tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post5871995032379468981..comments2024-03-28T20:53:49.167-04:00Comments on The Adventures of Roberta X: I Do What With What?Roberta Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-4440170655164570912016-07-29T20:08:33.759-04:002016-07-29T20:08:33.759-04:00Progress can be a real bitch about messing up your...Progress can be a real bitch about messing up your plans.....<br /><br />MerleMerlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17351769452837850427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-13594940037891006592016-07-29T07:19:13.226-04:002016-07-29T07:19:13.226-04:00Alas, I cannot get out of the rat race. My curren...Alas, I cannot get out of the rat race. My current goal is to die on the job. many decades from now. <br /><br /> I've seen what retirement does to my relatives and I'm seeing what even a nice home for the aged is now that my Mom is in one. I want no part of it.Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-57820830194935038462016-07-29T00:10:06.965-04:002016-07-29T00:10:06.965-04:00It was a long time after high school before I fina...It was a long time after high school before I finally wised up and went back for the formal degrees. Much harder when you have a wife, family, and full time job. Took me 4 years to get my AAS in electronics, then 14 years to get the BSEE. Much like you, I was always working in the field and longterm at each place (25 yes at the current job), but after about 2000 I started to understand that my experience and job title were pertinent at my current employer and not necessarily at any other. The diploma at least provides some certification in case things go to hell.<br /><br />We're about the same vintage, I believe. My goal is to stick it out for another 3 to 5 years, then get out of the rat race and enjoy life. The Neon Madmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09471284462048509853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-73586062698392983192016-07-28T21:53:59.530-04:002016-07-28T21:53:59.530-04:00At one time, I was proud of having no actual forma...At one time, I was proud of having no actual formal education past High School. In later years, the lack of a degree has proven a hindrance. Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-87577759315436459422016-07-28T10:06:13.625-04:002016-07-28T10:06:13.625-04:00We'll always need tradesmen (and women). Carp...We'll always need tradesmen (and women). Carpentry, masonry, plumbing, wiring, and HVAC (just to name a few of them) don't happen in cyberspace. In general the trades don't happen in controlled situations (e.g., factory assembly lines) where repetitive actions are better done by machine than man. I've worked on enough supposedly-identical homes to know that what you did in the house next door may not translate 100% to the supposedly-identical home you're working in now. There's always a stud or a pipe or a duct in the way that wasn't in the way in the other house :)<br /><br />The modern cultural insistence that everyone must go to college is ridiculous. I shouldn't have gone to college, I should have gone to welding school. (Not HVAC or electrical school, I'd already been in those trades for a decade when I went back to college, and I would have been a horrible student.)Fuzzy Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03802539927743643041noreply@blogger.com