Teardrop Part3/Philosophy 101

I found the link to the CAD drawings of the teardrop profiles: http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/teardrop/tear00.htm
Lots of info here on teardrops. If I had plenty of time and money, I'd build one like the Roswell. That would be nothing but sweet.

Now to the philosophy of it all.

The industrial revolution hit a little over 125 years ago and the United States leapt to the forefront of manufacturing with interchangeable parts and spiffy machine tools. People moved away from an agricultural way of life and became producers of things. Many of those things required highly skilled craftsmen and that's the way it was until fairly recently. Now we have moved to a service economy, which means not only is it hard to find skilled people it's also impossible to get good service as well. As the baby boomers retire out, it's creating a shortage of machinists, welders, etc. The situation has been compounded by the closing of vocational programs and the general mantra of go to college, don't work with your hands. Now is the time to reverse the situation.

There have been articles recently in the Chicago Trib, the Fabricator Magazine and others lamenting the shortage of skilled people. Companies are trying to hold on to their older employees with some creative solutions because they are the holders of knowledge. It's time to give skilled craftspeople their due. Pay a good wage, have good working conditions and give them the respect they once had.

What does a teardrop trailer have to do with all of this? Because it was made by someone who had the opportunity 40 years ago to learn a trade from a highly skilled craftsman. Now I try to pass those skills along to others on a daily basis. Show them by example what can be done if you just pay attention in high school and work at it a little bit. There are jobs available to high school graduates with decent welding skills that start at $20.00/hour plus benefits. Maybe not the most glamorous of jobs but honest pay for honest work. The problem now is how do we convince mom and the little darling that this can be a viable career option? The more popular option seems to be enroll in college, drink a lot of beer and come back home after one or two semesters and then look for some crappy job when mom's tired of tripping over you. It's definitely time to sound the alarm.