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The Case For Working With Your Hands
theodp writes "At a time when the question of what a good job looks like is wide open, a book excerpt in the NY Times magazine says it's time to take a fresh look at the trades. High-school shop-class programs were dismantled in the '90s as educators prepared students to become 'knowledge workers' in a pure information economy. Was this a huge mistake? A gifted young person who chooses to become a mechanic instead of accumulating academic credentials is now viewed as eccentric, if not self-destructive, complains Matthew Crawford, who took his University of Chicago PhD and opened a motorcycle repair shop. Princeton economist Alan Blinder argues that the crucial distinction in the emerging labor market is not between those with more or less education, but between those whose services can be delivered over a wire and those who must do their work in person or on site. The latter will find their livelihoods more secure against outsourcing to distant countries. As Blinder puts it, 'You can't hammer a nail over the Internet' (never say never). Guess we all should have paid more attention to Nicholas Negroponte's landmark-in-retrospect Being Digital (ironically, no Kindle version)."
I am a chemistry graduate and I've always said that for a high science, chemistry is very blue-collar. Let's look at the facts:
You wash your hands before going to the toilet.
Before I was in IT I gathered work experience in running a cash register, detailing luxury automobiles, auto mechanics, every aspect of building and remodeling a home from building forms for concrete to putting an attic vent on the roof, landscaping and lawn maintainence, fast food, babysitting illegal mexican painters, and odd jobs doing things I don't even know what to call.
Now if I can just find my way to put all of this together like Steve Jobs did with his background, I'll be good to go.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
Hahahaha, it's so true. When I was an undergraduate we joked about that, until I walked into one of the bathrooms. A respected professor was washing his hands, then dried them and went up to the urinal next to me.
I am one of many. My idea is not unique, nor do I expect my voice alone to sway you. I speak in a chorus of opinion.
And the good think is that both of the jobs you describe can't be outsourced so you have some security too.
Only if you're not self-employed.
I'm guessing that wasn't on their radar screen...
So true! A saying I once read and never forgot: "The task of a design engineer is to make the work of a repair engineer as hard as possible"
What person will donate an airborne act of love?
How do you outsource the electrical and plumbing of a building project in your city to India?
HTH.
Deleted
And who's unmounting and mounting the toilet?
sudo umount /mnt/bathroom/toilet /dev/plumbing/toilet1 /mnt/bathroom/toilet
sudo modprobe -r american_standard
sudo modprobe kohler
sudo mount
don't forget to sync (3).
man, I feel like mold.
A simple example......it used to be you could stop at a gas station and a couple of guys would come out, fill up your car, check your oil/water and clean your windshield. They didn't need a BA in business. What are these guys supposed to do now?
Live in New Jersey?