....cause right now I hate equipment because of PARTS GUYS!! So, I thought, ....if I decided that PARTS GUYS were going to be my demise in this business (its crossed my mind alot in this last year)...lets just say I quit as of today! What else could I do to earn a living? What would you do if you just said "SCREW IT" and walked away from what your doing today? Well, lets see............I have a bit of experience in the machining field, but that was in the early 80's. I couldn't run a new CNC today if my life depended on it. How about building bird houses?....I'm a decent carpenter. But I would have to build and sell thousands of them a month to make what I do now. I would get sick of that pretty quick. I know how to repair equipment but have no experience as an operator. I couldn't cut a grade but I could move mass dirt in a big excavator as long as I didn't have to worry what the ground looked like when I was done. My new boss probably wouldn't appreciate the final inspection of my work. I don't have patience for stupid people so Walmart is out. Hell, working with the general public would drive me insane after being on my own so long. Maybe I could drive a truck at 57 years old? I don't know, my back just kills me even sitting in my service rig for more than 4 hours. LMAO!!!! Wife is behind me reading this as I type and said the only thing left for me is being a stripper! ***?!!! LOL! wait a minute............she may be onto something here I'de have to lose 50 lbs. and work out. Who wants to see me in a dress?
Strip club consultant.
I am in the same boat as you. I love what I do for a living, but I am growing tired of the industry itself. I don’t want to start over making crap wages to learn something new. And I probably would burnout before I get to the same money as now. It’s a curse. I am currently looking for a job that pays double and is only one day a week. Until I find that job I guess I will stay where I am at.
OMG !!! Vetech !!! Here ya go again ! ! Just so nobody misses the funniest part (at least for me).----- Why he hell are ya sittin in your service truck for four hours at a time ? Oh!, I know waiting on a parts guy to look sumthin up.
Yes I know what I would do, I would retire for a living
Vetech, instead of losing 50 lbs to be a stripper, just be the doorman at a strip club.
That's why they call those of us who have made it to retirement "Survivors". Given the typical type of personalities in this business, the only other item we might be good for is a security guard in some warehouse project. Social security and a tiny pension allow me to work when I want to and name my price and pick the kinds of jobs I might feel like doing. The consulting bit is for interesting things and still use some of my experience. The occasion troubleshooting and wrench work gives me a bit of exercise. The video productions stimulate my mind to no end. I quit being an employee at 63 feeling just the way you do now. Finish your time and then get paid to do what you want to do.
Dude....I’m gonna need a lobotomy to get that image out of my head!! It is a legit thing to think about. I’m a lot of things...but damn sure not a people person. I figure by the time the owner hangs it up I’ll be into my 50’s. Hopefully there’s another drilling outfit that needs some guidance and I can work a few more years using more of my brain than my back. On the other hand...if we could figure out how to make a $ giving advice on here.....we’d be.....deeper in debt!!! Haha
I did retire for a living. Now when my wife wants a shrub planted instead of reaching for a shovel and pick axe, I reach for the keys for my track loader. Digging holes can be very therapeutic and using diesel and hydraulics is much easier on the back in rocky soil than a Pine Handled Digger.
Isn’t the real answer obvious? Become a parts guy or an engineer. Either way you’d spend your days dishing out sweet sweet revenge! Oh the satisfaction!
I could see making breakfast for a living. I've come very close to buying a food truck a few times and it still sits in the back of my mind kind of always. I could also see messing around in the workshop doing woodworking. I'm not terribly talented or skilled at it yet and like the birdhouse comment above I'd need to sell a substantial amount of stuff to make a living out of it. I'd like to say I could make a living out of doing backhoe work, but I'm not sure. There was a streak for a week or two of frequently helping neighbors with stuff in their yards or whatever and I grew weary of the hoe, but that was maybe due to coming home from work, then getting out there and doing other people's work. They did pay me, in both real money and bourbon, so I can't complain too much. I'm not sure how I'd feel about it if it were my job.
