direction in life ...

[lateralized]

I am at a turning point in my life. I am 29 with 2 kids. I have a good paying job as a drivers ed teacher. It's the best job I have ever had, but isn't what I want to do forever. Ive been teaching for 3 years, and with the company for 9. I have been in the Army Reserves for almost 7 years and have yet to use any of my college benefits (they dont last forever). I have told my boss that even if I dont go to college in the fall (which is my plan) that I am not working here anymore. I cant take being in the car all day especially since its an hour and fifteen minute commute each way on top of my drive hours with the students.

So, I am in the application process for USM as either a Mechanical Engineering or Physics major. These are two fields that I am pretty psyched about. I always loved physics and the sciences in high school. My grandfather was a mechanical engineer and I have always been interesed in that field. I am an engineer in the Army as well (civil) and have enjoyed my work there. I do enjoy math, but its really a means to a scientific end to me. In other words, applied math is cool.

But, there is the question from Office Space that I have thought about a lot ...

Peter Gibbons: Our high school guidance counselor used to ask us what you'd do if you had a million dollars and you didn't have to work. And invariably what you'd say was supposed to be your career. So, if you wanted to fix old cars then you're supposed to be an auto mechanic.

Samir: So what did you say?

Peter Gibbons: I never had an answer. I guess that's why I'm working at Initech.

Michael Bolton: No, you're working at Initech because that question is bull**** to begin with. If everyone listened to her, there'd be no janitors, because no one would clean **** up if they had a million dollars.

If I had a million dollars I would mod cars all day. I would take classes on fiberglass molding and auto painting and buy everything I needed to customize vehicles and start a customization shop. This does not seem like an unrealistic dream to me.

I understand that now is NOT the time to start a business. Maybe it will be by the time I get out of school, but maybe not. I get really excited about this dream in a way that mechanical engineering does not affect me. The shop would specialize in everything aftermarket, possibly with specialists in each area as it grows, tinting, paint, body, vinyl, performance, etc. I would love to know how to do all this stuff myself, but I am starting from scratch at a later age than would be ideal.

I know this is an unrealistic fantasy but it makes it hard to consider the more realistic careers with this in my head. I dont see any reason I shouldnt go for it, its certainly not impossbile. I would have to start small, possibly fixing up some cars from auction and reselling them to build capitol and allowing for time to find the right location and equipment. I am not gonna have my own TV show in a year or anything, but by offering a discount to websites such as this one and mainevwscene.com and so on, or taking a show car to autox/rallyx events I could build a reputation. I do understand that Maine is not an ideal location for this. I am considering buying a home in the next few years (yes, I saw the post about the $8k from the gov't) and have considered moving a little farther south (kennebunk/wells/york) for reasons other than this idea. However, a shop in this area would give me access to the car scenes in southern Maine, seacoast New Hampshire and Northern Mass.

I am a fairly intelligent person

... or so I am told ... and I have a design oriented mind. I think i can do this. But I have a family to provide for and taking risks may not be an option. This dream would require me to use my money and time for school on an automotive tech school, business degree and extra classes in working with fiberglass/auto paint/body work (custom wide body kits ftw

). I understand I could easily wind up working at a dealership forever if I never get the capitol or loans to get off the ground. However, there are far worse fates in life such as being a drivers ed teacher forever, or becoming a mechanical engineer and getting bored with it.

I don't know that I am really looking for advice, as this is an important decision and I need to work it out for myself. But, I certainly wouldnt mind some additional opinions on this. I am not going to be offended if you tell me this is retarded, so do not adjust your responses to cater to my sensitivity. Thanks - Ben

 

[MAINIAC XV]

My 2 cents: If you have enough money to take care of your kids while going to school and start a small business, then follow your dream. It`s my opinion that your kids well being should come 1st. Good luck man no matter which direction you go.

 

[Ferrari]

Have you ever been to DSG?

I wanted to start my own DSG-like shop up here in the worst way. Just dont know if there's enough market for it.

 

[ruggedman]

I LOVE the way my years taking engineering classes messed my mind up! It makes you think in a different way. I cant say enough positives about it.

Engineering mind training will be useful to you for the rest of your life, and it will be of benefit forever.

 

[Chris]

USM has a great engineering department. It wasn't for me, but I could see that it was a good program.

But if you have a dream, a direction, by all means follow it. Some people have no idea what they want to do and end up not being happy because they end up doing something they don't like. But you know what you want to do, and yes, it is possible if you want to do it bad enough.

Starting up a business is slow, very slow, it takes time to build up reputation. But if you are patient, after a while it gets moving. That's how it is with my computer fixing thing.

I say go for it, get your degree, you'll make contacts in college which will make everything easier. It may take you 5 years to graduate because you're caring for your family, but so?

