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CC & NJ Guy
Reviving the Forgotten Trades: A Throwback to Vocational Education and Its Future Prospects
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Remember those old school days when we'd break from Algebra and Social Studies to get our hands dirty in Woodshop or Home Economics? Join us, your hosts Kenny Cottman, Louis Crawford and Tom Rammage - the Jersey Guy - as we take a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about the trades and skills we learned in our junior high and high schools. From the hard work and long hours to the invaluable role of guidance counselors, we uncover the essence of these trades and express our longing for their revival in today’s education system.
What if we told you that these forgotten trades are making a comeback and could be your road to a promising career? In our candid discussion, we broach the evolution of trades from our high school days to the present and shed light on the challenges of diving into this field. Networking, club memberships, connections, and the increasing accessibility of trade schools - we cover it all. With our unique insights and experiences, we aim to guide you through the maze of career options available in the trades.
But that's not all! We also venture into the future of trades, discussing how technology and environmental considerations are redefining the landscape. From the impact of iPads to the eco-friendly revival of industries like steelwork, we navigate the intricacies of vocation in the digital age. Wrapping up our episode, we emphasize the potential of trades as a career choice and the urgent need to reintroduce them in our schools. So, tune in for a stimulating exploration of vocational education and the evolving world of trades. We promise, it's more than just nuts and bolts!
Hosted by: Cottman, Crawford & The Jersey Guy
Contact us: CCandNJGuy@gmail.com
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Talking Trades and Vocational Education
Speaker 1Cotman, crawford and the Jersey Guy podcast.
Speaker 2Hey everybody, kenny Cotman, lewis Crawford.
Speaker 1And I'm Tom Remmage, the Jersey Guy.
Speaker 2Well, hello, hello, hello to my friends. What's going on? My peoples.
Speaker 1What's up, what's up, what's up.
Speaker 3How are you, jerry Good? Hey, very good, thank you. Thanks for having me on the show.
Speaker 2Yes, so Jerry's back for the next episode. So we're good, we're hanging out finger man, have fun. We haven't seen him in a while, so it's kind of what a while.
Speaker 4Nice to have you. Yeah, good to have him. We're trying to touch the shit. That's my boys yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, man, so good. So everything else is good, everything's nice. Yeah, dude, if I tell you your house good, all that stuff on it oh thanks. It's so nice, it's insane.
Speaker 1Yeah, like I said, we're up to like. We have like 10 inflatables and like 11 animatronics.
Speaker 2Yeah, all the Halloween stuff, this is crazy.
Speaker 1And we just now we got this. We just bought that new one I mentioned on the last show. It's a ghost on a line and it goes back and forth on the line and it just goes. Whoo. Actually, there's a setting we had to turn off before it's the sensor right. Yeah, the signal response. It's pretty important, uh huh.
Speaker 2Cause.
Speaker 1I love it here. You know it's about everything Like everything that I had.
Speaker 3it was just cool, but it wasn't fun. It was lit and stuff like that the new style.
Speaker 2I just love that so nice.
Speaker 1It looks like you could really punch people on the back of the camera andpoor signs in and stuff right here.
Speaker 2That's what you hear. But yeah, we got, and I didn't even have the fog but that picture I sent you guys.
Speaker 1I didn't even have the fog machine hooked up yet.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, like that prom of doing it on.
Speaker 4Halloween, yeah, Halloween you do. Yeah, definitely you know you need to have skills to be able to do all that stuff too.
Speaker 2Yeah, hell yeah. So do a lot of kids go to your house with Chick-A-Tree? Yeah?
Speaker 4the traits.
Speaker 1Surprisingly, we're not on a good street because we're on a dead end, like there's two streets in my town. They're like both parallel and that is like the place to be for Halloween. It's so cool, it's like the movies, just kids running down the street.
Speaker 2It's really cool.
Speaker 1But not our street. Our street's on the dead end, so we don't get as many people. Yeah, I hate it.
Speaker 2Yeah you should put the sign up.
Speaker 1You know scary candy this way or something like that. Yeah, so good, Cool beans.
Speaker 2So I'm glad everybody's good and chilling and everybody's groovy and whatnot. So tonight's topic it's trades. T-r-a-d-e-s. You talking about school stuff? Yeah, so school trade how much benefited? Yeah, the trade benefited kids or us, whatever back in the day, little you know something? Yeah, that was it.
Speaker 3Well, trades big, big topic. When I was a kid we had very, very good trades in our junior high school Welding, electrical, mechanical. They had an auto shop there. It was like a Boses and that was junior high Now. And shortly after that it started fading away in the 70s and went right into that was later 70s, but right into where Boses, they started fading out the trades in the high school. High school and hit that. There's nothing there.
Speaker 1Well, I actually went to a vocational high school.
Speaker 2Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, so what was your thing?
Speaker 1I did culinary because they had, you know, or they called it commercial foods, and then they changed it to culinary.
Speaker 2Yeah, so what happened?
Speaker 1Oh, you know what I love to cook and it's a fun job, you know it's. I love. I love when I cook for people and they, they you know they're helping me out with my food. I love all that shit. But to do this as a living it sucks. You're working, like you know, 60 hours a week, 60, 70 hours a week, and your only day off is like Monday or lucky Sunday, but usually it's Monday and yeah, you just that makes sense All the time yeah.
Speaker 2And all the holidays you work like it's just not a Well. You could go work with Tanya and Haley now.
Speaker 1Yeah, there we go.
