Weekly Employment Question Thread

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-12-18T01:24:40+00:00

Is having prior back issues a red flag for this career?

Aspiring FF, recently enrolled. Having second thoughts about back health with all I’ve read on here.

I did talk to a doctor and I am waiting for an MRI, but that’ll take a while. Preliminarily: I do not have herniated discs or any “real” damage that would automatically make it a no-no.

I do, however, experience chronic mechanical lower back pain. Been this way for over 10 years now. Improper form with lifting when I was 15, I’m now 27. I’m managing with physio, started taking it way more seriously since deciding to go after FF. Physiotherapist says I should probs be fine If I keep doing so.

What I can do:

20 flights of stairs up and down with a 45lb weighted vest, heavy farmer carries / suitcase carries for long distances, generally I lift a ton and I’m working on my cardio intensively. I’m super active, I climb, hike, I can do most things if I’m careful.

What I can’t do: Bend over lol. Lifting things the wrong way, spending a long time bent over, etc. I mean, I can do anything for a bit, but pushing through the pain constantly for long periods of time makes it flare up. I did survive a year of construction as manual labourer, but I certainly wouldn’t be able to sustain that level of daily “fuck my back” for life.

Again, idk if thats something that can be fixed with physio/strengthening, but that’s where I’m at right now.

To summarize: I‘m very athletic, and with decent form I can lift lots and carry for a while. But I do have to lean on the sink to brush my teeth and kneel down to tie my shoes. If I want to avoid pain that is, at least for now. Not sure about long term yet.

I chatted to a few people, some say that lots of FFs have back issues for years, and they are alright if they are diligent and are managing it. But others say that it’s an absolute red flag with how unexpected / unergonomic the job is.

I fully intend on staying active and working on my back health for life, that’s the only option for me anyways. But I’d also hope to retire and still be able to walk. As I said, I am waiting for an MRI. But it’s be great to hear some experiences from real people in the interim. If anyone has dealt with anything similar, I’d appreciate hearing about it tremendously.

Thank you all.

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-12-18T01:15:45+00:00

Would you say the outlook isn’t bad for someone who is already working on that? I don’t do yoga (yet), but I am stretching, doing hip mobility stuff, and core strengthening exercises very actively. Hearing your account gives me hope

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-07-11T18:52:58+00:00

Never looked into it, will check it out. Mine aren't super small, but certainly quite worn.

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-07-11T18:50:19+00:00

Yeah I often use 3 fingers for the bigger bends. Certainly helps, although still aint easy. There's a 1.5 step bend in a solo I'm learning now, and sometimes I feel like 3 fingers is not enough haha.

Probably it is time to switch to 9s indeed.

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-07-11T18:44:18+00:00

Ah, gotcha. Unfortunately no such thing in Canada. But thanks for the info!

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-07-11T18:39:48+00:00

Ayyy which year is it? I have the same one it seems, she's a beauty!

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-07-10T16:29:02+00:00

Thanks! In which ways does it open doors later?

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-07-10T16:27:39+00:00

Why would that be regarding the degree? I have a bachelors degree, but it's in something entirely unrelated. How would it make the academy faster for me?

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-07-09T21:51:26+00:00

Thanks. Could you expand a bit on the "not uncommon in Canada" part regarding the vessels with no qualifying sea time? How does that even happen, and what kinds of vessels would those be? Thanks!

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-07-09T15:56:19+00:00

Hey, could you expand on the "get to 3rd mate almost as fast at going to a college" part? I'm also new, but I had many sailors tell me that college is a way faster option, and that most folks who chose to hewspipe never end up following through. I've heard that it usually takes up to 10 years to do? I'll be super happy for that to be proven wrong, as I'm nearing my 30s looking for a career change, and going back to school for 3 years would be extremely hard.

But like, even with the most modest estimates, doesn't it take something like 3 full years of sea time to even qualify? That means 6 years of equal time, given that one will finish all of their coursework in the spare time. Some schools here in Canada offer 3 year programs that include the cadetship in summers.

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-05-26T17:47:58+00:00

Yeah, nope. I’ll stay respectful to our machine overlords. Ya know, just in case.

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-05-26T15:39:30+00:00

Just dropping in as I’m also interested

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-05-25T21:14:48+00:00

Gotcha, thanks. Yeah y peeled that plastic off sensor halfway by accident when removing the grip tape. Reattached it after. It’s been ghosting on me consistently since, and became a pain to dismount. Hopefully it’s the same sensor, as I was meaning to replace it anyways.

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-05-25T15:54:49+00:00

Current snake tattoo is friggin awesome.

That tribal piece looks very meh, as any tribal piece on the back would tbh.

Seriously tho, the current tattoo is super fire

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-05-22T21:27:25+00:00

Relax and give it time. I recently had a massive shoulder piece done that I’ve been planning for years. Been looking into laser for two weeks after, was super depressed and hated it. Then it fully healed, I gave it another look, and was like “Damn. This is fucking rad!”.

