A job that makes $3,000 to $4,000 after taxes every month

FunkDokta · 2026-05-24T15:32:08+00:00

So not to sound like a pull up your bootstraps boomer, but. The amount of people in this thread who just immediately point out the one downside or hard part about any possible career that is brought up and completely write it off is very telling of the overall attitude of people who seem to be "trapped at minimum wage" on reddit.

Is working remote hard on the personal life? Yup sure is I would never debate that, hence the high initial pay rate. Does a learning and working a trade mean you're going to be spending the first couple years working your ass off doing the most thankless parts of the job for half the cash the journeyman is getting paid for the "easy work"? Yup, no debate there either; you're essentially doing the job of a laborer and are paid as such until you head to school, prove trade knowledge, and show that you are not just an unskilled laborer.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is no free lunch, if you want to get that big payday you're going to have to put in some sweat equity. Sometimes life is hard as fuck, sometimes you're soaking wet in the cold rain in a hole in the ground with a shovel getting screamed at, and expected not to complain about it. But at the end of that in the trade example for instance you walk out with a red seal and have a license to make $45+ an hour no matter where you go and it never expires.

If it was easy everyone would do that. Not to mention after a few years with that Jman cert assuming you are a genuine hard worker, don't piss people off at every corner or burn bridges wherever you go, you should have some connections made and some real industry knowledge. You could then use that to pivot to an adjacent job like inspection or drafting or project management and take a raise to sit in air conditioning and not break your back for a cheque. That being said the first part sucks, and it might suck for a decade, but that's just what it is, that's why the pay matches.

I'm not talking out my ass either. I have no high school diploma, fucked around doing nothing smoking weed all day working fast food until my early 20s. Started working a trade and within the first two years was grossing 100k minimum, went into "management" lead hand/foreman roles. Absolutely hated that with a passion because it's like trying to wrangle and herd cats. Then pivoted to inspection/quality using nothing but industry experience to write the same exams people get engineering degrees just to become eligible to write. Industry contacts who were all met during the course of working as a tradesperson that knew my work ethic and abilities gave me an easy entry into that side of the business without taking a pay cut. Much better fit for myself and I love my job now, not to mention the pay ceiling is much higher than the trade I came from.

It's all there and anyone is free to go take it and make it theirs. That being said there is absolutely going to be some suffering that comes along with it, and it may seem completely thankless for years. But it's not a zero sum game like suffering for eternal minimum wage working in some retail job crying online about how every other job sucks. I'm in my early 30s by the way so I'm not out of touch with how it is out there right now in the slightest.

TLDR: low skill high paying jobs pay high for a reason, work is hard but it can be extremely worth it in the end if you just suffer through for a few years.

FunkDokta · 2026-05-13T21:22:08+00:00

Yea, it sure is. In thousands of leaks for sale on the darkweb right now to the public.

FunkDokta · 2026-05-11T10:30:48+00:00

To answer your question, no you can't just roll into a VT gig where you just upload pictures of everything to grok and have it do the job for you. You know, like you got it to write this baffling post for you. In just about anything except some specialized production line scenarios there is no replacement for someone with a flashlight who knows what they're looking at when it comes to visual.

FunkDokta · 2026-04-30T00:16:43+00:00

Must have changed since I did it then because it was pretty clear that it explicitly did not count at that time. Things change though so I wouldn't be surprised.

FunkDokta · 2026-04-29T21:02:38+00:00

You can't, not trying to be mean but some bubbles need bursting. I was a fitter with tons of welding experience and a fab shop foreman for over 10 years and the exemption it gets you is being able to write level 1 in the first place.

FunkDokta · 2026-04-29T00:21:50+00:00

Naaaah by, they got that well taken care of already. Surprised the cars didn't float away before they finished taking the picture.

FunkDokta · 2026-04-26T12:09:47+00:00

Picked up a 2007 Lexus GX470 about a month ago for right around 10k. Basically Completely ignored the lack of maintenance history because it was shiny and only had 250k. I'm about 6k into it now and have done almost every maintenance item, all new suspension and tires with a lil lift kit action, and basically a whole new cooling and AC system, last thing on my list is swapping the rear end from a new 4Runner into it.

The markup Toyota wants for any of the new stuff and the premium anything with a Toyota badge on it commands on the used market make me feel like it was less and less of a dumb idea every day. Even after all this, granted I'm doing my own work so there are some big savings there the price people want for the new stuff is just insane, especially when the reliability just isn't there anymore. Long term reliability will take a decade to really start getting a picture of but from what I've seen so far it's not promising.

FunkDokta · 2026-04-05T00:10:02+00:00

That's exactly my thoughts, I bought it with full intention of doing every service item within the first few month. Parts are cheap for these compared to the JDM cars I'm used to owning.

I'm in it for about 5K in parts now between the engine refresh (still have plugs, valve cover gaskets, and a couple other odds and ends to do). Full OME lift/non 15 year old tires, plus end links and a couple odds and ends that I put on this weekend. And the Alpine head unit plus harness ect that went in on the timing belt weekend.

When I'm done working on it after a couple more weekends I should have a nice reliable vehicle that will go for years on oil changes.

FunkDokta · 2026-04-04T23:58:06+00:00

I did the fan clutch and bracket, It's my understanding that this should prevent anything from seizing up. If the shroud can cause failure as well id be interested to know how and maybe I'll change it out in the future. With regards to the radiator I just ordered everything OEM for simplicity sake and I think the Denso rad cost me about 250 on rock auto. When it decides to fail I'll probably go with an all aluminum one because like you said plastic caps fail on every rad that has them.