Speaker 2You do it. You order this grill, this bar. You get this guy grilling and stuff.
Speaker 1So right, yeah, so I worked in it for a little bit, but it wasn't, it wasn't for me, so you were, you just staying there for a while.
Speaker 4No, well, that happens. You remember Apex tech?
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 4I went there for you went to Apex, I did, I went to auto body, no shit, I just I didn't finish it out, though I wish.
Speaker 1I took an electrical or something like that or plumbing or something. Cause that would have been a better yeah.
Speaker 4Yeah, you know, we, I learned probably like UJER, right, I mean probably learned on the job training is the way we learned how to trace. I mean, even though we still had like carpentry and, like you said, like a mechanic shop or a ceramics or sewing or whatever it was you learned something in school and then you went on and back then they used to pull it. You had the guidance couch.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 4I just canceled. We'll pull you into the office and say okay, what do you want to do? You're going to go to college.
Speaker 2You're going to do this Right. You're going to military?
Speaker 4Yeah, cause they used to help you with that stuff. That kind of went away too. Yeah, that was. You know, once that kind of went away and then a lot of that stuff wasn't being introduced anymore.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's starting to make a comeback now which?
Speaker 4is really good, because you need it. Because college is too expensive, yeah, and not everybody who goes to college is going to get the job they want, because it's not working out that way anymore.
Speaker 2Right, right, right.
Speaker 4Well, like so a lot of people make more money doing trades than they do going to college.
Speaker 2Right, right, right, right. Well, so you took what it was in high school, I mean not in high school.
Speaker 4I did, I had ceramics, I had cooking.
Speaker 2It depends on what year I was. I did that.
Speaker 4I had all that so, and then I had sewing Right, so I did, and coffee.
Speaker 2Wait, but did you take those to meet the chicks or did you take that? No, I just had it and I took them.
Speaker 4I took them to high school is actually when I had sewing, yeah, and then I had ceramics and carpentry in junior high school as well. Yeah, okay. And high school I didn't. I don't think I had a class actually to be honest with you in high school. I don't remember nothing in high school, yeah, but junior high school did, for sure, yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3Junior high was where the for us was where all the trades were. That was early, early on. But as it moved on, it turned into like a Votech, which really was kind of weird to me. Right, no, hands on hardly at all.
Speaker 2See, I don't remember having. I didn't have it in junior high school, you know it's funny I had.
Speaker 1my school was K through eight and we had, so it was like a middle school combined with elementary school Right. And the they had. We had shop class I started at like when I was like maybe 11, 12, probably 11, like sixth grade so I'll be middle school age and we had shop class, like wood shop, and we had home economics too. Yeah, I remember that, that's right we had that as well.
Speaker 1But they did away with that like when I was in like eighth grade, so I only got like one or two years in it and then they switched to computer lab.
Speaker 2Yeah, I know, I said I didn't have any computer. Computer lab was the other one yeah, but you said, you had it in high school, I mean in junior high school.
Speaker 4No, I mean, I had it in junior high school.
Speaker 2I didn't have it in my junior high school.
Speaker 4I had it in junior high school everything.
Speaker 2Yeah, no, everything was in the high school. I went to shallow junior high.
Speaker 4Yeah, see, I went to Brooklyn New.
Speaker 2York. Well wait, that was high school, Junior high school.
Speaker 4Junior high school. I went to FDR.
Speaker 2FDR for high school. High school actually I was in New.
Speaker 4York first, and then I went to FDR.
Speaker 2Okay, yeah, yeah, see, so at New Trick. You saw we was more like the like I took. Drafting, that was my tech class. Okay, drafting and oh my goodness, that was the cooking homec, homec and the sewing. But the homec and the sewing I did to girls I heard these other girls were in there, so that's why me and a couple of friends joined that. Those the drafting. I actually wanted to learn the drafting Well, so they did that shit. I wanted to go to school for that.
Speaker 4Right, yeah. Well, I already knew sewing because my grandmother was a seamstress. Okay, and all my aunts either knitted or did crochet or something, and I remember doing a hook rug when I was a kid. No shit, I had the hook rug. My grandmother showed me how to do it and I did the whole freaking thing.
Speaker 2Yeah, my mom and my grandmother showed me that.
Speaker 4I got like a 90 in sewing Yo In junior high school.
Speaker 2There you go.
Speaker 4I mean like, but the same thing like we were talking about is like it's on, you had kind of under job training, because you learned it from people who already were doing it for how long? And they didn't go to school for it, they learned from their parents and so on, and so on.
Speaker 3Right. And not all did that and, like you said, like in my case, my father was a horrible carpenter. He was a very good mason, but he was a laborer through one of the locals local 17, 30 plus years, hardworking man did a lot of side work. 70s were bad, so we were doing patios and stuff like that and I was his laborer. Right, exactly, he was laid off, get up do this, you gotta do that, and that's what we did, and so I learned how to do sidewalks and pouring sidewalks first sidewalks, and patios.
Speaker 3And then fireplaces getting into that. But carpentry is hand in hand with a laborer Right, so you have to build the forms in order to pour the concrete. So you learn that stuff and I was hate every minute of it. It was physically mixed in cement.
Speaker 4That was sucked.
Speaker 3Yeah, yeah, and we about realized that I actually was learning. So it took me years later. So, trades, you can only be lucky to work with somebody a little bit older that has the knowledge to pick it up.
Speaker 4Exactly.
