At 45 yrs old I decided to finally get a new trade.
Just yesterday I finished 8 weeks of school and wrote my Provincial exam for HET 1st Period. Did nothing but study and gym for two months. My training has been going great too, but thats a different story.
Now I stay with the same company but move over to the equipment and away from the light duty pick ups.
And since i have my auto redseal, i skip 2nd period, and most of the hour requirements, and go back to school hopefully in Sept for 8 more weeks and thats it. Hopefully have Redseal before the end of the year.
I have this entire year put towards this. Lots of saving and planning to cover two mortgages and keep up with the cost of surviving in general, and my employer did nothing for me, but it will be worth it. That extra ticket will make it so much easier to find work elsewhere, outside of Canada. Some countries actually encourage mining, and those machines need to be kept running.
I have seen lots of ads for mechanics in the Caribbean, other warm places.
Things are moving in the right direction.