Better off as a plumber?

[1prometheus]

Quote from 1765hillwood:

I've done both, trade and the trades, never once did my elbow or knee hurt playing a gap, never once did I bag $450 in my first half hour in construction. Never once did I calulate my true cost of mileage walking over to my monitors etc etc

Funny i was just talking to my spouse about the damage "physical" jobs do to the body. I had my experience with it working construction over my summer vacations in high school. (The crew thought I was from mars.. you wear a coat and tie to high school?)

Anyways, all the guys who had been at it... Their hands are just so scarred, calloused, always with some wound trying to heal. I did not expect how badly my hands would get banged up on the job. I discovered no matter how careful you are, if you have a physical job there will be pain involved. You are often dealing with toxic substances, fumes, ear damaging-loud noises, lethally sharp equipment, high ledges, etc. People who do physical jobs are in contact, at all times, with basic reality that is always unforgiving.

I believe a few summers on a real construction site would cure most libtards of their liberalism. Libtardism is very easy if one only knows the pampered wealth bubble or even the "desk job" middle class life.

 

[dalen]

Well I hold a plumbing/steam ticket. I got right into it after graduating high school because I thought it was better to figure out what I wanted to do while making money instead of relying on school to figure that out like so many of my friends did. A lot of them spent thousands on classes, hold some sort of mediocre degree now and make not much more than 15 - 20 an hour (some even still live at home).

I was 21 when i finished my apprenticeship making 40 an hour, plus any over time was all double. Holding a plumbing ticket also allows you to jump from residential, commercial to even industrial. You have the freedom to own your van and do service calls (good money but your time is gone). Take the route of getting on steady with an outfit working reg hours collecting a nice paycheck every two weeks and not having to worry about calls at night. Then there's the option if you want to make great money fast you can go work industrial at mills up north, the oil fields in Alberta or any industrial places that have yearly shutdowns (maintenance & upgrades) and make 10-20K a month easy. Great money but hard lifestyle if you want to pursue that.

I felt it was the perfect job for me while learning to trade. Once trading allowed me to go full time (after 3 years), I look back and smile because I still have a ticket that never expires and I can go back anytime making the same dollar as before.

Some places in Europe, if you need a Doctor to show at your house you'll have one there in no time, call a plumber and you'll be waiting or be paying out your ass. Because of the free education most end up becoming doctors and engineers.

The problem for Skilled Trades are in places that don't hold proper building codes and practices etc so there is no need for skilled tradesman, bringing wages down, competition up, and of course lack of quality.

 

[Lucias]

These college education aint worth it pieces fail to understand how difficult it is to get a job.

Look at this:

Scenario 1

Dont go to college
Dont get a job or get only a crappy job
You won't have any money either way

Scenario 2
Borrow money
Maybe get a job
You may make some money

Borrowing money is a no brainer!! You ever heard they can't squeeze blood from a turnip. These economic types don't have a very good understanding of reality.

The real question to ask is why you have to go to college, that is most people, to get a job. The answer is supply and demand. The answer is very relevant because the over supply of labor is what led to the destruction of credit. It is also a big cause of the current unrest in many countries.

 

[1prometheus]

Awesome post, thank you for the first hand information.

Quote from dalen:

Well I hold a plumbing/steam ticket. I got right into it after graduating high school because I thought it was better to figure out what I wanted to do while making money instead of relying on school to figure that out like so many of my friends did. A lot of them spent thousands on classes, hold some sort of mediocre degree now and make not much more than 15 - 20 an hour (some even still live at home).

I was 21 when i finished my apprenticeship making 40 an hour, plus any over time was all double. Holding a plumbing ticket also allows you to jump from residential, commercial to even industrial. You have the freedom to own your van and do service calls (good money but your time is gone). Take the route of getting on steady with an outfit working reg hours collecting a nice paycheck every two weeks and not having to worry about calls at night. Then there's the option if you want to make great money fast you can go work industrial at mills up north, the oil fields in Alberta or any industrial places that have yearly shutdowns (maintenance & upgrades) and make 10-20K a month easy. Great money but hard lifestyle if you want to pursue that.

I felt it was the perfect job for me while learning to trade. Once trading allowed me to go full time (after 3 years), I look back and smile because I still have a ticket that never expires and I can go back anytime making the same dollar as before.

Some places in Europe, if you need a Doctor to show at your house you'll have one there in no time, call a plumber and you'll be waiting or be paying out your ass. Because of the free education most end up becoming doctors and engineers.