Speaker 3Like working with your parent if you're lucky enough, which a lot of people aren't but if you do, you don't wanna work with your parent. You're always trying to get away from it. So when you do work is when you break away from your family and the first job you get, maybe, whatever it may be electrical or masonry or AC that's when you pick up your skills, because you're getting paid to do it and you're not with your family.
Speaker 2You're not with your family all the time. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3Yeah, exactly so you pick it up from other people mostly mostly. Not all the time.
Speaker 4That's funny, I think. For me, my father was a superintendent, so we had to learn how to wash the building down. We had to take out the trash and put it out to get picked up Right and then did repairs in the building and stuff like that. So I learned a lot of that stuff while I was a kid. I did all that labor. As I was old enough, I got to do more or whatever. Then I got in the trades, like Jerry was saying, which is true.
Speaker 2Now you're learning something that you didn't learn from your dad or your co-worker, right? Yeah, as well. Do you use, tom, any of the stuff that you learned in any of your shop classes?
Speaker 1We just like. I don't remember that much. I remember like we just like sawed stuff.
Trade Schools and Changing Job Market
Speaker 2I don't know like nailed stuff, I don't really everything's such a blur. Yeah, see, I remember the guy. I got tired of hearing it in my life. The dude that taught us drafting was the same guy who taught us woodwork, and I made a really groovy abstract ashtray. It was pretty cool and I had to carve it out with a chisel, not like sanded out or whatever. It was all with the chisel. Man Got it in real lovely and made it nice and smooth and I think my godmother still has that thing.
Speaker 3That's awesome. I don't know yeah, I made a bong. That was a very interesting one, Dude how many people I always say people making bongs. I made a bong. It was called Crazy Wood to Zebra.
Speaker 1Wood. I know, oh my God, I've heard of it twice. That's great.
Speaker 3Yeah, I made this. I thought it was pretty cool.
Speaker 2Yeah, I'm sure it was that you made it in a fucking shop, but everybody makes it. Well, not everybody, but a bunch of people make a fucking bong.
Speaker 3That's how it works. It was very difficult too, because I had to do it in sections. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1That's more sophisticated than I feel like everybody in my era like in high school they'd make a bowl out of a soda can bending a soda can yeah, yeah, I did that all the time.
Speaker 2That's fucking hilarious.
Speaker 4I remember making a Terry cloth shirt and sewing. It took us we had to bring a towel from home.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 4And then make it into a shirt, because back then I'm the 80s, doing a shirt to a big thing. So you, that's great.
Speaker 2Yeah, that is pretty good. Terry. Cloth towel yeah, so you can sweat and just soak it all up.
Speaker 4That was the big thing back then, right? That's funny.
Speaker 3I remember all that crazy shit yeah that's funny bro. That is hilarious. Yeah, they're making bullets.
Speaker 2This guy making bullets, this guy hey, those are weird times, it's not cool. No, you're making bullets.
Speaker 1So 82 is a weird time for clothing Didn't they have like guys wearing like belly shirts and shit like that in the 80s? Really, yeah, you mean short shirts.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, I wore those too. I wore the cut off, I wore those too, so weird. Yeah, I had one too. Listen, if you look at it you had the shape you know, for the time you were wearing it and girls dug it. Yeah, with the big fro.
Speaker 3Right, you do whatever you want.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's what I'm saying, tom minus the fro.
Speaker 4I didn't have a fro.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, no it's the same.
Speaker 4You had a fro.
Speaker 2No, I don't know what you said Crazy pair though no.
Speaker 2so, like I went to when I went to college, I went to New York City Tech and I took up, well, I had a print using the whole machine, the printing press and stuff, and it was cool because I worked with my godfather in Manhattan so that then I would get out of school, hop on a train, shoot over there, go meet up over there with him, and it was great. Man graphic arts, it was freaking awesome. We printed a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff, and it was really cool and they showed us the history of it and everything. So that then I was into it. So now For me, not doing it, because everything was a mom and pop shop and if you weren't in the Union, you weren't getting into any of the big, I guess, places.
Speaker 2So you couldn't get into the newspapers, you couldn't get into magazines or anything like that or into their printing shops, because you had to know somebody in the Union to get in. And if you're gonna go into, like, more of the yeah, then like I guess you'll say, more of working for a specific Discourage what you call it big-time discouraging you have to be part of a club. So then, if you weren't part of the club, you know, like the sorority to frat. Whatever you fucking, you were stuck.
Speaker 3You asked I was like ah man, so it's politics, man Well yeah, you know it's the real deal, right we? Know we're talking about yeah it's what it is.
Speaker 2Yeah, and it sucked because then that's why I didn't go into that.
Speaker 3You want to get in, you want to be right, yeah, it's like. Yeah, you had to be a goomba.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, when your buddy was different, yeah it's like the power company. Yeah right.
Speaker 3Yeah, so many tests to get there. Went there, took the test three people that I was with. They got hired. I did not right, yeah, did it for like almost Five years until I was in the state working right. Like pretty soon, ten years, they're gonna vest my rights right. I'm not gonna do that. Why you?
Speaker 2know I've already invested.
Speaker 3Once I hit ten years, I stopped trying to get in. Yeah, come to find out. It's who you know you have to have a family member.
Speaker 2We're in order to get in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, somebody again. Yeah, I know somebody, right, yeah?
Speaker 3Important and are coming back, and that's what this shop's about.
Speaker 2That's what you just yeah, guys are.
Speaker 3Mentioning not to get off it, but trade schools are great. I know that you have more time to speak about it and they are coming back a little bit.
