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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 24, 2018 - 01:51pm PT
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I’m growing weary of building homes for people with lots of money and am starting to wish I’d gone to college. I love building, so I’m caught wanting for something I can’t define. Maybe it’s my grumpy-ass co-workers, not sure.
Who else here has faced leaving their career because the shine of it has worn off? What did you do?
I’m 38 years old, lots of life ahead of me.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mar 24, 2018 - 01:53pm PT
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Nursing...good pay, time off and you can live nearly anywhere.
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Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
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Mar 24, 2018 - 01:58pm PT
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Save as much as you can, become financially independant, and do whatever makes you happy.
T-minus 6 years 9 months left for me.
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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Mar 24, 2018 - 01:59pm PT
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Stay in the field you are but don't swing a hammer.
Project manager.
Gc liscense, form a corp and make more money with less bodily harm.
You should only talk to make money from here on out, you obviously know the trades.
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JC Marin
Trad climber
CA
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Mar 24, 2018 - 03:04pm PT
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Start your own company and then you can hire people you like working with. Also, the skill set of running a company is completely different than working for someone so it can extend your enjoyment of building (or whatever you come up with) for years + (as previously stated) less wear and tear on your body--but potentially more mental stress.
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Winemaker
Sport climber
Yakima, WA
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Mar 24, 2018 - 03:32pm PT
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I dumped my mechanical design career in my early 50's, moved back to New Zealand, went to university and got a B.S. in Wine Science, moved back to the U.S. and generated a new career as a winemaker. I was the oldest student at school, was extremely motivated, missed exactly two classes over the entire course, did all my homework, tutored students for finals, and had a blast. You'll find the maturity and experience you have hugely useful. At 38 years old don't hesitate to change; just make sure you really want to do what you plan then carry it through.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 24, 2018 - 03:39pm PT
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Sounds like someone’s ready for What Color Is My Parachute?
It’s a good book and prolly tons of used ones out there.
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Trump
climber
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Mar 24, 2018 - 05:41pm PT
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Scientific research -> information science / software. Knowing what the requirements are and knowing whether you got the right answer fits my brain a lot better than the ambiguity of science. This work is fun!
From conversations with my buddy MFA/contractor, sounds like the fields share some commonalities, from the mental work of specing and designing the project, to the satisfaction of physically building the system and making sure it satisifes the requirements.
Sounds like there’s a pretty wide range of jobs available in the contracting field. Custom cabinetry/carpentry work sounds like fun! But of course you’ve got to like the reality of the particular role you engineer for yourself.
I remember as a twenty year old cross country hitch-hiker getting a thousand mile ride with a guy who encouraged me to get a job that paid well, and do what I loved in my spare time. I ignored his advice. Feel free to do the same with mine!
Best of luck!
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Mar 24, 2018 - 07:55pm PT
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Not sure whether I can help or not. Also not sure whether I've ever had "a career."
Did odd jobs as a kid, and then tried the college thing. Several universities tried to graduate me, but none were successful. Which put a bit of a crimp on my plans to practice medicine. After that, depending on how you look at it, I either retired at about 27, or did whatever the hell I felt like for the next 25 years. Since then, I've had a sort of career, but I'm pulling the plug on that this summer and retiring for good.
The moral? As my father used to say, "there's more than one way to skin a cat." Anticipate the way the prices of things are going. Buy low, sell high -whether it's stocks, real estate, or potatoes.
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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Mar 24, 2018 - 09:07pm PT
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Drafting. You can draft for engineers, architects and contractors and be a designer/builder aka Master Builder.
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Yury
Mountain climber
T.O.
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Mar 25, 2018 - 06:33am PT
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Brandon:
I’m growing weary of building homes for people with lots of money and am starting to wish I’d gone to college. I love building ... One of my friends decided to become an independent builder.
He made some decent money on his first home.
He made just pittance on his second home and switched back to regular contracting.
Have you thought about expanding your business like this guy?
College doesn't guarantee good income.
I know one MBA who was making several times below his expectations as a foreman at a call center.
You can also switch to building affordable housing if it helps you to feel better.
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ionlyski
Trad climber
Polebridge, Montana
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Mar 25, 2018 - 08:47am PT
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Brandon,
You're building high end homes for the well off? Or you're working for a contractor who is? Usually the former is considered a prestigious career at least to some and income is high enough if you play your cards right could maybe retire after a few or several good jobs and some careful planning.
Anyway 38 is not too old to go to college. Keep soul searching and figure it out for yourself.
Arne
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Alois
Trad climber
Idyllwild, California
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Mar 25, 2018 - 04:51pm PT
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Brandon
I don't know if I could add anything to your question/s but from my 70 year old perspective:
Follow your heart. If the job or the location does not feel right, change it. Do what feels good, the money will not be an issue in the long run.
I have spent 25 years doing something I was trained for, but really disliked. I wanted to be in the mountains and my W.A.N job required me to live in LA, NY or similar places.
At age 49, I was fired from my job, because another company purchased my employer and substituted their employees for 57 of us.
That was really a blessing. Forced me to finally look around and find the courage to go and do things differently.
All these years later, my only regret is not listening to that inner voice years earlier. So go and do what feels right...
Cheers, Alois.
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steve s
Trad climber
eldo
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Mar 26, 2018 - 05:45am PT
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Not sure I can offer any "sound" advice as a long time member of the dirtbag climber carpenters Union .
