For all us knuckel busters

[A.K. Boomer]

This is a good read, its long but its good --- it brings perspective and makes you appreciate why you do what it is you do,
Grannygear introduced it in one of his posts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/ma...24labor-t.html

[dp]

Delay must indeed be deadly because that link is dead.

[A.K. Boomer]

Thats very strange, I just went back to GG's original post and it works, I go here and it doesn't --- its an exact copy and paste replica, any idea's?

EDIT;

Give this a try

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html

[Falcon67]

First post link worked for me - might have been a board software or DNS issue.

[A.K. Boomer]

The first post link worked for you because I re-edited it and used the same one I did on post three, its directly from the site,
Now Iv gone back and put GG's copy and pasted link directly under the first posts modified working link, can you tell a difference? neither can I --- yet if you click on the top it will take you there, click on the lower one and its dead...
?

[dp]

Thats very strange, I just went back to GG's original post and it works, I go here and it doesn't --- its an exact copy and paste replica, any idea's?

EDIT;

Give this a try

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/ma...24labor-t.html

WooHoo - that worked

Edit: Ok - had a chance to read it and what a pleasure it is to have done so. His writing is very good and his story reminds me of my own. I went to school while working in the trades as an automobile mechanic, then in an aircraft propeller repair shop, and back to cars and motorcycles and self unemployment, all the while working with my hands and hitting the books until I could overhaul a turbo hydramatic transmission, sleeve a cylinder, knurl valve guides, and solve quadratics and Chi-Square problems in the same afternoon. It's no wonder that after 30 years in a cube and one heart attack later I returned to working with my hands as a hobby and bought a lathe and mill.

The author's hardest struck note was his revelation that high schools abandoned the trades in the 1990's and redirected the heads full of mush into exactly my life in the cubies. I hope that along the way they experience the fun of building at least a D-class dragster, rebuild an airplane from the ground up, race what they brung, and know the thrill of racing a motorcycle on a half-mile dirt track. I fear they will not. None of my kids or grandkids have, but they can order coffee in 5 languages and work cell phones they've never seen before

Lordy the times they have changed.

[A.K. Boomer]

Totally agree,
I think this recession has really put emphasis on how bad of a screw up it was to yank teaching "the trades" out of our schools,
Like he quoted in his write up;
“You can’t hammer a nail over the Internet. Nor can the Indians fix your car. Because they are in India."

Actually Iv almost always lived hand to mouth -- Iv set things up that way and that's how I like it - this is not a gloat as I realize many people are hurting in this economy but for the first time in along time Iv got a very small surplus and that's very unusual for me, I look around at all the guys I know who are tradesmen and so far it ranges from some taking a hit but being able to maintain to some actually booming, This is one of those "reality checks" for the times..
He uses the word "tangible" in its correct context.
And he puts the pride and respect back where it belongs by proving himself in the other walk - finding it shallow and then heading back to what many actually would consider a step down.

Now that I think about it I think this write up was posted on here before but still worth it for the ones that didn't get a chance to read the first time.

[kendall]

Was only able to scan through it (not home, have what mounts to dial-up here) but the story makes a great deal of sense. Was always arguing the case for teaching trades in schools. Too many kids graduate with their only idea of work being what they see on TV. Many kids I got as new hires had no idea that work actually required them to do something.

On the economy issue, I typically perform auto and home repairs as side jobs, My actual work as a carpenter has completely died out over the last two years, but the side jobs have multiplied enough that I have had to ask friends to take a few of them.

I feel that if doing actual productive work wasn't presented as something to be ashamed of, there would be a much better work ethic in the US.

Ken.

[Roy Andrews]

they look the same but they are not the same address. if you right click on them and select properties you will see that the top one reads magazine not ma... when you post a link it gets shortened for security i think. so if you just cut and paste what shows you will get an incorrect link. if you right click and select properties you get the complete address and can cut and paste that.