what's a good trade to learn?

[TowPro]

Did you see that picture floating around here of the milatary truck with the sign on the front "one weekend a month my A$$"

Originally posted by JConley

Join the Army National Guard. Be a sysadmin during the day, and get to play with tanks on the weekends. You also get automatic weapons, and free all expence paid trips to all the worst places on earth where people want to kill you. Hey... you are the one looking for excitement



Before you decide. Rent the movie "In the ARMY now" with Pauley Shore. You have no idea how many things in that movie can come true.



Seriously... It is a good part time job that breaks the monotony of life.

 

[LSMITH]

Go down to the local electricians union and apply for an apprenticeship. Most areas start at around $15 an hour, with top scale being in the mid to upper $20's and even low $30's in some cases. Those old crusty buggers are going to beat the crap out of you for a year or two but then you are pretty well set. It is good work, and pay is decent too.



If you can make the money in your current position stay there, satisfaction being more important than money is BS IMO. Give me the money every time, a job is just how you occupy your time when you can't go play. Not only that but the toll that physical work takes on your body can be hard to deal with. Stay healthy and clean at work, and play hard on your time.

 

[jrusko]

a friend of mine is an electrician, makes really good money (just became journeyman last september). heh... my mother actually told me I'm "not allowed" to become an electrician, because a friend of hers who was one was electrocuted. Every job has its hazards, they can be minimized by proper safe working habits (the company I'm a sysadmin for does industrial health and safety consulting... I know dis ). Statistically, much more dangerous is being an electrician than, say, a welder or carpenter? Anyone here an electrician and not dead yet?

 

[HoleshotHolset]

My only health risks here at work are obesity and carpal tunnel syndrome.



The labs are so cold that my metabolism HAS to be slowing down as a result.....



Matt

 

[jmeehan]

Originally posted by LSMITH



If you can make the money in your current position stay there, satisfaction being more important than money is BS IMO. Give me the money every time, a job is just how you occupy your time when you can't go play. Not only that but the toll that physical work takes on your body can be hard to deal with. Stay healthy and clean at work, and play hard on your time.

I'd have to agree with LSMITH. Carpentry, wrenching, welding... these jobs can be hard on your body. It's hard to get off the couch and do YOUR thing on the weekends when your recovering from aches and pains.

If I could handle sitting still in a classroom for four to six years I'd be an architect or mechanical engineer and get to design and help build things. Your computer skills would be a plus in either area.

Have you thought about going into business for yourself? Set up systems for business's and consult? Maybe that's not feasible in your instance, I don't know a whole lot about computers.

I do know I wish I'd paid more attention in school. I make good money as a marine engineer but I'm gone from home, tired most of the time and hot and dirty all most all the time. And the good times are when your bored, because then everything is running good and you just have to watch it and not get more dirty fixing it.

 

[vssman]

Lot's of good points. Every job has it's ups and downs but if you hate it everyday it may be time to think about something else. Money isn't everything (almost). I'm a degreed Mechanical Engineer and am presently a Manufacturing Engineer. Moneys great but the stress will probably kill me before I retire. BTW, if you were to go back to school for an Engineering Degree - go for Electrical Engineering. Mechanical systems are definately being replaced by electrical systems at time goes on. Just look at vehicles today. Pretty soon they'll be 42-48 volts and lots of things will be electrically controlled (steering, valve train, HVAC, etc... ) Just my $0. 02

 

[Chucknav]

I have to comment on JConley's post about joining the Army Guard. Wouldn't you rather join the Air Guard/Reserve?



You could join the reserve squadron in Pittsburgh and fly C-130 transport aircraft. It's the best part-time job in the world. If you have your degree or are close to finishing, you could be a pilot or navigator. You would have to go on active duty for about 1. 5 to 2 years for training, but at least you would be paid well (about 35K/year) as a 2nd Lt. After that you could word as little as 40 days a year. But it's so much fun, you'll be wanting to work more. By the time you get out of training, you'll be a 1st Lt and make about $125/day. That's for a 4-hour minimum workday. If you work at least 8 hours, you could make $250. Not bad for a part-time job. And when you go on trips, you get to stay in hotels, not fox holes like the army. Although I am living in a tent like JConley up in Kuwait right now. But, we in the Guard/Reserve only have to do this about once every 10 years, you know, when we need to kick someone's A$$ for them, so I'm not complaining. Seriously, the money's not bad and we have a lot of fun on trips. As a part-timer (after training is complete) you would start out making about $3000/month, working about 30 hours per week. If you're interested, PM me for more info. I'm not in the Pittsburgh unit, but I could hook you up with people who are. And, I couldn't resist to 'bag' on the army a little.



