An Alternate Tuning

[Scordatura]

Hello, figured I'd give a rough profile for a first post.

I'm in my early 30s, homeowner, and am very busy.
I'm probably more of a Mustachian than ERE by my actual execution, but I'm more philosophically influenced by ERE.

ENTJ, most likely. Though I like the Big Five a bit better. I whither and die if you set me alone in a room, but I hate your stupid corporate group meeting too. Not overly fond of authority

Interests
Music.
I play stringed instruments hence 'scordatura'.
I sing too.

Engineering.
I'm a machinist by trade.
I've been to higher education 3 times, and trade school was easily the best decision.

Have a side hobby in computing. Couple of Raspberry Pis, that sort of thing. Novice level.

Medicine.
I moonlight as a CNA. This is a recent development.
I thought about med school, but that conflicts heavily with early financial independence.
So this may just be a personal experiment.

Jiujitsu.
I train a couple times a week for the exercise and the people.


I'm super happy to be here, I've read the forum for years.

Enough about me. I look forward to hearing from YOU.

[ertyu]

Cool cool, welcome!

[delay]

Welcome to the forum! What's a machinist? Do you operate a machine?

Merriam-Webster thinks a CNA is a certified nurse aide. That sounds like a rewarding job. How did you get started in that line of work?

[Scordatura]

Thank you both for your welcome.

Short Answer: A machinist would be a someone who makes things using lathes, mills, grinders or routers.

It is a sister trade to welding. A welder adds material, we subtract material. "Machine" as a verb means to remove material.

Long Diatribe: Machinists are the workhorses of society. Nearly everything physical you possess comes directly or indirectly from a machinist. Your metal components on your cars come directly, while the plastics you use and the fabrics you wear are made using molds or machines made by a machinist.

Bonus answer: I am a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinist. This means I offer a big Wizard Box my big chunk of metal, press some buttons in the order the gods intended, forbidden and noisy magic happens, and out pops the part I want.

I DID mean certified nurse aide. I've only just started, so my opinion hasn't settled. I took the class and did my clinical and liked it though. I was looking for something to do one day a week that was completely different from machining.

[delay]

Long Diatribe: Machinists are the workhorses of society. Nearly everything physical you possess comes directly or indirectly from a machinist. Your metal components on your cars come directly, while the plastics you use and the fabrics you wear are made using molds or machines made by a machinist.

Thanks for the explanation! That's not very long for a diatribe There are a few machinists here too, but most of the stuff comes in giant container ships from Asia. I wonder which kinds of goods are still machined in the West.

[Scordatura]

Thanks for the explanation! That's not very long for a diatribe There are a few machinists here too, but most of the stuff comes in giant container ships from Asia. I wonder which kinds of goods are still machined in the West.

Well, it wasn't directly related to your question. Perhaps I should have used the word 'tangent'.

One of my trade school teachers gave an unabridged version of that as a speech at the beginning of the first term. It really boggles the mind that we have so much material abundance, but so few people know how it's made. Maybe I shouldn't talk, though. I started machining school not knowing what a lathe was.

Where are you located? And if you have a journal either message me a link or post it. I'd like to read it. I didn't see it in your recent post history.

Honestly it's a shorter list of things we DON'T machine in the West.
I'm biased for sure, but the ole U. S. of A. has a lot going on in manufacturing. There's a cry every political cycle about how jobs are being shipped over seas and there are fewer workers than ever, but what isn't mentioned is those fewer workers than ever are operating with MUCH greater output per worker than their grandparents. There's more technical roles available and there's more capital involved, both streamlining the process. Made in America is still a stamp of quality, despite what the Negative Nancys say.

I'm not an expert on international trade, but my rough guesstimate is if it's made to high quality and is technical to make it will come from America, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and the like. If it requires cheap labor it will be designed in one of the previous countries but manufactured in China, Mexico, India, etc.
It's the age old Capital vs Labor.

[Scordatura]

A rough starting point for financials:

Assets:
$70,000 in 401(k)
This took me 3 years to accumulate.
House at a rough $70,000 market value.
I fill my HSA to the brim each year, not looking at it regularly, but it's there.

