Sheepdog1969 Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 24 minutes ago, tx-ogre said: The problem was two-fold: the job is very stressful. You see and experience things that accumulate over many years and have adverse effects on you physically and mentally. This can lead to people either suffering from medical issues such as heart disease that can shorten lifespans. It can also lead to the increased incidents of mental health issues that can result in suicide, which is entirely to prevalent in LE and veterans. Unless you have experienced it, you won’t understand it, but you are entitled to your feeble attempts at humor. Holy cow! I defiantly get the stress LEO's absorb during their tour of duty. I have many family members and friends who are on the job or who have retired but still deal with the echo's of the job. I read into your post, obviously incorrectly, that individuals who "over stayed their welcome" could pay the ultimate price for said disobedience. I apologies for any language that I used that may have implied ANY disrespect of you and your brothers in blue!! God Bless you and your brothers/sisters who selflessly put yourselves in harms way to protect idiots like me! Mea Culpa. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Reminds me of the cliche "First World Problems". I worked 38 years in Finance, 30 in management. I could complain about the hours, bosses and bad employees - but what I experienced wouldn't hold a candle, a spark, to what First Responders deal with in just one shift. They deal with the putrid elements of society - so the rest of us don't have to. And then there's our deployed military who are "in harm's way" - a whole other level. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 On 6/28/2024 at 5:38 AM, fortyearspickn said: Ms. Blast will probably be dragging you to Sherwin Williams tomorrow. It's a whole, new way of life. ... Haha! Ain't it the truth! Mow the lawn. Water the flowers. Clean the kitchen (of course, she cooks, so that's only fair.). She actually does more than me, which she never lets me forget. Still, I ain't complaining. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 18 hours ago, tx-ogre said: It can also lead to the increased incidents of mental health issues that can result in suicide, which is entirely to prevalent in LE and veterans. I'm reading Michael Fanone's book Hold the Line. Wow. Highly recommended. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 On 7/6/2024 at 10:35 AM, DanvillRob said: What I didn't like about gigging on a regular basis was having to still work when sick, hurt, or having a family emergency. Fair enough. Each has its advantages/disadvantages. I don't get sick, probably because my body knows I'm going to show up anyway, so it fights harder. (Just a guess). When my father died, my mom checked my schedule before deciding what day to hold the funeral. She knew I'd make the gig. But once she 'reserved the date' I kept it open. I have to make my own retirement savings and no paid vacations. It's not for everyone. What I hated about working real jobs was waking by an alarm, doing the Monday through Friday thing, taking orders in some cases by someone who knew less about the job than me, and the feeling of being subservient, I'm my own boss. Nobody tells me what to do. I take gigs I like, and turn down ones I don't like. To tell you the truth, it doesn't feel like I have a job, it doesn't feel like I'm working. I learn new songs — I like that. I get on stage and play them — I like that. OK, I move gear — that's work — but nothing heavier than I would if I had a gym membership. I get to be the life of the party — I like that. When playing, I get into that place where there is no space, no time, and no me, just the music that seems like it's flowing through me, instead of from me — I like that. I'm having fun, and people are applauding me, making me feel special, every 5 minutes — I like that. I have people from all over the world, who come and vacation in Florida, who invite me to stay at their houses if I ever visit the city they live in — I like that. I've been treated as an equal and played music with heavyweight stars of the industry that I've met — I like that. Through the years I've had more than my fair share of intimate relations with pretty females, until finally, I found the best one, who is also a musician and shares the on-stage fun with me — I love that. There is no reason why I want to quit this. I love it. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepdog1969 Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 2 hours ago, Notes_Norton said: Fair enough. Each has its advantages/disadvantages. I don't get sick, probably because my body knows I'm going to show up anyway, so it fights harder. (Just a guess). When my father died, my mom checked my schedule before deciding what day to hold the funeral. She knew I'd make the gig. But once she 'reserved the date' I kept it open. I have to make my own retirement savings and no paid vacations. It's not for everyone. What I hated about working real jobs was waking by an alarm, doing the Monday through Friday thing, taking orders in some cases by someone who knew less about the job than me, and the feeling of being subservient, I'm my own boss. Nobody tells me what to do. I take gigs I like, and turn down ones I don't like. To tell you the truth, it doesn't feel like I have a job, it doesn't feel like I'm working. I learn new songs — I like that. I get on stage and play them — I like that. OK, I move gear — that's work — but nothing heavier than I would if I had a gym membership. I get to be the life of the party — I like that. When playing, I get into