Go Guard,

Chuck



ps. JConley, the weather sucks here in Qatar, too. I fly into Kuwait a couple of times a week. Are you in OKBK, OKAJ, or OKAS? I wish our airplane would break in OKBK, so we could stay in a nice hotel for a couple of nights.

 

[Andy Perreault]

I'm in the midst of making a career change from truck driver to aircraft mechanic. I had been wanting to do this for at least ten years, but I was too unmotivated to get off my butt and go back to school. Now I'm 40, going bald, still single, and wearing myself out by going to school for 6. 5 hours a day and then straight to work for 8 hours. Talk about timing, I enrolled in the school in July of 2001, and school started just two weeks after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Look what has happened to the airline industry since then! I will be done with school in six weeks, and I have no idea where I'm going to get my start.

If I was your age, I'd try to connect with some of the railroad employees on this forum (KatDiesel, Dennis Garrett, etc. ) and see about getting a job as a railroad engineer. THAT would be my dream job!

Good luck, Andy

 

[SnoDawg]

I am an A&P mech (Aircraft) and have been holding the licence for around 18 years. I get to work on L-382s (civilian C130s) and things are always a challenge. I end up on the road working from time to time but have seen interesting places like Turkey, Germany, Ireland, Ubeckestan, Guyana, for example. I do have days that I wish that the Wright Bros failed but everybody has days like that no matter what the job. Andy do not worry airline jobs will be available but look into entry level jobs working on the smaller stuff The money is not as good but any experience is a plus. Another option is to look into specializing in a smaller aspect like Avionics or Sheetmetal for example and there is demand for folks that have skills and experience. Both take some skills to aquire by training with an individual who has experience in them.

I wish you all luck

 

[NVR FNSH]

Originally posted by vssman

Lot's of good points. Every job has it's ups and downs but if you hate it everyday it may be time to think about something else. Money isn't everything (almost). I'm a degreed Mechanical Engineer and am presently a Manufacturing Engineer. Moneys great but the stress will probably kill me before I retire. BTW, if you were to go back to school for an Engineering Degree - go for Electrical Engineering. Mechanical systems are definately being replaced by electrical systems at time goes on. Just look at vehicles today. Pretty soon they'll be 42-48 volts and lots of things will be electrically controlled (steering, valve train, HVAC, etc... ) Just my $0. 02

Another degreed ME here - I didn't get my Professional Engineers cert because it is of no value for me at large companies. I've been doing this for ~ 9 years - 3 in aerospace, 2 in microturbine power generation (think CA deregulation), 3 in telecom and 2 6 month co-ops - 1 at Garrett turbochargers & 1 at a small offroad race car design shop. That said I'm starting the police academy on July 21st - had enough of corporate engineering and small companies don't pay enough. I interviewed at Banks just over a month ago and unfortunately was not offered the job. FIND SOMETHING YOU LIKE is the best advice I can give. I've been overpaid for the work I was doing and I was bored out of my mind doing it - money doesn't make up for lack of interest in the job in the long term.



Brian

 

[BarryG]

Don't have an answer to your question but I think you should do something you like a lot. My wife is a teacher and she truly has passion for what she does. She is the only one I know who looks forward to going to work everyday (probably doesn't hurt that she has every holiday off, long weekends frequently, off for 2 months in the summer, several week long periods off throughout the school year and gets paid very well for doing it considering her schedule and she has been doing it for 25 years though she would argue that point and when the time comes she will retire with full pay). Actually that stuff has nothing to do with it she just loves what she does and does it very well. Not that she doesn't have bad days and moan about it occassionally but she wouldn't give it up for the world.



Money isn't everything, blasphemy I know, but really is true.



I am over 40 and have a good job and make decent money but I can definitely say "when I was young that I wanted to grow up and be a controller, not!" I don't hate my job but if I had it to do over it would certainly be different. Now my life has responsiblilities, debt etc like everyone else and I cannot afford to make a drastic lifestyle change into my personal career choice(read as much less money) at least until kids are long gone to satisfy my personal enjoyment in my job so I just suck it up as mentioned in previous posts and make the best of it.



I guess my vote is do the work you have a passion for regardless of the money.