Liabilities:
$40,000 left on the mortgage for the house. Paying extra to accelerate timeline.
$24,000 left on student loans. For someone who went to school thrice in the states (thrice is such a nice word) I don't have a huge loan burden.

Random stuff:
I have a roommate, pays $600 a month.
I have the space for a second roommate, and have the room posted, I have no idea if that'll pan out
I looked at last year's statement. I took home $35,000 net out of $80,000 gross. Huge portion of the difference is 401(k) and HSA, the rest is tax.
I don't have my savings rate nailed down. Been winging it with the "pay yourself first" method, then using the rest unbudgeted.
The FI number in my head ($400,000) will need to be calculated again at some point. I've been a homeowner for roughly a year now, and the numbers are based on when I was a renter. Pretty sure my expenses went down, but 1 year does not a trend make.

[delay]

Where are you located? And if you have a journal either message me a link or post it. I'd like to read it. I didn't see it in your recent post history.

Thanks for your reply! I live in The Netherlands, Europe and don't write a journal. One of the jobs I did was writing software for kitchen top manufacturing. We had several machinists (we called them operators) who came from small metal. They told me that in their previous job they were asked to train Chinese and then a Chinese site took over. This was at the end of the 90s.

If it requires cheap labor it will be designed in one of the previous countries but manufactured in China, Mexico, India, etc.

That sounds right! For the kitchen factory there was more in play. We were closer to the customers. Kitchens are easier to transport in unassembled form. And they're custom made. A salesperson measured a customer's kitchen, send the dimensions to the plant, and production started. When the installation failed, we made another kitchen. Doing this from a Chinese site would have been too slow.

[Scordatura]

Thanks for your reply! I live in The Netherlands, Europe and don't write a journal. One of the jobs I did was writing software for kitchen top manufacturing. We had several machinists (we called them operators) who came from small metal. They told me that in their previous job they were asked to train Chinese and then a Chinese site took over. This was at the end of the 90s.


That sounds right! For the kitchen factory there was more in play. We were closer to the customers. Kitchens are easier to transport in unassembled form. And they're custom made. A salesperson measured a customer's kitchen, send the dimensions to the plant, and production started. When the installation failed, we made another kitchen. Doing this from a Chinese site would have been too slow.

How are your internet admirers meant to follow your progress?

Have you always been in the Netherlands? Does it suit you?

Was the software you wrote for the manufacture of the kitchen tops, customer interface, or some other thing?

I've heard stories like that. I don't really think it's good practice to train your replacement in those cases. I wouldn't, and I love to teach. It's the employer's problem to train the new help, and they have indicated with action what value they place on your services. You owe them nothing. YMMV.

Location matters a great deal in manufacturing. Even if machining as a trade dies out (unlikely in my opinion) people will install CNC machine tools in garages and shops just as the hobbyists have with 3D printing. The trade is just too useful for local repair, prototyping, and the like.

[delay]

Have you always been in the Netherlands? Does it suit you?
Was the software you wrote for the manufacture of the kitchen tops, customer interface, or some other thing?

Yeah, I was born in The Netherlands, and I like it.

The company I worked at wrote the interface for the salesperson to enter the kitchen measurements and the software that ran in the production plant. We'd show the operator a list of orders and what barcodes to slap on which wooden plates and sinks. Some machinery could also load target measurements based on a barcode. One thing I did was the code to print a CAD-like schematic of the kitchen. Nowadays I suppose there would be monitors to show the schematic.

I've heard stories like that. I don't really think it's good practice to train your replacement in those cases. I wouldn't, and I love to teach. It's the employer's problem to train the new help, and they have indicated with action what value they place on your services. You owe them nothing. YMMV.

In my experience Dutch employees are very loyal to their employers. We document our work on request, hand over the passwords and keys, and train our replacement. Even someone with 30 years at a company and ten years to bridge until retirement.

In return, we get unemployment insurance payments, which used to be relatively generous.

[Scordatura]

One thing I did was the code to print a CAD-like schematic of the kitchen. Nowadays I suppose there would be monitors to show the schematic.


In my experience Dutch employees are very loyal to their employers. We document our work on request, hand over the passwords and keys, and train our replacement. Even someone with 30 years at a company and ten years to bridge until retirement.

In return, we get unemployment insurance payments, which used to be relatively generous.

