Anyone come up with a side hustle during COVID lockdowns?

[Alphabet]

I spent the last 2 years, no BS, deployed and living out of hotels. I have more Marriott points than I'll ever know what to do with.

I'd spend maybe 1 full day a week visiting a site, but the rest was working from my suite. And since wfh is efficient as fuck, the work was maybe 4 whole hours a day.

Tried flipping Doge, and my tiny brain just couldn't make it profitable.

Then I found...wait for it...Legos. Watched all the YouTubes, read all the message boards, figured out when Lego was retiring a set, bought a bunch, flipped.

Legos.

I still do it, and make half what I do at my real job. Which isn't anything to sneeze at.

Fucking Legos.

[Darcy]

COVID killed the best (at the time) job i ever had, month on/month off for very good money in the Caribbean, setting up the Air Guard SAR Helo program for the Trinidad & Tobago government, own apartment and car, world class fishing every weekend, etc etc... Back in Canada when lockdown hit, the Island completely shut down, so I put the word out I was in the market for work. Just so happened "somebody" was looking for a contract helo pilot for some secret squirrel work in undisclosed locations. I ended up spending most of the lock down on thee coolest job with thee coolest cats. Hot and sandy. Best thing that ever happened to me. Wasn't a side hustle though, but COVID was actually good for me

[ROB]

Legos. lol. I fucking love stories like that.

Starting with crypto is starting on God mode for trading I think. Given all the technical analysis is transferrable across markets, stocks are a whole lot easier.

[Kurt]

We bought a house built in 1872 and were going to renovate it. Costs shot up, so now it is just sitting there being old and unfinished.

But it turns out I am the only Operational Technology Security guy in the USA who has experience with railway automation so my actual job just ended up paying a lot more. And since I branched out into Fan and Pump systems even more so (btw Musk's "Boring Company" tunnels...Fucking Death traps.

Anyway so my side cash gig of real estate is a loser but just working is a winner.

[vagabond]

We bought a house built in 1872 and were going to renovate it. Costs shot up, so now it is just sitting there being old and unfinished.

The costs will probably keep up for the time being. Not to mention that unless you're getting personal recommendations,it's really hard to validate a contractor to actually do a good job. Just had drink with an architect / former construction guy about this. As long as you're not trying to flip, just invest in your home and make it your own. Our society has been too fucked up on this real estate as investment philosophy.

But it turns out I am the only Operational Technology Security guy in the USA who has experience with railway automation so my actual job just ended up paying a lot more. And since I branched out into Fan and Pump systems even more so (btw Musk's "Boring Company" tunnels...Fucking Death traps.

It's so amazing how Silicon Valley people will still kowtow to their modern day PT Barnum. Listened to a podcast where some dude 'in the know' (the guy that wrote Chaos Monkeys, who also sounds like supercilious douche) called Muskrat the 'greatest mind and entrepreneur of our era'. Maybe he's trying to get that Twitter CEO job.

[Kurt]

It's so amazing how Silicon Valley people will still kowtow to their modern day PT Barnum. Listened to a podcast where some dude 'in the know' (the guy that wrote Chaos Monkeys, who also sounds like supercilious douche) called Muskrat the 'greatest mind and entrepreneur of our era'. Maybe he's trying to get that Twitter CEO job.

We've been trying to transition people from IT to OT but the problem is that IT people no longer seem to know how to do anything. The requirement we have is to describe how to make a server....any server. Something that IT people used to be able to do but now it is "Spin up AWS image" and then I say "And?" and their idea of building something is to get someone else to do it.

This is all over IT these days. So it is not surprising that someone just says "Dig a tunnel" and so a tunnel is dug and they think that is all there is to it.

