thinking about getting a new skill

[wb8vyn]

Go to truck driving school. The US is 80,000 drivers short.

More and more women are doing it.

Truck driver or aimer and pointer? The reason there is a shortage is one, schools are expensive. two, our all knowing government now requires computer controlled equipment and drivers. Drivers are told and required to be tired and hungry according to a program on a computer. Moment by moment judgment is no longer allowed. For long haul drivers, being alone is mentally taxing. Little or no social contact. Husbands, children and wives separated for long periods. Expenses, food and lodging are high.
A truck driver needs not only good hand to eye coordination, an athlete, but also to be task focused for hours and days at a time. Must be alert with no let up, patient when everything goes wrong and have mechanical aptitude to know the difference.
The romance of the endless road is gone. Being in charge of your own life has been stolen by bean counters. Drudgery, just like any other assembly line work is what it has become with less net earnings as a reward.
Truck driver is no longer a career, it's just another job.

 

[wanderlust]

A "volunteer position" you can do while traveling, from anywhere you have internet (at least sometimes), and you are already qualified as a native English speaker:

Teach English as volunteer online, on a language exchange (there are many, some web/forum-based, some via email/video).

Or not even teach, just communicate with English learners. You can even pick to support a nation which is hurting, like Kurds, Afghans, Armenians, or a nation which is extra nice like Thais or even better, you can learn a language in exchange - I guess Spanish would be the most beneficial in USA, and "Spanish to English" is highly desired. And might be beneficial on a trip to Mexico

Most exchanges have "freemium" membership, you can contact people for free, but you need to pay a few dollars to be able to respond (at least one of the pair has to be a paying member).

As a bonus, you can get free online course as TESL/TEFL - teacher of English as Second/Foreign language. There are several too, and few more cheap.

The one I like/support (as member, no profit) is https://mylanguageexchange.com/, ask me if you want more info.

 

[abnorm]

The Red Cross teaches and certifies First Aid........... volunteer for the First Aid tent

 

[grumpygrizzly]

I retired and now volunteer at a food bank and I foster dogs that need medical work before they are adoptable. If I decide to travel, I can put both on hold.
I seen a video of a woman who became an RV tech. Not sure where the school was, but I don't imagine it is all that long. Most repair jobs are pretty easy, and you can always say no thanks to the difficult jobs.

You sir are one of my new heroes. I'm all about fostering dogs. Some of the best companions I've ever had came came from animal rescue groups.

I once told my wife my "Ultimate Retirement Plan" and it involved getting a house out in the country a little ways, about 10 acres of land and a decent barn or remnants of a barn that can be rebuilt. With that property, I want to start a non-profit animal rescue with a primary focus on dogs, then cats (Good for keeping mice out of the stores of food) Goats (I can "rent" them out to places that need blackberry and other invasive bushes taken down for a donation of a few bucks for gas.) But, honestly, it will be an animal rescue.. Horses, goats, dogs, cats, whatever people thought would be a great pet and found out otherwise. My place would be a No-Kill facility. I would hire disabled vets and buy a short-school bus (I'm a 20 year disabled vet myself). The vets would be put to work handling the feeding and watering of the "guests", as well as helping take down old barns and outher wooden buildings so that we can reuse the wood and make cabins they can call home. We'd also make a dining area where we could have community meetings, church services, bingo hall, whatever. Probably make some areas for tent camping so the boy scouts and girl scouts could have a place to come out and camp or any other group for that matter.. Few RV sites with hookups for travelers. If my vets need a few of them, run some more plumbing and wiring and expand.

I told this to my wife of 42 years and she said (and I quote) "That's a great idea." To which I replies "AW CRAP!!" She asked "What's wrong?" I told her I wish I had my cell phone out to catch her saying that and I would make it my ring tone for her. Or something like "You're right dear." That would be a great one too..

I think I'd even send out messages to the local military bases and perhaps to some more distant bases for the troop who have dogs and/or cats and they're getting shipped over seas or deployed for any length of time and they're worried about thier 4 legged buddies. Those pets would be kept in a separate area so as not to mix them up with the 4 leggers that are looking for new homes.

