Time to Learn; Time to Save
By Corporal Willy, August 4, 2009
The worst time to do nothing is when nothing is being done. Economic Recovery is being talked about but when you are unemployed that can seem like an eternity. I suffered through a few recessionary periods in my working career and in my career choice if the “Stock Market Coughed and Sneezed, then Big Construction got a Severe Cold.” Because of things like the prime interest rate and some other factors all governed by the Stock Market, Banking industries and Material Suppliers, our jobs could be here today and gone tomorrow. I have had to travel far away like many others in the building trades to get construction jobs. Many brother members of my local worked on the Alaskan Pipeline when there wasn’t any other work available. “Have tools will travel” was kind of a war cry back then and still is today. But armed guards had to watch over you at times because of the polar bears in the area that were suffering hard times too. It wasn’t an easy career and it was very hard on marriages and all the other things that a normal kind of living should be like. Yet it was rewarding too. It fostered a way of life in most of us that could be summed up in this aphorism, “never put a wishbone where your backbone ought to be.” We made our own futures.
Now your careers are somewhat different from the ones that I am talking about up above. But all those huge powerhouse jobs, malls and other big projects had engineers and architects too. There were also many other highly trained technical people that would help design, plan, schedule and supervise what was done on the job site in the field. So, many of them had to travel far away as well. Yet there was always a pretty darn good working relationship between all of us to get the job done. When working away there were definite hardships to work around. Living quarters, food shopping and clothes washing facilities like Laundromats all had to be found and utilized while working far away from home.
There was free time too and many of us realized that you could not sit around all the time and do nothing or hang out in the bars. So a lot of us did some studying or schooling either on the job after hours or in near-by communities and facilities. Public libraries were a nice place to get reading materials but many times there was proof required for residence, like a driver’s license address. Book stores also provided ways of keeping up on things. The National Electrical Code book was renewed every three years so we electricians had to keep up on that subject as well.
Today things are a little different or even easier for the traveling construction worker or engineer or architect. The use of computers these days allows you to pay those bills on line, do your banking and keep in touch with family and friends and a host of other things as well. However, it should not be overlooked that online training can also be done these days. In the joys of your little old one room apartment or office you can take advantage of some really great deals and I have one of them to tell you about. My friend Mr. Andy Routsis of “Routsis Associates” has a company slogan “Profitability Through Skill Development” and the company has quite a lineup of training that is available to those working in the plastics industry and for those that have their own businesses too. He told me that the plastics industry is the third largest manufacturing industry in the world. Take a look around you right now and just notice all the things made of plastic that you can reach out and grab without leaving your seat. I never realized this fact about how big the industry was, but truly plastics are embedded into our lives like never before. Many engineers and designers are involved in these industries and if you take a look around his web site you will find links to many helpful things and many are free:
Focused Training Modules:
http://www.traininteractive.com/req/enews/
Archive of Webinars:
http://www.traininteractive.com/free/webinar/player/
Report, 'What Managers Need to Know About Training Their Production Workforce'
http://www.traininteractive.com/free/webinar/player/
Recent Footage of 2009 NPE [USA largest plastics show] http://traininteractive.com/npe2009/
Science of Training Audio Link:
http://www.traininteractive.com/science_of_training/
Online Training Store link*
http://www.traininteractive.com/science_of_training/
Andy, also told me that with this huge industry there is a real need to keep updated on how to do things and that his online training systems are much cheaper than attending a real event in some far off city. Consider the price of getting there and staying at the event and paying for the training at the seminar or workshop. Everyone should do that at least once, but right now it is more frugal to conserve those dollars. He already has some deeply discounted interactive training modules for sale but read this cut and pasted quote from him to me and that might just be the Cadalyst you need to take action in these slowed down times.
*Please note that the cost of these online products is a fraction of the cost of attending a seminar or workshop. These training courses are available on demand. Advise your readers that if they key 'willy20' and then “recalculate” they will be afforded an additional 20% discount.
Thank you Andy, that is a great honor to me and thanks for being a real help during these trouble times throughout most industries. Our members of http://www.engineering.com/ that are from all over the world will read this promotion you are offering to them. I for one am very happy to help bring it to our people on behalf of my friend. Bye for now.