Re: A Farewell to Structural Engineering

Bill, Best wishes in your bold new venture! I am sure it will be exciting. I am myself not too happy with I am doing. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to retire now or do something as drastic as you have decided. My unhappiness is partly because of the low challenge to Civil/Structural guy in pipeline industry. And, partly due to the way consultants have been pressured in to accepting impossible (and often stupid) schedules. I hope I can hang on for a few more years (God willing) before I can hang the coat. Rajendran --- On Tue, 11/23/10, Bill Polhemus <bill@polhemus.cc> wrote: From: Bill Polhemus <bill@polhemus.cc> Subject: A Farewell to Structural Engineering To: seaint@seaint.org Date: Tuesday, November 23, 2010, 9:46 PM Hello, SEAINTers. Long time since I've checked in personally. I am now going on the sixth month of my current spate of unemployment. The phone does not ring. Such employment openings as I do see advertised, are for entry-level positions, or require expertise that I do not have (such as offshore platform design). I have also been struggling, not entirely coincidentally, with one of the worst bouts of depression with which I've ever had the misfortune to deal. No one's fault, really; it is what it is. But it has forced me into self-examination at an uncomfortable level. I haven't been happy or fulfilled as an engineer in years. I think the profession and I simply grew apart. If you are not a world-class expert - as I am not - in any particular subfield, you must perforce be content with "management" or some-such. And I am not that either. I have made up my mind to drop out altogether. In fact, I am changing course radically - something I probably should have done years ago but was too caught up in the practicalities of earning a living to realize it. I have decided to apply to graduate school with the aim of earning a Ph.D. in History, and remain in academia for the remainder of my life. It's not exactly entering the monastery, but it's almost as radical a departure. I have always been fascinated with all aspects of history - especially that of engineering and technological progress. I will probably focus on that, perhaps even civil and structural engineering history. Wouldn't that be something. At any rate, I just felt it incumbent upon me to write a brief swansong in this vein. Not that I expect any of you to really care, but it might be of interest to one or two, and so it would serve a purpose. Thank you all for services rendered in the fifteen-plus years that I've participated on this forum, and I wish all of you the very best of good luck in all you do. William L. Polhemus, P.E. Katy, Texas ******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* *** *   Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp * *   This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers *   Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To *   subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to: * *   http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp * *   Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you *   send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted *   without your permission. Make sure you visit our web *   site at: http://www.seaint.org ******* ****** ****** ****** ******* ****** ****** ********