From a youngbuck that has a alittle construction experience. We need you more then ever! I felt so good today going to a force main break and have the "old buck" show me tricks. He was hobbled by stroke couldnt quite do everything but holy crap did he make it easy just by standing behind me telling what to do. We more then ever need these old tradesman to show another generation how it works. Salute to the brutes!:usa
Make sure you tell the "old buck" how much you appreciate his help. I'm one of the "old guys" at our shop and I know I feel real good when a couple of them about 10-15 years younger than me tell me I can't retire before they do. They appreciate my knowledge and help when it's gets tough going and I appreciate their dedication to doing a good job . We make a great team together:scool
Team is right. This is a new year for me at this outfit but I understand those "old goats" better then most. They wont go away they'll stay with us no matter what **** we'll get in. Thanks for for bruising nuckles before I had to.
One night I went to a wreck with the FD, a car had broken off a hydrant. I called dispatch and had them call the rural water district. They showed upwith a crew of 3, in an F750 w a 16' service bed, towing a mini ex. They said the hydrant was about 50' from the line and was on the small town's water system; but they would turn the hydrant off so we didn't have to wait for somebody from the town. They put on chest waders and rain coats and used 1/2 the tools on their truck. Half an hour later they were defeated and called the town. Twenty minutes later this old fellow shows up in an old shortbed f150 without even a toolbox, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and tennis shoes. He gets a five gallon bucket of tools out of his truck and walks over. 3 minutes later the fountain stops. We were all laughing at the boys from rural water as they repacked their truck
it isn't that that old timer knows everything, its also the way you listened to what he was telling you. You didn't say oh i can do it or i know what i'm doing. You took the time to understand him and he took the time to teach you.... thats a rare thing in this world anymore! :drinkup to the both of you!
The problem us pensioners have is that the younger generation knows more than we do so you can't tell them anything.lol.Ron G
I've worked with a lot of new operators over the years. The ones that I really enjoy working with are the ones that listen and have a keen interest in learning. The ones that continually asking questions, the ones that take pride in the strides that they are making. I like to train operators that have absolutely no experience on a grader for example, then I can teach them "my way' of doing it. I find that with some of our new people that have some experience on a grader are very hard to work with, as they think they know more than they really do. Once they stop listening or stop following direction then thats it for me. When I first started on a grader (18 years old) I had a guy show me the basics and thats about it. I learned over the years by myself. I would have really enjoyed to have the luxury of having an "old goat" teach me. Nice to hear that younger people appreciate it. If anyone starting on a piece of equipment has an old experienced operator willing to take the time to teach you..then don't turn it down...
Hey, I'm always willing to learn from you old guys. :notworthy
I just wish more young people like you would have that attitude Keep at it young fella....
I just wish there were a lot more guys left who were older than me... But more seriously, half a lifetime ago, there were a handful of older guys that I realized I could learn an encyclopedia's worth of knowledge from, just by BSing with them about the field. They're all gone now, and I miss them... And, as for the saying "He's forgotten more than you'll ever know", I'm proud to say that I'm really over-achieving on the forgetting part.
I always like to learn from the older guys.:notworthy :canada Kyle
The reason us older guys know so much is because we have already screwed things up every way possible, so we know what works and what doesn't. There is no substitute for experience.
Old Timers Don't mess with old farts...age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! ******** and brilliance only come with age and experience.
Yep, experience is a wonderful thing...it allows you to recognise a mistake when you make it a second time because you're over-achieving in the forgetting part.
Which you know, no doubt, from experience...
You darn skippy! bah ha ha ha :tong
I grew up working with my dad(56), uncle(75), grandpa(88) and a few other old time operators that i swear could do anything. They have been there, done that, messed it up, and re-did it long before i ever was around. I learned real quick, when anyone said do it this way...you better do it. I miss them days of working with them, but times have changed. Boss I have know is not super old(although we raz him about it once and a while) but hes been in the biz all his life and is very detailed in what he does. Usually spot on with what he needs to do, but willing to listen as well. Trbo
yup! no substitute for been there and done that.
After it being dormant for a month, ATCO's going to see this thread at the top, and think "Oh look! A new thread addressed to me!"