that place where there is no space, no time, and no me, just the music that seems like it's flowing through me, instead of from me — I like that. I'm having fun, and people are applauding me, making me feel special, every 5 minutes — I like that. I have people from all over the world, who come and vacation in Florida, who invite me to stay at their houses if I ever visit the city they live in — I like that. I've been treated as an equal and played music with heavyweight stars of the industry that I've met — I like that. Through the years I've had more than my fair share of intimate relations with pretty females, until finally, I found the best one, who is also a musician and shares the on-stage fun with me — I love that. There is no reason why I want to quit this. I love it. Well Said. Thanks for allowing me, for a brief moment, to see the life of a gig musician through the eyes of a gig musician. Good stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 On 7/6/2024 at 4:56 PM, Sheepdog1969 said: I feel you brother. What is it they say, "It only takes one rotten apple to spoil the whole batch."? At every job I ever worked, I ended up being promoted to management rather quickly. I loved the pay bump associated with the promotion, but I never really considered myself anything other than labor. (even as an owner.) I never asked a person to do a job that I had never done myself, nor would I not do said job myself, (regardless of my position), if it needed to be done in a pinch. As such, no one could ever complain about being tasked with "scut work" that the bosses wouldn't/couldn't do. I lead by example, not because I was some type of saint, but because certain things needed to be done or my business would fail. I dealt with very few complaints from employees about their job responsibilities/duties, simply because I had held that job position previously. Employees that ignorantly claimed, "This job is too hard.", or "I can't do that.", got canned immediately. It's called "WORK" for a reason. If it was called "FUN", I would never have to pay anyone for it! I have worked for lots of people that had never, nor were capable, of doing the job they hired me for. I never had an ounce of respect for them. I have hired many people that refused to do , (or were incapable of doing), a job that I had done successfully in the past. I terminated them immediately. The reason that I have been retired, and financial stable, for nearly 20 years, is that for over three decades, I worked mostly "half days". Yup, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 30+ years. Unless you've worked 72+ hours a week for 30+ years, zip it Skippy! I worked double shifts at BNSFRR. I was on the head of overtime. So 80 hr shifts. 5 days a week. Then had a 45 minute ride to get back home in Omaha. At UPRR I worked on Derailoments, Cutting scrape cars up in Gondollas. Those were sun up to sundown and working a week till they were done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 13 hours ago, Retired said: I worked double shifts at BNSFRR. I was on the head of overtime. So 80 hr shifts. 5 days a week. Then had a 45 minute ride to get back home in Omaha. At UPRR I worked on Derailoments, Cutting scrape cars up in Gondollas. Those were sun up to sundown and working a week till they were done. Rough duty, my friend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10PoundLester Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 Being self employed for the past 22 years, my retirement date will precisely coincide with the date on my death certificate. Cause of death will most likely be "Ran out of Steam". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 (edited) 12 hours ago, 10PoundLester said: Being self employed for the past 22 years, my retirement date will precisely coincide with the date on my death certificate. Cause of death will most likely be "Ran out of Steam". Nod, same here. So this was my office yesterday. On days like this, it’s kinda hard to think about giving it up. 50 miles from the Canadian border, along the North Shore in Superior National Forest. Can’t beat getting paid to hang out where everyone else pays to go on vacation. But the “steam” is getting harder to sustain as our boilers are beginning to wear out. Edited July 12 by PrairieDog 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 Enjoy Mr Blast, I have been retired for a few years, just turned 74 and bought a Coronet for my birthday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Congrats Kiddo!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted July 15 Author Share Posted July 15 haven't hit this post in a while. 3 pages! Lots of great stories and discussion. Thanks to all for their fond wishes. This is my 3rd Monday of retired life. I'm starting to unwind from the notion that I should be doing "something" other than what I'm doing. !LOL! Mrs Blast isn't giving me a list of to dos as I'm too busy making up my own. Been spending the mornings working on the yard, garden, maintaining the pool -- SWIMMING in said pool, Working on music a lot too. I had my first solo gig as a retiree last Saturday, had a good crowd, good vibes. It was in the 90s here, hotter than hell, so it was inside for the event. Joined a new band with some old band mates recently and that's been fun to reunite, and dig into working on the tunes they like playing. so far, Dam ! I love this! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 On 7/11/2024 at 10:04 AM, DanvillRob said: Rough duty, my friend! It was good money plus I was young enough and in shape to do it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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