FOr the troops, if they can get their buddy to me, I won't even charge them for boarding thier friends.

My apologies for this message going on so long.. My wife says "You'd talk to a fence post if you thought it would listed.." and some of the best conversations have been with fence posts to tell you the truth..

To close this longwinded message down, I'll leave you with the words to one of my favorite songs that to me, is how I want to live each and every day of my life.

"There never seems to be enough time to do the things you wanna do once you find them."
Jim Croce..

 

[Sofisintown]

I like the truck driver idea.You know you ill always be in demand.

Or learn a lot about solar, you will get gigs on the road without being bound by a company.
There is a technical college close to where my hut is, I'm thinking of taking some wood shop classes, I love working with wood...

 

[wb8vyn]

I like the truck driver idea.You know you ill always be in demand.

Or learn a lot about solar, you will get gigs on the road without being bound by a company.
There is a technical college close to where my hut is, I'm thinking of taking some wood shop classes, I love working with wood...

I just renewed my physical (2 year) and have 4 year cdl with all endorsements (except I don't haul people). And I will not drive an auto transmission. That pretty much limits the market for me. I really don't care if I do or don't any more. One day a few years ago I was told my thousand mile days were over. They put a computer (QUALCOMM) in my truck.
I found a way around it for a while but GPS caught me eventually.
Dummies thought they had me one time. Going too fast they said. Finished my delivery in Phoenix, Az. They dead headed me to Dallas, Tx to download the ECM.. Amazing, didn't show anything. I told em' Garbage in, Garbage out. ---Pissed them right off---. I got paid for the dead head and the owner bought me a new 379. Told me that "us old guys got to stick together". He un-fired me several times over the years. Returning from a trip into Northern Canada, at Wild Horse Montana, Maintenance caught me over "turn in miles" by 350 thousand. been doing the PM's out of my own pocket for a very long time. Anyway, they refused to put plates on it and told me I had to take it to Rush Pete in Laredo and trade it in on a new one. Got one of them morphydite Internationals. wouldn't even get out of it's own way 10 speed,. Made of plastic donca know. Anyway the guy who started the company died, New CEO did something with the Insurance, Long story short they said I was too old to drive any more. Offered me a choice of either Office or retirement. I retired. I was only 79 for crap sakes.
Shortly after that the company went bankrupt. Lost all my investment.
Took a job doing tanks hauling aircraft deicer up and down the east coast out to Denver during the winter till my wife died. 2 summers ago I did some doubles work but my head and heart was not in it, so when the construction season ended, I went home and decided to quit living. That's how I ended up in ICU and a head shrinks couch. Next thing I can say about that is, here I am messing up this forum and putting together some nomad equipment for this spring. Gonna go out and mess up some nomads just for fun. The plan is to go out into places that can't be gone to and doing things that can't be done just for spite. As my Dad used to say "that'll learn ya".
I started out life in the 30's when men worked and women wore dresses. Men didn't cry, children were to be seen and not heard. Play was a learning process almost like school, kids learned that falling down hurt so don't that again. stuff like that.
Now kids are wrapped in bubble wrap, coated with "sun screen" and not allowed to play on the monkey bars or slid down a slide or climb trees. Play dates, scheduled play time, who ever heard of that? "time out"? Ya right time out, I'll give ya time out right on the .---------pants------------sit down------------------------- . I need time out because the truth hurts. Grow up. time out my aching butt. time out.
The dashes above are reality and the forum police don't allow reality, it hurts their little id's. You know what an id is. It's a swelling of the self important spot in the brain that was put there by to many time outs. It's like cancer and it's spreading. I wonder if there's a shot for that?

Wood working and welding, gotcha covered, Carrying simple wood working and welding tools with me into nomad land. Common sense says I won't be doing major stuff. Do you know you can saw a 2x4 in half with a hand saw, You can do small welding with coat hanger wire and flux and a car battery. You can paint with a brush.
knock dents out with a hammer and elbow grease. drill holes with a brace and bit?
I got carried away again didn't I?

