Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[Blank_0101]

I really detest and resent the idea that a person has to have certain training or a certain degree in order to be considered a "professional." I myself have a BA and a Master's but I only did it because I wanted to try for a higher salary (so far with mixed success.)

But the idea that I am somehow "smarter" or better or more qualified is, I think, mostly ridiculous. Sure, I may have been exposed to certain professional protocols or had some specific training, etc. but for the most part, in most any profession, I don't agree that having certain training, certification, degree, etc. makes one more capable, competent or more suited to job X or job Y.

I bet most of us have worked as frontline grunts with a group of people managed by complete boobs, or supervisors who clearly have little real-life experience and couldn't do the work that keeps a business going if their lives depended on it. Yet they make far more money.

I've been in supervisory roles in a few different fields--nothing like being CEO or CFO of a billions-dollars multinational corporation or anything--but I have always tried to convey that just because I have this or that degree or title, it doesn't mean I am above doing any of the grunt work and I spent years doing it, so I know how.

I'm second in command at the little library where I work and I STILL work the circulation desk and shelve books. I don't have to, but I think it shows solidarity with the staff and I also need a distraction from my other duties now and then.

What are your degrees in?

 

[Muddslide]

This I identify with. Every job I've ever had.

I worked with a guy who called them "seagull managers." Most of the time they sit in their office and avoid phone calls all day, but every now and then they feel like their presence needs to be felt and they have to justify doing something, so they shoot out of their office, fly around and squawk really loud and crap all over everyone else's work.

Tried this, student loans got well ahead of actual achievable income. Makes me have a hard time telling my nieces and nephews to goto college, feels very hypocritical.

True. I still owe more than my yearly salary in student loans, but they are in an income-based deferment right now. I don't make enough to pay on them! Interest is still building, though in smaller increments, but I won't have to resume paying on them at least until early next year (provided I am making more money than I am now.)

But yeah--with most kids today I would encourage them to learn a trade or apprentice somewhere. Go into nursing (which does involve school and loans, but there will always be a need for health care pros and the need grows all the time) or learn how to do plumbing or electric or something like that. I don't really have answers. It's just hard for most people now.

 

[Squanch72]

I hope it goes well, but if it doesn't maybe do some student loans and work and learn this fall? At my old Community college they had tons of trades.



Just Showing up and start asking is probably the greatest method to get something going besides knowing someone already in the field.



While I can't deny kielbasa, hoagies and pizza are good. And I want to try pirogues really bad since all you talk about.

That northern BBQ is insane. I detest relish, and don't see how lunch meat ham and hot dog toppings are "BBQ".

They smoke the meat for days in this like chamber they have built on the side of the restaurant and it is just so good, I couldn't find a picture of the pork or turkey they have that are the ones I eat. Never ate the ham. Don't get me wrong I love all styles of BBQ but I love the local Yank version I grew up on the best. It's definitely not lunch meat LOL.

 

[Muddslide]

What are your degrees in?

Double BA in Literature and Humanities
Masters of Library and Information Science.

The BA was mainly useful for getting me into a grad program. The master's has only intermittently been useful, but now that I'm back in the library game, the one good thing about my current job is it really can be a springboard to a better paying job in a different place.

I check several library job boards many times a week. I applied for three jobs in AZ yesterday and will be applying for some in Texas and Colorado as well.

Really good job showed up in Garland, TX today, but even though it's in a library system, they are looking more for an IT person. This happens a lot in libraries (and, I imagine, a lot of businesses.)

You mentioned doing research a lot in your job. That's mainly what I'm trained in as far as library work goes. Reference and research. It's what I enjoy most. Hopefully I can get back into that aspect of the field someday.

 

[Blank_0101]

Tried this, student loans got well ahead of actual achievable income. Makes me have a hard time telling my nieces and nephews to goto college, feels very hypocritical.

Almost all my friends had loans or paid as they went. Profitability is a mixed thing. It really depends on what you major in and what you want out of it.

Almost any bachelors degree is a foot in the door, but clearly some mean more than others. At the same time the carrier of the degree matters most. But even if you are the hardest working person, if you major in Haitian literature and want to work in a non educational field, it probably would have been better to have majored in something else.