[seektravelinfo]

To keep from going insane I impetuously got a job at Amazon as they were hiring seasonal at the start of the pandemic, working 10 hr. graveyard shifts. Turns out the best thing I could have done because the work is very physical and it does something for my ADHD/OCD brain. I had never worked in a warehouse before. Converted to permanent p/t and I’m still there. It’s a fascinating operation in many ways and I got to meet Chris Smalls at the UAW hall when he came through town.

[Alphabet]

We bought a house built in 1872 and were going to renovate it. Costs shot up, so now it is just sitting there being old and unfinished.

But it turns out I am the only Operational Technology Security guy in the USA who has experience with railway automation so my actual job just ended up paying a lot more. And since I branched out into Fan and Pump systems even more so (btw Musk's "Boring Company" tunnels...Fucking Death traps.

Anyway so my side cash gig of real estate is a loser but just working is a winner.

Way wrong market for the last 2 years brother. I could be wrong, but I think we're on the verge of another 2008 bubble burst in the next 2 quarters.

I could be wrong because I think it's 50/50 on companies saying fuck you, we're back to butts in seats vs hey we're saving a ton, keep wfh.

I'm sitting on a pile of cash, waiting for it to burst so I can legit just outright buy my NH SovCit/Anarchist/Misogynist/Gun nut/Isolationist/Snowboarder compound den of porn and NFA firearms for pennies on the dollar.

The Lego thing was kind of me winning a lottery. I have the scratch to buy all the retiring sets, zero overhead because I'm in hotels my company is paying for, and meticulous photos of product during re-packing, and charging shipping to the nerds who have daddy's cash.

[Kurt]

We bought a house built in 1872 and were going to renovate it. Costs shot up, so now it is just sitting there being old and unfinished.

But it turns out I am the only Operational Technology Security guy in the USA who has experience with railway automation so my actual job just ended up paying a lot more. And since I branched out into Fan and Pump systems even more so (btw Musk's "Boring Company" tunnels...Fucking Death traps.

Anyway so my side cash gig of real estate is a loser but just working is a winner.

Way wrong market for the last 2 years brother. I could be wrong, but I think we're on the verge of another 2008 bubble burst in the next 2 quarters.

I could be wrong because I think it's 50/50 on companies saying fuck you, we're back to butts in seats vs hey we're saving a ton, keep wfh.

I'm sitting on a pile of cash, waiting for it to burst so I can legit just outright buy my NH SovCit/Anarchist/Misogynist/Gun nut/Isolationist/Snowboarder compound den of porn and NFA firearms for pennies on the dollar.

The Lego thing was kind of me winning a lottery. I have the scratch to buy all the retiring sets, zero overhead because I'm in hotels my company is paying for, and meticulous photos of product during re-packing, and charging shipping to the nerds who have daddy's cash.

Yep, you are right.

We knew that the bubble would come (as all bubbles come with our boom and bust form of central banking) but we thought we could get it done faster and then rent to visiting nurses and doctors.

But all investments are a risk and we have gotten hit. But the thing about property is if you get hit, at least you still have property.

[Alphabet]

To keep from going insane I impetuously got a job at Amazon as they were hiring seasonal at the start of the pandemic, working 10 hr. graveyard shifts. Turns out the best thing I could have done because the work is very physical and it does something for my ADHD/OCD brain. I had never worked in a warehouse before. Converted to permanent p/t and I’m still there. It’s a fascinating operation in many ways and I got to meet Chris Smalls at the UAW hall when he came through town.

Don't have to trust me, and it differs on your location with union rules, but look into UPS sorting (not pre-load) , for a few hours a night PT, and getting full benefits.

10 hrs is BS.

Friend of mine is a Teamster down here, and if he can't get you exactly who to speak with, he'll at least walk you through what to say/speak/do/sign if you want to go that route.

[Tarkan]

We bought a house built in 1872 and were going to renovate it. Costs shot up, so now it is just sitting there being old and unfinished.

But it turns out I am the only Operational Technology Security guy in the USA who has experience with railway automation so my actual job just ended up paying a lot more. And since I branched out into Fan and Pump systems even more so (btw Musk's "Boring Company" tunnels...Fucking Death traps.

