Party’s over, time to enjoy!

 Hello everyone,

Well, survived the party, what a great time! Lot’s of old friends, lots of partying, and great music!

The band that played was Heartsfield, a band from the 70’s that my wife and I really enjoy. They played in our backyard last year and we got them back for my party. We’ve become friends with the guys so it was a blast!

I’ve slowly gotten a few things ready for my”assault” on retiring! I finished up the old tool box and picked up the top half of my new one. I managed to pick up some socket, wrench, and screw driver holders, so I might have an actual organized box!

My sons pitched in an bought a Caterpillar wall clock with neon!! It’s pretty cool! I’ve already got it up on the wall and working!

My wife and I are going to relax for a few days, and take a little road trip. It’ll be nice to get away for a few days. I’ll post some pictures of the trip when we come back, and a few pictures of the party when my oldest son gets us the pictures.

Well, I think that’s it for now.

                             Talk to you soon,

                                         TVI

FIRST WEEK COMPLETE

 Hello everyone, 

Well, the first week of retirement is in the books and so far, it’s pretty cool.

Still doing things around the house preparing for the part. Burnt a big pile of limbs and stuff up, 

got some of the junk from my work truck stashed around so the shop looks better. Cleaned up and painted my old shop tool box. It was an old parts cabinet from the Cat dealer I worked at. Now from across the room at least it’ll kind of match my new boxes. I put another coat on after the picture, maybe tomorrow I’ll put the handles back on. It’s going to hold my bigger stuff and the overflow from the truck.

Well, I think that’s it for now.

                              Talk to you soon,

                                          TVI

HOW ABOUT THAT!

 HELLO EVERYONE,

I just discovered that I can do this on my phone! Who would have thought!

Well, the first day of retirement, so far anyway, feels like a Saturday. So I have to wait until Thursday, when I would normally be going back to work, to see if it feels any differently.

We’ll see, that’s about it for now.

                                 Talk to you soon,

                                          TVI

              

WELL, A LOVELY PARTING GIFT!

HELLO EVERYONE,

IT TURNS OUT THAT, WITH THE NEW INFORMATION FROM THE HR DEPARTMENT, THAT I HAVE TO HAVE MY VACATION ALL USED UP BEFORE THE 30TH. THAT MEANS IT HAS TO BE USED UP BY THE 29TH. SO INSTEAD OF TOMORROW BEING MY LAST DAY, IT'S TODAY!! WOOOOO HOOOOO!

I MANAGED TO GET THE TRUCK UNLOADED ON FRIDAY AND ALL SET AROUND IN THE SHOP. STILL DON'T HAVE MY NEW TOP BOX, AND, AS I WAS GOING THROUGH THINGS THERE IS A LOT TO PART WAYS WITH. I SOLD ALL MY 3/4" DRIVE AND UP STUFF TO ONE OF THE YOUNG GUYS AT WORK, THE REST WILL HAVE TO BE SORTED OUT AS I PUT THINGS AWAY. 

SOMETIMES IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT I'VE SPENT 48 YEARS OF MY LIFE WORKING ON HEAVY EQUIPMENT. IT'S BEEN A GREAT JOB, ALWAYS MADE GOOD MONEY, LEARNED A LOT, MADE A LOT OF GOOD FRIENDS, DIDN'T INJURE MYSELF TO THE POINT OF SURGERY. ALL IN ALL PRETTY SUCCESSFUL.

THIS MAY BE THE LAST POST FOR AWHILE AS I GET SETTLED IN TO THE NEW RETIRED GIG, AND FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THIS FROM HOME INSTEAD OF THE WORK LAPTOP. STILL, I INTEND TO KEEP DOING THIS EVEN IF NO ONE IS READING IT. MOSTLY JUST FOR MY OWN SANITY!!

WELL, I THINK THAT'S IT FOR NOW.

                                                      TALK TO YOU SOON,

                                                                       TVI

WELL, JUST A FEW DAYS LEFT

HELLO EVERYONE,

TOMORROW WILL BE MY LAST FRIDAY AT WORK, AND I WON'T BE AT WORK. I'M TAKING THE TRUCK HOME TONIGHT AND UNLOADING MY TOOLS. I HAVEN'T UNLOADED MY TOOLS FOR ALMOST 15 YEARS HERE. SEEMS LIKE A LONG TIME. I'LL SORT THEM OUT AFTER I'M RETIRED. 

HERE IS THE SANDBLASTER I GOT MY BROTHER.

THEN I BROUGHT HOME A COMPRESSOR WITH A BAD MOTOR.

I ALSO PICKED UP A LITTLE WIRE FEED WELDER.

