Thank you for all your support to the working folks, my youngest son attends a vocational/technical school here in MA. It’s funny sometimes that he gets labled a kid who must not have been able to make it in regular high school, what a laugh. The academics are tougher than most high schools and they learn a trade that can be put to practical use.

If you’re ever out in central Massachusetts, give Monty Tech a shout out, those kids deserve the support!

Thanks for listening,

Laurie

My Degrees are not even in the computer field, and the college I went to I think would shudder that I even notate them however the enthusiasm I still have for computers lingers through out what I do.

It is those people that have a true passion for what they do, do it well, if you’re in it for the money then don’t do it, you will hate what you do and do it poorly.

My dad told me the only job you can start at the top is digging a hole, and trust me when I say I can dig better than any man out there 😉

I have seen some with degrees barley operate a mouse, while others without a degree, rock and roll on day one in my field.

I believe that in my field you to be successful you need to have a firm basis in knowledge of linier thinking and problem solving. Then you need to round it off with hands on knowledge of mechanics, HVAC, Electrical, and Plumbing.

Why you ask well it’s this simple, to operate a data center successfully large or small, you have to expect things to fail. You can be taken to the cleaners by other companies that are unscrupulous and will make up bogus things to repair to justify a bill.

So you need to know what kind of power are you using, is it single or 3 phase,

Your stages of AC from the Evap to the condenser, and it’s a bad idea to put a liquid in to a vapor pump. How much cooling is too much cooling, where is the expansion and when should you do it?

Civil engineering, how much load will the floor support before you find that new UPS in the basement of the building when you’re on the 5th floor.

Electrical Low voltage cabling, of the Ethernet type and sometimes fiber however I have not found any voltage on fiber, yet for some reason they classify it as LV cabling.

Basic construction, and safety 3rd always are needed to properly handle problems that don’t live just in the computer world

Plumbing, to drain off water, to supply cooling water, etc.

And I would like to throw in basic auto mechanics, because today cars are so dependent on the computers that run them, hell my car has 6 and once you figure out that it all runs on 1’s and 0’s its all simple. Just like the engine in a car still works the same way they did 200 years ago, all we did is make them slightly more efficient. However that’s a gripe for a different day.

I really enjoy your show, you’re an inspiration, a hero, and a gentleman (from what I hear 😉 )

Sincerely

Hal B

I started as a geologist and hauled a good few rocks out of the Maine woods. Then I went on to work for the USDA Forest Service and cleaned toilets, one heck of a joy, but oil boom went bust and I wasn’t one to be a bank teller. Next I was an archaeologist with buckets and buckets of dirt to sift but cool stuff to find!

Finally I work in fisheries and study the fishermen and how they work. Now I’m still doing that and trying to make sure the brown/green aspect can stay balanced – so the “green” folks don’t shut down the fisheries without knowing what the fishermen are doing to try to preserve fish, too.

The degrees let me know what to do faster, but there was a lot of time sitting on my backside which didn’t help build the muscles I needed for the job, so it was a catch-22. Without the knowledge I might not have had as much of a shot at the jobs because I’m female — I started back in the 1970s.

Oh, my next job is not supposed to be a dirty one – and starts next week. Not sure what to make of this.

The degree I have is impressive to employers. It has not gotten me a job and I was a little angry about being unemployed, but I think education is valuable in it’s own right. I had class mates that where not smart and some really smart and hard working. It is really a matter of their character and ethics and virtue….. I had professors I don’t think knew what the hell was going on half the time.

College was a great experience for me though. I felt that the professors introduced me to all this knowledge and try to trick me over and over until I could not be trick any more. I went to my commencement and was looking for some closure. Something that represented all the hard work I did in college. It really did not come. I went home a graduate and started looking for a job. Lucky I have a lot of experience in construction thanks to my family to land a HVAC apprenticeship. I know it is time for me to get to work.

My father was in the trades, his two sons and three sons-in-law are also. Da thought it was important to get an education, whether one used it or not, he used to say it was the one thing no one could take from a person. I say if a person is making an honest living whether in their field of study, trade or even if they are working in a coffee shop don’t knock it. The “rewarding” career in the trades puts a lot of wear and tear on the body, I see it every day.

KZ