But if your like my friend the bio PHD, it's not about the money per say. He'll be comfortable, but it's about what he's doing, not the money.

If you want to have fun in college and spend it studying whatever you fancy, that's cool, just realize everything's on the Internet. So you could have majored in something worthwhile and learned the other stuff in your own when your not paying out the ass to learn stuff that won't apply in the world.

 

[Squanch72]

Double BA in Literature and Humanities
Masters of Library and Information Science.

The BA was mainly useful for getting me into a grad program. The master's has only intermittently been useful, but now that I'm back in the library game, the one good thing about my current job is it really can be a springboard to a better paying job in a different place.

I check several library job boards many times a week. I applied for three jobs in AZ yesterday and will be applying for some in Texas and Colorado as well.

Really good job showed up in Garland, TX today, but even though it's in a library system, they are looking more for an IT person. This happens a lot in libraries (and, I imagine, a lot of businesses.)

You mentioned doing research a lot in your job. That's mainly what I'm trained in as far as library work goes. Reference and research. It's what I enjoy most. Hopefully I can get back into that aspect of the field someday.

My field is turning more and more IT, programming, SQL, and Python scripting too. Kind of scary to try for another job as the techies are pushing out the hippies in the geography field these days plus they want you to be a programmer at the pay of technician because it is GIS. I think I might just save up my money and open a Kava Bar some day.

 

[CL400Peavey]

I don't think that is going to be doable for these folks. I'm sure they are nice people, but.....thinking upon it more, nope, I just can't see it going down. They have a hard time hitting the sweet spot of "not raw....yet not a carbon-dating experiment" with bacon, if you know what I mean.

Morons. You put that stuff on a sheet tray and cook it off in the oven at 350*.

So much delicious food in those photos. I miss the deep-fried, the starchy, the fatty foods. Don't get wrong, I love the vegetables and lean protein that I've been shoveling in my pie hole for the past 4 weeks - but I wouldn't mind a pile of deep-fried awesome with a side of fries.
Stupid health.

We have been getting crushed the past week and a half. 86'ed 2/3 of the menu, and didnt have much for staff meal. I cooked up some honey siracha chicken, and deep fried green beans. Worth it after the sh!tshow we had.

I really detest and resent the idea that a person has to have certain training or a certain degree in order to be considered a "professional." I myself have a BA and a Master's but I only did it because I wanted to try for a higher salary (so far with mixed success.)

I hear you, I have three degrees, BS physics, BS math, MS Physics. Best skills I have are being willing to work hard and knowing how and being willing to learn something new.

But the idea that I am somehow "smarter" or better or more qualified is, I think, mostly ridiculous. Sure, I may have been exposed to certain professional protocols or had some specific training, etc. but for the most part, in most any profession, I don't agree that having certain training, certification, degree, etc. makes one more capable, competent or more suited to job X or job Y.

There are a few personal cues that I look for. More of a content of character requirement. I would rather hire someone who works hard, than someone who is lazy but qualified.

I bet most of us have worked as frontline grunts with a group of people managed by complete boobs, or supervisors who clearly have little real-life experience and couldn't do the work that keeps a business going if their lives depended on it. Yet they make far more money

This is one of the things that keeps me coming back to work at the restaurant. The chefs there all put in 70 hours a week of real work. Easy to work hard when your boss is right their towing the same line.

I've been in supervisory roles in a few different fields--nothing like being CEO or CFO of a billions-dollars multinational corporation or anything--but I have always tried to convey that just because I have this or that degree or title, it doesn't mean I am above doing any of the grunt work and I spent years doing it, so I know how.

I hold no position at either of my jobs. In the kitchen I am responsible for training everyone new. At my day job, I regularly advise on projects that are worth several million.

Someone should pay me for all this....

I'm second in command at the little library where I work and I STILL work the circulation desk and shelve books. I don't have to, but I think it shows solidarity with the staff and I also need a distraction from my other duties now and then.

Last night, in the middle of the sh!t, I called the executive chef over, and told him to fry 6 orders of perch. When I say "told" I really mean I said, "Jon get your ass over here and fuqin drop 6 orders of perch right the fuq now!" all while gesturing in a threatening way with a set of kitchen tongs. No one has a big head, or is afraid to work. The owner also loves me like a son, so I could get away with murder and be fine.