SO, I'M GETTING READY TO START TACKLING SOME OF THE PROJECTS ON MY LIST OF THINGS TO DO! I'D LIKE A LITTLE PLASMA CUTTER AND THEN I THINK THAT'S IT FOR BIGGER TOOLS.

I HAD A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COME ON IN MY PICKUP TRUCK AND I CHECKED IT OUT AND FOUND THE MICE HAD EATEN THE WIRES FOR THE ENGINE OIL TEMP SENDER. ORDERED THE PARTS AND WENT TO FIX IT ON SATURDAY AND FOUND I NEED TO LIFT THE TRUCK UP AND PULL THE WIRING HARNESS OUT FROM BY THE OIL PAN TO MAKE THE REPAIR. PROBABLY GOING TO TAKE IT TO MY MECHANIC GUY, HE HAS A LIFT. IN THE PROCESS OF LOOKING AROUND, I ALSO FOUND THIS LITTLE GEM!

THAT'S MY AIR FILTER, OR AT LEAST WHAT'S LEFT! YOU GOTTA LOVE THE COUNTRY LIFE!!

I FOUND OUT THIS MORNING THAT THE HR DEPARTMENT SAYS I HAVE TO COME BACK TO WORK FOR A FEW HOURS ON THE 30TH OF SEPTEMBER IN ORDER TO MAKE MY RETIREMENT OFFICIAL. SEEMS KIND OF STUPID BUT, JUST SOME MORE HOOPS TO JUMP THROUGH!

WELL, I THINK THAT'S IT FOR NOW, I'LL TRY AND GET SOME PICS OF THE TRUCK UNLOADING AND POST THEM NEXT WEEK.

                                                                TALK TO YOU SOON,

                                                                                   TVI

WELL, MADE IT TO ONE MORE FRIDAY.

 HELLO EVERYONE,

I NOW HAVE SIX MORE WORKING DAYS LEFT. I MADE ARRANGEMENTS THIS MORNING TO TAKE THE WORK TRUCK HOME NEXT THURSDAY AND UNLOAD MY TOOLS. ALMOST 48 YEARS WORTH OF COLLECTING THEM MEANS I HAVE QUITE A FEW. ONE OF THE YOUNG GUYS AT WORK IS GOING TO BUY ALL MY BIG IMPACTS AND 3/4" DRIVE STUFF AND THEN I'LL SEE IF I CAN FIND SOMEONE TO BUY ALL MY BIG WRENCHES ETC.. AFTER I GET UNLOADED I'LL MAKE THE CALL ON SOME OF THE OTHER STUFF I DON'T NEED.

I'M REALLY GOING TO TAKE SOME PICTURES THIS WEEKEND AND POST THEM NEXT WEEK, I PROMISE!

WELL, I THINK THAT'S IT FOR NOW.

                                                                 TALK TO YOU SOON,

                                                                                 TVI

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS AND TWO MORE!

HELLO EVERYONE,

WELL, THE FINAL COUNTDOWN IS ON, 7 MORE WORKING DAYS UNTIL RETIREMENT. I'M STILL CLEANING UP FOR THE PARTY, THAT SEEMS TO BE FOREVER.

I TRIED TO GET MY NEW TOP BOX THIS WEEK AND NO ONE HAS THE COLOR I WANT FOR 200 MILES, I CAN'T BELIEVE ORANGE IS THAT POPULAR OF A COLOR. I DID GET THE LITTLE WELDER I WANTED AND BROUGHT IT HOME, THE BOX IS THREE TO FOUR WEEKS AWAY. HAVEN'T HAD A MOMENT TO UNBOX THE WELDER BUT, PROBABLY WILL TONIGHT. I HAVE A SMALL REPAIR ON THE MOWER DECK(WIFE KNOCKED THE WHEEL OFF FOR ABOUT THE 4TH TIME!). 

I BOUGHT ANOTHER SAND BLASTER, THE ONE THAT WORK HAD AND SOLD IT TO MY BROTHER. SO I DELIVERED IT LAST NIGHT. A FRIEND FROM WORK GAVE ME AN AIR COMPRESSOR WITH A BAD MOTOR, SO I BROUGHT THAT HOME TOO, PLUS A HUGE ROCK FOR MY WIFE. I'LL TAKE SOME PICTURES THIS WEEKEND AND POST THEM NEXT WEEK.

I'M GAINING SOME PROJECTS TO DO WHEN I RETIRE BUT, THAT'S OK.

WELL, I THINK THAT'S ALL FOR NOW.

             

                                                          TALK TO YOU SOON,

                                                                       TVI