Secrets of your trade.

[Confusedfornow]

I have worked in my current area of expertise for the last 20 years or so. It's in Aviation, can't say exactly what or for who as it's a relatively small community (for my role) and it would be VERY outing. Before this, my only other "job" that I did for a few years was dancing (yes, that kind ). So I don't have massive experience of the world of work.

But I was chatting with some people in a bar over the weekend and conversation turned to jobs and then to my role. I was telling them about some stuff which is perfectly normal to me, but was absolutely news to them.

For instance . .

When a plane is "parked" and everything is switched off, the aircraft is referred to as being "Cold and dark".

If a helicopter has engine failure, it won't just fall out of the sky. The pilots are trained in a procedure called "autorotation" and can usually land safely even if the engine isn't running at all.

All British Airways flights use the call sign "Speed Bird". It's unique and no other airline in the world uses it.

Last one . .

Pilots can't wear polarised sunglasses. They make the electronic displays on the flight deck appear black, and you can't read any information from them.

So, what do you know from your jobs that is mundane for you but which most people wouldn't have a clue/be surprised by?

Nuclear industry....

Nuclear power stations have extremely strict rules. Radiotherapy departments at hospitals don't. A power plant would get shut down if it were to follow hospital policies.

Nuclear weapons are secured with the same key as a regular bike lock.

There was a nuclear accident worse than Chernobyl, but it was covered up.

@backwoodsgirl where was that? In the UK? I don’t have many trade secrets (nursing). I can only think of one, that a feeling of impending doom can indicate that you have been given the wrong blood type during a blood transfusion.

Fukushima?

Teenage job radio station receptionist - used to be sent down to the "vaults" to look for vinyl as it was all that time, there was no vaults, no record library of any sort all DJs brought a box of their own stuff with them

One of the DJs used to do a gardening slot daily, he had a particular fondness for Roses, yes he was looking out the station window at the field where we pulled the curtain on the window when we had to go to the toilet as there was no bathroom except this flowerbed which was well fertilised

It also used to be (in vinyl times) that if you heard a certain combination of songs on the radio, that it meant the DJ had gone to the loo, in the case of the station I worked for played back to back,

They were always played as a special request at 8.20am for x person - who was the owner's wife but didn't listen to the station

Hotel California - The Eagles 6m 30s
American Pie - Don McClean 8m 32s

That left time for the morning DJ who was at my first station, to stick the kettle on, run downstairs, we were on the 3rd floor, 45 stairs, down the main entrance of the building thru 2 big sets of doors (it was an old bank) across the road into the newsagents, pick up the morning papers, across the road again, back thru the big sets of doors, up 45 stairs, make tea and toast, get their breath back and "that went out to X who is our favourite listener at this time of morning who absolutely loves those songs"

I was in a separate office with the exception of when we were putting someone live on air as it was my job to hold the phone to a mic without feedback,

It was great fun, was easy money and I worked evenings and weekends and holidays and most of the time was chatting to people who got to know over time.

Platinum, gold and palladium are- along with a mix of other metals- widely used within your car's catalytic converter to neutralise noxious exhaust gasses. They're held in a ceramic honeycomb which is actually very pretty to look at.
This is why, if you need to replace your vehicle's cat, the price will almost always be in the £££'s- it's literally gold plated.

Female barristers generally don't wear a proper blouse with bands in court. We wear a fake bib that fits over a vest or t-shirt tucked into our jackets to give the appearance of a high necked blouse

I don’t know why this surprised me so much, but it did.

I'm glad this thread continued.

Agree with poster up thread. The vast majority of cvs are drivel. Most applicants don't even mention why they want your job. The standard is so low that it really should not be difficult to get to interview stage in most roles.

If you are going to say you have great attention to detail, please spell detail correctly.

Most people seem to be unaware that they can potentially be lawfully dismissed for capability even if all of their ten recent tummy bugs were genuine.

U.S Airways used to use Cactus, not United. American Airlines bought U.S some years ago. Their callsign is 'American', United's is...'United'.

Pilots and air traffic controllers used to be discouraged from excessive courteousness. I suspect the policy never caught on, judging by what I hear.

@slimgin. The notes on affairs are what I was referring to.

They count as sensitive info (info on sexual relationships) and accordingly need to be treated separately from "marketing preferences". You need explicit consent to collect this type of info and should limit access to it.

Learning a lot from this

This is from my friend who is currently sitting opposite me and grinning like an idiot!

She is a police officer an wanted to share this little gem.

ALL handcuffs that the police use have exactly the same key. Any key will open any set of cuffs and you can buy handcuff keys on line. Thats one reason they search people so thoroughly when they have arrested them.