Oldtimers I really appreciate the tips and pointers that oldtimers give. What I don't appreciate (this is not a generalization) is when an oldtimer tells me to do something in a unsafe manner simply because it is 30 seconds faster than doing it the safe and right way. Examples: You don't need a trench box, we never had them. You don't need all those chains on that backhoe, back in the sixties we never used chains at all! (when driving a loaded ten wheeler)- Start right off in high range, you don't need all those lower gears anyway! I could go on.
I grew up in the town I still live in, and had an old friend who did the same. I would sit for hours in his "shop", a small room with low ceiling and work bench with attached small one bay garage, listening to the stories of how our town was developed. There used to be a train that ran through town, it last ran in the early 20s and he told me what it was like to see the steam engine pulling up through the valley. His stories also told of how our main road was first paved, and how the contractor had a fleet of old AC Mack Bulldog dumps. Over the years I had noticed an area beside the road where the rocks had been cut and finally remembered to ask him about it. The stone was a brilliant white, and someone harvested it and hauled it to Connecticut to be used as paint pigment. I knew this man for about 25 years, he had become like an uncle to me. About 4 years before his death, I'm not sure if he had run out of things to talk about historically or what happened, but the topics had begun to change to current people and there was rarely anything nice being said. Many of these people were also my friends and it bothered me to hear them disparaged in this way. One day he was really going off on one of my closest friends and when he was done looked at me and said "Right Steve?". I answered that my friend had been very loyal to me and had helped me tremendously in establishing my business, that whatever had happened between the two of them was just that, between the two of them. The next thing I heard was "You callin' me a liar??? Well, then, there's no sense talkin' to you!". I left the shop that day and it was the last time I was there. It was also the last time I talked to him. When he and I first met, he had as many friends as anyone I knew, by this he myself and another were the only ones he hadn't alienated. I was really hurt that day and felt terrible I had lost such a close friend. The point of my post is my friend turned from one of the friendliest people I knew to a "grumpy old man" for some reason and became intolerable. I find myself becoming more cynical as I age due to all the crap I've dealt with through life, but always keep the change I saw in my friend in the back of my mind. I don't want to become like he did, he ended up passing with no friends left and while he was one of the most popular people in town at one point of his life, there were just a handful of us at his funeral. I post this story so that some who are seasoned (I'm fast approaching this group) might be aware of the behavior and keep from becoming like this themselves. On a lighter note, I've taken a lot of lessons in life from older guys, my Dad was my greatest teacher. I've had to chuckle at some of the younger guys who have worked for me who already know it all, 9 times out of ten I can outwork them with them being half my age. I try to tell them to keep a steady pace, but they alway try to impress me at how fast they can dig, and are spent for the day after 20 minutes.
Great post! I had a guy that was in his 70's school me when we were running chainsaws together!
First off great thread ..I've had several mentors in life and always wonderd where did they find there patience to deal with green mistakes ..I dont know if i consider myself and oldtimer , just turned 49 ...but I've found myself trying to relax and teach ...Dad used to say "ignorance is the most painful disease known to man kind " ...
I like this thread. Think I will go find an old fart to chat with. Maybe I will learn something.
yeah great thread, even though I cringe a little every time I hear "computers are the worst thing they ever put on an engine" I always listen to what the old guys have to say and give proper respect. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, so I listen to the historians.
