Reinventing myself or, am I nuts?

Charlene · Post by **Charlene** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:00 pm

brewerpaul wrote:
brianormond wrote:-Kudos to you both for the foresight, awareness & imagination to see more satisfying roles for yourselves, and for the gumption, energy and enterprise to pursue them.
I can thank my wife for that. Before I knew Charlene, I probably would have stuck with my current job, grumbling all the way,despite the fact that it was slowly driving me nutz. Char has no sympathy for inertia and thankfully I'm starting to pick up a bit of her attitude.

Your wife Charlene (yay, she spells her name correctly!

) is a lot different than me then. I tend to stay in situations I hate, grumbling and moaning more and more until something really gets me po'd, then I blow up.

Best of luck to you. I'm jealous - I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up - and I'll be 51 next month.

spittin_in_the_wind · Sun Dec 18, 2005 10:11 pm

Charlene wrote:
Your wife Charlene (yay, she spells her name correctly!

There's another way to spell it?

Robin

Charlene · Post by **Charlene** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 12:29 am

spittin_in_the_wind wrote:
Charlene wrote:
Your wife Charlene (yay, she spells her name correctly!
There's another way to spell it?

Robin

I've seen (and had my name misspelled as):

Charleen
Sharleen
Sharlene

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:10 am

Good for you Paul!
Do what makes you happy!

Nurses are the oft unsung footsoldiers of the medical proffession; there's plenty of honor in that.

djm · Post by **djm** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:15 am

Gee, I though podiatrists were the foot soldiers.

djm

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:31 am

djm wrote:Gee, I though podiatrists were the foot soldiers.

djm

Naw, they're the ones that get after the foot soldiers when they go off to war without their shoes!

jbarter · Post by **jbarter** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 8:03 am

Speaking as someone who started at the bottom 32 years ago and moved steadily sideways I would just like to say "Yay! Go for it!".

Craig Stuntz · Post by **Craig Stuntz** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:07 am

It is an unjust world when whistles alone don't pay all of Paul's bills. We, as a community, must work to rectify this.

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:39 am

Craig Stuntz wrote:It is an unjust world when whistles alone don't pay all of Paul's bills. We, as a community, must work to rectify this.

Hey, I've done my part.

John
Happy owner of 3 (and purchaser of 5) Busman whistles.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:47 am

I think it's great that you're taking the reigns and making a choice for your future.

BTW, who was it that said Paramedic had good pay???? Not in Michigan. Paramedics barely make poverty wage in Michigan. That's why I quit the program.

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:59 am

Reinventing a career is always a good thing to do. I'm a mechanical engineer by schooling, but have done systems ( talk about a sideways step), field work and testing. I like to change directions every 5-7 years so I'm way overdue this time. I think of it as a way to clean out your file drawers and get rid of stuff.

fyffer · Post by **fyffer** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:49 pm

For months now, I've been seriously considering leaving my [relatively] high-paying job as a software quality control engineer to become a high school music teacher.
The long-and-short of it is I'm spending 9 hours a day glued to a computer, when all I think about all day is music (hence, I'm here, writing), and that is truly where my passion lies.
Problem is, it will take at least 2 years almost full-time schooling to get the degree I need, and the career change will net me just about a 50% pay cut.

But - what price my soul?

Encouragement, please!

(Keep in mind, I have a self-employed wife, 2 young children, a mortgage, credit-card bills, etc.)

Am I crazy or what?

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:52 pm

fyffer wrote: But - what price my soul?

Hmmm...I'm wondering how your soul will feel after 30 hours a week of
high school kids.
(wait...I'm supposed to be encouraging...yeah! Go for it! Teens are an utter and unfettered source of joy! Sometimes.)

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:07 pm

I personally think you should be a.....lumberjack. Winging your way through the mighty forests of British Columbia. The mighty larch, the Scots pine......etc.

djm · Post by **djm** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:26 pm

fyffer wrote:But - what price my soul?

`
What price? How about your family, or the responsibility for the debt load you have taken on? If you are making that much money now, you'd be better of clearing your debts first with that big paycheck (including the mortgage), and then allowing yourself the time to go back to school. That way no-one else pays for your self-indulgence and you meet your obligations at the same time. Win-win for everyone. So what if it takes a few more years?

djm