What's that coding process like? What language(s) did you use? Does it matter all that much, language choice? I'm passively interested in computing, though I really only know G-code from my machinist background and a tiny amount of python from being a dilettante. No languages at all from being a debutante.

Which USED to be relatively generous? Why past tense?

Might be unrelated to whatever is going on in the Netherlands, but virtuous cycles are GREAT in business when everyone is sacrificing for one another... Until it stops. Then it seems the most agreeable party (or desperate) takes the loss. I prefer more 'at will' terms. It's at the very least honest. A business is no substitute for the people who care about you, and I really wish businesses would stop using phrases like "We're all family here."

Hope that doesn't read as incredibly jaundiced. I'm pretty optimistic about human cooperation, but I could do with less hot air. Not implying the hot air is coming from you.

[Scordatura]

Had my first day actually working as a certified nurse aide.
It really pressure tests the 'extravert' in ENTJ.
I met about fifty new people in an eight hour span.
Went well, I think.

A financial observation I had was the effective hourly wage is pretty close to my full time job as a machinist simply because the nursing home is less than a mile away, whilst the full time job is the next town over ~16 miles.
I'm looking for full time work in the same city already, but extra effort could be added.
Going home for lunch is magical.

[sodatrain]

Hello! Welcome!

Curious to hear more about your CNA training and work. Still looking for what might generate income after hopefully quitting my career in the next year or so. DP same thing... sort of interested in nursing. Wondering how you found the training? And the wages for the training? How's the flexibility in schedule/hours?

[delay]

What's that coding process like? What language(s) did you use? Does it matter all that much, language choice?

There's already working code, and then you make small changes, or replace a part with a newer part. We originally used Borland Delphi and the new version was in Microsoft Visual C++. Language choice is a very big deal! As we learned, C++ is never the right answer

Which USED to be relatively generous? Why past tense?

Unemployment benefits used to be there for everyone with minimal conditions. Since around 1990 small cuts were made every year. Today it's at most 1 month per worked year, the amount is lower, and an assigned "unemployed person manager" prods you weekly to find a new job.

I hear few complaints. It seems everyone is able to find a new job quickly.

[loutfard]

Funnily enough, unemployment benefits here are unlimited in time. They're not super super high, but I know people in their 60's who have bummed around on this basicly since leaving school.

[Scordatura]

Thank you for the welcome.

Hello! Welcome!

Curious to hear more about your CNA training and work. Still looking for what might generate income after hopefully quitting my career in the next year or so. DP same thing... sort of interested in nursing. Wondering how you found the training? And the wages for the training? How's the flexibility in schedule/hours?

Take this with a grain of salt.
My general understanding is this:
CNA - certified nurse aide - not actually a nurse. 'Caretaker' is a decent word.
LPN - licensed practical nurse - first actual nurse, has actual medical tasks to do, 1 year training
RN - registered nurse - upper level nurse, wider array of medical tasks, 2-4 years of training.

I paid 5-6 hundred for a 3-4 week course at the local hospital. I'd call the clinical the accelerated reader program (actually useful) and the book section a formality (legally obligated, I think.) I then took a written test and a skills assessment at the local college. The proctor told me the assessment could be challenged by anyone, even without training. I recommend the training. You would need to be very dedicated to pass without it.

I was not paid during training, so no wage. I was banking on the flexibility, actually. I expect nursing might be a potential fit for you. Here was my logic going in: Nursing is overwhelmingly dominated by women. Women bear the burden of childbirth. Nursing as a profession will have some form of flexibility to deal with this most basic fact and keep the talent that has been invested in. From what I've seen so far, I think my line of thinking was correct. I was hired part time, 1 day a week, absolutely no work experience.. At the second place I called. The CNA license itself only requires 8 hours worked in a nursing home every 2 years in order to maintain it in my state. But the icing on the cake is the medical abbreviation "PRN". It stands for "pro re nata" and means 'as needed'. You can literally work as needed. I can't think of many more flexible arrangements. Gig work, maybe.

Sodatrain, I can't speak to whether it fits you personally, but judging by what you've said, I'd say it's an option. What's your career now? Any particular reason giving it up?