Almost 30 years ago a chap built our entire crushing plant in his back yard. He had no formal qualifications, only life's experience, we still operate that plant on a daily basis with very few changes to his original design and it is the backbone of our business. He was a very knowledgeable man and I learnt so much from him, but he also was very cynical, his favourite saying was 'the country (Australia) is going down the gurgler'. I am a fairly easy going person and I said to my wife, 'I hope I never get like that', but as time goes on I find myself going down the same path. I don't go on about it like he did, but I think it a lot. I try to keep an open mind, I have learnt a lot over the years and will pass it on to the young blokes when ever I can, but at the same time, I am also learning a lot from the the young blokes. They are fresh and look at things differently to the way I do, because I am getting tired and slowing down. They also have the advantage of technology that I never had. We are in different times, you cannot compare today with 30-40 years ago. I agree with Muffler Bearing about comments relating to computor controlled engines, what is wrong with them, they are far more reliable than the old engines we had with plugs and points. They have had their problems but as time goes on, they will be eliminated. If there is a problem, the tech plugs in a lap top and it tells him what the problem is. I also had the pleasure of meeting an old gentleman, he was in his eighty's at the time and he ran a blacksmith shop in a little one horse town where we were working. His knowledge of heating and working different types of steel was incredible and I thought someone should sit down with him and write it all down. He gave a demonstration to a local Ag group one evening, where he heated a crowbar in a forge, for sharpening, and he explained to us the running of the colours in the heated steel and when the colours were at a certain point, he dropped it in a bucket of water to harden the steel. We bent the six inch shaft in our impact crusher and I spoke to him about straightening it. He told me, if he had enough time, he could straighten it with heat, unfortunately he was busy and we needed it so we had straightened in a press. While working in the same little town, we were having problems with some 3" cast bearing housings on a vibrating screen, that kept shattering. There was a German gentleman there, he was a farmer but he also had a big lathe. He fabricated and machined two new housings from steel to perfection and those housings are still in use today. Oh and I forgot to mention, he had a deformed arm from birth as well. These three men left a lasting impression on my mind and unfortunately their skills have and will be lost. At the same time though, whether you like it or not, these skills will be replaced with technology and be done even more accurately and efficiently. RnR.
LoL. :tong Well, I suppose it does include me. I definitely have the old fellow look going. I don't have any problem working with younger folks, teach them things I know whenever opportunities arise. That's not to say I am without my old codger moments, but those that know me know that it ain't nothing. Our attachments guy once told a new salesman we hired "once you break through his crusty shell, he's a nice guy". LoL The thing that has happened to me more than once is meeting or start working with a new person and after time has gone by they will tell me they remember the first time they met me because I look over the top of my glasses unless I need to see up close. At the time, they thought I was looking over my glasses and glaring at them. Turns out to be a laugh. I guess it's just part of being an old fart.
My older brother was my mentor. I got out of college and realized I didn’t want to wear a suit and tie and he needed help repairing and maintaining the equipment at the company he worked for so, to work I went Early on, before I started, the company sent him to a two week school put on by Liebherr so he could take care of the brand new 901 they had bought. Other than that, he had no schooling. He was more than just self-taught, he was a natural. He would often just listen to a machine or truck with his hand on his chin and a furrowed brow and come up with the answer. Either that or he’d start swapping hoses or relief valves or unplugging connections and figure it out that way. When he needed help figuring something out, he had built a network of old guys and peers he could go talk to for advice. As the years rolled along, I saw guy’s starting to come to his shop for advice. The company went out of business in 2000 and I ended up as the mechanic for a company made up of ex-employees and friends of mine from the old company. When I interview with them, I thought they wanted a helper for their mechanic but it turned out they wanted to fire him and wanted me to take his place. It was pretty intimidating because they had over twice the amount of equipment and trucks my brother and I had and they were poorly maintained. I worked 12 to 15 hour days, sometimes three weeks straight without a break. It took almost a year to get things turned around but I always had my brother just a Nextel ‘beep beep’ away to help me when I got stumped. I followed his lead and built my own network of old guys- the more the better. I finally asked for, and got, my own helper. He was a twenty three year old kid with a great attitude. Over three years I taught him what I knew and he taught me a thing or two. He had the advantage of not being afraid to break things when trying to fix them. I had to analyze and plan things and he liked diving right in and having at the problem. He was good. Damn good. He took another job out of state but before he left he gave me a t-shirt that said, “Old Guys Rule- Still Crazy After All These Beers”. For some reason he thought of me as an “old guy” but little did he know, I wasn’t even close. My brother passed away last year. I miss not being able to call him on the two-way. Towards the end, I’d call him with questions and later his wife told me he used to say “ Rob already had the answer but just wanted some confirmation.” While that was only partially true, It made me feel pretty good. Don’t take your old guys for granted because they aren’t always going to be there. Buy 'em a beer or call them up for no reason. You'll be glad you did.
Great thread. There's a lot of truth to it. I couldn't help but remember this when I read it. I hope it's not out of place to post it here: The Old Poodle Joke A wealthy lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa, taking her faithful aged Poodle along for the company. One day the Poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch. The old Poodle thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep doodoo now!" Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old Poodle exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?" Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. "Whew!" says the leopard, "That was close! That old Poodle nearly had me!" Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection. So off he goes, but the old Poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard. The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!" Now, the old Poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?" but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, Jjust when they get close enough to hear, the old Poodle says: "Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Moral of this story.. Don't mess with old Poodles. Age and cunning will always overcome youth and skill! Feistiness and brilliance come only with age and experience!
