27 replies to this topic

[Myc]

https://www.cnbc.com...e=pocket-newtab

 

Anyone else noticing this trend??

 

Strangely, I am feeling the strong urge to change professions. After 30 years in construction, I am just about worn-out - physically and mentally. Dealing with the general public has become a real chore and the pandemic really brought out their inner selfishness. (Mine too if the truth is to be told.)

While everyone else was hiding under the couch cushions with their tin-foil hats on............

I was working my ever-loving BALLS off!!!  The volume of work more than tripled from years past. I never saw a day off except for my coveted and closely guarded weekends (and people were sitting around all weekend texting and calling - trying to schedule work for my days of rest).

It was - and still is - RELENTLESS. Folks have no problem inviting a random interloper to their home - despite the mortal threat that I bring.

 

I quit answering the phone or returning calls last week. It f-ing hurts to type because my wrists hurt so bad from the manual tasks of my job. My back is killing me again after several years of being easy to deal with. I'm run-down, burned out - and I just don't want to play anymore.

 

I'm totally trying to switch industries and have placed an application for a management position at a beverage manufacturing facility. Time to wear a lab-coat and carry a clipboard for a change.

I love my job.

I just hate what people have become. It seems overnight the selfishness and self centered-ness have become the new normal. I can't get there fast enough or do the work cheap enough. And then when they have problems with their shitty equipment...........that becomes my problem to go and demonstrate that the work is solid - it's your shitty equipment that is causing the "problem".

That - if I can even source the materials necessary to build your project in the first place.

F-ing Bullshit !!

 

Eh......I need more ibuprofen, a beer, and a couple of bong rips this morning just to feel like getting out of bed. I told some friends yesterday that I was considering getting on heroin. At least I could nod out and wait for all of this to go away (and not have all these aches and pains).

 

~End rant.

 

[riseabovethought]

Looks like someone else could use a psily -brain -car -wash too.  Maybe Im not the only one athts been putting it off too long.  I bet it'll set us both straight, and thats my professional opinion.  Maybe Im way off but thats going to be my next project, car wash the brain a little, see what sort of fish I can bring back.  Then we'll talk.

 

Change is good, brother.  Im happy to see people lean into change when it looks like a better route ahead.  I dont think that management gig is quite what you're looking for, on first instinct at least.  I think you already have a nice thing going that just needs its wrinkles ironed out a little.  A lot of people would kill to get to the starting point where you are at.  All you have to do is organize better, maybe look at some apps that might streamline your business for you.  I think you just need a helper maybe; an apprentice, which would also bring the added bonus of all that extra good karma for showing someone the light.  Just some thoughts, I hope Im not assuming too much, just spit -balling really.  I know you know exactly what you are doing, old friend.  And if that doesnt work, try patience...while the dust settles it all becomes more clear.

[Myc]

I've got some spore syringes on the kitchen counter ......... Plenty of substrate and spawn materials.......

It might be time.

I have some vitamin A on blotter paper. It may be time to have a double or triple and really get out there.

 

I just wish I wasn't hurting so goddamn bad. It's making me miserable.

Edited by Myc, 03 July 2021 - 10:52 AM.

[Sidestreet]

Sounds like you have a Vitamin A deficiency.  You should definitely take a couple of supplements.

 

Seriously, though, like Rise said--change is good.  After 30 years, sounds like your body NEEDS a break.  Don't keep ignoring the signals.

[Mycol]

I’m finding More and more that I’m a little ahead of the trend . You’d think it’s a good thing but it’s downright maddening at times too. I got out of commercial butcher and tiredness my hand a few other things with varying degrees of success . Then I had a kid and became the primary caregiver and my body is much happier . I would’ve gotten carpal tunnel if I’d stayed on butchering .
The people were getting worse and worse at the butcher counter. Wanting better quality cheaper and cheaper . It sounds like you stacked your bread spend and invest wisely and take a well earned break .

I’ve thought that this covid skakeup would move a few things around in the workforce . I thought that the boomers would move out of their jobs that they’ve been hanging onto and that the younger people would move up into those vacated positions but It seems a a lot the younger professionals are t as Interested in that now . Maybe that’s a good thing and they’ll figure out a way to make a living that doesn’t kill their souls .

This pandemic really has forced a lot of people To show their true colors and it ain’t pretty .

[drmcnasty]

I completely understand what you're going through Myc. I am in the same boat, I'm just fed up after working in the same industry since 1991. Decisions like this always require a high load of psychedelics and consultation from the other side. The world has changed a lot since we decided to take the paths we took, I think its time to think about a detour. I really hope you can find that answers you are looking for on your much needed trip. Good luck man.