Just Showing up and start asking is probably the greatest method to get something going besides knowing someone already in the field.

Yep. People underestimate the power of just showing up and asking questions.

 

[The_Janitor]

I've had middle-management/team lead jobs in the past and I agree with Mudd - if you want to have your team respect you and work hard you need to be prepared to work harder than every one of your employees. A position of power is NOT a free pass to sit on your ass and bark at people. It's shocking to me how few people understand this.

You got a big promotion and a team of people under you? Congrats - you now have to bust ass even harder, while dealing with the day-to-day admin, budgets, scheduling, hiring/firing. More money on the paycheck (should) = more work and more responsibility. If you want your team to respect you and excel, you need to be doing more of everything.

Pretty simple to figure out.

 

[CL400Peavey]

I've had middle-management/team lead jobs in the past and I agree with Mudd - if you want to have your team respect you and work hard you need to be prepared to work harder than every one of your employees. A position of power is NOT a free pass to sit on your ass and bark at people. It's shocking to me how few people understand this.

You got a big promotion and a team of people under you? Congrats - you now have to bust ass even harder, while dealing with the day-to-day admin, budgets, scheduling, hiring/firing. More money on the paycheck (should) = more work and more responsibility. If you want your team to respect you and excel, you need to be doing more of everything.

Pretty simple to figure out.

Yep. It isnt until upper management that you get to slack, and still be successful.

 

[Muddslide]

Almost all my friends had loans or paid as they went. Profitability is a mixed thing. It really depends on what you major in and what you want out of it.

Almost any bachelors degree is a foot in the door, but clearly some mean more than others. At the same time the carrier of the degree matters most. But even if you are the hardest working person, if you major in Haitian literature and want to work in a non educational field, it probably would have been better to have majored in something else.

But if your like my friend the bio PHD, it's not about the money per say. He'll be comfortable, but it's about what he's doing, not the money.

If you want to have fun in college and spend it studying whatever you fancy, that's cool, just realize everything's on the Internet. So you could have majored in something worthwhile and learned the other stuff in your own when your not paying out the ass to learn stuff that won't apply in the world.

Wise words. When I got my BAs there WAS no internet. I also managed to have my undergraduate degrees paid off by the time I graduated. I did a lot of workstudy, had some grants and scholarships.

All my student loan debt is from the master's.

 

[mbelue]

Askrere you must be thinking of a traditional college experience.
I went to a stupid night school while working a 50hr week. While what you are saying is absolutely true, it is also obvious and trite.
My student loans would have been much more manageable as a bachelor as opposed supporting a family, and trying to pay a mortgage. Injecting thousands of dollars of debt into your life is stupid at any time but when you already have a fair helping it is suicidal. At least in my experience.
What I'm getting at is: the American Dream of "going back to school and getting a good career " is by and large a parasitic lie.

 

[CL400Peavey]

Askrere you must be thinking of a traditional college experience.
I went to a stupid night school while working a 50hr week. While what you are saying is absolutely true, it is also obvious and trite.
My student loans would have been much more manageable as a bachelor as opposed supporting a family, and trying to pay a mortgage. Injecting thousands of dollars of debt into your life is stupid at any time but when you already have a fair helping it is suicidal. At least in my experience.
What I'm getting at is: the American Dream of "going back to school and getting a good career " is by and large a parasitic lie.

Yep. I worked nights 6 days a week to pay for undergrad. If I could go back and do it all over, I would never go to school.

 

[mbelue]

Yep. I worked nights 6 days a week to pay for undergrad. If I could go back and do it all over, I would never go to school.

Funny, if I could do it all over again, I'd go to school and never get married.

 

[CL400Peavey]

Funny, if I could do it all over again, I'd go to school and never get married.

I would skip getting married as well. But I would be happier running my own kitchen than just about anything else.

That whole getting married thing... that is for the birds.

 

[Squanch72]

Yep. I worked nights 6 days a week to pay for undergrad. If I could go back and do it all over, I would never go to school.

Same here, years and years of working and going to school part time. I probably would have more savings if I just worked at a factory during that whole time. Should of became an xray tech or some other two year type of trade school or apprenticeship, or I should of joined the Air Force in a trade I could do after retirement instead of messing around in the Army National Guard shooting cannons part-time LOL. I thoroughly enjoyed college and had separation anxiety after graduation as I missed it so much but yeah I should of skipped it.