Love that story, Joispoi. It'd good to see that there are some youngsters out there who realise there's a bit of mileage in experience. I'm a borderline wreck at 49, and I've lost count of kids I've worked with who hit lucky once or master one machine or job and are instantly the world experts. As for the old gits who keep on about the youngsters growing up with new technology and use it as an excuse to become cynical, tough. No-one is too old to learn, unless you're happy enough watching the world leave you behind.
I've been doing alot of sitework with a excavator guy running hoe, I'm just ground pounding running grade and such. Anyways he's been more then I could ask for grade wise, I'm very rarely using a shovel. Anyways we ran into a problem with a larger assisted living complex and had to redig out rooms to put in new pipe instead of clay thats 3ft below wall footing. Best way we could do it is place a mid size hoe inside and larger hoe outside double baling back/forth. Simply put compared to what I did last year is light and day difference. Just by watching the older operators with "true experience" I've made strides. Thanks a bunch and I'll gladily trade my back for your knowledge :tong.
Rapidly approaching being one of the "Old Timers" With the greatest respect, well deserved and probably way overdue. Thank You. :usa
Wow today made think of this thread ..Went to work as always , 6 days here sometimes Sunday ...My youngest help with me at the cafe at dinner different customers asking questions...We get in truck and he says man when your gone whos gonna do this .....Well half teer eyed I said YOU ..he said " I wished I knowed half of what you know " ...my answer try to remember all of it.
A little off topic but I used to love watching my Dad ''educate'' a greenhorn inspector or engineer on our jobsites years ago.He always let them run their mouths,the ''newest'' or the most ''up to date'' ways of doing things,and then without saying anything he would just demonstrate his ''old school way'' of doing a gazillion different tricks in the excavating world. Never said anything to them until he was asked.Miss those times dearly and my Dad.The one thing though I don't miss is holding the story pole while he's setting up the old transit that takes 10-15 minutes of chasing around bullseyes so he can tell me all about accuracy in that he can distinguish the sex of a gnat at 500'. Well,actually I miss those stories also.
Absolutely. You need more experienced people teaching you things to improve.
Gday heres a little word from a young bloke, i started off working on a spud farm. I have now been working there for three and a bit years. I got all the minor jobs at the start like putting in sprinklers for the spuds, now i do just about any job. My boss has taught me everything really, from how to use a hammer properly, shovel, axe, right up to the big tractors and equipment. As i'm really interested in machinery, we seem to come up with new ideas all the time. For instance we have changed the way we put sprinklers out and how we set them up, has reduced the manpower needed now to half, and the time has also reduced by a third. The point i want to make is, is that he took the time to train me up to a standard that i am now a useful worker. I am absolutely grateful for his time and patience, and all of the stories. It's a shame that many of my generation don't want to hear these stories.
I learned from three old timers, grandfather, father, and master mechanic Frank DeVault. As a young pup, watched grandfather build all manner of woodwork, still have some furniture he built from solid cherry. I recall the patience he took with every piece of wood he was working with, working it to flawless perfection. Worked with father since I was a grasshopper, all manner of construction work from installing commercial doors, glass storefronts, steel erection and crane service. There was nothing the man wouldn't do. Hell we've even installed bathroom partitions! LoL! Everything had to be perfect. Too perfect for me as a young pup, but oh what a lesson in life that has taught me. Not once, in everything we did, was our work on any punch list for corrections. Makes sense, one thing I learned from dad; take time to do it right the first time, it's a waste of time to back up and do it over. And Frank DeVault, God rest his soul, took the humor to mentor me with the workings of equipment and how to coax the beasts back to life. The one thing all these men taught me was to not be afraid. Use the God given intelligence that you have, think, use your head. After all, a problem is nothing more than an opportunity for someone who can solve it. Still wish I had all the knowledge these three men had. May the peace of God be with all three.
Its great to know that fellas like Frank DeVault where around ...Mine was my Dad and Dave Trego ..
This really struck home with me as my father/boss is aging before my eyes. Hes pretty much turning the reigns over to me for the most part but hes still there every day to keep the big problems at bay. hes had some health problems these last couple years and the stress from this economy isn't helping him at all.
