Spring Banter

[Typhoon Tip]

1 hour ago, ORH_wxman said:

How is that not an onion article.

 

You definitely have to worry about coronavirus spreading outdoors in high winds at 29,000 feet.

HA  holy crap - zactly what I said in my head when I read that headline, 'is this an Onion article - wtf'

wow

[WhitinsvilleWX]

2 minutes ago, Typhoon Tip said:

HA  holy crap - zactly what I said in my head when I read that headline, 'is this an Onion article - wtf'

wow

And I thought only blue states would be so silly.

Massachusetts reported 472 cases and 0 deaths. That probably means about 250 legit cases. Close to half the eligible population is fully vaccinated.Time to end the madness and accelerate opening up. Move august 1st up to July 1 and end indoor mask mandates like New Hampshire did.

[NorEastermass128]

16 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

And I thought only blue states would be so silly.

Massachusetts reported 472 cases and 0 deaths. That probably means about 250 legit cases. Close to half the eligible population is fully vaccinated.Time to end the madness and accelerate opening up. Move august 1st up to July 1 and end indoor mask mandates like New Hampshire did.

13 deaths in all of New England. Just about ready to get to the point of eating a sandwich while pumping gas. 

[powderfreak]

34 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

And I thought only blue states would be so silly.

Massachusetts reported 472 cases and 0 deaths. That probably means about 250 legit cases. Close to half the eligible population is fully vaccinated.Time to end the madness and accelerate opening up. Move august 1st up to July 1 and end indoor mask mandates like New Hampshire did.

July 4th for VT... it’s not science but the start of the summer tourism season.

Celebrate your freedom from COVID regs .

[WhitinsvilleWX]

20 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

July 4th for VT... it’s not science but the start of the summer tourism season.

Celebrate your freedom from COVID regs .

I honestly don’t care about much else but getting rid of indoor masking. Wearing those things kills me. Cant stand them.

[HoarfrostHubb]

29 minutes ago, losetoa6 said:

. Heard that from my friends parents all the time back in the early mid 90s . I got a full scholarship ( baseball) and never used the schooling . Worked for a master electrician since I was 15 and figured if he can start his own business...why can't I . I saw the money he could make ( granted he hustled his ass off to make good coin while paying 2 helpers ) . I figured if I could be a sole proprietor..( One man show lol  ) I could maximize my profit . 21 years of business later . ..still by myself and no plans to change that . I have no regrets.  Hopefully the draw of younger people to skilled trades comes back .

There will never, ever be a shortage of demand for good electricians.   Our son’s best friend is doing an apprenticeship and takes home more per week than I do (the kid is 19...go figure). Lives at home too. 

[NorEastermass128]

1 minute ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

I honestly don’t care about much else but getting rid of indoor masking. Wearing those things kills me. Cant stand them.

The CDC will issue guidance later this week or early next week methinks that will allow you (and the vaccinated) to shed masks indoors at work. Probably a while longer for public transportation, grocery stores, etc. 

[WhitinsvilleWX]

1 minute ago, NorEastermass128 said:

The CDC will issue guidance later this week or early next week methinks that will allow you (and the vaccinated) to shed masks indoors at work. Probably a while longer for public transportation, grocery stores, etc. 

Even the work thing would help.

[HoarfrostHubb]

2 minutes ago, NorEastermass128 said:

The CDC will issue guidance later this week or early next week methinks that will allow you (and the vaccinated) to shed masks indoors at work. Probably a while longer for public transportation, grocery stores, etc. 

I’m thinking that too.  
Im hoping by August we can drop them in schools (I doubt it happens this school year)

[WhitinsvilleWX]

2 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

I’m thinking that too.  
Im hoping by August we can drop them in schools (I doubt it happens this school year)

That would help too. I don’t  see how they do that 6-7 hours a day. 
At least I have a private office I can take it off some. My folks in cubes are supposed to wear them at their desks, but I don’t police it. 

[PhineasC]

12 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

There will never, ever be a shortage of good electricians.   Our son’s best friend is doing an apprenticeship and takes home more per week than I do (the kid is 19...go figure). Lives at home too. 