 

[closed account]

Curious to know whether you are wanting a full or part-time "stay in one area" gig, something seasonal or maybe something else possibly, that you can "carry the ability in your hip pocket" and take along anywhere you travel... to be used just when you want or need the income?

Whatever skill you might lean toward, it seems that those type of things have to be taken into consideration as well.

 

[Termite]

I feel you bud.Learned to stick weld in high school. Mig/tig in college. Learned to fly a plane got my license float plane rating. Learned to scuba dive PADI dive master. Did tire work for years bar and duckbill hammer could do any tire made.Learned to be a machinist conventional/CNC stuff also Key word there is Learned. Kids don't want to learn anymore it requires effort. I'm 60 now- I'd hate to see what it will be like 60 years from now.thats my 2 cents.

 

[BelgianPup]

GrumpyGrizzly and Wb8vyn, you two sound like a couple of great guys!

 

[scaredycat72]

Truck driver or aimer and pointer? The reason there is a shortage is one, schools are expensive. two, our all knowing government now requires computer controlled equipment and drivers. Drivers are told and required to be tired and hungry according to a program on a computer. Moment by moment judgment is no longer allowed. For long haul drivers, being alone is mentally taxing. Little or no social contact. Husbands, children and wives separated for long periods. Expenses, food and lodging are high.
A truck driver needs not only good hand to eye coordination, an athlete, but also to be task focused for hours and days at a time. Must be alert with no let up, patient when everything goes wrong and have mechanical aptitude to know the difference.
The romance of the endless road is gone. Being in charge of your own life has been stolen by bean counters. Drudgery, just like any other assembly line work is what it has become with less net earnings as a reward.
Truck driver is no longer a career, it's just another job.

My son likes it and a lot of community colleges are offering training for free through federal grants. His expenses, food, and lodging aren't high. He really doesn't have expenses or lodging because he sleeps in his truck or in his car when he's between loads and he has a refrigerator for food. It's definitely not for everybody - my son doesn't have kids - but it's good if someone doesn't mind driving.

 

[Morgana]

Not relevant to the original purpose of this thread, but since several people have mentioned truck driving here, I thought I'd pass on this New York Times article about real-life trucking in 2022: "How life as a trucker devolved into a dystopian nightmare."

The main link for the article is here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/opinion/truckers-surveillance.html

If it won't let you in that way, try this "gift article" link via my NYT subscription. (Not everyone likes to click on long mystery links; that's why I'm providing the main link as well. Or you could just google the article title and see if you can get in that way.)

 

[AmargosaWayne]

Automated electronic logging of minute operational details. Used to be manually entered paper logbooks.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Please dont go drive a truck..it will suck the life out of you.

 

[user 423]

25 years ago I worked for a Ma Bell subsidiary and they used a data device we called The Brick.

Each activity required an input to account for every minute of your day. I guess it had GPS then so they new where each truck was at all times.

 

[Morgana]

So it turns out that upper body strength, not age, might be the real deciding factor for EMT. I talked to one program head who said there is (or was) an 89-year-old EMT somewhere in West Texas. So that was encouraging! I can't do much about age but I can do something (up to a point) about upper body strength. And maybe learn some anatomy so the "book learning" part of it is not too much of a struggle and I can focus on the physical skills.

I was 90% convinced this was a crazy goal but couldn't bring myself to let it go. Glad I finally found someone who would actually talk to me and help put it in perspective!

So I need to up my currently somewhat pitiful arm exercises. I love walking etc. but loathe stationary exercise, so ick. But with a goal that's not just pie in the sky, I think I can manage.

Meanwhile thanks for all the interesting ideas you all shared!

 

[RoamerRV428]

on the road as in a real van dweller? if must be that you best have time and commitment to you 'new location' til ya wanna boggie out again so that is a tough issue to have.

if home based, find a church or google local volunteer organizations in your county and see what is available.....and join. Do something that hits ya and go all in...then contacts are made and when you do hit the road you can get references to be more use to someone even in a few counties over ya know wishing you the best!

So many wanna help but don't know it is very simple, pick something and join it and if it works out, great, if not, find another application that seems interesting. Just a walk of life on moving forward for most of us. You don't have to 'be something' to contribute at all Just be a human and help some cause, simple actually.

