Nov 16
Our interpreter (OK, we called them guides) at Northern Tier was in college studying to be an engineer. So naturally I gave him enough wisdom and advice on the subject to last a lifetime. During the conversation, my son piped up with “scientist and engineers run things, right?” I had to correct him.
“We live in a world built by scientists and engineers, but salespeople run it.”
While I find a brisk walk on a cool but sunshiny day to be a wonderful mental tonic, I don’t know that there’s measurable benefit to people who are actually depressed. Dr. Ilardi thinks there is, though.
Hmm, how does this play with the ranking of the least depressing fields: Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors? Maybe including the surveyors who spend most of their time outdoors I imagine, as opposed to we engineers who spend most of our times in human sized mazes under florescent light, is the secret to the lack of depression in those fields. Farming, Fishing, and Forestry isn’t far behind, so maybe there is something to this after all.
No matter, I work in a profession that is fun and productive. Maybe that’s why my fellow engineers are in such good mental health, whether we are like cavemen or not.
Feb 19
Not that most of you are aware of it, if only because there are no Hallmark Card for the occasion, but this is National Engineers Week, colloquially known as a celebration of all things geek. As I am an engineer, you can send me a homemade card (enclosing a check is optional) anytime this week. If that doesn’t grab you, tomorrow is Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, so named because, completely in keeping with stereotypes, there aren’t enough women in engineering. I understand marketing (as per usual) overruled the engineers who wanted it to be called Engineering Needs Women! Day.
Actually, I’ve found engineering (turning ideas into reality) to be a rewarding career. Going into college, I was going to be a scientist, but you can’t do much real science without a PhD, and I quickly discovered I didn’t have what it took to stay in an academic setting for more than four years. So I went into aerospace engineering and have had a ball making things happen ever since.
Arclite theme by digitalnature | powered by WordPress