Speaker 2Well, that's the thing, that was the idea, you know, of this convo, because I remember trades just like I'm sorry, tom, but you know like just to which better you know regular School learning, something behind?
Speaker 4the desk. Like you know what I don't think one is better than the other. I think it's being just being able to have the option to pick, right, you know. But the trade school, you want to go to college? Fine.
Speaker 1They're a lot more advanced than they were in the past. I mean like and the price is even getting creeped.
Speaker 4Yeah, but it's no way.
Speaker 1It's like almost, it's almost as much now. Lincoln.
Speaker 4Tech is really expensive.
Speaker 1Well, you know, hey, but it's a cottage and like even I was looking at one place when I was thinking about taking HVC, I was looking at Fortis and they were like they want to, like, they wanted like 30 grand. Yeah, one year I was like holy yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4Yeah it's a lot of money.
Speaker 2Mm-hmm, yeah, that's what I'm saying, so like, and then you know market bro. Yeah, that's the whole thing, so that then now here we are in this market.
Speaker 1This was back in 2011 or whatever, but still, this was like yeah and how many people know how to do any of that stuff anymore.
Speaker 2You know. So like what's that? Just like any of the any of the blue collar work. You know Not enough people know like they. I mean looking at truck drivers, they has a shortage of truck drivers in the next five years, supposed to be shorter. Yeah, truck drivers, you know you're looking at Um Masons. You know you don't find the mason's like you used to.
Speaker 1Drivers now? Well, yeah, but they can't live it.
Speaker 2Yeah well, but then that's a whole shit too, because now it's gonna take one guy that knows how to use a computer to build a house. I was watching this thing on 2020 the other night and there's a 3d house.
Speaker 1Yeah, so a video on that? Yeah, it's insane. It pours the concrete. Yeah, 3d.
Speaker 2Yeah, well it's right, it's the yeah, yeah, so 3d printers was gonna do your house. That's all that. Then it's awesome, but I'm saying like there's no more Hack.
Speaker 4You know, having to build the house by hand is an option that if you want to do that, doesn't mean that it's gonna the. You know the people are still gonna use I think they're. I'm still gonna do all that the 3d printed house, if you want to go that.
Speaker 1It's supposed to save money and right both people in countries where that.
Speaker 2You know what I mean right, but he but my wait did you see the house Hold on one sec?
Speaker 4Did you see the house that Robert down a Downey Jr no mate or built? No, no so he had this inflatable form go up. It was like a long right, you know, it was like a balloon, like whatever material was. They blew it up, right, yeah. And then they molded the cement around it, yeah, but bar with the wire, the rebar and everything right they did all that and then they Took that down, and that's what the house stays at the concrete with the rebar.
Speaker 4So that's supposed to be like yeah, like that in a sense. So there's a lot, but look at that version. There's a lot of labor involved in that because you still have to put the rebar in right. You still know you have to still shoot the cement wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Speaker 2Which we talking about? What we talked about with the Robbie Downey Jr.
Speaker 4No, no, no, no, no, I think you meant the 3d one.
Speaker 2That's how I was like wait, what no? No, yeah, it's totally.
Speaker 4I. There's no rebar in that boy that with this house there is mm-hmm. So they're still, even though they're using a different technology or Method, right, they're still doing Labor involved, whether it's still shooting the right, shooting the recovery and what the hose and do whatever. Yeah Well, you know trial work and all that. So the labor is the truck. I think it's not a matter of whether you're gonna lose it.
Speaker 4I think it's a matter of having more options and there'll be more availability of people like Some things will be cheaper than other things and it'll be more feasible for someone to say you know, I'll go with the 3d house because I can't really afford to pay the labor.
Speaker 3Yeah, which is fine. I mean no, somebody should have that out of shit away from right trades. Are AC HVAC right and this in the Northeast electric. Vcr for a reason. You need to be hot.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3Summer cool. Hey, hvac is a great trade to get into, yeah, and like electrician. Electrician you have to have like these trades are needed kids today. I'm not interested in that. There they want to kind of work.
Speaker 1Yeah, you know, it's right though the plumbing trade has really changed though.
Speaker 2Yeah, plumbing to with pecs.
Speaker 1Yeah, now they had, now they just use the power tools is like they got. They got these special pecs power tools.
Speaker 2Yeah, walkies. No more Job more so that's the labor involved right, so that then now it's just the old school alone?
Speaker 1no, more sweating pipe right, oh yeah, that's.
Speaker 4That's there you go but you go, but you still have that option.
Speaker 1And then there's older homes.
Speaker 3The propress is what you're saying. Yeah, you put your fittings on, you climp them to make sure they're there.
Speaker 2Yeah, you stick it up. It's a jaw yeah sizes.
Speaker 3Boom hit the button, light comes on.
Speaker 2Done.
Speaker 3I just did my own furnace. I put that in it's great.
Speaker 1Pro pressed everything and they make a higher grade. A pecs to to make that right flex and more flexible. I know so mm-hmm. You can use that which is better. There's heat pecs.
Speaker 3Yeah, it goes like as far as steam.
Speaker 1Really, I didn't even know that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Pro-price is propress is awesome.
Speaker 3It's a Milwaukee. I did make different brands, but they had this different jaws so I roughed everything in different sizes up to one of the quarter half inch. Take that propress goes over snaps it. Hit.
Speaker 2The button Closes it crimps, it done yeah.
Speaker 3So by the time, if and I sweat a more plumbing than I ever cared to ever do again when I first time I use that, propress you like I'm done.
