"The Case for Working with Your Hands"

[smee]

I think this ridiculously well written article will resonate with many of you.
Definitely worth your time.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&emc=eta1

check it out.
best,
linda

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[Tilehelperdan]

Excellent article. I've done a lot of stuff in my life, and woulnd't think of leaving the trades for a second. Hard graft is the love of my life. :tup2:

[java]

Good read.

If you notice at the end o the piece it says this is adapted from the book being printed this week. Probably gona be a good book too.

[ddmoit]

The book is out. I bought it for my wife from Amazon recently (she requested it). She just started reading it.

[smee]

I read the book; great! As would be expected; excellently written! I recommend it.

[Dog paws]

I've done a lot of stuff in my life, and woulnd't think of leaving the trades for a second.

Yep. Ain't a whole lot of BS you gotta put up with when it's just you and the tile.

[az_rancher]

High-school shop-class programs were widely dismantled in the 1990s as educators prepared students to become “knowledge workers.” Which is why my auto mechanic charges me 150% percent of what I make as an Engineer with 30 years experience...

[John Bridge]

Excellent article. I'm going to order the book. :)

Done. :D

[tileguy_n_ky]

I too enjoyed the article and added it to my Christmas list for the wife. In fact, think it is being ordered as I type.
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[cx]

[on operating a repair shop]The work is sometimes frustrating, but it is never irrational. For me, at least, there is more real thinking going on in the bike shop than there was in the think tank.A good job requires a field of action where you can put your best capacities to work and see an effect in the world. Academic credentials do not guarantee this.

This grasshopper has learned important things.

Think I'll get a couple copies of the book for young folks known to me who have very young boy children. Just in case one should decide to be meaningful in a bit of a different way than the parents might have in mind. :)

[Marge]

Perspective is always a good thing.

Linda, a great share. :)

[Deckert]

As in any learned profession, you just have to know a lot. If the motorcycle is 30 years old, from an obscure maker that went out of business 20 years ago, its tendencies are known mostly through lore. It would probably be impossible to do such work in isolation, without access to a collective historical memory; you have to be embedded in a community of mechanic-antiquarians. These relationships are maintained by telephone, in a network of reciprocal favors that spans the country.

There should a community like this about tile :idea:

That was a really enjoyable read. Put a lot of things into words that I've felt for a long time.

[tilejoe]

that was a great read, thank you.

[gueuzeman]

From article- "These relationships are maintained by telephone,"

How old is this article? Even old timers like Hemming's Motor News is using the interweb thingy these days. :D

I will have to read the article this weekend, but in some ways it sounds like a bit of a romantic candy coated piece, where is the part about dust, dirt, noise, customers tryin' to beat you down, bad knees, bad back, carpal tunnel, and all that other happy stuff?

:stirpot:

.

[cx]

Nope, Gueuze, pretty rational thinking about the matter, seems to me. Even recommends a couple smashed fingers as a positive sign. :)

[Brian in San Diego]

Great article...it's what I've said all along...there is no shame in working with one's hands to make a living. I remember many years ago I had a friend who worked as an executive secretary in a bank. One day we were going to go to lunch and while I waited for her to finish something (I was in my work uniform) I was reading the employment opportunities with her bank. There was an opening for a branch manager in an L.A. county bank. I asked her what the salary range was. She replied that it was a higher level position and it paid $28,000.00 a year to start. At the time I was making about $40,000.00 a year or more so I told her I thought I'd continue doing what I was doing. One thing about my profession...there's no way it can go away. All the people sitting in cubicles have to be kept cool as do the hospitals, hotels, research buildings, data centers, etc. The machinery that provides that cooling has to be installed, serviced, maintained and repaired. Like the author said...no one in India can take my job away. I wish that our educators and our educational system would realize that and encourage young men and women to seek out those types of professions. I still believe there is a need for a strong foundation in math, chemistry and English/writing...that's right, English. As our equipment is becoming more complex one has to be able to read and comprehend the manuals and also has to be able to write and communicate effectively what needs to be done to correct a problem. I am going to share the article with my guys at our regular training class this Thursday night.

