BC Coast Pilot
Well-Known Member
You're way older than 55
Career change advice
- Thread starter CanuckGame
- Start date
You are correct. That is when I took semi retirement, freedom 55
Actually cut back on work at 50. You just saw me driving around in the truck to look busy.
ExFlyGuy
Well-Known Member
I'll chime in as a hvac guy. I've been in the trade for the last 15 years ( rig pig before that). Not sure if that's what your interested in but I'll give you the low down. It's a large industry with many different fields to work in. My specialty is large commercial buildings and controls. But there is residential, ice rinks, industrial, grocery stores and probably others and usually guys stick to one type. After 15 years I would safely say I know about 5-10% of the trade...
If your interested you better like working in the elements. Think roof tops in plus 40°C in the summer and -40°C in the winter in the north or AB or the pouring rain on our coast. Also you better be fit because every repair requires you to haul countless 50lbs bottles of refrigerant, nitrogen, recovery units and acetylene onto the roof as well. Hope you like long hours? When stuff breaks in a supermarket or a industrial application your not going home till its fixed... if residential is more your thing I hope you like attics and crawl spaces cause you'll be spending lots of time in there.
It's a good job and the pay is good if all those other things sound like fun to you.
If your interested you better like working in the elements. Think roof tops in plus 40°C in the summer and -40°C in the winter in the north or AB or the pouring rain on our coast. Also you better be fit because every repair requires you to haul countless 50lbs bottles of refrigerant, nitrogen, recovery units and acetylene onto the roof as well. Hope you like long hours? When stuff breaks in a supermarket or a industrial application your not going home till its fixed... if residential is more your thing I hope you like attics and crawl spaces cause you'll be spending lots of time in there.
It's a good job and the pay is good if all those other things sound like fun to you.
kaelc
Crew Member
Careful chasing the pension, choose your organization second to your profession, and retirement third. Yes included it in your calculation but I used to try an polish off almost a whole Chilean bottles of wine 1.5L I think? I had government and then corporate pension and was on my way to an early grave. My dads doctor in courtenay just died due to what sounded like a heart attack at 40. I agree keep your spending low and join a profession that acts like one.
I can’t believe how low Electrical contractors bid, there aren’t enough people to do the work! Raise prices and pay good wages! I know it’s not easy but Plumbing and HVAC have it figured out. Side tracked, get back on meeting people for coffee and interviewing them and their companies. It’s a workers market right now, thanks to industry, not government as much as some politicians and politicians will say it is thanks to them!
I can’t believe how low Electrical contractors bid, there aren’t enough people to do the work! Raise prices and pay good wages! I know it’s not easy but Plumbing and HVAC have it figured out. Side tracked, get back on meeting people for coffee and interviewing them and their companies. It’s a workers market right now, thanks to industry, not government as much as some politicians and politicians will say it is thanks to them!
Foxsea
Well-Known Member
If you worked during the early 80's you'd be very careful what you wished for. A true recession means you will lose all your toys, your truck, your house, your RRSP's and your wife. Ask me how I know.
pescador
Well-Known Member
Too much advice. He’s totally confused now.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Its not something i say lightly but when something simple is a bearing seal can be a challenge to get in a reasonable amount of time, or when employees are asking for a work trucks, a gas card and 20% raise or they walk.
Sure you can say well its great the employees hold all the power this is the way it should be but ultimately those costs get past on and the Employees come back and say its costing me twice as much now to get to work, my mortgage payments gone 300 a month. I need another 20% raise or i'm walking.
On top of that your now hiring people at the same rate as someone that's been in the company for 20 years is making, They see that and WTF man i need some of that cream. People say screw it i need more they leave, the remaining employees are getting burnt out because there now working twice as much as well as trying to train all the new people.
That's fine pass the costs on.
The poor retire that has a 500k nest egg tho who needs to get his driveway fixed or what ever, who could of got it done a couple years about for 10k now no one will show up for less then 30k.
I could see a lot of this coming and though they were clowns for not raising rates, "oh is transitory" "oh its covid" oh its supply chain" "oh its short term" now there going to have to do it in a very harmful way.
RiverBoy
Well-Known Member
who do you work for? my son is just getting into this. loves it !
Aquaholic
Crew Member
Just remember, Glaziers do it with pane.
Corey_lax
Crew Member
I’m one of the owners at Semiahmoo Glass. www.Semiahmooglass.com
17 ft sea ranger
Active Member
how does one get into being a Glazier.....?
Corey_lax
Crew Member
Every company is probably hiring so it’s pretty easy to start haha. You just have to like heavy lifting and not be afraid of heights. We don’t do high rise work generally so not too high. But five floors up on a boom lift is still high. You don’t need training prior to starting. Kinda learn on the job at the start.
Foxsea
Well-Known Member
There are 2 things that terrify economists: hyper-inflation and deflation. Functioning economies are fragile. The devil they know is inflation. It can be "controlled", kept in check for extended periods. Deflation, once under way, causes economies to collapse quickly. Your million dollar home drops to $700? $600?, $500,000? Millions are underwater, unemployed and soon destitute. That is to be avoided at all costs.
So central bankers are always engaged in a balancing act: keep inflation within an "acceptable" range of 2-3%. We are beyond that because of years of low rates and then Covid stimulations. Increasing interest rates usually slows inflation but that cannot be allowed to make the fragile economy stall. That would create very unhappy voters and political disruption.
So they talk it up, bump rates a bit and wait to see the responses. In the end, money costs nothing to print, no-one forecloses on sovereign nations and inflation is the lesser of the evils. After all, anyone with a house is now a millionaire! And who doesn't like that?
Can't find a seal for my boat trailer or get my driveway patched? True first world problems.
banger17
Well-Known Member
what about banging other things in small towns?
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Industrial Electrician
