I don't want to go to work tomorrow.

[Kern Dog]

Pretty young to bail. Are you going past 30?

I'm almost 54. Still feel great and the work is within my abilities. I plan to keep working somehow but I am considering a "retirement" from Union work while still doing side jobs and remodel work. I could be making MORE money at that point than I am working full time at a regular payroll Union job.

 

[ws23jrt]

I am 68 and have yet to "pull the plug" I don't need to continue with my craft to make my living. I still do it some to continue to live. From the begining of my choice for a working career it was first all about enjoyment to be allowed to do what was/is fun for me. The paychecks were residual thanks and far exceeded my early thinking about that part of working life. We don't work to live. Working IS living.

 

[Kern Dog]

It can be. I like building things. Mostly, I frame roofs whether it is truss or stick frame conventional. I like it all. In my first 20 years, I worked Residential for over 90% of the time. When the economy crashed in 2007, the housing market shrunk and the company I work for lost our contracts to CHEAPER contractors. We never went back to housing. It has been schools, commercial buildings and Federally funded apartments. At least the apartments were more like the residential work that I really like.

 

[ws23jrt]

Hey kern- I too have been a union worker- as a millwright since 1976. I saw some of my paychecks going into a pension fund and seldom gave it a second thought. Well now I get a big pension check that shames my ss check and at my age I can still work without jeopardizing either one of them. Savings and investments gives me another edge against the greedy takers that we tend to call governers.

 

[Kern Dog]

That is how I see it too.
I have a ways to go before SS kicks in. I've heard for years that it will become insolvent sometime in the future. My pension and side jobs would still serve me well if Social Security goes under.

 

[GetX'd]

That is how I see it too.
I have a ways to go before SS kicks in. I've heard for years that it will become insolvent sometime in the future. My pension and side jobs would still serve me well if Social Security goes under.

That’s a good plan. Working on the side since you like it will serve you well. I just started collecting SS this month. I have little doubt that it will continue to be around for our lifetimes. It’s not going to go insolvent. If I was 20 I wouldn’t be counting on it. I think we’re good. There are fixes that can be employed that will likely happen once we get past this stupid government log jam. You may have to pay in a little bit more or wait a little longer, or both but it’s goi g to be there for a long time.

 

[ws23jrt]

For those that hate the thought of going to work on monday - maybe that is a clue about the choice of work one does. No one needs to be in pain for a living. Weeks months and years will pass in a flash and not wait for a do over.

 

[ws23jrt]

In my working career I haven't had a steady job in 40 years. Some lasted a day or two others lasted nearly a year. Some calls were urgent and in horrible conditions that lasted as much as 36 hours straight. I won't say they were all fun but they were all satisfying in a lasting way. I picked the right path for me and have been paid very well for it. Been with one contractor since 1996 and used up three company trucks servicing customers in several states.--oops I'm starting to ramble about liking my job. I sometimes miss coming mondays.

 

[steve from staten island]

Hey kern- I too have been a union worker- as a millwright since 1976. Wow! A union worker the last 43 years.....Congrats to you!

 

[Darius]

I, for one, am enjoying the hell out of being retired. Every once in a while I miss some parts of running the business and I do miss the people/camaraderie with my employees. But I am VERY happy not being committed to anything right now. I can feel the time coming when I am going to need to find something to do. For now, taking off whenever the hair gets up my *** for as long as I want in the RV with no pressure to be anywhere but where I am at that moment.......is THE ****!!!!!!

 

[dadsbee]

Where I want.. when I want... and a lot of sacrifice in the past 35+ years to get here, but well worth it at this stage in life !

 

[ws23jrt]

I, for one, am enjoying the hell out of being retired. Every once in a while I miss some parts of running the business and I do miss the people/camaraderie with my employees. But I am VERY happy not being committed to anything right now. I can feel the time coming when I am going to need to find something to do. For now, taking off whenever the hair gets up my *** for as long as I want in the RV with no pressure to be anywhere but where I am at that moment.......is THE ****!!!!!!

We are of similar thinking. I too am enjoying "retirement".
I clearly recall a day (in the seventh grade).- I was looking out a classroom window and first looked forward to being "old".--(past 50)
What I was looking forward to was the place in my life when I could enjoy the efforts of living to be "old".
I am now in that place -that I was daydreaming of- and so far it is like what I was expecting. However- my life/working path was crafted to make what I have now in my life a reality out of that early daydream.

 

[ws23jrt]

Those that hate mondays can fix that with doing what is fun and compelling. The paychecks will be a residual benifit. A win-win for all involved.

 

[Kern Dog]

When I was building houses, I liked the work so much, I would have done it for less money if I had to. When the housing market crumbled, our company shifted to Government funded jobs...Schools and low income apartments. Now, I make a lot more but don't care for the work nearly as much.

 

[kiwigtx]

In all that time not once have I heard any guy refer to what he did as a "CRAFT". What is that some new type of yuppie term.

Finessing fine pieces of timber into neatly shaped apertures to maintain discretion is indeed a craft.

Melting the **** out of metal with 400 Amps is an acquired skill, but not a craft.

 

[dadsbee]

What if I do it delicately with a TIG....

 

[kiwigtx]

What if I do it delicately with a TIG....
View attachment 856801

Everybody loves a wise-***.

 

[ws23jrt]

What if I do it delicately with a TIG....
View attachment 856801

Geez--that looks "crafty" to me. (steve may laugh you out of the shop for being proud of a craft you have).

 

[dadsbee]

Geez--that looks "crafty" to me. (steve may laugh you out of the shop for being proud of a craft you have).

I don't know.. I'm not a real welder... I just play one on an aircraft forum..

 

[ws23jrt]

I "crafted" this in my basement. It is 4130 tubing -tig welded.
For Disney in Tokyo Japan. (It took a bit more than a paycheck to do this).

This is the main part of the skull of Ursula the wicked sea witch in Disney's Little Mermaid show/program.