I'm looking for discussion and ideas. And, I'm going to put some vital information in this as to "why" and some limitations.
First off, let me explain how I got here and needing to decide on something new to do. Several years ago, my wife decided to get from her AS degree in nursing to BS. Further, for many years, she had been investigating pursuing becoming an MD, but that was a lot of money, we had 5 kids and lots of bills, and for the last 20 years, she's made more money than I do. We'd have never made it on what I can earn.
What's now about 14 years ago, I decided to leave my job and go back to school to get an associates degree in an IT field. By the time the first year went by, it became painfully apparent that having a 2 year degree was worthless in terms of getting a job. My job paid pretty well, but was a toxic environment, in terms of health. I now suffer a number of medical issues that are probably related to not leaving sooner. But, the past is the past. Still, I did my two years of college, but instead of the degree, I got as much technical education as I could and skipped the art, history, etc, classes in favor of stuff I could learn from that interested me.
Two years later, I finally got into business for myself and pursued that until last year. At that point, my wife had been injured in an on the job accident and we spent two years fighting with insurance. Our kids were all adults, could live on their own, and she wanted to change careers to one far less physical. So, we agreed to the move. I left my business behind, leased it out to someone else, and we moved to the Chicago area.
Somewhere in 3 to 5 years from now (there are future options that may extend her academic plan ) we're going to be done, and we're leaving the midwest and moving back west. We both hate the city, living in the city, the city environment, the city culture, living in the flatlands and crowds... So, we agree on one thing, we're leaving here as soon as it is practical to do so.
I don't have a degree (though quite a bit of knowledge and experience) in any IT field, and I can't get a job here ( though I've tried) in any position even related. By the time we're done here, I will be so far out of date and so long removed, that it would mean starting over and getting a degree. Not doing that. I'm 50 now.
To compound the issue, I have something called DISH (Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis). If this is a disease, there's no cure. It might be more accurately called a syndrome. Regardless, what it is doing is slowly fusing my spine (and possibly other areas of my body in the future) into solid bone. Extreme cases result in spines that don't bend, fused rib cages, even feet or major joints. It turns some soft tissue into bone as well, causing something like arthritis in odd places.
I have changed my diet, and getting some re-mobilizing for those areas of my spine that don't want to move (and I might regain some movement in) now, and the key to holding off the inevitable is to be as active as possible, without having to strain or injure things, which causes pain and inflammation, which then is a cycle that's hard to break. Certain things are very detrimental - bending the wrong way, lifting badly, bad ergonomics, etc.
I'm in a quandary... I don't know what to do. I need to be able to do something that's needed anywhere we go - and we plan on moving somewhere in the western US, likely a rural or semi-rural area. Sedentary work will probably speed up the progress of my issues, and physical work can result in disabling pain that lasts for days. So, sitting at a desk is just not an option. Nor is being a mechanic again ( I was for 13 years and could be again, but the lifting, bending and so on is just not possible).
I was looking at truck driving, but it has the same issues as being at a desk. Though I'm strong and can do some serious physical labor still (as long as I don't do a few certain things), that's not going to last very long. I don't know how fast this will progress, nor how long I can hold off becoming less than fully functional. Even now I'm not wholly functional, in that pain does, at times interfere with normal activities.
I've been working as a courier, but that's a non-starter outside of the big metro areas. Besides, the long hours of driving and little activity are not the best idea.
I've come up with becoming a locksmith, which mostly fits, except that many of the areas we would like to move to, have very little work. Nor does it ever pay well.
I could become an HVAC tech, but often that requires crawling under houses or in attics and/or heavy lifting, bending, crouching... And I won't be able to do that in the future. How far in the future I don't know. I'm somewhat limited now, and there's no known way of reversing any of this limitation. Appliance repair has the same issues.
I'd love to see people's ideas on this. Perhaps stuff I've never thought about or are on my radar screen. I'm mechanically minded, a real technology geek and learn whatever I need to fast and do whatever I do well. I'm not ruling anything in or out, but I just haven't lit on anything that fits my abilities profile in the foreseeable future.
Put the internet to work for you.
via Personal Recipe 2629979
Some words of advice/wisdom would be greatl y appreciated. :/