The problem for Skilled Trades are in places that don't hold proper building codes and practices etc so there is no need for skilled tradesman, bringing wages down, competition up, and of course lack of quality.

 

[blackjack007]

you guys who think plumbing is easy probably have never used your hands for anything except pressing buttons on your remote control.

i've installed faucets, toilets, and water heaters, and fixed leaking sprinkler valves and water pipes... all the basic homeowner stuff, and it all sucks. have you ever carried a fvcking dirty toilet through the house then down the stairs? those older high-volume models are large and heavy. ever dropped a water heater on your foot? ever had to dig up a buried sprinkler valve that's surrounded by tree roots?

these technical trades are simple intellectually but that doesn't make them 'easy'

 

[blackjack007]

Quote from 1prometheus:


Anyways, all the guys who had been at it... Their hands are just so scarred, calloused, always with some wound trying to heal. I did not expect how badly my hands would get banged up on the job. I discovered no matter how careful you are, if you have a physical job there will be pain involved. You are often dealing with toxic substances, fumes, ear damaging-loud noises, lethally sharp equipment, high ledges, etc. People who do physical jobs are in contact, at all times, with basic reality that is always unforgiving.

yeah this is true. just doing simple things like replacing a faucet, you get scrapes on your arms and fingers and forehead (from banging it against the cabinet). same with working on a car (lots of scrapes on your arms as you reach into the tight spaces in the engine bay).

but the worst job is roofing. not only is it dangerous but they're exposed to harsh elements. their skin is like leather. i gladly paid a guy to fix a roof leak -- $300 for 1.5 hrs

 

[1prometheus]

Quote from blackjack007:

yeah this is true. just doing simple things like replacing a faucet, you get scrapes on your arms and fingers and forehead (from banging it against the cabinet). same with working on a car (lots of scrapes on your arms as you reach into the tight spaces in the engine bay).

but the worst job is roofing. not only is it dangerous but they're exposed to harsh elements. their skin is like leather. i gladly paid a guy to fix a roof leak -- $300 for 1.5 hrs

The company i worked for did Roofing and pouring cement foundations. My Job was alternating between the two job sites as the bottom of the totem pole laborer.

I remember my first job: for the first week I was the only person unloading Cement forms from the truck and giving them to the crew, and the job site was located in a hellishly hot sand pit. (IT was literally a hippy family building a home in an abandoned sand pit.) With all the reflected light it was like a bake oven. I remember after the week was over my hands and forearms were just raw: Skin rubbed off, bruised, black, ripped fingernails. ...Quite a learning experience. (The guys told me later they were punishing me hoping I would quit, which in hindsight generated a laugh from all of us).

Being on a hot tar roof in mid July is also pretty close to hell and quite dangerous.

Your comment about working on a car being painful is also very true.
With the help of an older friend I fixed up a few old cars in high school. After being a "car magazine junkie" for years I was not prepared for the pain. The engine bay wrench slip is the classic scenario for much pain and much bad language.

Real life physical work is punishing.

(did a slight edit).

 

[bearice]

Quote from nitro:

"Forget Harvard and a 4-Year Degree, You Can Make More as a Plumber in the Long Run, Says Prof. Kotlikoff

I think this was posted in elitetrader, somewhere in the world prostitutes earn $50,000 per night.

 

[jalee25]

the talk seems to be mainly about the income & work conditions of a plumber compared to something like a lawyer or doctor. but realistically... who would want to be a plumber? do kids really think it's cool when they play super mario bros that because mario & luigi were plumbers, they could grow up and be plumbers too one day? it's labor-intensive... and it can get messy. it does not require credits from any university... but maybe a program from a tech school.

 

[IanMacQuaide]

2 new Dr's in a small town eventually get their new Clinic built, all the lastest diagnostic gadgets, full staff of PA's and RN's.
They throw one hell of a Grand Opening party on a Sat. nite.
ALL of the commodes back up, on both floors. Plumber gets called, shows up with a 2 man crew, and in 45 minutes the problem is solved, AND the restrooms are clean and sparkling.
The Master Plumber presents the 2 Dr.'s his bill, payable in cash only, and they'd been warned on the phone it'd be cash, and not cheap cuz it was a Sat. nite.
The 2 Dr.'s had to beg all their guests to chip in and pay the bill.
When the Master Plumber got the money in his hands, the Dr.'s told the Master Plumber about being embarrassed about not having that kind of cash on hand.
The Master Plumber said "Yea, I had that same problem when I was practicing Medicine."