Minor Confession Thread

In reply to Torkel :

My wife started her own business- a non-profit dance company- about 6 years ago. It's been extremely rewarding for her since it's doing something she is really passionate about, and despite the challenges has been one of the better, more stable incomes she's had. The downside to it is that yes- she probably does work on the whole close to 100 hours a week if you account for all the time she spends doing anything related to it. 

I both envy her and wouldn't want to be in her shoes simultaneously- I would love to be doing something that I truly am passionate about, but can't imagine spending almost every waking hour working...

Just ordered a kill switch for the ranger because my hands are too big to work on the latch inside the door. I just don't care anymore, I'm sick of it not running. 

I've been doing the job that I currently do- or at least worked in the field of expertise- for almost 20 years now, and am starting to be considered a more senior engineer. Despite all of this experience, it still feels weird and almost induces a feeling of panic when someone comes to me and asks my advice on how to do one of the things that I've been doing for the better part of 2 decades. I always feel like I don't know nearly as much as people think that I do despite the fact that it usually is true that I know a fair bit more about it than they do.

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

I've been doing the job that I currently do- or at least worked in the field of expertise- for almost 20 years now, and am starting to be considered a more senior engineer. Despite all of this experience, it still feels weird and almost induces a feeling of panic when someone comes to me and asks my advice on how to do one of the things that I've been doing for the better part of 2 decades. I always feel like I don't know nearly as much as people think that I do despite the fact that it usually is true that I know a fair bit more about it than they do.

Ate you Implying that this is an unusual reaction?  

Huh.  Who knew.

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

eastsideTim said:

I just got back from a hiking trip out west.  Was incredibly difficult to point the car towards the airport rather than just driving off into the middle of nowhere.  If I didn’t have responsibilities here at home, I’d be tempted to sell everything off, move out to the desert, and take a job that just covers my expenses.

I can either buy the house I'm renting and spend the next 15 years working to pay it off...

... or buy a a big live aboard boat and retire to the sea.

Damned if I don't look at boats for sale every day.

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

I've been doing the job that I currently do- or at least worked in the field of expertise- for almost 20 years now, and am starting to be considered a more senior engineer. Despite all of this experience, it still feels weird and almost induces a feeling of panic when someone comes to me and asks my advice on how to do one of the things that I've been doing for the better part of 2 decades. I always feel like I don't know nearly as much as people think that I do despite the fact that it usually is true that I know a fair bit more about it than they do.

I have a couple hundred people who work for me and every once in awhile I think “why are they asking me”? Oh yeah, cause I’m the one who directs them, that’s right!

Imagine how confused I get when somebody asks me for advice. I've been in my field 3.5 months.

Daylan C said:

Imagine how confused I get when somebody asks me for advice. I've been in my field 3.5 months.

Imagine being 17 years old and they throw you into the Kmart garden department in the spring and two days later grown adults are asking you advice on which trees they should be planting in their yard and how tall these dwarf trees get to.  

When I was 17, I worked in the fish department of a grocery store. I didn't eat fish back then and I didn't know anything about cooking. Customers would ask me how to cook their fish, and I'd usually just make up a time and temperature and then say, "but you have to check it often".

Datsun310Guy said:

Daylan C said:

Imagine how confused I get when somebody asks me for advice. I've been in my field 3.5 months.

Imagine being 17 years old and they throw you into the Kmart garden department in the spring and two days later grown adults are asking you advice on which trees they should be planting in their yard and how tall these dwarf trees get to.  

When I was 17 I was running a concrete crew lol

I had a football coach who would yell at us when we screwed up, and then make us run laps. But he would run with us, leading the pack. I always respected him for that.

So today at work, I had my crew throw all the ladders and climb them. And then I climbed them all too, including the 75 footer.

My quads are so sore right now, I can barely walk down stairs.

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

I've been doing the job that I currently do- or at least worked in the field of expertise- for almost 20 years now, and am starting to be considered a more senior engineer. Despite all of this experience, it still feels weird and almost induces a feeling of panic when someone comes to me and asks my advice on how to do one of the things that I've been doing for the better part of 2 decades. I always feel like I don't know nearly as much as people think that I do despite the fact that it usually is true that I know a fair bit more about it than they do.

I find that when coworkers ask me for advice they often know what to do they just want someone else to confirm it. 

