Putting this in the "General Science" forum for reasons I believe will become clear.
A little back story:
I'm an electrical designer working in the mid-stream oil and gas industry. While it's a good paying job with one of the best companies I've ever worked for, I'm having trouble going to work every day. Part of it is burn-out. I've been doing CADD in one shape of form every working day (and a good number of weekend days) of my life since 1993. The other part is the fact that I am contributing directly to destroying the very planet I count on for my very existence. Far more directly than driving a car or buying some petroleum products. I'm helping the bastard tear it out of the ground (fracking) transport it and refine it. Ugh!
The good news:
Colorado State University is starting a new degree program, "Fermentation Science and Technology." When I heard about this my first thought was "what the fuck?" Then I started thinking. Majoring in this, with a business minor, I could open my own micro-brewery. There's huge demand for micro-brews almost anywhere you go in North America and plenty of locations where there are very few/none at all. At the very least I could land a position with Coors, Budweiser or any of the plethora of existing micro-breweries here in the area and do a job that makes people happy instead of one where I'm helping to kill a whole planet.
The (potential) problem:
There's a ton of science required for this degree. It's a little intimidating at my age (well past 40). Lots of chemistry, biology and math. The math doesn't scare me. I've always been good w/numbers. What I know about chemistry and biology (beyond the very broad strokes) you can fit in a thimble. For the most part, I only have myself to blame since I spent a lot of High School stoned out of my mind and asleep in the back of class. Still, I managed to get an AAS in Drafting Technologies in 1993. So, is the chemistry and biology that hard? Am I freaking myself out over nothing? I really want to do this.
Maybe a name change is in my future. GalacticBrewMaster has a nice ring to it.
A little back story:
I'm an electrical designer working in the mid-stream oil and gas industry. While it's a good paying job with one of the best companies I've ever worked for, I'm having trouble going to work every day. Part of it is burn-out. I've been doing CADD in one shape of form every working day (and a good number of weekend days) of my life since 1993. The other part is the fact that I am contributing directly to destroying the very planet I count on for my very existence. Far more directly than driving a car or buying some petroleum products. I'm helping the bastard tear it out of the ground (fracking) transport it and refine it. Ugh!
The good news:
Colorado State University is starting a new degree program, "Fermentation Science and Technology." When I heard about this my first thought was "what the fuck?" Then I started thinking. Majoring in this, with a business minor, I could open my own micro-brewery. There's huge demand for micro-brews almost anywhere you go in North America and plenty of locations where there are very few/none at all. At the very least I could land a position with Coors, Budweiser or any of the plethora of existing micro-breweries here in the area and do a job that makes people happy instead of one where I'm helping to kill a whole planet.
The (potential) problem:
There's a ton of science required for this degree. It's a little intimidating at my age (well past 40). Lots of chemistry, biology and math. The math doesn't scare me. I've always been good w/numbers. What I know about chemistry and biology (beyond the very broad strokes) you can fit in a thimble. For the most part, I only have myself to blame since I spent a lot of High School stoned out of my mind and asleep in the back of class. Still, I managed to get an AAS in Drafting Technologies in 1993. So, is the chemistry and biology that hard? Am I freaking myself out over nothing? I really want to do this.
Maybe a name change is in my future. GalacticBrewMaster has a nice ring to it.
Thief and assassin for hire. Member in good standing of the Rogues Guild.
