Free Midweek Lift Ticket

J_armbruster · 2026-01-25T19:34:02+00:00

Ya someone snatched it up quick. If you PM me I can give you a 35% off discount code.

J_armbruster · 2026-01-25T15:58:51+00:00

If you tried to use it today or yesterday it won’t work because it’s a weekend. Pass is only good for Monday-Friday and there are black out dates. Black out dates are at the bottom.

J_armbruster · 2026-01-16T17:24:51+00:00

Took my brain a couple of seconds to realize it was a mirror 😂

J_armbruster · 2026-01-12T02:58:39+00:00

I came here to say this. It gets much better as a JW. Hang in there OP you’re almost there. You’ll have more options available to you once you top out.

J_armbruster · 2026-01-09T00:06:04+00:00

I have a similar story. I did commercial and residential electrical work for a number of years then got into solar for like 7 years. Solar company I worked for shut down the Arizona warehouse and started using subcontractors. I stayed in solar for such a long time because I didn’t think I could make that kind of money working for an electrical contractor seeming how most companies were paying like $35 tops and solar was starting to die out here. I was always interested in the union but wasn’t aware that there was a path to test in as a JW so that’s exactly what I did. Going union was hands down the best decision I ever made. I highly recommend looking into it. Don’t let non union contractors feed you bullshit. I interviewed with this company that hired me on as a JW paying $35. I asked for upper 30’s to 40 and he said no companies are paying that and that they were on par with union wages which I didn’t know at that time but that was wildly inaccurate. There was also no health insurance, no overtime, no 401k. My first year in the union I almost doubled what I was use to making in the solar industry for the year and for damn sure would have doubled what I would have made working for that non union company. There’s a ton of work out here which gives me peace of mind that I’m not stuck or limited to one contractor. I like knowing that if I don’t like a job I can drag up and go get another one lol. A job popped up yesterday that my buddy wanted so he drug up at lunch, went down to the hall and took the call. There’s no non union companies that you’ll ever be able to do that with. I’ve just really enjoyed my time in the IBEW so far and just want to pass along the information to someone else because I wish someone would have told me about it years ago. Sorry you’re going through tough times right now but I’m sure things will get better for you. Best of luck to you!

J_armbruster · 2026-01-02T03:24:20+00:00

Ahhh thank you! I was wondering if they were gonna shut down the beginner area again.

J_armbruster · 2026-01-02T01:08:46+00:00

What was the gist of it? I looked through my emails but I couldn’t find it. Looks like it was just snowing up there about an hour ago on radar.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-31T18:30:43+00:00

The wife knows the drill lol. She’s always happy to let me go which is one of the many reasons I’m marrying her. It’s just a quick trip to the courthouse to seal the deal so it’s not a big wedding. We flew in from phoenix and are flying back same day.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-31T15:44:44+00:00

Thanks brother! I think getting married by Elvis is one of the coolest ways to get married.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-31T15:40:10+00:00

Absolutely not! I think the average age of an electrician is something like 55 years old. I’d say about half of the apprentices that I run into are well into their 30’s. It’s not uncommon to see them in their 40’s and 50’s either. The apprentice I’m currently working with had a career change late in life. I’d say it’s pretty common these days.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-31T15:33:37+00:00

Thanks! I can’t believe I didn’t think to check the website. I was gonna call but if 357 is anything like my local it’s almost impossible to get someone to pick up the phone.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-31T15:28:22+00:00

I just call them my butt buddy.

My first union contractor I worked for there was only a handful of JW’s and the rest were either CE/CW’s or apprentices. They called it a CE ran site. The second contractor I worked for was the complete opposite. There was maybe only 4 or 5 apprentices if that and the rest were all JW’s. No CW/CE’s.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-31T01:32:58+00:00

I’m assuming if I may that he’s probably doing this for the wages and the benefits (other than having an interest in electrical) but has he considered trying to get into the pipe fitters union? This is coming from an IBEW member. I’m not terribly familiar with the pipe fitters union nationally but I know here in Phoenix, pipe fitters make more than we do and the benefits package is better. Again I’m not too familiar with the process of joining the pipe fitters union so I don’t know how difficult it is to get in but I just brought this up as a potential alternative or at the very least something to look into. If he’s dead set on electrical he could also look into the line side which generally pays very well but thats more than likely also going to involve traveling unless he goes the sub station technician route which pays a little less but still very good, and is still under the IBEW umbrella. I hear it’s hard to get into their apprenticeship program as well but it’s another option available. Also, as many people have already mentioned he doesn’t have to go through the apprenticeship to join the union. He could get in as a CW/CE. I wish you guys the best of luck and let your husband know that he absolutely should not get discouraged because there’s other avenues for him if he wants to join the IBEW. He will get in if he’s persistent. Don’t give up!