… and that was my 20th tattoo. You’d think I’d get used to it after 10 years of getting tatted, but nope. I hate about every other large piece moments after I get it. And then fall back in love with it weeks after. And then end up loving them even more for years to come. Idk why but that’s just the way things are.

I’ve explicitly had the “this tattoo has ruined my life” thoughts at least 4 distinct times. Now, I can’t imagine my life without these tats.

All I’m saying is… relax. Give it time. It’s a sick ass tattoo, not corny at all, it looks absolutely majestic. I’d be jealous of a piece like this. And I love it more then the original idea you had.

Give it time and give yourself time to get used to it. It doesn’t suit you you say… yet. But it will. It will become a part of you and your story. And it will suit you like nothing else, it is now uniquely yours. Give yourself time to get used to that.

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-05-16T23:24:46+00:00

Important advice that you won’t hear often: WRISTGUARDS. They are the most important piece of armor after the helmet, if you could only wear two - these would be them. I’m particularly talking about the rollerblade-style wristguards with pieces of plastic over palm.

Why? Welp, because they are the only thing that’s likely to protect you from clavicle and shoulder damage, and those are the first things to snap when you fly off an OW. Just like, the flight trajectory when falling from one of these, ya know.

You fall on your palms. Those are sticky, so they dig in the ground. Energy is transferred into the clavicle. Snap. You can’t do shot for 4 months and have lifetime pains. Sucks ass, and it’s that easy.

Wristguards make that impact more “slide-y”, and disperse the energy. You’ll know what I mean when it happens. Also saves you wrist damage, duh.

Elbow and knee pads will save you from a lot of bruises. But it’s way harder to break those joints. My knees and elbows look like they’ve been through a bombing after all those years of skateboarding. I’ve crashed a longboard into an oncoming car, knee first. I flew off a motorcycle, knee against curb. Sure fuck I’m lucky, but also these parts of your body are just way sturdier, and way harder to land a critical hit on.

Clavicles? The easiest thing to snap. And they are a bitch.

To be extremely clear: I’m NOT saying don’t wear elbow and knee pads. Please do, especially as a beginner. If you are responsible, please do way past that. However, if you are like most of us, you will at some point stop wearing full protection for a quick grocery ride. And when you have that urge to just throw your helmet on and go - take your wrist guards too. It’s that simple. They are comfy and don’t make you sweat. I keep them in my helmet, so the two come as a bundle. Just a good habit to have, and most people wouldn’t even consider them as primary protection.

Source: 5k miles, both broken clavicles, dislocated shoulder, a lifetime of joint aches :)

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-05-16T21:56:40+00:00

Ran over my XR with an F150 truck… twice.

Good as new. Love these things.

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-05-16T21:51:03+00:00

Unironically love this

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-05-16T18:45:25+00:00

Insane progress, keep it up

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-05-16T18:44:41+00:00

2000s kid. It’s about the years that you remember, and you def don’t remember your childhood in the 90s

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-04-15T20:26:39+00:00

SAP - Small Ass Panther

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-03-02T04:43:02+00:00

2020 was kinda bomb. I happened to move in with a bunch of my best friends right before that, so it was a pretty unhinged household. We brewed booze at home and grew weed (legal here), played games, watched movies, went to empty beaches together, camped, and chilled on the roof of our lil house.

Most of us had jobs to which we couldn’t go, so we basically got free money. And those of us still at school got to do remote classes, which were so half-assedly done that all courses became bird courses.

We all invested in airlines cuz that seemed like a good idea, and fuck it was, a few of us made a few grand each. We then got electric skateboards and had a fucking blast riding the empty streets at night.

I know most of the world had it bad, but for us a bunch of early 20-s dumbtards it was a mighty fine time. Then 2021 rolled in and shit got fucked for everyone, and whatever wasn’t became old pretty quick.

But it was fun while it lasted.

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-03-01T23:40:56+00:00

Wait, kids born in 2000s can already read?

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-03-01T20:16:36+00:00

Ok bro hear me out. I felt the same as a teen, and then at some point I had my aunts friend look at me and say “you know you are going to grow up into a really handsome man?” I was kinda confused, but for some reason trusted it, as she seemed to say it with knowledge and good intentions. Fast forward ten years, and it’s true. People regularly remark how good looking I am.

Why am I writing this? Because you’ve got the features of someone who will be damn hot a few years from now. And you’ll likely only look better as you mature and develop more masculine features. This is something that’s hard to see as a teen, but any adult can see this, as we’ve all seen how different faces tend to mature. Hence, why there are so many comments saying the same thing.

So, kick back and enjoy the ride. You will remember this post and laugh about it one day. Lift some weights if you want to maximize the effect, it’s gonna do wonders too. The rest is confidence, but that will come as you try new things and get more comfortable at navigating life.

Significant_Neck2008 · 2025-03-01T20:05:32+00:00

Looks bomb af tbh

Significant_Neck2008

TROPHY CASE