[FractalFarmer]

I think the hardest thing about change is making up your mind to do it.  If things have become stagnant then do what you need to do to break out of it.  good luck

[shiftingshadows]

@ Myc

 

.... F-ing Bullshit !!....

 

Eh......I need more ibuprofen, .... all these aches and pains).

 

~End rant.

 

Construction is hard on the body and aging compounds the effects

But, ...

A wise old man once told me :

"Don't get rid of your old girl friend,

till you've got a new one" ....

Edited by shiftingshadows, 04 July 2021 - 10:52 AM.

[Myc]

RE: getting rid of old girlfriends....

Sound advice, for sure. I've got such a back--log of work that I have no worries for several months. I've just stopped adding to the pile for the time being.

 

Feeling a little better today. I spent yesterday catching up on house-work. My wrists aren't hurting so bad today and I'm headed out for a small get-together.

Hoping you will all have a safe and happy July 4th.

[Mycol]

You know when you say no to work you’ll end up being worth more ?

[drmcnasty]

The work you don't want to pays more just like the drugs you're not trying sell cost more

[FLASHINGROOSTER]

The one thing I miss about construction is that it kept me in better shape. Running around with a laptop and a volt meter does not build much muscle.

 

The energy sector was a complete sham in 2020 with the oil price collapse. We had a few guys leave for greener pastures during that time, and if there were more available positions we would have seen more. Yes we are going to cut your pay, and you need to work faster, and can you do it cheaper somehow? Thank you... We finally got our rates back a couple of months ago. A bit of a slap in the face when you had to fight for it like its was pay raise, when in reality it was getting back to square one. "What's that?" "What about the fact that rates have not gone up in ten years to match rising inflation?" "hahahah go fuck yourself"

 

When it comes to job change I say if you can go back to your old job easy enough, why the hell not. The risk is minimal. I know when I changed jobs at one point in my life it was a positive one. Then again I have a friend who did the same and hates his new job... well maybe just hates his new boss.

 

I try to scrub my brain at least once a month with the little teachers, my floors literally need it.

 

There is something about those shrooms, I wake up the next day and feel like I need to get some shit done.  It has a bit of a focusing effect for me for sure. Especially for a chronic stoner who tends to let things lay.

[Myc]

I'm a licensed electrical contractor. The work will (potentially) always be there since I have a client base of 20 years. Folks call me back and share my name around. I don't advertise anymore. Could probably take my website down by now since it doesn't generate the kind of traffic I want (scammers, spammers, worthless business opportunities, loan offers, etc.).

That's also part of the rub. I remember the days when a telephone was a telephone - and nothing more. I miss the good ol days of the rotary dial phone - and no answering machines. No anti-virus, no "apps", no passwords or special services required. Just dial the number and let it ring on the other end - if they're not available, call back another time or leave a message with the answering service.

 

I can make a living off of just "weekend warrior" work if I were so inclined and that is my plan. Take a MASSIVE paycut and perform a way easier job during the week. Use nights and weekends to cherry-pick only the work that I desire to do and accept "cash only" as payment. No cash - no work. Fuck being beholden to all of the regulatory agencies that burden my business yet offer me no benefit other than certifying that my business is "compliant" (having paid all of the fees, surcharges, taxes, etc.) - while I compete with entities who carry none of these assurances (license, bonding, insurance, etc.). I've spent a career being honest, forthright, and being fucked-over for being stupid enough to comply. Now, I'm paying for it with my health. Getting tired of being the "good guy" when all others are just in it for a quick buck.

When my generation is gone and the new generation which doesn't like to work hard, perform manual labor (or even think critically) takes the helm.... I'm curious to see what the world will look like when the lights go out. I'm guessing it will look something like the Superdome in New Orleans just after hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf. Everyone standing around in the dark, sweltering in the heat, knee deep in their own shit, demanding immediate help from outside sources.

Edited by Myc, 05 July 2021 - 02:16 PM.

[Mycol]

The one thing I miss about construction is that it kept me in better shape. Running around with a laptop and a volt meter does not build much muscle.
  .

I miss that about being a butcher. I just went and got my equipment from my shop halfway across the country . I think I’ll be busy this fall. I’ve done about a hundred chickens in the last two weeks and and we are set to do 160 more this weekend . I’ve got a guy with a walk-in cooler that wants me to start processing a cow a month starting this fall . I think I’ll make some money during deer season cash money too , So far I’m getting paid in meat . Quality meat .

The inspections and insurance aren’t worth what you have to pay . I think I’m going to be able to make a decent living in a few years . Not rich by any means but money is not as valuable as it was 5-10-15 etc years ago .

