Something that has me not sleeping nights...

[pat]

With the war, and the hurricanes, the federal budget is well and truly screwed. Even by Republican, never-seen-a-deficit-we-didn't-like standards.

The breadwinner in my family is a career employee with a federal agency that is often seen by a big chunk of the public as frivolous or trivial. (I am not going to get into the intrinsic value of research or exploration, and the economic and social value of the technology developed as a result, because those people don't think about that either.)

A big problem with being one of a handful of people working in an area is that if your funding source goes away you're in trouble. There aren't a lot of people out there doing equivalent research who aren't also funded by NASA -- maybe the Canadians. (Hey, moving to Canada would have some advantages....)

I wonder if remote automated drilling would be of interest to the oil & gas industry. Of course, good project management skills are transferable a lot of places....

Comments

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

I expect he'd travel less if he were working for the private sector. Possibly get paid more too.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Actually, getting paid paid more would be nice. But as for the travel... I would rather he be doing work he finds significant and societally rewarding (which he does, taking a very long view of "society"), even if that means he has to be away from home a lot. But yes, it would be nice to have him home more.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I hear ya.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Yep, I had a feeling you'd understand this.

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I understand the worry, and there's certainly a concern he won't be able to find a job that's got such a fabulous long-term view of benefitting all of humanity.

On the other hand, I have no doubt whatsoever that he has some wonderfully employable skills, even if it might mean stepping sideways a bit.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem is that a sense of making a difference somehow matters a lot to him, and directly impacts his job performance. Just stick him behind a desk, or have him head up a project which makes money but doesn't have the potential to change the world (even in some small way) and he does not do well.

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I understand. It might have to be a big sideways step, in that case. But I trust there will always be jobs that do make a difference. (I think I might be somewhat like him; in particular I took on my current job regarding the teaching component as a necessary chore (and nerve-wracked about how I'd actually do at it) and it is now the major part that keeps me going, because I can see that I am making a difference to specific individuals in a very direct way. Also that the difference I am making increases their chance of making a difference themselves. This has now become a very long parenthesis so I'll stop now.)

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

A lot of us are concerned.

I have no idea what is going to happen. I talked to CS about this and she is concerned for the future herself.

Not sure where my skills apply, personally. I've got a pretty weird background at this point...