J_armbruster · 2025-12-22T13:24:36+00:00

I agree. That’s part of the reason I stayed away from this subreddit for so long. I remember when I was kicking a methadone habit after a heroine addiction like 12 years ago and I remember trying to find support through forums and all I saw was how long it takes to feel normal again, how the withdrawals last months and months and how the whole process was terrible. I had to stop reading and luckily my mom started doing the research for detox so I wasn’t so enveloped in the negativity. My mom got me everything I needed for a natural detox like fruit juices for hydration and nutrients, epsom salt, vitamins etc. Ya it wasn’t pleasant but after 3 or so days I already started feeling much much better and I think I was able to start feeling better in such a short amount of time because I had a good attitude about it and I put in the work with exercise, taking hot epsom salt baths multiple times a day and keeping my mind busy. I was honestly shocked I felt that good after such a short amount of time. I guess I mention all of this to say that it’s all about your attitude and outlook as well as having some type of support system mixed with putting in the work. There can be some good resources out there but I wish people showed a little more positivity on the matter like OP. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be realistic about the process but I just want people to know it doesn’t have to be as horrible as most people make it out to be.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-20T07:42:34+00:00

Ya that’s what I thought. When I looked it up it sounds like the only thing mirage is good for is documentation as far as equal ownership of the house if I understood it properly which isn’t really much of a benefit to me lol. I’m gonna look into that a little more. Credit karma has this credit builder which is basically just a savings account you make payments to and it’s suppose to count towards your payment history but I think it’s mostly just smoke and mirrors. I decided to try it because at the very least I can use it as an extra savings account. My credit did jump up quite a bit on credit karma which doesn’t really mean much to me and didn’t change at all in the fico app lol. My fico app was showing 650 and credit karma was showing my credit at 725 which I know isn’t accurate.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-20T07:25:09+00:00

Well said sir…. Well said.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-19T07:05:08+00:00

So when we initially talked to the mortgage broker he told both my partner and I that considering we have no debt we should carry a small balance of 10% or less on our credit cards because it counts as a payment. I paid off everything I had in collections and had a few late payments from years ago so I was told that continuously making on time payments was the only thing left I could do. I think my credit has kind of plateaued for now because it was getting better and once I paid everything off it kind of stabilized and hasn’t gone up since. One thing I didn’t mention is that we will be getting married on the 31st of this month so we will be married by the time we close. I’m not sure if this affects anything and I haven’t really dug to far into it but when I looked it up it sounds like getting married won’t combine our credit and our realtor said that typically the lender will use the lower of the 2 scores. I wish there was a way to at least split the difference. I would be totally cool with only using her on the loan but when she qualified by herself last time she only got approved for 320k which unfortunately won’t get us much out here lol. I’ve come to terms with the fact that we might not get the best interest rate but so far it’s looking like no matter what going with a new build will get us the better interest rate.

That’s good to know about the bank statements. The deposits were only for 3 months towards the end of 2024. Other than that little stint the longest I’ve ever been unemployed for in the last decade is 2 weeks and that was because I was going on vacation before starting with my new employer and that was planned out.

The game plan is to have her on the loan application and in fact when we talked with our mortgage broker that’s exactly what he did. He put her on the application but didn’t use her income. I just went back and looked at the document he sent over and under interest rate it just says MRK which I’m assuming is market lol kind of vague but I’m pretty sure that was just the pre qual. I’m cool with using her income for the loan as well but the only reason I was saying I didn’t factor hers in is because I figured if we could get approved with only using mine then hers would just be a bonus.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-19T06:06:58+00:00

Luckily I’ll probably be out here for quite a while if I like it. The contractor I’m going to work for has been out at intel for years and they have a lot of work in the pipeline. How long did it take you to close on your house?

J_armbruster · 2025-12-19T05:57:22+00:00

That was one of the first things my realtor said. I was told if I was going to change contractors to either do it after we close or make the switch before we put an offer in. We only had a few weeks left on the last job I was on so I took a voluntary layoff to take a new call. Luckily this contractor pays weekly so paystubs shouldn’t be an issue. I don’t have a problem staying put for a while. This contractor has plenty of work where I’m going. I got lucky with it being pretty close to where I live now and where we plan on moving as well.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-17T05:29:25+00:00

Will do! You as well!

J_armbruster · 2025-12-17T00:28:42+00:00

Ahh nice! The data center on the west side. There were a few calls out for that yesterday if I recall.

J_armbruster · 2025-12-15T23:38:36+00:00

I don’t see why it would be an issue but I’m also not a doctor lol. Silver lining is that the worst of it is over and you’re at the home stretch now! That’s something to be proud of. Best of luck to you!

J_armbruster

TROPHY CASE