[John Bridge]

What really sold me on buying the book is not just that the guy is a thinker; he's a writer. The two traits don't always come in one package. ;)

[Dog paws]

I couldn't help relating to this statement by just changing a few words.
These relationships are maintained by telephone, in a network of reciprocal favors that spans the country. My most reliable source, Fred, has such an encyclopedic knowledge of obscure European motorcycles that all I have been able to offer him in exchange is deliveries of obscure European beer.
These relationships are maintained by the internet, in a network of reciprocal favors that spans the country. My most reliable source, JB, has such an encyclopedic knowledge of obscure tile installations that all I have been able to offer him in exchange is deliveries of Coronas.

[John Bridge]

Cheap beer? Cheap beer? I don't know whether to be insulted or flattered. :D

[johnfrwhipple]

Cheap Beer - Expensive Beer


It's still Beer. And John would answer your questions anyway I bet.

[Dog paws]

Your right. Cheap shot. Mea maxima culpa.
For the record the Mudmeister nurses Coronas.

[K_Tile]

Michael,
You said something a long time ago I'll never forget. Something like:

You have to quit drinking because you found out you were allergic to alcohol. Every time you drank you broke out in handcuffs!

Dont know if that yours but damn funny!!

:topicoff:
I have a nice project coming up near you! Its not final but its a BIG one. When I get the contract I'll get with you! You wouldn't happen to live in Clark county?

[Dog paws]

Montgomery, caddy corner to Clark.

[John Bridge]

Went to a wedding last evening; all they had was light beer. I managed to get down three or four glasses, but it was not enjoyable. Now, here I sit into the fourth quarter of the first football game and I haven't had a beer yet. Hope I didn't permanently damage myself last night.

:D

[ddmoit]

Someone needs to come up with an after market light beer modifier for folks stuck in your situation. Make it the size of a tube of Chapstick, and I'd carry some around.

[smee]

I'm glad yinz are enjoying the article - the book is good stuffs too (the article originally ran in the New York Times in May of this year).


and YES, of course, all good conversations should turn to the subject of beer :D

[John Bridge]

That's what I like about you, Linda. You've always been so sensible. :D

[bbcamp]

...yinz...Linda, it's "youins." But I forgive you seein's how you was trying to talk about beer, and all.


:D

[John Bridge]

Book arrived today. I'm into one on Robert E. Lee, though, so it'll be a while before I start the new one -- unless someone says something unflattering about R.E. I think the book is written by a Yankee. :D

[fuzzy_dba]

I understand what it's like to be a tradesman: I used to be one, for more than 15 years. I was darn proud of being one of the best tradesman around. Now I'm an office worker that can be out-sourced to India next week...

Which one am I more proud of ... That's no contest!!!
The many times when I could make someone smile when I could get their heating or A/C started working again, their kids would just smile and say "Thanks", and I'd leave the parents with a simple but honest handshake! It just doesn't get much better than that!:bow:
Yes, I might have been a slight bit 'dirty' and had been working for all weekend long in the heat or freezing weather, but I FELT GOOD SINCE I ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING...

... I miss those days right now ...

[ddmoit]

Welcome to the forum, Terry.:)

I bet you have a better fall-back position than most of your office mates.

[fuzzy_dba]

Thanks Dan.

I have the "benefit" of having had plumbing, HVAC, and electrical licenses, abd have even frames houses and done roofing in the past. If necessary, I can go back to the "good" labor, that is if my knees will hold out and there are not 200 people in front of me trying to do the same job.

In addition, it keeps the "honey-do list" long... Things could be much worse!

[smee]

thanks Bob!!!

John - once you finish the book; please report back your findings :D

Happy Post Halloween; welcome to the beginning of winter...

[ddmoit]

More on manual labor...

http://karendecoster.com/the-recession-made-me-love-manual-labor.html

I remember the time my Dad let me help him change the u-joint on his truck. I took two semesters of Auto Shop in high school and participated with our high school drag racing team/pit crew. I was interviewed, at the time, by our local CBS affiliate for being one of two girls in the program.