Life after Linework...

[Edge]

I can't imagine that there is such a thing but maybe you cats that have been there can chime in...

'door, winch, old safetyman, batts, hell even swimpstick...


where do you go from here... and should I even care...

I'm thinkin of maybe workin in the locals or maybe gettin in touch with a few guys that have posted on this site about instructing... I've thought about going over seas to maybe Jap land and string some oct or decabundle.... hell I've thought about nothing but the big sky since the whole fuggin idea of hangin up my hooks even poped into my mind...

but the reality is on me.... crushing the air out of me the closer it gets...

you guys that have.... are you happy with life now???

you just fish and bullshit all day... play fuggin golf???

or do you do what I fear I will do...

dream of the open sky... your hooks kickin splinters outa a fresh set stick... think of time when you did these things...

and wish you still did...

fu(k... maybe I should quit thinkin and just try it...

for what it's worth...

Bill

[heelwinch]

If you don't have a hobby, you better get something lined up. I was fishing and hunting until I puked the first year. I spent so much time in the woods, I was almost hermitized.

It was tuff but after a year I was liking it.

[scratchpad]

Us youngsters and green apes need guys like you. Contact Dave Crawford at the cal/nev jatc. I'm sure he'd be interested.

You can do all that leisurely shit out here in Sunny California too.

[LostArt]

I don't know. The Boss says he is going to work until he can't anymore. http://www.avowners.com/forum/smileys/doh001.gif

But I am! I retire in 13 yrs! http://www.avowners.com/forum/smileys/party1009.gif

[Pootnaigle]

Ummmmmmm ya dont retire cause ya get old................. Ya get old cause ya retire. I love to fish but if ya put it in perspective a feller can even get a bait of ice cream. a few months round the house gettin caught up onna stuff I never had enuff time for and I wuz bouncin off the walls. I went right back to work and I still dont have a good plan to make the second attempt at retirement.

[slimdalineman]

To me this is one of the reasons this "job" isn't for everyone. It is more than a paycheck to us, it becomes our life and what defines us. Just about everything else tangents off of our "job". I suppose when the day comes and your putzing around the house and you look over your shoulder and see those black clouds rolling in you'll get that giddy-up feeling; but hopefully that will eventually subside. If i was in your shoes I'd do what scratchpad mentioned and look into instructing. Knowledge not shared goes to waste and I'm sure you probally forgot more than alot of us have learned. Good luck when the time comes.

[LEAFMAN]

I love the job and look forward to most days of going into work. But I also plan on retiring the first chance I get which is only a short 20yrs away. I've already bought 100 acres up in northern Ontario to retire to. Plan on hunting, fishing and all those other good things. I'll keep myself busy!

[Trbl639]

Been retired just over a year.....miss the work, miss my Brothers more, and the times we had!! Like someone said, spent more time in the wods hunting/fishing/riding the wheeler, than I did in the last 38+ years.....piddled on projects, and got lazy...then No hunting season and bad weather and I'm bouncing off the walls..........working with the WCLR rodeo and then probably gonna find a crew to get on or try to find one to run, where I can kinda take it easy, or maybe teaching...............got back problems/sciatica, and was losing my grip strength, been rode hard and put up wet way too many times.......but I can still get it....am second generation, so it's in my blood!!

First year of retirement was for me to do what I wanted, when I wanted, for as long as I wanted, with whoever I wanted to do it with...........so the first year is over.....anybody hiring:)

[climbsomemore]

I plan on working at the other stuff that turns my crank... cattle, gunsmithing stuff like that...

[BigClive]

I don't know. The Boss says he is going to work until he can't anymore. http://www.avowners.com/forum/smileys/doh001.gif

But I am! I retire in 13 yrs!

Because he enjoys it and the comradeship of his work buddies. That could change with the steady ingress of red tape stripping the fun out of work.

I hope you do get to retire. Here in the UK they keep moving the retirement goalpost further away as you get there.

Being single and self employed I'm kinda retired already. I work half the year and skive the other half. When I stop working it takes me a while to move down a gear. Six months later I'm usually glad to get back to work!

[wtdoor67]

the RNC would be a good gig. Sounds like a fun place to work. "Hey Bro. run over to the liquor store and pick up some "office supplies" and while you're at it drop by the toy box and get a box of nipple rings. "Sho thing boss, looks like we're running a little low on ice too."

[wtdoor67]

trying to give you some direction moron.

