i hate my job!

[plott hound]

man o man i hate my job.been in the HVAC field since 1987 and it really sucks.used to be a good trade but now it seems the average labourer with a shovel and wheel barrow,gets better treatment.(nothing wrong with being a labourer)its hard to find anything better in this economy and the problem with the trade is the same as many others,and that is competition driving prices down.everyone wants more production with a skeleton work force.

theres gotta be something a guy can do at home for money to make a living without killing himself.thought about small engine repair but so has everyone else with a tool box.

anyone have some good ideas for a disgruntled tin banger?

cheers

[trevorakm1]

i feel your pain. i'm going to school for a try at a third career choice. my last was in construction and i caught the ride from 2002 to 2011. i lucked out and hit the boom in the beginning and made out very well but like you mentioned it is over and won't be back for some time. now the customer is king, roles reversed, they want everything for nothing. i opted for the health care industry, it's the one thing people will always value over anything else, their health. i have a degree in aviation and don't want to go to med school for an MD. i can't do nursing to icky for me and they work hard. i opted for biotechnology. the local community college has an 18 credit hour certificate program that seems to get many tranfers from the local university b.s. program. it can be applied to many fields. one avenue is the biotechs and they still seem to have lots of money. the average starting salary seems to be 50 k. i'll be done end of june and applying right now for a 10 week paid internship to add to the resume. i'm still having moments of trepidation as to the future but seems to be a good field to get into. many of the biotechs are hiring before people get out of school and are willing to pay to further your education once hired. massachusetts seems to have quite a few hiring biotechs outside boston. good luck plott hound!

[Rock Doctor]

NE BC is so busy that you couldn't find a HVAC guy (good or bad) if you wanted to right now. I don't know alot about the trade, but it's a thought. The Gas Industry has exploded up here in the last couple yrs, there are remote camps poping up all over the bush, anything from 2 man camps up to 1,000 man camps and all of them have HVAC systems.
Not sure how you would look into something like that.
Many people don't like the idea of moving to a small remote comunity (less than 10,000 people here and it's about 280 miles to the next town......), but if your into the outdoors stuff, you will not find a better place than here.
I also don't think it would be a huge step to go from the HVAC Industry to stepping into the Gas industry (Of course I could be terribly wrong about that, lol.)
Are you looking for a job, or are you into owning your own place? I could get some contact info from a couple places here if your interested.

I could also show you a couple good places to go for a ride. Don't have to register your Argo's, very few rules, or places you can't take your machines, LOTS of places to get stuck, and I know all the Hellicopter Base Managers here if you break down out in the boonies and need a ride home (Last guy dropped me off in my own back yard, lol)

RD

[mustangwagz]

(Last guy dropped me off in my own back yard, lol)

This is awesome!! lol

I'd look into Gas patch idea my friend, down here there's 2 big, main things going on now. Coal and Gas Patch's. luckily i work for one of largest Coal companies in PA, however, with that in mind the coal market is kinda iffy right now..emissions and such are shutting down alot of power plants around here, or atleast slowing them way down. alot of plants are looking into natural gas energy which IS cleaner, however it'll take MORE gas to produce same amt of BTU's and such. So there is up's and Downs to both sides of the fence. One nice thing is i'm not underground, so if coal does go belly up ill still have a job somewhere. I'm a diesel mechanic on CAT equipment, so my knowledge can be taken anywhere. whether its into the strip job or coal yard where machinery is used, or into the great unknown to service and work on pretty much any type of equipment. Turning wrench's is a good thing to know about in my opinion, because regardless of where you go or what you know, at some point, your gonna need to turn some. whether it be on your own stuff, or someone elses...for profit, or for bare necessity.

[Rock Doctor]

This is awesome!! lol

I'd look into Gas patch idea my friend, down here there's 2 big, main things going on now. Coal and Gas Patch's. luckily i work for one of largest Coal companies in PA, however, with that in mind the coal market is kinda iffy right now..emissions and such are shutting down alot of power plants around here, or atleast slowing them way down. alot of plants are looking into natural gas energy which IS cleaner, however it'll take MORE gas to produce same amt of BTU's and such. So there is up's and Downs to both sides of the fence. One nice thing is i'm not underground, so if coal does go belly up ill still have a job somewhere. I'm a diesel mechanic on CAT equipment, so my knowledge can be taken anywhere. whether its into the strip job or coal yard where machinery is used, or into the great unknown to service and work on pretty much any type of equipment. Turning wrench's is a good thing to know about in my opinion, because regardless of where you go or what you know, at some point, your gonna need to turn some. whether it be on your own stuff, or someone elses...for profit, or for bare necessity.

