Slowing Down

[Finney]

As I have turned 70 this year I am trying to cut back form 60-70 hrs a week to 30-40. We have fired/refused to work for quite a few customers. We still have one large and two medium dairy's, two small dirt contractors and one feed yard. Momma says I should cut back more, I have known all these people their whole lives and I told her to pick the ones to cut off. She said I can't do that. I am trying to coach a couple of them to do more of their own repairs and its seems to be working.

As far as the pulling trucks and tractors we still do it for a shop that services our trucks ( that way I don't have to wait in line to get my stuff fixed).

We have stopped all the aluminum boat repairs, last year I think that was over 40.

We got through silage chopping season without major work and now if we can get through combining beans and shelling corn I hope it slows down more.

I have starting completive pistol shooting again once a month after a 20 year layoff, steel plates and they don't have to use a timer with me just a calendar.

Momma and I have started going to breakfast and lunch together when our schedules allow and that's nice.  

[Sledgehammer]

Good for you!

[searcyfarms]

yes finney good for you i am sure the good folks you have served for so long will understand to some degree and be kind about it 

 

[Wes806]

Good for you. You have earned the right to slow down on your own terms.I'm sure your wife will enjoy seeing you more.

[mike newman]

..good luck on that theme, Finney ..........

.....long term customers are very hard to say ''No'' to......I have a few summers on you and still get coerced into sitting in an Excavator...although , the last commercial welding job I did was in 2008...it lasted six months ..and 3000 yards of welding ...this for a wealthy  ex-pat American  bloke, who catalogued every detail including keeping all the 7018  #6 gauge   welding stubs.....

However I would readily concede that operating an Excavator is a lot more pleasant than crouching under a welding helmet all day......but it won't surprise us if in a few years we are still seeing examples of your fine handiwork.....

Mike

[td9inidaho]

For sure. Your work is wonderful, and you take pride in it, it shows. We all think we are still kids, but reality tells us otherwise, I have been presented an opportunity to contract with a company for welding in ND, have to sign on for a year, money is stupid good. I'm getting older , have plans to travel, Hunt this coming spring with my son, see fellow members here @mike newman, all that in the mix, Im gonna pass.  Enjoy your time with family and friends I say 

Mark 

[bitty]

Good deal. It's your time, use it for your benefit and enjoy your one lifetime. 

[sandhiller]

Good for you finney!

You've paid your dues with a productive hard working life.

Time to enjoy some sunsets from a comfortable chair with the one you love instead of cussing the short days and turning on the work lights!

Wife tells me to slow down before I get slowed down.

She's probably right

[New Englander]

Yep, RMD age here. Going to spend it and enjoy.

[Cattech]

Watched my dad keep the wheels turning until he was 76 years old. The first summer after he retired, he stared at the phone waiting for them to call him back. The next year, he said a check for a million dollars wouldn't get him back in a truck. He got 4 yrs of good health retirement, 3 years of decline, then he was gone. He always believed he was going to make 95-100 and thought there was plenty of time.

I'm sure you have a bucket list. Hopefully you have your health. And a lifetime of hard work hopefully has paid out in financial stability. The people depending on you are going to have to make alternative plans in a few more years anyway, so get out there and start working on that bucket list. When it comes down to it, none of us know how long we have, the results of a simple routine checkup can change all your priorities really fast.

[nepoweshiekfarmalls]

Absolutely slow down and enjoy your life more.  My father worked full time at the factory and farmed until he was 67.  He had 7 good years farming after his retirement.   Then, the last 3 have changed his life so quickly.  He had a mild stroke, then a Parkenson's diagnosis and now his eyesight is deteriorating.   He can no longer drive at night and is having double vision at times in the daylight.  His abilities and independence are fading quickly.

[Finney]

Thanks guys for all the kind words and advice. Layed under a JD combine all morning, something got in the cross auger and split it open. I rolled some 11ga to fit and welded it on. Deere dealer told him it would be 15-20K to repair it. Got it done about 1 and in time to roll up before mother natures sprinkler system started working. On the way back to the shop a engineer fried called and said he had a 2-3 month Structal job in TN he wanted me to do. I told him no. 

[dieselman]

i am trying to quit too, but have had the same customers for over forty years, good customers that always pay, stayed with me when i made mistakes and the good times, becomes a relationship more than a business transaction and the fact there is no one doing repair work in our area, do so much carburation work, old points and condenser etc, lots of aged equipment around here, the young techs throw up their hands and walk away. have slowed down, no more engine, trans or diff work, still do fair amount of air conditioning and lots of electrical diagnostics, another area some young techs avoid...dieselman.

[hardtail]

This says volumes about the boomer generation working 70 hrs a week at 70, pulling the throttle half back and working a union normal week, congrats and well earned, hopefully your granddaughter can help with the transition at times