Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Re: A Farewell to Structural Engineering

Best of luck on your endeavors, Bill.  But, please do post something on occasion.  The humor and wit has yet to be matched!

On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 9:43 AM, Dmitri Wright <dmitri@cascade-structural.com> wrote:
Bill,

I have enjoyed your contributions to the list over the years, and I will certainly miss seeing them.  I know others that are also leaving the profession, and it saddens me to see so much talent and experience leaving prematurely.  I do not think our profession will be the better for it.  On a personal level, I wish you all the best on this exciting new adventure in your life.

Dmitri Wright, PE
Cascade Engineering, Inc.
245 SE 4th Ave, Suite B
Hillsboro, OR  97123-4033
dmitri@cascade-structural.com
503-846-1131





From: Bill Polhemus <bill@polhemus.cc>
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: A Farewell to Structural Engineering

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



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