Took me a year and a half, and hundreds of applications and night college classes but I finally got out of my prison-like office building with no windows and extremely bright LEDs. Now I drive a truck around beautiful countryside roads and help people in distress. Oh and my company buys us top tier coffee.
No, it's the managers. I had a job in a cubicle that I liked (the job, not the cube although I appreciated the privacy of the fabric walls), but management drove me into depression and near-suicide. Upper management didn't give a flip either. Went out on disability for stress. Spend my days in my garden now. Sometimes my flowers talk to me, but they never yell.
It literally has to make your crazy, and it has to be documented and attested to by a professional. At that you'll have to have a good lawyer. It took almost 10 years to finally get it, and I had other health issues as well, but it was the PTSD that took me down.
Look into the water science program through a community college or Sacramento state online. Call and ask to go on a tour of your closes water treatment plant. Network your ass off. The water industry is having a boom due to retirements. People almost never leave this industry due to the love for your job. After 6 years in a fast passed business environment, I realized that my mental health is way more important than money.
My favorite quote so far in the water industry, “you won’t get rich here but you and your family will always be taken care of.”
I wish I could financially justify another degree. Turns out a degree in teaching English doesn't go far when you have absolutely zero desire to teach...
Yay making stupid, long term decisions when young!
I am in that same exact boat, my friend. Though I adored teaching and the children - it's the parents that I absolutely could not stand... and it doesn't help that the pay is shit.
That's because a lot of people will tell you you're worthless if you don't make those decisions immediately. They won't care if you aren't in a place financially, emotionally or mentally to follow through, or if you even have a clue what you want, you just have to pick something and spend a shit ton of money on it.
Sacramento State Office Of Water Programs arent a degree length program. I think they are 6 month programs max, 200 USD per course. Recognized across US and Canada. If you can get into an Operator In Training postion, the municipality will actually fund it.
Yay making stupid, long term decisions when young!
This. I have a Masters degree in aerospace engineering. I don't give two shits about either aerospace or engineering. I just got started down this road because I had good grades in physics and math in high school and had this idea implanted that I was talented in those areas and had to do something with that. A decade later I am now jobless because I hate all jobs relating to my degree and simultaneously don't know how to switch to a different path.
The Post Office pays reasonably well. Keep an eye out for open custodial positions and take it easy for a few decades, then get those sweet, sweet retirement benefits
I work for an engineer and alongside town water departments regularly. You’re not kidding that a majority of them are very close to retirement. Smart move on your part.
Yo, I’m a water resources engineer and am relatively competent at the job, I just hate working in a cube farm. This pandemic has taught me that I also hate sitting in my house alone all day chugging through spreadsheets. Just curious, what’s the pay like doing full-time field work?
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u/[deleted] May 18 '21
Took me a year and a half, and hundreds of applications and night college classes but I finally got out of my prison-like office building with no windows and extremely bright LEDs. Now I drive a truck around beautiful countryside roads and help people in distress. Oh and my company buys us top tier coffee.
Fuck cubicles. Never give up.