The idea that 'we're better at writing than badfic authors because we're older!' is, um, kind of rubbish. The average age of the Board has mostly kept step with the age of the people who've been here all along. So where PPCers used to be mostly between 14 - Kaitlyn, for instance - and 18 - me - nowadays, we're mostly in our twenties. There's always been something of a spread (we had people with grown children even right back at the start), but we've all grown older.

And, funnily enough, at least a few of the people back in '04 could write anyway... ;)

(Although I don't recall you ever writing much, BiD...)

hS

As I've mentioned several times since joining I am planning on writing a Trilogy of books, Book 1 of which is currently under slow construction. I've been planning for 5 years and actually writing for 3, I'm currently on my 5th (I think) incarnation, and it's the first one I'm really, truly happy with and can actually see where it's going.

Storme Hawk

Let me guess: You're British, aren't you?

No it's not a Time Lord (although it could well be), it basically means that I design/measure/assess things involving sound or vibration in the built environment). It's rather varied, ranging from things like designing a concert hall, opera house, lecture theatre, recording studio etc (I've literally just got home from doing some late night noise measurements for a new live music venue I'm designing), through things like making sure that acoustic privacy/confidentiality is maintained in buildings (very important for law firms offices and medical examination rooms, for example) all the way to noise in the environment, eg working out the height of a noise barrier needed to reduce noise from a motorway or designing an outdoor music venue so that it's not too loud at the neighbours. It also involves some really weird work, like the time I had to assess whether cuttlefish would go deaf as the result of construction of a new shipping pier!!!

How did I get into a fairly-unusual career? I studied mechanical engineering and I've been a musician for the last 20-odd years; acoustics seemed like a good way to combine my interests.

Elcalion

Random info: I have a flash patch on my coat that says Evil Librarian. So if I ever fall through a plothole into the PPC, I should be right at home.

I’m not, I’m a software engineer.

HG, retreating under his Invisibility cloak

That's basically a fancy way of saying a high school that decided non-AP class options were not any kind of options at all. I'm approximately sixteen years old and swamped with work. I am currently attempting to decide whether I want to become a book editor or a foreign service official. In whatever free time I have, I enjoy co-writing, acting, doodling, learning new languages, and dabbling in pretty much everything I can.

However, much of the free time I have amounts to nil, as I barely have enough hours to fit in some semblance of a sleep schedule. My surroundings on a day to day basis are composed of crying peers, people sleeping on textbooks, tiny lockers, gigantic backpacks, and one dark room that smells vaguely of pigeon faeces that has been lovingly dubbed, "the dungeon". Nevertheless, I enjoy it, which may say quite a bit about me in and of itself.

And I used to be a hostess, but that's a different story.

I went in for International Relations but I really like Cinema and Media Studies soooooo...

I'm 14 year old. Physically, at least. I've been mistaken for a Harvard Freshman (I'm in 9th grade) and the oldest age people have thought I am is 28.
I want to be some sort of scientist. And, also, I currently have a girlfriend (and she is fantastic, omygod) who is... who is fantastic.
I know I don't really have an occupation, but I guess I could say poet and fanfiction writer. Yeah...
Mostly Sherlock.

I manage a drop-off store for a local dry cleaners. I don't do the actual cleaning; they tried to talk me into learning that and taking over one of the cleaning plants, but chemical fumes + contact lenses = problems*. Though, I've been in the plants enough that I can do very basic spotting.

For the most part, my job is basic customer service. I take the customer's clothes, check them for anything that will take extra care (or that we can't do at all), and write up the invoice. When the customer comes back in, I take payment and hand over the clothes.

I also do minor repair work, rather than send it out to our seamstress. I don't have a sewing machine here, but I'm pretty good at handsewing.

And of course, there's the usual manager-type stuff. Not hiring, that's run through the main office. But I order supplies and do the daily and weekly reports.

---
* It turned out that the reason my eyes were burning every time I pulled a load out of the cleaning machine was the plant manager I was working with at the time was ripping off the company. He'd reopen the plant after we'd closed for the day, and use the equipment and solvents for his own dry cleaning business, pocketing all the cash. But to cover this up, he couldn't change the filters as often as he should have, meaning more chemical fumes in the air. I'm a little cautious about my eyesight, though, so I might have turned down plant manager training even if I'd been working with someone honest.

