I am happy to share my interests, ideas and experiences--even my memories. At this point of my life though, I enjoy things simpler, slowed down, and more in the form of a good story. Today I had a good opportunity to swap stories. An old friend, Steve, dropped by and we had a couple of beers and talked about our former lives as "factory rats." He was a pipe-fitter and I was a millwright. Things seemed so serious then, we were often sweating out the next contract and its provisions, usually predicting some sort of cut back or reduction in wages and benefits.
We lived at the mercy of the next contract expiration, there was always the hint it would be the last. The drama of conjecture increased as we approached the end of a contract and the all important negotiations and subsequent vote. The tension and anxiety were palpable. However, there were many other things going on, things that make "One Life To Live" look like a knitting circle. So that is what we talk about, laugh about, and find hard to believe that actually happened.
After years of complaining, I miss it. Time has smoothed the rough edges and muffled the loud voices and given me time to find almost everything that happened reasonable. The building has vanished, razed to the ground, thanks to some aspect of the government's participation in General Motor's bankruptcy. I think it was based on some environmental clean up clause.
MY BUDDY, STEVE:
So now I've done it, reminiscing about reminiscing. Our current Florida retirement life has been a good one. My main focus now is living healthy and watching the stock market. There are some hobbies I am interested in. I thought we would settle into a retirement community, but, it was cheaper to buy a new house. So I have to mow my own lawn. Surely the economy is going to recover, but I see little evidence of it here. Interestingly, I have been solicited for skilled trades work and skilled trades management via the internet.
So pilgrims (in my best John Wayne impersonation), keep your powder dry. And remember--wherever you go, there you are.