[Scordatura]

There's already working code, and then you make small changes, or replace a part with a newer part. We originally used Borland Delphi and the new version was in Microsoft Visual C++. Language choice is a very big deal! As we learned, C++ is never the right answer


Unemployment benefits used to be there for everyone with minimal conditions. Since around 1990 small cuts were made every year. Today it's at most 1 month per worked year, the amount is lower, and an assigned "unemployed person manager" prods you weekly to find a new job.

I hear few complaints. It seems everyone is able to find a new job quickly.

Who writes the original code though?
This is a problem I run into sometimes at my work. We have dummy programs to use and change or there is conversational programming at some machines. But not all have this, and doing new things is like DIY dentistry on off shifts. It's funny, my tiny excursions into actual computer coding had me building things from scratch and at the time I thought "why do I not get to see and modify working code first?"

The "unemployed person manager" job seems like it would be a riot. Like herding cats in the rain.

Short anecdote I was told:
Some unemployment benefits in the states require you apply for jobs.
A guy I know gets laid off. He's ecstatic.
He loves this arrangement. How does he game this well thought out system?
He applies to be a pilot. And a surgeon. He is neither of those things.
He told me his plan was to say "I'd love to work for you, but I'm unlicensed, hate flying, and I'm scared of needles."
He needn't have worried. No one called him for an interview anyway.

Funnily enough, unemployment benefits here are unlimited in time. They're not super super high, but I know people in their 60's who have bummed around on this basicly since leaving school.

I know people who are perpetually on welfare too. On the personal side, it's a giant missed opportunity for personal growth.

Sitting in front of a screen most of the day while your kids sit in front of their screens seems like a hell-on-earth scenario to me. Especially when the kids are medicated with pharmaceuticals to produce stillness. Probably obvious, but I have a real life example in mind as I write this.

In more general terms, however, the welfare rider and the pure index investor devotee have a lot in common. The welfare rider could reasonably say "I have a similar arrangement, I just didn't waste time in a corporation. It isn't as if THEY have many skills I don't."

I still respect the purist more, though. I guess this is where I say ERE wins a point or several. Skills development is part of the package. Independence is a lodestar.

[delay]

Who writes the original code though?

When I got hired there was already a working code base. I think it was written by a family member of the owner of the factory.

Another common "original code" is someone coding in his spare time. The code becomes indispensable for the company and the business types force the original coder out. Then they hire professionals to maintain the code.

The "unemployed person manager" job seems like it would be a riot. Like herding cats in the rain.

Well, the first few months it may look like cats in the rain, but they slowly tighten the screws. The "unemployed person manager" will tell you to apply for less desirable jobs, then jobs further away. They will follow up with the company you applied to and ask them if they thought you did your best. Later on they will offer you a job, a job further away, and then a job you can't refuse.

These managers are no longer government employees. They have a target to make the unemployed leave unemployment. Most of them are young females who cut your benefits with a smile.

[Scordatura]

I do a yearly goal list every year, and figured I could try making it public for a change.

Some Notes: There will be placeholders and vague goals set. I'll try to make them specific when I know what I want, but I don't always know. Sometimes it's just "go in that direction."
I consider something poorly done and open to revision better than not done at all.

This list is not a taskmaster. I do not whip myself for failing. I set goals with failing in mind. It's a bit like dating in my opinion. If you aren't getting any no answers, you aren't asking enough. If I'm not failing a percentage, I'm not pushing hard enough. But again, anguish is not the goal either.


Physical:
This is easily my worst category.
I'd like to pass the Navy physical requirements for an 18 year old.
Run.
Pushups.
Sit-ups.

Gain a stripe in Jiujitsu. This not a 'cross the finish line' goal for me. I would also consider this goal complete if I simply went to Jiujitsu consistently 1-2x a week and noticeably improved over the year.

Weightlifting placeholder. I really like my kettlebells, having trouble thinking of what the goal should look like. Unless it's a simple consistency goal. I have a squat rack and bench as well. I'll think on it.

Balance & flexibility placeholder. I expect this to be either Jiujitsu related OR yoga related. I do so appreciate my mobility.

Mental:
This is the hardest category for me to write for. Historically speaking, I have the highest completion rate in this category.

Math placeholder. It's been a minute since I've done any rigorous mathematics, and I wouldn't mind picking something up. It might be khan academy use, but I also have a copy of Euclid's Elements I haven't rigorously gone through.