Heh, I am going through the "Too many chains" thing right now. Bucket, 2 points on the front of the frame, 2 points on the rear of the frame, hoe, and outriggers. Oh, and the tiedowns have to equal or exceed the machine weight. I get told that you only need one chain on the front and one on the back, and tie the hoe if you are going through scales. Grrr. You should have heard them when I was tying down the D6N with 5/16 chain! (all they had, good thing they had a lot of it!) I printed out the simple english version of the rules and told them that if they didn't agree with it, show me were I was wrong, otherwise let me do my job. Fortunately they shut up about it... I can't stand the hoes and track hoes I see going down the road bouncing around the trailer. I seem to have been unlucky and gotten more of the old guys that don't like questions, or that don't care about safety or laws or OSHA, but I have worked with a few goldmines of knowledge. And then I found this site! Ben~
My shortest Post ever! You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself. Sam Levenson (1911 - 1980) And that's a promise!:drinkup Ben~
I never learned too much from the older individuals.. really didn't have much use with knowledge of fixing a wooden wagon wheel or putting harnesse's on a set of mules....and if the price of fuel gets to where I have to go back to those models of equipment, ima gonna quit and become a politician.....period.
Hey Gramps... don't polliticians run on oil too? you grease my back I'll grease yours? Just kidding ya Gramps A qoute from an old gentleman..... "we're gonna have to get small quick"..... in reference to a similar depression that the country went through in the 50's. (quote from my old FFA Creed, thought it well suited here and hope it helps) I believe in the future of farming with a faith born not of words but of deeds, achievements won by the present and past genreations of agriculturalists, in the promise of better days, through better ways even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us through the struggles of former years. E.M Tiffany Full version can be found here: https://www.ffa.org/About/WhoWeAre/Pages/TheFFACreed.aspx I know this is was pertaining in words to Agriculture but the principle is the same for those of us here, I know many have lived their life with these same goals. Salute to you Gramps, OCR, Atco, just a few of who come to mind.:usa
I had plenty of people around me that would tell a young pup what to do . I learned the most from the ones that still told me what do but why and what the possible outcome could be if I didn't pay attention.
Salute to you Gramps, OCR, Atco, just a few of who come to mind. Thank you Monty those are very kind words....Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!
Well that does it...then I am too! I'll be darned if I let you go to Washington and turn it upside down catywompus and have all the fun of doing it by yourself!
monte1255 ...Didn't know i was the only one who had Farmers Creed framed on the wall .I live by it everyday ...
Gents; We all like to expound on our victories, but its the defeats that are every bit as important........human nature is to let the 'stupid' things settle to the back...but those stupid things keep happening unless we learn from them hopefully by not repeating over and over. I for one, in my particular industry get really tired of hearing how certain people are expert, but knowing full well not one word is ever mentioned about how they went broke, what lead up to it, how could it be avoided....you young bucks, could learn a lot more if the old guys would share that...just my $.02~!
Well I will share my words of wisdom and this holds true for everyone.....DONT SPEND MORE THAN YOU MAKE!!!!!
You said a mouth full there Granpa. We are getting into very interesting times.
Read over the posts here and a lot of good stuff to read, I especially liked Steve's post on the aging and how bitter some people become, I guess its a lot of factors, old age, dementia setting in, things they have always felt but never said, opinions they have they never voiced because they were too polite, whatever the reason, I've ran across this a lot over the years and am dealing with it now in my own family with aging relatives, I guess you let some of it roll off your back and let it go to keep the peace and also try to channel it back towards a conversation that's positive again instead of negative, but whatever approach you use keep talking to these people, everyone ages and gets old and hopefully some younger pup will sit and listen to you someday and steer your conversations back towards the positive again when you don't even realize what your saying is negative and hurtful. These old timers have a wealth of knowledge to share but few to listen to them, yea most is outdated but still useful and important to know and I agree totally with the words of you have to learn from someone else because you don't have enough time to make all the mistakes yourself. I too have seen the most friendly people become bitter and alone and nobody likes them or wanted anything to do with them in the end, I guess that is sad, people do change over time and to have nothing to do with someone because of things they do or say in their old age maybe isn't the fault of them as much as those that don't understand how old age affects people and their personalities, their minds and also their body, the loss of their friends and family, the lack of something useful to do, the skills they have are no longer needed and boredom, the lack of job importance, being needed, the ability to help others but end up being a burden on others, the frustration of not being able to do for yourself but have to wait for others to do for you, the onset of Alzheimer's, or Parkinson's disease, diabetes and a host of other life changing health conditions and the list is endless. I guess we'll all get there eventually ourselves, its just how we handle it and what we do with our time that makes us different than others. I've always felt everyone has their prime, their hay day, the peak, call it what you want but after that things start to falter and go down hill and I try to look at people and remember them when they were in their prime and overlook some of what aging has done to them.
