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Author Topic: Update on my job situation  (Read 35011 times)

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Offline Matthew

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Re: Update on my job situation
« Reply #55 on: February 02, 2026, 03:12:08 PM »
Quote from: jen51 on February 02, 2026, 12:26:45 PM
Just throwing this out there for Matthew and Lad. Have you ever considered working as a machinist? That is to say, working in metal fabrication on CNC lathes. That is what my husband has been doing for the past couple years after he aged out of the physically demanding manual labor jobs.

It ranges in skill from being a button pusher to writing complicated programs for the metal lathes. It requires technical skill and if you can work up to program writing there is some decent pay involved.

CNC lathes -- I first saw that term reading the classifieds in my hometown's newspaper. Rockford, IL. A manufacturing town, or at least it used to be. I don't know how much MFG we have in this part of Texas.

One thing for sure -- moving is 100% out of the question. I have a large family, and a very complicated homestead we've built up for years. We have WAY too many roots here to uproot now. Just for starters, Texas is where I want to raise my kids. Money isn't everything. I'll find something eventually, that I can do online, or some other random field. But we have to stay here, that's one thing I've decided.
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Offline jen51

Re: Update on my job situation
« Reply #56 on: February 02, 2026, 03:21:58 PM »
Quote from: Matthew on February 02, 2026, 03:12:08 PM
CNC lathes -- I first saw that term reading the classifieds in my hometown's newspaper. Rockford, IL. A manufacturing town, or at least it used to be. I don't know how much MFG we have in this part of Texas.

One thing for sure -- moving is 100% out of the question. I have a large family, and a very complicated homestead we've built up for years. We have WAY too many roots here to uproot now. Just for starters, Texas is where I want to raise my kids. Money isn't everything. I'll find something eventually, that I can do online, or some other random field. But we have to stay here, that's one thing I've decided.
I definitely understand. We aren’t interested in moving out of this area either. 
My husband has always worked manual labor but is very technically minded. He wouldn’t consider himself intelligent (but he IS wildly intelligent). When he was offered this job he took it because of the increase in pay but it was a huuuge learning curve for him. For the first month he kept telling me he was in over his head and that he was going to quit because he didn’t want to have a heart attack from the stress. But he kept at it and now makes the most critical parts for the company and has learned to write programs. Now that he has that skill we could move and make a lot more money with a different company but leaving the area (at least right now) is out of the question for a number of reasons.
I agree, money isn’t everything. 
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Offline Drolo

Re: Update on my job situation
« Reply #57 on: February 02, 2026, 03:40:29 PM »
I think it hasn't been said. But the problem with switching to other job field. Is that they demand you experience for every job. It's difficult to start working on a new field these days because without experience you can't get a job, but you can't get experience without a job. It's a Catch-22 situation.
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Offline FarmerWife

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Re: Update on my job situation
« Reply #58 on: February 02, 2026, 10:02:31 PM »
Quote from: Matthew on February 02, 2026, 03:07:45 PM
Same here. People make helpful suggestions, but either they are "way off" for me personally, for someone in my geographical area, for someone my age, someone with my family situation, someone with my skills and temperament, etc.
I want to underline how long I've been a software dev, how long I've identified and worked successfully as a software dev, and how long (zero) I've ever considered other lines of work.
It's crazy to me that this line of work isn't working anymore.

It's like running out of food for the first time in your life, and someone lists off your possible courses of action: "we could go to the KFC dumpster, we could go forage for food in the woods, we could beg on the street for food" and you just throw up your hands, silently walk to your bedroom, and close the door -- because who could make such a decision? They all seem equally insane to you. If you indeed have to do one of those things, it's going to have to be later, because I can't right now.
It's funny cause there are many websites by big websites with issues in their user interface being buggy/broken or it's not efficient in the way it works. Cheap labour don't mean good quality programming. And it don't help with all these immigrants gaming the system and hiring their own kind. However, it's incredibly difficult to immigrate to the States so most people just keep renewing their work visas (H1B, TN) and they're at the mercy of the company that they work for. And that company can pay them lower wages. 
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Online Stubborn

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Re: Update on my job situation
« Reply #59 on: February 03, 2026, 04:24:43 AM »
Quote from: Matthew on February 02, 2026, 03:12:08 PM
CNC lathes -- I first saw that term reading the classifieds in my hometown's newspaper. Rockford, IL. A manufacturing town, or at least it used to be. I don't know how much MFG we have in this part of Texas.

One thing for sure -- moving is 100% out of the question. I have a large family, and a very complicated homestead we've built up for years. We have WAY too many roots here to uproot now. Just for starters, Texas is where I want to raise my kids. Money isn't everything. I'll find something eventually, that I can do online, or some other random field. But we have to stay here, that's one thing I've decided.
I've been working since I was 16, because sometimes in one way or another my job became obsolete, I completely changed careers 4 or 5 times - so far. The last career change occurred when I was 52. Now at 66 I am starting another new job, today in fact. Not sure I will ever retire but I hope to at some point.

I am just suggesting Matthew that it might be time for you to look into a career change, maybe  something completely different that maybe you thought about in the past but had no reason to bother with, a job that has zero to do with computers, a job that after a few months or so pays the bills, puts food on the table, and hopefully a little more to save.       
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