Anyway so my side cash gig of real estate is a loser but just working is a winner.

Yeah, my wife a couple of months ago asked me if I could get a side gig programming maybe 10 hours a week for $50-75/hr. I told her, probably, but, my gross at my real job was 2-3.5x that last year, more this year, and I would be a lot better off just working 10 extra hours a week at my current job and using that to make SVP so I could probably cross 7 figures doing some light coding on the side.

A lot of people would be better off just putting more focused and smarter effort in the job they spent the last 10+ years learning than learning a side hustle where you are competing with people who have that as their full time jam, and have already learned from their mistakes.

The flip side is a lot people just can't bring the passion to their current profession the way they can to a new side hustle. It's probably why I won't make SVP.

[Kurt]

Time is getting much more valuable to me now than labor and money anyway. The next year my goal is to ask for crazity assed salaries. Just to see what happens.

I forget the Calendar website but you can do a link to the restaurant you want to get taken to when someone asks if you are looking for work. Just send them that link as the answer, if they agree then show up and eat a meal and listen.

My choice will be Aquavit in NYC.

If I was young I would get into mechanical repair. I am getting shitty recruiters trying to see if I will take a job as a mechanic. The thing about shitty recruiters is that though they suck and are useless they are a good indicator of where the wind is blowing career wise since they will recruit for anything.

[Tarkan]

So, on the topic of Musk, Vagabond, how many billion dollar companies have you created? You can very easily make the argument that either he or Bezos or both are the two biggest entrepreneurs of our age. And Musk did it primarily by disrupting the auto industry which had huge incumbent advantages (the dealer model, for example in many states is protected in law - no selling direct to consumers), and the space launch industry which isn’t exactly easy to break into. Musk pretty much by himself drove the Russians to the margins of the space launch business. 8 years ago they owned half of it.

Yes, yes, it’s his companies and not him, which is why all those things happened before he ever started Tesla or Space-X.

[Alphabet]

So, on the topic of Musk, Vagabond, how many billion dollar companies have you created? You can very easily make the argument that either he or Bezos or both are the two biggest entrepreneurs of our age. And Musk did it primarily by disrupting the auto industry which had huge incumbent advantages (the dealer model, for example in many states is protected in law - no selling direct to consumers), and the space launch industry which isn’t exactly easy to break into. Musk pretty much by himself drove the Russians to the margins of the space launch business. 8 years ago they owned half of it.

Yes, yes, it’s his companies and not him, which is why all those things happened before he ever started Tesla or Space-X.

Oh, fuck off. How many millions in subsidies did Musk get from the American taxpayer?

I love the shit he's doing, but don't come in here and act like he started out selling lemonade at a stand outside his parents house.

Next you'll be telling us baby Bush was some kind of captain of enterprise all on his own.

[Tarkan]

So, on the topic of Musk, Vagabond, how many billion dollar companies have you created? You can very easily make the argument that either he or Bezos or both are the two biggest entrepreneurs of our age. And Musk did it primarily by disrupting the auto industry which had huge incumbent advantages (the dealer model, for example in many states is protected in law - no selling direct to consumers), and the space launch industry which isn’t exactly easy to break into. Musk pretty much by himself drove the Russians to the margins of the space launch business. 8 years ago they owned half of it.

Yes, yes, it’s his companies and not him, which is why all those things happened before he ever started Tesla or Space-X.

Oh, fuck off. How many millions in subsidies did Musk get from the American taxpayer?

I love the shit he's doing, but don't come in here and act like he started out selling lemonade at a stand outside his parents house.

He got a shit ton. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Fact is, people like Vagabond just loooooooved Musk when he was their electric car darling. The left didn't start shitting on Musk until he bought Twitter and exposed all the bullshit their side was doing with speech suppression with government/industry collaboration and conspiracy.