Take the plunge and see where you end up

 

[stiXXX]

Have you ever been to DSG?
I wanted to start my own DSG-like shop up here in the worst way. Just dont know if there's enough market for it.

I can answer that, a bit.

IF there was a market for AWD tuning in Maine, my friend Ryan Hansen & I would have already dropped the additional $35-$40K on an AWD dyno.

As it stands, there's simply not enough AWD modified cars in Maine/NH that're being customized and tuned, to make the mortgage payments on an AWD dyno.

The 2WD dyno NEAD's got gets used...once in a blue moon.

As a tuning shop, NEAD does pretty well, mainly because they've been around +10 years and have a decent customer base.

Simply put, it's not good business to do this in Maine, unless you inheret a sheetpile of money and don't mind operating at a loss.

If you like the idea of tuning cars, why not call SMTC and sit in for a day or three in their automotive program, and see if it suits you.

That'd be free, and might be of some help in making a major decision like this.

All the Best!

 

[08WRXME]

Wow, reading your post is like reading a story about myself, not the kids and stuff, but the goals. I have always wanted to open my own shop doing full custom work. I even thought about going to Wyotech to get started. My dad told me there aren't enough people out there making it as mechanics, and the chance to suceed is staggering. He pointed me towards Mechanical Engineering. 4 years and a lot of late nights later, I walked away from the University of CT with a BSE in Mechanical Engineering. Best move ever. I know now at an intricate level how things work, how stress effects parts, how heat moves through meduims, and how fluids flow. Plus i have a highly marketable skill that allows me to do most anything. Right now i am working on submarines, but I hope that in the future i Will be finacially stable enough to open that shop and build those dream cars. And if it doesn't work, Well there is always engineering!

Sorry for the long-winded response, but I know where your head is at right now. and I fully stand behind the path my dad showed me. It was definately worth it!

 

[lateralized]

I can answer that, a bit.IF there was a market for AWD tuning in Maine, my friend Ryan Hansen & I would have already dropped the additional $35-$40K on an AWD dyno.

As it stands, there's simply not enough AWD modified cars in Maine/NH that're being customized and tuned, to make the mortgage payments on an AWD dyno.

The 2WD dyno NEAD's got gets used...once in a blue moon.

As a tuning shop, NEAD does pretty well, mainly because they've been around +10 years and have a decent customer base.

Simply put, it's not good business to do this in Maine, unless you inheret a sheetpile of money and don't mind operating at a loss.

If you like the idea of tuning cars, why not call SMTC and sit in for a day or three in their automotive program, and see if it suits you.

That'd be free, and might be of some help in making a major decision like this.

All the Best!

My idea for the business was for more than just tuning. Cosmetic mods would be done as well, tint, body, paint and custom fiberglass speaker installs and custom aero parts.

However I beleive you are right either way. The market for this is almost non-existant in the northern new england area. There simply isn't a high enough population and the percentage of that population interested in aftermarket tuning and mods is low as well. I think if this is a project that I want to do, it can wait until I make some bank doing something else, and just buy a small amount of equipment to do some of it in my own garage for myself and my friends. I dont need to make a business out of it to enjoy it. The other way I had planned to make money in this area was to buy cheap cars at auction and repair them, mod them slightly (make them unique) and re-sell them. That could still be done without my own shop. After talking to my wife last night I have pretty much abandonded the idea of doing this as a stand alone business. Itll just be a hobby. Im fine with that. But I will still need to learn more about repair, so I will be volunteering to help with repairs if anyone needs it this summer. I have friends that do their own work as well and I think between them and the people here that I can build a small but sufficient base of knowledge to start buying/fixing/reselling some vehicles to earn money for a couple project cars of my own.

I have been reading up on physics a lot over the last couple days trying to get myself pshyched up again and its working pretty well. I have been listening to Timeline on audiobook on my way to work, which if you haven't read, has a lot to do with quantam mechanics and is an excellent read but a terrible movie. Anyway its serving its purpose to keep me excited about science.

I am a lot less conflicted after a conversation with my wife last night. I know that I love science and that I wont learn the things I want to know by going to school for automotive. But I can go to school for engineering and get a job using science and math everyday and still learn the auto stuff on the side. So that's the plan. Thanks everyone for your advice and keep me in mind if you need a hand turning a wrench this summer. I certainly owe Lobstah a few hundred man hours so Ill probably see you there.

 

[wzrd]

I would recommend to follow your dreams,get off the treadmill of "normal "life ,as quick as posible...All physical reality starts with a thought..