 

[WanderingRose]

Might consider, Morgana, taking a Red Cross first aid course, and/or CPR, just to put your toe in and try it out.

And ya never know when you might need these skills.

 

[Morgana]

WanderingRose, yes, I (re)took the American Heart Association version of the first aid + CPR class a couple of months ago. It is indeed a good way to get your feet wet.

RoamerRV426, be nice if that were true but it's not that simple. I have been trying to keep it positive throughout this thread, out of respect for house rules, but the fact is, this search began because my experience with generic non-skilled/low-skilled volunteer gigs has been so bad.

I spent months researching to find the cities with organizations most active in the field I want to work in. (I won’t be any more specific than that, because there’s too high a chance that some inconsiderate nitwit will turn it political.) (It’s not, and I don’t do advocacy in any field.)

Then I moved cross-country, which took a good chunk out of savings, and reached out to 10 organizations — of which 6 blew me off entirely, 2 responded briefly and then ghosted, and the last 2 were so dysfunctional, irresponsible, rude, and in one case downright creepy that even I couldn’t make myself stay. Not gonna start with the war stories, but the experiences took my breath away, and were so counter to everything I expected that I’m still trying to get my head around it. I’m now stuck in a lease till October.

This was my #1 retirement goal. Pursuing it has been a crushing experience. (OTOH, you can’t buy an education like this for money.) Now I’m trying to figure out a wise way to adjust (not just bounce back like whack-a-mole for the 50th time and start the same mess all over) and find constructive ways to use the “stuck” time, so I can get in the best possible shape and try Retirement 2.0 next fall. Including finally taking the baby SUV car-camping (reservation made for next week!); if I can get comfortable with that I’m sure I’ll have more flexibility.

There, that’s the long post I’ve been trying not to write. Hope it wasn’t TMI. Thanks for listening and thanks for your thoughts!

 

[WanderingRose]

Sometimes…what we want is not what is the best fit for us, and we find that out by spinning our wheels trying to do something that keeps casting us back.

Maybe…try volunteering wherever there is a need in your area, and see what develops.

Like your local food pantry, unloading boxes and stacking shelves?

This would fulfill one need, to contribute and feel needed, and who knows where it might lead?

More than once in my life, and actually still fairly regularly , I find myself trying to do something small or large that keeps being met with obstacles to completion.

I’ve learned to pay attention to these and accept that some paths are not meant to be.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Morgana]

Those are good thoughts ... but this is a very high priority for me. (I started out life with some of the same challenges as this group, and they're too close to my heart to give up on.)

And over the years I have in fact tried quite a few of the "wherever there is a need/see what develops" type gigs, and while they have not been this disastrous, they've been pretty dispiriting. The supervisor at the homeless shelter who used his position to bully the young women and assumed I was there to work off court-ordered community service hours ... The English tutoring agency that lied to me about having clients on my side of the city (presumably so my warm body would count toward their stats instead of the rival agency's), and then sent me to someone for whom my training was completely inappropriate, so I wasted the client's time too ... The immigrant services nonprofit where someone told me "welcome to the justice movement" and, when I said "I'm actually here for politically neutral service, not advocacy," they all had a phone huddle behind my back and sent someone to ask if I wasn't secretly an immigrant-hating fascist ... the Red Cross volunteer coordinator post-Katrina who found time to set up a huge color-coordinated filing system (of which she seemed very proud) with all our info in it but never had any volunteer assignments ... the small secular nonprofit I finally volunteered with in Mississippi where the team leader forced us to pray before a work session and then never let me do any actual work (the response that finally broke me was "don't touch that wood, hon, it's got nails in it") (really? nails? imagine that. and here I drove all the way from Albuquerque so I could fold doilies ... NOT). The head of that org got stumble-drunk every night. It was three months after the hurricane, and they couldn't find private homes to work on and got so desperate that they assigned us to work for a real estate agent (a huge no-no at the time -- even renters weren't getting any help).

I'll spend my retirement golfing before I'll let these %^&*@# win another round.