Why we are where we are....

[Icecoldviper]

I think Mike hit it dead on. Check this out lemme know what you think.
http://www.mikeroweworks.com/2009/07...mission-video/

[68Charger]

My initial reaction is: Shame on Discovery channel for not giving this 3 seconds of air time... even it if it's Mike's idea, vision & work entirely..

I've watched Dirty Jobs enough that that I would have heard about this, but it looks like this site was launched 6 months ago, and this is the first I've heard of it?

on the surface it seems like a good idea- will look into it further, thanks for the link!

[Icecoldviper]

My initial reaction is: Shame on Discovery channel for not giving this 3 seconds of air time... even it if it's Mike's idea, vision & work entirely..

I've watched Dirty Jobs enough that that I would have heard about this, but it looks like this site was launched 6 months ago, and this is the first I've heard of it?

on the surface it seems like a good idea- will look into it further, thanks for the link!

Ya same here... Don't even remember how I ran across it this morning before I went to work. Just now starting to take a look at the website. Haven't had the time to look at everything on there but I completely agree with Mike. I'm so sick of my job right now I may have to go get a dirty job... Being kept up in a cage all day with a bunch of bitches sucks....

[Irving]

Oh man, what perfect timing for this video.

I've got a BA in Economics, and I've never even tried to get a job in my field, nor do I plan to. I've been looking for a new job, but have NO idea where to look. I don't have any trade skills, but I'm certainly smart enough to learn and develop them. I CAN successfully do the office work that I've got experience in, but it's not really something that I particularly love.

I've spent a lot of my (young) life feeling that people should go off and go to college. Now, I've changed that slightly to say that being educated is extremely important, but not necessarily in the "college" that everyone is pressured into. I know a ton of people who are plenty smart enough, and a formal college education (at least right after high school) would be wasted on them and they wouldn't even finish. Personally, I think that learning a trade should be held equally as high a Bachelor's degree. Sure Economics can sound snazzy to some people, but when my dish washer breaks and floods my kitchen, or I'd like to tear down a wall, or even go camping, all that stuff I learned about free markets isn't going to help me at all. I loved going to college, and would never change a thing, but I also have noticed that skilled labor is important, and seems to be dwindling and looked down upon. I'm always a little jealous of guys who are 1) military and 2) skilled labor.

[Marlin]

skilled labor is important

You know Stu,, 22years of being "Skilled labor",, That is the first time I have ever known an "Office type" admit that..

[68Charger]

I'll be the 2nd, then.. I have a desk job... and I absolutely think skilled labor is important!

There are many times when I'd rather be working with my hands than pushing a pencil (or keyboard- virtual pencil)

I do network implementation- a design engineer dreams it up, we build it.. without the skilled labor to build that equipment, install it, power it up, maintain it, we wouldn't get anything done..

I do all my own work on my cars, because I miss working with my hands.. at work, it's all just voices over the phone & dots on the computer screen anymore.. maybe I'm not an "office type" at heart, but it's my job...

[Marlin]

You guys may bring a tear to my eye...












Seriously though,,, Thank you...

[Icecoldviper]

I'll be the 2nd, then.. I have a desk job... and I absolutely think skilled labor is important!

There are many times when I'd rather be working with my hands than pushing a pencil (or keyboard- virtual pencil)

I do network implementation- a design engineer dreams it up, we build it.. without the skilled labor to build that equipment, install it, power it up, maintain it, we wouldn't get anything done..

I do all my own work on my cars, because I miss working with my hands.. at work, it's all just voices over the phone & dots on the computer screen anymore.. maybe I'm not an "office type" at heart, but it's my job...

Whats this first and second crap I posted it!

Joking aside I do miss my construction job sometimes... sure I would go home and be tired but at least I could fall asleep when I wanted to. Not lay in bed for however long trying to get stuff out of my head being all stressed out and unhappy. Maybe its just my office but everyone is against each other. "why can so and so do or wear that?" or some other crap.

Plus it kept me in decent shape. This last summer I helped my parents redo their fence one weekend and it kicked my ass trying dig the holes for the fence post. (the pos auger we rented wasn't worth a damn and got stuck on rocks and stuff... would have been cake had I still been in shape....

Most of all I just miss being outside and moving around. Being stuck in a chair all day without even a window to look out sucks feels like prison.

Help!

[GreenScoutII]

You know Stu,, 22years of being "Skilled labor",, That is the first time I have ever known an "Office type" admit that..

TRUE WORDS, MY BLUE COLLAR BROTHER!

[GreenScoutII]

I don't know how I missed this thread earlier...

Anyway, Like some of the others, I too was encouraged to go to college and get a degree. My folks wanted me to have the best in life and all of that, so that was the direction I was pushed. Problem was, I had an absolute hatred of school. I was a good student, but couldn't stand being stuck in a classroom. I was what you might call a "late bloomer". I was short, chubby, and wore glasses. Needless to say, I got picked on a lot. I'm not one to just turn the other cheek, so I had to fight a lot as well. To sum up, jr high and high school were a miserable experience for me.

I got my first job working at a burger joint at 15 and it was the first place where I ever really felt like I fit in. I discovered I am very task oriented and enjoy having productive work to do. There were also a lot of pretty girls working there, which I didn't mind at all.

I decided I hated school and really, really wanted to drop out. Fortunately, my father who is far wiser than I am, prevented me from doing so. Instead, we worked out a way where I could graduate a full year early and get right into college. That was the rout I went.

I come from a middle class family who was stuck in that hard spot of making too much money for me to qualify for any of the free grants, but not having enough money to send me to college. As such, I had to work too. I got a part time job at Hugh M. Woods, the old lumber company when I was just 18. I started stocking shelves and working in the lumber yard. Well, between the ages of 15 and 18, I grew from being about 5'7' and 160 lbs to 6'1" and 180. Endless hours of stacking bags of concrete and sheets of plywood made me strong. I started to have real confidence in myself for the first time in my life. I really loved my job there. As time went on, I dropped out of college and decided to just work. This was both a good and a bad decision.

I worked for them for more than 9 years gradually moving up within the company. I learned a lot of valuable lessons about myself in the process. I discovered that while I have no problem taking on responsibility, I have no desire to be responsible for other people's work. I also discovered I hate paperwork. I am probably the worst salesman in the history of the world, and I have a pathological hatred of the telephone. I also learned I have precious little desire to work with the public. I prefer to have some concrete task to accomplish and I despise being interrupted from that task. One of the things I enjoyed most was when I was real young, 19 or 20 or so, working in the yard sometimes some of the contractors I knew would hire me on for a few days when I wasn't working at Woods. As much as I enjoyed my time there, it was probably a good thing for me that they went out of business. Even though at some level I knew retail was a dead end job, I was for some reason reluctant to try something else...

After I left Woods, I took a job as a purchasing agent for a local plumbing supply company. This gave me my first taste and exposure to what was destined to be my career.

I started as a plumber's apprentice at almost 30 years of age. I wish to God I would have done it at 18. I have my Journeyman's license now and have never been happier. I wouldn't trade it for anything...

Could I make more money in a white collar occupation? Maybe....

My wife is a senior financial analyst with Hewlitt Packard. She has both her MBA and her CPA. She typically works 60 hour weeks and hates it. When construction is booming and I'm working 50-55 hour weeks, I can make damn near as much as she does....

I know I have been blessed and I'm damn glad to be a plumber. I'm glad to see Mr. Rowe acknowledge the need to bring back the respect to the skilled trades that they deserve.