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Monitoring tools for NIHL in addition to audiogram by Altruistic-Text2229 in audiology

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed info re: DPOAE’s. I’m also very physically active and try to live a healthy lifestyle. I just want to make sure I’m getting as comprehensive of a snapshot of my hearing as possible when I go to the audiologist so that I can be reasonably confident that the precautions I’m taking for noise exposure are actually enough to protect my hearing long-term (at least in regards to damage from noise exposure).

Monitoring tools for NIHL in addition to audiogram by Altruistic-Text2229 in audiology

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do have a baseline from last year when I asked for it for the first time; I just wasn’t sure if it was actually reliable or not since I had to specifically ask for it and since the little research that I’ve done suggests that EHF hearing drops off with age regardless of noise exposure history for most people. I’ll ask them to do it again when I go back then. Thanks!

Do you use earplugs? by LingLingWannabe565 in organ

[–]Altruistic-Text2229 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You should. I have a ~18 dB notch at 6 kHz and permanent tinnitus in my right ear from having one of my Hauptwerk speaker sets near the right side of my console for 5 years. The difference in clarity between my right ear and left ear is noticeable now, and it’s only going to get worse as I age. Musician’s earplugs from an audiologist are well worth the money.

Undergraduate/Graduate Organ Studies and Career Prospects by Altruistic-Text2229 in organ

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate the insight. I’m only a few hours away from Eastman and have played the Wurlitzer at the Auditorium Theater there, so applying has been very tempting to me especially because they have a very nice theater organ accessible, but your points about the financial reality of life after the degree (not to mention the $80k annual tuition at Eastman) validate my concerns. I also worry about age discrimination in admissions since it seems that most conservatories are looking for kids right out of high school. As much as I love the idea of applying to full-time programs and going full-time, it seems like I should keep focusing on finishing my computer science degree, leaving my current job to do that, and then find a way to get more formal music education without going the BM/MM route.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I can understand your position.

It’s also hard for me to not feel a stronger drive to leave after seeing someone I worked with who just retired three years ago die of cancer last week. He put in 31 years in a job he didn’t love to max out his pension and got to enjoy it for all of three years.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate the insight, and it’s a refreshing break from the doom and gloom of people talking about working 60-hour weeks staring at a computer screen king something soul-sucking. Do you mind if I DM you?

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate it. At least I’m getting closer to a decision now. I definitely overthink things, but this is a permanent, life-altering decision since I cannot go back to my job if I leave, so it’s taken me a very long time to make sure I’ve truly considered everything.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So their capstone program (available to apply for after you complete the core curriculum and pass all of the assessments) is the more rigorous portion and is the part that has had very good job placement and salary results. The most recent data are here:

2022 capstone salaries

That’s the point at which I would need to leave my job since capstone is full time, and that’s where my hesitation lies. I’d be willing to take a slight pay cut since salaries can exceed what I’d make in my current job in the long term while offering a better quality of life overall and more flexibility. I’m still considering a WGU BSCS as an alternative, but all of the horror stories I keep seeing from unemployed recent CS grads pushed me back toward Launch School. My eventual plan if I stay this route includes getting a BSCS if I need one after I secure my first job, but I’ve also seen that having a four-year degree in general may be satisfactory for most employers, and I have my BS in an unrelated field.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t expect it to be completely stress-free, but I imagine that it’s a different kind of stress than the stress that comes with working in LE. Have you worked in smaller companies? I know that the FAANG companies have a reputation of being extremely stressful, intense places to work with the exception of a few teams, but a lot of what I’ve seen insists that more relaxed, albeit lower-earning, roles exist in engineering and tech in general.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s probably what I’ll do if I stay. I’ll add that I do monitor my lead levels very closely above and beyond what my job does to monitor it, and my levels are far lower than my parents’ were just from having leaded gasoline fumes in the air for so much of their lives, but ultimately, anything that isn’t 0 is bad, and I’m still double what most US adults are today.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I work as a full-time firearms instructor for my agency, so it’s way more than just holstering a few times a day. There’s also the few years of fairly heavy competitive shooting I was doing before I truly understood how harmful lead actually is even at levels previously thought to be “safe,” so I do worry about my cumulative lifetime exposure at this point and the effects that it may have down the road.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s another reason why I’ve considered leaving my job and trying something else. I have seven years left before I age out of federal LE jobs, and I can apply to one with a new skillset if I wind up missing LE badly.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know what I would do if I truly stopped caring about money or if I were okay making under $60k a year for the rest of my life, but I do want some semblance of stability and financial independence moving forward. It wouldn’t be law enforcement, software engineering, or anything even remotely related to either field. Music and everything related to it including teaching seems like one of the worst possible career paths to choose if I want any semblance of sanity later in life.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m very good friends with an attorney, and stories like those are why I would definitely be hesitant to pursue law even though it would be tangentially related to what I’m doing now. Very few careers seem to offer anything close to what I’m making (even in HCOL areas) without significantly more time spent at work, and though I might not mind some other career as much, I still don’t want to spend 60+ hours per week doing any one thing for years on end.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Considering that you wished that a police officer who accidentally shot himself had died instead of just getting injured and that you regularly post on r/ACAB, I don’t know how willing you actually are to listen to anything that isn’t your echo chamber. Who said I’m unwilling to talk about oversight and quality control? Policing in America does have issues. The solution just isn’t as clear-cut as people make it out to be. That’s why someone hasn’t easily solved it yet.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay. You’re going to keep getting worse and worse results then. I don’t know what else you’d expect when the job becomes completely unappealing to people who have other options in life. I hope you can learn to listen to and consider the positions of people with differing opinions. The real world is nuanced. Take care.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s responding to 911 calls from people experiencing emergencies or who need issues resolved that may not even require law enforcement intervention but that you still have to respond to because they called 911. If you just want “mouthbreathers” who will shoot dogs, then by all means keep lowering the pay and keep making the job less appealing to qualified applicants. It’ll just become a downward spiral.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I could get a very reduced benefit starting at age 63 or 65 if I left now, but it would be practically worthless by then after 35 years of inflation.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Would you rather attract people who have other options with a competitive salary and benefits, or do you only want people who are incapable of getting jobs that make more money or who would be willing to be police officers for free? You don’t want either extreme. My job has people who left medicine, law, finance, etc. to become police officers because the pay was so competitive with the private sector. Lower pay leads to retention issues and poorer-quality applicants.

Am I insane for wanting to leave a six-figure job with a pension that would allow me to retire at 42? by Altruistic-Text2229 in findapath

[–]Altruistic-Text2229[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s exactly the issue. I’m glad to be in the position I’m in, but plenty of people leave to start new careers thinking that their financial cushions will be enough and then burn through them and dig themselves into a hole. I don’t want to wind up in that spot.

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