The world champion poster of this site has the audacity to try and be sarcastic with someone?

You are the one to be pitied.

Go back an listen to some more Rush and get rejuvenated. Good God! Don't forget to mail in your $5 to the RNC. You generous dog.

[Boomer gone soft]

I see ya said..."Usually".: D

I flat ass retired at 54, when my Dad got sick...and passed away a couple months later.

Got "called back" a couple years later for a "stint" I really enjoyed, but they,... the company I was contracted to...just wanted More than the 12 hours a day, I was contracted for. I Quit.

Got called back again...for Hurricane Ike. 3 weeks. Loved it. After that, and with all the new "safety inovations",
I finally realized....I was done in the trade. Just couldn't do linework no more.

Don't get me wrong! I could go back tomorrow!!

I was just "regulated, and Safetyed"...out of the trade.
My patience and attitude....just can't deal with all the New BULLSHIT.:(

But...Loving computers, Graphics, shootin and fishin.... and volunteer work...I've had NO problem with "Retirement", and Keepin busy.

Actually, every DAY is just too DAMN busy!!:D GOOD Busy! AND....Me and my Lady Still make time for at Least 1 movie a week.

That's our "Relax" time. Just "Sit back, eat popcorn and a hotdog....and let me go Mind Blank...and "tell me a Story." For a couple hours of mental blankness:cool:

The Key to retirement....is Have a "LIFE" before you "retier".

....I can't see you really having that "mental blankness" thing down.....as sharp as you are......:rolleyes:


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHA

[Edge]

I have no clue how to relax... frankly...don't know if I can...

not quite a week now and I'm going nuts...

Edge

[topgroove]

Damn man its spring and you live in one of the most beutiful states in the country. Why don't you grab the fishing pole and take a few casts tommorow.

[MI-Lineman]

I have no clue how to relax... frankly...don't know if I can...

not quite a week now and I'm going nuts...

Edge

ARE YOU GONE ALREADY???:eek:

OR ARE YA ON VACATION??

[Pootnaigle]

Theres some outfit that hires ex linemen and , or servicemen, to Patrol lines on a major storm such as a hurricane. They put em up, get em transportation, and send em out to assess damages. they were well paid n knowledgable bout what they were lookin at. Best I remember they would team up in groups and split up an entire substation between em........ drive out the trunks and walk out the taps, reporting wire down, poles broken, and anything else that needed attention before the circuits were re energized.They stayed round here for several weeks after hurricane rita, and most all of their information was credible. Not like sendin meter readers out n gettin primary down calls when it was a span guy.The majority of em were just old hands that knew and loved the trade and while they didnt actually repair anything they still made a significant contribution to the restoration effort. May wanna look into sumpin like that.

[Pootnaigle]

I honestly kaint remember the name of that outfit. I spoze the local utility companies may have that info. Or perhaps fema. N if ya find out I wouldnt mind knowin myself. I do know such a gig exists cause I spoke with several of em.........come to think of it they probably were affiliated with FEMA. cause they were sleepin in hotel rooms and FEMA had everyone available booked, The llinecrews were sleepin in their trucks, or in the case of FPL in an air conditioned tent..

[Edge]

ARE YOU GONE ALREADY???:eek:

OR ARE YA ON VACATION??

I'm trying it little brother trying it... and hating every second of it...

or maybe missing every second of it...

ain't to sure yet...

thinking of callin up to DC (local 70) sometime next week and talking with Huffstickler or Brown see what I might be able to do to transfer my ticket and maybe do some stuff for the local... we'll see...

hell I want my tickets final stamp to be from my home local anyway...

still hard to imagine...

Bill

[MI-Lineman]

I'm trying it little brother trying it... and hating every second of it...

or maybe missing every second of it...

ain't to sure yet...

thinking of callin up to DC (local 70) sometime next week and talking with Huffstickler or Brown see what I might be able to do to transfer my ticket and maybe do some stuff for the local... we'll see...

hell I want my tickets final stamp to be from my home local anyway...

still hard to imagine...

Bill

UH?? You're goin a little early aren't ya?? I mean it's you're life but ya ain't leavin us here alone with Swamp are ya?:eek:

Damn! And I might be comin back to the brotherhood after this abomination of a contract is ratified!! Only work is tranny and I'm gonna need advice on that sh!t! THE BIG SKY!!:D

Oh well! Maybe I can make friends with Heel?;)

[BigClive]

I'm trying it little brother trying it... and hating every second of it...

or maybe missing every second of it...

ain't to sure yet...



