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Odd Jobs (Unusual Gigs, Positions & Vocations)

When you take advantage of a bar that you're told you don't have to pay for the drinks at. Bad taste to do at a wedding if you have any morals because you're supposed to use an internal barometer .. even worse taste at a funeral wake free bar .. rinsing meaning the same as squeezing every last drop out of a wet towel as if you were wringing it out for example and comparison.

Dan is a legend, he should have got at least handjob from one of the deceased's family as well.
 
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Someone's Dream Job Alert!
Company seeks 'Coffee Queen' to rule over Scottish castle

A coffee company is offering $5,000 and a free trip for an unusual one-week dream job: serving as the "Coffee Queen."

Gevalia Kaffe said the Coffee Queen will spend one week living in Scotland's Carlowrie Castle with a full compliment of servants including a chef and a butler.

The company said the winning applicant will receive free travel to and from Scotland and will be paid $5,000, plus $2,000 in spending money for the week.

"Gevalia believes a queen is anyone who transforms into the most confident version of themselves after that first cup of coffee -- they speak their minds, are self-aware, and aren't afraid to make fun of themselves," the company said.

Interested prospective monarchs are being asked to submit 250-character mini essays on why they would be ideal for the position.
SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/1...rule-over-Scottish-castle/8201576269019/?sl=1
 
Not so much odd as historically faded out, but I like both the name and the specificity of the 'Soda Jerk'. Effectively a cocktail barman for minors.

It'd be nice to return to that. Those soda bars were something cool.
 
Serve it on a smaller cornet. Or employ staff with tiny hands. It’s all about the perception of getting your money’s worth. He’s pretty slim for an ice cream salesman though. I’ll give him that.
 
Children were often employed as 'bird scarers' in past times. There's a famous Victorian painting of one, a poor, lonely, sad little waif, sat out in a wintry field.

Belated visual aid ... This may be the painting escargot cited ...

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John Wells Smith
Boy in a field with a bird scarer​
 
Audi employs a specialized "Nose Team" to ensure their cars smell pleasant ...
Audi Has A Team Of People Who Smell Cars

What a way to make a living.

Audi has many strict quality assurance measures to ensure the customer's experience lives up to high expectations. The German automaker goes to such great lengths that it even employs a team of professional scientists who smell car interiors all day to make sure they are free from foul odors. What a way to make a living. This has been happening for over 30 years.

Since 1985, Audi's odor team, better known as the "nose team" has been working diligently to make the interior smell as pleasant as possible. But since it's impossible for Audi to make the interior completely odorless, the automaker instead aims to make the material and chemicals used during manufacturing to be as neutral as possible to create that fresh new car smell. ...

FULL STORY: https://carbuzz.com/news/audi-has-a-team-of-people-who-smell-cars
 
Belated visual aid ... This may be the painting escargot cited ...

View attachment 26597
John Wells Smith
Boy in a field with a bird scarer​

That's not the painting I mentioned but it's the same subject.
The one I was thinking of has a little girl sitting in a makeshift shelter. She looks freezing cold! The theme was obviously the oppression of child labour.
My house is full of art books so I've probably seen it in one of those.
 
Audi employs a specialized "Nose Team" to ensure their cars smell pleasant ...


FULL STORY: https://carbuzz.com/news/audi-has-a-team-of-people-who-smell-cars

Ahhh, car smells! That 'new car' aroma, which I only get to enjoy when I hire one.

Even better is the 'old car' odour. You know, the stink of an abandoned car, with ripped-up horsehair-spilling seats and windscreen glass scattered everywhere, and everything smelling damp and oily...

When I was a child people would sometimes dump old cars on waste ground and we kids had terrific fun in them. They smelled musty and enginey.
When roaming scrapyards as an adult I've sometimes caught a whiff of it and been eight years old again!
 
I fail to see how this will satisfy customers.

View attachment 26559

Reminds me of a pub along'ere called the Hand and Trumpet. It has a lovely sign showing a hand of cards and a trumpet, dating back to the 1930s.

.hand and trumpet.jpg

The name relates to when illegal gambling went on outdoors nearby and players would be warned of police presence by a lad with a trumpet.

So we're back to sounding alarms in fields again!
 
This Japanese man makes a living by hiring himself out as a "rent-a-man" - a passive companion whose presence alone is the service provided.
Japanese man who rents himself out to 'do nothing' for a living says he will 'reply to chitchat, but that's it'

Shoji Morimoto loves his job, but he doesn't try very hard at it. ...