Dealing with the general public for 3 years FT while working at my father's business....THAT drove me back to schooling and away from any business that deals with the public. I can fix most anything but I just don't handle stupid very well. Throw a few Liberal fanatics into that mix and I can go ballistic pretty fast. Ignorance is bliss and the world's public is full of very happy people that I don't want to deal with. Spent a few years to get a degree so at least one engineer in the world would think about access for maintenance and repair DURING the design process, not as an afterthought or as a measure of S&M for the unfortunate techs that followed. I never did grow comfortable driving a desk: just edgy, irritable, weak and fat. The native in me needs to be outside, secluded from society and able to be free from excessive responsibilities. Dirt work was therapeutic and fun for me. I could learn any machine within minutes without help. I know my father always questioned buying me so many Tonka toys when I was a kid after my addiction to heavy equipment consumed me and made me a workaholic. As kids, we used to build towns in the volleyball court at the lake for days on end. Back to being a kid with a fleet of bigger toys that made more noise and built things for real. THAT was fun and it made some money. However, dealing with employees and paperwork really SUCKED. I was still always caged down to make ends meet and beat the clock as employees were a constant drain on the bank accounts. Eventually, I found my niche. For the past 24 years I have been able to work ALONE, be profitable, enjoy my freedom, work mostly in secluded areas far away from STUPID and still enjoy what I do. I take my aggressions out on vegetation rather than holding it in or binge drinking. I love putting the Treehuggers' fears into double overdrive as I make the trees scream for mercy while my Cummins bellows out its familiar drone somewhere in a secluded forest or swamp. Relocating to a rural area was my best move in life. Money is not everything - happiness is. Life is short so I'm trying to make the best of it. Sure, I could make more cash with employees or living in/near a city but why should I wish to be miserable again? Freedom = Happiness. Don't mess with a good equation when the math works well. The wife already thinks that I have "miserable" and "grumpy" down way too well prior to morning coffee. She never knew me in my late teens when I worked for my father's business in Liberal Lala Land - THAT miserable was another 4 levels higher with lots and lots of coping alcohol thrown in to attempt at managed sanity. At least I learned to get out of misery. I'm thankful for the roads that I've chosen in life to get me where I am today. I'm not ready to retire from this symphony of destruction type life, yet. Too many trees, too much regrowth and it's still enjoyable to listen to the scream of any species of wood. I'm still self sufficient. Unless I was designing new equipment, I would not know what else to do at this point in life.
I spent years and years dealing with the public. When I worked for a shop that also owned tow trucks I dealt with that. Dealing with belligerent drunks at 3:00 a.m. can really wear you down. Dealing with the public in any business is tough, the old saying {the customer is always right} no he is wrong about 65% of the time. My problem with doing something else, I hurt too bad 24hrs a day. I'm shot worn out I have a hip that just raises hell with me constantly, spine is toast, neck bothers me. So no matter what any job isn't going to be any real improvement. If I don't keep moving it only gets worse. I just grin and bear it. But if I had the chance my choice would be----Designing class 8 Trucks, that would be fun for me.
@treemuncher you are one of my heroes. Somehow, even after managing a fair s-load of people, I still generally like being around people to some extent. I think I'm learning that I like it more when I don't get the chance to know them too well but I still want people around some.
John C. The video productions stimulate my mind to no end. Videos of ? Where? Joe H
Here is my channel; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ZtvgWG-EtmGZhvtMeBMEQ It's mostly tutorials on machines. I produce them on the cheap trying to help people new to the business of heavy equipment.
Was the dealing with the public that sent me to the Utility, that in turn was around AZZHOLE Public that were owed their services then off to power generation, just needed that change and managed at a age low enough to get to a decent retirement. Now I beat on myself driving where do not need to and should be backing away from that as well.
When I go broke farming I am going to call Hallback, so I can be a equipment operator/trucker in the mountains. Been a flatlander for 50 years, better scenery would be in order.
Quoted for the record. You said it yourself
And meant it too!! My own worst enemy.
I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. The cancer diagnosis changed a lot of priorities and suddenly money and material things didn't matter much, not that I was ever into the keeping up with the Jones mentality. Yeah I bought nice truck but certainly not the top of the line with a bunch of crap I'd never even use. I have a good friend who might be interested in buying my land. I told him I'd give him a good package deal with all the equipment. Then I'd be able to go and help him for something to do. It would give me enough money to not have worry about too much except looking after my health. First thing though is getting through the chemo. I'm just hoping the revised meds don't have the bad side effects. I guess I will find out Thursday night or Friday. Don't want to end up in the ER again. It makes it hard to stay positive when your sick as a dog in the hospital.
Stay strong Brother
I can get you in shape, just don't kill over on me with a heart attack we could be a pair of Chippendale strippers I'm sure we could split the proceeds. On serious note if I had to come out of retirement I would go into solar system builds or real estate market or both.
Shovel and pick axe in FL?