Speaker 1Again.
Speaker 3I believe it. If one person was right next to me doing identical work and me and we did the same thing, I did propress. That person sweat everything. Once we started, probably 10 minutes into it, I sweat it everything. Yeah, I mean, I propose everything. They will be still sweat the same. Still probably right now still be, Haha.
Speaker 1Two weeks later hour later.
Speaker 3Yeah well, I'm not right Call today.
Speaker 4That's great, though that's amazing. Let me ask you a question. So we're talking about the difference between what you would rather do now. This is what you used to do. So now you go to a trade school you, I would think it would be smart for the trade school.
Speaker 3The teacher still had a sweat, oh they still do you need to learn all of that you have to before you even get to that point, right?
Speaker 4Because then what's the point?
Speaker 2you need to know all types of know where came from, and so again.
Speaker 4You're still keeping the trade around.
Speaker 2Yeah, you still have to learn it, but I think that now today. So we like said we all went to schools in the 70s and 80s, right, and we saw this stuff and I mean we're talking about what we did, that we saw that we had to learn in class. All these other things that they are now are just evolved. So, to be able to to plumb a house with pecs and it's gonna take you a day with maybe two people Back in the day was bunch. Yeah, right, see, so that Dennis is a quarter of the time.
Speaker 3So this is what happens you go back to old school as you step back and, like I'm not personally gonna do that because there's certain things I won't do, I still believe in sweating, I see right doing that type of work. So but the Pro Press in in long term of a lot of crimping perfect.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3You still need to learn all the basics right you have to do that Because there's a many, many things that you come across that you're not gonna use pecs or shark bites.
Speaker 2You're right those quick items.
Speaker 4Yeah, I agree. I think it's regardless of how far the the trade has advanced or has gotten better Technology that you, you should be still taught. All of that regardless. You have to know, you need to know all of it.
Speaker 2Yeah, because when the zombie apocalypse comes, you gotta know how to be able to sweat stuff to make those fights.
Speaker 3Zombie apocalypse?
Exploring Future Trades and Technologies
Speaker 2Exactly, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, exactly, man, but no, it's true, you need to know, should know, Everybody should know Some kind of trade. You know Always something to fall back on, just having that extra. You never know, or even something like he said, cause, like my son, he's an electrician, so for him he can go literally anywhere. You know what I'm saying and no issues, no problem. You know my younger one, he's a engineer, survey engineer. So not the same thing, but so it's still a trade. Well, I mean, not like be able to make a living off of it like my other son could.
Speaker 4Yeah, you can can make a lot of money. But you look at the my brother-in-law does that and he makes a lot. That's where he started and then when he's, he got into it. You can actually really do good with that.
Speaker 2Yeah well, you do private right? You're going to do it yourself? What?
Speaker 4I'm just saying it's just a good trade to learn to know how to do that, to survey land and figure out. I guess the road or all that, buildings and bridges, the basic plumbing trade is just not sweating pipe.
Speaker 3It comes into now. These boilers are all computerized Right. All your zone valves go through a computer board. You're hooking up. It's still. You have to go back to the basics. But you also need to learn that. But the kids today are falling into it just with the technology of it Right exactly.
Speaker 2So yeah, that's gotta be.
Speaker 3If it's something that they can push buttons and do what they do, they're on top of it. Makes it simple. Give me your phone, I'll fix it.
Speaker 4Yeah, exactly Right, you can go right into the to the manual, right?
Speaker 2You know, it's glue too that you can go on and like, even now for YouTube, because if your son likes to the animatronics, now it's about building them, you know, or fixing them. Well, that's the thing.
Speaker 1I think the way things are going now, like robotics, maybe like a trade, you know.
Speaker 4Yeah, oh, it's absolutely.
Speaker 1Like the Amazon. Like the company I work for that they service Amazon is one of the accounts and it's the technicians that just repair the robotics for Amazon. So yeah, like that's a trade, you know that. And also, like now, they're teaching coding in school.
Speaker 2Right, yes, yes.
Speaker 1About time. It's like crazy. Like that's a class in school now, like I guess that's replaced shop. Yeah, yeah, well, for some of it yeah, so you know what coding is you gotta go to computer school for that right yeah right.
Speaker 2So it's trade Coding, Jerry, is that when you put in the program for certain stuff?
Speaker 1to work, yeah, so write a program for like that's what Tanya does.
Speaker 4Yeah, that's right, my wife she works with engineers who do that and she, you know, she's a project manager for that stuff. So she. There's like jobs for the future yeah it's crazy what these guys can do and how they write it up, and they could just sit there.
Speaker 1That's not really a trade, though that's more like because we're really behind, it's kind of not really a trade. I would think it wouldn't be, because I mean, it's different. Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 4You're more working with your mind, I guess.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2But you're still kind of using the computer right, I guess in some sense of the word. But now see some Not too physical, obviously.
Speaker 2Right, but see like we need to bring a lot of the old school stuff back. You know. So, like I said, even with the metal work, you know like here in this country we send a bunch of our metal to be recycled, right. So now think of all the places like in Detroit. You know all those car factories that were there. Maybe a little bit of tweaking inside and you're gonna make it.
Speaker 2You know where it's a recycling center, you know, so you can recycle aluminum and whatever else. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like from my job, the part of it. They get rolls of brass, but nobody here in the States does the rolls of brass the way that we need it at work. You know what I mean. So then you have to send our friend. It's gotta come from overseas, that's the downside. So you know, I think that a lot of the trades they put them in. You know. I said all these places. How many town cities in the United States weren't you know old either? Not mining town, but you know well Detroit for the cars. I forgot where it was that they used to do oh, my God with the melt, the metals to make the idea.