Don't worry, this is what happens when you stop. Your body and brain are still geared up for work, so time will drag and you'll run out of things to do. Give it time and you'll slip down a gear or two and learn to just do your own thing.

I build and dismantle electrical stuff or go out for walks around the city, stopping at a coffee shop now and then to have a drink at a window seat and watch the world go by.

[MI-Lineman]

[QUOTE=Swamprat;78979]"Comin BACK to the brotherhood"?:confused: Ya mean ya left for awhile? Fancy that....


Man you either don't pay attention at anything anyone else posts but we're supposed to your your sh!t or your memory's goin! OR BOTH!:D

I LEFT THE IBEW AND HAVE BELONGED TO THE UWUA FOR OVER EIGHT YEARS!

STILL UNION (some what?;))!!!

[Trbl639]

Damn...some people can't read!!!

Swamp......Entergy used to do that, on major storms, but used an outside Temp agency......don't know the name, but the old timers used to volunteer, but the way they treat the guys (working) now.....it ain't worth the BS, cause they don't pay enough!!

Don't know about other companies...but it don't sound like too bad a gig, for some extra jingle!!

[JD426H]

Trbl.....how the hell ya been man?? I have a couple of buddies that are retired, and work for a few of the outfits Poot was talkin about. They may even BE the guys he was talkin about, cause they stayed in Silsbee,TX for a month or so after the rest of us went home after Rita. The name of a few of those companies...one is Synergetic and the other one is Bartech. I might have spelled one or both names wrong, but maybe it will help you and Swamp figure it out. You still got the same cell # ? Not sure if the one I had was your old work phone. If you need me to get a contact # for the D-A gig......gimmee a holler. :D

[Trbl639]

Trbl.....how the hell ya been man?? I have a couple of buddies that are retired, and work for a few of the outfits Poot was talkin about. They may even BE the guys he was talkin about, cause they stayed in Silsbee,TX for a month or so after the rest of us went home after Rita. The name of a few of those companies...one is Synergetic and the other one is Bartech. I might have spelled one or both names wrong, but maybe it will help you and Swamp figure it out. You still got the same cell # ? Not sure if the one I had was your old work phone. If you need me to get a contact # for the D-A gig......gimmee a holler. :D

Doing good JD.......retirement is nice, money ain't as good, but I can do anything I want, with who I want, for as long as I want to!!!!!!

Not much happening right now..No work around here, but might make a trip to South Texas here shortly for some extra jingle...just gotta make a few phone calls and get all the info, an old pole buddy from Maine is headed there next week...he was down there until a few months ago and took a layoff, he's going back as a foreman or GF...........I kept my ticket!!!:D

In 2 weeks, gonna be in Du Quoin, Illinois for the World Championship Lineman Rodeo, as Master Judge, so that'll be a good trip, Jason Novak from 702 is gonna be there, and Brian wheeler and his team from Arizona, they won the International this past year, so there's gonna be some good competition, hell Novak has run an 11.8 second 'egg run' in practice..that's smoking!!! And my buddies from Mile High Trouble in Denver are gonna be there!! Gonna be one helluva party !!!

Bout all that's going on around here, just taking it easy, Your number still the same? I'll pm ya my new one and holler at ya!!

[Pootnaigle]

Synertech does ring a bell in my head. I aint sure of the spelling either but thats prolly who ya wanna contact fera storm gig.

[Trbl639]

JD426H had told me about that outfit...some of the Progress retired hands had worked that gig for a while......we he told me, I was still working ....but might check it out myself...predictions are Hurricane season is gonna be a wild one!!!

[climbsomemore]

yea.... Utility workers cousins to the IBEW ..... :)

If you work at CE... the Union and the Company think that a JL is just another cat working at "pay grade 15" or whatever it was and it's all interchangable.

That was my only bitch over there (other than the entitlement UAW inspired mentality) the guys never thought of themselfs as skilled craft workers...who can pack up and take the skills with them. Too many are connected at the hip with the company... even with the retoric they spout freely. Most of the company hands have some pretty wild ideas about how good the 876 Contract hands have it made on the property...and how they steal the work and every other stupid idea they can come up with.

It's business.. if you contract for your peaks... you dont lay off the home-boys in the valleys. But a few years ago when IRBY built some 345 Kv the CE guys never said a word.