I jumped from computer programming to the trade before I retired.
If you have half a brain, it’s great work, and pays well.
trades.
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If you have half a brain, it’s great work, and pays well”
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As an amateur, I found welding fun!
>> I jumped from computer programming to the trade... it’s great work, and pays well.
“Even the worst day of building stuff is better than any day in front of a computer screen.”
(With apologies to the fishermen what formulated that meme)
Who cares Gump.
If you have half a brain, it’s great work, and pays well.
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The shift to trades has just become even more logical with the entry of AI. Trades that require creating things with mind and hands such as installing heating and air conditioning systems, electrically wiring a home, custom building homes, etc., will be around for a long time and they pay well. My son is in HVAC and busy as hell making good money.
High school girls are making a fortune doing hair weaves and nails. Soon they will be teaching it in high school.
We need a new gasket on our oven door. We could not find a model number on the oven, so we called our local Thermadore certified appliance company. A tech came out to find the model and replace the gasket.
He said he’d been in the repair business 24 years and had never seen this unit, so he removed the entire unit (display, microwave, warming drawer and bottom oven). It is big and heavy, so I provided muscle. While removing it, he chipped the oven cabinet!
He still couldn’t find a model number! He asked to borrow my tape measure to measure the cabinet opening. Then I had to provide Gorilla tape to tape the the flexible metal armored conduit.
While re-attaching the outside frame of the microwave he found the label hidden on the bottom!
We muscled the unit back in, got it screwed in and no gasket repair completed! He came out without any generic cistern-to-fit gasket on his truck.
Now here’s the kicker! He said he charges out at $250/hour plus mileage plus travel time. He handed me a $300 invoice! All I had was a model number, a chipped cabinet and no new gasket. He wanted payment on the spot, too!
I hit the roof, started screaming and he hightailed it out the front door. This was on a Friday and on SUNDAY we get a dunning email asking “Why haven’t you paid your bill?” That was just TWO DAYS after the service, not 30 days.
On Tuesday the service manager called me and I gave her the riot act. She cancelled the bill. Now I have to find a cabinet repairman, send her photos of the damage. I found another good independent repair guy, but he wants me to buy the parts.
Wow, what an ordeal. But $300 for a truck roll and a useless tech from a company that demands on-site payment after doing nothing but damaging the cabinet and finding the model number!
Yes, there’s a need for better people in the trades!