Speaker 2Steelwork.
Speaker 3It is upstate here right, yes, upstate New York along the rivers, like Buffalo, that was one of the big places. Sure, Bethlehem Steel, Bethlehem, that's what was the place Right.
Speaker 2So, like I said, to do things like that and have that now, you know You're trying to deviate the environmental yeah well, but I mean, but it's like anything else though. You know, if you do it properly clean, why not? Why not be able to? I mean, because you're not. Then they can't just throw it into the river anymore. You know, now it's gotta go through filters or whatever. Even the exhaust, the air in the building, has to go through all kinds of filters. That's just federal law.
Speaker 4So you know, that's exactly me, and everybody's still in it.
Speaker 2Well, no, but I mean again, if that's something that's gonna end up happening, it's not gonna be any one person or little company or whatever to do.
Speaker 4At some point it's all gonna be, yeah, I mean, they're gonna have to do that otherwise.
Speaker 2Yeah, but you would have. It would be a government thing first to then show people, teach people, because you gotta have it within some kind of regulation and then right, and then that's when you have like you said, then it'll turn out to that, but then they gotta get approved before they can do any of it. You know, make sure that all these it's inspections it's almost like OSHA coming to your job and making sure that everything is what's supposed to be so kind of like OSHA for that kind of stuff. I don't know, that's me. I think you know to bring all that back to do it here. You know, here in the States, united States, get everybody moving again. You know, that was something back in the day everybody for working these things, but there are a lot of things that are going on.
Speaker 4I mean as far as trades wise, some things leave and then you get other things that are.
Speaker 2Well, yeah, some of it, but this is one of these are one.
Speaker 4The main thing is just making sure everybody that there's something, that someone can go and say hey, you know what? I don't wanna go to college, I'd rather do this.
Speaker 2Oh, right, yeah.
Speaker 4Whatever it is, at least they have something to go to. And yeah you know, eventually, you know, it'll get to a point where everybody's, you know people should just be able to do what they like to do and be happy doing what they do Right and be happy. And um um All my life in different trades, so I'm a jack of all trades.
Speaker 2Yeah, you know, and I still learn a master beater. And then I call.
Speaker 4I'll call either my cousin Fred, who is like a master, and I consider you the same thing, jerry. Yes yeah, cuz you know, you guys know, things like.
Speaker 4I'll be like, oh, let me call Jerry and ask him if I Want to do this, this. You know, he'll just gonna tell me oh, yeah, yeah. So this is what you gotta do, but, but, but, but. And he'll send it to me on a text and list all of it. My cousin will do the same thing for me, my cousin Fred. He'll do the same exact thing for me. He's the same way, he's a Mason, but he's also a carpenter Retrition like you, you guys, you guys have so much knowledge that it's just it's good to be able to call someone up and then be able to get that passed on, you know.
Speaker 3That, and that's how you pick it up when you become a homeowner. That's one of the ways that, all of a sudden, you start honing your skills Right because you have to, because you can't afford to pay these people that are getting crazy prices today, that you know you walk. Everywhere you go, you're emptying your pockets so you try to save. That's when you pick up your skills. You start. You start looking at people asking them what's going on? Friends, family.
Speaker 3Mm-hmm that knows, and before you know it, you've picked it up right, pass it on Mm-hmm. Right, exactly yeah that's part of it.
Speaker 1Yeah, I mean my house, my me, my father-in-law, we, we built a deck in the right I. Myself, because I already kind of know I'm doing maintenance sure never not doing construction. It's different. I do when all everything right. I renovated an entire room in my house. It was all wood paneling. With all the wood paneling out, I replaced all the electric. Give it a dedicated line because it was. I'm like two different it was sure you know, switched over to. Romex instead of BX. You know, that's plastic boxes.
Speaker 4Right and feels good when you know how to do that, yeah, you can figure it out, even if you don't know what you feel like. Alright, I'm gonna figure this out. Now we have the Availability and the convenience to go, hey, on YouTube, right? Yeah, yeah, you got someone giving you a video and showing you, you know, and how to walk you through when you like. I did that with my Costerio. I didn't know, I had an idea, but I'm like you know what I'm gonna. I'm gonna look it up and watch the video and then, boom, I did install my car stereo.
Speaker 4Came out, came out beautiful.
Speaker 3Nice is wonderful. Yeah many, many reasons. Yeah, you have to appreciate Everyone of those persons who take the time out to absolutely right.
Speaker 2Oh, yeah, definitely. So, yes, thank you. Shout out, yeah, all the YouTube people that have those videos.
Speaker 4It's really great yeah, to be able to have that, that convenience to go. Hey, you know what? Let me. I bet you this is gonna be on YouTube, whether it's something you need for your your hip to do an exercise to make you feel better and you like it. Well, that stuff comes by.
Speaker 3Right or like wow, that was really simple. I was mentioned before how I'm doing a home project.
Speaker 1I do an exhaust fan in my in my bathroom, and I like I looked up a video on it and I actually found the specific model.
Speaker 4Yeah right exactly people. Just there's everything out there you know yeah, it's good, it's me and it's good when you have the people who share that now and the social media and everything right. It's this, it's just a Wealth of it. Yeah, so you know, there's just more more, you know, I mean, and that that's great.