.So... we all have the ability to create anything we choose...You will have to burn the candle at both ends, learn to start small[no unneeded debt],be patient and keep reinvesting into you/your company and have your wifes support...My wife busted her butt 50/60hrs a week,to allow me the freedom to follow my dreams of self employment.Since she knew I hated normal 9 to 5 life and would be unhappy in the long term.. .I still did have to work a 3 day weekend shift,mental health group home,and took over the child care duties.Plus learn my passion from the ground up[gardener/landscaper]With Inspiration and perspiration one can acheive anything:iam:.Id wish you luck-but there is no such thing.wzrd

 

[lateralized]

I would recommend to follow your dreams,get off the treadmill of "normal "life ,as quick as posible...All physical reality starts with a thought..

.So... we all have the ability to create anything we choose...You will have to burn the candle at both ends, learn to start small[no unneeded debt],be patient and keep reinvesting into you/your company and have your wifes support...My wife busted her butt 50/60hrs a week,to allow me the freedom to follow my dreams of self employment.Since she knew I hated normal 9 to 5 life and would be unhappy in the long term.. .I still did have to work a 3 day weekend shift,mental health group home,and took over the child care duties.Plus learn my passion from the ground up[gardener/landscaper]With Inspiration and perspiration one can acheive anything:iam:.Id wish you luck-but there is no such thing.wzrd

Thanks. I will consider your advice

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

...back when I was ur age, if I'd-a had the same wonderment about 'what's next,' the standard advice would have been, "join the Army." But you did that already!

well I'm pushing 60 now, and have been chewing over the same thought process. not about oopening a tuner shop (tho the thought has been tossed around a bit) but doing something diffrent than what I've been doing the past10 years now.

guess it's just part of getting ourselves thru to the next step, instead of just grinding it out day after day

 

[Tyler]

I have been listening to Timeline on audiobook on my way to work, which if you haven't read, has a lot to do with quantam mechanics and is an excellent read but a terrible movie. Anyway its serving its purpose to keep me excited about science.

FAVORITE BOOK EVARRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

[Jimbo]

If you need/want any contacts at USM, let me know. I know lots of peeps here that could be informative.

 

[lateralized]

FAVORITE BOOK EVARRRRRRRRRRRRR

Yeah, I love it. Ive read it numerous times before but thought it would be appropriate to listen to on my commute to keep me pumped about physics. Its working, but its tough to listen to an audiobook of something you've read already. The voice actor doesn't pronounce things the way that imagined.

 

[inski]

Many good points, and I agree with many.

* Family first.

* Follow your dreams, they require more energy than you think, but not much more. No dream is ever too late. I started college late, age 27. Best thing I ever did.

* not much fun car business in Maine, but there is else where.

* being a mechanic is hard on your body and soul.

* think about what you want for a hobby, and what you want for a career. For me they are best kept separate.

 

[Stein]

I have been listening to Timeline on audiobook on my way to work, which if you haven't read, has a lot to do with quantam mechanics and is an excellent read but a terrible movie. Anyway its serving its purpose to keep me excited about science.

I haven't read that book in soooo long! I must have been in elementary school when I read it.

I bet you can guess what sort of thing I want to do for a career

.

 

[MAINIAC XV]

Wow, reading your post is like reading a story about myself, not the kids and stuff, but the goals. I have always wanted to open my own shop doing full custom work. I even thought about going to Wyotech to get started. My dad told me there aren't enough people out there making it as mechanics, and the chance to suceed is staggering. He pointed me towards Mechanical Engineering. 4 years and a lot of late nights later, I walked away from the University of CT with a BSE in Mechanical Engineering. Best move ever. I know now at an intricate level how things work, how stress effects parts, how heat moves through meduims, and how fluids flow. Plus i have a highly marketable skill that allows me to do most anything. Right now i am working on submarines, but I hope that in the future i Will be finacially stable enough to open that shop and build those dream cars. And if it doesn't work, Well there is always engineering!
Sorry for the long-winded response, but I know where your head is at right now. and I fully stand behind the path my dad showed me. It was definately worth it!

Joe I am sure your happy you followed your dads` guidence and became an engineer instead of an auto tech. Don`t get me wrong being an auto tech is a good job but with all the automotive places that will be closing there will be a flood of good techs out there job hunting. That job has been an American standard for 100 years and up until a couple of years ago who could foresee the drastic changes coming down the pike. You got to feel for those guys.

 

[llessuresaj]

A dreams a dream. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a soldier. So what did I do when I was 17.... Became a soldier. Now that my years have passed and I'm in the Army reserves, I decided to get married and work on the next dream. What is it??? To be a business man... A person that works hard and everyone knows it. I work 50-60 hours a week managing an AT&T. It's a start, just got to have the motivation and make yourself do it.

Good luck, you know you can do it, just get the motivation and put in the steps.

Don't just open your garage door and say "Open for business". You get the idea.

I'm only 22. As my father always says, the less clouded your mind is and the more open, more things open up and walk through clearly.