Anyone here work for MDC/USACE?

[MrGiggles]

5 hours ago, tjm said:

 

Alrighty then.

 

You can only get a change by changing. If you can't burn those bridges then you are stuck in that place and should make the best of it. As long as you can 'go back' you won't have to go forward. You are young and single and should have some dough in the bank to carry you past the first few weeks. Picture yourself just back from a 2 year stint in the draft and dumped loose in a strange faraway city with a couple hundred bucks, could you make it, or would you need that "go back" place? You can only become self reliant by doing it. Make a plan and escape. You've been given some great advice already about bankers, accountants, lawyers  and technology degrees. The journey won't start though until you jump into the fire. First steps and all that.

Personally, even if I were keeping that job I'd move off the farm and drive to work, make them pay enough more that I could afford a place of my own and be able to leave work at work. Furnished housing is what they used to call "the quarters". No privacy, no responsibility, no independence, no reason to look away from "the place" , or think about self improvement and always available right there.

Thanks, kind of puts things in perspective. I have always been the type to play it safe, probably why I'm as behind as I am.

Buying a property of my own has been a goal of mine for a long time. 

Did a little more digging into those Fisheries Tech positions, looks like a bachelors in biology, wildlife conservation, zoology, etc. is required if you want a full time, salaried position with benefits. I could probably get in as a temp doing the grunt work here and there, but otherwise, not looking good. 

Even that salaried position pays less than I make now. Kind of disheartening. Would be a fun job, but I can't see how the schooling for it would be worthwhile.

 

[Terrierman]

1 hour ago, MrGiggles said:

Thanks, kind of puts things in perspective. I have always been the type to play it safe, probably why I'm as behind as I am.

Buying a property of my own has been a goal of mine for a long time. 

Did a little more digging into those Fisheries Tech positions, looks like a bachelors in biology, wildlife conservation, zoology, etc. is required if you want a full time, salaried position with benefits. I could probably get in as a temp doing the grunt work here and there, but otherwise, not looking good. 

Even that salaried position pays less than I make now. Kind of disheartening. Would be a fun job, but I can't see how the schooling for it would be worthwhile.

 

You're learning the reality of working in the wildlife management field.  It's fun and everybody wants to do it.  To make any kind of money working for a government agency in that field requires at least a Master's Degree and PhD's are not at all uncommon.  

If you ever want to make real money, it won't be down that road.

[oneshot]

I know you have turned against it so just putting this out there.

My wife said they are needing help down at Bennett Springs SP. 

You could work part time and go to College getting the degrees you need. You will already be there to be put on Full Time .

You could maybe take classes in Lebanon.

oneshot

[MrGiggles]

16 hours ago, Terrierman said:

You're learning the reality of working in the wildlife management field.  It's fun and everybody wants to do it.  To make any kind of money working for a government agency in that field requires at least a Master's Degree and PhD's are not at all uncommon.  

If you ever want to make real money, it won't be down that road.

Yeah. Seems like it can be fun, accessible, or pay well. Pick two.

[snagged in outlet 3]

18 hours ago, Terrierman said:

To make any kind of money working for a government agency in that field requires at least a Master's Degree and PhD's are not at all uncommon.  

And even then you may not make great money for the amount of education you went through.  Relative to other disciplines.... 

[snagged in outlet 3]

1 hour ago, MrGiggles said:

Yeah. Seems like it can be fun, accessible, or pay well. Pick two.

The one thing I rarely hear about is guys your age going into the trades like HVAC or in your case mechanic work on their own.  I have several friends that make a lot of money owning small companies that they built up from just themselves in a van or truck.  With social media today it's easier than ever to network yourself from one job to the next.  

[Devan S.]

1 hour ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

The one thing I rarely hear about is guys your age going into the trades like HVAC or in your case mechanic work on their own.  I have several friends that make a lot of money owning small companies that they built up from just themselves in a van or truck.  With social media today it's easier than ever to network yourself from one job to the next.  

This is actually a pretty reasonable idea. 

Mobile Mechanics-Think farm equipment/heavy equipment. @fishinwrench if mobile boat mechanic makes sense?

HVAC

Plumbing

Surveying

Welding

Power washing/painting

[Johnsfolly]

20 hours ago, Terrierman said:

You're learning the reality of working in the wildlife management field.  It's fun and everybody wants to do it.  To make any kind of money working for a government agency in that field requires at least a Master's Degree and PhD's are not at all uncommon.  

If you ever want to make real money, it won't be down that road.

Don't try telling that to Wrench. He seems to think that they all pull in 6 figure incomes. If you get into the industry side, there is more money that can be made. Depends on the markets.

I work on the preregistration testing (e.g., determining if it is a risk to the environment, animal, and human health) for the Pharma industries and we typically get $500 to $700K for our testing. My brother works in the health care side (e.g., getting the Dr's on board to promote their drug) and the same Pharma client will spend $2 to $5mil. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

2 hours ago, Devan S. said:

This is actually a pretty reasonable idea. 

Mobile Mechanics-Think farm equipment/heavy equipment. @fishinwrench if mobile boat mechanic makes sense?

HVAC

Plumbing

Surveying

Welding

Power washing/painting

There is a guy on our Nextdoor app that does odd home repairs and after his first year he's hired 2 guys.  He lives a couple streets over and I talked to him about it one day.  He said he never leaves a house until he talks to the owner and makes sure they are happy with his work and he asks for a write up on the app.  Like I said, with modern social media it's way easier to do that than it was 20 years ago by word of mouth.

This guy started with a trailer, lawn mower and trimmer 3 years ago.  He lives near me too.

https://www.lopezlawns.com/

[Devan S.]

41 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

There is a guy on our Nextdoor app that does odd home repairs and after his first year he's hired 2 guys.  He lives a couple streets over and I talked to him about it one day.  He said he never leaves a house until he talks to the owner and makes sure they are happy with his work and he asks for a write up on the app.  Like I said, with modern social media it's way easier to do that than it was 20 years ago by word of mouth.

This guy started with a trailer, lawn mower and trimmer 3 years ago.  He lives near me too.

https://www.lopezlawns.com/

Yep and in the gig world you can pick and choose what you want to do. Get paid very well for stuff you don't want to do if you still get the business and be competitive on the easy stuff.

I know of a very similar success story and he isn't in the burbs so its possible to make it work very well in rural areas.