Thread: Kylie in Sydney

Hello there,

Just popped in to tune in with the brains trust that seems to inhabit this forum.

A bit about me. Sydneysider these days, and in the same love-hate relationship with the city as most others here. Keen bike rider, mostly for transport, but when I'm motivated I get into the sporty side of it too. I'm into gardening, cooking and yoga when I'm at home, and when I'm out and about I seem to be mostly fascinated by urban design and architecture lately. I've spent a lot of time doing left-brain, regimented, structured stuff, and I'm really finding my creativity now, which is helping get that balance that we all need.

Professionally I'm a mechanical engineer, having worked across the marine, buildings and civil industries. Having (what I hope is an early) midlife crisis at the moment (I'm 31) so I'm studying again and wondering what to do next. That makes it sound a bit bleak - not really the case. I'm fortunate to have time on my hands and so I'm listening to what my heart pulls me towards, instead of just doing what I've always done to make a living. I'm a bit frustrated with big business, so I'm looking to get into something a little more intimate, somewhere that I actually interact with the people whose lives I am trying to improve. I want to use the skills I've learnt on the big jobs to help people build, improve and maintain their homes. I have a big interest in energy efficiency and design so i can see myself heading that way. So as far as the next career moves, I'm wondering how I can tap into the residential building world with my current skills. I'm looking at doing either the certificate 4 or diploma in building and construction, and looking into part time work in the industry while I study. To get my foot in the door and start to transfer my skills across. Anyway, that's just work.

All this time on my hands has seen me spending more and more time in the garage, slowly acquiring new tools and doing a lot of repairs around the house. I've watched too many episodes of Grand Designs and become fascinated with traditional methods of joinery (although admittedly my Dad is a carpenter so it's been in my face for a while!). So today I finally tipped the scales and bought myself a set of chisels. I've started now, there's no going back! No longer can I stuff around barefoot in the garage, this is serious ;-)

So this is me, hoping to join in the conversation, learn a few things, and hopefully contribute where I can, too. Thanks for reading!

Kylie