[rockyfungus]

I just traveled from the front range to the big apple to the sticks between the fingerlakes and anthracite hills of PA...I saw middle america reopening and getting along red and blue being weary then laughing at dinners. Shits coming back!

 

I have a business idea to the save that farm, I just learned about and started scheming about. Any rural property for the matter. I saw the WAY this weekend...This trend hopefully will set us free. 

 

If you ever want to talk and discuss some ideas. Ideally I feel fuck work, we need good people starting communes. We are engineers, mechanical, medical, lawyers?, farmers, people of all different backgrounds. If we come together we can own islands and acres and get the earth back on track. Read teaming with fungi on the airplanes...

I'm trying to transition and get away from people myself. My patients love me, absolutely adore me and I just can't stand the change in behavior since cellphones. I'm starting to tarnish my name from how often I move... I'd love to get a gourmet farm going but my skills aren't quite there. The money is great but I don't think I can handle another 10 years of retail medicine. Jealous of friends having less debt and giving up nice jobs to just bum across country and fish and ski. That's not me but I want some lifestyle in between. 

Edited by rockyfungus, 05 July 2021 - 03:14 PM.

[Myc]

@Mycol,

I've withheld the fact that I worked at a meat processing plant - cow dis-assembly line on the fabrication floor - in the past for some time. That's what started all of the wrist complications. There was a time when I couldn't use my left hand for anything but a meat hook. I'm really handy, efficient, and quick with a knife as a result. Fore-shank and chuck boning can teach a great deal about using tools to maximum efficiency. I'm definitely not the guy a person would want to meet in a knife fight (present company excluded) and like to keep an 8-inch flex knife for special occasions (in case I ever am forced to re-visit my skill-set). ;)

So yeah..........carpal tunnel syndrome..........we're old friends from waaaaaay back. Thanks Cargill Corp. !!

 

Glad to hear that you have plans to maximize your unique skill. Make 'em pay - that's all I can say. Make it worth your short time here on Earth.

[ElPirana]

I like the commune idea rockyfungus. I’ve been thinking for a while that small like-minded communities would be ideal.

I’m no longer under any illusion that I’ll find fulfillment in career, money or possessions. Even money itself seems so unreal to me nowadays, it’s just this idea of some accounting of value or wealth and it only works because everyone agrees in that idea. I can picture a community where money isn’t even necessary. It’s happened before, maybe it can happen again?

[rockyfungus]

I want to try a commune so bad. I spent a little time in the golan heights of Israel.

https://en.m.wikiped...rg/wiki/Kibbutz

Those guys were better then the religious city folks. Wonder how they feel about Palestinians… (Oh I read a bit, they didn't want them being slaves or working for them)

 

"We were happy enough working on the land, but we knew more and more certainly that the ways of the old settlements were not for us. This was not the way we hoped to settle the country—this old way with Jews on top and Arabs working for them; anyway, we thought that there shouldn't be employers and employed at all. There must be a better way.[9]"

 

"Kibbutznikim did not pray three times a day like their parents and grandparents, but would mark holidays like Shavuot, Sukkot, and Passover with dances, meals, and celebrations. One Jewish holiday, Tu BiShvat, the "birthday of the trees" was substantially revived by kibbutzim. All in all, holidays with some kind of agricultural component, like Passover and Sukkot, were the most significant for kibbutzim.

Religious kibbutzim were established in clusters before the establishment of the State, creating the Religious Kibbutz Movement. The first religious kibbutz was Ein Tzurim, founded in 1946."

 

I tripped super hard today and I’d give up my career for livable land. I’d rather work for my community and share then profit or get the elites richer.

We don’t need half the shit we have. I need food, water, and shelter, and socializing occasionally…just need a common goal and selfless real people?
 
edit: Sorry about formatting, found some cool stuff on wikipedia. As my friends get older some are dying for our island and others are so close to winning capitalism. (of course the dudes who cared about looks, power ties, manipulating others, etc...we still trip multiple times a year but some are destined to try and push the weak around)

Also I went to israel as a youngster paid for by israel and it turned me away from judaism and zionism. Thanks you jingostic fuckers, most beautiful place I've been and learned a lot from the arabs that were displaced.

Edited by rockyfungus, 06 July 2021 - 03:38 AM.

[Mycol]

Well we have gone at least a generation without teaching hardly anyone about how to butcher so if you have the skills you can be quite an asset . I’m looking at building a cool room to be able to hang a steer, few pigs or deer in .

[rockyfungus]

Learn to use the whole animal or network with tanners and the likes?

Edited by rockyfungus, 06 July 2021 - 04:17 PM.