Thinking about Welding

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Hello everyone,My career has been rather up in the air at the moment.  I am currently a mathematics teacher and am thinking about going back to school for pharmacy.  Although, I don't think it would be my favorite thing to do.  Nonetheless, I have to think about my wife and future.  I am a year into the pre-requisites and will be applying next year.On the fipside, a friend of mine was telling me recently that he was taking welding classes and so I thought about it as well.  It seems like it could be good money for me, even though there is no experience to mention.  Now, before you think I'm crazy, let me say a couple things.  I grew up with a small machine shop right outside my bedroom but my father never wanted me to be out there.  He would only let me watch or assist every now and then.  However, I alway tended to be really good with stuff like that.  For example, I rebuilt my assisted steering cylinder on my car a few years ago and can do most things that 'nerdy' people...quite frankly could never really do(I kinda wonder if that is what I was meant to do...that type of work).  Moreover...I've surprised myself by doing things such as half the electrical in my house (rough and finished wiring), tile, flooring, quadrajets...etc.  Yet, I'm a math teacher making 30k a year.I wanted to ask many of the experienced guys this because my father has his shop still with two different welders and a plasma cutter (both in better than average condition).  Not to mentioned a ton of other tools...can one make a decent living with a setup such as this?  I would only need to make $100 a day to make close to what I am making now (yeah, thats crazy).Thoughts or Suggestions?
Reply:Pharmaceuticals is a rewarding and ever changing career. The pharmacist is very important in catching the mistakes of the idiot "doctors" scribbling scripts for the poison brokers who own his/her dumb ascz !Surgeons are akin to Gods. GP's are drug dealing incompetent scumbags. OOOOO that cut is deep/you'll need a specialist.Go ahead. PM me.Loser.Pharmacists are the ones that actually know what is scribbled on the script.The last line of defense to the poor con-ned-sumer.Bless them.Don't ask a GP. Ask the pharmacist.Bubble gumTooth pixDuct tapeBlack glueGBMF hammerScrew gun --bad battery (see above)
Reply:Agreed...but as you already said indirectly, is it workth becoming a part of that screwed up system?...or do something slower paced and hands-on?...hard work but hey, hard work sometimes helps us stay young.
Reply:Originally Posted by shakeyrayAgreed...but as you already said indirectly, is it workth becoming a part of that screwed up system?...or do something slower paced and hands-on?...hard work but hey, hard work sometimes helps us stay young.
Reply:these days it takes about five years to get credentialed in California and many other states because you need a doctorate in pharmacy to practice. it is a good profession with solid pay but it is honest hard work also and subject to all the same employment hassles as every other line of work. you sound  like an engineer to me with good math skills and practical bent. Maybe that would work better for you than he detail work of counting pills. I have lots of pharmacists in my family so nothing against it. Solid choice if you go that route. Seems like if you get a bunch of exotic pipe tickets and have a knack and don't mind living in North Dakota you can make a shedload of money welding. Bring your own RV.
Reply:I don't know where you teach, but it's certainly not in Pa. Average salary for a teacher around here is between $55-$60K. That's not including all the bennies like your retirement package, health benefits. and so on you get as a union teacher. Starting salaries aren't all that bad either.Around here you can't rake in that kind of money starting out welding and forget about any bennies like you'd get as a teacher..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I have a degree in criminal justice and a degree in dental technology along with a few certifications in welding. I like working with my hands so I entered the welding field many years ago because I like it. I probably don't make as much money as a teacher or police officer and I know I don't get the added benefits but I'm happy as a welder.Make no mistake, as I get older the work is getting harder for me physically. It's hard work so if you don't like hard work don't do it.My uncle was a pipe line welder and he was never home because he was on the road making good money, he didn't see his kids grow up and eventually his wife divorced him because he was never around. He made good money most of his life as a welder but missed many things.Think long and hard about being a welder.Good luck!
Reply:Why not consider teaching kids about computer programming???   Welding as a hobby is great but for a living it would really suck.   Outside in the cold, heat, rain, snow, sleet; a$$ hole boss's, co-workers, and inspectors.   Dirty and sometimes dangerous, risk of setting self or building on fire.  Are we having fun???
Reply:plenty of position's in Australia for welder's at the moment, and probably 20 year's into the future with the LNG exploration that's going on, and the pay's pretty good (from 70k AUD a year starting out in a scummy workshop to upwards of 200k a year if your willing to work on pipelines and major construction project's, normally FIFO), but you have to be a qualified boilermaker (4 year apprenticeship) with additional welding certificates to make good money, if your set on staying in the states, and are looking to re-skill anyway it might be worth looking at, we have a major skilled labour shortage here at the moment, and the government is encouraging anyone willing to work as a tradesman to make themselves home.
Reply:Shaky, Number one, you already know you need to sign up for some welding classes, maybe machining classes too. If you don't quench that thirst you'll regret it the rest of your life.The reason you can't decide what to do is because you don't have enough information. Take care of number one and the rest will follow.Sent from my XT907 using TapatalkLincoln SA 200Esab Caddy 160Thermal Arc 201TSMiller Dialarc HFI don't like making plans for the day because then the word "premeditated" gets thrown around the courtroom....
Reply:Originally Posted by shakeyray...can one make a decent living with a setup such as this?   I would only need to make $100 a day to make close to what I am making now (yeah, thats crazy).Thoughts or Suggestions?