I have been in residential construction for 30 years here in Boulder and Eldo. I took up carpentry because it gave me a certain amount of freedom to go climbing and be my own boss. I moved away from framing and have only done interior trim for the last 20 years( picking up little pieces of wood). I am fortunate enough to be an independent contractor and have been able to pick which jobs I want to do. I really do enjoy building stuff and mostly work on rich peoples projects of which there is no shortage around here. Take from the rich give to the...I have also taken my skills and with my wife have bought a few rental properties in Boulder and am also now a slum lord. Nothing slum like about any of them.
I guess my advice is do something you enjoy doing and that also gives you a certain amount of freedom to pursue other activities besides work.
Also as other punters have suggested becoming a RN is a very good career. You will always have work. Cheers.and good luck.
On a related note most of the folks I work with are climbers including the contractor. So not grumpy just confused about where to go climbing next.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Mar 26, 2018 - 08:44am PT
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What can you do when the things that made you happy now only make you blue...Take a prominent vacation , get the f*#k out of town...Go see Jamaic motherf*#ker , let your dreadlocks down...
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Mar 26, 2018 - 08:49am PT
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Sometimes an external change is the ticket. Sometimes just changing how you think about things, what you decide to value, and how you decide to find happiness, is enough. Trying to find a balance between material and spiritual satisfaction is an interesting life challenge.
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
Wilds of New Mexico
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Mar 26, 2018 - 09:42am PT
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I made a switch in my late 20s. I was a smokejumper, basically living the dream jumping out of planes during fire season and climbing all winter. I had started working for the USFS during college and had worked my way up the ranks to jumping. At some point I realized I couldn't, or didn't want to, live that life forever and decide to go to grad school. I knew I needed to go to grad school cause parachuting and fighting forest fires doesn't translate to many jobs in the real world. I considered journalism and law school and decided on law school. When I got my first job at around 30 I had never worked in an office! Anyway, it's more or less worked out.
Related to other comments, I've had friends who have gone the nurse route and currently know someone in her 40s who is in school- it seems a pretty good option for climbers / skiers and I think you can become one without a four year degree. Then you can increase your pay and options with more school and degrees. Or you could build on skills you already have- maybe become a licensed electrician and get a job on an offshore oil rig or something. Climbing and working on wind turbines, etc.
Good luck!
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Mar 26, 2018 - 09:59am PT
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Hey Brandon,
I’m growing weary of building homes for people with lots of money and am starting to wish I’d gone to college. I love building, so I’m caught wanting for something I can’t define. Maybe it’s my grumpy-ass co-workers, not sure.
I have reconstructed myself a few times over the past 50 years or so, starting with quitting college to climb full-time and then going back to school at age 26, finishing a BA, in music with no interest in being a musician, and then getting an MBA. My goal was to get a liberal arts education and a degree to make a living. I got a very prestigious job when I graduated, but after two weeks I knew it was not for me. It took two years to find an alternative. I was 34 at the time with a young family. At age 40, my new employer told me my new high-flying career path was outside of the US, making lots of money and living in company compounds with my final positions in London: how cool was that!! They would pay to send our daughters to boarding school anywhere we wanted. It took about two days for the glow to wear off and figure out that was not why we started a family; it took about three years to figure out an alternative with some dicey, thin moves a long way out, so-to-speak, keeping our lives together. I was a corporate finance guy, but we decided that if we wanted to stay in the Cleveland area--we could have gone anywhere, but we had figured out that building a life in Cleveland was what we wanted--I should turn myself into a manufacturing guy. Long odds, but some of my best climbing was based on long odds. In 2011, about 20 years later and 10 years working as a manufacturing and highly engineered product guy with the same company, with lots of overseas travel and interesting assignments, the company was sold to a European investor. I distinguished myself by being the last American executive fired. I was 61, so I decided to try working as a freelance operating partner for privately owned companies since it is possible to do that sort of work in one form or another until you drop. It has been a struggle to fit the pieces together, and I have made a few false starts. But is is fun, I am good at it, and I am sticking to it.
I you are not happy, don't settle.
To the extent I can offer any advice, focus on what you don't know by trying new stuff. Find either small cliffs to jump off of, so-to-speak, so you don't put so much at risk, or jump off an infinity high cliff, so you have plenty of time to learn to fly.
Regarding college, I returned with a clear goal of getting a liberal arts education and then a "plumbing" degree--and MBA in my case, so I could find a job. This plan was borne of my experience as a climber--at the time it was very hard to be a full-time climber (no one was making any money)--and the collective advice of my guiding clients, all of whom were very successful. You don't say why you want to go to college, but if you want to train for a different line of work, then you had best define what that line of work is (see trying stuff out) and determine if college or some other type of training is most appropriate. If you want a better education, attending classes is a great way to see the world differently and learn new skills. It seems to me that taking classes is a good way to figure it out. Pick a topic that you find interesting and get an "A," which means that you learned what the instructor wanted you to learn. The reason I say this is based on what I found when I attended graduate school; many of my classmates, mostly about eight years younger, were absolutely certain that they knew what they needed to know and only wanted to study to that choice. That seemed really stupid to me: why go to a great school at great expense if you already know exactly what you need to know: read a book. My youngest daughter has just finished an MBA program at Cambridge University--she grew up on Harry Potter and Kings College at Cambridge was like heaven to her--and she has reported that many students worked only to get a pass. They only wanted the degree and didn't care about the learning. I won't judge a person's decisions, but will point out that knowing why you want to do something hard, long, and expensive is worth putting some thought into.
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Mar 26, 2018 - 10:03am PT
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I love building
Your challenge may be more with the clients you’re working for or the people you’re working with, that’s easier to change than a career. Staying with what you know and love is far more than half the battle.
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Mar 26, 2018 - 10:19am PT
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Alois makes lots of good points.
I switched carers at 38 also. It was a tough row to hoe for a bit, but I'm in a much better position now, no regrets.
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