The 38-year-old Japanese man offers his services — or lack thereof — as a so-called "rent-a-man."

"I lend myself out to do nothing, which means I don't make any special effort," he told CBS Saturday Morning. "I don't initiate conversation. I reply to chitchat, but that's it."

People pay him to join them in activities ranging from the mundane, like having a meal, to the extreme, like listening to a murder confession.

Morimoto got his start in the unusual job in 2018, when he was unemployed and opened a Twitter account called "Do Nothing Rent-a-Man" to advertise his services. He now has more than 200,000 followers. ...

"Some people are lonesome," he said. "Some feel it's a shame to go somewhere (interesting) alone — they want someone to share their impressions with."

He books up to three gigs a day and has completed more than 3,000 so far, according to The Independent.

His past gigs include sharing a coffee in silence, listening to a busker, sharing cake with someone on their birthday, accompanying people to restaurants and shops, and joining a client on a swing set ... Some of the requests he has turned down include cleaning houses, doing laundry, posing nude, and becoming someone's friend.

"I'm not a friend or an acquaintance" ... "I'm free of the bothersome things that accompany relationships but can ease people's sense of loneliness."

Japan has recently struggled with managing loneliness and social isolation among residents. In 2020, the country reported rising suicide rates for the first time in 11 years and appointed a "Minister of Loneliness" to help tackle the problem.
SOURCE: https://www.businessinsider.com/japanese-man-shoji-morimoto-do-nothing-rent-a-man-chitchat-2022-1
 
I've had some rubbish jobs and some hard jobs - the hardest I ever had was working 12-hour night shifts in a warehouse. A 40-ton truck would come in and we'd have to unload the contents on to a conveyor belt. It was gruelling, it was relentless, but at least it was pretty conventional.

But the oddest job I ever had was straightening prawns. (As I wrote this I had the recollection of posting it here before. I have, but this is the sequel, so tough...). This was also 12-hour night shifts spent... straightening prawns. The Americans, apparently, like their prawns straight for their dips.

You're sat at a conveyor belt; curled-up prawns go by; you pick them up and, er, straighten them by breaking the tension in their structure and put them back on the conveyor to be frozen at minus a lot! The job isn't quite like dying and going to hell, but it was soul destroying and since then every job I have has this as an exemplar.

Sub-editor on a cycling magazine? It can be stressful but it's a breeze compared with that!
 
If you live in North America and have the vocational aspirations of a gluttonous child, this may be the job for you ...
You could get paid to eat candy as a Canadian company's chief candy officer

Turns out you might be able to eat candy for a living — and make thousands in the process.

Canada's Candy Funhouse is hiring a chief candy officer, according to a recent job posting.

"Do you love all things candy and chocolate? Are you passionate about confectionary treats and exploring unreleased and existing products? If so, this is the PERFECT position for you!" the description reads on LinkedIn.

The Ontario-based company said the position pays $100,000 Canadian dollars ($78,167.70 U.S. dollars) annually. The job can be remote or based in its Canada or New Jersey offices.

The chief candy officer will serve as head taste tester and try over 3,500 products each month. ...

Besides eating about 113 pieces of candy a day, the chief candy officer will lead the company's "FUNhouse" candy strategy, run candy board meetings and have a say in which products Candy Funhouse will carry.

The chief candy officer will also approve candy inventory and designate spotlight treats with an official stamp of approval.

Applicants can be as young as 5 years old and must reside in North America. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.npr.org/2022/07/31/1114787324/canadian-company-chief-candy-officer
 
If you're interested in a professional sleeper job you'd better submit your application in the next 48 - 72 hours. The application deadline is listed as 11 August.
Mattress company seeking professional 'sleepers' to nap on the job

A New York-based mattress company is seeking professional "sleepers" to get paid for taking naps and documenting the experience on social media.

Casper, a mattress firm founded in 2014, said on its website that it is hiring "Casper Sleepers" willing to snooze "in our stores, and in unexpected settings out in the world." ...

The chosen candidates will document their napping experiences on social media.

The listing says ideal candidates should have "exceptional sleeping ability," the "desire to sleep as much as possible" and an "ability to sleep through anything." ...
FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/08/08/dream-job-Casper-Sleepers-paid-to-take-naps/7201659982340/
 
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