Cat/Finning is building 2 additions on to their shop in town here right now, will probably tripple the current building size. They are also having a tough time finding Mechs to move here (I think they have to bring guys up from down south on a rotation to keep up right now)

Just to give a little idea of how short on people we are here................ Cashiers at A&W are starting at $17 to $20/hr. They have had a HELP WANTED sign in their window for the last 3 yrs.
Companies like "Tim Hortens", "Mc D", "Burger King", ect will not open franchises here because there are no people to run the tills.
Flagers in in road construction are making $25 to $27/hr. Labourers for the company I work for are making upwards of $40 to $45/hr (after probation and 3.5yrs of service).
I went for a drive the other night after work (remote sight), and swung through one of the Open Camp parking lots. 117 trucks in the lot, 116 of them had Learner Plates (Alberta), only one had BC plates.

RD

[North Country Tough]

I had the pleasure of meeting plott hound today,nicer fella you cant find,honest hard workin blue collar my kind of feller,dont know what to say to ya, Ontario is in the dumper big time and every employer is takin huge advantage of their staff,Iam so lucky to have passed thru the workin world while things were still good in Ontario,the Doc and Waggzee are correct you gotta be where the action is smell and follow the money,only problem you get older and family is in the area and the idea of a move is daunting,but sometimes its the thing to do to get on top before retirement and planes get ya back to Ontario whenever you want.N.C.T

[plott hound]

NE BC is so busy that you couldn't find a HVAC guy (good or bad) if you wanted to right now. I don't know alot about the trade, but it's a thought. The Gas Industry has exploded up here in the last couple yrs, there are remote camps poping up all over the bush, anything from 2 man camps up to 1,000 man camps and all of them have HVAC systems.
Not sure how you would look into something like that.
Many people don't like the idea of moving to a small remote comunity (less than 10,000 people here and it's about 280 miles to the next town......), but if your into the outdoors stuff, you will not find a better place than here.
I also don't think it would be a huge step to go from the HVAC Industry to stepping into the Gas industry (Of course I could be terribly wrong about that, lol.)
Are you looking for a job, or are you into owning your own place? I could get some contact info from a couple places here if your interested.

I could also show you a couple good places to go for a ride. Don't have to register your Argo's, very few rules, or places you can't take your machines, LOTS of places to get stuck, and I know all the Hellicopter Base Managers here if you break down out in the boonies and need a ride home (Last guy dropped me off in my own back yard, lol)

RD

if i were single i would already have the truck packed RD.ive got my sheet metal,gas,oil and propane ticket but know nothing about the gas industry you guys have going on up there.sure is something to consider though.never been that far north or west in my life.id be anyones gofor if it paid 45 bux an hour.

thanks RD

[mustangwagz]

Cat/Finning is building 2 additions on to their shop in town here right now, will probably tripple the current building size. They are also having a tough time finding Mechs to move here (I think they have to bring guys up from down south on a rotation to keep up right now)

Just to give a little idea of how short on people we are here................ Cashiers at A&W are starting at $17 to $20/hr. They have had a HELP WANTED sign in their window for the last 3 yrs.
Companies like "Tim Hortens", "Mc D", "Burger King", ect will not open franchises here because there are no people to run the tills.
Flagers in in road construction are making $25 to $27/hr. Labourers for the company I work for are making upwards of $40 to $45/hr (after probation and 3.5yrs of service).
I went for a drive the other night after work (remote sight), and swung through one of the Open Camp parking lots. 117 trucks in the lot, 116 of them had Learner Plates (Alberta), only one had BC plates.

RD

Seems as though All the CAT places are looking for Mechanics and Techs...the one we deal with is always asking us if we know anyone thats a good dependable worker, and looking for a job. infact they stated they'll pay to put ppl through school if needed. Which, is awesome. So fast food workers make that much!?...lemme ask ya...whats typical price of a meal that can be purchased there then? as in...does a value meal (burger, fries and drink) cost like 15 bucks or what? cuz its about 7 here. Now i know your government N such is setup different.. by this i mean your tax's n stuff....everything is taxed corretct?..and then if for example, medical services are needed, you just walk in and get the attention you need? or was i mis-lead by someone? i mean ****...if fast food is making 17/hr, hell i could come up and make atleast 40/hr. lol atleast! haha.

