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View Full Version : About Retirement...............



LostArt
02-06-2007, 06:48 AM
I've asked a few of you guys how you think you would like retirement. I've also asked some that have retired. But, let me ask those SEASONED retirement guys how you adjusted to being away from a job that has consumed most of your life? From what I read and hear from most linemen, it's a hard adjustment once there. So, let's here it.

LostArt
02-06-2007, 05:57 PM
You must do something that will replace linework. I have a piece of junk unloaded this week that was a HD 1978 FX. I don't have a clue what it will be this time next year. Maybe a bobber. The tranny alone is trashed and that is starting point. Motor is hopeless.

Hehehehe....Well Steve can you make some form of artwork out of it? :D

Yeah, I'm thinking the boss would really miss it also. Guess we will still have a Sprint bill. I think the poor man would go nuts if he couldn't talk to his buddies about what line they are building or where are they working....and if the weather is bad, he will want to know where they are to see how bad it is. 'Course...since he doesn't do that much trouble anymore, he still does that!

polehiker
02-06-2007, 06:38 PM
Miss the work and the guys I worked with.(some of them) After I retired, I thought about trying to get on with a contractor and do that for a few yrs. Wife shot that one down. Then I did some inside wiring for awile. Worked harder than I did before I retired and made less. I shot that one down. Got a place to winter in Florida, play golf and having a good time. -4 last night in Ohio. Don't miss those cold callouts. Sure was fun at the time tho. I knew most people didn't want or couldn't do what we were doing. I still patrol lines when we are traveling. Wife says it won't ever get out of my blood.

old lineman
02-06-2007, 11:20 PM
I've been retired for over 2 years and just can't stop thinking about how to do things,easier, the guys I worked with and observing lines being built.
In my mind I could hike those suckers just like I could when I was 35. Then I raise my arms and feel sudden pain and remember all of the hoist handles I've pulled. That killed my shoulders.
I was gone from the house most of the time and my wife worked shift as an RN. Like two ships passing in the night.
Now were together all the time. Boy that takes some getting used to.
I love to get on the phone with my son and talk linework. Like two kids in a candy store.
I'm like the other guys miss the fellowship, the satisfaction of building something you can see. To some it's ugly no matter how well it's built. To me it's a thing of beauty.
No wonder I never liked URD.
I'll never get linework out of my blood till the day I die.
The Old Lineman

BigClive
02-07-2007, 12:34 PM
Retirement? Hah! Here in the UK they've just raised the male retirement age to about 70 to see if they can kill more of us off before we can expect some sort of pension.

I decided a long time ago to "tramp" so I can enjoy my retirement spread through my life instead of hoping I'll be around to enjoy it once my bodies worn out.

polehiker
02-07-2007, 09:18 PM
I've met most all the young guys who were hired after I retired,Get a kick outa listening to them. I think back to when I was their age and it seems like me and my buddies sitting there talking and razzing each others a--. I'm like you Old Lineman, my heart says I could still do it but the body says don't try. Still when I look at that set tools hanging up in the barn, I sure get some good memories and think to myself "why not". Like my line at the bottom says, " Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional".