Topic: Old Sparky and New Bearings

[Dinosaur]

A few weeks ago, I turned in my computer keys and closed out what has proved to be my last session of Civil 3D.  The break is now complete and permanent at least for the foreseeable future with an offer and my acceptance of a position decidedly "uncivil" where the only pipes are full of wire and the ground is actually something metal in the dirt.  Starting Monday morning I will be an official sparky for the first time in excess of 20 years and to crank this direction change into a completely different quadrant, I will not be using Autodesk ANYthing - not even vanilla.
It is my hope to be able to remain somewhat current with new features and issues with Civil 3D and continue helping out the Land Lubber community as best I can from the sidelines.

[dfarris75]

Old Sparky?

[Slim©]

Congrats again, my friend!!!

[sinc]

Good luck with the lack of "civility"!

[Krushert]

Congrats Dino.  May you find many new enjoyments with electricity

[Dinosaur]

Old Sparky?

Yep, I was a sparky back in the early '80s - all of it hand drawn.  I got to work on such exotic projects as $70k tenant finish jobs for a penthouse apartment, mystery power routing to top secret radar sites in Alaska, ski resorts in Breckenridge, Colorado (REAL fun field visits) and an assortment of water / waste water treatment plants.
There will be no more pushing around dirt and forcing water to flow down hill for me unless there is yet another career change in store for this old geezer.  I am completely hooked though - I have plenty of data around to play with whenever I can manage to score a demo of Civil 3D.

[Dinosaur]

Good luck with the lack of "civility"!

Better still - lack of city submittals and deadlines.  This gig is mostly entering data from existing designs and analyzing it to determine what is necessary for OSHA compliance at maintenance points and recommend any possible more economic alternates.  The place is actually growing in this business climate.

Thanks Slim, and more of the same right back atcha.

And thanks to you also Krush its a "shocking" change to be sure, but I always did like designing circuits as a good second choice to civil.  The pay sucks, but pay always sucks to some degree and at at 6 miles distant, my commute for the entire week will be about the same I was doing in one day over the last 12 years.

[Slim©]

Better still - lack of city submittals and deadlines.

Amen to that, Brotha!

[Dinosaur]

Better still - lack of city submittals and deadlines.

Amen to that, Brotha!

That alone was worth about half the pay cut I took.

[jonesy]

I wish you every fortune in your new job Dino.

I hope it proves a worthwhile charge change for you...

6 miles away is good.... specially when the cost of a commute is growing day-by-day..

Good luck matey

[dfarris75]

Yep, I was a sparky back in the early '80s - all of it hand drawn.  I got to work on such exotic projects as $70k tenant finish jobs for a penthouse apartment, mystery power routing to top secret radar sites in Alaska, ski resorts in Breckenridge, Colorado (REAL fun field visits) and an assortment of water / waste water treatment plants.
There will be no more pushing around dirt and forcing water to flow down hill for me unless there is yet another career change in store for this old geezer.  I am completely hooked though - I have plenty of data around to play with whenever I can manage to score a demo of Civil 3D.

Ah I see. Very cool. I wish you well.

It was only about 7 years ago this month I moved to Fl. and got into civil. Prior to that I was designing and drafting catv systems. As a matter of fact I may very well have designed and drafted the system that serves your home. Does Everest ring a bell?

[Dinosaur]

It was only about 7 years ago this month I moved to Fl. and got into civil. Prior to that I was designing and drafting catv systems. As a matter of fact I may very well have designed and drafted the system that serves your home. Does Everest ring a bell?

It actually does, but I am not sure under what context or what location.  from '93 thru '95 we were in the Denver metro, Spokane, WA and Kansas City.  The connection could be in any of those places.  One short stint, that does not appear on my resume was for a place specializing in routing fiber optic runs from the seabed off the Oregon coast to all points East where I got my first sniff of MicroStation.

[dfarris75]

Yeah we did fiber too. Everest was a startup company back around 2000. They built a system in K.C. which I had a part in. I went to ITT and learned AutoCAD just to land a job in catv mapping using Microstation (v 4.0 no less)!

[Dinosaur]

It may be part of our system.  They started laying fiber optic around here about then.  I live in one of the northern 'burbs named Gladstone.

[dfarris75]

I don't recall doing any work there... I remember doing Overland Park, Raytown, Olathe... Most of the southeast portion I suppose.
Little story I like to tell about it. The company I worked for started Everest. Prior to that we did design/mapping for many cable companies. When they started Everest they basically began turning down work from other companies to "focus" on designing the Everest system in K.C. I complained to coworkers and even my wife that it was a bad move and they should've kept doing work with other companies and if they didn't change that the company would fall. I guess we started on designing Everest in the late 90s, well maybe 99 and into 2000. I saw where the company was headed and they weren't that much of a delight to work for anyway so we packed up in '01 and moved to Fl. Within a year or so of my leaving they had disintegrated into maybe two employees and were completely gone not long after. Maybe I should have talked to management about that whole thing before they went under. Back then I was afraid to talk to management about those sorts of things thinking they would holler at me for saying they were wrong. Heh.

[Dinosaur]

The last place I was at made some similar fumbles - firing clients that gave them trouble, refusing new work if they didn't know the client, even referring them to other firms.  More than a few times they would agree to look at some guy's project and just set it aside.  A month later, the guy would call to see if it was finished only to be told they weren't going to do his job.  One can learn a lot while riding a ship all the way to bottom.  I've taken the ride 3 times now and was almost there for a 4th one.  The signs are unmistakable once you know what to look for.

[dfarris75]

Absolutely. That kind of business seems to have lots of that sort of thing going on. I applied for a job here in Fl. for the same kind of company. They didn't hire me. I would assume it was due to my asking price as my experience spoke for itself. I knew the level of my talent and wasn't going to accept less.

Not long after I landed in the world of civil engineering. Yay.

[Mark]

A few weeks ago, I turned in my computer keys and closed out what has proved to be my last session of Civil 3D ....

Wow! Major change of direction there Dino. Hope you have some fun with the new job and a whole lot less stress.

[Dinosaur]

Yes Mark, but only the latest radical change over my 31 years.  My path thus far look something like this:
survey/civil > geophysical > civil > electrical > civil > electrical > civil > contract > steel > structural/civil > structural > civil > and now back to electrical
My only former employer that I know for certain is still functioning is this most recent one.  There were two others the last I knew but either under different names or in different locations.  There is no way for me to even assemble a standard resume with complete reference and contact information.  It has been a long and winding road which perhaps explains a bit why I am so twisted.
What I hope for now is what I had hoped for at the start of my last job - that I can put up with them as long as they can put up with me.  If this can go 12+ years too, I will be past the magic number and can cut things way back.  The old stresses lifted almost immediately when this unfolded a few weeks back and I am starting the new gig refreshed with a months desperately needed vacation.

[Alan Cullen]

sounds a bit like me, Dino.....

civil (started uni study) - survey (finished uni study...change of course) - civil - survey - civil (they then found out I was a surveyor....so back to the field I went. Spent 4 months of 5 years in the design office) - survey - civil. I'm still civil now, and quite happy not to be in the field anymore.

While I was surveying, I kept getting sent bush or overseas. Defo no social life in those days, untill I got sent to the Solomon Islands for 3 years. That was fun, but also very hard work.

[Dinosaur]

A late winter assignment drove me out of the field.  I was helping survey prospect lines for seismic oil exploration in Baggs, Wyoming - high mountain plateaus with plenty of wind driven snow ans still plenty cold in early March.  The lines were charted to go up dry creek beds that were virtually filled in with the snow.  At the end of the mile or so of staking line in waist to chest deep snow, I opted to climb out of the draw and walk back on the high ground where snow was only ankle deep.  The trick was having to actually swim the deep snow to reach the high ground.  I vowed never again and haven't except for a couple jobs that were literally "walks in the park" doing campground surveys for the state of Colorado.

[Alan Cullen]

You can keep your snow, mate.

Never seen it...don't want to. That just scared me.

Although, I'm heading to Mexico for Xmas. I have been assured (by the bloke I'm going to stay with in Mexico) that the Mexican winter is the same as our winter...that I can handle.

Bad part...I have to fly via Tokyo (overnight), Vancouver, Mexico city, then Lazaro Cardenas. In the middle of a northern winter.

Had my mum (lives in Brisbane) getting all the jackets, scarves, beanies, gloves, etc for me. They don't exist here in Cairns (well and truly the tropics).

Maybe I will finally see snow...but defo not that deep. 

[dgreble]

Dino,
Congrats to you on your new assignment!  I am honored to have been able to work with you when you were "civil".
Good luck to you on your new adventure.

[Dinosaur]

Dino,
Congrats to you on your new assignment!  I am honored to have been able to work with you when you were "civil".
Good luck to you on your new adventure.

Aye DFG, it was a privilege working with you as well.  The last three years were not nearly as profitable - nor as much fun.  You are one of a rare breed of engineer that will actually listen and learn from someone with more age than credentials.  Pass it on, my friend.

[mjfarrell]

Have faith, I predict the civil world will pull you back in.

[Dinosaur]

Indeed, there is still a remote possibility of yet another abrupt change in direction, but that is dependent upon my receiving what I would consider IDEAL answers to six very important questions regarding any offer.

[jpostlewait]

Best wishes in your new endeavor Dino.
I'm afraid business in our area at least is about to drop anchor.
Glad you found a chair before the music stopped.

[Birdy]

<late drop>
Congratulations Stephen.  Wishing you all the best, and extreme success.

<kick-out>

[mjfarrell]

answers to six very important questions regarding any offer.

I want to know the questions....

[Dinosaur]

I want to know the questions....

PM sent . . . enjoy

[mjfarrell]

Those are very good questions....

[Dinosaur]

Those are very good questions....

Understand why I am not expecting to have any more sudden career shifts in the near future?

[Dinosaur]

Best wishes in your new endeavor Dino.
I'm afraid business in our area at least is about to drop anchor.
Glad you found a chair before the music stopped.

Thanks for that John, it has been a while and I have been missing your input around here.
Unfortunately, I think this business is following the anchor right to the bottom . . . just out of our little office between developed lots waiting to build on, fully approved subdivisions sitting in a drawer facing approval expiration and the work theoretically "in progress", 500 or so lots were out in front of any new work.  Commercial stuff is only minimal and even the ALTA work was not coming in this time.
Fortunately the place I am at is staying very busy and growing thanks to some OSHA regulations that are starting to be taken seriously after about 5 years.