I assume you meant shortage of demand... there is definitely a major shortage of good electricians themselves.  

[PhineasC]

12 minutes ago, NorEastermass128 said:

The CDC will issue guidance later this week or early next week methinks that will allow you (and the vaccinated) to shed masks indoors at work. Probably a while longer for public transportation, grocery stores, etc. 

Well, that guidance will basically just mean everyone since there is no organized checking of vax status going on.

[HoarfrostHubb]

4 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

That would help too. I don’t  see how they do that 6-7 hours a day. 
At least I have a private office I can take it off some. My folks in cubes are supposed to wear them at their desks, but I don’t police it. 

We take them outside for mask breaks (weather permitting...but just about every day). Some kids won’t take them off.  Strange.
They don’t wear them at lunch either. 
 

The funny thing is we hadn’t been able to take them out in years past (for a few years at least).  So that’s a win

[HoarfrostHubb]

1 minute ago, PhineasC said:

I assume you meant shortage of demand... there is definitely a major shortage of good electricians themselves.  

Oh yeah. Good point.  Shortage of demand.   Def a current shortage of people doing that work

[NorEastermass128]

16 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

Well, that guidance will basically just mean everyone since there is no organized checking of vax status going on.

True. 

[WhitinsvilleWX]

31 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Oh yeah. Good point.  Shortage of demand.   Def a current shortage of people doing that work

My sons number one shop pick he wants is electrician. If he does the electrical shop, when he graduates he only has to do half the number of hours to get a license as someone who just goes to work as a helper. 

[BrianW]

40 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Oh yeah. Good point.  Shortage of demand.   Def a current shortage of people doing that work

I was talking to some coworkers who have done a bunch of commercial work up in Massachusetts. They said the majority of the electricians up there are like 55+. They have been on jobs where like half the guys looked like they were 70.  They said the pay around Boston is sky high and like $75+/hr and that's motivating a ton of guys to keep working. 

I looked up some stats on Massachusetts and the shortage is bad there and only going to get worse. The average age of plumbers, electricians, hvac is over 55 there. The amount of guys retiring far exceeds those coming in. At current rates in 5 years its expected 65 percent of the jobs available in the skilled  trades won’t have people to fill them. 

[butterfish55]

Oh yeah. Good point.  Shortage of demand.   Def a current shortage of people doing that work

I'm a master electrician been working for myself for about 8 years. Everytime I go for a code update class they tell us the average age of licensed electricians in MA is something like 54 or 55. They are definitely not enough kids coming into the trade and the demand will only increase as all these older folks retire

[Supernovice]

3 hours ago, ORH_wxman said:

There was a joke at Cornell that the "Hotel-ies" (as they were called) were the dumbest kids there but would be making the most money once graduated. One kid I know a couple doors down from freshmen year was hired as a manager at Four Seasons right out of school....nice gig for a 22-23 year old.

How do you know someone went to Cornell?
They tell you.

 

 

I’ll be here all week, tip your waitress.

[WhitinsvilleWX]

1 hour ago, losetoa6 said:

. Heard that from my friends parents all the time back in the early mid 90s . I got a full scholarship ( baseball) and never used the schooling . Worked for a master electrician since I was 15 and figured if he can start his own business...why can't I . I saw the money he could make ( granted he hustled his ass off to make good coin while paying 2 helpers ) . I figured if I could be a sole proprietor..( One man show lol  ) I could maximize my profit . 21 years of business later . ..still by myself and no plans to change that . I have no regrets.  Hopefully the draw of younger people to skilled trades comes back .

Man, how do you pull 12/2 by yourself from the basement up to an attic thru a chase tube by yourself? 
I did that in my master bath remodel. Pulled a 12/2 and two 14/2. No way I could have done that by myself.

[BrianW]

16 minutes ago, butterfish55 said:

I'm a master electrician been working for myself for about 8 years. Everytime I go for a code update class they tell us the average age of licensed electricians in MA is something like 54 or 55. They are definitely not enough kids coming into the trade and the demand will only increase as all these older folks retire
 

I just posted about that right before you did. Here's a good article on the shortage and talks about the average age in Massachusetts. Its going to be ugly in 5 years. 