Antihero said:

Datsun310Guy said:

Daylan C said:

Imagine how confused I get when somebody asks me for advice. I've been in my field 3.5 months.

Imagine being 17 years old and they throw you into the Kmart garden department in the spring and two days later grown adults are asking you advice on which trees they should be planting in their yard and how tall these dwarf trees get to.  

When I was 17 I was running a concrete crew lol

At 17 I was working for a mason and he would send me out in a dump truck with a bobcat on a trailer to do various jobs all over Cape Cod.  In the summer.  By myself.

Antihero said:

Datsun310Guy said:

Daylan C said:

Imagine how confused I get when somebody asks me for advice. I've been in my field 3.5 months.

Imagine being 17 years old and they throw you into the Kmart garden department in the spring and two days later grown adults are asking you advice on which trees they should be planting in their yard and how tall these dwarf trees get to.  

When I was 17 I was running a concrete crew lol

When I was 17 I was running a tent-raising crew, solely because I was the only one with a valid driver's license to drive the truck.

In reply to Duke :

Last summer my 17 year old nephew went to work for a moving company. A month later I saw them on the road and he was driving the truck, said he was the only one in the group without a DWI so the boss put him in charge.

At 17, I was in my fifth year as a caddie. By that point I was an honor caddie, and likely in the top 10 in tenure (by the time I left, I was top 3 in tenure--the other 2 were "lifers")

So for 5 years I'd been giving advice to CEO's, salesmen, etc., had been through the course hundreds if not thousands of times, and was making bank. Good times. I really, really miss being a caddie. I loved that job. 

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

Antihero said:

Datsun310Guy said:

Daylan C said:

Imagine how confused I get when somebody asks me for advice. I've been in my field 3.5 months.

Imagine being 17 years old and they throw you into the Kmart garden department in the spring and two days later grown adults are asking you advice on which trees they should be planting in their yard and how tall these dwarf trees get to.  

When I was 17 I was running a concrete crew lol

At 17 I was working for a mason and he would send me out in a dump truck with a bobcat on a trailer to do various jobs all over Cape Cod.  In the summer.  By myself.

This is one reason why i like the trades, its very easy to advance and get a jump start on life

When I see Bradley GT's on FB marketplace or Craigslist, I click on them, even though I know better. 

I have been obsessed with these for the last week or so:

2018-2019 Golf Alltrack. The best color is Great Falls Green. But only with the Marrakesh Brown interior with a 6 speed:

I don't know why it appeals to me so much. I'm not really a VW fan but something about a green AWD wagon with brown seats just appeals to me. I have been building Sportwagons on VW's site off and on but you can't get these colors on the Sportwagon, only the Alltrack.

Stupid automotive ADD. I'm too poor to afford one right now, thankfully.

In reply to stanger_missle :

Good God, that's a nice car!!

In reply to stanger_missle :

Not a VW guy, but that's pretty sharp

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

I've been doing the job that I currently do- or at least worked in the field of expertise- for almost 20 years now, and am starting to be considered a more senior engineer. Despite all of this experience, it still feels weird and almost induces a feeling of panic when someone comes to me and asks my advice on how to do one of the things that I've been doing for the better part of 2 decades. I always feel like I don't know nearly as much as people think that I do despite the fact that it usually is true that I know a fair bit more about it than they do.

That is Dunning-Krueger's corollary.  People who are actually very competent tend to underestimate their ability.  I think this is because they're competent enough to recognize their own limitations, even though they are wrong about their limits relative to everyone else (or even others in their field)

I used to work with someone who was an absolute stellar tech for diagnoses.  I learned a LOT from him, but always felt like I wasn't all that great.  Outside of that environment, I realize that I'm a lot better than I give myself credit for.

I'm in the same boat. I vastly underestimate my abilities.  I gain a bit of confidence back, and something comes along and knocks me down again. Rinse and repete.

Forever.

Re: others coming to you for advice.

It's not what you say, its how you say it. I can always be confident in my response because I try to be as honest as possible. Even if that means my response is "hmm, I don't really know, let's work through it together" or "I really don't think you should do that, here's why". 

My minor confession is that I do shoot from the hip sometimes because I have the experience to make educated guesses, but I still say it confidently. 

And I feel ok with that, because when I am wrong, I try to be the first to admit it.