 

[Squanch72]

I would skip getting married as well. But I would be happier running my own kitchen than just about anything else.

That whole getting married thing... that is for the birds.

Yeah not down for the marrying thing but I am just not a gambling man. I can be monogamous, loyal, a good provider, a good stepdad, all without the legal ********.

 

[The_Janitor]

Didn't go to school, worked poopie jobs for 15 years, had enough. Going to school and working full time now at 34, bachelor's in business. Will serve me at my current job, should I end up here for the long(er) haul (already been here 9 years). Skill will also transfer to other jobs or help me if I decide to start my own business at some point. Seemed like the most logical, useful degree to shoot for. Tech school + online classes, the debt shouldn't be too crazy. Certainly not going to rack up $100k + like my sister did because she wanted to go to a tiny but well-regarded private school. She ended up being an elementary school teacher, makes slightly less than I do, which should be a crime.

 

[Muddslide]

Yeah not down for the marrying thing but I am just not a gambling man. I can be monogamous, loyal, a good provider, a good stepdad, all without the legal ********.

I spent the first 28 years of my life with the certainty that I would never marry or father children. In fact, I used to counsel my friends as an anti-marriage therapist..."What do you think you are doing?!?! You're a young man! You can't saddle yourself to one female for the rest of your life!!!!"

But then I met my wife. We got married less than a month after we met and it'll be 19 years next month. When we got together, she already had a 6 year old son. After a while I was thinking "You know, I kinda like the dad/family thing, and I feel like I'm pretty good at it. Let's try for a kid or two of our own."

I won't pretend it has all been storybook, but my wife is gorgeous and wonderful, I love my kids, and while I do think about the freedom of being single occasionally, I also sowed plenty of wild oats in my younger years and I am very grateful for having the companion in my life that I do.

Mine worked out well, but in many ways I do still think marriage is not natural to humans, or necessary to have a real relationship, etc.

 

[mc_muench]

I hope it goes well, but if it doesn't maybe do some student loans and work and learn this fall? At my old Community college they had tons of trades.

Thanks! Yeah, going back to school is an option, its definitely not my first choice though, this would be my 4th time back. Id rather find an avenue that doesnt require traditional schooling.

I regret going for diesel mech at this point, I wish I wouldve picked woodworking (which was my other choice at the time i picked diesel) or another trade or something else entirely. I just saw a butt load of job openings for diesel and thought hey im mechanically inclined, I can find a good paying job easy peasy, but not thinking of whether Id actually like it or not. I feel like if i woulda picked woodworking I would actually be working in that field and hopefully be happy doing it.

Im just trying to find something I love as much as music, or at least can tolerate, that will also pay bills and make a future myself, and most importantly wont take away music from me.

In my mind at this point in my young life, I dont want to sacrifice my music life for any job or girl. I know at some point I may have to, but Im afraid if I do it now for some job, Ill regret it later when Im old like you geezers. Like Im going to miss my chance or something.

I dont know, maybe Im being young and stupid...

 

[Squanch72]

I spent the first 28 years of my life with the certainty that I would never marry or father children. In fact, I used to counsel my friends as an anti-marriage therapist..."What do you think you are doing?!?! You're a young man! You can't saddle yourself to one female for the rest of your life!!!!"

But then I met my wife. We got married less than a month after we met and it'll be 19 years next month. When we got together, she already had a 6 year old son. After a while I was thinking "You know, I kinda like the dad/family thing, and I feel like I'm pretty good at it. Let's try for a kid or two of our own."

I won't pretend it has all been storybook, but my wife is gorgeous and wonderful, I love my kids, and while I do think about the freedom of being single occasionally, I also sowed plenty of wild oats in my younger years and I am very grateful for having the companion in my life that I do.

Mine worked out well, but in many ways I do still think marriage is not natural to humans, or necessary to have a real relationship, etc.

Oh don't get me wrong, I live as if I am married but I just loathe the legal aspects of marriage, and the gamble of the divorce percentages. Plus having been in a past long-term relationship and having that person completely change over the length of that relationship scared me straight a bit.