ gray haired old lady!!!! So far I only have six bettas, but at the rate you're sending me tanks I'll be up to 1007 in no time!!!

I work for a company that makes braille and large type books, and audio books on cassette for the blind and visually impaired. We have our own recording studios on site as well as printing presses for type and braille. We also manufacture toys, games and learning aids such as globes and calendars for the blind so we also have vacuum ovens to mold the pieces for the games and such. There is no one that ever comes to work here that is experienced in what we do, because what we do is not done anywhere in the world but right here. Even our machinery is all one of a kind, either engineered here or modified by us to use for our unique products. There - does that sound like a sales pitch or what?

It really is a neat place to work. My job is assistant to the Division Manager of Maintenance, Housekeeping/Janitorial Services and Security. We take care of everything here from setting up presses to keeping 85 - 5 to 10 ton air conditioning units running to cleaning up when a guide dog has an "accident". My main job is dispatcher, which pretty much ties me to the desk all day, and when the phone isn't ringing and the two-way radios aren't squalking, I have time to visit great fish forums like this, and to play with my 4 bettas here at work.

I am married with a son and daughter, both in their early 20's and both still living at home. Thought my daughter was going to get her own place next month and I would get her bedroom as a fish room, but now she's decided to torture us for a while longer.

And hey BettaMomma - I'm a volleyball fanatic, too. I had to give up team competion a few years back when my knees finally gave out from all that jumping around, but I still love to watch!!! :laugh:

HI

My REAL name is EmilyAnn but I'm a nanny while I'm finishing school and all "my kids" call me Emmi, which has stuck, and now everyone calls me that.

I'm 26 and I actually already have a degree ... in theatrical costume design... which in Aiken, South Carolina, gets you a job as a secretary for the scummiest attorney in town, or as a waiter at the Red Lobster, or as a Nanny.

So my family wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer so I have all these biology and pre-law credits from my first degree.

hmmmm....

so... I fooled around as a bio major for a while

then realized

Dad is a nurse
mom is a nurse
great-grandma was a nurse
sister is a nurse
little sister is a nursing major
best friend is a nurse

ARRRGGGG THE PEER PRESSURE
So now I'm finishing a bachelors degree in nursing
And my husband has a "real job" as a software engineer for the Washington Group

And I watch kids to pay the betta bills :laugh:

Oh... and my first degree gets dusted off about 3 times a year when I costume shows for the local community playhouse.
AND I'm working on an independent short film :)

so thats me :)

BettaMomma-you and my mum would love eachother. She is a compter person as well, but a bit differently than you, she can program them, build them, fix them, etc. I, unfortunatly, do not have her knack for them, but can talk on msn to 3 people at the same time, and she cannot. :P

eudielynn-I quoted the bedroom part. Since my moving out for now, my mum likes to sleep in my room on the weekends *I guess dad snores, and she can't stand it..:P* and then with Bill going to the Navy, she's like 'aww man!' But with my being there, it will be a betta bedroom ;) Neat job you have as well!

corykitty-I really respect nurses...I, myself, could never be one. Too squeemish and I cannot seperate my emotions 'properly' :huh:
That must be neat to do a film! I have wanted to act...but was too chicken to go out for school plays. :lol:

I have decided to delete all my information. Have fun you guys.

Wow, it is so cool to hear about everybody's O.O.F. (Outside Of Fish) life. I have 31 years on this earth although I have no idea how mature that makes me 'cause I don't wanna grow up, either. I have been married for three years and have a 16 month old son (who is fussing to get up from nap right now so this will be shorter than I'd like). My dh (dear husband) just resigned from the Navy where he was a submariner and also instructed in engineering. I have worked in numerous animal hospitals and also did Consumer Affairs for a timeshare company for a LONG time, too long, that job is hard on your soul. He works for Weyerhaeuser as an engineer and I get to stay at home with my son and all the other "kids". They are (besides the fish):

"Towzer" a 2 year old male American Bulldog/German Shepherd Dog (note, Am. Bulldogs look nothing like English ones so he is actually a VERY handsome boy) We almost named him "Crash" so that may tell you a little of his personality.

"Bingo" who was named already when we rescued him from a garbage pit over Memorial Day weekend. He looked twice his size for all his matted hair and his toenails had grown back round into his pads and were infected - STINKY! He is about 14 nearly completely deaf and has Chronic Renal Failure so I get to play nurse with him once a week and give him Sub-Q fluids to flush his kidneys.

"Spot" the cat who I've had since she was a week old and is now 9. She's the brattiest of all the hairy kids. Likes to puke and eat my plants and steal things like a ferret would.

"Benny" our other cat who I got when he was about 6 weeks old having just lost his left hind leg because some ignoramus left him in the middle of a busy bridge and he got hit by a car. Doesn't bother him any, he can run faster than our other cat and jump just as high. He will be 2 in August.

I also have "Archie" and "Matilda" the pygmy goats who make sure we never have to mow our pasture. We adopted them from a rescuer who bought them at auction when nobody but the butcher was bidding on them.

I like to keep our family website updated (you can go there at My Webpage), and I'm into photography and cooking/baking and sewing and music and books and movies and I basically have so many hobbies I can never decide what to do. Oh yes, I fill in the gaps with church and Bible study which rounds out my life and keeps my soul as well as my mind satisfied.

So that's me in a nutshell, nice to meet y'all. Gabe is really wanting up now so I gotta go.

Hi, I'm John, & I'm a fishaholic. 26 years as a pressman in the commercial printing industry have made me the way I am. That should give you a pretty good guess at my age. Me, my wife, & 2 adult kids live 1/2 mile southwest of the city of Chicago, in Illinois. I've got 14 tanks running at the moment, small angelfish breeding setup. My fishroom assistant, besides my wife, is Ozzy, a cairn terrier who will be 14 y.o. in a month.

Tolak

My name is Jason Nguyen and I'm 14 years old incoming sophmore. I live in Huntington Beach, AKA Surf City in Southern California. I'm one of those 'little' kids whom everyone thinks is bright and smart but I'm not really one. What I do for a living? Well I work at my school breakfast line since I'm underage to work because no one would hire me :mad:

My name is Rich (no im not a girl :cuss: :P) im 25 and i work at a lps, i had to take a break from college (damn government :cuss: ) so im working saving up money so i dont have to deal with them anymore, i'm going to try adn be a tool and die maker (tricky stuff but pays good), for animals i have a Rabbit, 2 Guinea Pigs, a Hamster, a 3' Ball Python, a Pacman frog, and a 20lb Black American Shorthair Cat, and for fish i have a baby red devil, a baby tiger oscar, 2 I'D Sharks(which will be going once the main fish store around here smartens up), a common pleco, a gold nugget pleco (i think anyway), 5 male bettas, 2 females bettas and a partridge in a pear tree

oh i live in ontario, canada