Speaker 2So people are actually learning a trade, yeah, without even knowing that they're learning trade, I mean because of the stuff they're doing in their house. You know, I mean I built three decks now I've helped put up or built, and three or four decks, whatever it is, I lost count. But you know, even redoing houses, renovating and stuff.
Speaker 2You know, tony, I did it with him so you know we've done a bunch of stuff and If you didn't know these things, you know. Like I said, you never know you might need it one day. You know, to go and help. I know guys that doing part-time help with a bunch of the new complexes over in Middletown and that's their part-time. I got with one guy. He tells him yo do this, make it like this and you'll be okay, and that's his part-time gig now.
Speaker 3Yeah and hey and and decks, you know it's, it's all about code and doing it you know right code and how far off do I put my girder across Ba-ba-ba?
Speaker 2right.
Speaker 3These are the things. You need to know how to do it right. Every code in city and town is different.
Speaker 4Right, you can't just throw one up. You have to make sure you're doing it.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, exactly. Oh, just put up a big offense, they won't see it. The big ear fence to less the chance they're gonna see this shit.
Speaker 4I just, it's a when I think about all the things I've done, what trees I've been in. I Think I've learned a little I'll see commentary plumbing, electrical Landscaping, painting and who knows what else. I learned, you know, but would you consider drop ceilings, carpentry?
Speaker 3Yeah yeah.
Speaker 4So I mean everything you know and you'll just learn a little bit everything and it's great to just learn that then you learn things. Oh so when I did my last job you learned mechanicals had motors work, how to put belts on yeah, how to make sure you get them the tension right. So the belt doesn't run off to one side yeah remember. You have to figure that out. You know, and it's like you know, it's all Allen keys and you know, not big turns. Yeah, you're now what it is it's, it's, it's interesting.
Speaker 3You know it's a good. It's good. It's about trades. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4And if you like that kind of thing and and I think more people that work with their hands have an option. Mm-hmm, you know, I think it's not that I don't think the trades aren't there anymore, I just think we haven't yeah, we stopped really promoting it in the schools and everything with with which shop, because that's kind of what that's what right yeah?
Speaker 4if you didn't have any family doing it. You went to school and you're like, oh shit, carpentry, right, we have a Carpentry that helped Tonya with her bars, right, young kid, he's like 19 years old, jerry, you love this guy.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1He is.
Speaker 4I'm seriously, I'm not kidding. Um, he Is a natural at it. He went to school, he took carpentry. Whatever he's like a master carpentry, this kid can build anything, it's a me and it comes out fantastic.
Speaker 2And if you show it to me.
Speaker 4So go, like you know, disney did that and you're like, wow, this kid, it's how nice is it for you to find that niche at that young of an age to go.
Speaker 2Boom, I felt right into my, yeah, yeah, my, my thing. That's a great, that's a good thing.
Speaker 1I'm thinking. I'm thinking Owen Wilson and meet the parents. I love carpentry I made. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, that was fun years out. That's fun. But yeah, you know the end, you know good. You know I like to play devil's advocate, but you know a lot of those trades have just evolved, is all. A lot of it is just different. You know, and and that's, I think, what people need to understand and remember all the stuff has evolved. You know, because we talked about the house, building the house with the cement, yeah, you know it's, it has evolved. You know, to just the way how to build it, yeah, and then you can take it. So they've done. If the cement doesn't dry fast enough, you know, over, just not get too crazy you can probably make another design in it.
Speaker 2Yeah, because it was like that, that kind.
Speaker 1It was just almost like a putty, now putty, but it was just thick but it was just like it was like a liquid, yeah, and then it would stop, yeah, just good it was doing like drop right, yeah, right, yeah. Like if you watch right, it was putting it was typically putting a bead of concrete down right, yeah, yeah, and then it would put the second right and then the third like, like, almost like.
Speaker 4You know we're talking, but yeah, it was great nice, nice bead and.
Speaker 1I just thought again, and then do it again right and I had somebody still like it, still required someone to come afterwards and do yeah, and so right, I'm sure right about it. Yeah and how fast it took him to take the build that yeah just basically just did the framing yeah, the framings, with this, with the 3d print Right.
Speaker 2Yeah, I don't know. Like I said, I think that you know. Like you said, it's it's a good thing to learn. You know it's always good to have. That you said if you take a class is like when you somebody goes and they take Spanish. You know in 30 years later it's like I don't remember damn thing.
Speaker 4I learned so taco. That's why you remember from well, think about it. It's the same right. We were talking about technology, seeing what your phone right. How many times do they upgrade in these things?
Speaker 2Yeah, some programming.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm.
The Evolution of Trades and Technology
Speaker 4So I do you think of yourself when you're in your later Years and you're thinking am I still gonna be? Oh, dealing with technology, and you know not being one of those people will get away from it and not doing it anymore. Right like your parents system we don't know how to use. My father still had a flip phone, you know.
Speaker 2You know he had a phone.
Speaker 4He couldn't, he didn't want to be bothered with that. Try to buy him an iPad, kind of you know, tablet right again, yeah. Yeah, I got a no-pad it, but it just he couldn't get it. So, um, but I don't think that'll happen with us. I think because of where we you know the generation we are- we're already in it, so we're gonna just carry along with it as we go, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3Definitely. Knowledge is a whole another story right or a whole another show right.
Speaker 2Yeah, we had one of those two yeah.
Speaker 3Yeah, I mean I have a dial phone desktop still. No, I bought it from a neighbor just to. What are you doing this for?