I work for a company that mostly does business telecommunications stuff; specifically, a side-project of theirs, which is a VoIP application for computers and mobile devices. My job is to answer customer questions and help troubleshoot when problems occur.

Technically I'm a contractor, not an employee, which means they don't have to give me benefits or direct deposit my checks or any of that fancy stuff, which is kind of a drag. However, there are many reasons my job is awesome:

1. It's all online, so I never have to talk to (or be shouted at by) anyone on the phone or face to face.
- 1.2 I can work from anywhere there's a decent Internet connection, so I can travel freely and still get paid.
2. I get paid rather well.
3. It's mostly the same questions/problems over and over, which means I can work efficiently and get done quickly.
4. My one coworker, who set me up to get the job in the first place, is a former PPCer and a friend. We cooperate well, so if one of us has another commitment or wants to go to a con or something, the other a) understands why that would be a thing, and b) is generally willing and able to take the extra hours.

I wish I got more work hours in a day, but it's a pretty sweet gig.

~Neshomeh

I'm a soldier in the IDF's C4I Corps. I can't really say what I'm doing, it's highly classified.

I spend my days producing the 3D CAD models and associated drawings that go out to subcontractors for manufacture.

It also means that I can use the CAD software in my lunchbreaks, so I currently have a virtual chessboard, and have previously created models of various spacecraft.

Not quite a zookeeper yet, but I think I have a good chance of getting one of the new openings within the next year-ish. Right now, I work as an attendant at the petting zoo, stingray touch tank, and invertebrate touch tank. I also volunteer with some of the zookeepers on off days, so I still get to do zookeepery stuff. (My goal is to maximize animal interaction, minimize customer relations interaction.

When I say 'again', I mean I've returned to get a secondary degree/technical certificate that'll give me the training I need to get moving towards an actual career in my chosen field.

I've recently (within the last two weeks) become a debt recovery agent, which basically means calling people on behalf of the company's clients and asking them to please repay their debts, and helping them do so in a way that won't make things worse. Still in training at the moment, but I hope to do some good once they let me loose.

(Before that I was part of the group often regarded by snobs as a drain on society and useless trash - in other words, unemployed and on government benefits.)

Well, that's what the certificate says anyway.
It exactly says "Specialized rotary wing aircraft assembly line technician" or something like that (I'm translating the title from Italian, and some stuff in it isn't exactly translatable.)
Which is just a fancy way to say that I can work on an aircraft assembly line.

Currently unemployed, but things should change soon, hopefully.

...which means I do homework all day, every day.



I'm also an aspiring astronomer, 'cause space is cool.

Sights like the Carina nebula are things that I wouldn't mind looking at all day long...



Picture credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team.

I'm actually a 14-year old high school student who is an aspiring writer.

The Emperor Protects!

A writer? Me?

Well, actually, this year I'm on the editing staff, which upgrades the job from a class, to... well, a job, with a ridiculously low paycheck. When the year's over, I'm going to quit the editing and go back to reporting; editing is not nearly as much fun as writing news.

...theatre professional by night.

Yeah, I run the print shop and mailroom for a company in downtown Chicago. I produce and send out various promotional materials for the company. When I'm not doing that, I function as a handy-man. I run around fixing printers and the soda machine and whatever else needs fixing. I'm also in charge of making sure supplies get ordered so we have coffee (run out of coffee and there will be a mutiny), paper, and the like. I pretty much keep the office running.

I am also a member of a theatre company. I've been the Company Manager there for a couple of years, though I am stepping down from that after the first of the year. I do a little of everything: acting, stage management, house management, basic tech, and directing (though I am new to that one).

-Phobos, jack of all trades

Though I have aspirations to become a librarian.

-Aila

...which is a fancy way of saying 'unemployed for about 95% of the time.' My only other major thing right now is my website, where I review games and applications for the iOS in both written and video form.

I'm one of the younger ones here, which means I've just graduated from primary school. Er, and I haven't hit my 12th birthday yet. Soooooo...

~Autumn

However, once I get into the work force, I hope to be doing something having to do with presentation and using my speaking voice. Perhaps voice acting, perhaps teaching, perhaps representing a company, or a safety man, or...

...Well, let's just say I'm keeping my options open. If I become a teacher, I hope it's social studies and/or history. We will see what happens.