Over the next five years, 65 percent of the jobs available in the skilled crafts and trades won’t have people to fill them,” said Sarah Turner, president of Boston’s North Bennett Street School, which has been turning out craftspeople since 1881.

https://www.boston25news.com/news/shortage-tradespeople-will-raise-costs-wait-times-home-projects/FVVETFTNBNF4TGTRQPMBEAHLSE/

[PhineasC]

1 minute ago, BrianW said:

I just posted about that right before you did. Here's a good article on the shortage and talks about the average age in Massachusetts. Its going to be ugly in 5 years. 

Over the next five years, 65 percent of the jobs available in the skilled crafts and trades won’t have people to fill them,” said Sarah Turner, president of Boston’s North Bennett Street School, which has been turning out craftspeople since 1881.

https://www.boston25news.com/news/shortage-tradespeople-will-raise-costs-wait-times-home-projects/FVVETFTNBNF4TGTRQPMBEAHLSE/

Hope parents wake up and start being frank and honest with their kids. A 2.4 GPA and a BA in Business from the local state school is just about worthless. Much better bet to enter a trade.

[PhineasC]

And for all the time the talking heads spend bloviating about free college and debt forgiveness, very little time is spent talking about trade schools and investing in getting more of them open.

[butterfish55]

Hope parents wake up and start being frank and honest with their kids. A 2.4 GPA and a BA in Business from the local state school is just about worthless. Much better bet to enter a trade.

I went to a very good prep school in RI from 6-12 grade, graduated college in 4 years and tried working for awhile in my field (Communication/Journalism). I hated it. Long story short I ended up going back to school (NE Tech) and have been an electrician for about 17 years. The money is definitely better and, for me, it's just a much more enjoyable way to make a living.

It would be nice if kids went into the trades coming out of HS instead of taking on $200k in student loans only to get a job that pays $40k a year. I guess it's not very glamorous though

[ORH_wxman]

35 minutes ago, Supernovice said:

How do you know someone went to Cornell?
They tell you.

 

 

I’ll be here all week, tip your waitress.

We usually reserved that one for the Harvard or Yale snobs. Cornell was the “ditch digger” of Ivy Leagues. 

[DavisStraight]

My nieces husband just quit his job as a cop to be an electrician apprentice with his brother, he figures the pay will be better eventually and it's less dangerous.

[CoastalWx]

1 minute ago, DavisStraight said:

My nieces husband just quit his job as a cop to be an electrician apprentice with his brother, he figures the pay will be better eventually and it's less dangerous.

Tough job being a cop these days. At least you can’t demonize electricians. Or can you?

[PhineasC]

Just now, CoastalWx said:

Tough job being a cop these days. At least you can’t demonize electricians. Or can you?

Plenty of that was already done in the past 30 years, hence the shortage.

[STILL N OF PIKE]

17 minutes ago, butterfish55 said:

I went to a very good prep school in RI from 6-12 grade, graduated college in 4 years and tried working for awhile in my field (Communication/Journalism). I hated it. Long story short I ended up going back to school (NE Tech) and have been an electrician for about 17 years. The money is definitely better and, for me, it's just a much more enjoyable way to make a living.

It would be nice if kids went into the trades coming out of HS instead of taking on $200k in student loans only to get a job that pays $40k a year. I guess it's not very glamorous though

It’s just the never ending emotional marketing to getting a “college degree” any degree ( , a mind is a terrible Thing to waste blah blah , parents become pressured to pass that general advice on .  That debt is someone’s else’s asset on a big balance sheet.  

[ORH_wxman]

11 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

And for all the time the talking heads spend bloviating about free college and debt forgiveness, very little time is spent talking about trade schools and investing in getting more of them open.

Yep. Need a lot more Mike Rowes going around. There’s a lot of very good careers waiting and many of these skilled trade also open avenues for entrepreneurship which has been on the decline in the US for 30 years.

Part of the problem is that people like Rowe then get attacked for being “anti-education”...which is obviously a nasty smear tactic. There’s plenty of room for both. College isn’t for everyone. Having more people go into trades would actually incentivize colleges to lower their tuitions too or at least stop the obscene inflation in tuition.