 

[slo-ryde]

My wife just finished her Nursing Assistant's course and people were lined up to hire her. It's not for everyone, that's for sure. It's extremely rewarding to help other people but in all honesty I could never do it.



Building things has always been very rewarding work for me. I had summer jobs while in high school hanging drywall, framing, roughing in electrical wiring, doing concrete foundations, picking watermelon, tossing hay. I'd have to say the electrical work and framing were the most satisfying jobs I had back then. There's something kind of spiritual about watching a house or building taking shape. The concrete work almost killed me, I was only 15 and we worked from sun up to sun down. It probably violated more than a few labor laws but I was making what was an obscene amount of money back then. My dad really got frosted when he saw how much money I was bringing home every week.



Over the years I found that the people who turn hobbies into jobs are generally the happiest. I work in the IT field myself (been doing it since 1974) and just don't enjoy it the way I used to. I've managed to stay in mainframes, high end servers, and high speed document processing. It's a nice mix with a little bit of everything thrown in. Working on desktops and laptops can be a real nightmare. You don't know the true definition of stupid until you have to deal with people who should never be allowed to even be in the same room with a computer!

 

[NVR FNSH]

Originally posted by slo-ryde

You don't know the true definition of stupid until you have to deal with people who should never be allowed to even be in the same room with a computer!

We haven't met have we? You aren't/weren't one of the IT guys at Agilent Fountaingrove were you? How do you know me then? I may have a degree in mechanical engineering but that doesn't mean I know bupkus about operating systems & software conflicts





Brian

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

A friend of a friend was working as a millwright at a lumber/stud mill when the place got bought out and shutdown. At the same time one of those computer tech companies that you call when your computer has troubles and the people read from a selection of questions and answers moved into town (this was up in Maine), so this guy got a job with them. Well it wasn't long before a lady called in and was having a difficult time with her computer, so after quite some time on the phone this guy tells her, "I can solve your porblem, here is what you do, shutdown your computer and disconnect all of the wires on the back of it, put it back in the box it came in and send it back because you are entirely to F@#$%^ stupid to own a computer!" With that she hung up on him, a little while later his boss comes out and tells him that they monitor and record calls and that they didn't think he would work out there and that he should look for a new job pretty soon. They were decent about it, I thought it was hilarious the first time I heard the story.



Money doesn't buy happiness but it buy the things that make you happy.



I have a friend that was a service manager at a motorcycle dealership, he hated the job, everyone that came in was mad because their bike was broke or not fixed yet or something. Now he's a parts manager at a different shop and loves it.



I work at a gas turbine power plant and will stop just short of saying I absolutely love it. I don't have to deal with the general public, the pay is really good, I work 14 out of every 28 days, it's a challenge, and I get to do different things all the time . One day I might be welding a 14" spool piece for a fire system, the next day chucking a pump impeller in the lathe and correcting the angle of it, or the next starting the plant up from the control room. If I want to go outside I go outside, if I want to sit in the air conditioning I do that. If I didn't like this job though I would find something else to do because life is too short to dread going to work each day. Work should be included in the thoughts behind this line:



Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out and defiantly shouting "WOW, what a ride!"

 

[Doc Tinker]

Roofing

 

[slo-ryde]

Originally posted by NVR FNSH

We haven't met have we? You aren't/weren't one of the IT guys at Agilent Fountaingrove were you? How do you know me then? I may have a degree in mechanical engineering but that doesn't mean I know bupkus about operating systems & software conflicts





Brian

No, I don't work at Agilent but I know a few people that USED to work there.



I'm guessing most people know they have to turn the monitor on before seeing any pretty little icons on the desktop. I've driven all the way to Crescent City for just that! I get paid by the hour and the mile so it's easy money.

 

[OnlyCummins]

Originally posted by turbo tim1

... snip...

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out and defiantly shouting "WOW, what a ride!"

I so like that ! Hope you don't mind if I use it for my sig. TIA .

 

[TPCDrafting]

It's in someone elses sig. I have it on my wall. I think it ought to be the TDR motto. Whenever people tell me I shouldn't ride my motorcycle or my horses, I make them read my sign, then I tell them to "hold my sign" I headed for some fun.

 

[NVR FNSH]

Originally posted by slo-ryde

No, I don't work at Agilent but I know a few people that USED to work there.

Add another one to your list - laid off in March.



Brian

 

[Forrest]

eCommerce



no employees, inventory, money handling.



to he!! with overhead issues ... full speed ahead.