re: Any HVAC techs in here?

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I’m in decent shape (could be better of course). 5’10 185

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You need a pair of pants that will show off your crack when you bend over.

Them lonely house hookers love a man that will get dirty and get their air blowing cold.

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HVAC techs

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It's interesting you bring this up.. I was talking with a friend of mine recently who's kid is going to LA Tech this next quarter headed for engineering. But if he decides to lower it to some bullshite degree, his dad said he'll advise to go into some MEP trade.

People who learn a mechanical trade (HVAC, refrigeration, building automation) at a young age, along with a circle of folks who may back them literally stand at the precipice of a lucrative career path. Same with plumbing, same with electrical.

Hell, even engineering is probably on the cusp of becoming obsolete in the AI age.

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People who learn a mechanical trade (HVAC, refrigeration, building automation) at a young age, along with a circle of folks who may back them literally stand at the precipice of a lucrative career path.

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Or the precipice of alcoholism and being on disability in their 50s.

One or the other

Not being rude or mean spirited but at 31 you are already 12-13 years behind a pile of people who are still in the prime of health and have as much experience as you will have when you are 43. You are going to be behind competitively for the entire time you work in a trade. Not impossible but when you hit 40 unless you are a rare individual physically you are going to start slowing down....climbing into an attic or under a house is going to take more effort, meanwhile you will just be getting to the point that healthy 31 year olds were when you started in the trade.


There are some MAJOR drawbacks to working in the trades. Have car trouble or your alarm clock didn't go off? Who the frick cares....you're late. Be late twice in a year and you're liable to be looking for another position. Get sick? Again, not my problem...the work is here for you, if you want to take off why not just take off permanently until you feel better? Want to take a few days off? Same story, you'll be laid off soon enough, you can go on vacation then. This kind of stuff ain't as bad in 2025 as it was in 1985 but it is vastly different than what most white collar people are accustomed to. You may have paid leave, they ain't required to let you use it and they ain't likely to.

There is also this, and anyone in a trade will know this is a fact. If you weren't a jock in high school and weren't accustomed to the attitudes and conduct of type A personalities with no basis for being type A personalities you ain't going to like your co-workers. Its a different world. Do you like sitting on a 5 gallon bucket eating lunch? Taking a dump in a plastic box that ain't been cleaned out in days? Working with others who may or may not know that bathing is something one should do daily? What about co-workers who are certifiably insane and have been to prison for their ant-social ways? These are all real life in the trades.

How about being in a paper mill when it is 95 degrees outside and 105 inside and the humidity is 80% and their ain't no water to drink and if there is some a-hole chewing on your arse about doing so? Thats real. What about being inside a generator housing while the damned thing is running and you can scream to the top of your ability and no one can hear you...for 10 hours. Thats a reality. What about constantly breathing in toxic fumes and dust and being exposed to god knows what 60 hours a week? Thats a reality. I'd suggest going for a walk on the hottest day of the year for 10 hours with 2 truck tires you are carrying. Don't set them down but once for 30 minutes and twice for 10 minutes. If that is your cup of tea you might cut it. Thats a pretty realistic experience.

I will relay a story that is a pretty accurate description of working in a trade for all of you who are convinced college is a waste of time and effort while you sit in your office and shiver because the AC is too high.

In July and August of 1993 I worked 60 days straight on a shut down at a tire cord mill in Rockmart Georgia. 12 hours a day, 60 days straight. Day shift. Union electrician. My day consisted of running conduit overhead in the drawdown area of the mill. The ambient temperature in that area, year round, at floor level is 100 degrees. Heat rises. 10 feet off the floor it was 120. 20 feet off the floor, against the roof, the temperature woulld be 160 degrees at 9 AM and would get worse as the day wore on. It was so bad it had to be monitored. We could work 15 minutes and had to go to an AC break room for 15...but of course when we did we would get our asses chewed the frick out 'cause there wasn't any conduit to be ran in the AC and conduit was where the money for the company was....so we would push it to 45 minutes working and possible 10 in the AC. 10 hours a day, 60 days straight. This is not at all unusual in operating plants. This was the gravy work on that job...this was the work we wanted because the rest of it sucked arse.

The truly bad work was in the pickling vat. They bring the steel in on flat cars in bundles and it is filthy. Has to be ran through a solution of 200 degree muratic acid for 24 hours. Conveyor system. The acid is in a massive open tank...stainless steel will last about a month. The vat is mounted about 24 inches off a concrete slab. ALL of the power and contols are ran under that vat.. Its about 300 feet long, 50 feet wide and there is a gap of 24 inches under it where we ran conduit. It was close to 150 degrees under that tank and the atmosphere was nearly depleted of oxygen and corrosive. We had to wear chemical suits and self contained breathing gear (scuba gear). We also had to furnish our own hand tools....a plier of 420 channelocks would last about a week and you could snap them with no effort from the acid. A pair of 9 inch kleins would last about 2 weeks and do the same thing. The nice blue plastic handles would melt off in an hour...you could watch it doing it. Almost no light, deafening noise. 60 days straight, 10 hours a day. This is not a nightmare in the trades....it is actuall a plumb job that you felt lucky to get a referral to. If that doesn't sound like fun you might want to rething going into a trade. This is as true a story as can be told. There are probably 500 IBEW electricians still working in the trade who have willingly taken a referral to this job and did so gladly because it is a pretty damn good job all things considered. Mike Rowe don't know a fricking thing about working in a trade.

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I haven’t seen anybody say college is a waste of time

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the temperature woulld be 160 degrees at 9 AM and would get worse as the day wore on. It was so bad it had to be monitored. We could work 15 minutes and had to go to an AC break room for 15...but of course when we did we would get our asses chewed the frick out 'cause there wasn't any conduit to be ran in the AC and conduit was where the money for the company was....so we would push it to 45 minutes working and possible 10 in the AC.
why not do it at night and get it done quicker??

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They had a night shift but the plant engineering staff worked days so most of the work was done on days. Was only marginally cooler at night. Most of what they did on nights was maintenance and repairs and redirecting so the day shift could continue production while we were working....moving, building scaffolding, moving machines, that sort of thing.