Last day of work

[RICH MUISE]

Yesterday was my last day of work at the picture framing framing shop I was working at. That was ok with me..I had owned my own frame shops and art galleries for 23 years in the Springs and really didn't want to do it any more when I moved to Texas, but Amarillo being Amarillo, couldn't find anything else so I got a "temporary" job at this shop while I was trying to find something else..that was 6 years ago!! They dragged out closing the shop for over a year and finally pulled the plug. I'm going to take a month or two off and try to get some projects done on the '57, try to expand my makeshift garage a little bit( I don't have enough width to open both doors), and I'm sure my wife will figure she can expand the eternal honey-do list a bit.
After that I'll try to find an interesting job (?) part time. Right now it's kind of a confusing state I'm in..not sure if I'm retired or unemployed!  Rich

[JimNolan]

Rich,
   I'm telling you that in two months you won't want to go back to work. It takes about two months to get over the feeling you should be somewhere. After that, it's clear sailing. If your wife is still working you're going to catch some grief though. They don't like the idea of them working and you sitting at home enjoying yourself. Jim

[canadian_ranchero]

the way my money is going i will be 80 when i can retire

[RICH MUISE]

Actually my wife wants me to retire..she has another 6 years or so of working. Gary...my money's already gone and that's the problem. I took care of the family finances for the first 20 years of our marriage..my wife figures it's her turn. Like I was telling Jim offline...I like to get out of town every 3 or 4 weeks..and there is the expense of my '57...hard to build a street rod on s.s.! so I'd like to find something to get some pocket money. Kinda funny..my wife actually told me she'd not only take care of paying the bills that I had been paying, she'd pay me to stay home!...(if I'd just stay out of casinos..she added)...but I just feel alot more comfortable wasting my money  Rich

[Zapato]

I must have been born for retired life, burned up my vacation first, almost a month. Then returned to work signed some papers and never looked back. Don't miss it all.

Zap-

[RICH MUISE]

I just realized a little while ago while reminising about my different careers...coincedently the space shuttle also retired yesterday and that's my little share of history. I had mentioned my art galleries and framing shops, but prior to that, I worked in SoCal in the aerospace/defense machine shop business. I machined a part (on a standard Bridgeport mill) for North American Rockwell that their top current machine shop outside vendors  had failed on 4 times, and their own in house machine shop said they did not think they could handle, and would not touch. We were told if we failed, the space shuttle program would go into a one year delay for the first flight because of the length of time to produce the special aluminum billets requred for the part, and they were down to 2 billets from 6 innitially produced. They needed the part in 6 weeks.
I estimated 620 hours on the part..(had worked in the office for 2 years at that point). When we got the job, my boss told me to dust off my toolbox..it was my job to build.
I crammed 525 hours into the next 5 1/2 weeks and produced a perfect part...which resulted in our keeping 10-12 prototype machinists busy 60 hours a week for the next 5 years.
After they flew the 1st shuttle(remember the 747 piggyback ride?), they melted down some of the parts that were not to be reused and made medallions out of them. I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of one of those medalions, along with a certificate signed by the astronauts, for "significant contribution to the space shuttle program". It was something I have been real proud of, and as I mentioned..very strange coincedence the space shuttle program retiring on the same day as me.  Rich

[JimNolan]

why to go Rich

[smurfee]

  Hay RICH, ever think of working part time at a body shop??? SMURFEE

[RICH MUISE]

I've got a buddy who owns a restoration/hot rod shop who asked me last year if I wanted a job..an opportunity I would have given my left n** for when I was younger..but firstly I didn't want to turn my hobby into a job, and secondly I'm just too damn old for it..You talk about hard work..Right now in his shop he has 2 roadrunners, one of which he is setting up with a Viper V-10, a 40 ford roadster, a '57 ford, a '48 Jeepster, and a 55 chev. All of them are getting major restorations and drivetrains and suspensions..hell of a shop to learn a craft at.( He was a college roomate of Pat Fleishman's)
LOL..I'll sand for an hour or two then go take a 1/2 hr. nap!
I've been fortunate to have been blessed with good hands and a fair amount of common sense which has gotten me through a number of major projects..but I found out a long time ago there is a major difference between being able to do something well and being able to make a living from it.

[Jeff Norwell]

Enjoy it Rich!...I have come to the very real realization... I will never retire.
There ain't no money left hahahahah

[JimNolan]

Fellows, enjoy it while you can.
NEVER have I seen a Brink's armored truck pull up to the back of a Funeral Home. Jim

[Jeff Norwell]

Fellows, enjoy it while you can.
NEVER have I seen a Brink's armored truck pull up to the back of a Funeral Home. Jim

lmoa!!!!!!! HAHAHHA..Now THAT is funny!!!!!!!

[Ford Blue blood]

Rich I went through the same thing after I retired from the Navy.  Had played with cars my entire life and figured that would be the thing to do, work when I wanted to, travel to car shows and get get paid while doing it all.  I lasted three years.  When I found myself having to push to get out to the shop at 8:00 AM and quitting earlier and earlier each day it was time to look for something else.  Don't get me wrong, I stayed covered up with work, made real good money and pretty much enjoyed the praise from spectators looking at my work but, don't fish, don't hunt, don't play golf so there was nothing for a release on the weekends.  Found a job that was really good for my head, helped serve a good cause and I had weekends to myself and projects again.  Now that I'm retired again, like you when I get a good 4 - 5 hours out there now I feel like I need a nap!

Getting old is a bitch, but the alternative is much less attractive!

[geraldchainsaw]

i retired 12 years ago from fords,   was in skilled trades,  worked 7 days a week all those years,   find i still work 7 days aweek,  whether its sitting in the back yard, cutting the grass or honey dos's,    go for alot of car rides,  hit a lot of car shows & swap meets,   its still the good life & i don't miss fords at all,  only things i do miss are the machines, sand blasters, and the best welders in the world,  now every job i do takes longer,   just my thoughts,      jerry

[RICH MUISE]

This has been an interesting thread...finding out what some of the members did (or still do) for a living. Any body else want to chime in and tell us what they do/did for a living?
Gerald.. it sounds like you worked in a tooling shop for Ford?
Rich