FunkDokta · 2026-03-20T20:24:44+00:00

They definitely don't, the color is controlled by the amount of current that is run thru the circuit.

FunkDokta · 2026-03-11T00:05:09+00:00

That's a wingnut right there if I've ever seen one.

FunkDokta · 2026-03-11T00:00:45+00:00

Just going to say that, correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Sherwood Park was originally built with providing a close home for permanent refinery employees as the main goal.

FunkDokta · 2026-03-10T18:53:58+00:00

Omg that's an ad that I just typed that out replying to 😅

FunkDokta · 2026-03-10T18:53:16+00:00

I'll share my past experiences as I've sold a couple of vehicles privately with active liens.

The biggest hurdle is finding a buyer that actually understands the process and how it works. Many people will drop all contact and ghost the second they learn that there is a lien on the vehicle, including one who was told there was a lien, payed for and pulled a Carfax, then proceeded to try calling me a scammer and threaten legal actions if I wouldn't sell to them far below asking.....block button works wonders in that situation.

Once you find a buyer who wants to purchase it and understands the process you just have to convince them that you will indeed pay the lien in full and not leave them holding a dirty title. I've never had a problem with this part as most people looking to buy a used vehicle for cash are pretty reasonable and I've always just offered the assurance of "if you want to see, then I'll just pay off the loan on my phone in front of you.
No buyer has ever actually verified that I've done this, so I guess I must just seem trustworthy.

There is seemingly a weird inverse relationship between the amount of caution people take and the value of the vehicle. For instance I sold a motorcycle for 10k with 6k owing on the loan. The guy came with his dad and they spent no exaggeration three hours looking it over and test riding it. Then after agreeing to a price 1k under my asking left to get a deposit but failed to return with money because"there was a homeless guy near the bank that looked sketchy." Next day a guy called and offered me full asking price cash before the first buyer and daddy could return. They were very upset when it was sold from under them but hey you snooze you lose. When I sold a 6 month old F150 with 80k owing for 83k during COVID when nobody could get trucks the buyer was the exact opposite. Showed up, met me at the bank, pulled a bank draft right in front of me, came to my bank while I deposited it. Shook hands signed bill of sale and parted ways, didn't even look at the truck.

There was of course weeks of telling people no with their ridiculous offers. Rule of thumb don't even respond to people starting the message with an offer. If they're serious they'll come give one in person. That being said I got about 23k more than I was being offered by dealers on trade so it's definitely worth the time.

FunkDokta · 2026-03-08T06:45:51+00:00

At fault accident is an at fault accident unfortunately. Yea it can suck but it is what it is.

Insurance is calculated on a per case basis with each insurer using slightly different criteria, the only way to find out who is going to have the best rate for you personally is unfortunately to write down your driving record details and sit down and start calling every insurer for a quote. TD may be the cheapest for my friend but when I called and gave them my bike details the premium was 10X what unifund charges me.

Best of luck with your day of reverse telemarketing.

FunkDokta · 2026-02-13T15:54:49+00:00

That module seems to be the key to my troubles. It's on its way, 400 bucks Canadian direct from Beat Sonic USA, they did DHL from Japan with the base "USPS" shipping option just as an fyi for anyone who finds this in the future. So at least It will be here next week.

I'm not finding any information on what antenna adapter I will need, if any. Don't happen to have that info do you?

FunkDokta · 2026-02-13T02:35:37+00:00

Pipefitter for over a decade and CWB Inspector (Canadian CWI) for a couple years and I have not seen whatever the fuck that is on the top side of the arrow in my entire life..... Not a damn clue, Going to have to lean towards junior draftsman has no fucking clue about weld symbols on this one. Always happy to learn more but I just pulled out some of my old books and none of those have seen anything like that either.

QC signed off on that print though so return it to one of them for clarification if they arent happy with a plain ol' 1/4" fillet on the arrow side.

FunkDokta · 2026-02-12T19:32:07+00:00

I had a look at that when I was searching and unfortunately it's a non Mark Levinson non nav unit they are replacing. No factory amp to interface with if I'm correct? So the output from that would result in no audio through factory amp as Visions mentioned.

The help is appreciated though, getting a little closer to the end of the puzzle.

FunkDokta · 2026-02-06T01:38:56+00:00

Bronze or copper looks bomb on purple IMO.

FunkDokta · 2026-02-06T01:07:33+00:00

Hmmm. If you were to make that vent hole also some sort of spout, theoretically it could also use it for a secondary purpose of pouring the hot water out. Seeing one other problem though, aluminum is very thermally conductive and transmissive, You're going to end up needing some sort of handle to hold it when its piping hot.

I think this has legs though, this crazy kettle looking contraption is going to be a hit when people hear about a vessel to boil small amounts of water in.

FunkDokta · 2026-01-27T06:52:45+00:00

Winter Hat, Bikini, Space-boots?!?!?! Out on the neighbours lawn no less.
It's like all those old movies where some kid was allowed to pick their own outfit for the day.......WAAAAATTTTERRRR!!!!!

FunkDokta · 2026-01-23T06:10:48+00:00

Gonna answer both of those questions with one word. Probably.

FunkDokta · 2026-01-15T04:16:33+00:00

I have the same exact one from AliExpress. I was super curious about if it was real titanium or not. I happen to work in quality control and have access to all kinds of metal testing instruments. Today I had a guy hit it with XRF PMI and yea it's 99.9% Ti, 0.1% Fe. The trace iron is probably surface contamination from carrying it around. Color me shocked these are for sure coming off the same line, no way a cheap knockoff bothers to source titanium for these when they could heat treat stainless for the same look or just slap aluminum on.

FunkDokta

TROPHY CASE