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 Now online (2)dariusgriffin DADONCK ...and 332 guests Last 5 registered Oplandisks nothingstar N_loop yipe foxtrotromeo Browse members... |
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I imagine given the number of people here who don't do "real" work, there might be some other people in the same boat. I'd be interested to hear your views on this: I've always been fairly practical/good with my hands and I used to work as a labourer. I also do all my own servicing/repairs on my motorbike. I've also just bought an old house that needs a bit of work doing and I'm enjoying doing that too. In my current (IT) job, whilst it's fairly interesting and comfortable (I can ride to jobs all over the country, I can work at home the rest of the time, pay is okay, etc.). The downside is, I don't really get any sense of achievement when I fix it and often when I fail, it's due to factors outside my control (problems with software/other departments not doing their job). I've been reading a bit of "philosophy of work" (Robert Pirsig, Primo Levi) and it's some of the only stuff I've read that clicks 100% with me. It has made me work a bit harder and in turn enjoy my work more and I recognise it's more 'real' than say, being a lawyer or accountant, but the feeling is still lacking. I know I'm not alone in this feeling; a couple of friends in work are looking at (and one has already left to do) training in trades (plumbing/plastering, etc.) rather than carrying on working in computing. The thing is though, I've done manual jobs before and they bore the hell out of me after a bit although I still enjoy looking at a wall that I've painted, a flowerbed that I've dug and planted or a bike that I've fixed. I don't want to romanticise the idea that back breaking labour is somehow good for the soul. I know it has its downsides and aside from the rewarding feeling, it's inferior to my current job in every way. Consequently, I don't actually plan on quitting my job in order to go back to manual labouring/becoming a bike mechanic, but it's just one of those slightly unfulfilled feelings you get. Any thoughts? |
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It's pleasant because you do it 'cause you wanna do it. As soon as manual work (or any work) becomes your WORK (doin' it for the money), you'll start hatin' it. No "rewarding feeling" in fixin' other ppl bikes from nine to five monday to friday... |
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Yep, that's what I've heard. I was looking at a bike maintenance website by an old bloke and his advice with regard to doing it professionally was that if he could of had his time again he'd just repair his and his mate's bikes as a hobby, but wouldn't do it as a job. The only thing I suppose I like is seeing the results of a job in day to day life. I went back to the place I worked as a gardener and looked at one of the gardens which had been decrepid and that I (almost on my own) restored to its former glory. It's nice to go back there now a few years on and see it and still take pride in it. I imagine an architect gets the same feeling every time they go past a building they've designed. |
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I think I (completely) understand how you feel. I am at a similar point myself........ job that pays ok, that I don't mind getting up each morning to do, but that offers no sense of achievement. And the feeling is shared amongst my friends. Most of us have decided the answer is in working for ourselves, starting our own business. This isn't usually instead of their current job, but as well as, with a view to perhaps one day going full-time. Maybe you can work out a way to earn some cash on the side from the things you enjoy, and see if you still enjoy them. Then maybe work it up into a small business and see what happens. There are three kinds of people..... those who don't work, those who work for someone else and those who work for themselves. From my experience, those in the third group are the happiest. p.s. I'd be interested in learning which Primo Levi writings you have read. |
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Manual labour is awesome! I mean, I couldn't stand doing it all the time (I don't love it so much that making a job out of it would be fun, as opposed to philosophy), but I love just fixing small things.. this summer me and my brother put a new roof on our cabin and last weekend I changed my parents' kitchen sink while they were away. I also try to do most of what it's possible for me to do myself 'round my place. One of the things I enjoy most, though, is helping people move, and especially large things that takes a bit of effort and coordination, like, bringing a bed up a tight staircase or something. |
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"bringing a bed up a tight staircase or something" Me and my sister's husband once took my bed to my new house. No way through the staircase. We tried really hard. Too tight. So we lifted it through a window with an electrical cable, then pushed it to the neightbour's roof hangin on the outside of the building, then went jumping from roof to roof with the fuckin' bed till we reached my own roof. From there, down to the room. 4 hours work. 10 liters sweat per capita. You would have had the time of your life, dude. |
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that sounds AWESOME!!! next time, give me a call! |
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Ok. (Maybe it's time to buy one of those side-by-side huge refrigerators and call Dr. Mastah to lift it up...) |
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I'm there! |
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I've done all kinds of shitty manual labor, I don't like it. |
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Just finished The Wrench and I'm just starting The Periodic Table. Unabomber: Those side by side fridges are insane. We just got one and the guys who were moving it in were using the suction cups used to pull dents out of cars to drag the thing along. They had to take the doors off it to get it in too. :) I like the "shape puzzle" element of moving things up staircases/round corners too. I also like loading vans/lorries with lots of irregularly shaped furniture. It's like some big game of 3d Tetris. |
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Bout fridges: Yeah, they're demential fridges. I love them (specially those with half side for wine), but there's no way one gets inside my house unless I make a hole on the front wall of the building. The stairs are 100 years old and tight as a chicken ass. Bout puzzle loads: Touring, touring... The bass, the drums, the mic stands, the cabinets, the samplers, the mixers, the synths... all in a fuckin' Peugeot 205. And five musicians too. That's my "tetris" high score. And the travel time a pain in the ass. |
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I love it when you get stuck in a position where the only proper solution is that you have to leave one guy standing on the top of something, holding something heavy all on his own while the other one has to run as fast as he can around the house to go in the other entrance and help the guy up top. It's like one of those movies where you have a bomb with a timer and everyone's racing to stop it while one guy is holding on to someone that almost fell off a bridge or something... |
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LOL, been there, done that... |
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as an IT guy too... I've long grown tired of building things only to break them again. And even worse in tech support the calls are all the same... "it's broken, fix it!" The day changes but the routine is the same sorta thing. My advice which others have said. Find a passion you love and work it on the side till you can make it your thing... Over the past 2 years I've been aggressively working on my music stuff. Althought it's not "there" yet. Going home to it and seeing those little successes makes working alittle easier... Same with riding hte motorcycle... as I'm sure you feel also. You feel alive and connected when it's you and only your that determines how that bike will behave. Which is so different then computers and mouse clicks. |
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Yes, riding is the most direct and immediate thing in that respect for me. You do something; it reacts. I love the way how real subtlety of movement can effect it. Things like putting a knee out at high speed can create enough drag on one side to gently steer the bike etc. Part of the reason my existing job is so beareable is that I get to ride all over the UK and the company pay me enough travelling expenses to subsidise it (bar the depreciation on the bike; but it's not worth more than a couple of grand now anyway). Just got a GPS for it which means I can go cross-country rather than have to stick to motorways for ease of navigation. Still, I'm going to be back in hire cars this week. I just sheared one of the rear caliper bolts off. I'm off out to get a junior hacksaw to try to saw a notch into the end and screwdriver it out. If that doesn't work I'll need to buy a stud extractor. Bloody thing; I've already had to buy a new spanner set this week after snapping a spanner undoing the rear axle. Unlike the bolt, this wasn't my fault; It was Suzuki's "chocolate tool" rear axle spanner in the bike's toolkit. Thought I'd mention that before you imagine me as some hulk-like monster than can snap steel spanners with his bare hands. :) I'm doing the same with my music and it's definately getting better. |
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My job is depressing me. |
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