Promoting Manufacturing Jobs

Manufacturing jobs aren't first on many students' minds. Perhaps the downturn of the financial industry will change the outlook on jobs that help create tangible goods. While the U.S. economy has been service based for a while, our country still has high-quality jobs in manufacturing. While overall employment has decreased in the industry, it is because of automation and engineering. This has created a demand for more highly-skilled workers. The demand is such that wages have really outpaced that of the workforce as a whole. The starting wages at my company have increased almost 25% over the last three years! It is a unique opportunity for engineers with only a bachelor's or master's degree.

This article, from the Evansville Courier and Press, speaks of the promotion of jobs in the manufacturing sector. The article speaks of improving "the standard of living and quality of life for area residents" and "resources within the region, student scholarships and funds available for teachers." I think they would be better served showing how much money can be made in manufacturing! Chemical industry jobs in the Houston area have a median income of $84,000 a year. That's a ton of money. That includes engineers, operators with a high school degree, new operators and technicians with a two year degree and managment and research.

Manufacturing is often thought of as dirty and labor-intensive. This is no longer true. Government regulations have made manufacturing environments clean and safe. Companies are constantly working at reducing their environmental impact and energy requirements. These improvements come from within. Jobs within the "manufacturing" industry include projects, laboratories, operations, managment, electrical engineering, civil engineering, drafting and design, maintenance and other technical-based crafts. No company that manufactures anything is without a research and design group. Many of these skill sets translate across different sectors. The opportunity within manufacturing is great, and the impact is tangible.

Hurricanes Ike! Update #1

Neither of the previous two summers have been like this one. Before July, I was largely ignorant of our work's hurricane policy. Hurricane supplies, evacutations, missed work hadn't really entered my mind. We've been kept home from work once and now we've been sent home for two days for Ike. This seems like it will be the real deal. Here's a few highlights from the hurricane preparedness so far.


The hurricane track






This is the second time this summer that we've been within the 3-day track. To me, that means you need to be getting ready. Hurricane warnings are new to me. What's different about this storm is that it's very large. I would think it would be unusual for hurricane warnings to be in effect outside the projected landfall area. The storm is about 500 miles across.

We were told to go home from work this morning at 8:30 after Harris County called for a mandatory evacuation of some areas. Many people who work at the plant live in Clear Lake, La Porte, Baytown, and other areas along the bay.

Zones 1 and 2 are under mandatory evacuation

The reason for the evacuation of these areas is the storm surge. If Ike hits southwest of Houston, as is planned, Galveston Bay will be on the "dirty" side of the hurricane. The winds might not be as high as near the eye, but the storm surge is worse.

The mandatory evacuation was called for Zones A and B for 12PM, but it looks like people have already started leaving. Unfortunately, they waited to call for the evacuation of Galveston Island until later this morning, so I-45 northbound between Galveston and Beltway 8 is getting very bad, but still moving. I-45 through downtown is bad but still moving. I-10 west by the beltway is also bad in a small stretch.

I'll give more updates as I see fit.

Houston news report #2 - May 2008

I hadn't posted this yet. Here's a couple news stories from a couple months ago.

You can't make this stuff up.

3 Kingwood teens accused of abusing corpse
"Kevin Wade Jones, 17, and Matthew Richard Gonzalez, 17, both of Kingwood, told Houston police that around March 15 they and a 16-year old juvenile dug up a grave, removed the skull from the coffin and converted it into a "bong," a device used to smoke marijuana, according to court documents."

Not in Texas, but no less ridiculous. Jim Bob has been gettin' busy.

I bet Eight Belles would be delicious. Short article, but two quotes from this one.
" 'Mexico kills horses, whether we like it or not, and people in France eat them. And sometimes the slaughterhouses like to ship the meat out of Corpus or Houston,' Chisum said."
"American Airlines has stopped shipping horse meat from Texas, said airline spokesman Tim Wagner."

“the Sinkhole de Mayo,” People in East Texas are pretty clever with their nicknames.

Houston News Report - 4/4/08

There's been some interesting news in the Houston area as of late. Here are a couple links.

There's been a lot of news about these two the last week. Why are 14 year olds pregnant?!?
Juvenile Girl Will Not Be Charged for Abandoning Fetus on Airplane
Texas Police Say Baby Probably Cried Before 14-Year-Old Mom Killed Him in Flush Attempt

Maybe kids are as shocked and disappointed as everyone else
Houston teens push for better sex ed

Another example of "Texas Justice"
HPD: Convenience Store Clerk Kills Robber

72 grand doesn't seem like enough
Indonesian Woman Enslaved By Sugar Land Family For Years, Court Records Show

Not all news out of Houston has been bad - Only 78 murders during the first three months of 2008!
City Houston on track to lower homicide rate compared to 2007