SteveB on Fri, 02 May 2014 20:31:56 -0700 typed
in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
On 4/29/2014 9:07 PM, pyotr filipivich wrote:
I'm back in school, retraining to be a CAD guy. As I say, when I
first took drafting, it was pencil on paper, "Computer Aided" meant
we'd eventually have robots to put the ink on the paper to make
duplicates. So, now I'm at that part of the course where we start
focusing on the other end: drawings. Getting all the dimensions and
notes and "fiddly bits" on the "paper".

I am going through a course for certification in vibration analysis,
category 2. Then, in the middle of it, 5 out of six of the class were
called back to their workplaces because of emergency situations. I'm
glad, I will get extra study time. Man, the brain doesn't work very
well when you give it a lot of time off. Anyway, this will be a global
certification, and well worth it. I'm studying two hours a day, and
really want this. Boss went to the new Caesar's ferris wheel in Vegas
to set it up for permanent in place monitoring, and although I worked
hard, did not get to go.

Glad I'm having a good spell, feeling well medically, and absorbing the
material. They are teaching us longhand, and then we will get the
analyzers that do it all with the click of a mouse. But, they want us
to know if inside and out, and then they will give us the magic short
cut box. I'm pretty excited. And I find it ironic that there is a
recession/depression/holocaust out there, and yet I have people seeking
me out for good employment. Go figger.

Some sectors have a surfeit of qualified applicants, (What's the
difference between a Barista with a college degree and Barista without
one? About a $100,000 in student loans.); other sectors just don't
have the work.
Some sectors still have openings, but they are the dirty jobs, or
the jobs which require some skill - like showing up on time, every
day. There is still a bias against jobs which actually make things,
there is too much push for a "service" economy. One overlooked
element in a "service" economy - where are they going to get the
"material attributes" to perform their "service"? Even the squeegee
men have to have a squeegee and a bucket... where are those going to
be made?

--
pyotr filipivich
"With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."