I set a book reading project every year. Let's say ten books. Of any kind. I read a metric ton of non-book things already (technical manuals, articles, blog posts, etc) but I don't know how to goal-ify those. So books it is.

I want to hit DBT this year. I'm always reading about stoicism and CBT, but I honestly couldn't tell you what the differentiating factors are between DBT & CBT. The word "dialectical" makes me think Hegelian.

Separate from above: read and take notes from one of my textbooks. I have a shelf of them.

Assuming I do not fill the third bedroom with another roommate, I want a study cubby. Having dedicated places for things improves consistency. Moving one of my guitars next to my comfy chair was one of the dumbest, but most effective things I have ever done for my guitar playing.


Spanish:
Keep Duolingo streak going.
Achieve mid level A1 (CEFR)
Achieve high level A1 (CEFR)
Break into A2 (CEFR)
Setup electronic flashcard system with audio. I use anki at the moment, but haven't figured out the audio side. Currently all text.
Czech placeholder. I still work on this from time to time, but I switched to Spanish for actual speaking opportunity in the States.
Russian placeholder. Russian was my first foreign language I seriously put effort into. I dropped it for lack of reward. I'd like to go back and see what I remember.

Setup number memorization mnemonic system. People think this is pointless because computer memory, but I work with serial numbers all the time at work. And I already have some memorized. It's incredibly useful to rattle off a nine digit part number. Being able to consistently do it would be a boon.


Musical:
This section could objectively be folded into the other categories, but it's important enough on a personal level to emphasize.

I want to be able to sing and play at the same time. It's *TOUGH*.

To that end,
Work on vocal projects. Let's say ten. I expect this is easily done. Might divide this more granularly later.
I do not think vocals is the limiting factor on the "sing and play"
task.
Need more guitar songs!!
Need to polish the songs I do know!!
Obstacles - Syd Matters
Yosemite - Lana Del Rey
House of the Rising Sun - The Animals

These are all excellent candidates for singing and playing that I already know well enough to sing OR play.

Guitar barre chord work placeholder. I do not have much trouble playing single barre chords, but I do have trouble transitioning from one barre chord to another when the chord shape is different.
Save Me - Shinedown
A song containing barre chord shape transitions I'm working on.

Polish pedalboard setup. This is just a decision making task, but it needs my attention.

Play some violin with pedalboard. Proof of concept for my multiuse pedalboard.

Move keyboard to third bedroom, assuming no additional boarders. It's stuck in a corner, and I love playing the thing. The corner is unnecessary friction.
Polish for keyboard:
Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush

Projects:
This category are things that very well may be self improvement items, but I consider them external to myself. Typically I want the thing the project produces more than the self improvement aspect.

Water purification setup. I'm thinking of an ionizer like in a chem lab, though I know there are other effective filtration methods. Must look into.

Small solar project. Do not have specifics. I want to eventually add solar to my roof, but that isn't this. Thinking small heating or cooling addition, or some small electrical device hooked off main grid running on solar. Or wind, I guess.

Raspberry pi project. Probably a pihole. I've tried before, but the interface between my internet provider's modem and the pi was.. Frustrating.

Python project placeholder. I'm interested in automation.

Tor node placeholder. I don't even know what's involved in this. Might scrap. It's probably significantly out of my current skill level.

5 videos on YouTube. I have several ideas, gumption and decision making are limiting factors.

Audio recording project. Want to record and modify songs. Quality of songs is irrelevant. Can be songs about nuns in fishnets for all I care.

I reserve the right to add, subtract, or edit goals.
Feedback welcome.

[Western Red Cedar]

House of the Rising Sun - The Animals

These are all excellent candidates for singing and playing that I already know well enough to sing OR play.

You can check out Bob Dylan's rendition of House of the Rising Sun. I find it a bit easier to play than The Animals version. The strumming pattern is faster and easier, and I feel like the cadence matches the lyrics which makes it easier to sing. Dylan recorded it on his first album, who took the arrangement from Dave Van Ronk. Sometimes I like to add elements from different covers to make it unique.

As I was getting comfortable playing and singing at the same time, I found certain songs were much easier based on the simplicity of the chord structure and how the lyrics pairs with that structure.