You have to use the back end of the handcuff key to push into a little hole on the side of the handcuffs to stop them getting tighter, this is called "double locking". The handcuffs used in the UK, the ones that have the big black bit of plastic in the middle are called "speedcuffs".

An apparently her force pays £24 for each pair.

indigo

Yes, you're right about U.S, in my defence it was late and I was on my second glass .

You wouldnt believe the arguments I have heard between ATC and the pilots.

My mum used to work in a wedding dress shop. She told me that the dresses bought in to be specially cleaned were just bunged in the washing machine!

I used to be a nurse rose cottage was code for the mortuary.

Handbag...not sure which TKMaxx your relative works in but that really doesn't happen.

• we prevent the newbie fresh out of med school foundation doctors from causing you harm a lot more than you think. We also have to achieve formal competencies in hands on tasks but the fy1s can literally just have a go, but everyone expects them to be more competant than us

• we get quite a lot of women stating they are 'two weeks pregnant' and have hyperemesis. We have to explain that the pregnancy timeline doesn't work like that and fix the dates for them

• each ward has a room where at least half the staff have cried in at some point because of stress

• lots of us get UTIs and kidney problems because we can't drink or empty our bladders enough during the day

• behind closed doors we will argue our arses off on your behalf if we think something is wrong. Then smile when the person we argued with passes it off as their own idea.

• we smuggle biscuits meant for patients into the staff room coz sometimes it's the only thing we might eat. Sorry folks

• if you name us on a card, it will be treasured and taken home. I know nurses who have kept them on their fridge for years

• there are some truly shit nurses who shouldn't be in the job. There's also some doctors who we all would refuse to have if we were hospitalised. Despite reports nothing ever gets done though

• nothing is ever like on tv. Emergency surgery hardly ever happens within minutes. It's more like waiting for hours then it gets cancelled because someone more emergent comes in.

If you leave your fresh food shopping behind on London Underground staff will keep it for 48 hours before disposing of it.

Actually something different happens.

I mean, why waste fresh food?

A UK bombing was known to be highly likely 48 hours before it took place. Key ministers and personnel had their itineraries altered so they would not be caught.

I'm a junior doctor:

It was mentioned upthread but- for a nurse of HCA to be able to take bloods or cannulate they usually have to have it signed off 20 times by a supervisor before they are allowed to do it alone. Med students on the other hand need it signed off once... and yet we are called to do it when the ward staff have issues getting access. This system truly baffles me and I don't know why we are not expected to reach the same competency formally before being 'let loose' on patients.

CPR when the heart has stopped is unsuccessful most of the time, and even if it is successful it is unlikely the person will regain good neurological function. If the general public knew the statistics of outcomes following cardiac arrest, and how brutal and undignified CPR is, I suspect many many more would have 'do not attempt cardiac arrest forms' in place.

That's all I have for now, really enjoying this thread.

Dog groomers are not magicians. If your dogs coat is knotty it can take an age to comb it through before we can even begin to clip it off. There are no magic solutions, it takes time.

Most dogs hate their legs and feet being picked up for grooming and it makes the process 10 times harder. I wish people would realise that when they’re asking after an hour if their dog is ready for collection yet!

I can 100% agree with @VelvetPineapple

Most FE is an absolute sham. I also worked in apprenticeships and they too are impossible to fail.

I so so agree with the CPR thing. I'm currently in the process of trying to push for our staff being more forward with addressing DNARs.

Take this for example, patient comes in she's frail and 89. Had an extensive history including AAA, CKD, COPD, AF, and anaemic. Bed bound. No quality of life at all. She had a peri arrest and I was just so so sad thinking that I might have to put this woman through the indignity of futile CPR.

geez

Didn't ever think about the CPR thing

There seems to be a crazy amount of frankly bonkers rules in place that Nurses have to deal with.

What an interesting thread OP

Different job - worked in an office/reception duties on a rota.

Over 18m I had 8 different clients who commented to CEO about me (in a good way), I was always able to chat to them when on hold or waiting in reception area picking up the chat from the previous visit/call.

Asking for family members by name, how they were getting on at school, what secondary thinking of attending as if they were close friends and treated them well (tea and biscuits) when waiting and keeping them updated, that was over and above the other staff who basically showed them where to sit down

If it was a phone call, rather than putting on hold I would be sending messages to the depts to get off the phone / out of staff room etc. It involved a lot of beeps on other phones and often hand signals.

How did I remember the details of conversations after we had generally talked business and weather etc, I kept a notebook in my desk drawer and it contained it all so Ms X, lives x town 20 miles away, came along the coast (weather and sea), has 3 children (names and ages) etc etc

Wow. ..this is an interesting read. Nothing to add tho....at the moment