I wanna move

The Lounge
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Ooh man this hit hard today.

I had to explain to some engineering interns that what a .zip file is. These are kids in their final months of their 4 year degrees.

Also to tie this back to OP, I’m 33 and only went back to school recently. Like I spent the last 4 years getting a 2 year degree.

I got an A.S. in "Drafting and CAD " at a community college because the actual “Land a job quick” potential was very strong in my opinion, I didn’t need too many bullshit classes (English, fancy math), and the outlooks were broad, which was important to me.

I started thinking I’d like Civil Engineering but ended up finding a sweet gig as a Mechanical Engineering Technician.

Even that title is kind of broad but specially I’ve become very good at learning all of our manufacturing tech. (Waterjet, CNC Mills/Lathes, Press Brake, 3D printers, specific analysis equipment, etc)

Hell, half of our CNC machine panels feel like I’m using an Octatrack :stuck_out_tongue: - I’m becoming something of a trainer across our fleet of equipment currently.

Something else I almost got into that I had a lot of interest in was G.I.S. (geographical information systems) which are used in a lot of fields. Imagine detailed map overviews tied to data points that you can use to draw conclusions. Which area of town would make the best use of a new bus stop? You pull various datasets in and can make a cross reference heat map to aid in these kind of questions. Or others. Again, very broad and valuable skill set that lots of industries would appreciate.

I’m making a bit of an over-arching assumption here that elektron users employee a certain degree of “tech savvy.”

If you’ve found yourself able to hop around different hardware units / audio software and enjoy reading manuals and just for the shit of it, there are probably a lot of specific skills you could develope with very minimal schooling that could get your foot in the door with industries you could really grow with.

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srsly, take a cheap community college class that interests you. drop it within the refund window if it s_cks. the hardest part is enrolling, getting the transcripts ordered and mailed, etc.

Some people here are suggesting Uber/Lyft for networking? Community college (sitting in a room with other folks, discussing ideas) also works for that, without as many affluent people puking on your carpet.

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Im gonna suggest something here i dont see mentioned that ive done 2 or 3 times in my life when im feeling defeated. Get the crappiest job you can find. For me it was dish washing. Turns out no one bothers the dish washer, you get to listen to the soothing sound of running water and it gives you ample time to think while getting paid. Think about things youd rather be doing, think about plans youd like to make, think about where you actually want to work. Etc. not for everyone but wanted to put that out there.

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Best job I ever had was the shittest job I ever had. Stacking shelves in a supermarket at night. Fucking magic, 8 hours and I didn’t have to speak to a single fucking person, only met my manager twice in the year I worked there.

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Hell yeah, graveyard shifts are low key the beez kneez

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About the move: do it! But keep in mind what the classics (in this case, Seneca and Socrates) already wrote about this:

Do you ask why such flight does not help you? It is because you flee along with yourself. You must lay aside the burdens of the mind; until you do this, no place will satisfy you.

If there’s something that makes you discontent at your current place, it will make you discontent anywhere. Moving is good to get some new air to breath, some new perspectives, opportunities, people, but whatever is consuming you where you are will follow you. So take the chance to think about and figure out how you can use this new impulse to actually change what’s causing your inner demons.

Best of luck in your quest, as someone that moved half the globe away from my home country and discovered I’m much, much happier this way I can tell you it’s very worth it. Just don’t think it’s a silver bullet that will solve whatever bothers you right now.

“Wherever you go, there you are”.

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The critical thing to do is to get going on trying something different - life is unpredictable, and almost any new thing you try out has the potential to make things better. I signed up for some Open University modules in psychology, and ended up integrating loads of what I learnt into my working life. I signed up for a psychotherapy training course, and learnt things that I still use today.

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I would love a gig where I dont have to speak to anyone…

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You should come to one of my gigs, never anyone there to speak to.

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Shameful self promotion?

