Hello, all, and greetings from Atlanta, GA! My wife and I are moving to the Albany, NY area soon (I hear it gets cold up there?), and I am looking for an employment opportunity. I have successfully completed three years of a mechanical engineering degree at Georgia Tech, and now I am convinced that I don’t belong there. I thought that since I enjoyed working with my hands and toiling over projects that I would be interested in that degree. It turns out that I was wrong. This feeling began creeping over me about a year ago when I would sit in lecture and stare blankly at the professor as he rattled on about how to find the temperature distribution over an insulating medium by solving differential equations and making use of boundary conditions. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy learning some of the material that I studied. Truss analysis and rigid body mechanics, for example, but I am more interested in using my hands as well as my head.
Anyway, I wanted to ask you all if you had any ideas about how a guy like myself can get started in this industry. I am eager to begin a home building/woodworking related career and hope that some of you know who I might be able to contact. I do have prior experience in construction. Thanks for any advice you may have.
Replies
Stay in the south - lots of building going on.
I never like taking the easy road. For some reason, I have some sort of adversity magnet attached to my rear. Besides, I'm somewhat of a backpacker, and the country is beautiful up there. Oh, and my inlaws are there. Some of them I actually get along with. Any other advice?
Boundry conditions! Reminds of edge effects and micro-climate. Did a lot of staring there myself!
Don
Sounds mighty interestin'. What's your background, and what is it that you do now?
Jason,
Micro climate was a class I had while working on my masters, Natural Resource Policy and Economics, at Michigan Tech. I work mostly by myself now doing decorative plastering with some painting and facade woodworking. It was a odd, long winding road to get where I am today but well worth it. Almost always been around the trades in one way or another. Did a short stint in banking after school but not finding the loves of my life to be golfing and beamers, I was odd man out and too outspoken for my own good! Mind you now, I do enjoy my golf. That's not the point. ;-)
Don
Got some posted pics up in the colored mud thread in the general section.
go about 6 hrs north morehead city nc.they have all kinds of reeeeal old houses and there is all kinds of work for a person of your talents.left there in march went to syracuse ny to visit my sister ,has'ent stopped snowing since thanksgiving lol
mrmojo,
I have an aunt and uncle in DeWitt. That's a nice area. So tell me about Moorehead, and do you know of anyone I can contact there? Email me if you like.
Don
The North Country is nice...take a quick trip up 87 to the Rock Garden, park, and get out and hike up to Mount Marcy over Wolf Jaw and other peaks. If I recall, about 13 miles total...quite a bit of up and down...but really nice. Probably quite a bit of snow up there now...
I'm an astronomer/physicist building his own house outside of Ithaca, NY. I sometimes feel just like you! LOL But I must say, it sure is MUCH easier on the body solving those differential equations than swinging that 22oz hammer all day! LOL And far as I can tell, the money might be around the same...at least in academia. They tell me stories of industry being more lucrative...LOL. If your heart isn't in it now, by all means, do something else. But don't close any doors on going back to school...I've never heard of anyone complaining about doing their engineering job after years of building...but I have heard some stories of going the other way.
Of course, I know a timberframer who left Cornell to build...and nice work he does! I'd love to join him someday...but first I need to be able to pay the bills!
Nice to see someone here from my neck of the woods. Ithaca is only a hop away from me. I'm building a place in Cortland, NY. now. He happens to be a prof. at Cornell. Where abouts are you building? Got a view of the lake from there?
Bish
Hi Bishopbldr:
I'm building down in Berkshire...just over a mile West of Rt.38 up on Ford Hill Road. Nope, no lake views. Always wanted to build a place back in the woods...bought 44 acres of woods in '98 and started building in July of '01. Doing just about everything myself...and certainly have gained a HUGE respect for you folks that do this everyday. Project is coming along very well...just slow. I'm at Cornell, not faculty, so the budget is much lower than what you are dealing with I suspect.
Thanks for the thoughts on engineering vs. swinging a hammer, and for the directions to good hiking. I'm sure I'll get to see and enjoy a lot of the outdoors up there. Also, believe me, I have thought about staying in school, but you hit it on the nose as far as my heart being in it. My new mantra? "Put up or shut up." In other words, if I'm not happy, I am the only one to blame. If I don't change something, I can't expect a better return on life. -jason
I will be an optimist until the bitter end
Your inlaws are there, and you WANT to move there ???
You're right - You MUST be attracted to adversity.Man to Wife: I don't dislike ALL your relatives - Your in-laws are nicer than mine.
You will love the Adirondacks!
And Albany is near a boundary
Study in the business folder here.
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
Jason
I love upstate NY but I dont think theres a whole lotta money to be made up there if thats a serious consideration. Here on the north shore of LI theres good money to be made in spite of the high costs of living.....it all goes hand in hand.
If youre interested I'd be more then happy to show you around.
HAppy hunting
Namaste'
Andy
You don’t complete your inner work before you do your outer work. Nor do you say, "Well, the hell with the inner work: I’ll go do the outer work because it’s so important and pressing." That’s not conscious either. The conscious thing is the simultaneous doing of both. "Ram Dass"
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Jason,I think you will enjoy the upstate NY region. I have lived in the Albany area all my life with a couple of years trying to find some place better to live. I couldn't, I really enjoy it here,this winter being an exception. (last year 60 degrees in Dec)
I am building my own house right now and the labor up here is in short supply. the housing market is going crazy and people are spending a whole lot of money building new ones. The people who feel there isn't much money to be made up here should look again. I want to wish you luck on your journey and welcome you to the area.
Fletch
Jason
I live about 1hr 15mins west of Albany, it's
beautiful country up here.
Good luck in finding what you're looking for.