[Rock Doctor]

Seems as though All the CAT places are looking for Mechanics and Techs...the one we deal with is always asking us if we know anyone thats a good dependable worker, and looking for a job. infact they stated they'll pay to put ppl through school if needed. Which, is awesome. So fast food workers make that much!?...lemme ask ya...whats typical price of a meal that can be purchased there then? as in...does a value meal (burger, fries and drink) cost like 15 bucks or what? cuz its about 7 here. Now i know your government N such is setup different.. by this i mean your tax's n stuff....everything is taxed corretct?..and then if for example, medical services are needed, you just walk in and get the attention you need? or was i mis-lead by someone? i mean ****...if fast food is making 17/hr, hell i could come up and make atleast 40/hr. lol atleast! haha.

I've heard that about Cat here as well.

Wife kids and i went to Boston Pizza last night for supper. Wife had Chicken Stromboli, I had Sliders ( 3 tiny hamburgers), and 3 kids meals. Wife had water, I had an Iced Tea.
Bill came out to about $80 with Tip.

We don't eat out much

RD

[Rock Doctor]

Oh, medical care and facilities seem to be good. Only real complaint I hear is that if one doctor leaves town on holidays, expecting parents have to go out of town to have their baby. Something about needing to have at least 3 doctors in town for things like that.
Awesome nurses here too, I would rather deal with them than any doctor. Short story: we were out if town, and something happened to our dog. She was slashed open across her ribs, about a 14" gash. When we got home, the dog was all shaved, stitched up, and bandaged. Couple of nurses heard about the dog, came over to our house, opened the door, turned the dining room into an operating room, fixed the dog up AND cleaned the kitchen up for us.
Good people.

RD

[plott hound]

good people there for sure RD.are you from that area originally?

[plott hound]

biotech looks very cool indeed.for someone my age it would be a tough nut to crack though.finished high school in 1982 and my chemistry,math and physics are a little rusty.good for you though,jumping into a new profession rather then letting your world crumble around you.ive seen the writing on the wall for some time and am quite surprised that my employer has not folded yet.

i feel your pain. i'm going to school for a try at a third career choice. my last was in construction and i caught the ride from 2002 to 2011. i lucked out and hit the boom in the beginning and made out very well but like you mentioned it is over and won't be back for some time. now the customer is king, roles reversed, they want everything for nothing. i opted for the health care industry, it's the one thing people will always value over anything else, their health. i have a degree in aviation and don't want to go to med school for an MD. i can't do nursing to icky for me and they work hard. i opted for biotechnology. the local community college has an 18 credit hour certificate program that seems to get many tranfers from the local university b.s. program. it can be applied to many fields. one avenue is the biotechs and they still seem to have lots of money. the average starting salary seems to be 50 k. i'll be done end of june and applying right now for a 10 week paid internship to add to the resume. i'm still having moments of trepidation as to the future but seems to be a good field to get into. many of the biotechs are hiring before people get out of school and are willing to pay to further your education once hired. massachusetts seems to have quite a few hiring biotechs outside boston. good luck plott hound!

[plott hound]

thanks NCT

I had the pleasure of meeting plott hound today,nicer fella you cant find,honest hard workin blue collar my kind of feller,dont know what to say to ya, Ontario is in the dumper big time and every employer is takin huge advantage of their staff,Iam so lucky to have passed thru the workin world while things were still good in Ontario,the Doc and Waggzee are correct you gotta be where the action is smell and follow the money,only problem you get older and family is in the area and the idea of a move is daunting,but sometimes its the thing to do to get on top before retirement and planes get ya back to Ontario whenever you want.N.C.T

[trevorakm1]

plott i graduated in 1985 so i'm not far behind you. it's tough to make the move and yes i felt like a real fish out of water back in school. i'm not a computer person and this was probably the biggest hurdle, doing lab reports and turning in assignments online. you get through it. the one thing you have to realize though about going back to school post internet is just the fact of how much easier and less time consuming the internet makes it all. you might also be surprised how many of us older students there are now, but you got to find your own way, good luck and hopefully this global economy turns for the better soon. as far as catapillar goes, i'm glad i bought that stock back in 08'.

[North Country Tough]

I've heard that about Cat here as well.

Wife kids and i went to Boston Pizza last night for supper. Wife had Chicken Stromboli, I had Sliders ( 3 tiny hamburgers), and 3 kids meals. Wife had water, I had an Iced Tea.
Bill came out to about $80 with Tip.

We don't eat out much

RD

Thats not horrible,wife and I are in Gravenhurst Ont trying to snowmobile had a Pizza delivered from Boston Pizza to our room last night 31 bucks plus tip and we can see the joint from our balcony.LOL