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Shameful fact promotion

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side benefit of music “gigs” …listening…no one forced me to pick my day gig but I wish the chit chatty folks could be a little less self-centered and pick up on cues…
I dig your sound mate.

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I left a decent job in the UK (theatre tech) three years ago to live in Ireland. Main idea being some freedom to try and carve out some remote working for the both of us (my wife was already doing that to some extent as she’s mostly freelance graphics/editor).

We’re sat on some cash (living with the in-laws) waiting for the right sort of proprty/land to come up (small scale, self sufficient). We didn’t plan on the housing market here going quite so badly very quickly. Still, it’s way better than the UK if you’re willing to live outside of a town/city which we most certainly are.

I’m working as a production assistant for a small distillery. It’s partly interesting as I’ve brewed my own beer for years (and is how I blagged the job in the first place) but mostly it’s physical, dirty, hot work. I really enjoy it for that very reason. It’s sporadic but a reasonable hourly rate. I do this while I’ve been learning new stuff which may or may not make money (see recent Max For Live project I released!)

It’s a plan. Of sorts. I’m the wrong side of 50. It was a scary thing for me and I still wake up sweating some times thinking I’m virtually unemployable (not that I’m really trying to be employed right now). I guess we were lucky that we had no debts or mortgage in the UK and nothing really tying us to where we live (excepts a bunch of really good friends…that was and remains hard on my heart). If you have the freedom to make a change just fucking go for it. There are days I wish we hadn’t done it, sure, but our non-financial quality of life has improved enormously. We earn less but we also spend a whole lot less (partly helped by the in-laws but also you just have to get thrifty, repair stuff, buy only necessary stuff etc.).

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The way I always heard this was,

How do you make a small fortune in the restaurant industry?

Start with a big fortune.

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I used to go to a big farmer’s market in the City every Saturday, and there was this one farm stand that had the most delicious bacon and pork chops I’ve ever tasted. Everyone raved about them, and a lot of the local big-name restaurants would brag that they carried this farm’s products.

One day at the market, I overheard the guy who owned the farm complaining to his wife about “work” and how he was sick and tired of it. I thought he meant farm work, and though, “eh, I guess the grass is always greener.”

After listening (eavesdropping) more carefully, I realized he was complaining about his office job—the career he had to keep in order to cover the costs of the farm, which was a long way from being a self-sustaining business.

When I asked him what his day job was, it turned out we both worked in advertising.

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Except snow and miserable Appalachia folk.

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I’ve uprooted a few times and started over. It’s a fun life, and I recommend it to anyone who can do so.

Stay somewhere cheap and study, move somewhere new and shake off your dust, sell all of your items and start new, downsize and live in your favorite (reasonably priced) city.

I have toyed with the notion of studying but I just moved to a new state and am unable to qualify for in state tuition. I say do what you want, try it out, if it doesn’t scratch the itch, move on to something else.

Life can be about trying new things, failing & succeeding, etc. I’ve failed at so many endeavors but I had a great time trying them and learned a lot.

Good luck to ya.

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teaching English is a fairly attainable way to move around the world, i lived in Taiwan doing that for a year. went there because i was bored of my job at the time and i had a friend teaching over there. but when i got there i struggled with making connections with people outside of the one person i knew and their friend group of expats, so i ended up drinking pretty heavily while i was there, ended up sinking myself deeper into debt. realized i really wasnt a fan of most of the expats i met (seemed many were expats likely because people couldnt stand being around them back in their home country either) and decided to move back to the US in the thick of the pandemic.

moving was a big part of my growth and maturing process, even though i was super depressed during the whole time. had new problems, the same problems in new ways, and lots of fun. i think it was worth it.

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I can relate. Night shift shelf stacking provided the means to upskill and eventually land my dream design role. Only downsides were the back injuries and a manager who wrongly assumed I was after his job.

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I’m far too conspicuously working class for any manager to ever feel threatened by.

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