Speaker 4what do you have?
Speaker 3now I just have a dial, oh.
Speaker 4Oh, that's a rotary rotary.
Speaker 3I love it, I love it, it's the old black desk Nice.
Speaker 1Did you hook it up neighbor? No you should.
Speaker 2Yeah, he didn't have a landline I would hook it up.
Speaker 4I would hook it up to a landline for sure.
Speaker 3I put on the tape, the desk, and my wife finally moved it and put it in the basement. Yeah where I brought it from. I was like I want the kids look at it.
Speaker 2Go like what is that yeah?
Speaker 3but they see it on the cartoons and this nest they do they kind of figure it out?
Speaker 4Yeah?
Speaker 3they associate with it. Yeah, that 12 grandkids, yeah.
Speaker 1You know what I love that they? Someone took a floppy disk right and they asked the kid what is this like? Oh my god, it's a real life save button.
Speaker 4No, that's fucking hilarious a real life safe button, oh yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah exactly, that is a nice one. I didn't even like that, bro.
Speaker 4Now look at where we are, yeah floppy.
Speaker 2You know, it was that that the a trades person, yeah, who had to go and go make it from well, yeah, just make it.
Speaker 4Get a computer tech who would go and work on the computers, right, they would know all that stuff.
Speaker 2I mean, there you go, is that is that trades Absolutely because they're taking it apart there.
Speaker 4They're going into the tower that changing out things will fix him over place by same thing with a zerox machines.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's a very rocks oh.
Speaker 4Right different brands and people. You know they still work on those will scanners now and all that stuff you know. So yeah, it's a trade, you got to learn how to do it.
Speaker 2Yeah it's good. I mean I said any kids listening. You know honestly, going take a peek or the school or whatever trade school and you know you might find something that could be interesting. You know you think it would have a hobby for a hot second and next thing you know you're like what I can make, how much money Doing right worse.
Speaker 3Good to fall back on. So something.
Speaker 4Oh yeah.
Speaker 3So, but, you know, some people are just built.
Speaker 1Better for blue collar work, right better for white collar work. I could never sit in office.
Speaker 4No, I've done that. Yeah, I would lose my mind, yeah, yeah. I have to be super busy I need to be physically busy and doing things.
Speaker 2I don't know like so I could be a blue collar boss. That's kind of cool, yeah, you know. No, no, no. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm just saying, like you know I that I can do because yeah, but you don't do that.
Speaker 4So I mean that's not what you really doing. Reality. I mean you don't want to treat people like shit.
Speaker 2Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't mean it like that. I miss man, you know, being able to to Know what has to get done, like you know. So my primary job, I guess, is the machine Tech right. So I have to fix right, you know maintain, maintain the whole thing to go working. So you know, it's just being able to do that and then still have my staff. Hey, go over there and get this go make that. Yeah, you know, that's that's what I meant. Yeah, but yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4I'm just saying you know, I bossed him around like that. You know your personal slaves.
Speaker 2Go over there and get that. Come here, go, give me a latte.
Speaker 3It's the kinder, most friendlier way of work today compared to what it was.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, dude yeah.
Speaker 4Oh, so much so.
Speaker 2Yeah very careful. That's, that's. Yeah, so many things have changed. So many things are better.
Speaker 4I'm happy that I learned you know trades yeah whatever I could, and I'm happy to keep on learning stuff that I've never done before and just increasing my knowledge of my, you know, technical ability. Yeah what I'm saying.
Speaker 3So yeah, try to challenge yourself as a mechanic. A friend of mine started out probably in later 70s and probably some around 85 when things started going to electronic ignition. We were talking I said Joe, so you know he was working on the car. He goes. Jerry, if I known what happened, if I known then what was gonna happen today with electronics he goes. I would never become a mechanic. He goes. It's more Computerized. Every every year it comes up, it changes. You have to go to school every couple months.
Speaker 2Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3Right crazy.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3So before you were just turning the wrenches and you know it was basic right, right, there's more things involved Computerized. Yeah. So it's like, oh my god, the time you spend on it's just right. Technology's changing the trade, right, but the basics never change. Combustible engine will stay the same, right, the way it works. It stays the same Mm-hmm, so always be the same, yeah someone comes up with some new shit.
Speaker 4What they just find, the drums. And you know it's been drums and this forever.
Speaker 2Yeah, so comes up with some crazy shit.
Speaker 1Then grabs the axle, or so.
Speaker 3Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly yeah so they always have to go to the basics though. Yeah, yeah, yeah definitely.
Speaker 2But yeah, everybody got there.
Speaker 4Learn a trade and gentlemen do what you want to do. Yeah happy doing it. That's basically exactly. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. Just yeah, stop worrying with it.
Speaker 2Yeah, but you just do it yeah just do it enjoy. It.
Speaker 4Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2Yeah, don't let anybody tell you you can different. That's your thing, just go, correct. Do you be happy?
Speaker 1Do it. You're not good at something don't kill yourself trying to be good at it. You know, dude Just.
Speaker 2Try something different, yeah, you know. Or keep practicing that too, yeah, I keep practicing on the one thing that you want 10,000 times, yeah, 10,000 times, and you become the experts and you'll get it Perfect.
Speaker 4And then you start all over.
Speaker 2Yeah, exactly right, yeah, so.
Speaker 3All right, my people.
Speaker 2So that was our show for this evening. Thank you, jerry again for sitting in hanging out with us yes gentlemen. So love peace and hair grease. Live long and prosper vegan.