AMEN! BROTHER IM WITH YA! just wish tha young bucks was'nt know it alls,they would get more help by asking! how do ya think the old timers learned / from the old old timers!
Found this old thread and wanted to put my 2 cents in. It's going to be a sad day when all the older fellas do get out of the buisness because this new generation is to quick to think there entitled to something they have not earned. Now with that being said I'm a pretty good operator but don't claim to be the best because there is always somebody out there to show you a better way on any piece of equipment! It was three years on the job before I ever got to even move a piece of equipment other than greasing or fueling for my Dad "the BOSS" at the end of the day, I think thats what made me a good operator today having to earn my way into the seat and watching him and his operators everyday for three years.Now I'm not just saying this because he's my Dad but I have never seen anybody as good as him on a piece of equipment excavator,dozer,crane,grader,skidsteer and backhoe and he has had some good operators working around him for the the past 35 years. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that what has made me a good operator is watching my Dad and his employees for years and listening to their advice and tips.Oh and yelling too:notworthy
Yes and Im geting sick of showing people who don't want to learn. They sit back for half a day watching you and go thats easy. Hmmmmm if only they knew. A good operator makes it look easy. eh.
There's no better way to put it catgrader , a good operator does make it look easy!
that same thing stands true on the mechanics side as well ....... I've learned from years of " old- timers" to "always work smarter not harder" ... " youve gotta be smarter than what your working on " .....and " get a bigger @#$%$$# hammer and heat the sumb@#$@ up like a cherry!"
I've give up on the teaching, as stated, they don't want to learn or already know it all. I can be done with the job and they are still trying to figure out how to unlock the boom. They won't ask you how something works either. We had a brand new Volvo loader demo on the job, the boss and dealer set on the loader for about an hour. The next day I get on the thing, I ask the boss how the joystick steering works. he smarts off with the " if you don't know how" blah blah blah. I said I wasn't the one who set in the cab for an hour to learn which of the 100 buttons did what. He did show me what did what to make the steer work. I do like the joy stick.
I'm very glad that I was able to ride shotgun on the edge of a grader and learn from two seasoned grader operators. I learned a lot in 2 weeks time. I told them several times how much I appreciated their advice and knowledge.:notworthy
you will never go wrong talking to and listieng to old folk's the one thing that stand's out with me is an old lad once said you want one lazy persen working for you cuz if there's an esayer way to do somthing he will figure it out! . and the scarey thing i'm fast becoming one of the old fart's tb
Nice to read this and knowing there are those young people out in the workforce that are willing to listen to us old timers over the years I have had the displeasure of working around so many young people that after a couple years in the business they seem to think they have all the answers and don't want to listen to the old guy even if what they have to say could make thier job so much easier!!
As one of the old timers, well I'm not that old, but close enough, I would like to say thanks for listening. Over the years I have had the privilegege of being able to help in the training of the next gen of mechs, have alway had an apprentice with me except for a few years when things were lean. I have had many really good guys and only a few dogs. There is nothing is the world quite like the feeling you get when you see the light bulb go in their eyes when they GET IT, just like having one of you kids get it. I really love it when the student passes the master, or when you see one of the young guys years later and they greet you with a big hello. Good stuff. When I was younger I would alway seek out the old timers at coffee and get them into story mode, the things you could learn! One of my big things is to get the apprentices to ask questions, lots of questions, If you are not making me think, then your not thinking, your just in idle mode. Your going to watch me once, help me once, then your on your own, so you had better have asked all the questions before.
Heard this one ? A young man walks into a bar. Barkeep says why the long face son ? Kid says someone just told me that only the good die young, now I'm really scared of old people.