Job that you're surprised still exist.

a reply to: butcherguy

Which it did. I didn't approve loans nor provide them. A bank did. I just sent them the application but as the store owner I'd be on the phone with the loan manager at Wachovia if I had suspicions about an applicant.
Twice in my career I caught people attempting identity theft that way. One on a loan application, one using a stolen credit card.
(And once I even got a guy passing counterfeit bills.) And the computer missed one of them. I picked up on a suspicious looking ID card.( license) and called the bank to get them to verify the identity and the real person lived in Florida four states away. The other came up as a stolen credit card and I had to keep the card and engage the person if I could until police got there. That lady was a total nut job anyway. I chatted with her the whole time while holding that card in my hand.
Anyway eyes and ears..

a reply to: paraphi

I didn't know that word farriers until I looked to see if blacksmiths still made horse shoes. .

Yes prostitutes and they still use the same old equipment too.

I'm retired now. Ain't no robot doing that for me. I can laze around all by myself. Lol.

originally posted by: Sillyolme
Chimney sweeps.

I can see an increase in demand for chimney sweeps in the future - there seem to be more people here in England, at least, opening up chimneys to have stoves or real fires. And I havent yet heard of self cleaning chimneys ....

Thats said, its a 10 minute job to do yourself if you have brushes. So maybe not.

As for driverless trains, we have them in london (Docklands light Railway) ad I am not aware of any problems as a consequence. Cant see why the Tube cant be driverless as well

The other job we definitely should NOT have these days is street sweepers. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for any litter to be dropped in the street. Or anywhere else. Period. Except too many people have too much money, too many rights and no responsibility at all

a reply to: audubon

Very true and well said.


Unions are a necessity, do you think a CEO starts working at a company with out a contract?

originally posted by: Admitted
Grade-school kids. They can learn to program and they don't likely care about skewing results. Just give them an incentive to do it.

I'm not entirely enthusiastic about the idea.

a reply to: Admitted

Kids little fingers used to be great at tying ends off carpets in the late 1800's, and it was called child labor.

And nothing says liability like children dropping computer code.

Until robots can "unjam" themselves or reset themselves we're fine!


There's a Huuuuuge disconnect in what everyone thinks robots can do and how they act in the real world operating 24/7 in humid or hot conditions. They fail every time. Components wear out, electronics fry out,programming goes on a sabbatical, it's AWESOMESAUCE!!!

You're always gonna need someone there to hit the kill switch so the damn thing doesn't chew itself up as it malfunctions, costing even MORE to repair. Dust and airborne particles play havoc with them as well, so you can only run them for so long before it's tear-down-and clean time again anyways.

It's one of those topics that gets everyone riled up, but in "the real world" goes sideways. Every.Single.Time.

a reply to: Caver78

Oh yes, very true. The servo motors alone can be a marvelous (expensive) curse. And when one goes bad, it may only act up once a day for months before it finally fails. But once a day messes up a huge amount of stuff.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

In Spain and Mexico there are still people who ride around playing a particular flute melody on a bike equipped with a fly wheel sharpening stone.

People bring out their knives to the front of their homes to get them sharpened.

Its odd that this is still needed. Those guys sharpen the HELL out of any knife in seconds though, I guess thats why.

Spoken like a true technician or operator. That's a big part of my argument when folks get their panties in a knot about kiosks and automation in fast food taking away jobs. It may take away a few but it creates others in the process. a reply to: Caver78

a reply to: tadaman

Our local hardware store sharpens knives. Never had them do it, but it is a thing that needs to be done and many people don't know how to do it.

I would love a person coming around on a bike and sharpen the crap out of my knives....But it doesn't seem possible in the US.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

Ice cream truck drivers.

I see them ever so often when I'm driving around town. I'm surprised people would let their kid run up to a stranger driving a delivery van filled with treats.

a reply to: tadaman

Please to send them to my house ASAP!!!!

It's not that people don't know how, it's a skill and a knack of which I am woefully inadequate despite having multiple stones, ceramic pointed thingies, honing oil AND a strop. I can put a burr in a blade faster than you can say ATS. I can ruin a blade in about 10 minutes.

It's a genuine gift, and I can't has it.
(sobbing)

originally posted by: tadaman
a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

In Spain and Mexico there are still people who ride around playing a particular flute melody on a bike equipped with a fly wheel sharpening stone.

People bring out their knives to the front of their homes to get them sharpened.

Its odd that this is still needed. Those guys sharpen the HELL out of any knife in seconds though, I guess thats why.

Actually thats a good example of something we need more of. We have developed a society where once something stops working we throw it away and get a new one. Because we are so rich. But is that really good?

Travel agents!

WIGGET MAKERS . Yea really still uses a human to push the button and how can we ever live without our wiggest ?

originally posted by: Sillyolme
Blacksmiths still make horse shoes though they don't care for horses feet or put them on anymore.

Farrier
From Wikipedia,
A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adjusting metal shoes) with some veterinarian's skills (knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the lower limb) to care for horses' feet.

There are still a few farriers around.

Didn't read all the following posts before posting this. Several beat me to it.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

Becoming a train engineer is quite the task.
You basically need to find a union or a large rail company, or rail car manufacturer (which are usually Steel workers) to support you. Then there is either state / country / province laws that you need to learn in order to pass a written test just to be ACCEPTED for consideration to be an engineer, and I know here in Ontario it's a ridiculous test score that you need to achieve something like 95% of you fail.
Then you need to put in hours with an already existing engineer.

The people you see 'driving' the train usually isn't a full on engineer, they are just under the eye of one.

Worked 4 years at a freight car manufacturing plant and they didn't have any engineers. But when CN, UP, or NS came to pick up a fresh order it was usually two large Diesel locomotives and a team of 5-6 Crew.

originally posted by: AndyFromMichigan
With all the talk about autonomous vehicles these days, I've been wondering something: why aren't trains fully automated by now? Why do railroads still employ engineers to drive trains around? I assume unions are the main reason.

Compared to cars or trucks, automating a train is trivial. I mean, there's no steering involved on a train, just forward & reverse, which simplifies things immensely. Switching tracks is already handled remotely, and there are already systems in place to track train movement and prevent collisions. For precise movements, like coupling to cars, the engine could be piloted remotely like a drone. For long-haul work, the engine would largely take care of itself between stops. Acceleration sensors could detect any problems, and stop the train and/or signal an emergency to the human monitors. The only real issue I see is people/animals/obstacles on the track, but even with human control there really isn't much the engineer can do except blow the horn. Trains are just too big & heavy to stop quickly.

So now I'm wondering, are there any other jobs that ATS members are surprised still exist?

No its not if they could remove the engineer they would have. When you have a fully loaded train you have to be careful about even how brakes are applied and maintaining a schedule. They have to lower speed at times do to weight and even have to watch the air pressure when you have miles of trains.

They are required to handle the upkeep of the train. They are required to maintain the schedule and communicate with dispatch.

If they could they would have all ready set up a computer to do it.