Thank you! I find it’s always easier to do something when there’s a goal and a method. So I’ve been consistent with it, even with all of life’s curveballs.

Hrmm there’s two ways to look at this I think.

First, I got back into reading around the start of 2022, and did this pattern for most of it, so we can say I’m 2/3 done in four years and will be completely done in a little over two years.

The other, I started tracking my reading in StoryGraph at the beginning of the yeah. I’ve got 40 books left, and it says my current pace is a book every 10 days. So with my alternating pattern it would be 80 books for 800 days. Just a little over 2 years.

Neat.

What are joints and cigarettes than? Ents?

They can ask all they want, the laws allow them to do it, so you would need to change legislation first.

Nothing they’ve stated doesn’t also happen here, it’s why I asked where they were. If they were located in the US, they would partly have a point.

But Australias system is pretty good.

You kinda need to know how international certification works when you’re hiring and subcontracting with trades everyday. And they have certs from all over.

It’s still the same here, but the schooling and the cert make it so it’s not a piece of paper, and that’s universal. Places without schooling (looking at you USA) are the different ones. You can’t get the cert without schooling and passing a relevant shop test, so having a trade ticket holds a hell of a lot weight.

I would take someone with an EU or Aus cert over the USA, just because of how they do apprenticeships there.

Actually where I am, it’s a government enforced sponsorship, so both sides need to do things correctly.

A first year apprentice has to be paid 60% of the lowest paid journeyman, and if you don’t go to school every 24 months they kick you out. Last years get 90%.

Company has to hire you back on after completing the school stint, they need to fill out your blue book before firing you, so the next company can continue your training.

We also know loosely about other countries regulations, since we are certified semi internationally with our red seal program.

Unfortunately not every trade is “regulated” the same either. Technically you can work my trade without a ticket, carpentry. But getting the ticket shows initiative as well as a bunch of other stuff to prospective employers or clients.

Theres also parents pushing their kids through their companies, but the schooling is also still a hurdle to get through. Got to pass the school work and the shop work and final test each year.

Fourth year school you had to make a desk in 32 hours. Every hour over that to 40 costs you points. It’s interesting because it forces you to decide if it’s worth time fixing something for the extra points for a few lost to time. So there’s lots of little hidden information in that trade ticket.

I still have that desk actually.

If you can’t handle the trade, a company’s not going to keep you on, and the next company will look at your apprenticeship record and see your lack of training. From there you’ve flunked out.

The system protects itself. So yes if you have a ticket, you can atleast do something in that trade. A degree, IS just a piece of paper. A trade certificate shows you are competent and able to complete tasks. And be able to stick something through to completion (4 years). So yes, that “paper” holds a lot of information. The person while training also builds up a portfolio that they can use to show to future clients or employers of the work they did. A degree doesn’t allow any of this, or provide any information about the person. Other than they could “afford” to sit in a class for a few years.

To finish an apprenticeship you need to hold that job for four years dude… while working on the jobs that entire time…. they’ve met your arbitrary distinction lol.

Your point is, you apparently don’t know how an apprenticeship works.

When I started in construction 20 years ago minimum wage was $10, but most trades start at $15, this is for a laborer, apprentices got $18

After 4 years I was 33.50 an hour and still had room to move up. My direct supervisor was making $50, but he had a cash bonus to pay for his truck, instead of them giving him one.

Now minimum wage is $15 and most trades start at $21 and hour.

legally the company is supposed to pay apprentices 60% of the lowest paid journeyman, but they can hire people specifically to lower this -.- fourth years get 90%, it goes up each year. It forces a raise after finishing each schooling section.

That’s just how everything works though?

Not every electrician is going to be working on panels, some just wire plugs instead, people specialize and are payed differently depending on the tasks. Very rarely do you find someone who does the entire trade regulary. They’re not going to be as good or fast as the ones that specialize, so it’s a delicate balance.

Just like every graphic artist may not be being Mona Lisa’s, they could be doing mangas or just heads or something.

Not all doctors are cancer specialists, some are just family doctors, that’s literally how every job and training works everywhere.

Do you think that everything you learn with a degree is used while working? Because they’re taught useless shit too.

Where are you that a trade doesn’t require 4 years of schooling and on the job training?

Most places won’t even let you do the schooling without being indentured and working for a minimum amount either.

They know you need both.

I enjoyed the book and series so far, it’s definitely tackling different topics though. Less politics, more bureaucracy, and it’s about space (the universe), not about being in space, so no epic space battles or anything.

I like it for what it is, but people should not be going in expecting The Expanse 2.0

About halfway through Dungeon Crawler Carl book #5, it’s been hot out, so only working for a little bit and reading a bunch more. Kids are in and out of camps all week anyways, so not much time for anything else.

After this, it’s book one of The Black Fleet Crises, which is a Star Wars legends series. Looking forward to this one after a stint of stand alone stories.

I’ve enjoyed the John Scalzi short stories that I’ve read, he’s on my list of authors to check out at the book fair next year.

And yet here you are doing it anyways. Not on the toilet likely, but this time in social media could be spent basking outside in nature.

I’ve got neurodivergent kids, so I get up at 5 to be able to walk the dogs and still get a little me time till needing to deal with the kids at 7. One can be a handful before his meds kick in.

Wish they could be trusted alone at home more so I can sleep in, but at that point my routine and “ritual” is disturbed. So I don’t know haha.

Spend less time doomscrolling on the toilet and anyone could have the 10 minutes to enjoy a coffee before heading off to work.

A lot of people do it at work before starting, grab a joe on the way and get in work mode at work.

The problem is, too many equate their time to lost money, so they feel guilty about those moments, yet waste them on social media or something instead.

In other places, a deductible is what you pay to get insurance coverage for an event. So yes, it is essentially that to the rest of the world. If you break your arm, you pay your $100 deductible or whatever it is, and the entire cost of everything for the procedure, is covered by insurance, no matter the final bill.

US insurance is a joke.

Essentially a deductible.

Concrete can dry out too fast before it sets or cures if you don’t. It prevents the subgrade from leeching the moisture out.

Could be other reasons at play here though.

I’m halfway through The Crystal Star which is a Star Wars Legends book. It’s been better than the previous stand alone ones atleast.

After this, it’s Dungeon Crawler Carl book #5.